LOGINAysha POV
"I see you finally got that place cleaned up." Adrian said as he walked through the door. I nodded, still a little shaken up. "Good. Well I need you to get dressed, there's an event this evening and unfortunately you'll be going with me. Don't embarrass me with your plain Jane look. Try to look less ugly. Be ready in two hours." With that he went out of the room. I checked the time on my phone, it was almost four. I quickly went to take a quick shower to get a fresh look. I already had a dress in mind. In less than two hours, I was finally done getting ready. My husband hates waiting, so I knew I had to be quick before he leaves me. I had on a black strapless gown, with a slit at the side. It was a present from my mother. For my look, I went with a little more flashy makeup, definitely not my style but it will do for tonight. I curled my hair, put on my LV heels, sprayed my perfume and I was ready to head out. "Took you long enough." He said as I walked down the stairs. "I was ready in under two hours like you asked." I said quietly. He looked me over once, slow and unbothered, like he was checking inventory. "You actually don't look terrible." He said, fixing his cufflinks. "Don't go thinking that's a compliment." "I wasn't going to." "Good. Any minute longer and I would have left your ass at home." With that he walked out. That was it. No compliment. Nothing. I walked out after him and got into the car. An hour later, we pulled up to a high rise hotel. Cameras flashing in our faces, people screaming and pushing to get a shot of us. It was a lot. I wasn't used to this type of attention. We finally headed inside to the ballroom. It was beautiful. The ambiance, the people, everything was beautiful. In no time, we were occupied with different people and pulled into different conversations. Though Adrian did more of the talking and I was just a pretty handbag. All I did was smile and reply a few times. Eventually I got left out. I guessed he got tired of pretending to be a lovely couple, so he sent me on my way with a "You know what dear, I'm sure you're tired and bored with all this work stuff. Why don't you go have fun with the rest of the ladies over there. Get a drink and relax. I'll come get you later baby." Excuse. He kissed me, making the old couple in front of us smile. "Aww, young love." "I love you." That word felt strange to me because he never says that unless we're in front of other people like right now. "I love you too." With that I walked away to go get a drink. I really needed one anyway. "Oh Madam Aysha. What an unexpected surprise seeing you here." Of course, she would be here. "Hi Mira. I didn't think I'd see you here." I forced a smile. "Well, I was meant to be Sir Adrian's plus one to this event but I had an emergency, that I thought I couldn't make it but surprisingly I did." She smiled, slow and deliberate. "But I guess since Sir needed a partner so bad because according to what was required, he needed to come with his wife. He settled with taking you instead.... Oops! So sorry I forgot you're his wife. My bad Madam." "It's fine." I said, keeping my voice flat. "You're not upset are you?" She tilted her head like she was genuinely concerned. "I mean honestly Madam, I feel terrible about the whole mix up." "Do you?" "Of course." She pressed her hand to her chest. "The last thing I would ever want is to cause problems between you and Sir Adrian. You're his wife. I respect that completely." "Then maybe you should act like it." She blinked, then smiled wider. "You're feisty. I like that. Sir Adrian always said you had a temper." "He talks about me to you?" "We talk about a lot of things." She shrugged lightly."I mean, you have to understand how these things work. Sir Adrian has certain... needs. And certain standards." "I'm his wife, Mira." "Of course you are." She smiled again. "That's exactly why he brought you tonight. Rules are rules." She mockingly apologized before walking away. I was so mad that all I could do was laugh. He was meant to come with his wife but yet I was made a second option. I can't believe he was really about to present her as his wife to his business partners. I kept picturing how the whole situation would have gone if Mira didn't cancel on him. I poured my drink angrily down my throat. A tear threatened to drop as my throat burned from the taste. Ready to leave, I walked up to him and Mira talking. "I'm tired, can we leave already?" I said to him. He looked at me like I had just interrupted a very important conversation. "If you want to leave, then go. Besides I don't need you anymore since Mira is here." "Adrian." I lowered my voice. "Don't do this here." "Do what?" He frowned like he was genuinely confused. "I'm simply saying you're free to go. Isn't that what you want?" "I want my husband to take me home." He stared at me for a second, then laughed softly like I'd said something mildly amusing. "And by the way, don't take the car. I need it to take Mira home. Order a ride or better still walk. You need the workout anyway." Mira laughed beside him, putting her hand on his chest like it belonged there. "Sir! Don't be mean." He stared at her smiling. "But it's true." He said, walking away with her. I stood there quietly, trying to control the tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I needed to clear my head so I decided to walk. A few minutes later, heavy rain came pouring down. There was nowhere to hide from it, so I just stood there crying my heart out and letting the rain wash it all away. I finally gathered myself together and got a cab home. "Hopefully, tomorrow will be better for both of us." I said, smiling sadly.Seraphine POV“Wait!” I said, making him stop.He slowly turned around, the glass still in his hand. The tired look in his eyes made my chest ache again.“You know this is all because I want revenge for everything Adrian has put me through,” I said. “And I still have to find out which one of them tried to kill me.”He kept staring at me without saying anything, so I continued.“If it wasn’t for that, Adrian wouldn’t have this much access to me. I promise you, whatever was between me and him died five years ago with the name Aysha. There’s nothing left between us now.”I took a breath.“All I want from him is to ruin him the same way he ruined me. Once I’m done, he’ll be completely out of our lives.”I stepped closer to him. From this distance, I could see how tired he really looked. It wasn’t just because of the last few days. He looked like he had been carrying this weight for a long time.“Please be patient with me,” I said quietly. “Just give me a little more time and keep helping
