"One fifty." I heard someone shout. "One sixty." Another said immediately. "Two hundred." "Five hundred thousand dollars." It was Drego. He'd finally placed his bid. "Five hundred thousand dollars, going once, going twice, sold." Cesar announced and everybody clapped. "What was that?" Drego barked. "What?" I blinked, my smile slowly dissipating. "Why did you agree to stand up there? And looking like this for that matter." I frowned. "Like what?" "Did you enjoy the fact that men were bidding on you like some prost-" My palms flew and landed on Drego's face before I could understand what I was doing. "You don't get to judge how I decide to look. Who the hell do you think you are to judge me? I did what I did for charity. You're my boss, don't cross any lines." I turned around to leave. "Wait. Nichole I'm sorry." He said more calmly. I looked at him again. "Because I told you that I was in love with you doesn't make it okay for you to get involved in my personal life and decisions." "It's not like-" "Don't worry. The day I quit was the first day getting over you. You don't have to worry about that crazy talk. I'm over you. And I'll leave your company the second you find my replacement and you won't have to see me anymore." "Nichole please listen-" "Drego, you're up." Reid came outside. His expression changed. It was no surprise. The tension between Drego and I was palpable. "Is everything okay?" Reid asked. "Yeah." I replied. "We are done here."
Drego's hands stilled at once after shaking the entire time Avril was speaking in her derogatory and disparaging tone. For the first time since their conversation, he wasn't scared of the consequences of the thoughts that had been cooking in his head. As his hands stilled, the aim of his gun became clear.
Her heart.
There was no better place the gun should face while he pulls the trigger.
"You don't have the balls to shoot me." Avril laughed hysterically.
In her white nightwear dress and her hair pouring down to her back, long lashes and red lips, her demeanor was a contrast to her looks. While Avril looked beautiful and angelic, the very reason Drego had loved her, still loved her like his life depended on it, the words that left her mouth were pure evil. Every alphabet had hatred etched in them. Every sound echoed with loathing...
Drego knew that if she'd been in possession of the gun instead of him, she'd have pulled the trigger a long time ago.
So why couldn't he? Someone had to die today. It was either him, or her. They both couldn't leave the house alive. The choice was pretty clear. But he hesitated.
"Did you ever love me?" Drego sounded pathetic. Even he knew how stupid he must sound asking a question like that in their current situation.
Avril's devilish demeanor changed at once. Like a transfiguration, she became the girl Drego had fallen in love with. Calm and cool. So beautiful she looked like kindness itself. But now he knew better than to trust this side of her. Behind the calm and cool was a calculative bitch who simply wanted everything he owned. Everything except the one thing he wished she wanted.
"I did." Avril answered. She took a few steps towards Drego but he shook the gun, reminding her that he still had the upper hand.
Drego believed he'd concealed his emotions perfectly. That his mask had no crack whatsoever. But Avril knew him. She'd studied him for months before she approached him. Just like she couldn't deceive him now, he couldn't deceive her at all.
Avril burst out laughing. Once again, her expression had changed.
"You believed that?" He did. Not because she had convinced him with her acting, that held nothing on him now. He wanted to believe she loved him because he was the fool who still loved her. Who still wanted her. Who, even at this juncture, was attracted to her still.
"Why didn't you just ask me for the money? I would have given it to you."
Avril squeezed. Her sigh was loud, and there was no mistaking the anger in there too.
She looked to the side, ignoring the gun Drego had been pointing at her for the last ten twenty minutes as he stood in front of her. Raising her hand to her head, she ruffled her perfectly combed hair, leaving it in a state of disorder. Avril bit her lips so hard she almost drew blood.
"Ask? You?" She almost barked. "The great Drego Ricardo, son of the powerful Glen and Eloisa Ricardo, the man who is known for being ruthless and untrusting, the billionaire that no one could contend with..." Avril released a scorned laughter. "How was I supposed to ask you? Oh mighty Drego, please give me your wealth." She said in a sweet angelic voice, "Like that?"
"The first time I met you, you didn't even look twice at me. The first time you looked at me, you paid me zero attention. I was supposed to ask? Don't be ridiculous."
"Did you not know that I loved you?"
"I did. I felt the love. I knew how sincere it was. I just didn't want it. Don't you get it. I never loved you even though I could see the sincerity of your heart."
"Do you really not love me? Did you really not feel anything for me for the two years we've been married?"
"You're a pathetic man who is nothing without the mirage he's created out there in the world that he is a deadly beast that is not to be trifled with." Avril said viciously, "Excuse my mistake, you're no man. Just a small boy who still cries in his sleep when he dreams of his mommy and daddy's accident. You're so weak that you can't even give your parents the justice they-"
Bang! Avril smiled, her body weakening as she felt life draining out of her. She touched her stomach, and then presented the evidence of her pain in front of her eyes. Blood. The sound of the gun shot should have told her exactly what had happened, but for some reason, she needed extra evidence.
Avril looked at Drego who's eyes had started to leak with tears. Just seconds after he shot her he was already regretting doing it.
