Tania||
My mind froze as I stared at the paper, the pain within me too strong for me to comprehend what I was holding.
"Sign it like a good girl and get out of our lives, Tania," Nicholas hissed.
The moment he opened his mouth to speak, I felt my senses return but so did my tears. Nicholas has always been a gold-digger, but I thought he loved me enough to forget that side of him. But I was wrong. Everything has been a sham.
Anger suddenly filled me, and I squeezed the paper hard in my hand.
“I won’t let you do this, Nicholas. Not to me and not my sister—”
“Oh please, Tania. Worry about you. I want Nicholas. I love him. I have loved him long before you came to the picture.”
“He's using you, Eloise!” I cried out, my heart shattering at her childish words. “Nicholas doesn't love you; he only wants control of your finances!”
Eloise's face twisted in anger. “You're just jealous, Tania! You stole him from me, and now that you're dying, you can't bear the thought of me having him back!”
Shock filled my veins and as her words lowered into me, it turned into numbness. I couldn't believe my sister's words. The world became slow, and my body started to shake with tremors.
“How can you think that, Eloise? I'm your family!” I whispered.
But Eloise's expression remained unforgiving. “You're cruel and wicked, Tania. You always get what you want, no matter who you hurt. Haven’t you had enough?”
“Eloise…” My world crumbled right in front of me.
I felt like I was living in a nightmare, and I needed an escape, a reprieve from the pain her words had brought.
My legs developed a mind of its own and without saying a word, I staggered out of the office. Far away from their prickling words. I could barely see ahead of me, but I knew I was moving. The staff tried to stop me, but I raised my hands and kept moving.
It hurt so much, I wanted to die.
The pain in my heart wasn’t reducing, the further I walked, the stronger it became. My breaths were coming out in gasps, and I feared if I kept going, I would die sooner than the three months the doctor had prescribed. So, I stopped. Maybe I didn’t want to die…
With my eyes still blurry, I saw the bright lights of a bar, call unto me.
I wasn’t much of a drinker but with the way I felt deep inside, I needed the alcohol.
“Give me a bottle of your strongest wine,” I said with my eyes lowered.
“Will payment be by cash or transfer, ma’am?” the waiter asked.
My eyes went to my hands, I had nothing on me —nothing except the plane tickets I had gotten for Nicholas and me.
My heart tore again as the pain slapped me in the face but I sniffled it away and took off my wristwatch. “This should be able to buy enough drinks,” I whispered as I dropped the watch on the table.
The waiter examined the piece of jewelry for a few seconds before he declared it authentic and handed me four bottles. “The watch is more than enough, but let’s start with this.”
I nodded and uncorked the first bottle, rushing it down as fast as I could, wanting the alcohol to take effect quickly. As I brought it down, I felt hazy, but I could still hear Eloise's words and Nicholas’ scoffs.
I opened the second and the third bottle, but it wasn’t enough. “Give me another round…”
“Hey, beautiful… don’t you think that you have taken enough?”
My head raised from the bottles, and they went to the waiter, who had a frown on, glaring at someone else. I followed his line of sight and my eyes landed on the most dashing man I had ever seen.
His skin glowed under the multiple lights of the bar, making him appear as an angel, one sent for me.
“Waiter, give this handsome man a bottle as well,” I said to the waiter, but my eyes remained on the stranger.
He mumbled something and drew even closer, the strong scent of his cologne tickling me. “Who are you?”
“Just a random person trying to help you…”
A smile covered my face as I watched him closely. He wasn’t a random person. A man as handsome as he was… with such a broad chest could either be a celebrity or a manwhore.
And with the way he looked at me, I was certain he was a manwhore. The thoughts of it made my core tighten with need. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the music or the dancing light… whichever the case was, I suddenly found myself feeling very horny and I wanted this man for the night.
“I’ll pay you 500 dollars for a night, what do you say?” I blurted, biting the corners of my lips.
His beautifully craved thick brows raised above his head and time seemed to stop as he glared at me.
“What?” I stuttered. “Too little… all—right, I’ll make it 1000$ but you had be—tter be good, okay?”
“Ma’am —are you—” He stuttered his face going right with excitement, surely, I was a generous client. So, I stopped his babbles and grabbed his hand.
“Come on, take me to your room… I know that it’s around here somewhere…”
The moment I got up, the alcohol hit me hard, I could barely see in front of me as everything danced in multiple colors. I tried not to sway but even my vision started failing and the last thing I remembered before everything went dark was the man carrying me out of the bar into his car, whispering:
“I got you, beautiful… you are safe now.”
