Is Ben joking? He has to, right? “Tell me you’re joking,” I scoff as I say this to him, but he looks dead serious.“I wish I was. Mitch is on his way back to America as we speak. He says that he is going to explain it all to our parents; him cheating on you with me, absolutely everything,” He replies to me as he sips his hot coffee.He keeps adjusting his hoodie to cover his face as if he is hiding from someone or hiding a part of his face.“We fought about it last night at the hotel, it is where we have been staying since we found out that you were here in China. We came here to try to make things right with you, but something changed in Mitch when he came back from seeing you yesterday,” Ben continues to explain, and I listen to him attentively.“He was distant, and when I told him that I wanted him to be mature enough to choose between you and me, he went ballistic,” Ben says as he sniffles.“And that’s how you got that bruise on your face,” I guess, and he nods.“Yeah, he was so
“He seems…very masculine,” Ben comments once Chris has left, and I chuckle.“That’s a distinct way of describing a person,” I reply to him as I sit next to him on the couch.“I guess he does,” I say after I take a few seconds to think about it. That adjective fits Chris perfectly for some reason.“I didn’t know you were gay,” I look at Ben as I say this in a soft understanding tone.“Neither did I,” He replies to me in a similar soft tone.“You and I know that I dated only girls in high school, and at some point, I was even very homophobic,” He reminds me, and I nod slowly.I remember that Ben used to bully this one kid in his class who was homosexual. I told him to stop over and over but he never did. The kid had to transfer schools because it got too much, his name was Kelvin.“Yup,” I say in response to him.“I bet Kelvin would laugh his a** off when he finds out that I actually like men too,” He mumbles.“Maybe,” I put a rogue strand of hair back behind my ear as I say this.“You
“Shame? When have I ever brought shame to this family?”I ask him in annoyance. I feel triggered by what my dad just said. I am pissed, and I am also hurt.“I have done everything that you people have wanted me to do, I have been the most perfect child. Why else do you people want from me?!” I raise my voice.“You don’t have to keep talking to them, you could end the call right now,” Ben whispers to me, but I ignore him.“You? Done everything that we told you? Did you do medicine in college as we advised you to?” My dad laughs as he asks.“You know what? I am done with you people trying to control my life, I am sick of it. You two call yourselves parents, but is that true? Do you know the amount of time I felt like I was a stranger in my own family?” I reply to him, we are literally having a full-blown argument.“I don’t like that you’re painting us to be bad parents,” My mom joins the conversation again.“Where’s Ben? Is he hearing all the crap that his sister is saying?” She adds as
I stare at the text for a full minute before the sound of the elevator brings me back to reality. It was like time stopped, and all there was me and the possibility of getting my wife back. But the sad and messed up thing is that this is a scam.I received messages like this in the past when my wife and child had just died. I pursued them before but in the end, I realized that all those f*ckers wanted was to get a piece of the billionaire’s money.I take a deep breath and I place the phone back into my pocket as I continue my walk toward the conference room. Once I reach the room, I push open the glass door, and the eyes of everyone in the room land on me.“So let’s get this meeting started, shall we?” I say in an authoritative and confident voice that immediately places me in control of the entire room.***Linda Wells’ POV***I can not believe that my parents are making me marry a man that broke my heart and shamed me. A man that did not even have the guts to tell me to my face tha
His lips crash gently into mine and I allow him to claim me as his. I was right, his lips are softer than cotton. The intimacy we are sharing right now makes me feel so lightheaded. My heart is beating so fast against my rib cage.We finally break the kiss and the both of us stare into each other’s eyes. His eyes are full of desire and passion, causing me to bite my bottom lip softly by instinct.“That was perfect,” He whispers, and I giggle.He then relaxes on the couch by retiring from his upright sitting position and laying back.“I don’t want you to go back to America,” His words swirl in my mind, and for a second, I contemplate on not going. But I know all that is just a fantasy, I could never be brave enough to disobey my parents, though I wish I was.“That’s not your decision, and apparently not mine,” I say in a breathy way while sighing.We sit in silence for a few minutes as the horror film plays on the TV; it actually feels calming and not awkward.Just sitting here with Ch
“That’s impossible,” I laugh, but the lady’s face remains serious.“You dragged me from my own initiation for this? You can not be serious,” I say as I try to walk past her so I can get back to the event which has already begun but she stops me.“She told me everything,” Her voice is full of disgust for me, and that shakes my nerves a bit. Does she know what I did?“I highly doubt that, dear,” I fold my arms on my chest.“How do you even sleep at night?” Now she sounds close to angry.“With a bed, a pillow, and a duvet,” I reply to her cockily.“She was the freaking grandmaster, and you were her favorite disciple!” The lady raises her voice, and I sigh shakily.“Violet Kingston was a slut, and in no way worthy to be a grandmaster, and you damn right know it,” I say to her in an icy tone.“That still did not give you the right to have her killed…and her child,” She chokes on her words, almost as if she is about to cry.I roll my eyes in response.“Your desperation for power led you to
“Hello?” Comes the voice through the phone. It is a guy and he sounds vaguely familiar.All the words disappear from my mind and I don’t know what to say in response. I just didn’t think someone would answer, let alone a real person, and not a machine with a message asking for money in exchange for information.“Hello?” The guy says again, and I clear my throat, preparing to reply as confident as I can.“This is Chris Kingston, may I know whom I am speaking with?” My voice manages to sound strong and confident.“Oh,” The guy replies as he chuckles.“It’s Jason Pace from the company, I am the one that wants to buy in as a senior partner,” He says in a totally normal tone; as if he did not send me a message about my wife being alive.“Is this about the meeting that your secretary set up for us? It’s three days from now,” He informs me, while I try to understand what the hell is happening.Does this guy think he can disrespect my wife and expect a pat on the back? “Jason Pace, right?” I
“Ms. Wells, the moment you took our miracle drug, you became a property of The Witnesses,” Victoria says as she reaches for the glass of champagne on the table.She takes a long sip, releases a satisfied sigh, and places the glass back on the table.“Property, my a**,” Chris says, and I stop him from saying more. I want to hear all that she has to say. I want to know what I got myself into when I took that drug.“I can’t just sit here and let her call you property,” He defends himself.“Chris…” I beg him to stop.“Thank you, but I would like to hear what Victoria has to say,” I tell him, and he stares at me for a brief second before finally giving in.“Okay,” He says in a breathy way as he reaches for his own glass of champagne on the table. He downs the whole thing in a few seconds before placing the glass back on the table.“There were over twenty people that took that drug, and none of them survived. I was not too surprised considering that it is a newly developed drug,” Victoria b