登入Kayla Moreno
Flashback “ you are still on about the divorce Kayla? you and I know that you can't do much without me”Jaden mocked as he threw the papers on my bed. I carried on with my packing, unfazed about what he was saying. “I'm very sure you ain't dumb neither are you deaf,so answer me Kayla”Jaden impatience was getting the better part of him. I wasn't going to listen to him anyways. “sign the papers and get back to me,don't contact me ever again. thanks for keeping up with me Jaden silver,like you said before this ‘leach’ would be leaving you, I was only staying because I wanted to get the papers ready”i told him, closing the bag and arranging my short ball gown. “what the f**k do you mean by all that you're blabbering? Jaden asked in disbelief. He's always seen me as someone who can't live without him but my heart was already made up.I can't continue living with a psychotic fool who thinks I'm obsessed with him,that's why he does whatever he wants. I left the house I once called my home but this time I didn't doubt my decision. That day was when I left my marriage,every hope I had in it and the man involved,my zeal to make things work with him left me the minute I passed that door. Present That was 2 days ago. I stared blankly at my laptop for some time,lost in thought. My father's health was quickly deteriorating and there's nothing we haven't done to help but Fate has his own way of turning things. Right now listening and granting my father's wish was my priority. giving him a grandson. bringing another world would make my father happy and I knew just where I would get that from. Ryder Brooks his laptop keyboard noise echoed loud across the office as he typed. coffee aroma filled the office as vapor came out of the teacup. “won't you consider calling it a day?sorry to intrude but I have things to do at home especially a wife and a business to handle as well.it isn't compulsory for you to complete the proposal today” Liam Wilder whined as he dropped a handful of files on the table. “ Just so you know I never forced you to apply for an assistant position in my company and it is never too late to resign. don't rub it all on me that you have a wife and a hotel you handle Liam just because I take it easy on you doesn't mean I can't stop turn the other way.drop the goddamn files and get done with the alignment between the Nice and West LTD and our company”ryder Brooks replied, eyes still on his work. “come on Ryder” " ryder?" “I mean yes sir,”Liam stammered. This was Ryder Brooks, the CEO and heir to the Brooks company head Branch. “get it done and send it to my email then you can call it a day”Ryder concluded. Liam stared angrily at him before going to his seat. Ryder's phone beeped and the caller ID showed on the screen,he picked it after a few seconds of hesitation. “thought you won't remember me anymore since your anniversary has taken your brain away” “what?”he asked after some time. “where are you? I'll be there right away "Ryder asked the person on the phone as his stood up wearing his suit and closing his laptop. “ Are you leaving me to conclude yours too?” Liam's eyes wide at radar who grabbed his suitcase and started to the door. “And if I do?”Ryder asked, raising his eyebrow in surprise. “whatever I'll just do the one I can and call it a day my sleepless night haven't come to an end ever since you came in touch with the nice and West LTD” Liam watched as he walked to the elevator through the glass interior decorated walls. “one busy workaholic” he cursed under his breath. *. *. *. “She was all full of herself you know,she's always full of herself.you're also a guy Ryder,I can't just make love with just her. we men are polygamous in nature”Jaden spat not a tinge of shame in him as he wasted himself with alcohol. “ Who says all guys are polygamous Jaden? speak for yourself don't classify us that way too.. you goddamn guy, have you no shame?huhh?you cheated on her. How do you expect her to feel?Clap for you?Expect her to be happy?Ryder fumed angryily as he doubted how he ever got a friend like that. “ haven't you ever thought about how she'd feel?She's a lady, not some god,”Ryder stated sadly. “tsskk as if this is the first time she've seen me with someone”Jaden laughed. " what?" “No,I mean she has always taken it all in it's definitely because it's was some 2 years s***t”Jaden said. “You're one asshole Jaden, you really did mess up this time”Ryder said clenching his fist into a ball at his side tightly. “ I've been an a****** ryder,you of all people should know that but now I think I'm a free man” "What the hell do you mean by that?" Ryder asked, confused. “ she… that pushover finally asked for a divorce and once I signed those three papers it's all gone. she'll see me no more it definitely will be hard to take it all in but the goddamn woman asked for it.she must be crying her eyes out since 2 days ago” Jaden said as he hiccuped and got choked by the alcohol but ryder wasn't bothered about it. “You guys are over now?Like you both are no longer a thing”Ryder asked Jaden as he nodded before passing out. “shit”Ryder cursed,he quickly turned his phone to the call log to make a call. “check what's going on about Kayla and Jaden and tell me right away”he ordered. "spare my life please" the person at the other end screamed frustrated before he ended the call. his face suddenly lit up with some new surge of energy. Kayla Moreno “Take me to the hotel close to the Enterprise…. I want you to find me a guy who can meet up with your standards,tall, muscular,dk type,fit, hot blooded, handsome..” " What for Miss Moreno?" her assistant Riley asked as she looked surprised, cutting Kayla short. “sign a ten days contract with him from 9 till Dawn,I need him to get me pregnant” " Huhhh” Her assistant screamedKaylaPRESENT The compass chain felt hot in my palm. Like it was burning through my skin.“What??” The word left me broken. Almost airless. I stared at the guy who I've always nagged insulted and called names but he still wasn't ready to let me be.The room tilted so fast that I sat down heavily on the close chair I could lean on.Ryder crouched in front of me. His knees on my rug. His hands didn’t touch me yet. Like he was afraid I’d shatter if he did.“I gave that neckchain to you that day,” he said again. His voice was low and rough. He was also finding it hard to believe “ Fourteen years ago. At Victoria beach. London. You saved me.”Memories slammed into me.A crowded charity event. I wasn’t supposed to be at the back beach. I’d run there to cry after my mother’s funeral three days earlier. The sound of music felt wrong when she was in the ground.Then I heard splashing. Gasping. A boy. A few years older than me. Dark hair plastered to his forehead. He was thrashing in the wate