***
The next morning, I woke up with a pounding headache and a determination to fight back.
Everything that had happened, replayed itself into my head. Nicholas had played me like a fool for two years. He made me believe he loved me and now, in the face of a problem, he didn’t even wait for me to die, before he changed sides.
He thought he could just play with my heart and my sister’s, then get away with it.
“Never—” As soon as the words left my lips, someone stirred beside me and I turned my eyes sharply to find the handsome man from the bar, sleeping.
The conversation we had hit my memories, and my hand went to my mouth as the horror of what I had done, washed over me. Then it occurred to me that I had proposed he slept with me.
Shit.
Quickly, I checked myself and saw that I was naked.
“Oh Tania…” I cried into my hands.
I had to get out of there before he woke up and decided to get attached. As quietly as possible, I got out of bed, grabbed my clothes, and put them on, and then I ran out of the door.
To my surprise, it was a very large hotel and I wondered how a manwhore like him could afford a room there. But that was none of my business, I noted the room number and quickly made my way to the reception.
“Good morning, do you have an automated teller machine around here where I can use my thumbprint?” I asked the female I found there.
Her brown eyes moved over me for three seconds, almost like she was trying to decide if I was a thief or not before she pointed to the right.
“It’s just down the corridor.”
I mumbled a thank you and went there. Thankfully, there was no queue. I took out enough money, returned it to the receptionist, and handed her an envelope.
“When the man in room 304 comes down, please hand this over to him for his service,” I made sure to add the last part in a low voice before passing her another envelope. “And this is for your help. Thank you.”
Her face instantly brightened, and I hoped that meant she would keep this little incident between us. Quickly, I turned away from her and got a taxi.
Now that I was done with that mishap, my emotions were aligned with Nicholas. I was going to deal with him. As the taxi got close to my office building, I called the police.
“Tania, where have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Marcus cried out the second he saw me walk into the building. “You left your phone. I couldn’t reach you. What’s going on? The staff said that you were crying when you left. What is it?”
“Where is Nichols?” was the only thing, I could muster beyond my anger.
“But—” He wanted to say, and I threw him such a glare, that he knew better than to ignore my question. “He is in his office.”
My heart cracked but I knew it was going to be over soon. “When the police get here, bring them to his office,” I said as I started heading there.
I had barely gotten to his door when I heard the heavy steps of the policemen behind me. My heart swelled with hope as I pushed his door open. I flinched as I saw him with my sister again, but I controlled myself.
“As I thought, your shamelessness could never end…” I hissed as they watched me. “Prepare yourself, Nicholas, the police are here for you. Your game is over.”
As if on cue, the policemen came in that moment and turned their eyes to all three of us, but as they opened their mouths, my insides shattered.
“We are here to pick up Mrs. Tania White for her involvement in financial crime.”
Tania||Confusion flooded my insides as the police officer's words echoed in the room.There were three police officers: one man and two women. I called them a few minutes ago to come pick up Nicholas, yet the man, whom I believed was their chief had just spoken nonsense. Because how else could I explain this type of blunder?“Please, take her away,” the man suddenly added, snapping me out of my thoughts.The female officers started coming towards me and my eyes expanded in panic. “This is a mistake. I called you here.” I said through my panic and confusion, but it all fell on deaf ears.“Please keep silent for whatever you say may be used against you in the court of Law.” The man added.While I struggled to understand what was happening, Nicholas started chuckling and my eyes narrowed at him.“Poor Tania, you thought you could get rid of me?” He breathed, moving closer. “I am the angel in White-Angel Inc. The lord protects me… You see you have been doing so many fraudulent things in
Ivan||My eyes widened in shock as the woman in front of my car disappeared from my vision. It could only mean that I had hit her.The rain was pouring so heavily, that I was already struggling with visibility when she had just appeared from nowhere. Where the hell was, she going under this heavy torrent?“Holy Shit!” I hissed as I rushed out of the car.As my eyes landed on her body, my heart froze. It wasn’t the blood or the bashed state of her face, it was the fact that I recognized her. She was the strange, enchanting woman at the bar!My legs instantly lowered to the ground as panic and fear seeped through me. I have spent days searching for her, only for the universe to bring her to me in this state.“Please don’t die,” I murmured as I searched for her pulse.When I finally felt it, hope washed down into my rain-soaked and bloodied clothes. I quickly picked her off the road and gently placed in her my car. I reversed my car and drove right back to the hospital.I couldn’t lose h
