In Cordelia's marriage, she is the other woman. First, it was to the memory of her sister, Angelica, the woman who should have been his bride. And now, she is still only second best, cast aside for any pretty face that reminds him of his lost love. After five years of marriage, and one night of passion that turned into heartbreak, she gains the strength to start over on her own. But there are things about her marriage that she never knew. Strange things are happening all around her and it turns out that she has bigger skeletons in her closet than the ones she put there herself. What really happened to Angelica? And what will she do, once she learns the truth? ________ The first time our eyes met my heart stopped. “Hello,” I smiled in his direction, “My name is Cordelia Grayson.” His returning smile was hesitant, uncertain, and small. “Atlas Steele.” He was beautiful with his golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I could tell he was a little too old for me, but I have always been attracted to older boys. His age didn't discourage me, if anything I think it made him even more dashing. And from that moment on my heart was his. Utterly and completely. Unfortunately it was not my heart that he wanted to hold. When he raised his gaze to mine a second time, his eyes skipped over my face to focus on someone standing behind me. I turned to look. It was my sister. He asked me if I knew her. I could tell he was more interested in her than he was in me, and even though it hurt to do it, I nodded in confirmation. “That's my sister, Angelica.” “Angelica,” he said her name slowly, savoring each syllable.
View More[Atlas]Yanking the note from my hands, Clark immediately frowns. "Jude," he grumbles sounding at least as irritated as I feel. "Jerk had to write the note in code! Who does that?""An insane person," I throw my hands up in exasperation. "A madman that we decided to trust for god knows why and now he's in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with my wife!"Clark huffs under his breath about Jude being a serious prick as he takes a moment to read over the note. His fingers brush over the letters slowly, as he begins pointing out a few key details. "The only word not encoded is Cordelia's name. We can use that as an anchor. This cipher is likely much easier than it looks. Just give me a couple of minutes." Taking the letter, he slams the door behind him, disappearing, leaving me alone in the hallway. A few minutes later he's dressed, and so is Tilly. She looks even worse than he does, not having bothered to even run a brush through her hair, her mumu barely covering her bulging belly as s
[Atlas]Cordelia has never been good about taking care of herself or using good judgment regarding her safety. I know she is a grown woman now, turning 26 this year, but in my mind, I'll always see the 19-year-old girl he was at my engagement to her sister--sweet, quiet, and a little bit careless with that big heart of hers. She's matured a lot in the last two years. She hasn't had much choice. Our divorce, and then everything that happened after including starting her life over twice, building two businesses from nothing, you'd think she'd have learned a few lessons.Especially when it comes to Jude. For some reason, she has an especially large and fairly infuriating blindspot when it comes to that man. But I really can't blame her for falling into his trap this time--he had us all fooled. As the letter he left in her place wrinkles under my fingertips. I want to tear it to shreds. I guess I could feel grateful that the bastard left any sign of where he had taken her this time. La
[Clark]I ease my way into the room and close it behind us. If she's joking with me that's a good sign. "How can I make this up to you?" I place my hands on her shoulders, squeezing gently. "How can I make this better?""You can't," she huffs, defiant. "You ruined my wedding day." Her lip trembles and I want to kiss away her pain, but I know she'd rather be heard now than seduced. "No, that's not exactly right or fair. Magnus ruined it. Again. That bastard ruins everything."I pull her into my arms and hold her to my chest. "We can still have a beautiful day. So what if the press won't care? Maybe that's for the best. I should have never tried to turn our wedding into a press opportunity in the first place.""Press opportunity?" she huffs, "You mean publicity stunt."I twist my lips but do not correct her. There's no use when she's in this kind of mood. "So what are you going to do to make it up to me," she raises her eyebrows. "I have a few ideas." A line of heat hits me through m
[Clark] I didn't realize I had forgotten my keys inside the suite until I came to the room and realized I was locked out. "Tilly," I'm sure she's in there. After trying earlier, I looked everywhere and couldn't find her. "Matilda, darling, I know you're in there. You need to talk to me." A quiet sob confirms my suspicion. She's not only inside, she's decided to lock me out. "Go away, you jerk.""I know you're upset and I'm sorry for hurting you but...""You're a lying jackass!" Something hits the door with a thunk. A shoe by the sound of it.Jude rushes past me in the hallway, a large file folder in his hands. He's determined on his path, moving with quick, clipped steps. I don't think he even sees me standing there as he passes. Something is up with him. Maybe I should follow him?"You told me our wedding would be special and magical," she sobs. "But you just wanted good press!" My heart clenches. "It's not like that, Tilly. I want to marry you. I've been trying to get you to ma
