My life was going perfectly until my parents summoned me back to the motherland. My father was persistent on my return and when I finally arrive I learn that I've been signed off into an arranged marriage.
My life was going perfectly until my parents summoned me back to the motherland. My father was persistent on my return and when I finally arrive I learn that I've been signed off into an arranged marriage.
Deja
"Dad, I already said I can't make it back anytime soon." I didn't mean to raise my tone, but my parents were being overly persistent right now- more than usual.
"Dejare! I am your father and I do not need a reason to bring you back home" He coughed aggressively at the end of his rant. I could hear my mother telling him to calm down in our native tongue, Yoruba.
Home? The word sounded almost foreign on my tongue. I had stopped referring to that place as home years ago. It just didn't feel right to call it home after what happened.
"E pele sir" I apologized in Yoruba
"Don't tell me sorry, Dejare! Just come home. I didn't send you to school abroad only for you to disrespect me. Or was that a mistake?" My father asked
One thing about my father, Adebayo Bamidele. He never failed to remind me that he made my education and stay in Canada possible.
I ignored the question. "I'll think about it, Dad. I have to go now." This conversation had to end now. It's a Saturday morning and I have places to be.
"Deja don't think about it! Just make sure you come ho-" I pressed the red button and immediately turned my mobile data off
My father's anger-filled rants can wait another day. Right now my favorite pastry shop just opened for the day and there's no way in hell I'm going to fall back on my duty as Dakota's first customer.
A smile appeared on my face as I crossed the street and Dakota's beautiful shop sign appeared in my line of view.
The Pearl had become almost like a second house to me. If I wasn't at work or home, I was here; eating Dakota's amazing meat pies, donuts, and spring rolls.
Dakota and I met during my second week at university. She was also new like me and lost too. When we finally found our right class, thirty minutes later the professor made us partners for the whole of the semester.
We walked to the nearest pastry shop together to brainstorm on the assignment.
Dakota had used half our time to smile lovingly at the shop and used the other half to tell me how, one day she wants to own a pastry shop just like this but better.
To be honest, I had no interest in her pastry shop story then and it's not like I could get rid of the strange talkative girl, I was stuck with her. So, I listened to her story and prayed to whoever is up there that maybe she'd finally let us do our work if I just listen to her plan.
She didn't.
I open the door and the wide smile on my face is suddenly wiped off when something hard collides with my front.
The wet and cold feeling of iced liquid registers in my head as it drips down my shirt. I'm still trying to get over the damage to my amazing blouse when the grating voice belonging to the culprit speaks.
Oh wow, he's tall, really tall but that doesn't matter because I'm beyond pissed. "Watch where you're bloody going!" He exclaims rudely
Me? He bumped into me!
"Are you blind? You bumped into me and also ruined my clothes!" I retort angrily
He looks at my face briefly before his eyes rake the damage but he doesn't utter the apology I was expecting. Instead, he looks me in the eye and then looks down at his trousers, then he proceeds to give me a pointed look.
I'm taken aback but I don't say a word "An apology would simply fix all this. You're the one who bumped into me. So, apologize" he replied
"Are you fucking kidding me? I'm not the one who was on my phone or has my head so far up my ass I can't tell when I'm wrong. Choke on the apology, idiot" I hiss and step to the side before walking off in the direction of the counter where Dakota is supposed to be but is not.
I can feel the piercing gaze of his eyes on the back of my but I don't bother turning around.
A second later, Dakota appears from the kitchen. A huge smile appears on her face when she sees me "There's my number one customer and favourite Nigerian!"
I'm the only Nigerian she knows.
I give her a small smile as she walks around the counter to come and hug me.
She comes to a quick halt in front of me and I drop my outstretched arms "I have to tell you though, as much as I hate it you were late today for the first time and someone took your spot as number one customer." She sounded genuinely sad. And knowing Dakota, she probably is.
Well judging from the time on my watch that says eight fifteen AM, and Dakota opens shop by eight AM. I'm guessing we all know who the spot thief is. The idiot who spilled coffee on me. And if not for my parent's call I'd have been the first person in here.
"Dako-" I proceed to inform her
"Woah! Is there a new fashion trend I'm unaware of again?" She asks jokingly while reaching for napkins to clean my blouse.
I mutter a thank you "That's what I was about to tell you about"
"Don't delay! Get on with it then." I roll my eyes at her and she laughs "Miss Deja, please proceed."
I chuckle "So, just minutes ago as I was about to enter, some idiot that was too focused on his phone bumped into me and spilled coffee all over my blouse. That's not the worst part. The worst part is, he was expecting me to apologize. So disrespectful. Anyway, that's how I ended up with this. I'm surprised you didn't hear, we were a bit loud." I picked the napkin up and tried to reduce the damage done to my shirt.
