Sweet Seduction

Angela's POV The plane shook violently in the clouds, like it was about to crash. People screamed, cried, and prayed out loud. But I just kept reading my magazine. An hour later, we landed safely. While getting off, a woman looked at me and asked, “How were you so calm when everyone else was scared?” I smiled and said, “The pilot is my boyfriend. I knew he’d land me safely.” The woman smiled and nodded her head away, satisfied by the amount of trust I might have developed for my man.Marilyn Collins is an undercover cop who used to work at Scotland Yard’s Special Crime and Intelligence Division in London. She goes undercover to infiltrate dangerous criminal organizations, exposing deep-rooted corruption, trafficking networks, and high-profile assassins hidden within the underworld. As soon as I stepped off the plane, my mom grabbed my arm from behind. I turned around, and she gave me a sharp look. “Did you lie again?” she whispered angrily. “You told that woman the pilot is your boyfriend, didn’t you?” I pulled my arm away and rolled my eyes. “It’s just a line from one of my favorite book characters,” I said. “Can’t I have a little fun?” I bit my lip to hide a smirk. Mom always hated when I played pretend. Too bad she taught me how to lie in the first place. Then I walked off, leaving her behind to deal with our huge suitcases all by herself. I love reading erotic books, and sometimes I borrow the bold, savage lines from them. Saying those things makes me feel powerful—even if they’re not true. Mom didn't tell me we were moving, she simply woke up this morning with our things packed, and just like that, she flung my flight ticket to my chest and told me our flight was scheduled and we will be moving out of the state in an hour. No goodbye, no warning or prior knowledge. Just an hour to erase my life and start over. Who does that? I was stunned why we were moving or where we were moving to, but Mom didn't explain anything to me. She simply had me move out of the state with her, leaving behind my school, friends, relationships and even the career I was beginning to build. During the plane turbulence earlier, I was not scared because I wanted to die, I hated my life, I hate my mom, I just hate everyone. I just had an abortion some few months ago, and since then, I've been dreaming of the baby. He keeps screaming in my dream, and reigning curses on me for giving up on him and not bringing him into the world. Tiny fists, blood all over. An unfamiliar baby wailing through darkness, banging on the walls of my mind. I wake up drenched in sweat, hearing cries that don’t exist. Sometimes, I'll end up crying throughout the night until my eyes can't produce tears anymore. My mom didn't know about the abortion and I hope to keep it a secret from her until forever. “PEEM!” My phone beeped inside my breast pocket and I tossed it out without hesitation. I just got a message from my boyfriend, Henry. “I'm sorry, Angela. I'm breaking up with you, and please kindly get rid of that pregnancy because I'm not ready to be a father yet, and I can't settle down with you, that's bullshit.” The message read. I laughed. A sharp, dry, broken laugh. I wanted to cry, but even my tears were exhausted. I scoffed, and yanked my sunglasses away from my eyes. I wasn't surprised Henry was breaking up with me, I knew he has been cheating on me with my best friend, Molly, I just decided to remain quiet because he f***s me different. He's the best thing that ever happened to me whenever we'd s*x. I stayed with my cheating boyfriend because he has a big d**k. I started to type back to him, “Motherfucker, I was never in a goddamn relationship with you. Help yourself, loser. I'm out of the state, so don't bother hiding your affair with Molly, you can have her all you want.” Without thinking twice, I pressed ‘sent’, and the message immediately beeped ‘delivered.’ Satisfied, I blocked the scumbag and found my way out of the airport while my mom struggled with the luggages behind me. *********** It took us three hours to get to our new home, and I started to put the house together while Mom prepared dinner. After I was done, I went to set the table while Mom arranged the food on it. I wasn't smiling at all, she still hadn't told me why we suddenly moved out of the state. I sat across the dinner table from mom but I wasn't eating. How could I possibly eat in a new house, new city, new life, and new s**t I didn't ask for? My eyes were darting around the table, and I was surprised by my mom's nonchalant behavior towards me. She didn't even care that I wasn't eating, she was busy scooping food into her mouth and sipping wine to digest and level her stress. I remained quiet like everything was perfect, but I soon noticed something strange on my mom's finger. “Wait…is that an engagement ring?” I asked with furrowed brows. Mom paused, then nodded with a shy smile. “Yes, he proposed.” I felt the walls closing in. Like someone shoved a pillow against my mouth and pressed hard. She said it so casually—like it didn’t matter. My heart stopped for a second, “He who?” I scoffed bitterly, “Who proposed?” “Your soon-to-be stepfather—and the wedding is in three days time.” She dropped the bombshell. I stared at her in disbelief. My dad had only been gone for a few months, it's not even up to a year, and mom has already said yes to someone else? Wait, could that be the reason we moved? I can't believe this is happening. “Stepfather,” I said again, softly this time, as if the word might hurt less if I whispered it. Mom didn't say anything afterwards, she simply remained silent while she continued to eat her food. “You’re getting married? Already? Mom… Dad just died.” My voice cracked. My throat burned. I wanted to scream, to break the plate in front of me, to make her feel something—anything. She glanced up at me, then looked away immediately as if she didn't hear me speak. “Mom, I'm talking—can’t you hear me?” I snapped angrily, tears were already filling my eyes. Mom suddenly dropped her spoon against the ceramic plate and the loud clink made me flinch, “I know, Angela. I know. But life doesn’t stop. I didn’t plan this—it just happened.” she yelled back. I stared at her in disbelief, “Really? Is that why we moved out of the state? What about Dad, the memories, the life he built for us before he died? You're trading it all out for your new love?” I bawled, my voice suddenly dropped low, and I could barely see through my blurry eyes. “Honey—” I didn't stay to hear what she had to say, I simply pushed my plate away and stood up.