Seraphine POVThe look on his face told me everything I needed to know.He still didn’t want me there.“It’s fine if you don’t want to talk to me,” I said quietly.I turned around, ready to leave before I embarrassed myself any further.“Wait!”I stopped.My eyes widened in surprise as I slowly turned back to him.Diego didn’t say anything. He simply stepped aside and opened the door wider, giving me enough room to walk inside.I hesitated for a second before stepping into his apartment.He closed the door behind me, and I walked over to the couch. I sat down quietly, my hands resting awkwardly in my lap as I watched him walk toward the small bar in the corner of his living room.He picked up a bottle of whiskey and poured some into a wine glass.I watched him take a sip before he looked at me and raised an eyebrow.“What?” I asked, confused.“You said you wanted to talk, so talk.”My stomach tightened.“Uhm…”I suddenly felt like I was sitting in front of a judge waiting for my sente
Seraphine POV"You need to eat something," Alice said, trying to convince me to eat for what felt like the hundredth time that week.After I told her everything that had happened, she decided to stay with me for the week. She also made it her mission to get me to talk to her brother.Unfortunately, Diego wasn't making that easy. He had stopped talking to her too because he knew she was staying with me. Apparently, he had decided that if he wasn't going to speak to me, then nobody close to me was getting a free pass either."I'm not hungry. I'll eat when I get hungry," I said, pushing the food around my plate."When will that be?" Alice asked, raising her voice. "You've barely eaten anything all week. You keep going to work on an empty stomach, and you're still expecting your body to function normally."I sighed, and she gave me the kind of look a mother would give a child who had just done something stupid."I know he's my brother, but if he wants to be stubborn and hardheaded and ref
Diego POVI watched her name on the screen until the call stopped. I didn't answer.At noon, Marcus called."You didn't come in for the morning training session," he said without bothering with a greeting."I had client meetings.""You always have client meetings when you want to avoid something."I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes."How are you actually doing?" he asked. "Not the version you give everyone else. I mean tell me honestly how you feel.""I'm working.""That's not an answer.""It's the only answer I have right now, Marcus."He sighed. "She's called me too."My eyes opened. "How many times?""Twice."Something tightened in my chest."What did you tell her?""I told her it wasn't my place to fix this for either of you." He paused. "But I'll tell you this. Running yourself into the ground with back-to-back meetings isn't going to make the pain disappear. You're only delaying the moment when it catches up with you.""Noted.""Diego.""I have a one o'clock."I ended
Diego POV "You need to calm down and take it easy with the drinks," Marcus said, but I barely heard him. All I could think about was Seraphine kissing Adrian.That sick bastard didn't deserve her. He never had. But I didn't have the energy to fight him over something that wasn't mine and clearly never would be."Are you even listening to me?" Marcus asked again, raising his voice this time.He reached across the counter and took the whiskey glass from my hand before I could drink from it again."I'm listening, okay?" I said, dragging a hand down my face. "I just can't get it out of my head."Marcus placed the glass on the counter."Diego, you've had four of these in the last hour. This isn't helping you.""It's helping enough.""It's not helping at all," he argued. "You're just numbing yourself for twenty minutes, and the moment you sober up, everything will come back. Trust me. I've been exactly where you're sitting.""Then let me numb it for the twenty minutes I have," I replied.I
Seraphine POV"Ma'am, what's wrong?"I looked up and found Steven standing a few feet away from me. His usual calm expression had changed, and there was a clear look of concern on his face."Nothing," I said quickly, wiping my cheeks before pushing myself to my feet. My legs felt weak, and I had to steady myself for a moment.Steven watched me carefully. "Are you sure, ma'am?""Yes." I forced myself to straighten up and picked up my shoe from the ground. "Let's go."He didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue with me either. He simply followed me toward the car, staying one step behind as if he was trying to decide whether he should ask more questions.I was grateful that he didn't, because the last thing I wanted was to explain why I'd been sitting outside crying like my entire world had just fallen apart.When I reached the car, I opened the back door and got inside.Steven was about to close the door when he suddenly stopped."Ma'am, what about Mr. Steele?"My throat tightened at
Aysha POVI woke up with a positive mind, excited about the day already. I looked to my side and noticed Adrian didn't sleep in last night."Where the hell did he go to.""Didn't he sleep home last night?"I got up, quickly showered and got dressed. I stepped outside, trying to find any trace of hi
CHAPTER ONE Aysha POV I woke up to giggling. Not just any giggling, the kind that's too comfortable, too familiar, the kind that doesn't belong in a married home at this hour. I sat up slowly, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. The sound was coming from across the hallway. Adrian, My husba
Aysha POV:"Where in the world is this man." I said to no one in particular.I've been waiting eagerly for Adrian to come home. I don't know why he's taking so long to get here."What if he decides not to come home tonight." I bite my lips anxiously."Oh fuck, I can't afford for my plans to get rui
CHAPTER TWOAysha POV"Ma, what have you done?"Martha's voice broke through everything. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding."Ma, you're bleeding, come on, get up, let me help you to your room."She reached for me but I pulled back gently."It's okay, I have to clean this up first,







