LOGINVladimir shot a glower at his mother, internally beating himself up for falling for her tricks.“And you Vlad? My own son?” Natasha scoffed. “Shame on you! Shame on you for locking me up!” She drew closer to him like a bull in rage. “You want me, Natasha Ali Bratva, to apologise to a Greene?” She spat a ball of saliva directly on the floor. “The heavens forbid it!”Natasha's eyes spat fire as she faced her son, head-on, staring him in the eyes without so much as a blink.“Really?” He asked, an exaggerated smirk on his face.“You heard me. Over my dead body, Vlad! Over my dead body!”“We shall see.” He turned around and marched out of the room.“Come back here, Vlad! Come back and talk to me! You will walk out on your mother? On your own mother?! Shame on you, Vlad!” She followed after him, screaming at the top of her voice. “Let everyone see my son disrespecting me. My own son I carried for ten months. Ten good months. You want my enemies to laugh at me? What spell has she cast on you
Her gaze lowered, and she resumed buttoning his shirt as if she didn't hear what he said.Vladimir figured he had crossed the line again, and decided not to say anything that would make things worse.He pressed his lips shut, barely even breathing so as not to make a sound.Ivy was going to fix the last button when his hand wrapped around hers to stop her.She looked up sharply.“I'm not a monk,” he joked.It took her a couple of seconds to catch his drift, and she nodded when she did.“Gotchu.” She took a step back from him.“Yeah,” he turned towards the door, but halted just after taking a step. “Should I come with you to see your grand–”“No!” She answered before he was even done asking the question.“Oh okay. I guess I'll check up on you later then,” he resumed walking but paused at the door once again. “I'm sorry.”“For?” She lifted a brow.“Crossing the line. You're clearly upset.”“You think that's why I'm upset?”Something in the way her voice sounded made him turn around.“Wh
FLASHBACK “Okay. I believe you. Grams will be fine.”“Good, Princess. Very good.”Vladimir kept his forehead on hers, waiting for her to pull away first.When she didn't, he asked in his heart if he could take it a step further without scaring her off.He thought about her reaction the last time he kissed her. She had damn near burst his balls with her knee kick.That thought caused his face to light up, unable to help it.“What did you just think of?” she asked, spotting the moment.“Nothing.” He shook his head.“That's a lie. Don't lie to me.”“Hmm, what else shouldn't I do? Tell me whatever, and it's done.”Her forehead creased. “That's a juxtaposition.”His eyes moved up in thought, and on realization, he chuckled. “True.”“Why are you being nice to me? I don't even like you,” she blurted.He blinked twice, subtly taken aback by her bluntness.“Would you rather I'm mean?”“Aren't all men mean?”“Why do you think that?”She shrugged ever so slightly. “History. Everything is docume
Doctor Ben arrived at the Bratva villa with a cardiologist colleague of his, and they went straight to find Sheila Greene.With them was the mobile ECG machine they had brought to run the exam, and decide how to go from there.They walked in to find Sheila glued to the bed, her eyes looking up at the ceiling.“You were right, Doctor Branch. It is really Ms Sheila,” doctor Raven said, a big smile on her face.Sheila Greene looked down instantly. She could recognise that voice anywhere.“Raven Branch,” she said weakly.Raven drew closer to her, her smile spreading all over. “Sheila Greene. I haven't seen you in forever.”“I couldn't risk running into your father. You know he never gets it into his head that I'm too strong for this western medicine bullshit. But then again, he's a man. They all have similar egos,” she said with a hint of irritation in her voice.Raven chuckled, whilst doctor Ben rolled his eyes hard.“We used to be friends, Sheila. You know, actual friends.”“That we wer
It had been five minutes since she heard about her grandmother's potential death through heart failure, but Ivy Greene still couldn't bring herself to speak.She just stayed silent, and still like a statue, whilst her grandmother tried to offer her comfort with her arms.Not only could she not speak, she couldn't think either.It was like she was frozen in time, and nothing seemed to matter.The nurse returned with a stretcher she had insisted was kept around for emergency purposes.“Ms Sheila, you have to come with me back to the room. The doctor is on his way,” she called out to the woman who was holding on to her granddaughter with everything in her.Sheila ignored her. She focused on Ivy, because she couldn't bear to think that she had broken her.Frustrated, the nurse walked up to them, and crouched too.She placed a hand on Sheila's shoulder. “I understand how you feel. You're afraid, and rightfully so. You also need to understand that your granddaughter is also scared. The only
Hedeon jumped to his feet immediately, and met Dmitry by the door before he could stomp in.“Hedeon, why the fuck are you holding on to my wife like she's a criminal?” He asked through lips that quivered from pure rage.“I understand how you feel, Dmitry. It's not an ideal situation to be in, but you have to calm down and let me explain.”“Bullshit;” his eyes shot past Hedeon to Andrei. “Boss Andrei? What is this?”“Let him through,” Andrei said to Hedeon who nodded his head, and stepped aside.He bulldozed forward, avoiding Anna's eyes because he didn't want to see the fear that was in them. “Sit down, Dmitry.”“I'd rather stand, boss Andrei.”“Alright. The boss gave the order to have Anna brought in for questioning. Remember the wedding poison case we've been investigating?”“I do. My division has been trying to figure out what happened that night.”“Good. As it turns out, a video was captured of Anna walking through the back route no one ever takes, with the goblet box in her hand
IVYMy sleep paralysis demon always came around just before the first light of dawn.Grabbing me by the chest, and choking until I was completely paralyzed and under the mercy of the unknown.Because of her strength, yes, my demon is a girl, I call her Millicent. Millicent was absent tonight. She
IVY If anyone was going to die tonight, it surely wasn't going to be me. I lifted my hand to the edge of the cup, to stop it from reaching my lips. His eyes snapped down on me. “What are you doing?” “You drink first,” I said fearlessly. “What?” His face contorted. “It's for you, not for me.”
Vladimir did not give Ivy any opportunity to respond.The moment he voiced out her options, he turned around, and walked out of the room.As he closed the door behind him, the spell that had pushed Ivy into a trance, broke.“The nerve of that blonde man! How can he– how dare he– who does he think h
IVYGrandma held my hand. Together, we followed the woman who didn't have the nicest tone to her voice.But grandma was there by my side, and it was all the courage I needed.Like the contrast between day, and night, we burst into a hall not only larger than life, but lit up into the heavens.Diam







