EUGENE“Where are you going? You barely slept overnight." Mom asked me as I got downstairs, she was standing by the door.“I'll sleep when I come back, I have to see someone now and it's kind of urgent,” I said and made my way towards the door when she stopped me again."Is it Kyle?” Who do you want to go and see?" She asked me, raising one of her eyebrows with her arms around her.“No, I need to leave now Mom," I whined.“Do you still think it's wise to keep secrets from me? Is there anything you do that I don't end up finding out about? Just spill already.” She said,I sighed, knowing she wouldn't allow me to leave without telling her what she just asked me."Damien, I'm going to see Damien. Can I leave now?”"Oh, is there something I don't know here, why are you going to see him this early?”I resisted the urge to say the words that wanted to come out, but I just had to shut it. I calmed down a bit before replying to her.“I didn't see him at the party yesterday, I need to see him
DAMIEN “Don't ever try to meddle in my business again, especially my life currently. You're no longer a part of it." Shawna said then walked out of the room. I had an emotionless look on my face as she left the room. I had a series of emotions coursing through me as she left the room, it felt like she was leaving my life right now. The words made my heart twist weirdly, it's like watching your high school crush kiss your bully, that kind of hurt and pain that'd leave someone breathless. “What exactly are you doing to me, Shawna?" I asked myself as I fell back on the bed. I lay there for a minute before standing up to take my bath. I need the shower, all the grime and dirt from last night need to be washed away. I got into the shower and took a very cold shower. My body feels so different from before, I feel slightly better compared to before even. "Uh, it's time time to get the fuck out of here already," I mumbled then started packing up, I took just my phone car keys, an
SHAWNA I got out of his car with my phone pressed to my ear, I only looked back once to tell him thank you, and that was all. “Can you repeat what you just said please, I wasn't listening," I asked Liam on the phone. “I said where are you now, do you need me to come pick you up? I'm at your house right now." He said. “I'll get home very soon, let's say twenty minutes, so I'll see you soon, you don't need to stress yourself, I've gotten a cab already," I told him. “Oh, okay then. I'll be waiting for you here." He mumbled. "Yes, thank you,” I said then hung up. I let out a very deep breath and then looked for a cab, I saw that Damien still had his car on that one spot till I entered the cab and left. He should just really leave me alone, I don't want to have anything to do with him again at all. I want to start a life without him, I badly want to forget him, but seeing him again is making it so hard. And the fact that we had sex this morning is crazier, I can't believe we
SHAWNAHis head tilted to the direction of the paper, I ran back outside to call anyone, either a doctor or a nurse but they were coming in already.“Please move aside ma'am, we have to attend to him now." The doctor who attended to him the other day rushed in with two nurses behind him.I did as he said and just stood by the side as they prodded Grandfather with a lot of things. They did that for five minutes or so before the doctor took off the stethoscope around his neck, and he turned to me.“It's as though he only woke up for a reason, he's not responsive again for now. He's back into a coma, that's all we could get. I guess he has told you something before he slipped back into unconsciousness.” He said."Yes, he told me something. So there's nothing again, for now, nothing at all.” I mumbled.I feel really sad that he's back to how he was again, I thought he was awake already for real.“I can detect that he's healing again, he's responding to treatment, it's just the next time h
EUGENE“Good morning ma'am, how was your weekend?" My assistant asked me as soon as I got to the office.“It was very fine, thank you. How was yours too?" I asked her back politely, the last thing I'd want to have here is to not have a good relationship with the workers, especially my assistant.So I've been trying as much as I can to be friendly with them.“It was fine too." She said as she followed me into the office with her book in hand.“I won't be doing too much today, I just want to explore the empire, I want to see everywhere and not just this building,” I told her."Well noted ma'am, your wish is my command, I'll make provision for that now.” She walked out of my office, leaving the steaming cup of coffee she came in with.If there's anything I love about this position, the coffees would be number one, they're so nice, thick, and creamy.I don't even know what they do to make it this rich and different from other ones I've drank before. I closed my eyes and revealed its delic
SHAWNA“What?" I asked back with a deep frown etched into my face and confusion swirling in my eyes.“Get married to me, I just said that." He repeated those words. I had to rack my brain on what marriage means again because he can't be for real right now.“I don't think you understand what I'm saying or you know who I am, I don't even know you, you also don't know me." I almost screamed.“I understand you, you're Shawna and you're meant to be the head of the Lancaster empire because your grandfather handed it over to you." “And now you need my help with getting it back, I also need your help with getting married to me. It's a win-win situation for us, we both get something in the end.” He said.So he did understand everything I just narrated, and he knows me now. Why then does he want to get married to me? It's just so funny and sounds so crazy to me.“Why should we get married to each other when we don't even know each other? What if I'm a gold digger and I end up taking all your m
