เข้าสู่ระบบRidley's arm did not leave my waist. He stayed at my side like an extension of my body as we walked around, avoiding any unnecessary conversation but still entertaining a few people we deemed worthy of our time. We would have both preferred to skip the entire thing, preferably for a night inside, cuddled up and entertaining each other, but duty called. Honestly, I could have done without making an appearance at the soirée thrown by the Stetsons, but Ridley had convinced me to tag along, promising to stay by my side the entire night.Ridley could not exactly ditch the event, it was being thrown by his family, and even though he despised the ground they walked on, he still made sure to ascertain the fact that he was also a Stetson and would not let his brother overshadow him in any way. I only agreed to come with him after some persuasive words and kisses. An unnerving feeling settled at the bottom of my stomach the moment we walked through the huge doors of the banquet hall. Memories o
WARNING//MATURE CONTENTI was unable to finish the food that was on my plate because of the unbridled happiness that settled at the pit of my stomach. I felt like I could go days on end without food, only staring at the man in front of me. Our eyes met numerous times as we ate. I could not believe that he did all this for me when I doubted his love. He surprised me with a romantic dinner and adorable plushies. It did not matter what he did, I was just happy that he took the time to passionately profess his love to me even when I had not.I love you.I said it back. Somehow the words had just slipped out effortlessly before I could hold back. It had felt so easy, and the words easily rolled off my tongue, burying all the creeping doubts and thoughts. Ridley had stared back at me, first with shock and then a blooming smile, as if still in disbelief and when he collected his thoughts, he pulled me to him and leaned down to kiss me. My body burned at the memory of what happened only a few
Ridley was avoiding me.I was not certain, but that was how it felt. Ridley and I drove together to work every day except when the situation did not allow it. Though for the last few days, he made up useless excuses as to why we could not ride together. At first it was an out-of-town meeting, which I did not find odd, but when he started getting up before me and leaving notes on the dresser, I got worried.'Good morning, my love. I got up first and left early. See you later.' He did not even bother to make up an excuse in today's note, like making a morning run for coffee or an early meeting with clients. I scrunched up the note in my hand and tossed it in the bin before getting ready for work. The last three days had begun like this, and it was pitiful to realise that I had gotten so used to our mornings that not having him around in the morning for only 3 days could affect me so much. We had a routine. I woke up before him, got in the shower and on the better mornings, he would jo
The day went by just as fast as it had started. My mind had mostly been occupied by the benefits I had acquired from the trial. Harris came to the office just after confirming with Lisa if I had reported, and we got down to work. Thankfully, Ashton's team had transferred everything without argument and done everything just as the court had ordered. Harris, as my representative, came to help me smooth the process. For something Harris had insisted would not take long, it sure was taking up my lunch break and mindless scrolling on the phone time. The first couple of hours were silent, filled with the rustling and flipping sounds of paper, the pen against paper, and the clacking of keyboard keys. After some time, we settled into the silence, and Harris broke it after Lisa brought in our second cups of coffee and some food. He suggested that I take a break if I was tired and leave everything to him after he watched me down the coffee in one go."I'm okay, this is my normal," I replied af
The morning was perfect. It was cool and bright. The sun was not too high, nor was it harsh, it was just right. When I woke up, Ridley insisted on continuing to sleep, and so I somehow released myself from our embrace and tangled limbs. My first agenda was to get in a bit of exercise before work, thankfully, Ridley's home gym was available to be abused. I stretched for some time and used the equipment I was comfortable with. When Ridley woke up, I was on the yoga mat with my palms pressed firmly into it as I raised one leg behind me. He stood at the entryway for a few seconds, and I remained on all fours, alternating legs as I kicked backwards, the movement steady and deliberate. I smiled to myself. His gaze remained trained on me, unmoving and clearly distracted."Why didn't you invite me?" He finally spoke after a while.I moved my body to sit on the map and look at him. "I did," I replied, positioning my legs in a butterfly way. "You refused," I added and made a show of doing anoth
TWO-YEARS AGOAshton and I had been dating for two months, and every time I thought it could not get any more perfect, he proved me wrong. We were far beyond infatuation. Every time he was in front of me, I never wanted to let go, and when we were apart, it felt like torture. I looked forward to our morning drive when going to work, and I dreaded the evening drive when he dropped me off at my apartment. Working under Aston was much better than working under Mr Samuels. Everyone in the department was decent with me, and they even tried to earn extra points with Ashton by being extra nice to me when he was around. It was not awful, but I did wish it were not all fake. There was still gossip about what Ashton and I were to each other, and because no response was given to the articles, everyone was free to speculate.I asked Ashton if we could keep our relationship a secret, and he agreed. As things stood, it was all gossip and rumours, nothing had been confirmed, so people did not bother
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
CHAPTER NINETEEN“Oh my god!” I exclaimed with full-on laughter.“Disco overload, I’m diamond, you know I glow…!” Ridley continued singing along with a remote improvised as a microphone to his mouth while the music was loud. His voice cracked multiple times, but it did not hinder his performance. M
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Ridley had finally sorted out the issue about the lawyer—well, more like he had called in a favour from one of his former friends from university who was a very qualified lawyer. When Ridley described all the cases, Harris, his friend had taken on and won, I was amazed, he was an u
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (2 YEARS AGO)Ashton and I had settled into a routine. He would pick me up from my apartment in the morning, and we would drive to work together, of course, I would enter the building before him much to his disdain, and once the day was over, he would drive me back home. I had gro







