AIDENI watched as Natalia's eyes suddenly brimmed with tears from my question.I knew how much she wanted us to come back together, if she was going to be helping me, I was sure she was fully aware that indirectly she was helping Selena. Even though Natalia was my first ex-girlfriend, I knew well enough that in a relationship, no sane person would want to help the wife of someone they loved when they knew it would not be beneficial to them.She took a deep breath and pleaded, "Aiden, please. I know things between us have been complicated these past few months, but I don't want to lose you completely. Even if we can't be in a romantic relationship, can we at least be friends? I still want to be there for you like you have been for me in the past."Friends? She wanted us to be friends? Could I be friends with Natalia, it hadn't even crossed my mind that I would want to remain friends with her after everything. I didn't know why but I wasn't moved by her words, I couldn't tell if it w
• TWO WEEKS AGO •Natalia's body felt heavy, and her mind foggy. It had been a long day, modeling for the latest issue of a popular fashion magazine. It was an honor for Natalia to be approached by them because in a month they were known to always select one model for their magazine cover for that month, but the endless posing, retouching, and adjustments were starting to take a toll on her.When the agency had told her she would be changing into six different looks, they failed to mention that she would have to pose a lot on each look, she was currently on the fifth look and she was this close to calling it quits. She shouldn't have agreed to a day shoot, she should have agreed to a two-day shoot instead, but it was too late to go back on her word.Her makeup was starting to smudge, and her hair was a tangled mess. Her feet ached from standing in high heels for hours, and her back was stiff from arching it in unnatural ways.She glanced over at her assistant and photographers packe
• TWO DAYS AGO •Vincent was about to leave his hotel room to attend an event that he was invited to when a knock fell on his door, he thought it was the breakfast he requested some minutes back so he didn't bother checking the peephole but when he opened it, he was surprised to see Natalia by the door."Come in," he said as she walked past him fuming, he closed the door behind her after making sure no one was following behind her. "What is going on?" Natalia asked angrily throwing her purse on the bed, she was at a photoshoot when she saw on the news that Selena's sister is dead, she couldn't believe her ears. At first, she thought it was of natural cause, like an illness but it turned out she was kidnapped and her deaf body was found some hours later by the police.Her agreed plan with Vincent was that they were going to kidnap them, threaten them, and let them go. That was the plan, the plan was not for them to kill any of them, she had not agreed to kill anyone. "What are you t
SELENA"It was all Vincent's idea Aiden I swear," Natalia suddenly broke down in tears after briefly narrating what had been going on over the past few months. She knelt down on the floor, crawling towards Aiden and holding on to his leg as tears streamed down her eyes but Aiden wasn't moved by her act.His face darkened and anger consumed him by what Natalia had just explained, "How dare you?" He fumed glowering at Natalia as she held on to his leg crying. "Please Aiden, I swear, I wasn't a part of any of it, I would never....""You ungrateful..." Aiden trailed off grabbing Natalia by the hair and dragging her up, Natalia winced in pain at how tightly Aiden was grabbing her hair and yanking it backward. "Where is Vincent?" I had decided to come down to get something to drink when I felt my throat feeling sore from all the crying, when I heard their voices and saw them talking in such close proximity, I was engulfed with rage. I thought they were in it together, that I had been a p
SELENAI was taken aback when Aiden suddenly leaned in and kissed me. Normally, I would have been angry at him for kissing me against my will and shove him off immediately but this time, I didn't feel that way at all, I didn't feel resentful towards him. Instead, I felt paralyzed by the kiss, my body unable to move or process what was happening to me and a sudden feeling exploded in my stomach as my heart started to race in my chest. I couldn't understand what was happening to me. As his soft lips lingered on mine, I found myself slowly getting lost in the moment, unable to stop him. Resentment, hatred, and repulsiveness were the way I felt whenever I was around Aiden, no matter how much I tried to look at him differently whenever he tried to redeem himself by being nice to me or doing nice things to please me.I couldn't get past the fact that he had kidnapped me, he had hurt me, he had taken my freedom away from me but this time, this moment felt...different.It felt like there
SELENA "You're bleeding," I said softly, noticing the red stain spreading across his shirt. Aiden glanced down at his shirt and realization quickly flooded his face. "Damn it," he groaned, his hand instinctively going to his side where the wound was. I watched in concern as he held his side, wincing in pain. I knew his wound had to be restitched by the doctor after the pool incident, so if it was opened again, he was going to be feeling an excruciating amount of pain. Without thinking, I reached out to lift his shirt to inspect the wound, but he gently grabbed my hand, stopping me. "It's okay, Selena," he reassured me, his voice barely above a whisper, he seemed more concerned about me as his eyes remained glued to mine. "I just moved too quickly, it's from the pressure, I'll be fine." I could see the pain in his face as he spoke trying to reassure me he was fine, and my heart went out to him. "Let me help you," I said, taking him and myself by surprise. Wait...what? Why did I
AIDENAs I watched Selena’s face light up with laughter, I felt my heart skip a beat. It was the first time I was seeing her truly happy, and it was like the sun had come out from behind a cloud. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling, and I couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. I found myself staring at her as if lost in a trance, wondering how I could have missed this side of her.At that moment, I realize how much I had been missing out on by keeping my distance and hiding my feelings from her. I had always been indecisive about expressing my feelings to her, worried that I would say or do the wrong thing and push her away, but seeing her like this made me realize that life was too short to hold back. Her sister had lost her life before it even began, if it was Selena, I would have lost her and never gotten the chance to find out if anything was brewing within between us. I didn't know why I felt a pull towards Selena. Maybe it was the way she carried herself with such
SELENAI couldn't believe that Aiden had compiled all this video of Brianna for me when he told me he wanted to show me something. I was scared and skeptical when he brought me to his room and told me to sit on the bed, my mind was racing with different thoughts but now I was grateful.I turned to him, tears glistening in my eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. "You have no idea how much this means to me." He nodded his head at me as my eyes went back to the videos, there were some that I never thought I would see again, even back to when she was an infant playing with my mother. My mind was soon clouded with memories as I watched the video, my hands touching her face on the screen as tears streamed down my eyes. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •"DO YOU THINK THAT I AM HIS TYPE," YOUNG BRIANNA ASKED AS THEY WALKED DOWN TO SCHOOL.SHE HAD HER EYES LOCKED ON THE NEW BOY IN HER CLASS BUT SOME GIRLS HAD TOLD HER THAT SHE WASN'T HIS TYPE, SHE DIDN'T HAVE PLANS TO