LOGINEMILIA’S POVCassandra walked into the room like she owned the entire space. She was enjoying my reaction, that much was clear from her expression. She was beaming, excitedly, staring straight into my eyes. I forced myself to look away, focusing my gaze on Julian instead. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to see in his face but his expression was definitely not it. He looked stunned. Just as stunned as I was or even more. It was as though he had no idea she was going to be here. But who could have nominated her for this position if not him? I was confused, but swallowed it, knowing this wasn’t the moment. “Good morning everyone.” She bowed curtly. “Sorry for interrupting, I had to cover up a few things first.” She pulled up a chair right beside me and sat down. “Where are we?” Someone answered her, but I was too tongue-tied to. “We are just about rounding up. It’s a great time to introduce you to the rest of the group.” From his words, I figured he was the one who must have nomin
EMILIA'S POVThis contract was one I have never taken before. Five world-class companies had come together, merged their goals, and aimed to achieve, a bigger goal. And the person who was assigned to oversee the whole job? Me. When Julian mentioned and explained everything to me, I had doubted myself for a few moments, not sure if I was actually fit for the job. I could barely handle two companies without collapsing every other business day and now five. But Julian was hell-bent on seeing that I took charge, he wouldn’t have it any other way and so I just signed the contract and made it official. Now I sat in his office, together with five different company owners, going through the contract and trying to fish out any fault we could. “Clause 14 needs to be revised,” one of the men across the table spoke, tapping his pen lightly on the document in front of him. “The profit-sharing ratio is somewhat ambitious, don’t you think?” I figured that out a while back. Ambitious is such a p
EMILIA'S POVKnowing that Theodore and Julian are going to each try to take me home, I had Bella come to my rescue. She drove my car to the clinic and drove me back home when I was signed out. I could see how they were each trying so hard to be civil with each other. But I know for a fact that one of these days, they are going to snap if they keep being around each other, especially Julian, he doesn't have even half the patience that Theodore has. They were both my employers before anything else and I would love to keep the relationship that way between them. When emotions began to enter the space between them, it's going to be really challenging to work around them. "Are you okay?" Bella asked from the driver's seat. I was at the back, staring at the road absent-mindedly. I moved my eyes to her for a few seconds, then looked away again. "Life isn't always fair.""It's never fair." She responded rather too fast. Like she has been in a position where she also had to question life.
CASSANDRA'S POVI have been lagging. Things are happening around me and I haven't been taking action on them. I need to return to my former self, I need to act. "It's high time you do something vital, she is moving faster than I can afford to catch up. I can't promise to keep her in my grasp for long." I watched the speaker carefully. He was right, we cannot keep her around for long, she is growing rather too fast. "But what do I do, you saw for yourself the kind of person she is. For one, you cannot easily fool her. Secondly, she has more experience than us, even if we want to get back to her through her work, she might detect the error and cancel it out immediately." I kissed my teeth in frustration. She was good. Far too good for my liking and now I have to deal with that. "I have an idea of what can be done. But I am not sure if you will accept it. I mean I know your work is far more important to you than getting revenge." "If the revenge is on her, then nothing is more impo
JULIAN'S POVI was distracted. Very distracted from my reality. I had tried so hard to force my mind to think about anything else but that man being alone with her in the hospital, but nothing worked. My every thought was filled with him. I became so restless to the point where I had to excuse myself from work and drive to the hospital. I didn't stop anywhere until I was right in front of her door. I knocked first before pushing it open. To my utter surprise, she was alone in the room, facing the door with the IV still connected to her hand.“Hey.” I walked in, closed the door softly behind me, and covered the rest of the distance toward her bed. “Hey, Julian.” She forced a smile. I knew it was forced because her genuine smile always reached her eyes. “How are you feeling?” “I feel great, but they wouldn’t let me go.” She whined, resting her head back on the pillow. “They know better than you. They are doing what’s right you just have to exercise a little bit of patience.” “I gu
EMILIA'S POV"Is there anything between the two of you?" Theodore asked again. The sincerity in his tone made me realize I couldn't lie to him, I couldn't keep everything from him; he deserves to know the truth about some part of my life, if not all. He meant nothing but goodness toward me, if I couldn't tell him about my health, then he deserved to know some part of my past. "He was my husband, an ex-husband." I watched his face carefully; he was staring at me with an intense gaze. What I would give to know what was going through his mind at that moment. If only life were that easy. "You were married to him?" He whispered, more to himself, like everything was making sense to him. "It was a contract marriage." I began to explain. "I was fresh out of school with no experience in the business world whatsoever. No company is willing to take the risk of handing their finance to a fresh graduate with no experience even though I have all it takes. When I met him, he was just like them,
A Small BeginningEmilia “Congratulations!”The man’s voice boomed across the small office as his hand grabbed mine and shook it enthusiastically.“Congratulations, Miss Moretti!” he repeated. “Welcome to our company!”I forced a bright smile even though his grip was a little too tight.“Thank you
The InterviewEmilia I woke up earlier than usual that morning and for a few seconds, I stared at the motel ceiling and tried to calm my breathing. Today mattered so much as this interview could decide whether I kept moving forward or sank deeper into the mess my life had become.I sat up slowly
Three Weeks LaterEmilia It had been over three weeks since I moved into the motel, and in a strange way, it felt like a small awakening. Not the kind that comes with happiness, but the kind that forces you to open your eyes whether you want to or not. I had learned how quiet nights could be. I ha
The Weight I CarriedJulian I drove faster than I should have, but I could not slow down. My hands were tight on the steering wheel, and my mind kept replaying what had just happened at home. Emilia’s voice when she said she wanted a divorce stayed in my head. I did not understand what had come ov







