Tangled By Simone Elise Novels & Stories

“You manipulated her. You backed her into a corner and used her like a pawn in whatever twisted game you and your wife are playing.” Simeon didn’t respond. He just watched me, the weight of his silence growing heavier by the second. I took a step closer. “Why? Why go through all that trouble? What did Eloise ever do to deserve being dragged into your family’s mess?” Simeon sighed and walked toward his desk, placing the glass down carefully. “You think this was about Eloise?” he asked. “It was never about her. She just happened to be… convenient.” “Convenient,” I repeated bitterly. “That’s what you call it?”

"You denied me the opportunity to be by his side And for you." Tears spilled from Sharon's eyes. "I never meant to offend you Davis. All I was doing was surviving." Their conversation got hot, their voices rising despite their best efforts to keep quiet. Isabella entered the garden neither of them noticed until she spoke. "What's happening here?" Like a razor, Isabella's voice sliced through the tension. Sharon froze while her heart hammered. Davis turned to face her, his expression unreadable. "Isabella, I—"; Sharon mumbled.

Julian pointed toward Elise and her two friends, who were now being cornered by security. "She assaulted her!" Tinsley suddenly pointed at Elise, trying to save herself. "We were just standing there! It was all Elise’s idea!" "You traitors!" Elise screamed, lunging at Tinsley before a police officer caught her arms and spun her around, clicking the handcuffs into place. The crowd parted as the officers led them out. Elise was a wreck, her hair disheveled, her expensive makeup running down her face in black streaks. She looked less like a queen and more like a captured harpy.

Isabella asked, and her anger turned into palpable anxiety. Her hands clenched as if she were trying to hold on to something—to a hope that, at that moment, was already slipping away. “Yes. I saw him.” Simón’s answer was brief, and he said it without embellishment. As if that were the only truth that truly mattered. Isabella looked at him, breathing heavily, her thoughts racing. She staggered, as if the ground had fallen out from under her, and grabbed the edge of the sofa to keep from falling.

Turning too fast with a glass of champagne in my hand and crashing straight into a brick wall of muscle wearing an Armani tux. “Shit!” I gasped, the glass slipping from my hand as chilled bubbles soaked into an iron-flat chest. A chest that belonged to Dominic Voss. CEO of Voss & Rose Intimates. The man behind the lace empire. The untouchable, the cold-hearted, the ridiculously beautiful boss I’d only ever seen from a distance—and usually only through a sea of trembling executives and whispering assistants. Now he was soaked. And staring at me. Dead. I was dead.

“As for you, Alison, Mother Eliza has been expecting you. Follow us.” I glanced at Simone, my chest tightening at the sight of her pale, shaken face. Her strength had been my anchor through this nightmare, but now even she looked ready to break. Still, she managed a small, almost imperceptible nod, urging me to go. “Will you be okay here?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. Simone hesitated but then squared her shoulders, her usual resolve flickering back into place. “I’ll be fine. Go, Alison. If Mother Eliza is waiting for you, then you have to go and the get the answers we seek.”

“You’re not the one pretending to be someone else while juggling a hundred secrets.” Catherine’s expression hardened. “You agreed to this, Elisa. No one forced you.” Elisa let out a bitter laugh. “Agreed? You twisted my arm, Catherine. And now I’m stuck in this web with you.” Catherine rose from her seat, crossing the room to stand in front of Elisa. Her voice was low but firm. “We’re in this together, Elisa and as long as you do exactly what I tell you, we’ll both come out of it alive.”

The door swung open on its own, revealing a dishevelled figure stumbling out from inside. It was Simon, clearly inebriated. His gaze fixed on Callie, he stumbled towards her, attempting to wrap his arms around her. ‘Callie, my Callie...’ Simon slurred, his words barely intelligible. His alcohol-laden breath wafted towards her, making her recoil in disgust. Callie stood frozen, unsure of what to do. Before she could react, Elias’s strong grip tightened around her wrist, pulling her back with a swift motion. In a matter of seconds, Elias, who had been standing behind Callie, found himself captured in Simon’s drunken embrace.

We order wine, appetizers, she talks about her charity work, some gala she's planning, a trip to Paris. I nod in the right places but my mind keeps drifting. "Are you alright?" Simone touches my hand. "You seem distracted." "Just work, sorry, you were talking about Paris?" She launches into another story and I watch her lips move but barely hear the words. I'm thinking about Elena, about the way she looked at me like I was nothing, like she'd already moved on emotionally. Photographers are waiting when we leave, cameras flashing, Simone's hand on my arm. I see the flashes, know tomorrow's headlines will be brutal for Elena, and I feel nothing, just the same emptiness.

She leaned in with a smirk, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she addressed Suzanne. “So, do you still know how to act, or is the househelp gig working out better for you now that you’re back in the limelight?” Elisa taunted, her eyes gleaming with a mixture of mockery and jealousy. The few actors who had gathered in the lobby snickered at her remark, some glancing nervously at Suzanne, while others tried to mask their discomfort by pretending not to care.