I raise my head to look at Dakota, she has been quiet for too long. She's not one to stay quiet, especially for gist like this. I squint my eyes while they're on her "You're quiet. Why?"
"Okay, two questions." I nod "Was this idiot by any chance a 6'6ft hunk? And why were you late today?"
"I don't know about hunk but the idiot was tall, very tall. And I was late because Mr. Bamidele wants me to come back to Nigeria for something 'important' " I air-quoted the last word to show how I felt about the information.
"We're going to Nigeria! When?" She asked with sheer excitement
"We? No honey, not yet. I'm supposed to go to Nigeria. Just me." I drop the napkin on the table
She sighs dramatically "Shit! When will I get to finally visit the motherland?"
"Soon my love, pele." I console her in my language
"Oshe." Dakota thanks me and then smiles with pride at her Yoruba progress. Even though her pronunciation is still shaky
"Ah! You go girl!" I lift my hands to high-five her
"Thank you, thank you." She flicks her hair with pride "Okay so, back to the man who spilled coffee on you, can you describe him?"
As much as I hate it, I go back to his topic "Very tall, blue eyes, black hair, expensive suit, and watch." I give her the perfect description. And yeah, I'm very attentive.
Dakota's eyes widen "Yeah, that was my first customer. Deja, that's Maverick Wolfe"
"Mav what? Am I supposed to know him?" I get up and make my way to the hot meat pie tray. On my way, I hit my toe against the leg of the table causing me to knock over the glass of ice water all over my trousers.
"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" Dakota exclaims and walks towards me with a chair
I take the chair "Thanks, I'm fine. My toe hurts though." Call me superstitious but my gut tells me this is a sign to book my flight tonight
"Want me to get the aboniki? I always keep one around now." I chuckle at the memory that brings up "That shit works like a miracle worker." She carefully steps over the spilled water and squats to take a look at my toe
I laugh at her "You're turning into a Nigerian at this point. And it's okay, but I need to get home and book my flight tickets. I'm going to Nigeria."
We stand together "What made you change your mind?" She asks surprisingly
"This morning my phone almost fell down the toilet, a rude man spilled coffee on me, and now I stubbed my toe and spilled iced water all over my body. Yeah, I need to go home and hear what my parents want." I kiss her on the cheek and make my way to the door
"You're so superstitious!" Dakota yells behind me
I halt and turn around "I can't help it. It's the Nigerian in me!" I yell back before crossing the road
"We still have to talk about Maverick Wolfe." She mutters a low curse word and then covers her mouth when she realizes that she let her intrusive thoughts win again in public.
I chuckle "Fuck Maverick Wolfe!"
Amaya Jones is 23 years old and a single mother to Bailey King. She used to live with her family until she became pregnant with Bailey. Her father was furious so he cut her out of their life. Aiden Carter a 28-year-old billionaire playboy and heir to his father's company is surprised when his father contacts him and says he has a beneficial deal for the company. He wants Aiden to help an old friend of his who was on the verge of bankruptcy. Aiden has no interest in helping the Jones's, but his father insists so he gives in. When his father tells him what the contract entails, he's against it at first but agrees later on. After all, a joint company means more money, which Aiden doesn't mind. Amaya's parents sign the contract without her knowledge. They didn't care about what she wanted they just hoped that when they inform her about the arranged marriage, she would accept without any fuss. Amaya declines the offer. She doesn't care if her family was on the verge of bankruptcy, they cut her off long ago. After getting bad news from her mother Amaya changes her mind and agrees to help them. All she ever wanted was to focus on her daughter but now she's stuck in an arranged marriage with a man that she detests.
Marrying her best friend was a dream come true for Kelly, but everything truly has a limitation. Pierce is Kelly’s first love, but as his best friend, she knew well there was always another woman deep in his heart. Lexi Gilbert. The woman Pierce could never forget even if he had already been arranged to marry Kelly. *** Kelly finally realized their happy marriage of the last three years was just a beautiful dream when Pierce asked for a divorce just because Lexi returned. She could only be his best friend even if she was carrying his baby. *** Since their friendship had become a cage, Kelly chose to set him free, as well as the miserable herself. But why then, it was Pierce who became the one who refused to move on? To make matters worse, her devil stepbrother also domineeringly stepped in at the same time, asking her to be his. *** Her Prince Charming vs. Her Devil Stepbrother? How could Kelly save her heart in this battle of love and hate?
