The CEO..‘I’m deeply sorry.’I read the message again, spinning in my office chair, trying to discern its meaning, but nothing came up, no matter how hard I tried.I could ask, but I wasn’t ready to look for answers I might not want to find. With a sigh, I dropped my phone. Thoughts gnawed at me.Trying to find out who bought the other bracelet was like looking for a drop of water in the ocean. The auction was tonight, and I wasn’t able to get anything out of Lucy, and for Mr. Brian, I had no clue about his financial standing. Everything needs to go smoothly, or my chance of convincing my father will plunge to less than ten percent.I was drowning in my thoughts and hadn’t noticed Zach's presence.“What are you thinking about?” Zach’s voice pulled me out of my head.“A lot. I wasn’t able to get anything out of Lucy,” I stated.“Because you are not playing your card well. She doesn’t feel loved.”A frown etched across my face as I ignored him. I was doing my best. Lucy was just too
The CEO..The maid greeted me as I entered. "Your father is in the dining room.""Damon. Damon still there?" Zach muttered. “Lucy is—.” His voice came through the earpiece."Yeah, I know. I can hear the auction," I replied.The speaker was loud enough; I could hear it in the background."She's holding her stakes."I sighed. "Alright. I'm about to meet the devil; remember the word, right?""Yes, father," he giggled. "That sounds strange. It's like I just called you my father. Or like a sinner confessing to a priest."I smiled a little. tucking my phone in my trouser’s pocket.The air grew thinner as I approached the dining area, each step increasing the churning in my stomach. I still didn’t know why I was here.Bitterness flooded my mouth as I saw him, seated and dining on a rare steak, slicing it with a knife, its juices smearing the plate."Sit," he ordered, putting a slice in his mouth.As I settled down, the maid placed a plate of rare steak before me."I prefer it cooked," I in
Lucy. . . “Mr. Isaac Zealot,” I muttered, striding out of the auction venue and heading towards the underground parking lot. Tina, my P.A., trailed behind, struggling to keep up. “Yes, Ma’am. He’s the owner of ZeeTech.” “ZeeTech?” I stopped abruptly, causing her to bump into me. I cringed at her clumsiness. Even with her glasses, she blundered around as if she were blind. “Sorry, Ma’am.” She adjusted her glasses nervously. “I’ve never heard of the company,” I replied, ignoring her inept apology. She’d likely do it again. “It’s a foreign company, but it's opening a branch here,” Tina stated. “A foreign company.” I halted again, and she collided with me once more. I turned to her, exasperated. “You don’t have to walk directly behind me.” Reaching my car, I let out a sharp, throat-wrenching shriek. Rage spiked through me. How could I have lost to a complete nobody? I never expected anyone to walk in with two hundred fifty million. I’d tried to speak with him after th
The toy. . . I stared at myself in the mirror, tilting from side to side to inspect every angle. I turned to Jessie, who was engrossed in one of her self-help books. After spending weeks at Jessie’s place, her room didn’t seem so depressing anymore. “What do you think?” I asked, smoothing the fabric of my dress. “Don’t you think it’s too short?” I turned back to the mirror, eyeing the hem. “It’s night and you’re driving; it’s not too short,” Jessie replied quickly, her focus already shifting back to her book. “Do you think I look beautiful in it?” “Ari, you look beautiful in anything,” she replied, her words dragging out lazily. Suddenly, she sat up straight, as if struck by lightning. “You’re going to see Logan, right?” “Yeah,” I said, applying a coat of lip gloss. A mischievous smile pulled at the corners of her lips. “When did you become so meticulous about what to wear when seeing Logan? You only did that for Damon.” She walked over and stood in front of me. “Do you like L
The Toy...We sat on the floor mattress in a lounge chair position, the blanket wrapped around our partially naked bodies. I could feel the warmth of his firm chest against my back as I leaned into him.His eyes widened in bewilderment before bursting into laughter. “So, you thought I was the Logan in your diary?”“You can’t blame me. You both have the same features.” I smiled, sipping from my juice. After the sex, there was no need for alcohol.“Was he as handsome as I am?” Logan flashed his charming smile, scratching the back of his head.A warm smile appeared on my face, reflecting the lightness in my heart. “No, he wasn’t.”We sat in comfortable silence, sipping our drinks and enjoying the view of the city through the window. Suddenly, his phone rang.Logan suspiciously snatched his phone, as if he didn’t want me to see the caller. “I’ll be right back,” he muttered, quickly getting up and disappearing into the other room. He kept glancing back at me, as if checking to see if I w
The CEO..My head leaned back as my gaze drifted to the ceiling of my office. Papers flooded my desk—contracts to sign, business proposals to review—yet none of it could distract me. My blood boiled as images of Binky kissing that godforsaken man replayed in my mind. That’s why she had asked that question; my anger erupted like a chemical reaction. I picked up my phone—still no message from her, no explanation, nothing at all. She really just let me walk away like that.“Your meeting must have gone badly. You look so down,” her voice pierced my thoughts.Lucy was the last person I wanted to see or talk to right now.“What meeting?” I muttered. “Oh, yeah, the meeting. It went bad. I lost the deal, actually,” I added quickly, remembering I had spent days away under the pretense of traveling to Florida for business.Lucy smiled. “I know how you feel.” She placed a lunch box on the desk. “I brought lunch for you.”I forced a smile. Even though I didn’t like her, I could have appreciated
The CEO..I glanced at my watch. I knew Tracy was terrible at keeping time, but she had gotten worse. She had texted me to hang out yesterday, but I already had plans to drag Binky to the hospital. So I took a rain check. We decided to meet at 6 p.m. Knowing Tracy, I came at 7:30, but now it’s 8:30, and she still wasn’t here.Tracy walked in a red gown and a black fur coat, her red hair packed in a bun. "Sorry, little Wesley. Something came up,” she apologized, settling in the seat across from me.A frown still lingered across my face. “You should have said so. But you keep saying you were on your way.” Tracy rested her chin on her clasped hands on the table, tilting her head with a knowing smile. "If I had told you, you'd have left, and who knows when we'd meet next?"I guess she knew me as well as I knew her.“Eaten?” She tucked her chair in.“No appetite. But I will drink.” I sighed.I had barely had any appetite since Binky’s incident. I had eaten enough of her scornful words.
The toy...I sighed for the tenth time, lying lazily across the bed with the diary beside me, yet my mind was too troubled to read it. After hearing from the nurse that Damon had stayed through all four of her surgeries, I realized he was never going to pull the plug. I was too blinded by my emotions to see that—he was just trying to pull me out. Turning to the other side of the bed, facing the window, my consciousness ate at me as I remembered the hurtful words I said. I even involved his mother. I resisted the urge to smack my head.Sitting up, I grabbed my phone and checked for any response to my messages asking him to talk. The blue ticks mocked me—he had ignored me for a week now. I sighed again, feeling the weight of my own actions.Jessie burst into the room, tossing her bag aside and rushing towards me. "Remember how we dreamed of going to Paris?" Her voice bubbled with excitement. "You never convinced Damon to take us, but guess what?""Yeah?" I replied."Zach's cousin is g