"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.
Three years ago, Cecilia was left battered and alone by the man she loved most, Alston, yet she bravely completed the wedding ceremony while pregnant. Three years later, although they were married, they grew apart over time. Cecilia focused on her career, no longer foolishly believing in love. But her transformation instantly threw Alston into a panic... And what is the secret from 11 years ago that Cecilia has always been reluctant to reveal? *** "She went to a law firm, met with a lawyer..." A lawyer? Is Cecilia suing someone? Who? Is there any recent litigation against the company? Alston suddenly chuckled coldly, "Who could she sue? I'm the CEO of this company. How come such a matter doesn't come to me first?" The assistant swallowed nervously, speaking softly, "Sir, there's no litigation against the company. She met with... a divorce lawyer."
She thought she was the love of his life, and he became the love of her life that fateful day she had seen him at the pack's party. Selene Grace was only a replica of Alpha Leo's real mate, and when he spotted her, Leo immediately claimed her as his Luna in order to suppress the rumors of him being mateless. Being unable to conceive turns Selene's marriage into a nightmare, and as if that wasn't enough, Alpha Leo finally reunites with his long time lover and mate, rejecting a pregnant Selene as a result. 5 years later, Selene, a now successful doctor, receives an invitation to the moon shadow pack in order to rid the pack of a deadly disease which has struck it. Will Selene return back to the pack which had caused her so much pain, and what would she do when she realizes that she is mated to the Alpha who had betrayed her in the past?
After spending a night with a strange man on the day before her wedding, Arianna left the country to start her life afresh. The 22-year-old Arianna Jason lived her life pleasing those she loved the most, without knowing that she was simply a prey being nurtured for the day of her ruin. Her life has tasted the butter pill of betrayal. She wants to give back to the world what she's got but how can she change her good, innocent personality to fit into a cruel society and world? Can her sweet nature be contaminated, or will she make it through, paddling on the right path?
The day Raina gave birth should have been the happiest of her life. Instead, it became her worst nightmare. Moments after delivering their twins, Alexander shattered her heart-divorcing her and forcing her to sign away custody of their son, Liam. With nothing but betrayal and heartbreak to her name, Raina disappeared, raising their daughter, Ava, on her own.Years later, fate comes knocking when Liam falls gravely ill. Desperate to save his son, Alexander is forced to seek out the one person he once cast aside. Alexander finds himself face to face with the woman he underestimated, pleading for a second chance-not just for himself, but for their son. But Raina is no longer the same broken woman who once loved him.No longer the woman he left behind. She has carved out a new life-one built on strength, wealth, and a long-buried legacy she expected to uncover.Raina has spent years learning to live without him.The question is... Will she risk reopening old wounds to save the son she never got to love? or has Alexander lost her forever?
She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"
There was only one man in Raegan's heart, and it was Mitchel. In the second year of her marriage to him, she got pregnant. Raegan's joy knew no bounds. But before she could break the news to her husband, he served her divorce papers because he wanted to marry his first love. After an accident, Raegan lay in the pool of her own blood and called out to Mitchel for help. Unfortunately, he left with his first love in his arms. Raegan escaped death by the whiskers. Afterward, she decided to get her life back on track. Her name was everywhere years later. Mitchel became very uncomfortable. For some reason, he began to miss her. His heart ached when he saw her all smiles with another man. He crashed her wedding and fell to his knees while she was at the altar. With bloodshot eyes, he queried, "I thought you said your love for me is unbreakable? How come you are getting married to someone else? Come back to me!"