SASHA’S POVSince my panic attack, Noah hasn’t left the house. Every meeting that he had to attend was either done by Zoom or Matt would be the one standing in for him. I couldn’t help the guilt that I felt, he was staying back because of me and I was certain that he would rather be anywhere but here.“You know you don’t have to work from home right?” I asked, my voice soft and low.Noah sighed, shutting his laptop as he turned towards me. He has been doing that lately, giving me his full attention like I was important. Was it because I had told him about my childhood that I had?But in his eyes, I saw nothing like pity, it swirled with emotions that I couldn’t unravel.“What are you talking about?” he asked in a calm tone.I sighed, he did this too, talked to me like I was some wounded bird, too fragile to move. Too soft to hear a loud tone.“Sit here, turn yourself into my caregiver,” I said, my tone sounding harsher than I had intended.If my words had struck a nerve, he said nothi
ROLAND’S POV“How long do you think it will take before she knows that you are gone?” Anastasia asked in a hushed tone.I shrugged, “Immediately? An hour?”“I could try to keep her occupied… just try to buy you some time,” she said.One would think that I was about to go on a covert mission, but in reality, I was heading to a meeting that I had set up with the board of directors in charge of the Wiseland project. I was making my move, proposing that they make me the general director of the project.If things went my way, Noah Beck would be rendered useless.“No, nothing like that. If you're trying to act anything out of the ordinary, she will know,” I warned.Anastasia paced around the room, the action increasing my worry, “But why can't you just stand straight to her and tell her that you can handle this yourself,”There she goes again, asking these questions like she has no idea of what petal Conrad was capable of. In Petal’s eyes, no one would ever be good enough to execute things.
SASHA’S POVThe minute my eyelids opened, all I could see was darkness. My body trembled with dread, and I hated it. Darkness meant I couldn’t hide from the past that lurked in the shadows.“You cry a lot, far more than what you are worth,” Dominica’s voice echoed through the fog.I blinked, my fingers trembling as I tried to search for the switch. She wasn’t here, it was just some imagination that had sneaked in, “What are you trying to do? Ignoring me isn’t going to help you,”“You aren’t real. I know you aren’t real…” I mumbled, my voice shaky as I tried to move from the bed.I couldn’t move, not when it felt like the supply closet that I had been locked in once. Rose had said something, lied about a vase that she had broken. And how did Dominica act? She locked me in the supply closet as a punishment.My father couldn’t say a thing, he was a mourning man who wanted to do everything right for his second chance love.“Look at you, pathetic,” her voice hissed through the darkness.“L
NOAH’S POV“She is going to be fine, she only needs rest for a few hours,”The words were meant to instantly relieve my troubled mind, but that did nothing. All I wanted was to see her eyes and hear her voice; then, I would know that she was fine.“Thank you, Smith,” I muttered, shaking his hand as I led him towards the door. “You have been helpful,”He smiled, his eyes observing my face, “I don’t think that I have ever seen you this rattled before,”“I guess we learn new things every day,” I mumbled.“When were you going to tell me that you had snatched yourself a dazzling wife Noah? Would I have ever known if she hadn’t slumped?” he asked, staring at me with a faux hurt look in his eyes.“Well, if you ever paid attention to the blogs, you would have kept up with all aspects of my life,” I teased.He chuckled, “Forgive me for not asking the blogs what was happening in the life of my friend,”“You are forgiven,” I said in a calm tone.Smith shook his head, his eyes gleaming with excit
NOAH’S POVI was stuck here in a meeting and all that was on my mind was the fact that I wanted to be out there with Sasha. It would be fun to get the things she wanted, even though I knew that Emma was doing exactly that, I just wanted to be the one to do it.“President Beck,” someone called out.And I blinked, my smiles turning into a frown as I looked around the conference room. They were all staring at me, confusion etched on their faces, probably wondering what it was that had me smiling like a goof.“Go on,” I said, signalling for him to continue.“President Beck, he is done, just waiting for your input,” Matt muttered close to my ear.I looked at the faces of the men who sat patiently waiting for what I had to say. Shit! This doesn’t look good, I hadn’t paid attention to what they were saying. All that my mind was fixed on was Sasha and the imagination of how hard she would try to make sure that she doesn’t spend my money.“Here, I took down a few notes,” Matt said, pushing a j
SASHA’S POVMy mind hadn’t come down from the slight shock that we had. While I moved around the designer store, my head in a fog, Elizabeth walked around with a smile on her face, like she hadn’t just promised to invest millions in my growing business.I few times I had pinched myself, to make sure that I wasn’t in some dream world. And each time, I would wince, reminded that everything that I was experiencing was real and true.“Sasha?”My body went cold, I didn’t have to turn to know who it was. If I were deaf, and just for a flash of a second I heard the voice, I would know who it was. This was the voice that had haunted me all my life.“Dominica, hi,” I smiled, hoping that this would be a polite run-in and nothing more.My eyes took in her attire, she was dripping in expensive jewel, reminding me that she had made sure to take everything that should have belonged to me.Her face scrunched in disgust, her usual response whenever she sees me. Like I was a pebble stuck beneath her s