Eric's POV
"I heard you sold your app, Tinzel and recently acquired the D'Writers company, is it true?" Elizabeth asked as she took a sip of her wine, batting her fake eyelashes at me.She had her legs crossed as she sat right across me. She wore a skimpy black dress that outlined her firm boobs and left her nipples protruding. Rumour had it that she'd spent a fortune getting boob implants and a whole lot of other plastic surgeries.We were having dinner at some fancy restaurant mother dearest booked for us. And trust me, I'd rather be anywhere else than there. My mother practically forced me to go on a date with our business partner's daughter, Elizabeth.Did I say force? Oh no, I meant blackmail. She was blackmailing me to go on these stupid dates, hoping that I'd agree to marry one of these billionaire's pompous daughters.Not that I had anything against them, no. Marriage just wasn't my thing, it wasn't for me. I mean, what's the point of getting married if you're going to divorce in the end.Look at my parents! They divorced shortly before my father passed away a few years ago. Even my maternal grandfather divorced four times and would be tying the knot once again with a woman younger than my mother.Marriage is nothing but a shackle. It rids you of your peace of mind and sanity. I don't even know why people keep on trying. They fail at sustaining their marriages and then go on to get married again, repeating the same bullshit wedding vows. Till death do us part my foot!For years I watched my parents constantly fight over everything. They attacked each other emotionally, mentally and physically. My father even had an affair with another woman and she gave him a son, my younger brother.My parents' marriage was a shithole. But in public they were the golden couple; all smiles, perfect loved-up poses and fooling the world with their acting during interviews. It was sickening.Dad eventually got fed up. He couldn't take it anymore. My mum was a beast sometimes, no doubt. One day, my dad moved out of the house and sent her divorce papers. Two weeks after their separation, he was found dead in his home. The autopsy conducted, revealed that he died of an allergic reaction to a drug he took.That incident birthed a chain reaction of misfortunes for our family, particularly for me and my younger half brother. One of which was the tool that I was being blackmailed with by my mother and why I was on a date against my will.Elizabeth stared at me with one of her brows arched. I guess she was awaiting my response to her question while I was lost in my trip to memory lane as if in a trance. "Are you okay?" She asked."Not sure, Elizabeth. I'm kind of feeling a little bit under the weather today.""It's Isabelle," she corrected me."Oh, my apologies," I replied and added, "My mother must have told you a lot about me.""Not quite. I was hoping you'd tell me yourself," she smiled, her lips covered in cherry red lipstick."Are you sure about that?" I asked and when she nodded I smirked and said to her in one go, "Okay, where do I start? I'm 29. I love basketball and soccer but there's no sport I love more than sex. My friends call me the firefighter 'cause I find hot girls like you and leave them wet. I'm an atheist, I don't believe in God and I also don't believe in marriage so don't get any wrong ideas. But I'm always down for a good humping. So how about we cut this crap and get you laid tonight? I can't promise I'll be there when you wake up though. I'm not one to fuck a girl twice but what I do know is I'll make you savour every moment of it."Elizabeth, I mean, Isobel stood up abruptly and splashed her red wine on my face. "You disgusting prick! What do you think of yourself? I'll make you pay for insulting me this way!" She stomped out of the place after causing a scene.I could've sworn I saw a few people filming and taking pictures. So much for being a part of the Donovan family. You can never have a moment of peace or privacy. Everyone's always prying into your life. There's my mother, the paparazzi, the media and internet users. It was suffocating.I got home that night thinking about how my dinner with Isabella went. My mother was furious when she found out. Isobel must've phoned her. She marched to my house enraged by what she was told."Eric Pierre Donovan!" She yelled as she came face to face with me. "I have had it up to here with you! Don't push me to do something you'll regret!"She was threatening me with that again. I was sick of the woman I called mother. She drove me insane."Don't you get tired? You're so bitter and vile, you're like a disease that won't stop spreading until I finally drop dead! You want me to get married so bad because of some damn will! How greedier can you get?" I spit back."You ungrateful bastard! Everything I've done is for you, for our family. But you'd never accept that. You're as ungrateful as your father!""Is that so?" I ask in disbelief."Yes! All I ask is for you to get married. How difficult is that? I even gave you the liberty of bringing a girl of your choice or choosing a bride out of a number of girls from good backgrounds but you... You