“Come on in,” With a glint of amusement dancing in his eyes Caspian made way for Anna as he opened the door of the room. “Surprised? Now you know I have a room in your family’s hotel.”
Shuddering, she took steps into the large hotel room, her fingers intertwined together and her heartbeat increased. The room was spacious, more spacious unlike the other rooms in the hotel which she had been in. She flinched as he closed the door behind him, her legs instinctively pushing her to run. ‘Goodness, Anna. What were you thinking walking into the Lion’s den?’ She thought, her muscles tensed. If there was anyone she couldn’t trust in the world, it was Caspian. He was overly unpredictable. “Back to business. I don't have all day here. We should get started.” “Huh, Mr Riordan.” she laughed awkwardly. “Do we have to do this? I mean, we can postpone it, right?” What happened to the confident Anna that she was, downstairs? His eyes narrowed. “Strip.” Anna’s hands instinctively wrapped around her body, her eyes widened as he took steps to stand right in front of her, towering over her. “You don't want to?” She placed her hands on his chest, gently pushing him lightly, creating a bit of space between them. “How about we do this after we finalize the deal?” Her lips twitched. “You see, there’s no guarantee you'll pick me after doing this with you. I can't risk it.” No, she just can't imagine herself having something intimate with him. “Impressive.” “So, what do you say?” Stepping forward, he snatched the silver sachet she didn't realize she was still holding in her hands. Caspian slipped it back into his pocket. “My mood is ruined. Fine!” Anna breathed a sigh of relief and watched as he walked to the other side of the room where there was a large bar of drinks. Grabbing two glasses, he poured a generous portion into them and guided back to her. Her gaze lingered on the offered glass. “Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned.” “I didn’t say it was.” Taking the drink in one go, Anna thought of her sister downstairs. Knowing Elle, she must be waiting for them and if she couldn’t think of an excuse to stay back with Caspian, her plans would be ruined. “You should stay the night,” she muttered. “What?” “We should stay the night if you don't have any plans.” Caspian’s roar of laughter echoed in the lone room. His amusement evident as he watched Anna, his hands buried in his pocket. “And what are we going to do? Sleep?” “We’ll just sleep.” Her steps fluttered as she made her way to the king-sized bed, her head swimming with the effect of the drink. She’d forgotten that she has a low tolerance for alcohol. Slumping on the bed, she separated the other part with a pillow between them. “Anna Copper!” Caspian’s eyes darkened as he stormed toward her. He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to sit on the bed. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” “I’m tipsy already. Let me sleep and we’ll talk tomorrow.” He released her with a growl of frustration, her body falling back on the bed like a piece of paper, her hair across her face as she snored softly. “Fuck.” ***** “Twenty more minutes.” Anna looked away from her wristwatch, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as she increased the speed of the Rolls Royce she’d stolen. She only had twenty minutes to arrive at the Cooper's mansions and meet for breakfast. ‘Sorry Caspian. I had to steal your car. I’ll return it soon,’ She thought. Luckily, she’d woken up before him, and the key to his luxury car was a temptation she couldn’t resist. Moreover, she had no means of transportation. Suddenly, a pair of wide eyes jolted her out of her groove. Slamming her foot on the brake, the car came to an abrupt stop, her head colliding with the steering wheel. Her heartbeat increased as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “Shit.” Getting out of the car, her gaze fell on the old woman collapsed on the ground. She’d narrowly escaped being a victim of Anna’s reckless driving. “Madam?” She rushed to the grunting woman’s and helped her up, getting rid of the dust from her crumpled clothing. “Are you okay?” “Oh, child. I'm perfectly okay. Thank y…” The woman gasped as her eyes fell on her. She looked her over from her head down to her heels, her face creased with bewilderment. “You…you.” “Me? Do you know me, madam?” She frowned. “A living dead? How is this possible?” “Li…living dead?” “It was you, the one who turned back time. Oh almighty,” the old woman held her both hands in hers. “The almighty has given you a second chance, a rare gift indeed. You must not waste a second chance from the almighty.” “Wh..who are you?” “The one who knows the ins and outs of the world.” her brown eyes suddenly turned green. “You must listen to me, child. You mustn't die a second time and most importantly, find someone to steal your bad fate. There will be a sign.” The words of the old woman continued ringing in her mind even as she walked into the Cooper's mansion and made her way to the dining room ignoring the servants who bowed at her and rushed to her