Novels by SEYI

For a few seconds, Arabella didn’t know where she was.The ceiling was wrong. The bed was too soft, too wide, the sheets smelling faintly of something clean and unfamiliar instead of the thin detergent Margaret bought in bulk. Her body tensed on instinct, the way it always did when something didn’t match what she expected — and then it came back to her in pieces. Margaret’s voice. The photograph. Caius’s hand around hers in the stairwell.She sat up slowly, pulling the blanket to her chest like she needed to justify taking up the space at all.The room was simple compared to what she imagined a place like this could be — no gold trim, no absurd chandelier — but everything in it was quietly, unmistakably expensive. The kind of expensive that didn’t need to announce itself. She ran her thumb along the edge of the blanket and felt a small stab of guilt she couldn’t fully explain.She wasn’t supposed to be somewhere like this.When she came out, Caius was already up, standing near the win

“What did you mean by that?”Arabella hadn’t moved from the doorway. The words had come out of her before she’d decided to say them, steadier than she felt.Margaret’s face closed like a shop at the end of a bad day. “I didn’t mean anything. Don’t stand there making a scene out of nothing.”“You said my mother left something behind. You’ve told me for ten years she left nothing. Debts, you said. A funeral I couldn’t even afford to attend properly. Which is it, Margaret?”“Don’t take that tone with me in my own house.”“Then answer the question.”Margaret’s eyes flicked toward Caius, standing quiet by the door, and something in his stillness seemed to unsettle her more than Arabella’s voice had. “You’re upset. You’re not thinking clearly. Go on, then, run off with your little rescuer and see how far that gets you. See who’s still here when he gets bored of playing hero.”“That’s not an answer either.”For a moment Margaret said nothing, and in that silence Arabella felt something shift

Caius was halfway across the cracked pavement when he heard it — a woman’s voice, sharp and clipped, cutting through a window left open despite the evening chill.He stopped walking.It wasn’t shouting. That was the strange part. It was worse than shouting, the kind of voice that had rehearsed its own cruelty so many times it no longer needed volume.“Do you think I don’t know where you were?”He couldn’t make out Arabella’s answer. Her voice, when it came, was too low, too careful, the voice of someone choosing each word like it might cost her something.Caius’s jaw tightened. He glanced back at the taxi still idling at the curb, then at the apartment building — three floors of peeling paint and a stairwell light that flickered like it was considering giving up entirely. He climbed the steps two at a time and stopped outside a door with a number hanging by one screw.He didn’t knock. Not yet. He stood there, hand hovering an inch from the wood, and made himself listen.“I asked you a

"And you," Her finger snapped at Ryan. "we're done with this relationship! We're done!!" Diane stumbled out of the restaurant in rage, her face humiliated and makeup smudged across her face with a slap from her lover she never expected.On her way out , she spun around expecting Ryan to rush after her, but she was even more angry and bittered seeing him still groveling at her step sister's feet like an insect."How disgusting! This is over!!" She hissed, strutting out again. She nearly lost her footing on the marble just before she made it to the door.Inside the restroom, Caius held Arabella's wrist and gently pulled her away from Ryan. He looked down at him then to Marcus Williams who was skill shaking at the side in panic and whispering apology."You know what to do, Marcus," his voice was ice wrapped in silk— no shout— just quiet command. "Someone like him isn't fitting to be in the Cross family business. Using the Cross name to brag, to threat common people. Do you think it woul

***A man dressed in an impeccable suit walked in through the door, his loafers clicking against the marble swiftly.Ryan Brook turned to Caius."You're dead! Completely dead. You don't know who you just messed with." He boasted.Marcus Williams the CFO walked into the scene, looking at Ryan first."What is going on here?" He asked, his voice smooth and rich.Ryan snapped his finger at Caius in justified false accusation."Here he is, Sir. He insulted my girlfriend. He wanted to slap her in the face if I hadn't stepped in. I don't want to take actions on him yet so I had to quickly inform you." He spin the whole thing to make it justified and anger the CFO.Marcus Williams turned his look at the person, following the line of his hand. "Who is that pers—"The rest of the words caught in his throat. His eyes widened. His body tembled violently like an electric pulse had just slammed into him."Sir...Sir..." Without even asking. The CFO crumbled at Caius's feet with a sharp crack echoi

Caius looked at her intently."What was that? An accusation? Or Is this a police station where you report your stolen stuff." His voice was quiet and firm."Who the heck are you to speak to me like that?" Diane's voice cracked through the air like a gunshot making heads turned immediately."You're loud, young woman," Caius simply said, "you're shouting on my girlfriend." Diane tossed her hair to the back, diamond necklace catching the illuminants on her neck. She let out a laughter that echoed off the roof like shattering glass."Girlfriend? Huh? Perfect. Just perfect.." She spun to Arabella who was panicking across the table, muttering something no one heard that could be a plea."So this is what you do, Huh? You hook up with some trash and tell them to spit nonsense at me?"Caius's inside boiled but he didn't move. His expression was perfectly impossibly composed."Diane..no.. that's not true. Caius is my boyfriend. Yes. But were were just hanging out.." "Hanging out?" Diane's l