Sandra’s povThe moment I hung up, I wanted to scream and yell at the world for making me know such a horrible woman.I felt something tight in my chest but tried to calm my raging heart.My cover was blown and the wicked witch Charlotte had me in her claws.But that wasn’t even the worst of it. She had Eloise dragged into this too. Eloise, lovely sweet Eloise who’d only ever brought sunshine and her best efforts into people’s lives. Who shouldn’t have been near this situation in a million years?But somehow she was, and now so was I.I couldn’t help but burst into short laughter. “Oh god, what the hell am I even doing?”My past. The thing I had fought so damn hard to bury, it was like Charlotte had ripped it right back out into the light. I shook my head and turned the car on. The office wasn’t far, I could get back and do what she wanted and be back before anyone knew it.But every red light made my insides shrivel. Eloise’s face kept floating back in my mind, her kind eyes, her go
Charlottes povBy the time I swung up to the house, I was weary of my thinking, fed up with having to smile.I just wanted to rest and have a glass of wine before falling asleep.I walked into the house and dropped the key on the counter by the door as I saw him sitting by the long dining table like he owned the entire world.He was eating his meat dinner like nothing bothered him and that disturbed me.It bugged me.I walked over to him, clicking my heels against the cold marble floor as I crossed my arms before I even reached the table. “You get home and you don’t even call me,” I said, my voice sharp as a knife.He glanced up at me, chewing and swallowing lazily. He didn’t jump at the sound of my voice. “Yeah,” he breathed out between chews nonchalantly. “And? Do you want a medal?”I hated how he spoke to me as I tried to be calm.I pulled up a chair and sat down next to him, plastering a smile on my face that didn’t reach my eyes. “And how was your day?” I asked sweetly.“It went
Eloise’s povI couldn’t believe my ears as I stared at him in shock. Was he being serious or was this another joke to him?This better be a joke because there was no way I was introducing him as a father this early. Nope. It was way too early for this. I needed to keep him at arm's length if I had any fears raging within me.“You can’t just bring this up all of a sudden Edward,” I spat out in anger. “It’s ridiculous. We need to focus on something else.”“I already told you we’d take care of it and we will, but that’s all. Now I need to be with my daughter. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”“Are you even listening to yourself?” I grunted. “We have a crisis right now.”“I know it’s silly but I thought…”“Well dead that thought because you thought wrong,” I pointed at him. “Sophia isn’t ready for this. She’s not… she’s not ready for you.”He sighed and shook his head before leaning back as he stared at me with narrowed eyes.“I can’t believe you’d just treat me like this and th
Eloise’s povI couldn’t sit still. I needed to do something or I felt like I would explode. No matter how I tried to think of this it didn’t make sense of how someone would target the food instead of the finances unless this were some personal vendetta against me.My mind suddenly went to Charlotte but I pushed it aside. There was no way she was the one who was the brains behind my pain. Nope. She was too stupid to do that plus I believed she liked to do things in a very open way. This was beneath her.I packed up my things and headed out of the room as I headed into the elevator that took me to the ground floor.While walking past some of the guests, I could see them staring at me with such hateful eyes. And who could blame them? If I had paid such an exorbitant amount of money for a meal and someone had told me that rubbish I would be mad too.I was lucky enough to escape as I got to my car and sat in there while strumming my fingers on the steering wheel.I needed to tell him. E
Eloise’s povI looked at Bryan who sighed and looked around the restaurant part of the hotel before he nudged me to follow him into the kitchen. We got in as he paced around before turning to me.“Everyone out now," he said in a very calm voice as everyone looked at us before nodding and leaving until we were alone in the room. “Look, I know how this looks but I didn't…”" Who in this company is out to get you?” He asked which shocked me as I didn't even know what to say after that." What?”" Oh come on,” he scoffed. "I can tell someone is out to get you so don't act clueless. The more you protect this mystery person the more the person continues and they will make sure they destroy you. You just have to tell me who is causing you to fall apart because this isn't the way to go through this. Tell me now or…”“I don't know who is there to get me," I sighed. “I'm just cooking. I've made no enemies, at least not one that I know of. And let's be honest, why would you blame me for this wh
Charlotte's povSandra sat opposite me like an animal in a snare, her shoulders up against the base of the chair as she looked at me in anger. She ran her fingers nervously back and forth along the table edge. I could smell her terror sweat from where I sat. Good.I leaned closer over the table and said softly, enjoying her obvious discomfort at my nearness, “You asked me what I wanted.” My smile was thin-lipped, slow, and entirely calm. “Well, then I want you to take down Eloise. It should be easy for someone like you, don’t you think?”She looked at me in shock. “What do you even mean? Eloise? What has she done to you? She has done nothing wrong.”I laughed in a sharp and ugly way. “Hasn’t done anything wrong? Please. She tried to take what’s mine. You think that’s nothing?”Sandra pressed her lips together. She didn’t need to say anything; I could read it on her face, she didn’t believe me, she didn’t get it. None of them did so long as they were not in the problem I was in.“She d