Drego rushed to her as she fell to the ground, her blood pooling very quickly around her. Some part of her white dress was now the color red and somehow, with her skin pale and her body lying on the ground weak and almost lifeless, she looked as enchanting as the first day Drego had set his eyes on her.
Avril didn't know this, but he'd given her many looks that night. She was the prettiest woman at the party and it had been love at first sight.
"Avril... Avril..." Drego shook her almost lifeless body, crying. "You did good." Avril whispered. "Now I'll never be your weakness."
Realization hit him at once. The pain tripled and his heart grew heavier. His tears flowed like an unending stream, and his soul begged for release.
He'd never felt pain like this but once. The day he was told his parents were gone.
"Why did you do this? Why?" Drego cried.
Avril raised her frail hand to his face, touching his cheeks, she smiled weakly, "because I love you. And because I deserve this."
"I'm sorry." Drego cried. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."
"Shh. I should be apologizing. Because of me, your life was ruined. You lost your parents because I was greedy and wanted your money. I am so sorry, my Drego. Please, don't blame yourself. Be happy."
Avril closed her eyes, one final breath of air, and she never took another one.
Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."
Lyric had spent her life being hated. Bullied for her scarred face and hated by everyone-including her own mate-she was always told she was ugly. Her mate only kept her around to gain territory, and the moment he got what he wanted, he rejected her, leaving her broken and alone. Then, she met him. The first man to call her beautiful. The first man to show her what it felt like to be loved. It was only one night, but it changed everything. For Lyric, he was a saint, a savior. For him, she was the only woman that had ever made him cum in bed-a problem he had been battling for years. Lyric thought her life would finally be different, but like everyone else in her life, he lied. And when she found out who he really was, she realized he wasn't just dangerous-he was the kind of man you don't escape from. Lyric wanted to run. She wanted freedom. But she desired to navigate her way and take back her respect, to rise above the ashes. Eventually, she was forced into a dark world she didn't wish to get involved with.
After two years of marriage, Kristian dropped a bombshell. "She's back. Let's get divorced. Name your price." Freya didn't argue. She just smiled and made her demands. "I want your most expensive supercar." "Okay." "The villa on the outskirts." "Sure." "And half of the billions we made together." Kristian froze. "Come again?" He thought she was ordinary—but Freya was the genius behind their fortune. And now that she'd gone, he'd do anything to win her back.
"I, Erika Blackwood, stand before you, Alexander Robertson, with a heavy heart. I hereby reject you as my mate. The bond we once shared has grown fragile, and my soul yearns for a different path. May you find solace in the love of another, and may we both find the happiness we seek." Alexander didn't say a word and looked at me. But he refused to accept. *********** Erika Blackwood is the next Alpha in line of the Ironclaw Pack. She hides her identity and gets mated to the Alpha of the Moonforest Pack, Alexander Robertson. Three years passed, but Alexander is still unwilling to let go of his childhood sweetheart. Erika is mistreated and eventually framed by the same childhood sweetheart. Now she leaves with that humiliation, and goes back to her pack, swearing vengeance on those who hurt her. They all waited for her to return and beg, but what happens when they realize that the famous Ironclaw Pack that was going to help in the rogue war, was ruled by a woman named, Erika Blackwood. Now her Ex mates want her back. Other Alphas want this woman.. But will she accept any of them? Or will she stay independent forever?...
When Zora was sick during the early days of her pregnancy, Ezrah was with his first love, Piper. When Zora got into an accident and called Ezrah, he said he was busy, when in actual fact, he was buying shoes for Piper. Zora lost her baby because of the accident, and throughout her stay at the hospital, Ezrah never showed up. She already knew that he didn't love her, but that was the last straw for the camel's back, and her fragile heart could not take it anymore. When Ezrah arrived home a few days after Zora was discharged from the hospital, he no longer met the woman who always greeted him with a smile and cared for him. Zora stood at the top of the stairs and yelled with a cold expression, "Good news, Ezrah! Our baby died in a car accident. There is nothing between us anymore, so let's get a divorce." The man who claimed not to have any feelings for Zora, being cold and distant towards her, and having asked her for a divorce twice, instantly panicked.
Lindsey's fiancé was the devil's first son. Not only did he lie to her but he also slept with her stepmother, conspired to take away her family fortune, and then set her up to have sex with a total stranger. To get her lick back, Lindsey decided to find a man to disrupt her engagement party and humiliate the cheating bastard. Never did she imagine that she would bump into a strikingly handsome stranger who was all that she was currently looking for. At the engagement party, he boldly declared that she was his woman. Lindsey thought he was just a broke man who wanted to leech off her. But once they began their fake relationship, she realized that good luck kept coming her way. She thought they would part ways after the engagement party, but this man kept to her side. "We gotta stick together, Lindsey. Remember, I'm now your fiancé. " "Domenic, you're with me because of my money, aren't you?" Lindsey asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Domenic was taken aback by that accusation. How could he, the heir of the Walsh family and CEO of Vitality Group, be with her for money? He controlled more than half of the city's economy. Money wasn't a problem for him! The two got closer and closer. One day, Lindsey finally realized that Domenic was actually the stranger she had slept with months ago. Would this realization change things between them? For the better or worse?