just keep pushing my buttons! Now listen to me, Eric. You'll get married whether you like it or not within a month or else I'll be forced to reveal to everyone what happened 5 years ago. The choice is yours."She turned to leave but halted when I said, "You just keep reminding me how horrible of a person you are. I'm not surprised dad left you for another woman."Right then, she came close to me and slapped me. We glared at each other for a while before she got out of my house and drove off. In anger, I threw a vase at my TV, causing both things to smash. I was so furious. I always felt this way after speaking to her.I needed a distraction, anything that would help me forget about my so-called mother at the moment. As if he'd heard me, my friend Theo texted me the address of some nightclub and asked me to come if I was free.Almost immediately, I got into my Bugatti La Voiture Noire and sped off. It didn't take me long to locate the place. It was packed with people. Megan's song "Body" blasted through the speakers, girls swayed their hips and twerked on the dance floor and booze was all over the place.I searched for Theo in the crowd and found him hungrily kissing some blonde. I walked over and tapped him."Eric my man!" He yelled. "Glad you could make it! I'd love to hang out with you bro but I'd rather be hanging someone's leg on my shoulders tonight. You gotta get laid too, you look like shit. See ya!" He said and disappeared with the blonde.I was in no mood to get laid now. All I wanted to do was booze till I was dead drunk. So I paid for a bottle of Tequila Ley and Diva Vodka which I gulped down glass after glass. I had a high tolerance for alcohol so I was nowhere near dead drunk but I started feeling tipsy.As I carried on drinking, a slightly dark slender figure approached me. She had beautiful bright eyes and a perfectly symmetrical face. Before I could say anything, she grabbed my shirt and shoved her mouth in mine.To say I was utterly confused was an understatement but did I pull back? Hell no! Instead I deepened the kiss and wrapped my arms around her. Her body fitted right in my arms like it was moulded for me.We kissed so passionately that I held on tightly and she went on to straddle me on the chair where I sat, not minding the stares we were now getting. As she adjusted on my...well..area, it sent a tingly sensation through my body and I knew I was going to have one hell of night.Sapphire's POV"Give me more!" I yelled through the deafening music as I demanded for more beer. I'd already had like what, two or three bottles? But I wanted more and more!"Girl slow down," Gwen said inaudibly. She was just as drunk as I was.Jamila and I had arrived at the nightclub half an hour ago. She'd then texted her roommate Gwen to come join us. We were having the night of our lives, partying like there was no tomorrow. Except that there was actually a tomorrow - a tomorrow where I had to go to work and early too if I didn't want to lose my job.Not to mention, our new CEO would be coming to the office for the first time tomorrow. The bastard couldn't wait till Monday. The news of his sudden arrival had thrown the office into a frenzy. Everything had to be perfect and that meant more work.Thanks to him I couldn't take the day off and celebrate Austin's... Oh that's right. Austin that two-timing son of a bitch was the reason I was drowning in alcohol. He was the reason I'd b
Sapphire's POVHis face was just a few inches away from mine and I could feel his hot breath on me. It was practically making my insides melt and his burning gaze not only sent cold shivers down my spine but also caused me to feel weak in the knees. Who was this man and why was he such an enthraller? How could this stranger have the power to leave me hopelessly spellbound?I didn't know if it was the alcohol taking control of my emotions or if it was this drop-dead gorgeous man casting a spell on me. But whatever it was, I wanted it to carry on and I wished it wouldn't stop, not for any reason. I wanted to feel my cold hands on his bare chest and run my fingers down his perfectly sculpted torso.I wanted to feel his body colliding against mine and wrap my legs tightly around him. I wanted his tongue tasting the sweetness of my skin and his hands exploring every part of my body. Call me crazy but I wanted nothing more than to be his tonight, only his.I took a bold step forward, put my
Eric's POVI woke up extremely late the next morning. Not even the blaring sound of my alarm clock could awaken me. I turned to my left where the curly-haired beauty from last night had dozed off and tried to reach for her but she was gone. I rubbed the blurriness off my eyes and sat up on my bed.I scanned the bedroom and noticed that her leather jacket that'd been lying on the floor beside my bed was no longer there. I got out of bed and put on a pair of black joggers. I strode to the guestroom in hopes that she was still lingering around but no, she wasn't. She was gone, probably long gone before I even woke up.It was true that I was such a heavy sleeper. I slept like dead man - my dad used to always say to me back then. One time when I was 8, our house caught fire at midnight. While everyone panicked and tried to get me out, I slept soundly in my room, completely unaware of the flames that'd engulfed the place. So I wasn't surprised that I didn't even hear the Tigress leave.I wa
