Ivanna

By A. Emmanuel Reed

The price she paid for fortune and fame was far more than what her soul was willing to gamble. But once you roll the dice in the industry of sin, it’s far too late to get out the game.

Ivanna Julia Winters dreamed of nothing more than to become the world’s next top model, but when she refused to sell her soul to the devil, her whole world came crashing down. Determined to redeem herself from her dark past, she writes an inspiring novel as a way to convey a powerful message to the world before it’s too late. As her life continued to spiral out of control, the struggle to find paradise beyond the clouds of her insanity became nearly impossible to achieve. But when she found her secret admirer, his love became the silver lining that brightened up her whole world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984554321

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Copyright © 2018 by A. Emmanuel Reed.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2018911145

ISBN:         Hardcover           978-1-9845-5431-4

                   Softcover              978-1-9845-5433-8

                    eBook                  978-1-9845-5432-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/26/2018

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To my mother, Emma T. Casanova, for being a solid backbone in my life

To my father, Amos A. Reed, for his guiding words of wisdom

To my friends and family for supporting my dreams and me

To every man, woman, and child across the world, who I pray that this powerful love story will inspire a movement of change so we can heal our planet before it’s too late

CONTENTS

Prologue

Fallen Angel

When It Rains, It Pours

Waiting for Superman

Romeo, Oh, Romeo

It’s Like a Fairy Tale

Will You Remember Me?

Will You Remember Me? Part 2

Epilogue

PROLOGUE

Ivanna Julia Winters was a pure sensation in the modeling industry. She was one of Victoria’s longest-serving angels and the cover girl of every major magazine across the globe. Top brand-name companies in the nation endorsed her, and she became the poster image for the top brands in the fashion industry and a household name. She created her own brand of perfume and produced her own line of lingerie, which generated millions of dollars every year, making her one of the highest-paid and most in-demand models on the planet.

She was a diva like no other, and her iconic name opened doorways into some of the most prestigious places in the world. Her enticing sex appeal and charismatic ways earned her the nickname the modern Monroe, pertaining to the late Marilyn Monroe, making Ivanna one of the most vivacious supermodels of her time.

But on the dark side of Ms. Winters’s esteemed reputation, she was also known for her rude, divalike behavior and her insatiable appetite for married men and women. This aspect of her personality was no surprise. Her unchanged single status, along with all her riches and glory, gave her a powerful persona as a self-made goddess who stood alone, and every sex-crazed man longed to wife her.

Ivanna had such an influence upon the masses that major corporations and people in high places wanted to exploit her power. But when she refused to sell her soul, the industry quickly became a dangerous playground for her. As Ivanna’s glory continued to expand over time, she became known as a marked woman, and her refusal to cooperate with the powers-that-be came with a devastating price. This is the story of the tragic aftermath.

She was the icon of beauty, as dazzling as the morning star!

Magazines worshipped her façade, and lovers longed for her heart!

Rose petals showered her presence; she obtained fortune and fame.

She was the model women loved to envy; she was the diva with the iconic name.

Flowers bloomed in her footsteps whenever she’d pass by.

Her soul was like a mist of perfume; her heart was filled with pride!

Her bed was soiled with sin! She embraced numerous desires!

She sought love through erotic pleasure because her cold soul was in need of fire!

Her glory came with a price. The obsessed had to have her heart.

But she refused to sell her soul, and her whole world fell like a falling star!

FALLEN ANGEL

She awoke in a daze but did not see Prince Charming gazing back into her eyes moments after their lips parted. She didn’t find herself resting in a beautiful bed with the stem of a red rose resting in between her tits. She didn’t hear the sound of fairy-tale bluebirds chirping their love lullabies.

Instead, she found herself overwhelmed by a depressing atmosphere as the sound of the beeping monitor continued to disturb the silence. She lay reclined in an obtuse angle, confined to a cramped hospital bed with lifelines stringing from her body like a dancing puppet. She beheld the clear bag of IV fluid dripping like morning dew falling from a flower’s petal. The sound of her name directed her attention toward the suspended television set. She was the highlight of a breaking news story, Has Ivanna finally fallen from glory?

Those words provoked her to power off the television and then cast the remote out of her sight. She covered her face with the palm of her hands and cried like she had never wept before. Her tears streamed down her face like rain gliding down a windowpane. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as the room door clicked and then creaked open ever so slightly.