I sat on the cold tile floor of our Upper East Side penthouse, staring at the two pink lines until my vision blurred. After ten years of loving Julian Sterling and three years of a hollow marriage, I finally had the one thing that could bridge the distance between us. I was pregnant. But Julian didn't come home with flowers for our anniversary. He tossed a thick manila envelope onto the marble coffee table with a heavy thud. Fiona, the woman he'd truly loved for years, was back in New York, and he told me our "business deal" was officially over. "Sign it," He said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. He looked at me with the cold detachment of a man selling a piece of unwanted furniture. When I hesitated, he told me to add a zero to the alimony if the money wasn't enough. I realized in that moment that if he knew about the baby, he wouldn't love me; he would simply take my child and give it to Fiona to raise. I shoved the pregnancy test into my pocket, signed the papers with a shaking hand, and lied through my teeth. When my morning sickness hit, I slumped to the floor to hide the truth. "It's just cramps," I gasped, watching him recoil as if I were contagious. To make him stay away, I invented a man named Jack-a fake boyfriend who supposedly gave me the kindness Julian never could. Suddenly, the man who wanted me gone became a monster of possessiveness. He threatened to "bury" a man who didn't exist while leaving me humiliated at his family's dinner to rush to Fiona's side. I was so broken that I even ate a cake I was deathly allergic to, then had to refuse life-saving steroids at the hospital because they would harm the fetus. Julian thinks he's stalling the divorce for two months to protect the family's reputation for his father's Jubilee. He thinks he's keeping his "property" on a short leash until the press dies down. He has no idea I'm using those sixty days to build a fortress for my child. By the time he realizes the truth, I'll be gone, and the Sterling heir will be far beyond his reach.
In her previous life, Kimberly endured the betrayal of her husband, the cruel machinations of an evil woman, and the endless tyranny of her in-laws. It culminated in the bankruptcy of her family, and ultimately, her death. After being reborn, she resolved to seek retribution against those who had wronged her, and ensure her family's prosperity. To her shock, the most unattainable man from her past suddenly set his sights on her. "You may have overlooked me before, but I shall capture your heart this time around."
My wealthy husband, Nathaniel, stormed in, demanding a divorce to be with his "dying" first love, Julia. He expected tears, pleas, even hysteria. Instead, I calmly reached for a pen, ready to sign away our life for a fortune. For two years, I played the devoted wife in our sterile penthouse. That night, Nathaniel shattered the facade, tossing divorce papers. "Julia's back," he stated, "she needs me." He expected me to crumble. But my calm "Okay" shocked him. I coolly demanded his penthouse, shares, and a doubled stipend, letting him believe I was a greedy gold digger. He watched, disgusted, convinced I was a monster. He couldn't fathom my indifference or ruthless demands. He saw avarice, not a carefully constructed facade. His betrayal had awakened something far more dangerous. The second the door closed, the dutiful wife vanished. I retrieved a burner phone and a Glock, ready to expose the elaborate lie he and Julia had built.
I was finally brought back to the billionaire Vance estate after years in the grimy foster system, but the luxury Lincoln felt more like a funeral procession. My biological family didn't welcome me with open arms; they looked at me like a stain on a silk shirt. They thought I was a "defective" mute with cognitive delays, a spare part to be traded away. Within hours of my arrival, my father decided to sell me to Julian Thorne, a bitter, paralyzed heir, just to secure a corporate merger. My sister Tiffany treated me like trash, whispering for me to "go back to the gutter" before pouring red wine over my dress in front of Manhattan's elite. When a drunk cousin tried to lay hands on me at the engagement gala, my grandmother didn't protect me-she raised her silver-topped cane to strike my face for "embarrassing the family." They called me a sacrificial lamb, laughing as they signed the prenuptial agreement that stripped me of my freedom. They had no idea I was E-11, the underground hacker-artist the world was obsessed with, or that I had already breached their private servers. I found the hidden medical records-blood types A, A, and B-a biological impossibility that proved my "parents" were harboring a scandal that could ruin them. Why bring me back just to discard me again? And why was Julian Thorne, the man supposedly bound to a wheelchair, secretly running miles at dawn on his private estate? Standing in the middle of the ballroom, I didn't plead for mercy. I used a text-to-speech app to broadcast a cold, synthetic threat: "I have the records, Richard. Do you want me to explain genetics to the press, or should we leave quietly?" With the "paralyzed" billionaire as my unexpected accomplice, I walked out of the Vance house and into a much more dangerous game.
"Please believe me. I didn't do anything!" Thalassa Thompson cried helplessly. "Take her away." Kris Miller, her husband, said coldly. He didn't care as she was humiliated for the whole world to see. What would you if the love of your life and the woman you considered your best friend betrayed you in the worse way possible? For Thalassa, the answer was only one; she's going to come back stronger and better and bring everyone who made her suffer to their knees. Let the games begin! ***** "I hate you." Kris gritted out, glaring into her eyes. Thalassa laughed. "Mr Miller, if you hate me so much, then why is your dick so hard?"
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