attendance. In the words of the old woman, If someone doesn't steal her fate, that only means that she would have to die a second time and everything that happened in her past life would replay and happen for a second time. Someone has to steal her bad fate, her bad marriage, her abusive husband, and her death. Who could it be? As the servants pushed open the door of the dining hall, all eyes turned to her, their full attention on her “Speak of the devil.” She heard their murmurs, hatred, and resentment laced in their voices and she could almost taste them. “Good morning,” She greeted with a feigned smile. Her gaze shifted from her dear father to her stepmother before finally settling on Elle whose eyes glistened in tears. As Anna gazed at her, the words of the woman resounded. If there was anyone she would make steal her fate, it would be Elle, the most potential candidate. Since she likes stealing everything that matters to her- her father, her home, her toys, her room, and even her husband, she must as well steal her fate. Elle must steal her bad fate! “Sister, we were just talking about you.” Elle rose from her chair gliding toward Anna’s side. “I tried to convince them that it wasn’t your fault.” Anna’s brows raised. Rolling her eyes, she turned to make her way up the stairs, heading to her room but before she could take more than a few steps, Sylvia blocked her path, her red hair tied in a tight bun as she glared at her. The sound of a slap reverberated throughout the dining hall, the air growing ten times colder. Her head whipped to the side, her hair falling around her face, hiding her expression from view. “Where were you all throughout the night?” Sylvia yelled. In one swift movement, Anna met her furious gaze, her hands trembling in anger. “I was busy,” she spat. “You should know that already.” Sylvia snatched her arm, her nails digging into her flesh painfully as she gritted her teeth. “How dare you hook up with your sister’s man? Don't you have any shame?” Before either of them could say anything, a bang from a hand slamming against the table rang in the room. The room fell into silence as Mr Cooper's piercing gaze swept over them, his footsteps heavy and deliberate, and he roared, “What is the meaning of this?”“Sister, we were just talking about you.” Elle stood up from her chair and strode toward Anna. “I tried to convince them that it wasn’t your fault.”“You did?” Anna’s brows raised. “Anna Cooper!” Mr. Cooper rounded the table, gliding across the room, his scorching gaze piercing her soul. “What nonsense did you do at the party yesterday? How dare you try to ruin our family’s image?”“Father…”“I don’t want to hear any excuses. You’ll fix your mess.” His voice raised. “Go back to Jason, grovel at his feet if you must but make it right. You brought this upon yourself and you’ll fix it.”“Father, I’m no longer interested. I’d appreciate it if you understood that. You can go ahead and marry him if you want.”Rolling her eyes, she took steps, heading to the stairs that led to her room but before she could take more than a few steps, Sylvia blocked her path, her red hair tied in a tight bun as she glared at her. Before Anna could say a word, Sylvia’s palm cracked against her cheek, reverber
Anna’s phone slipped out of her hands in shock, the dots starting to connect in her head, droplets of tears streaming down her cheek. She'd thought of the possibility before but she'd pushed it to the back of her mind, unwilling to believe that the people she had lived with all her life would stoop so low to get rid of her, all for money, for her property. She broke down in tears, her whole life flashing in front of her. They were the cause of her brain tumor in her past life. Slowly, they had killed her inside, poisoning her with drugs disguised as amnesia treatment so that she would never suspect it. With the fire of revenge burning within her, she would really have to strike back, this time in full force. In this life, she would not let anyone trample over her or slowly snuff out her life. This time, they would have to be slowly killed. The tables have turned. Walking to her bathroom, she threw the drug Into the toilet watching it swirl down the drain, and a small sense of satis
“You seem uninterested in the party, what’s up?” Caspian's icy blue eyes flickered from his phone to the man standing beside him, his expression unreadable. “I can't imagine you'll ignore your best friend like this. It's your company’s anniversary party, you seem like you'd rather be somewhere else,” the man drawled, taking a slow sip of his wine. Caspian’s gaze raked over the room, his eyes lingering on the men and women dressed perfectly for the occasion. He’d seen this scene a million times already, the fake smiles, the slow conversations, the same old songs and dances. “What do you want, Jordan?” He asked.“To drag you away. If you're not interested in the party, you'll probably be interested in the ladies.” Jordan placed his palm under his chin as he stared at the hall full of women dressed in overly tight dresses that he wondered if they could breathe. “They’re quite hot. Look what I'm showing, bro.”“Uninterested.”They both shook the hands of the few businessmen who came th
