SASHA’S POV
Tears streamed down the corner of my eyes at the realization that he mistook me for his childhood crush once again.
“Stasia, I’m coming….”
Every trace of pleasure which I once felt before he ruined it all by mistaking me for his childhood sweetheart, crushed. And while he was having the best time of his life, I remained below him, eyes open, tears leaving my eyes, mouth shut, while he thrust deeply into me, growling and groaning her name.
I could barely close my eyes at night while Roland slept like a baby without any care in the world.
His words from earlier haunted me so much that it left me awake until the next morning.
For some reason, I felt the need to talk things out with him.
I’m his wife and for that, he should give me the respect I deserve, because groaning another woman’s name while having sex with me doesn't make any sense.
It was rather disrespectful and disregarding.
I waited in the sitting room as soon as it was morning, waiting for Roland to come downstairs so we could sort things out.
After all, it was Saturday and he wasn’t going to work.
As he made his way down the stairs, I couldn't stop staring at him. My husband is indeed a handsome man. With broad chest like that of an athlete, black jet hair, sharp jawline and emerald eyes.
I fell in love with those eyes during our college days and I am still in love with it.
Roland is the definition of perfection, if not more than.
While I was busy gawking at him, he walked past me, heading towards the entrance door.
I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at him, only to find out he was dressed for an outing, which caused my brows to crease.
“Are you heading out? Today is Saturday.” I rose to my feet, taking slow steps towards him who paused by the door at my words.
His head snapped towards me and anger clouded his gaze. “I see. Are you stalking my every move now?” He asked, his lips paused in a thin line.
Taking a step closer, I shook my head in denial. “No. I just have something to say to you. Can you spare me ten minutes of your time?”
Irritation crossed his features and he hissed in annoyance. “See woman. I’m a busy man. I have no time to spare!”
“Okay, five minutes!” I said sharply, hoping he could spare me some minutes of his time.
After careful consideration, he decided to spare me five minutes of his time. “Now speak.” He commanded.
“During our intimate moments last night, you called her name.” I started, wrapping my hands around my body, as if shielding it from the cold.
Roland brows arched in confusion. “Who?”
A pile lodged at my throat, but I pushed it down before speaking. The name was heavy on my tongue and almost impossible to let out. “Anastasia.”
I knew who she was to him and how much he cared about her, but I thought I could win him over. Make him forget about her and love me unconditionally. But as time passed, it became impossible to make him fall for me.
“You called her name twice when we were together last night.” It took sheer willpower not to scream out loud but I remained calm.
“Take your mind off it. It isn’t a big deal.” The nonchalance in his voice as he waved the discussion off broke my heart into millions of pieces.
Which woman in her right state of mind would brush off something as important as this?
“It is a big deal, Roland. You’re making me less of a woman,” I cut in, my voice a bit louder than usual, shocking both of us. “I’m your wife, not Anastasia.”
“But we both know she’s the woman I love. I don’t love you, Sasha. You should know that by now!” Roland snapped, checking his Rolex watch. “Five minutes is up. I have a party to organize.”
My heart lurched in my throat at the thought of Roland having a nice time with Anastasia. “For who?” Before I could stop myself, I blurted out.
Roland, who was about to leave, halted and turned half-way around. “I’m throwing a welcome party for Anastasia.”
With that being said, he walked out, disappearing through the door, while I stood rooted to the ground like a statue, eyes widened and my hands fell limb beside me.
He is supposed to be by my side not by her side!
I’m his wife. I’m Sasha Conrad. I’m the one who bears his surname.
I’m the one wearing his wedding ring and I’m his wife legally not Anastasia!
Anger. Pain. Hurt.
My chest felt heavy with pent-up emotions, each one clamoring to be released.
After what felt like an eternity later, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I fell heavily to the cold ground, tears streaming down my eyes like a waterfall.
This marriage wasn’t what I pictured. When I begged my Grandfather to get me married to Roland, I had pictured a beautiful life together, not a one-sided empty and hollow marriage like ours.
A marriage filled with pain, hurt, tears for years….. I didn’t deserve a life like this.
*********
After about an hour later, I stopped crying and carried on with the day’s activities.
The day was already gloomy, but when I got a call from Roland, informing me that Anastasia told him to invite me to her welcome party, I knew the day was bound to be one hell of a bad day.