DAMIENEugene looked behind herself to see the person who was stopping her from slapping Shawna.She tried to pull her hand away from his but he tightened his hold on her hand. I had seen and saw everything that was going on, it was when she wanted to hit Shawna that I knew I had to step in.Shawna looked up from the ground with her hand guarding her face in anticipation of the slap. When she saw me, her eyes widened.“Who the fuck is this?" Eugene asked with anger evident on her face.She turned her head and when she saw that it was me, she immediately smiled, getting rid of that glare on her face.“Hey, I didn't see you there, I was just having a peaceful conversation with Shawna." She lied through her teeth, still keeping up with that fake smile.I dropped her hand as though it was a disease and she'd infected me with it, so I cleaned my hand with my handkerchief carefully.“You and I know you're lying, Eugene. Why are you this schemy and wicked?" I asked her. The people around us
SHAWNAI looked at Damien to see him equally confused as I was, I gently dragged my children back to avoid further embarrassment.“What do you mean by that? Don't you want this job anymore, or you'll say you don't know me?" Damien said, refraining from using foul words around the children."It's an order from above, sir. And you're allowed to go in, but not with them.” He said, pointing at my children and me.“What do you even mean by that? Who's the ‘above’ you're talking about? Don't they have a name? Get out of my way this instant!” Damien ordered him through gritted teeth."We'll just leave, Damien. Don't worry about us, I'll look for other places myself, thanks for offering though." I made to leave with my children but he stopped me."No, no, you don't have to do that, I'll get this sorted out in no time, I'm sure he's just bluffing, just give me a little time." He then turned back to the guy with a glare on his face.I just don't want more embarrassment, I've incurred a lot of t
PHOEBEI sat on my bed staring at nothing. My eyes were sore from crying, but no more tears came. I felt empty. Numb.A soft knock pulled me out of my thoughts. I blinked and looked up."Come in," I said quietly.To my surprise, it wasn’t Winnie. It was my grandmother."Grandma?" I said, standing up.She walked in slowly, her eyes scanning my face like she could read every thought running wild in my head. She didn’t say anything at first. She just came straight to me and pulled me into a hug. No words, no questions, just warmth. And in that moment, I cracked."Oh, my sweet girl," she whispered into my hair. "What’s wrong?"I hugged her tighter, and the tears came again, harder this time. I couldn’t stop them even if I tried. The sobs came from somewhere deep, somewhere I didn’t know still ached this much."I feel like I don’t know him," I sobbed, my voice shaking. "I feel like everything I believed was a lie."She didn’t say anything right away. Just rubbed my back gently, like she us
RAMONThe moment I saw her, my heart stopped.There she was, Phoebe. Standing by the garden path with the sun behind her, making her hair glow like it always used to when we’d sit on the porch together. I couldn’t move at first. I just stared.“Phoebe,” I said, finally stepping forward.She looked up, and our eyes met, but the look on her face hit me like a punch in the gut. No warmth. No relief. Just surprise… and something that felt like pain and disappointment rolled into one.She turned away instantly, like she couldn’t get away fast enough.“Wait…Phoebe, wait!” I rushed forward.She didn’t stop. She picked up her pace, but I caught up to her. I reached out and lightly grabbed her arm. “Please. Don’t go. Just let me talk.”“Let go of me, Ramon,” she said, her voice low and cold.I did. I stepped back, hands raised. “Okay. I’m sorry. I just… I wasn’t expecting to see you. I didn’t think you’d come out here.”“Well, I didn’t think I’d run into you,” she snapped. “Yet here we are.”“
BILLYI watched the door close behind Phoebe as she walked out of the room. My eyes followed her, but she didn’t even glance back. She just left.Jasper was standing beside me, arms folded, a puzzled look on his face. We both turned slowly to look at Winnie, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed. Her hands were clasped together, and she looked like she was trying not to say too much.“What’s going on?” I asked, breaking the silence first. “She just left us standing here.”“Yeah,” Jasper added. “She looked upset. And Ramon walked out earlier, looking like someone kicked his soul out. What’s happening?”Winnie looked up at us and sighed. “It’s… complicated.”Jasper raised an eyebrow. “Complicated how?”She stood up slowly, smoothing her shirt. “It’s something you should really hear from Phoebe.”“But she’s not exactly giving out answers right now, is she?” I said. “We’re her brothers. We have a right to know what’s happening with her.”“I agree,” Jasper added, nodding. “Did she r
