-Leia-I get up from the floor after getting off the phone with my mother. They started the new treatments with her almost immediately after I paid them and for the first time in years, there’s hope in her voice again.That alone makes it worth it; that alone tells me I need to push forward and do this.I haven’t heard that light in her tone in a very long time, not before her diagnosis and everyone bailing on her. It pains me not to be there for her right now, but she also refuses me at times. She hates pity and I understand that.When Christian barged in here a few minutes ago, it confused the hell out of me. I thought he would have apologized to me for getting it wrong, but it was simply to tell me about a stupid luncheon. Ah, I guess I’ll be paraded around this weekend then. ***I haven’t been able to visit my mother since our last phone call and it’s leaving me anxious. Her doctor has informed me that she’s taking well to the new treatments, but they’re leaving her drained. The
-Leia-The luncheon passes slowly and every time I turn my back, I see Christian chatting up some beautiful woman. This happened more times than I can count, and after he sees me looking, he merely winks.What the hell is going on with him right now? I thought we had some kind of breakthrough earlier, but clearly, I was wrong. The man cannot be broken as easily as I suspected. I’ll need to figure out what type of person he really is if I’m going to win.Before we are about to leave, I need the lady's room and excuse myself. Christian doesn’t look as annoyed with me as he did before, and I think my silence throughout the day has something to do with it.When I’m done doing my business, I walk out of the stall to wash my hands… and who should saunter in while I’m doing this, all while looking smug?“Hello, Amber,” I greet her while looking at her in the mirror. She crosses her arms and chuckles, shaking her head.“I knew you were dumb, but I didn’t think you were this dumb,” she says, s
-Leia-I won! I am back at work again, and everything is right with the world. Well, if you want to call co-workers staring at me and having continuous sex dreams about Mr. Grumpy Face winning; ugh, what the hell!After what happened in my bedroom, Christian has made himself even more scarce. There’s no hair or nail of him at the penthouse, and I’m starting to suspect he barely comes back. I mean, yeah, that kiss had all kinds of steam levels, but there’s no reason for him to stay away from his own home.Perhaps I should call him to clear the air. Aaaah, no, why should I be the one to clear the air when he was the one who kissed me?! But then again, I didn’t exactly stop him, did I?“No, you pushed into him and moaned like a hussy,” I grumble while drinking my cup of super-sweet coffee. “He probably thinks even worse of you now; you’ll go from Red to The Scarlet Woman.”“Is that so?” Christian’s voice behind me makes me nearly drop my coffee cup when I jump to my feet. He smirks when
-Leia-It’s Saturday morning, and I just woke up with a headache. I roll out of bed, throw on my fluffy bunny slippers and shimmy downstairs for a cup of strong coffee. My hair is a mess and I am not wearing make up, but fuck it. These last few days have been terrible, not to mention my change of season allergies.Terrible, you ask? Well, my mother had an adverse reaction to her treatment and had a mild stroke. Alexander has been in a pissy mood for the last few weeks and takes it out on the first person he sees AKA Me. Then there’s Christian who is apparently in Tokyo and all without even telling me. My life fucking sucks right now.Klaus follows me downstairs for his morning kibble. At least there’s one constant in my life. After six months of living here, he’s finally ventured outside of my bedroom. “Let’s get you some brekkie, my Klausy Wowsy,” I grumble as we walk into the kitchen. He prows in agreement and after I tend to him, I walk over to de-zombify myself with some, expens
-Leia-OHMYGOD OHMYGOD Did that just happen?! Wait, no this can’t be right… Christian is leading me out to his black sports car after punching some guy I was dancing with - oh, fuck.I buckle myself in, literally and figuratively, then turn my head to face him when he gets inside. He starts the car, and screeches off towards God knows where while white-knuckling the steering wheel. He’s pissed off, clenching his jaw and keeping his eyes on the road.Swallowing hard, I decide to be the one to break the ice. “Christian-”“Not now,” he says while not even looking my way. The tone of his voice is devoid of emotion; cold and ruthless like the first time we ever spoke.This is my fault; I was dancing too close to that guy and probably leading him on. When he kissed me, I was about to push him away before Christian did that for me. What was he doing there, anyway? Was he following me?I breathe out a sigh and wait in silence as we make our way to the penthouse. Christian opens the passenger
-Leia- “Tell me you didn’t,” Delilah says when I’m halfway into telling her about what happened last night. I groan and lay my head in my hands, shaking my head. “He was even kind enough to leave a Plan B pill for me this morning.” We planned to have brunch yesterday already, and after what happened in the club and at home, I knew I needed to tell her everything. “Leia, the man sleeps with different women every night!” she exclaims softly, looking around and making sure no one heard her. “How do you know he hasn’t-” “I’ve had myself checked out this morning, don’t worry. I get the full results on Monday,” I explain, as if it makes a difference. The truth is, both Christian and I were being extremely stupid last night, not only having sex without protection, but allowing our anger to fuel our lust. I never wanted this man. Now it seems I can’t get him out of my mind. And if last night tells me something, it’s that he feels the same. Normally, Christian would ignore me, even if I
-Leia-“Certainly, thank you, sir,” I say into the receiver before putting the phone down. Another meeting was moved to next month since Alexander wanted fewer and fewer meetings during the week now. Another few months of being married to Christian and I see him less and less. After the mistake we made last time, we’ve kept our distance from each other… so much so that we don’t even acknowledge one another. His company seems to be doing well, Lucille tells me he’s home maybe three times a month now because he’s always out of the country.Well, good for him, I guess.It’s now December, time for Moore Industries to close for the holidays and everyone is scrambling to get things done before the two-week Winter break. Alexander is tying up a few loose ends as well, so I try not to bother him if I can.“Leia, can you come to my office, please,” he buzzes me and I walk over to his office. I knock twice and he tells me to enter, then he gestures for me to take a seat opposite him.“Somethin
-Leia-I don’t want to admit it, but I feel like a damn winter princess in this dress right now. My hair is curled and tossed over one shoulder, my makeup is minimal, I’m wearing the necklace and earrings Christian got me and finishing the look off with a soft shawl. To top it all off, I'm in a good mood, too! Satisfied with the way I look, I grab my clutch, slip on my wedding bands (which I found, by the way!), and make my way downstairs. Alexander said Christian would be here for the Winter Ball tonight, but I haven’t seen or heard anything from him since he left me those gifts in my room.He didn’t even bother to reply to my thank you text, so all I’m going on is Alexander’s word. Walking into the foyer, I half expect to see Christian pacing the floor, shouting to an employee on the phone and looking pissed off. But there’s nothing. I don’t even catch a whiff of his cologne to indicate he’s been here.I swallow deeply and look at the time, realizing that we’ll be late if we don’