[Cordelia]"Are you insane?" I scoff. "First this story, which is very hard to believe, and now you're asking me to betray my family by going behind their back so that you can go on some selfish quest to chase after a baby that might not even be yours?""Cordelia, I thought you understood...I thought..." he sputters, his face growing red with frustration. "The evidence is all here, why can't you see the truth?"He can't seriously mean what he is saying. He's a man of science, and yet he's trying to convince me that Magnus isn't just some type of sociopath, but an actual monster."I'm sorry, Jude, I feel for you, I really do," I say honestly. "But even if I do sympathize with your situation, I can't risk betraying my family just because you have a..." I wave my hands at the papers on the table, "...theory." "What about a key to one of the power boats? I can go by myself, I can get there and...""You'd be a sitting duck!" I scoff. "That boat doesn't have enough fuel to get you to Hawa
[Jude]Magnus isn't a man, he's something else. I know it sounds crazy, that nobody believes me, but it is the only explanation that makes sense when you've looked at all the evidence. Humans age. They die. They can successfully mate with other humans. Therefore Magnus cannot be human. I would love to get him in my lab to test his vitals after several experiments, to see what really beats inside his chest, but that would technically be against the law and immoral. Unless he's immortal. That's a terrifying thought. I wonder if immortals are actually immortal or just hard to kill. If I were to cut his head off and place it in a jar, would it still be alive, blinking at me?"What a delightful idea," I smirk as I flip through the pages of the file I just printed for Cordelia. I need to convince her that I'm right about this. I need an ally. Cordelia is the only person on this ship who once trusted and believed in me. This has to work. I need to save Sydney. I need to save my son. Co
[Cordelia]"Yours?" I ask cautiously. "You and Sydney...?"The air was heavy with silence as we all waited for Jude to explain. "I was lonely and she was willing," There is no shame in his expression or embarrassment as he discusses his relationship with a girl who was a younger copy of his lost love. "Seeing her with Jasper made me think of...well it doesn't matter."Atlas looks down at his shoes for a moment. If anyone knows what it feels like to cling to Sydney because he is reminded of Angelica, it is him. "I had planned to sneak her out too, but when I realized she was deceiving me and leading us straight to Magnus, I let her think I was dead. "Oh Jude," I find myself empathizing with this man who has created so much chaos in the life of my family. "Don't pity me," he places a hand on my shoulder, "Please. I knew I couldn't trust her, and yet part of me kept hoping that she'd make a better choice." He takes another look at the article, his lips downturned. "But how do you eve
[Cordelia]Somehow they make the marriage between a 60-year-old man and a woman almost young enough to be his granddaughter sound like some epic romance. There is a 35-year age gap.But then again, it is Hollywood. It's not like it's uncommon. I dig a little deeper and find a PDF of the full article from a top celebrity magazine. It includes a full 8-page spread featuring a "special look" at their home. Including the nursery for their "little miracle."Tilly's reaction is one of manic laughter. "Of course!" She shakes her head as her tears turn to frenzied chuckles. "We can't even win at this game. He beat us to it. So ruining my wedding day is for nothing. We might as well turn the boat around. No need to have a pitstop in Ensenada...The wedding is off!"Tilly storms out of the room in a huff, her large belly heaving as she barely makes the corner. I hope she's off to her room for a much-needed nap. I'll talk to her again after she's had food, rest, and a chance to think. We still h
[Cordelia]We make a brief stop in San Diego for some supplies. Tilly plans to modify a dress to fit over her very expansive belly and has us pick up a sewing machine as well.We offer to wait and have it altered, but she shakes her head. "I wouldn't trust anyone else to do this properly. Besides, I'm quick. We can keep sailing and I can have it done before we make dock in Ensenada." Stopping in Mexico had not been part of the original plan. Atlas and Clark spend much of the morning making phone calls and getting things ready for our arrival. By the time we're back on the boat, it is midday. Lunch is waiting in the gallery room, a fancy dining space with panoramic views of the ocean. Atlas' face is red as he puffs angrily in response to whatever bad news he is receiving. Closing his phone he slams it down on the table, rattling the glassware and making us all jump. "Magnus is spreading rumors again in the press," he announces. "He's blaming us for blowing up his facility. Saying it
Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.
Comments