PHOEBEThat morning, I woke up to the quiet hum of birds outside the window. For once, I didn’t have to rush to work or pretend everything was fine. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying not to think too much.The soft floral curtains swayed gently with the breeze, and for a moment, everything felt peaceful. But that peace didn’t reach inside me. I felt like I was just floating, present in body, but far from okay. My eyes were heavy from lack of sleep, and my chest ached from holding in tears all night. Still, I stayed there, wrapped in Winnie’s guest blanket, letting the silence stretch as long as it could.Winnie had helped sneak me into her house late last night, and I was grateful."Are you going to tell your parents you’re here?" she asked softly that morning as she came into the room with a cup of warm tea.I sat up slowly, blinking away the crust from my eyes. "There’s no need. They’ll just ask questions I’m not ready to answer."She nodded and handed me the cup. The mug
RAMONI stood there for a long time, watching Phoebe walk away. Her words echoed in my head like a sharp slap: “I never want to see you again.” I wanted to chase after her, to make her listen, to explain everything. But I couldn’t. Not when I didn’t even have the answers she needed.Not when everything in my life was already broken beyond repair.Maybe she was right to leave. Maybe this was the best thing for her. That’s what I kept telling myself as I dragged myself back to my uncle’s house. It was late, and the street was too quiet, like even the night wanted nothing to do with me.When I stepped inside, Uncle Richard looked up from the couch. He was lounging like a king in his robe, glass of whiskey in hand, the flickering TV light painting shadows across his aging face. He looked too calm for someone who had just helped me destroy the only thing that ever made sense in my life.“Well, look who’s back,” he said, a slow smile curling at the corners of his lips. “I take it she finall
PHOEBEMy whole body was sore. My dress was torn, my wrists burned from the ropes, and my eyes stung from crying. I was huddled in a corner of that cold, dark room, shivering as the last of the men ran out like rats. One second, they were setting up cameras, saying the most disgusting things, and the next, they were gone. Just like that.It made no sense. None of it did. Why would they leave me? What scared them off?I was too weak to stand, too confused to think straight. My head was pounding, and I could still feel whatever they had drugged me with swirling through my system. My heart was racing so fast I could barely catch my breath. My legs were pulled to my chest, arms wrapped tightly around them, as if I could make myself disappear if I just curled up small enough.And then I heard footsteps.Fast. Heavy. Coming closer.My eyes shot to the door.I froze.My heart shot to my throat.Were they back?Did they forget something?Were they going to finish what they started?I couldn’t
RAMONI stood in that hotel lobby staring at the manager as if he'd just announced a death. Maybe he had. Because knowing Phoebe had been taken right from under my nose felt exactly like that, like something had died inside me."She was in your care!" I shouted. "She was supposed to wait for me here!""Mr. Ramon," the manager said nervously, "we thought it was authorized…""By whom? My uncle?" I spat. "You took her because my uncle said so? Did she look like she wanted to leave? Did you even ask her that?"No answer. Just that sick, silent guilt on their faces.I didn't waste another second. I turned on my heel, stormed out of the hotel, jumped into my car, and sped straight to Richard's estate. My hands gripped the wheel so hard they ached. My mind was a storm, rage, fear, regret. I kept seeing her face in my head, her smile, the way she had trusted me. And now...She was gone.When I got to the mansion, the guards at the gate crossed their arms."Sir, Mr. Richard said not to let you
RAMONI was dead tired by the time we finished the meeting at the company. My shirt clung to my back, and my head was pounding from all the numbers and back-to-back discussions. All I wanted was to check my phone and unwind, maybe see if Phoebe had texted.I reached into my pocket. Empty.My heart skipped.I checked the table, the chair, and even under the folder I’d used. Nothing.“Where the hell is my phone?” I muttered.My uncle, sitting across from me, raised an eyebrow. “Lose something?”“My phone. I had it before we came here.”He shrugged. “Maybe you dropped it at the house.”I didn’t like how quick he was to answer.Still, I forced a calm nod and stood up. “I’ll go check.”The ride back to his place felt like it took forever. My mind was racing. Phoebe. Had she called? Texted? What if something was wrong? My gut wouldn’t calm down.When I got to the house, I tore through every room I had been in earlier. The living room. The guest room. Even the damn kitchen. Nothing.My uncle
PHOEBEThe hotel was breathtaking, with marble floors, chandeliers sparkling like stars, a scent of roses, and money hanging in the air. My heels clicked softly as I followed the receptionist, who wore a perfectly polite smile. My coat was still wrapped tightly around me, hiding the dress Winnie helped me pick out. My heart fluttered with a mix of excitement and nerves.“He’ll be with you shortly,” the receptionist said sweetly, opening a suite door for me. “Please, get comfortable. There are refreshments inside. Make yourself at home.”I gave a shy nod. “Thank you.”The door shut behind me.The suite was luxurious, with soft couches, a large table with drinks and fruit, and dim romantic lighting. I let out a small breath. “Wow…”I walked slowly to the table, brushing my fingers along the glass rim of a wine glass. Red wine. A chill ran up my spine, and I shook it off. Maybe he asked them to pour it before he arrived. Maybe this was his way of setting the mood.I pulled out my phone.