Chapter Twenty-Nine: Shards

“I-““Mr Dupont, you cannot enter, Mr Emerson is having and important-“Valerin came skidding into the room, a look of pure glee and mischief as he stared at us, impossibly close, as though he had caught us in the most compromising of situations.“Am I interrupting?” he laughed boisterously slinging an arm over Agnes’ shaking shoulders. The receptionist with an affinity for doing everything by the book look flustered in his presence, even more so with the added physical contact.Mr Emerson turned backing away from me, putting much needed space between the two of us. I didn’t mind it, there was no lack of warmth, no detachment just the space that needed to stay between the two of us.“Don’t worry about this delinquent Agnes, I will deal with him,” she gave a curt nod, glad to get out of the clutches of Valerin Dupont, who had a taste for chaos.Hastily I wiped my tears, putting on my practiced waitress smile, the one that never reached my eyes and whispered, “Hey Valerin, how are you?”

Last Updated : 2022-12-15

Chapter Thirty: A Spectre of Before

I wanted to take it back. Rip the words from reality as I stared into those eyes that were so good at concealing emotion that I cursed them for not doing that when I needed his indifference the most.“Ok,” Valerin spoke softly, “We’re all going to sit down, and calm down. Is that ok Drea,” I couldn’t speak so all I did was nod.I sat across from him, the impenetrable thicket of his eyes, burning away, as a sadness over took his gaze.“Say something,” I finally rasped.“I can’t.” was all he responded and everything crumbled, there were tears in my eyes, the fresh wound of his death wrenched open. I had mourned, I had grieved and accepted that Arthur my Arthur was gone.And now I couldn’t comprehend that he was alive.“Ok. That’s,” I stuttered out the words, “That’s fine. This is all. I-, I need to go,” I lifted myself, Valerin’s eyes imploring me to stay, I felt a whisper of hurt as I tore my gaze from him, still torn by how he too had lied to me.All this time, every moment we had shar

Last Updated : 2023-09-05

Chapter Thirty-One: Neither

“Get away from her,” rough voice that sounded as though it was drowned flitted between my ears. My eyes were heavy, and there was a burning in my chest, I felt a laboured breath escape my lips.“She’s waking up-““All non-family members must leave the room,” confusion rippled through me as my eyes creaked open to be met with sterile white.“That means you Corbyn.” My heart sunk, in the pits of my stomach, why was he here, what had happened?“And what right do you have to be here?” the voice was calloused.“I’m her fiancé,” and that pushed me to wake.I heaved, and coughed, sputtering and keeling over the side of the bed.“God she’s going to be sick,” and I felt my brain melt.Kendal.She rushed over holding a bed pan, that I upchucked what little was left in my stomach into the brown vomit catcher.I was too busy being sick to glare at her.“Urgh,” I groaned lifting myself up, and reaching for the box of tissues at my side, wiping off the gunk at the side of my lips.I looked less th

Last Updated : 2023-09-06

Chapter Thrity-Two: Promises and Plots

“Drea!” my thoughts were pulled from a dreamless sleep, a familiar light voice tumbling into my eardrums, a voice that was impossible.My eyes cracked open, assaulted by a blast of bright light and a garish looking balloon primed in the fingers of my sister.“Day?” was the confused croak that left me.She flung herself forward, wrapping me in the tanned bronze of her arms.“Hey Dee,” I saw the lopsided grin of Dayna’s boyfriend Hiro, leaning over.“How are you here?” I tried to sit up, shuffling the blankets from beneath me.“Well, uhm…” her eyes darted to Hiro who shrugged, “Your boss?”“What?” I almost flung myself from the bed frame had I not been eased back down by Dayna.“Easy there, Dee, stop being dramatic. I’m your emergency contact you were in an emergency so he called me.”I felt a wilted sickness in the base of my throat.“But you’re your supposed to be home, in Malaysia, you’re-““Well, we took an expedited flight. Corbyn got us here.” Hiro said in his matter-of-fact way.

Last Updated : 2023-09-07

Chapter Thirty-Three: Milkshakes and Moods

“Doesn’t it feel kind of awful for you to have her back at work?” Valerin had gushed over me as soon as I had entered the room, my wound healed enough that it didn’t require a bandage but still a brazen purple that peaked through a layer of concealer that appeared to accentuate it more than conceal.“When she is here, in my sight, I know she is safe,” Corbyn bristled, looking up from his laptop momentarily to glare at Valerin, “And Ms Laurence, is here for pretences only, I have not made any demands of her.”“That’s where your wrong,” I quipped, “You demanded that I stay here sat in your office, even though mine is right there, and is completely transparent. I would be-““You stay here,” and there was no argument about it.“And you,” he spoke to Valerin, “Leave.”“No. I’m not leaving not when Drea is in danger, because of that utter dick.”Corbyn’s mouth pressed into a thin line.“At least let me do something, I’m going to die of boredom if I sit here. And it’s rather misogynistic to

Last Updated : 2023-09-12

Chapter Thirty-Four: Pulled Back

The night ended in laughter and not a trip back to the office, but there was something more, something else in Corbyn’s eyes. He was on edge, a difficult breath pulling through him as he waved a hand through hair that had become increasingly dishevelled over the past couple of days, nothing like the perfectly combed hair I had seen on my first day.It wasn’t only him that could make keen observations.I was still hung up on the fact that he had known I liked strawberries. It wasn’t the most unusual like, but I hadn’t told him which made it different, that he had paid attention.It also meant he was staring at you eat.I stifle to bark of laughter that tries to escape my mouth at the thought.“Well,” Valerin begins, “I’ll have to leave you too here, CEO duties call.”“It’s the middle of the night,” but Valerin just gave me a mirthful look.“Ask Corbyn there is no rest from work,”“I would say that,” was the drawl of a response, “If you had any work ethic at all.”“I have work ethic, I

Last Updated : 2023-09-16