Sapphire's POV June 9th 2022 – the worst day of my entire life. Well, the second worst day actually. It was nothing compared to the day my family, my world was shattered. At any rate, it was still a day I'd rue for as long as I lived or so I thought.How could I have been so stupid? How? How did I even let myself get so wasted to the point where I was completely dazzled by alcohol so much so that I had sex with a stranger? Like it wasn't enough that Austin, that bastard, cheated on me, that same night, I went on to sleep with a man I knew nothing of, a total stranger. Just thinking about it made me gag. I was enraged, disgusted and hurt. All I wanted to do was drink and forget about my problem, not add to it. But I did!I remember waking up with a hangover, naked in the arms of a man I'd never seen before. His arms went around my waist and my head was resting on his chiseled chest. The moment I opened my eyes, I screamed and fell so hard on the floor. I w
Eric's POVMonday arrived rather quickly. Too quick, if you ask me. I got out of bed very early and got dressed for work. I was decked in a grey Kiton K-50 suit with the first two upper buttons undone and a pair of Testoni's alligator skin, Moro monk-strap shoe. It would be my first day at D'Writers and I couldn't wait to get it over with.I sat down in the dining room for a quick breakfast of Greek salad omelette and coffee that'd been prepared by Nana Belinda, the cook and head maid. She was a 57-year-old woman, kindhearted and caring. She was more of a mother to me than my sorry excuse of a mother. I guess it's because she practically raised me as a child while my mother was too busy to care. "How was your night, Eric?" She asked me with a warm smile on her face as she poured me my coffee. "It was great, Nana." "Did you sleep well?" "Of course, I did," I replied, taking a slice of the omelette. "But not as much a
Sapphire's POV "You have got to be fucking kidding me!" That was the first thing I screamed inside of my head when I saw who sat before me. The very same man with whom I had a one night stand, the strange man that I slept with in a drunken state, that man was none other than my new CEO? He was New York's most talked-about billionaire, Mr Donovan? Creator of Tinzel? Who would've thought? I wasn't expecting to see the man so soon and worse, here of all places! The universe really played a trick on me, a wicked one at that. There he was, seated, wearing a million dollar suit I suppose, with his stupid jet-black hair stylishly combed and an idiotic smirk plastered on his face. What the hell was he smirking at anyway? I wished I could walk over there and wipe it off his ugly face. Okay, well that was a blatant lie. He was a thousand miles far from ugly. As a matter of fact, he was devilishly handsome just sitting there. But it didn't matter. Handsome or not, I was still irked by the me
Sapphire's POV I tramped all the way to Mr Donovan's office with a big scowl. What could he possibly want with me? Why couldn't he just let me be for now? Didn't he realize how awkward seeing his face made me feel? I didn't even deem it fit to knock before I stormed in. I stood facing him as he sat behind his desk, working on his laptop computer. "You sent for me, sir?" I tried to sound as polite as possible. "Weren't you taught to knock before entering someone's office, Miss Smith?" He asked, still fixated on the screen. "Oh, I was taught to knock, alright. Want me to give you a demonstration using your head?" I muttered to myself. I would be more than happy to show him how good my knocking skills were. "Did you say something?" His voice was somewhat cold and unwelcoming. "No, sir." "And what are you still standing there for? Go back and knock," he ordered, laying emphasis on the 'knock'. I shot him a cold glance and turned towards the door. I stood outside and knocked on it
Sapphire's POVMr Donovan came forward till he was just a few inches away from me. He moved closer and cupped my hand in his."I'm sorry if you think I took advantage of your intoxication. I'm sorry I couldn't resist you. Have you seen yourself though? Who could resist an enchantress like you?"Could there ever be a more cringe-worthy apology than this?"Anyway, I'll try harder next time, Tigress," he added."Next time?" I arched one of my brows. What the hell did he mean by that?"I was just kidding," he said nonchalantly. "But if you're up for it, I wouldn't mind." He shrugged.Just as I was about to respond, a knock on the door interrupted and I quickly pulled away from him. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to find out about what went down between us both, especially here at the office."May I come in, Mr Donovan?" April asked and I watched as Mr freaking Donovan calmly took his seat."Come in." He turned to me and gave me a look that said, "See? Etiquette!" and I rolled my e