Author POV London, 14 years ago. Victoria Beach. 4:37 PM. The charity event was chaotic. White tents, loud music, people in suits sweating under the sun. “Brooks Foundation Annual Children’s Gala” banners flapped in the hot wind. Cameras flashed every few seconds. Thirteen-year-old Ryder Brooks hated every second of it. He wasn’t supposed to be near the water. His bodyguards had said it three times. “Stay where we can see you, young master.” But the tide was low and the waves looked harmless. And he was bored of rich men talking about donations. So he slipped away. He ran past the tents, past waiters carrying trays of juice, past his mother calling his name. He didn’t stop until his bare feet hit wet sand. The backside of the beach. Quieter. No one here. Just rocks, seaweed, and the sound of waves hitting stone. The water was cold when he waded in up to his knees. Then his waist. Then his chest. He thought he could touch the bottom. He was wrong. One step. The sand gave way
Kayla POVThe next day.Denying yourself also means looking away from the person who makes your heart flutter. I… I… I can’t be attached to this guy. Not really. No matter how hard my heart throbs for him every time he walks into the house.We’re in two completely different worlds. He’s in a world where no one gets to touch him or take him for granted. Where people bow. Where his name opens doors and closes throats. Ryder Brooks. CEO. Power. Fear.I’m in a world where my father is at the verge of fighting life and death, alone in a hospital bed without his daughters beside him. I’m in a world where my sister had her first real taste of sex and now acts nonchalant about it. I’m in a world where more people hate me to the core than love me.I can’t be with a man who grins like the devil in front of me, then turns cold as ice in front of everyone else. A man who would burn everywhere for me, but won’t let anyone see him care.I suddenly felt stupid for pushing him away all this while.
Kayla Two weeks later.I was given a month off work. A full month to recuperate and get myself back. Back to breathing without pain. Back to walking without limping. Back to being Kayla, not “the girl who survived.”Riley had been sorting things out for me all this while. Bills, calls, press releases, the rumors. She handled everything so I didn’t have to.I heard the news too. The secret. Everything I didn’t get to know before.Flora. Or whatever name she’d been using that week. She was my ex-husband’s sister. Jaden never told me he had a sister. Not once in two years of marriage. All those years I thought he was an only son. I’d only seen his parents twice. The first time was at our wedding ceremony, where his mother cried more than I did. The second time was at a charity event they invited us to,where I was first introduced to Ryder. Even then, his parents never associated themselves with me. I tried. God knows I tried to be upright. Perfect. The daughter-in-law they could brag a
Author POVLiana stared at the scattered money on the floor of the unfinished apartment. The bills looked pathetic now. Worthless. Seven million naira and Flora had stepped over it like it was dust.Her chest rose and fell too fast. Her breath came in short, sharp gasps. She kicked the concrete block again, then again, until her designer heel snapped off. Pain shot up her ankle but she didn’t care. She didn’t feel it. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" The word tore out of her throat, raw and desperate.Flora knew. Flora knew about Jaden. Flora knew about the pills. Flora knew Liana was the one who told her brother where Kayla would be that night. Flora knew Liana wanted her sister dead.And now Flora was walking away. Free. With all the information Ryder Brooks would pay in blood to have.Liana’s hands shook as she dug into her designer bag. Her fingers fumbled past lipstick, keys, and a compact mirror. She found her phone. The screen was cracked from when she’d thrown it against the wall earlier.
Author POVThe door to an unfinished apartment burst open with a crack that echoed down the bare hallway.Flora was shoved inside. Hard."Ouch!" Flora screamed in agony when her hair caught on a piece of exposed iron rod jutting from the doorframe. The metal tangled in her strands and ripped a few out by the root. Tears sprang to her eyes."Why the fuck did you drag me here with all my things, Liana!" Flora shouted, yanking her hair free. She untangled it with shaking fingers, strands coming loose around her face. Liana closed the door behind them. The sound was heavy. Final. She leaned against it and crossed her arms."Now listen, and listen very carefully, Flora….or whatever name you're using this week. I don't want you spilling my name in whatever you and your brother did to Kayla. Because you both didn't do it properly."Flora flinched. She turned slowly, eyes narrowing. "Am I dreaming, or is this really an eighteen-year-old girl talking to me with zero respect?"Liana let out a
Author POVWhen Hewitt paused, Ryder’s legs gave out.His breath seized in his chest like someone had wrapped barbed wire around his ribs and pulled tight. For one horrible second the whole hospital hallway tilted. The fluorescent lights above him buzzed louder. The smell of antiseptic burned his n
Author POV The whole place reeked of rust and damp concrete the second the door was wrenched open. Jaden’s head snapped up. The metal rod was still in his hand, frozen mid-air. Kayla’s face was hidden behind her disheveled hair. Her body sat slumped in the chair, almost lifeless. Rope burns dar
Kayla POVI jerked awake from the cold, suffocating slumber.For a moment my mind was dazed. Foggy. Clueless. Like I was floating somewhere between awake and dead.My throat was dry. So dry my chest hurt with every breath. The pain cut through me like glass. I blinked repeatedly, trying to clear my
Author POVThe whole world spun in Ryder’s eyes.“Kayla!”His voice tore out of his throat, raw and desperate. It echoed off the concrete walls and vanished into the rain. He had just seen her. Two minutes ago. Standing on the porch, an umbrella tilted over her head, her phone’s flashlight glowing







