MasukTWENTY-FIVEEverything was spiralling around me. Okay, perhaps that was an exaggeration but I had to make my decision and I was still so unsure even after speaking to Harris, Lou, Lisa and some random man in a cafe. Lou told me to ignore Mr Stetson's offer because it was "scraps" compared to what I would gain if we continued with court whereas Lisa had offered advice that was basically, 'it's all up to you, but I think you should take Mr Stetson's offer'.Ridley had made clear what his stance was in all this, voicing his opinion more than necessary. In spite of everything, I knew that this was my life, Ridley's opinion or personal vendetta was not going to affect my decision in any way, I would not let it. I did the one thiing that had never failed me, visiting my parents. The last flowers I had brought had dried up and the petals blown away by the wind, I removed the dry flowers and replaced them with the fresh ones I came with. The groundskeeper stood far from me but I could feel h
TWENTY-FOUR (2 YEARS AGO)The air was getting colder as the days went on and in spite of the gradually changing weather, Lou and I had yet to call a repair-man to fix our heater, it would only be a while before we decided to stop putting it off. The cold chill of the night that made me pull my sheets to my neck is what reminded me of the fact that it would only get colder. The days had gone by so fast, if it were not for the fact that I was like a giddy teenager counting everday since I had been asked out, I would have lost track of everything. My phone rang with a notification and I excitedly opened it and was filled with excitement when Ashton's name flashed on the screen. I opened his text and smiled when I saw that he would be coming to see me."Let me guess, it's loverboy?" Lou spoke from the kitchen while cooking something and my lack of response answered her rhetorical question. "You guys have been spending too much time together, I feel like I have no social life since I'm no
TWENTY-THREE"This is the exact kind of thing you would expect from Emmett Stetson." Ridley scoffed while rolling his eyes. Immediately after my day had ended, I had rushed to find Ridley mainly because of what had happened and also because I did not have a car. At first after I told him everything he was livid but settled down and had nothing good to say about his father. "What do you think I should do?" I directed the question to Harris, who I had called to come to the apartment and he had arrived shortly after us and I told both of them what had happened at once. Harris remained silent, in deep contemplation."You're going to decline. There's no reason for you to back out, Ashton was the dirty scumbag and it's not like we're going to lose." Ridley spoke before Harris could voice his proffesional opinion-the one I actually sought. "Emmett only went as far as doing this because he knows that we have this won, and he doesn't want to see his precious son crippled right under him." He
TWENTY-TWOMy head felt heavy, so did my feet and the rest of my body. I could hardly make see the things around me but somehow I had managed to get to the penthouse and to the front door. Thank the heavens Lou had ordered an uber because I would have not been able to drive. At first when I spoke of going home, Lou had refused and argued that I sleep over but I had work the next day. I groaned as I opened the door and sauntered inside, a part of me was sad when I did not see Ridley seated or pacing the room because he was worried for me, on the other hand I was glad he wasn't there because I was not ready to argue with him again. I made it to my room and almost instantly fell onto the bed. A full day of exhaustion, annoyance, and beer could make you like that, tired.The sound of the alarm woke me up hours later and I could only slowly raise my body and groggily shuffle from the bed and to the bathroom after turning off the alarm. somehow I got through my morning routine and the sho
TWENTY-ONEThe office had gone quiet, no one talked about Ridley, Ashton and I-well they had not completely stopped but it was like it had become last season's gossip. Everyone already knew that our divorce had been finalised, with only a few strings still remaining, that being the settlement...even though the case was a private one, people always found a way to know about the elite's personal lives. Even when Ridley and I walked around the building together, people were not as nosy as before. Ridley had started keeping a certain amount of distance between us, and my only guess was because of our almost shared-kiss moment. I could not disagree, I had started liking him, and the sudden distancing hurt me. At first, I thought of confiding in Lou but I knew she would shout at me for "jumping" from one Stetson to another. Ridley was a big red flag, I knew that. Even if he liked me now, I could not be certain about his emotions changing or not. He had a notorious reputation, and I was on
TWENTY (2 YEARS AGO)Ashton paced the length of my small living room and I remained seated on the couch with different scenarios of how I would lose my job if Ashton's parents decided to do something about the rumors that had spread like wildfire after the picture of Ashton and I had been posted on an independent gossip website. Ashton's movements were not doing anything to calm down my nerves, his worry only intensified mine by a ten fold.He stopped and knelt down in front of me and took my hands in his, his apologetic and guilty face made me feel so terrible. "I'll fix this, you dont have to worry.""What's going to happen now? Can't you just refute all the rumors?" I asked.He breathed out. "I can but that won't change people's minds. If they've decided that we are in a relationship then they'll stick to it and think I'm just trying keep pur relationship under wraps." I let out an exasperated breath. He was right, even if a few people beleived him, there would always be doubt and







