**OliviaPOVI begged Ellis over and over to get Carl and Bethany out of the Peterson mansion before they could cause any more problems. I put my hands together and pleaded as we were alone in our room. “Please, make Bethany and Carl leave, Ellis. Before anymore problems arise.” I reached for Ellis and rubbed his back.Ellis moved slightly away from me. I felt disappointed as he shook his head at me. “No, Olivia. I won’t make Carl leave. I finally am getting a connection with Carl.” Ellis pointed out the obvious fact.“I know, baby. That’s great. But can’t we just get rid of Bethany?” I asked in a hopeful voice.Ellis nodded, but his face twisted around as if he looked concerned about my idea. “We could. But I think that would cause a problem as well, Olivia. I think Carl would leave with Bethany if we were to kick her out. I don’t want my son to leave.”I groaned loudly in frustration. I stomped my foot loudly as the anger grew inside me. “How much longer will he need to stay here, El
**Olivia POVI couldn’t believe what he was saying.“But this could cost us a bad reputation, Ellis. People are talking about all of us. This will not look good on any of us. Do you want that?” I asked in a bold tone.“I don’t care what people think or say. People will talk no matter what. Ignore it. I will not force my son to leave. Do you understand me?” Ellis said in a rude tone.“But,” I started to say.“End of the discussion, Olivia. Now, I am going to bed. Goodnight.” Ellis ripped his clothes off and I watched him climb into bed. “Ellis, I am your wife and Bethany is constantly disrespecting me in my own house, yet you act like you don't even care about my feelings.”“I do care about your feelings, Olivia. I know it is difficult. But, I’m just asking you to give me a little more time with Carl. It’s not an ideal situation but throwing her out would also mean tossing out my grandchild. What kind of man would I be to do that?”I heaved a heavy sigh… I couldn't argue any more. No m
**Olivia POVI felt more than a little conflicted the next morning when I woke up to find that Ellis had already gone to work without saying goodbye again. I was disappointed. When I agreed to marry Ellis, I never imagined having to deal with Bethany at all. And now, with her carrying Carl’s baby it looked like we would be forever stuck together. I knew that if I wasn’t going to leave then I would have to find some way to make peace with Carl, Bethany and the entire situation. I did think about calling my mother and letting her know everything that was going on, but I never liked to worry her about problems she couldn’t help me solve. I stretched and got ready to go through the daily routine of getting the boys off to school and having breakfast by myself.After that I decided to visit with Grandpa Herman and see how he was doing. It wasn’t until I was halfway through venting about Bethany and Carl that I realized why I wanted to see him.“Olivia, I understand that this is a diffi
**Ellis POVI came home late as usual and walked through the quietness of the mansion towards our bedroom. It had been a long and hard week, especially coming home every night to the tension that was building up between Olivia and Bethany. I had given serious thought to what she said during the day and I figured that it wouldn’t be too much to ask Carl and Bethany to move out of the mansion and into their own place. They might even like it better once they were out on their own.When I got to our room, I turned on the light and it took a moment for my vision to get used to the brightness. Once I had my vision back, I looked towards the bed to see that it was empty. Suddenly, I was very aware of the eerie silence. I walked around the room. Searching for a sign of where she might have gone. Then I bolted from our room and went to see if I’d somehow missed her in the living room or the kitchen. But there was no sign of Olivia. It felt as if she vanished into thin air. Like maybe Oli
**Olivia POVI woke up with a sneeze, turning over on a dusty old mattress. My head was pounding as I wiped my eyes, I noticed something white and flaky on my fingers, like a powder. It was plaster dust. I smelled the must and dust where I was. It was a little too dark to see, so I reached out with my hand. My fingers brushed against a soft fabric as I moved, it was a blanket. It seemed to be one of those big blankets I’d seen people put over old furniture. I waited for my eyes to adjust to my dim surroundings wondering where I was. The last thing I remembered was confronting Carl and Bethany and then blacking out. As my eyes adjusted I realized that I was in an attic. It was the only place old furniture like that was kept. I wiped more plaster dust off of my face so that I could see better. It was still very dim, but I could see in the low light coming from a small window. What time was it?I got up and carefully looked for a light switch but couldn’t find any. My hand brushed ov
Had I known where I would end up and who I would run into, I never would have set foot in the Peterson house that night.***"Mr. Peterson is waiting for you." A maid, who I had never met before, opened the door of the mansion. She looked at me and politely smiled, "Follow me, please."Carl Peterson, my fiance, and his family had a large house in New Jersey, only forty minutes away from Manhattan. Carl and I were both sophomores at NYU, and since his place wasn't too far away from our university, I'd occasionally stop by to spend time with him.Earlier, the guard at the gate let me in without a word, probably because everyone knew that I was always welcome in my fiance's home.As my footsteps echoed in the hall, however, my best friend Jenny's warning echoed in my head. Although I tried to ignore it, it kept coming back.'I walked in on your fiance kissing another woman in the parking lot of a five star restaurant yesterday.' Jenny's words repeated like they were on a broken reco
**Ellis POVI watched her from the shadows, taking slow sips from my glass of imported red wine from my personal winery in the south of France.The woman froze, as if she was surprised by the command that echoed from my lips. She was gorgeous and just my type, young and beautiful, with her little summer dress and her ballet flats. I imagined what she would look like wearing a bunny mask, 'my' collar, and matching white lace lingerie crawling towards me on her hands and knees before sitting back on her heels. How she would slide her fingertips along her sexy thighs, clothed in crisp, white, lace-topped, thigh highs with her back straight, and her head tilted up. I shoved the lascivious thought away and focused on her. She looked innocent, like an angel in a demon's lair. Although she acted a bit different from when we talked over the phone, she was definitely worth the price. The atmosphere around me thickened as I slowly and meticulously circled around my prey in th
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Peterson." She curtsied in the sweetest way despite our…unusual encounter. Whoever raised her, raised her well."Please, call me Ellis," I instructed.I suddenly realized where I had heard that name before. "You wouldn't happen to be Olivia Richardson, the daughter of the Richardson empire, would you?"She shyly nodded, "Yes, Sir, that's me."I arched my brow. How did my idiot son pull such an elegant young lady like her?A shot of adrenaline coursed through my veins at hearing her call me 'Sir.' Although I preferred to be called Master, she didn't need to know that. I needed to take her to my damn, ungrateful, son."How about we go find Carl?" I placed my other hand in my pocket and strode to the door. I opened it and held it for her, "Ladies first.""Thank you," she finally seemed to calm down enough to smile, then she stepped past me with grace and poise that had obviously been drilled into her since birth.Her sweet and floral perfume swirled arou