A special visitor had come to check the status of her current condition, and when the young woman saw Ivanna conscious again, sitting upright in the hospital bed, she entered the room fully. Her eyes began to gleam as she cupped her mouth with the palm of her hands. Compelled by what looked like a saddened sense of joy, the young woman rushed right over to Ivanna’s bedside. Their bodies collided intimately as their limbs locked firmly around each other’s torsos.

Her name was Jenealle, which means God has shown favor. She was Ivanna’s best friend, and she was also the angel who’d rescued Ivanna’s breathless body from the still pool waters. They embraced one another so fervently that Ivanna could feel life flowing from Jenealle into her own soul. They hadn’t connected like this in a long time, not since Ivanna’s supermodel career had come between them.

After the two best friends had given all the love their souls could possibly give, they unlatched from each other’s embrace. Ivanna then made space on the hospital bed for Jenealle to sit down. They stared into each other’s watery eyes as the faint sound of sniffling continued on.

Jenealle sighed deeply and then said, "And to think I was going to leave town without even saying good-bye! But for some reason, I just couldn’t find it in my heart to be that way toward you. Despite how badly you treated me, I still had to learn how to forgive you enough to at least tell you good-bye. But it’s funny how the universe works. If I hadn’t gone by your home that night, you probably wouldn’t be sitting here looking at me right now. All I had wanted to do was tell you good-bye, but that was not the kind of good-bye I had in mind. Your home was completely trashed, and there were bloodstains going up the staircase, leading all the way to your bedsheets. But nothing—and I mean absolutely nothing—could have prepared my mind for what I saw when I walked through the broken glass doors that led to the open balcony from your bedroom.

"I saw you floating facedown in the pool, and it brought forth such a heartbreaking pain that no problem you and I ever had could compare. I ran down to you as fast as I could and jumped right in there to get you out. Indeed it was a struggle, but I still managed to swim you to safety. I guess all those swimming lessons I took during summer camp years ago really paid off, huh?

Because of exhaustion, I rested with you at the steps of the pool as our bodies remained partially submerged in the water. I held you like a newborn baby in my arms as I gently caressed your pale face with my fingertips. It was the most heartbreaking thing I ever had to witness, but thank God I was able to get you the proper medical attention you needed.

In silence, Ivanna listened to the aftermath of her near-death experience. She was so touched to know that the only true friend she ever had cared enough about her to save the one thing that was truly worth saving, her life. Ivanna felt she really didn’t deserve it, especially considering how she’d treated Jenealle ever since she had become a worldwide sensation.

Ivanna didn’t even know how to respond to such an act of true friendship, but she did the best she knew how to. I know I haven’t been a good friend to you in recent years. I guess all the attention blinded me so much that I started to let it change me into something I truly wasn’t. As I look back on everything now, I realize that you were the only true friend I ever had, and I never meant to hurt you, Jenealle. But it’s like one minute, your life is ordinary, and then the next, your life just takes off into distant galaxies so far beyond glory that you forget how to come back down.

Jenealle said, Yeah, I can only imagine! But if you’re not soaring on the wings of angels, eventually, you will fall. And I gotta tell ya, not everybody survives the fall. But I am curious to know why somebody would do something like this to you.

A brief moment of silence took the stage as Ivanna became hesitant to expose such shocking information about the industry.

Ivanna finally took a deep breath. "There is so much going on behind the walls of fame and fortune than what many people realize. From the outside, it looks so glamorous, filled with everything your heart and soul could possibly desire. But from the inside, it’s an evil and cancerous place. When you’re rich, there’s no limit to the amount of sin you can commit, and the richer you are, the easier it is to fall victim to that lifeless zombie fest. Yeah, even I had my share of sin and did a lot of things that I’m not proud of, but I was careful not to let that lifestyle suck me in all the way.

But the more you’re in the spotlight, the more dangerous it becomes. Several times I have come face-to-face with the devil as he tried to convince me to sign away my life in blood. But I refused to sell my soul to that man. But the agency became so obsessed with having me that they persisted on giving me chances to reconsider my decision. At that point, I knew things were becoming too dangerous for me to stay, but unfortunately they got to me before I could get away.

Jenealle asked, But then why would the news have you listed as a suicide attempt by drug overdose if they knew someone were really trying to murder you?

Don’t believe everything the media tells you! That’s just a cover-up. Someone was hired to kill me and tried to make it look like I OD’d, but because of you, they failed. Now my biggest fear is them knowing that I’m still alive. They’ll try to come for me again.

Jenealle inquired, Do you remember what they look like? Maybe we can go to the police about this.

"No, we can’t! The police wouldn’t be much help because someone very rich