CIARA'S POVWhen Tristian took my hand as the waiter disappeared round the corner, I felt guilty instantly. This was a man that seemed to love me with all his heart. A man that had thanked me severally for standing with him through his trying moments.What was I going to repay him back with?I was going to join his enemies in crippling him, in letting his efforts to lift us up run in vain. My head was reeling, and I knew that if I didn't get my shit together as soon as possible, he was going to know something was wrong and was going to start asking questions.He kissed my hand, looking at my eyes. His sapphire coloured eyes had always been my undoing, and I felt my insides turn inside out as he stared at him. He seemed to stare at my soul, and I wondered if he saw how messed up I was.“I love you, CeeCee. And I want you to know that. After all this is over, we'll arrange our marriage, just you and I. Away from the public, just like how you've always wanted it.”I looked at him, and I
KAYLA'S POVOpening the door to the house I shared with Marcus, I breathed in, my head hurting. My world seemed to be crumbling, it was one of those rare times when things happened but wasn't explainable. How was what had happened to me in the past few days explainable?From my boyfriend cheating on me with my best friend to my own close friend telling me that she had known about it all this while. I was hurt, and I wondered if there was any going forward from this.Was there any hope for our relationship? Trying to take my mind off my present situation, I undressed, deciding to prepare dinner for Marcus. It was the easiest way to confront him. Make him feel at ease, then strike. There was no other way.Entering into the kitchen, I found out that there were no groceries. How was I going to prepare the beef stew I had planned? Going outside, I hailed a taxi, acknowledging that I really needed to learn how to drive. It was going to help me in the long run because I had heard stories o
ADRIAN'S POV“Come on Nancy, you're gonna be late, hurry up. Get your backpack and meet me outside.”I was stuffing the eggs my wife, Natalie had fried, drinking to coffee to wrap up my breakfast. She was staring at me, her eyes asking questions. She had always been a smart one, Natalie, and she had the instincts of a predator. She knew when something wasn't right, and I could tell from the look in her eyes that she felt something wasn't right somewhere.“Are you going to say it or what?”I munched on my bread, avoiding her eyes. She seemed to see through me, seemed to see through my lie of getting a raise at work.“Where's the money coming from, Adrian?”Using the napkin to clean the oil from my lips, I swallowed hard, then gave her a smile that concealed the truth. I sipped my coffee, suspending the truth for the time being.“I thought we talked about this, Natalie.”She laughed, stirring her coffee. She was holding a flask in her other hand, and I knew that she used the coffee to d
KAYLA'S POVI was confused. It was one thing to know your boyfriend was cheating on you and not knowing the next step to take, and it was a totally complete scenario when you caught him red-handed without knowing prior. I had gone through these two phases, and I was confused on the step to take.Was I going to risk leaving Marcus Turner and lose my relationship and everything I had built? Plus the fact that he had assured me not to work and I was jobless, I was literally a housewife. Leaving Marcus meant starting afresh totally, from getting a job to finding an apartment.That brought Trisha into the picture. Was I willing to ditch my anger for her hospitality all over again? Was I willing to forgive her?I sighed, getting up from the bed I had shared with Marcus. I had no choice. I was cornered, I had to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea.Marcus came out of the bathroom, giving me a smile when he saw that I was awake. He had just a towel around his waist, and I had to ad
TRISTIAN'S POVI hugged Ciara from behind, allowing the aroma of the bacon and the scrambled eggs she was preparing for breakfast envelope my nostrils. She accepted the hug, clutching my hands. When she looked up, all I saw was genuine love and care. She was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, she was the one I loved.“Good morning CeeCee. It really smells nice in here.”“Of course it does. Who else prepares better bacon than I? Definitely not you, my love. You'll burn them.”I smiled, slapping her behind as hard as I could in retaliation. Buttoning the sleeves of my shirt, I adjusted, smiling and ignoring the callous stare she gave me.“I wanted to see my father today.”“Oh.”The “oh” had various meanings to it. I wondered which one she meant, was she surprised that I was going to see him after I had said I wouldn't? Or was she surprised that I had even mentioned his name after such a long time.“It's nothing serious though, I just wanted to tell him I'd gotten the lo
KAYLA'S POV“What are you going to do?”It was the question that had been on my mind, the question that I had had no success in discovering the answer to. I stared at Trisha, suddenly feeling tired all of a sudden, the urge to lie down very great.“I have no idea, Trish. I desperately want to confront him, but then I remember I have no job, and I was foolish enough to believe he was going to marry and I was going to be a full-time housewife. I can't believe how dumb I was to fall for that.”I wiped away a tear, sipping the Martini slowly. “Well, you don't have to blame yourself, Kayla. Some men are animals, and he's one of them. I can't believe Bella, though. She hasn't told me about this new development. We still text occasionally, but she has never mentioned he comes to her place even after you caught him cheating.”I shrugged, not knowing what else to do or how to reply. I had been shocked that Bella had shown absolutely no remorse after everything. It was saddening, and I wondere
CIARA'S POV When I entered my apartment and found Tristian on the couch, a beer in his hand, my heart went out to him immediately. It was then I understood the gravity of what I had done and the toll it was going to take on him. He looked up, his eyes leaving the television he had been watching for a few seconds. “CeeCee.” I couldn't help it but walk to him, enveloping him into a hug. At that moment I wanted to tell him the truth, to tell him that everything was going to be fine, but at the same time I wanted to hold on to the money in my account, I wanted to continue reassuring myself that I had my future under control, and I didn't belong to any man. “What happened? I didn't understand your text.” He sighed, a sigh of weary and tiredness. He took another swig from his bottle and I collected it, noting the two empty bottles underneath the table. At this rate, he was going to be drunk if he didn't stop. “I went to the bank, Ciara, and they said the loan wasn't transferred to my b
KAYLA'S POVI stared at Jeremiah and Trisha, and at that moment I knew that whatever Marcus and I had shared was a facade, we had been pretending and lying to ourselves right from the start. They were working on a writing project, smiling, hand in hand, and Trisha occasionally slapping his behind. He would chase her and they would flop onto the sofa, look at their laptops, create a few ideas and the cycle would start all over again. This was the real meaning of love. They had something in common, they shared a lot together. They were not far apart, even their silences seemed to be filled with words. I enjoyed looking at them, and it made me realize that I and Marcus Turner were never meant to be. It was probably a good thing that we had broken it off.Looking at Trisha and Jeremiah made me feel lonely, and that was why I was headed to the kitchen, determined to get rid of my loneliness. I had begun searching for jobs online, and although I knew that Trisha was going to be there for