It was not yet over. She seemed to shake when recalling how he broke up with her.“But he was in love with you, right? I’ve seen love in his eyes for you,” I mumbled, trying to make sense. Of course, I was wrong. You can’t tell by the looks if the person is loyal to love. To make it look like he was into her, he faked all those emotions. Mr. Mayor is definitely an expert in faking smiles.“I’m still trying to figure out what it was. It felt so real.” She cradled her face in her hands and smiled weakly, probably recalling a memory of him.“Did he force you to sleep with him? Or coerced you?” I felt like asking her that question. If what she is saying is right, then he only wanted sex from her.“No, he didn’t force me to sleep with him, not even once. I made the first move. He kept avoiding the topic of sex, so I made him talk about it. I convinced him, almost begged him to sleep with me,” She spoke the truth, regardless of how desperate she would look.“Now he wants you to not get clos

I remained in my room for a few moments as the commotion downstairs devolved into chaos. It was around that time that I felt like I could not stay hidden in my room for too long.Derrell had recovered from the injuries he got from the fall. He had even joined his job again. Although I heard him complain about working now that he had tasted the luxuries Mr. Mayor had given us in the days of his sickness. I never denied the fact that Mr. Mayor helped us a lot. But that didn’t justify his arrival at our place at this time of night. I tip-toed to the corner of the wall, peeking downstairs secretly, seeing a group of guards standing around Mia and Derrell, who were on their knees.The sight instantly pulled goosebumps over my skin. The way they were shaking while on their knees felt like he was going to assassinate them.That’s when he finally appeared. Mr. Mayor! He was wearing a black tuxedo, as if he had arrived for a party. If only he hadn’t come at such a scary and odd hour of the nig

“Morning! What brings you so early?” Jace smirked, fixing his white coat. It wasn’t like we had known each other or communicated many times, yet I felt like arguing with him every time I see him.“I’ve come to see Mayor Xavier Charming,” I answered in a much more respectful tone. It was too early to have an argument with an asshole. I would have been on my way to speak to Mr. Mayor had Jace not come in my way.“I don’t think it’s a delightful time.” Jace bent his body over me, almost towering over me as he stared into my eyes.“It’s important, I’ve to meet him right now,” I insisted stubbornly, both looking into each other’s eyes. My hands were wrapped around my chest while he had his hands in his pants pockets.“Miss Important! That is a weird name. Mr. Mayor is attending an important meeting right now. He will be busy the whole day so how about I write you an appointment for another day? There was a smirk on his face when he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and raised a brow,

The walk seemed to be like a hundred miles as I brainstormed how to put it into words. What happened back in his office? The annoying part was that Derrell would not leave me alone until he heard about everything that went down in my meetup with Mr. Mayor. Everything was messed up here. All the bad vibes aside. Why the hell was my body still squirming, thinking his finger was over my skin? I felt hypnotized, and that disgusted my soul."Phoenix," I heard my name being called in a whisper, almost like somebody didn’t want anyone else to hear it but me. I scanned the area around me and found someone hiding behind a tree.Could this town be creepier? With my heart pounding in my chest, I grabbed all the courage I could find and called back, "Who’s that?"After a brief silence, a figure showed up in a red hoodie. She looked so petite and dull. If anybody saw her in the dark, they would think she was a zombie wandering around."Olivia, you scared me. What are you doing over there?" I tried

It had been two days since that incident, and the thought of the Mayor seemed to be still stuck in my mind. Olivia’s parents took her home and decided to not talk about her pregnancy with anyone. I was told by them to not interfere in their matters, so I couldn’t step up and speak for justice. The feeling of not being able to do the right thing was killing me inside. Apart from everything going on with Olivia, Derrell didn’t stop questioning me about my little chat with Mr. Mayor. And I had no answer other than to walk away from him every time. I have made up my mind to not go near Mr. Mayor, no matter how much Derrell begs me to.I clumsily played with my food as I looked out my window. I didn’t join them for dinners or lunches ever since I found out that Mia was just feeding me well to prepare me for the lion. I had stopped believing in her fake sweetness. A stepmother can never love anyone more than her own child. How stupid of me to think otherwise. I looked at my food and the ima