Se connecter“You really outdid yourself this time.”Julian smiled as the words slid through the phone. He absolutely adored this kind of praise, and the fact that it was coming from Violeta made it even more satisfying for him. He stood in the open-plan kitchen of his penthouse, jacket discarded over a chair and his sleeves rolled to his forearms.He had been smiling a lot for the past few days, as all of his plans were coming together perfectly. The media and the people were eating up everything perfectly, as they were tearing down both Tristan and Violetta. It was mostly affecting Tristan because he was the higher public figure. The fact that he had practically lost Obsidian was something that Julian relished in so much.“I’ll admit,” Violetta continued, her voice buoyant as she stood in her living room with a full smile on her face, “I had my doubts about all of this even after we spoke. I wasn’t sure you could pull everything together or even anything at all.”“So, you basically thought I was
SERAPHINA“He will see you now.” The secretary said, as she showed me into the office.The lawyer had his eyes fixed on me the moment I walked into the room.“Mrs. Blackwell,” he said, after a moment, as he got up and extended his hand to me, “I was so surprised when you reached out.”I hated the way my spine stiffened at the name now. It felt like I was not exactly worthy of it and that was something that I couldn’t exactly wrap my head around.“They say ignorance is bliss, but I’ve never been particularly fond of being blindsided.” I said, as soon as I sat down.The lawyer didn’t react. He merely regarded me over the rim of his glasses, his expression neutral in the way men like him perfected over decades of delivering inconvenient truths.“I would like to know exactly what you want, so I can properly render aid.”“I need to understand exactly what kind of marriage I’m in,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. “And whether it was legal in the first place.”He opened a folder o
TRISTAN“Get me everything you can find on Julian.”I said it the second the front door closed behind me, my voice sharp enough to cut through the night. The lock clicked into place, sealing the house and everything that had just happened inside it away from me. I didn’t look back. If I did, I might have gone right back in and put my fist through something that didn’t deserve it. They were still throbbing now from coming in contact with Julians face earlier.I walked down the steps slowly, my phone already pressed to my ear, and my jaw locked so tight it ached.On the other end of the line, there was silence at first.“That’s a broad request,” My private investigator finally said. His voice was cautious, as he no doubt couldn’t believe the request I had just made. “You know I’ve done work for both of you.”“I’m well aware of that,” I replied, not slowing my pace as I crossed the driveway. “But right now, I need you to do this one thing for me and I need it to be kept on a low.”There
SERAPHINA“Was he ever even going to tell me, or was I supposed to find out about it the way I always do, by accident?” I said to myself in the car as I headed back to the house. My hands were still shaking on the steering wheel as I sat there for a moment longer than necessary before coming down and entering into the compound. He fucking knew all this time and he said nothing to me.The only way that he would have known was because he had looked into me and that was something that didn’t sit well with me at all. I wondered how long it had been, maybe before he even handed me the contract to start with. He most likely knew there was no way I was going to refuse the money because of it. With every step I took, my curiosity got even more. I really wanted to know why he had his people spying on me and digging through my life. Pulling my strings before I even knew I was tangled in them.What happened to the trust he’d been preaching for the longest time now?I reached the front door, m
TRISTAN“He will see you now.” The secretary said, as she gestured at me.I was so furious as I sat in the waiting room. I could tell exactly what they were doing now and it was pissing me off so much. The fact that I had never had to wait to see him before, but suddenly with everything going on he felt like this was the right time to exercise powers like this.Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the office and my grandfathers lawyer was sitting right there. He had a frown on his face as he looked at me.“I am not going to beat around the bush, Tristan.” He said, “You have to step down from Obsidian completely.”The words hit the room like a gunshot event though I was already expecting it. I stared across the desk at the man, sitting there with his gray hairs peeking out everywhere.“Say that again,” I said slowly, as if I had not heard him the first time.He didn’t hesitate or try to soften his words.“You need to voluntarily step back from Obsidian,” he repeated. “Effective immedia
SERAPHINA“I don’t even know where to start.” I said, as I could still hear how shaky my voice sounded right in the moment.I had cried so much right from the moment I got into the room that I felt if I cried anymore, it may be blood that would come out and not tears anymore. The whole house felt like a cage right now and I just wanted out. Out of the entire situation to be specific.Naomi didn’t interrupt me as I vented out all of my frustrations to her on the phone. It was one of the things I liked about her. I could call her at any time of the day and she would be willing to listen to me no matter what.“Everything just… went up in smoke,” I continued, staring at the wall across from me like it might answer back. “One minute I’m on stage about to introduce Requiem to the world, and the next it’s like someone lit a match and walked away smiling.”“God,” Naomi said softly. “Sera…”“They leaked footage of me,” I said, the words still tasting unreal. “From Velour. Pictures and videos a
TRISTAN“You remember that girl from the club?” I began, as I dodged Julian’s glove which was aimed at my jaw and countered with a sharp hook to his ribs.“What girl?” He replied, visibly in pain.I had not known how to bring up the whole conversation since. It was better to just rip it off now ins
SERAPHINA“First of all, if you are being serious, I will have my legal team draft out a contract,” he said calmly. “You will review it with independent counsel and once it is signed, then we will go about the necessary procedures needed to get married.”As he spoke, I still couldn’t believe that
SERAPHINA“You weren’t wrong about how good the food here is.” I said, as we walked out of the restaurant.“This is exactly why you do not argue with me.” He replied, “I know all of the best places in New York, even though I do not really have the time to visit them anymore.”“Oh, please.” I said,
SERAPHINA“Wow,” I heard Darren say, as he pushed the door of my office open and stepped inside. He was accompanied by that fly of his; Greta, who was always buzzing by his side. “That was honestly inspiring.”I looked up from my desk slowly, pen still in my hand as I met his grin with a flat stare







