Ceneau never thought he would have to say yes to any woman in his life.The thought of waiting to be married on an altar, or watching as a veiled woman walk towards him from the end of the aisle, it was all beyond him. He had planned always to live the way he had been living forever: two miles at a time. Fortunately, the Johns were just the kind of family to finance and encourage such a life. So far, he had stayed on track, writing his books, traveling around the world, modelling when he got the chance. A small part of him knew that one day, sooner or later, nemesis would finally caught up with him.Finally, nemesis had caught up with him in form of his father wanting him to marry the daughter of some other business tycoon. None of it sat right with him. None of it. More and more, each day he felt like he had been placed in a cage like a wild animal and the metal contraption only kept reducing in size, edging him in. Thoughts of his impending marriage were a hand around his throat.C
She called Ceneau's cell phone number over and over again, and although it rang each time, not once did he receive her calls.Kayla was at a restaurant with her husband, Reynolds. They had decided to eat out. It was the fourth night since she asked him to return to their home and their relationship was finally going smoothly again after weeks of turbulence. Nearly everything was going smoothly again. Everything besides her brother's proposed marriage.Ceneau Johns had vanished into thin air and his wedding to Mr Zhang's daughter was merely weeks away. She was a trying to panic.Rey had excused himself to visit the rest room and she immediately snatched up the opportunity to dial Ceneau's number. He was as silent as nothingness for days and it starting to make her panic. He had left the country for São Paulo to continue his book tour. None of them had heard from him since then, although there were reels on Instagram from his nights out clubbing—which was basically every other night s
They arrived at the restaurant in a black Lamborghini.When they emerged from the vehicle, Grant Emerson saw that they were without their chaperones. It was dark outside, night having fallen earlier than most days, so they could not see the two cars idling across the road. In one of those vehicles sat Grant Emerson. The other vehicle was a cop car. Hidden in the dark and without its sirens on, it was not enough to draw their attention.Grant sat behind the wheel of his car and watched Reynolds step out of the car and gently help his wife down. They were laughing about something. Other than the day that Kayla came to his office with empty threat and false prophecies of doom, Grant was absolutely certain he had never seen the woman without her stone-faced guard. The woman was always in dark clothes lurking nearby. The same was the case with her husband. Each time he spotted the man, he was followed closely by his guard.Without their guards, they were vulnerable outside. He was surpr
The drive to the house was quiet.The men blindfolded Rey so he could not learn where he was being taken to. For several minutes, he only listened to sound of the car as it raced down the street and the pattering of the rain on the roof of the car. When they arrived at their destination, they took him out of the car still blindfolded and led him into a house. The rain fell lightly on them as they exited the vehicle, wetting Rey's hair and clothes slightly. He counted their steps as they walked to the foyer of the house and entered it.After depositing him on a hard steel chair, they ripped off the blindfold. He made sure to seem as relaxed as possible in all of this—leaning back into the chair like a prince on a gilded throne—and it achieved the desired effect. It made the men uneasy. Not many men sat so easy after been blindfolded and taken miles into the unknown. But Rey was not just any man."Where is Grant?" He asked, completely at ease.The smaller one of the men had an ugly sc
Kayla had no words for Lei, and Lei did not seem to have any words for her either. They drove all the way to the house in terse silence. Soon her assistant was pulling the car to a halt in front of the house."Here we are, ma'am." Lei said.She left the vehicle running and it rumbled quietly. Kayla considered telling the woman to go to hell and never show her face at her house again, but there was a tugging in her chest that pulled her towards Lei. Yes, the woman was her aide and assistant, her bodyguard and confidant. But at the same time, she was her friend. Lei had grown up with her and had watched her cry, lash out out her brothers, feel joy in all its brightnesses, grieve in silence, grieve loudly, loathe, love. So many things, infact, and that’s why now as she stood, she ran her finger across her silver ring and let herself think."Your mother," she said finally. "Is she safe?"The question seemed to stun her assistant into reticence. She gripped the wheel, her shoulders hunc
It was raining when Mei arrived in the city, days before the wedding. Kayla's stomach rumbled with unease when the woman told her she was at the airport on her way. The Upper East side of the city was known for its abundance of luxury brands and elegant boutiques. There you could find the finest of dresses at the most exorbitant rates. Just the kind of thing the wealthy and the opulent hankered for. Being the daughter of a man like Zhang, Kayla was not surprised that Mei travelled all the way from one continent to another to shop for a dress. She cancelled all her activities for the day to meet the woman, all the while cursing Tate for forcing the job on her only to steal the title and her position.She got Lei to drive her to the airport and pick the woman up. Mei glowed at the sight of Kayla. She hugged her sideways in the vehicle."Hey!" She said, her accent curled around the word and made softer than it would have sounded on the tongue of another.Kayla returned the embrace. "H
"Welcome back, Mr Johns." The flight attendant said cheerily.Her smile was the whitest thing Ceneau had ever seen, which was saying a lot as he grew up in a family of people whose dentition were made perfect by many years of orthodontics."Thank you," he told her grudgingly.The sun was out and bright, a flat golden blot in the sky. It burned his eyes with its brightness. He wanted to make sure his last night in São Paulo was well spent, so he spent it at another club. Hours of partying at nighttime tended to make the eyes burn in daylight.Ceneau plucked his sunglasses from the breast pocket of his jacket and put it on. Behind him, Gaude descended from the stairs. Jovian followed closely behind. The man had been the one who snapped him out of his haze. He had fallen into a pattern - parties and nightclubs and booze and wine and bars and women, in all the shades they came in. Ceneau figured, if he was going to spend the rest of his life trapped in an arranged marriage with a woman
They decided that the wedding would be held at the Upper West Side of the city.Kayla's brothers, Sean and Tate, had no clue whatsoever on how to see about a wedding, so she was forced to see to the arrangements personally. It had to be grandeur, she knew.It was Ceneau's wedding after all—him being one of the younger and most affable of the Johns siblings—and the excitement was through the roof. It hung heavy in the air like the scent of blooming jasmine.As much as the family had wanted to keep it as quiet as possible, it appeared on the gossip tabloids and on the gaudy pages of expensive entertainment magazines. Ceneau who was about to be wedded seemed to care the least. He spent most of his time away. When she called to berate him, he smiled into the screen."All I have to do is show up, Kayla. Right?" He asked sweetly.Kayla planed her face in frustration. She was already in charge of the floral arrangements, acquiring the location, and getting all the decorations ready. She su