Ariana Vanderbilt loved Robert Stone despite knowing that he loved someone else. Her younger sister; Flora. Suddenly Flora dies a mysterious death and Robert is made to marry Ariana. Their marriage isn't a happy one, and they had issues until Ariana lost their unborn child. Now, Robert wants to make their marriage work but Ariana has lost interest. A certain doctor may have caught her eye… But Ariana must also confront a buried secret she has in her closet. Who killed Flora?
View MoreROBERT’S POV It was all surreal and happening too fast. A part of me wanted to believe Emily but could not. The other part of me believed that Ariana was telling the truth and Flora had indeed committed suicide. I had no idea what to believe more. Emily had pretended not to know me when we first met so how could I believe her now? And from where was she getting her information?It was Mr Vanderbilt's voice that brought me back to the present.“What do you mean by that?” His voice boomed.“Ask Emily”, M
ARIANA’S POVMy world was spinning. Everything was falling apart.“What evidence?” I screamed at Emily. “My sister shot herself in the head!”“But the gun, Ariana, the gun belonged to you!” My heart sank. I was feeling an irresistible urge to puke, I was sweating, panicking and practically losing my mind. How had Emily come by this information?“How do you know about any of this?” I asked now, trying to steady my voice and make sense of this new affront.“I am a fan of true crime, horror, detective fiction…all of those so years ago when I came across Flora'sdeath on the front page of the Chicago Daily, I was fascinated…” Emily began.“Fascinated?” My mother cut in. “You found my daughter's death fascinating? Dead by suicide on the same day as her older sister's wedding to Chicago's number one Bachelor?”Emily paused, unable to go on with her story. I could see why the story would be fascinating to Emily and it was for the very reasons my mother had pointed out but I said nothing, w
ARIANA’S POV When Robert zoomed off, I stood on the porch trembling, visibly shaken by the abruptness of all that had transpired and at the same time, enraged. Why was Robert so invested in the whole Emily and Flora thing? Why did he so badly want to know? I had not murdered Flora! She shot herself. I had begged her, pleaded with her but she was determined to end her own life.But the truth remained that what Emily knew about the gun was going to implicate me. I was finding it difficult to breathe with each passing moment.I rushed back into the house and collapsed on a couch trying to steady my heart. Everything was happening so fast.I took my phone and dialled Barbara again. She answered on the first ring.“Any progress?” She asked me.“Of course there is no progress”, I shouted.“Rob has gone to my parents house and I'm sure between him and the both of them, they've found a way to contact Emily”.“And you're still sitting in your house talking about it?”“Well what the hell am I
ROBERT'S POV I waited for either of them to respond but there was none forthcoming. I could see that Ariana was terrified and Dr Josh was standing looking at me defiantly.“Please leave my house”, I said now authoritatively.He hesitated and I immediately lost my cool.“Leave my house this instant”, I yelled, “or I call the cops on you for trespassing”.He silently walked out of the house and minutes after he had gone, I stood there simmering with rage.I then turned to Ariana.“I will deal with you later”, I told her and ran up the stairs to get what I had returned for. I had actually forgotten something that was why I was back so soon.When I returned downstairs, Ariana was still standing in the living room shaken.I ignored her and exited the building and as I entered my car and started it, I saw her running towards me but I zoomed off and left her there stupefied.There was only one thing on my mind and it was to get to Emily. Nothing else really mattered. I needed to know what
ARIANA’S POV LAST NIGHT“How on earth did she find out?” I yelled back at Barbara.“Well, I wouldn't know”, Barbara responded.We both stayed silent for a while pondering in the rain when Barbara suddenly said,“Go home and make sure Rob doesn't see Emily.”“How do I do that?” I asked in disbelief.“Do anything you can. You don't want them finding out about the gun do you?”I swallowed and shook my head vigorously. “Then go home and make your man stay”, Barbara said firmly.*****The sleep cleared instantly from my eyes. What was Rob going to see my parents for? I had been truly sick yesterday but it was all a plus. My intention for returning homeast night after leaving Barbara's house was to ensure Robert never met with Emily.Barbara had finally managed to calm down enough to tell me that Emily had gotten information from my parents and was planning to tell Rob.I had also told her about the messages on our answering machine and we both resolved that whatever information it was,
ROBERT'S POV Yes! Now I knew what Emily was calling so desperately about. She wanted to tell me something about Flora but why couldn't she pick up the damn phone?!I had only succeeded in aggravating my feelings of unease because Emily was not picking up the phone.Angry and frustrated, I began to kick the chairs in the office and angrily swept off the many files and documents off the table. What was it about Flora I needed to know?What angered me the more was I didn't even know anything about Emily or where she lived.I sat alone in the dark office for what seemed like eternity lost in thoughts and stewing in anger when it suddenly dawned on me that the Vanderbilts had a close relationship with Emily. Had Margaret not mentioned that Emily worked for a friend of hers?Filled with sudden vigor, I leaped from the chair and headed for the parking lot. It was raining lightly as I entered my car and zoomed off. On my way, I decided to head home and put off the journey till tomorrow. Ho
ARIANA’S POVI feared Barbara was up to something and she was not putting me in the know.Barbara was dangerous and from our conversation the other day, she was determined not to let Emily off the hook just like that. It scared me and at the same time, elated me that Barbara cared for me.I however did not want to do anything about Emily. A part of me feared that history would repeat itself. I actually felt guilty because of slapping her in the face that day but I did have a gut feeling that Emily isn’t what she looked like. I did not want to get locked in a struggle for my parents attention and most definitely had no intentions of listening to any of Barbara's ideas.Tired of fighting Rob, and thinking that after our last conversation he had probably let things go, I decided to return home and get some of my clothes.Ever since I announced to Rob that I was moving out, I had been living in one of my father's apartments in the city.I entered the house and met Rob's absence.We did
ROBERT’S POVI was confused. What did he mean? Was he the son of one of the workers in the house or what?“Your grandma and grandpa?” I asked him, feeling stupid.“Uh huh”, he said. “Who are they?” I asked, my heart beating erratically against my chest as I began to notice things that had failed to grab my attention instantly.His eyes, there was just something about it that was very familiar, the structure of his face, the shape of his nose. Everything about the boy reminded me of either Flora or myself. It made me uncomfortable. “Who are they?” I asked him now, my voice tight with emotions.“Oh there you are!” I heard Mrs Vanderbilt exclaim behind me and I turned to face her.She seemed out of breath and had a frightened look on her face.“I see you've met my nephew's child, Nate”, she said breezily.I was perplexed and could only nod my head.Nate ran into her arms as if he just sensed her presence.“I want some chocolate, Nana”, he said.She rubbed his head affectionately. “Su
ROBERT'S POVHearing Ariana say what I had been dreading for months now was a slap in the face. It was like an echo of the words Dr. Josh had said to me the other day in the hospital parking lot.How had this suddenly become my reality?Why this sudden obsession with Ariana? Was it just a need to protect my business? Or was I really falling in love with Ariana?I said nothing to Ariana and simply bounded up the stairs to the bedroom and went into the bathroom to take a cold shower. I needed to feel something. I was married to a wife I couldn't touch and it was killing me. I had tried everything in the book to try to get her to fall in love with me again but nothing was working. What had I not tried? And how do I get Dr. Josh out of the picture?The next day, I met up with one of my closest friends and confided in him about my troubles. George and I had been friends since my childhood and he was the only person I trusted.“I think it's time to throw in the towel my friend”, George
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