It won’t end well. I could tell. Yet, I dressed up, carrying the image of a perfect wife as I drove to the party which was being hosted in one of the most luxurious hotels in Boston.
The fact that my husband spent a huge amount just for a welcome party, made my heart ache.
He could spend such an amount for his childhood crush, whereas, he never thought to get me a flower, not even for once.
As I made my way down the hallway, guests murmured and whispered among themselves, but I couldn’t care less.
I carried myself with grace and held my head up high.
Upon arriving at the hall, I looked around, only to spot my husband beside Anastasia, his hand around her waist in a possessive manner.
I stood by the door, watching them with a wine glass around my fingers. If it were up to me, I would have walked up to Roland and made it known that I am the wife, not Anastasia.
Suddenly, our eyes met and she smirked. Anastasia smirked at me, her eyes glowing with mischievous intents.
Yes. She is beautiful, classy, and has a killer body, which every man could die for, including my husband, unfortunately. And that pains me.
Anastasia is every man’s dream woman.
She leaned towards Roland, whispered into his ear and pecked his cheeks, before heading towards where I stood.
The way she carried herself with grace, one would think she is a daughter of a god.
“Hi there, Sasha. It’s been a while.” Anastasia stopped in front of me, a mischievous smile stretched on her lips.
It was taking the last strength in me not to wipe that smile off her lips. “Yeah.” I replied dryly.
“I can see you took care of Roland in my absence. Thank you.”
Why was she thanking me for taking care of my own husband?
Who does she think she is?
“Why would you thank me?” I forced a smile, trying not to snap her neck into two. “He is my husband, remember? Not yours.”
I don’t know which part of my words angered her, but her eyes turned red and her lips tightened in anger. “Roland is mine. He might be your husband, but he is mine.”
“You said it yourself, Anastasia, didn’t you? He is my husband and you will forever remain a mistress.”
Her jaw tightened and her cheeks flushed with anger. “You’re a bitch and I hate you.”
“It is mutual, Stasia. I also don’t like you.”
With that said, I turned around and was about to leave when I heard her scream and all eyes fell on us.
I frowned and turned around only to find Anastasia bleeding from her wrist.
“Wha….what happened?” I asked, my eyes widened in horror as I tried helping her, but she hit my hand away, glaring at me.
Roland strode towards the scene and stood beside Anastasia. “What happened?”
“Your wife used a knife to cut my wrist because I told her to care more about you.” She lied and my eyes widened even more.
God…. She is not only a bitch, but a pretentious one at that!
“I…..I didn’t do that, Roland!” I shook my head, while trying to explain, but he glared at me, not believing a word I said.
“Why do you hate Anastasia so much that you want her dead?” Roland glared as he tore a part of his sleeve and wrapped it around her bleeding wrist.
Most of the guests stared at me with disdain and hatred while others brought out their devices to capture the moment.
“I didn’t do that to her! She’s lying! Please believe me, Roland!” I begged, hoping he would believe me for once, but he never did.
“I’ve had enough of this, Sasha,” he wrapped his hands around Anastasia’s waist and carried her in a bridal style. “Let’s get a divorce! You’re evil!”
I staggered, almost falling backwards due to my heels, but instead of falling, I hit a hard rock….no, a chest.
A stranger wrapped his hand around my waist, steadying me from falling and whispered in a low, deep voice. “Steady.”
I was too engrossed in explaining myself to Roland to see who the kind stranger was.
“Roland, you can’t do this to me!” I cried, but he was already leaving with Anastasia in his arms.
As I watched them leave the hall, Anastasia turned towards me and gave me a lopsided mischievous smile, and then muttered. “I won, bitch.”
