LOGIN“For what?” I asked softly with my eyes closed, my forehead still on his, and he still held my hand. “What did you do?”“I just… I feel so useless. There’s nothing I can do about any of this, but I just can't stand by and watch you be in pain.”“Then you could hold me,” I whispered, opening my eyes slowly, and they landed on him. “You could kiss me, and make love to me, and tell me how everything’s going to be fine. You could be there for me when I need you. You could be everything but distance and so far away.”A sliver of tears lined his eyes, and he shut them, squeezing them tighter. When he opened them again, there were no tears, but his eyes were still glossy. He kissed my forehead gently, his lips pressed there for a moment before he moved to kiss my lips, but I turned my head away. “Don’t. You’ll catch my cold.”He held my jaw gently and turned my head back to him, whispering, “I don’t mind,” before he kissed me slowly, gently. He broke the kiss and cupped my face, caressing m
ISABELLAIt wasn't a dream. The day Richard was buried, it rained. I stood without an umbrella as I watched his body being lowered to the ground. The rain landed on my body like pins, pricking my skin, and it stung. I could feel the cold entering my bones, but I didn't move, didn't blink, didn't say a word as his mother sobbed as the grave was being covered. It was all real. The cold I could feel was a wake up call that screamed at my face that this was all real. It wasn't a nightmare where I would wake up from, and everything would be back to normal. No, this was my reality. My harsh, cruel, bitter reality. This was my life now. Black and white. After everything was done, I stood there with his family, watching and hearing them sob until my body was shaking from the cold, and I still didn't move. This was the punishment I deserved. This was the only way I could apologize, not like it mattered because their son, brother, and cousin was gone, and it was all my fault. Alexander and
TRIGGER WARNING: CHAPTER CONTAINS CONTENT THAT MAY BE UNPLEASANT TO SOME READERS; SUICIDE.VIEWER’S DISCRETION IS ADVISED.It was silent. Dead silent. No one moved, and it seemed everyone was holding their breath. Out of shock, Leonardo let go of her collar, and Natasha dropped to the ground, blood gushing out from her chest and mouth. Within seconds, she was dead. Seconds. The silence grew so thick that you could hear everyone’s heart racing. And then it was broken by a small, shaky voice, “I’m sorry.”As one, we all turned towards the voice which came from behind Natasha to see one of the househelps standing there with a clean knife pressed to her throat. She was sobbing so hard that snot was pouring out of her nose. She shook so hard that the knife cut her, a line of red staining it. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.“Hannah,” Leonardo said softly, taking a slow step towards her. “Put the knife down, Hannah.”Hannah… I knew her. She always helped Sophia when she was attending to me. S
ISABELLA I saw it the moment the light left his eyes, the moment he stopped fighting, and death took him from me.“No,” I whispered, my voice shaking. I shook him. Once. Twice. He didn't move. His hand remained limp on his side. “Richard, please, no.”I placed a finger under his nose, but I felt nothing. I leaned down and placed my ear on his chest, but I heard nothing. Not even the faintest beat. I checked his pulse, but felt nothing.“You can't leave like that,” I said, still shaking him. “You can’t! You said you loved me! You bastard, you said you loved me! So how can you leave like that? How can you be dead?”I kept shaking him as I sobbed, kept pleading, threatening, yelling at him to open his eyes, but… nothing happened. This was it? He was dead? An hour ago, he was standing behind me. He was okay, and now… now he was just… dead? No, I refuse to accept that. We needed to take him to the hospital.I looked up and saw everybody staring at me: Alexander, Leonardo, Sophia, the who
Richard’s shout echoed in my head, the panic in his voice sharp. I closed my eyes and held my breath. So this was it. This was really it. When I miscarried, this was what I wanted. I had prayed my heart should just stop. I didn't want to deal with the pain, so I prayed for death. And now that death was staring me in the face, I was so scared.I didn't want to die like this. There were so many things I hadn't done. I haven't said I love you back to Alexander and Leonardo. I haven't apologized to my sisters because of how we left things and how I treated them. I haven’t told Richard I was ready for us to start afresh. I wanted to see my father again and hear him apologize. I wanted to hear him say he regrets what he did. I would never get to do those things. I braced myself for the bullet, sobbing quietly, my body shaking. This was it. But time passed, and the bullet never came.Then Natasha screamed. I opened my eyes, and my heart dropped. “Richard!” I screamed, running to him.
“I’m going to kill you.”I stood up slowly with my hands raised, my eyes wide, my heart kicking against my rib. “Natasha, what are you doing?"“What I should have done from the beginning!” she cried, her hand shaking around the gun. “Natasha, put down the gun and let’s talk,” I said softly, my voice shaking.“I have nothing to say to you, bitch. Just fucking die.”“Wait!” I cried when she moved, a tear slipping from my eye. My heart was racing so fast that I felt it might stop. Was this how I was going to die? After everything? I didn't want to. I was scared. So scared. “Tell me what I'm done, at least. Tell me why I deserve to die!”“Because I hate you with all that I am, Isabella Carter,” she spat, and I saw it. The hatred. I saw it so clearly in her eyes that it made me go weak in the knees. She meant it. She meant every word, including killing me. “Because if I don't kill you, then I'll forever be traced in your shadow. I will never be able to move on!”“What are you talking abou
ALEXANDERI stood by the window in the hallway overlooking the entrance of the house, my arms folded, my back straight, my heart in a million pieces. Every time I drew breath, I could hear it breaking even more. And the pain was almost physical. It hurts to breathe. It was like there was a rock sit
I sat up, frowning. “You… you brought Natasha back? What are you even saying?”His back was tense, and he still didn't face me, still didn't look at me. It was beginning to piss me off.“Why are you acting like a fucking coward?” I spat, my voice coming out harder and harsher than I intended, but
“Wow…” That was all I could say. “So did I reject you because of your, uhm… size?”He scoffed and shook his head. “No. You were in love with Richard, but you were pretty harsh with your rejection.”“And so–and these are your father’s words–you stalked me, and were always watching me?”Any trace of
“W-what?” I asked when he said that, crossing my arms across my chest even though I was still fully clothed. How could he be in the mood after everything that has happened? “I don't think now is the right time.”He raised an eyebrow. “Right time for what?”“To do whatever nasty thing it is you’re t







