❝In the darkness, two shadows reach through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun. ❞
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Play the game, or the game plays you.
A motto that Maelani Cartier has lived by since the ripe age of a teenager. She grew up watching her mother get treated poorly by her stepfather during her whole childhood, while her biological father remained locked up in prison.
The man would steal from her mother, cheat on her, lie to her, manipulate her, and made her mother feel less than her what she's actually worth. Maelani—being the oldest child and also the only person her mother felt comfortable enough to vent to—had to pick her mother back up after she was constantly being put down by the man who should've been lifting her up.
It was a repetitive cycle. Her mother would find out that the man had either cheated on her or he'd stolen money from her to support his drug habits, she would become incensed and scream at him until her voice went hoarse, her younger kids would cry in fright of their parents arguing, leaving Maelani to suck up her own pain to comfort her siblings.
Her mother would kick the man out, then let him right back in after a few weeks or even after a few days. It took her mother twelve years to completely let him go. Twelve years of toxicity, pain, and trauma.
Her grandmother went through the same thing with her ex husband. He also treated her poorly and it took her twenty-three years to finally leave him. Though in her case, it was slightly different considering that the man became disabled during their marriage, due to a traumatic accident he encountered. He was unable to take care of himself the way he used to, leaving her grandmother to take care of him instead.
The man became insecure and extremely possessive to the point where he didn't even want the woman going to work just because he feared she would cheat on him the way he did to her multiple times before he became a disabled man.
As much as Maelani loved her mom and grandma, she vowed to never become them when it comes down to the dating aspect. That cycle ends with her. She'd break a man before he ever got the chance to break her first.
Although she wasn't necessarily proud of the ledger of broken hearts she caused, she refused to repeat her mother or grandmothers mistakes. Giving chances to someone who continues to hurt you will do nothing but make you suffer. It will drain you and make you lose the most important person of your life: yourself.
Play the game, or the game plays you.
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Kingston Corporations.
They were widely known as one of the biggest companies in the world. They owned a chain of restaurants, hotels, and casinos. Today, Maelani had a meeting with the CEO of Kingston corp to further apprehend her new assignment that was specifically assigned to her by her boss.
The objective of the assignment was to remodel the buildings of one of their hotels that became severely damaged due to a fatal hurricane that hit Texas.
Maelani was confused as to why her boss specifically choose her to complete this project but he simply stated that the CEO of Kingston Corp was one of his closest business partners, and he knew that no one was capable of meeting the expectations of this project more than Maelani was.
As Department Head, she didn't really take part in the whole designing process. Instead, she leads the design team while overseeing all technical activities relating to architectural and engineering projects. She started off as a junior architect but eventually worked her way up to promotion, thanks to her hard work and extraordinary skills with interior design.
So now, here she was walking toward the colossal gates of her job; Gardener Architects.
"Good morning Ms Cartier, running late again I see." The amused voice of James; the security guard spoke.
"Whatever, James."
Maelani gave the man a playful eye roll as she pulled out her company ID from her chanel bag. She swiped it on the pad that was placed in front of the gate, walking in once a beep was heard as the gate opened.
She hastily walked inside the firm, instantly being met by the brisk air and a chorus of greetings. Her coworkers simply watched the beguiling woman scurry through the lobby in amusement, not even surprised seeing as this happened every once in a while. No one ever complained about Maelani's tardiness though, since her work ethic was impeccable enough to make up for it. Her attractiveness was also a plus, not that she even realized.
Maelani walked towards the elevator, pressing the button that would take her up. The doors slid open and she immediately stepped in. She glanced down at her watch, sighing in slight relief when she realized she was only five minutes late.
A ding was heard and the elevator doors slid open, letting her know that she arrived on the fourth of the five floored building. Maelani quickly walked through the large area that was filled with many desks that belonged to the design techs and project managers who were busy bustling around, getting their work done. There was never a non busy day at Gardener Architects.
She walked towards the large double doors of the meeting office, and used her keycard to open it. As she walked in, she was immediately met with some of her colleagues and her assistant sitting at the wide circular conference table. They sent her smiles, which she returned with her signature small smile before turning her attention to the other side of the room.
Zion Gardner, her boss, was conversing with a man who had his back facing her direction. He was clad in a black suit that perfectly outlined his muscular arms and broad shoulders. She eyed his freshly retwisted dreadlocks in slight confusion, racking her brain to figure out why they looked so familiar to her.
"Maelani!"
At the sound of Zion's raspy voice beckoning her over, she walked towards the two men and at that moment, he turned around.
Maelani's naturally arched eyebrows shot up in surprise once she saw the familiar handsome face of Dayvon.
An equally surprised look formed on his face as he eyed her before he masked it with the emotionless expression he was known for.
"Lani, this is Dayvon Kingston, the CEO of Kingston corporation," Zion informed her before turning to Von, "This is Maelani Cartier, my second department head who will also be in charge of this project."
"Nice to meet you, Maelani." His deep accented voice rung in her ears. Her breath hitched in her throat once he picked up her manicured hand, bringing it up to his plump lips to place a lingering kiss on it, all the while staring deeply into her eyes.
"Likewise, Dayvon." She muttered back, her calm tone contrasting to the quickened thumps of her heart.
Zion cleared his throat as he looked between the two with a grim look, effectively gaining their attention.
