❝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 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, 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 because 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 nigga 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.