Tania||I should have been shocked looking at an alien reflection in the mirror, but I didn't. I should have been surprised seeing the face of the man I thought was a whore with a doctor's coat in front of me but Instead, all I could think of was the opportunities this new face in the mirror posed.I was a totally different person, I thought to myself as I turned my head from side to side, inspecting my face. My face was still sore, and there were stitches in some places, but apart from those, my new face looked okay.I still had some tell tale looks of who I used to be; my striking green eyes and my distinct cupids bow which gave my lips the sensual curve it had, but apart from those, I was practically unrecognizable to anyone who used to know me."How long have I been here for?" I asked, my voice sounding foreign in my own ears."You have been in a coma for six weeks now." He replied so gently as if he was scared his voice would hurt me.His voice sounded like warm honey. Like a cu
Tania||"How are you doing today honey?" The old woman who was Ivan's grandmother cooed to me like I was a baby as she stroked my forehead gently.My confused eyes moved from her face, to Ivan's and back to hers and then Ivan again. His eyes were full of panic and what looked like shame."When did she wake up?" I watched as Ivan's grandmother asked him. "Erm..." I watched Ivan stutter as he rubbed his beautiful forehead with his thumb and forefinger.He looked so tense and he was intentionally refusing to meet my eyes. I really wanted him to look at me. I needed answers to what was going on."About an hour ago I think." Ivan finally answered. "Oh, honey! How do you feel?" The old woman's attention was back on me.I looked at her and my eyes were met with beautiful blue eyes that were so identical to the ones Ivan had. Hers were just wiser and full of motherly love and I wanted to drown in their gentleness.This time when she spoke, she looked like she warranted an answer from me but
Ivan||My heart skipped a couple of beats as I waited for her answer.The room felt so hot all of a sudden and I was finding it so difficult to breathe. She was silent. I tried to read her thoughts in her eyes but they were like two cold green slots with no emotion. I knew I had made a mistake and it was worse that I did not know how to sort myself out of it.After a couple of minutes, I gave up. I was going to cut the whole thing off. I would find another way to please Grandma."Fine. I'll do it." Tania's voice interrupted my thoughts."What?!" I asked, disbelieving what I just heard."I would go through with your silly plan but on one condition." She said.I waited for her to state her condition. My body was jittery with excitement. No matter what she requested, I was going to give it to her. Hell, I would give her a kidney if she wanted it."You have to declare me dead and sign a death certificate," She finally said. I paused alongside all the excitement I was feeling as I trie
Ivan||"You really don't have to do much honestly. Just enough to keep my grandma's suspicion at bay," I said to Tania who was reclining in the passenger seat next to me in my black Brabus.It was the same car I had hit her with a couple of weeks ago. I wondered what it felt like sitting in the same car that had almost killed you and next to the man who had almost killed you.It had been two days since we had made our plan to help each other's deceitful plans and even though I had intended to let her stay in the hospital for a couple more days for further observation, my grandma had insisted that she be discharged.I could not help but admire the beauty that was sitting next to me. I would consider my work on her face to be my best reconstruction.I had indeed taken my time to ensure she did not have any scars or imperfections mostly out of guilt for having destroyed the masterpiece that had originally been her face. However, I had ensured I kept some features of her old face. Tania
Tania||"What do you think?" Ivan asked me.I moved my head from side to side as I examined my face in the mirror."Perfect." I respond.He had just taken out the last remaining stitches on my face. There was still a little reddening and swelling around where the stitches had been taken out, but apart from that, everything was flawless."It's safe to say Nana's idea of bringing you back home for a quicker recovery really worked," Ivan said with a smile.It had been six days since I stepped into Ivan's home. Six days of spending the night in the same room with him, and I would have to say it had been worth it.Nana had spent all her time dotting over me and turning me into an adult spoiled brat. I would not lie. It felt so good to have someone care for you, and I made sure I enjoyed every bit of it. I was so comfortable in the house, but Ivan didn't seem to be enjoying it as much as I was. He seem
Tania||As her question sank through my head, the pasta passed into my windpipe, choking me out of my thoughts.I coughed out the food and Ivan got up immediately to help me.He patted my back while I continued coughing with one hand and with the other hand, he held a napkin to my mouth."Nan see what you have caused!" Ivan chastised her."What did I do?" She whined, oblivious to the murder she almost committed."I told you to stop saying things like that, Nana!" Ivan hissed and she pursed her lips sadly.When I recovered, Ivan went back to his seat and grandmother cleared her throat."I'm sorry honey. I didn't mean to rile you up...""It's okay Nana." I replied forcing a smile. "I was not expecting such a question, that's all.""But you should." She insisted and from the corner of my eyes, I saw Liam roll his eyes in exasperation."You both are obviously in love so there is no re