Mag-log inBarbara didn’t know what she expected.But it certainly wasn’t the mind-shifting confession.Want to know the part she found even more heartbreaking?Seeing that proud grin on the face of the man she had prior to this revelation, regarded as her saving grace.“How could you, Uncle Kenneth? You knew he and I had something, and you want me to kill him? To what end will you stop at nothing to own me?”“You don’t have to kill him, dear niece,” Kenneth pointed out. “That is the point of all of this, love. Not for you to kill him, but to bind you to me for good,” he corrected, his grin widening into something truly demonic. “If I gave you a stranger, you’d kill him in the blink of an eye and walk away. But by giving him to you? If you kill him, you’ll never be able to look at a ‘normal’ life again, anyway. You won’t be able to live with losing a man you love at your own hand.”A man she loved.Barbie would have laughed at that had this not been a pretty serious situation.She didn’t ‘love’
The music was still vibrating in her bones when Barbie pulled away from Knight. Fear shone in her eyes, but only for a split second before it vanished, only to be replaced with stone-cold calm, carefully masking the rage that threatened to burst out of her.Barbie, like a woman possessed, tore her arm away from the man she was attracted to, the warmth that had been emanating from gone, replaced with an almost crippling chill of dread.Her legs moved before she even realized it.“Dahlia—!”She could hear him calling after her, begging her to wait, to stop and tell him what was suddenly wrong.She didn’t look back.She couldn't.Barbara was grateful that at least he was sticking to the nickname he insisted on keeping for her, but in the state she was in, she didn’t even think that she would care if he had called her by her full government.None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was the shadow on the balcony, and getting to him before it was too late.Barbara melted into t
Barbara’s first instinct, was to feign ignorance.“What are you talking about?” Even through her thick mask, her perfect act of confused lady in distress was spot on, very believable in fact. If only he believed it.But alas, he didn’t.If anything, her reaction placed an amused smirk on his lips.“Ah, ignorance... right.” He teased her, but she shook her head, surprisingly staying in character.“I don’t know what, or who, you’re talking about.”“Clearly, you’re in denial. Alright, I’ll bite.” He smirked, pulling her smack against him, the act so sudden and so erotic that it stole a gasp out of her.Knight didn’t allow her to catch that breath. He quickly turned her around, luring her to the dance floor, her torn dress already forgotten by the two of them.“Wh… what are you doing?” She tried to protest when she recovered, “One, I don’t know who you are, two, I don’t dance, like ever.”Knight’s lips quirked, an almost smile gracing his lips, “Liar.” He said softly.“Look, I’m not letti
There he was. KnightLaughing at something, one of the men said, a low sound that vibrated across the floor and hit her square in the chest. For a moment, she forgot the job, forgot Kenneth, forgot the years of resentment curdled inside her. All she could think was how he had once looked at her—bare skin, dark room as the world stripped away.She swallowed hard and forced herself to move.A waiter nearly collided with her, sending expensive champagne splashing onto the marble. Heads turned again, amused, vindicated in their thoughts that her size was an inconvenience. “So sorry, madam,” the young man stammered, pale with terror.“It’s fine,” she murmured, though outwardly, her cheeks burned in mock embarrassment.Yes, the clumsy fat woman.The receiver of all the ridicule.She had lived it all before, allowed her to once upon a time, hurt her even… but not anymore.Her pulse was a drumbeat beneath her skin as she reached for another drink, pretending to admire the floral arrangements
The night smelled of fresh rain and red roses.A thousand lights shimmered through the glass outline of the Mariotte Hotel, with every single chandelier up above dancing in its own lost world, like small individual galaxies in motion.This Leukemia Awareness Gala, which Kenneth had forced her hand to attend, was exactly the kind of spectacle that old money adored.Polished marble, champagne pyramids, laughter trained to sound expensive. It seemed that, no matter how hard she tried, life kept tossing her into the very world she was so desperately trying to escape. As frustrating as it seemed, Barbara recognized it as fate’s own twisted sense of humor… one she tried her best not to be offended by. An A-grade string quartet sat at the top balcony, playing a delicate and mournful number, probably mourning all the lives that had been lost to the deadly disease. The grand staircase that led to them had been so graciously designed… in fact, the whole ballroom, really, had all been made up t
The restaurant where Barbara had agreed to meet her uncle for dinner was one of those exclusive places that screamed wealth and yelled it so loud, begging for the whole world to take a look.Chandeliers dripped with crystals like raindrops frozen in time, their soft white glow laced with gold, reflecting on the elegant mahogany tables littered across the space.Every surface gleamed with an almost tacky elegance… gold chairs, diamond-studded glasses, fragile porcelain… large-bellied men with pretty stick-perfect women dangling from their arms, playing the perfect role of trophy wives and girlfriends…Barbara hated it.Places like this reminded her too much of her past life as Barbara Neil Aryan, the woman who hung out with the upper echelon. It reminded her of the weak woman she had been, the one who never felt like she belonged.At least tonight, she was putting up with this moment for one last time, and then she’d be done with her insane godfather for good. Now, I know what you may