NOAH’S POV“What is on your mind?” Arthur asked the second the ladies had walked out of the dining room.I heaved a sigh, running my hand across my face as I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know, one minute I have everything under control and the next, it feels like I am drowning in a world of uncertainties,”Well, added to the fact that Sasha has spent the whole night avoiding my touch or even sparing me a glance. I sounded selfish, but I hated the way she behaved like we were just on contract, like we hadn’t made real progress in our relationship.“You are treading on dangerous waters Noah, one wrong move and the world would tumble down?” he said.“Is the warning for my life or business?” I asked, even though I was inclined to what he was talking about.“You tell me which?” he asked, resting his back on the chair.For one, I was happy that Troy hadn’t made it for dinner. I knew that he wasn’t comfortable with Sasha and I wasn’t ready to be the middle man trying to fight myse
SASHA’S POVDinner was tense. Noah acted like all was well and I could feel Elisabeth’s curious stares burning at the side of my face.“Sasha, let's leave the men to be men. Come on. I would like to show you what I have done to the garden,” she said, stretching out her hand towards me.I wasn’t a fool; I knew that this was her way of trying to get me alone with her. She could see the emotions swirling in my eyes. I stole one flickering glance at Noah, wondering if he would interject and say we had somewhere to go.But he didn’t, rather he smiled as he placed a soft kiss on the back of my hand as he watched me leave with her.“Are you alright?” Elisabeth asked the minute we walked down the hallway. “I am sorry I missed your show, but from the bits that I picked up, I guess the world is still fawning over you.”I smiled, “It is fine, I totally understand. You had a lot on your plate,”The garden looked more beautiful than I remembered. I gasped, my eyes widening as I looked at the littl
ROLAND’S POVI still didn’t know how I felt about seeing a man in the office alone with Anastasia. It would have been nothing, but seeing the way she looked panicked was what caught my attention.“What did he want?” I asked again, leading her to the car.She shrugged, “he was looking for Maya, but then he decided to talk to me for a minute,”I could buy that. But I didn’t, not when her tone sounded higher than her usual tone. “If he wanted to see Maya, he would have called her. Don’t you think so,”“Roland, today has been a great one, did you see that we have launched a new collection?” she said, leaning against me, her smile returning to her face.That was what I wanted to talk about. Seeing the brand on the television, a good story, something that we haven’t done in a while.“How did you do that?” I asked, wrapping my hand around her body, placing a kiss on her head.She blushed, melting into my touch, “a little secret I would like to keep for a while,” she muttered.I chuckled, any
Author’s PovThe air felt fresher, Anastasia's eyes fixed on the television as she listened to the newscaster read a stellar review of the latest collection that she had just released.Her eyes gleamed with pride as she raised a glass slightly to the television, “Thank you Sasha for these designs,” she said in a mocking tone.She couldn’t believe how easy this had worked, when petal told her about their little spy who worked with Sasha, she knew exactly what she was going to do as her first strike. Roman wasn’t wrong when he had suggested that she make herself look worthy of the new position that she would be getting.With just a move, she had achieved a whole lot more than she had bargained for. Eleanor was slowly getting excommunicated and she, well, she was literally the only one the matriarch loved to have a conversation with.The office was empty, safe for the security guard and a few cleaners. She had decided to stay back to work on the second scheme of the plan, with these new
Noah’s PovI could feel the anger radiating off her. This wasn’t the usual chirpy Sasha who enjoyed spending car rides with me. She was cold, but something was lingering behind those looks. Pain? Regret?My fingers tighten around the steering wheel, my eyes hardening as I glare at the road. I shouldn’t be angry at her for choosing not to speak to me. She had reached out a thousand times, but I had been the one to refuse her olive branch.I had been so stuck on ending the Conrads that I barely realised that I was losing the one thing that was bringing me peace.It wasn’t exactly a lie that Roland’s action had rattled me, but seeing the extent to which they would go, I had to be careful in my next actions. My mind wandered to the party that I would be attending in just a few days.Petal Conrad is going to see firsthand that she had never had any solid control over my company and Arthur King like she thought she had.I stole a quick glance towards Sasha, if I had a dollar I would love to
SASHA’S POVThe house felt lively as I walked through the doors. Rose’s laughter echoed loudly through the quiet hallway as I let my feet lead me in the direction of the sound.I couldn’t stay in the office, not when everyone stared at me with expectations in their eyes. They needed answers. They wanted new battle plans.But I was out of ideas. Out of the new ways that I would twist this obstacle into a win. What I needed was a nice glass of wine and a warm bath and maybe a few tears to take the edge off. The second I walked into the kitchen, it felt like the air had been kicked out of my lungs.My eyes found Noah Beck, sitting on the other side of the counter, looking just as handsome as I remembered.“You are back early,” Rose’s voice cut through my surprise. “I wanted to call you, but I knew better than to bother you in the office,”I hadn’t spared her a glance, my eyes were still on Noah. He looked different, there was a rugged edge to him that I couldn’t place my hands on.Rose h