“Oh my goodness, this is so weird.” Anna nearly tripped over her own feet as she hurried out of the hall, heat radiating from her cheeks. “That was… something else.” She fanned her cheeks, her mouth puffing out air and her hands doing the job of an air conditioner. She had been suffocated at the party. The hating eyes of the ladies and judging eyes of the men had seeped air out of her. She could barely breathe as she made her way out of the party grounds. She’d immediately left Caspian’s side after his announcement, darting away from the snooty ladies and the scumbag men who harbored more hatred for her after the announcement, displeased with the relationship. “This whole building is suffocating.” She groaned, clutching her purse to her chest. Just as she was about to step forward, to make her way out of the building, a loud scream of her name halted her footsteps. “Annaaaaaaaa!!!” Her whole body trembled in shock, her hand on her chest trying to calm her racing heart. She whipp
Although it was an engagement party of Riordan and Cooper, it was a small affair. Only a few people were invited, family and friends with a few business partners. Anna took a deep breath, frowning for a while before resuming her carefully constructed smile. She'd been smiling for hours, pretending to the whole world that she was in love with the tall man who stood across the room, equally faking his emotions. “Betraying your family is nothing to smile about, Anna,” Anna rolled her eyes at Sylvia’s voice, her presence commanding behind her. With hands folded under her chest, Sylvia made her way toward her. “Mother,” Anna bowed. “Thank you for coming. I thought you won’t be able to make it.” Her gaze fell on the woman’s dress. She was dressed even more than the celebrant herself. Her sharp red dress flowed freely on the floor with a long slit that ran from her thighs down. Her hair was left down, falling freely on her back and neck. The makeup, goodness, Anna could hardly recognize
“Wow, wow,” Jason exclaimed, rising from the bed, his eyes wider as he scanned the mysterious text over and over again making sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him. “Ten times? That's insane.”He gazed at the number the message had been sent from, pondering at the fact that it was an unknown number. “This… this must be God. He must have heard my worries. Yessss!!!”Jumping in happiness, he made his way to the other side of the room where his tiny tight office was located. Sitting on the chair, he turned on his laptop, his fingers tapping on the keyboards with lightning speed, waiting for it to load. The website finally displayed on his screen after a while of waiting. His eyes darted across the screen, taking in the positive reviews and testimonials. Good lord, he was going to be rich. He would regain his lost status and be filthy rich if he invested money in this. He might make ten times more than what he invested. Rummaging through his drawer, he brought out a different
“Oh my, haha, he called you his fiancée, how sweet.” Dali squealed in excitement, her feet kicking the air as she blushed second-handedly. “Shh, lower your voice or we’ll get caught.”“I don't care anymore. I was simply helping you blush.”Anna rolled her eyes at her dramatic act. “Who helps someone blush? We're not in the 90’s so stop.”“Oh, Anna. You don't know how lucky you are. The hot dude called you fiancée and you're taking it lightly? If a man like Caspian asks me to crawl, I'll get on my knees and fucking crawl.”Gaping at her overly delusional friend, Anna shook her head, her legs leading her to the window. Staring down, she saw him waving at her from below.“I’ll be back, Dali.”Silently making her way out of the room in order not to attract the people asleep, she made her way out of the building, her feet leading her to Caspian. “Hi,” he greeted.”He looked her over from her head down to her crocs-covered foot, his head bobbing up and down in approval. She was in her us
[A/N] I think it’s time we learn more about Caspian, right? The stench of cigarettes filled the Caspian’s car as he sat behind the wheel, his eyes fixated on the stock market in his phone, still outside the Cooper's manor. Why he drove there? How he got there? He didn’t even know. After the party, he found himself unable to concentrate on anything and before he knew it, he got out of his house and eventually ended up in the manor. He was only supposed to pass harmless stares at her room through her bedroom window but as time passed, he found himself wanting more. Luckily, he’d found her necklace in his car and used it as a valid excuse to see her. Asking her to move into his house was never part of the plan but back then as his mind rewinded to the videos he saw some days ago, he couldn’t help it. One word, a single go-ahead from her the Cooper family would finally meet its end. Each and every one of them who made her life a living hell. Just a go-ahead is enough to wipe the Cooper