Then out of the blue, there's a loud sound. It's the sound of the abrupt closing of a folder. Then total silence. Both of them could hear the ticking of the grandfather clock in the living room and their own breathing. Alishq took a deep breath as she tried to press down the sudden flare of exasperation she was feeling. It was a complete u-turn from the emotions she had awhile ago. She only knew that she was upset and angry upon seeing the marriage form and listening to his explanation. However, Kristoff was completely bewildered by her reaction, not expecting it. He had thought that she would willingly accept it so they can now go over with it tomorrow. But contrary to his expectations, his female secretary exhibited great anger on her face as she glared at him. He was about to speak when she took the opportunity in speaking first. “No.” “…” Silence conquered the room for the whole minute. The two adults kept their staring contest. Alisha was glaring daggers at Kristoff while h
It was the first sentence he had said the moment he opened his mouth. His pair of eyes that was as dark as the night sky felt like a whirlpool pulling her in as he gave her a determined gaze. “I may not love you right now, but I will love you. I will do. Then you’ll be Mrs. Montenegro.” For some reason, Alisha swear she felt a sudden tingling sensation in her stomach. “I will only love you, Alisha Meyer.” His resolute eyes clearly showed her that what Kristoff was saying was true. So she couldn’t look away. For reasons unknown, his eyes felt like a dark whirlpool slowly sucking her in. And she knew that if she gets drowned in his eyes, there’s no turning back anymore. She suddenly felt scared. This unfamiliar situation, the one she least expected. Especially from this person in front of her. Alisha stopped her hands that was itching to reach out at her chest. Her heart was beating erratically that she couldn’t stop it. Kristoff on the other hand felt slightly anxious as he kept
It was around 7 am when Alisha received a call from Lucas. She was informed that Kristoff and Lucas took an early flight to London due to some emergency in the London office. It must’ve been a very serious case that the CEO had to leave such an early flight without leaving any instruction to her first. Without the CEO, Alisha had to go to work early to delegate the sudden tasks that was instructed by Lucas. She had her assistant disseminate the tasks and she herself had to take over the CEO’s workload and Lucas workload for the day. It was a real hell work day. However, in Alisha’s opinion, it was actually better that Kristoff wasn’t here for the day. Thinking about what he had confessed yesterday, she wasn’t ready to face him nor give him a reply. His sincerity… it wasn’t something that she could reply halfheartedly. “Miss Meyer,” A cup of chamomile tea suddenly appeared in front of her sight. She looked up and saw her assistant giving her a gentle smile as she served her a calm
She was thinking too much that she failed to notice that Keith was already standing beside her. When she had finally noticed his presence, she unconsciously raised her gaze seeing that he was towering over her seated form. Keith squatted down, to be on the same level with her gaze. He placed his hand on her hair as he pulled her to him. Alisha didn’t reject his hug and wrapped her arms around him. She hugged his shoulders like she was clinging to life. Her face buried in his neck, tears scarily making their way at the corner of her eyes. The both of them stayed in that position for a few minutes before they released each other. “Sorry for reminding you such a bad memory.” He apologized realizing he had made her cry and sad. Alisha shook her head. “It’s nothing. And, this day had always been the dimmest day of the year for me.” Keith just gave her a light smile before standing up again and walking back to his seat. “Let’s continue our meal.” Both of them finished their meal half
Despite the peace and quiet filling the entire place, her ears was playing tricks on her. She felt that she was back to that place 10 years ago. That cold and stormy night, she was there chained onto the chair watching her best friend get raped by that scums. Her helpless and foolish self that couldn’t do anything but to watch. Alisha could still hear Yany’s voice trying to fight back, she was shouting so loud as seconds passed by. What followed was a ripping noise of the clothes being torn apart. Alisha took in everything that happened. Yanh who was being violated by those men. Yany’s eyes that was previously full of determination was now full of despair and helplessness. She could understand what was running on her mind at that moment, as she too thought the same. Just how it was better to die instead of being under this torture. A few minutes after, Alisha couldn’t hear anymore of Yany’s cries. She understood why. Alisha was forced to watch her friend being tortured from start
"Where the hell am I?’ was what first thought that came to Alisha’s mind. She had just regained her consciousness but she clearly felt even more tired than ever instead of being energized. Her eyelids felt heavy and it was difficult enough to open her eyes for quite a long time. And moving just a little bit brought pain to her body. Her breathing was slightly ragged and she felt a little bit stuffy. Her throat was a bit itchy too. After assessing herself, Alisha finally realized that she was sick. And it wasn’t just a simple fever, it was a really bad case of flu. But she had other things to worry about aside from being sick. When she opened her eyes, what welcomed her was an unfamiliar grey-ish ceiling. Forcing herself to shift her head, she realized she was in a dimly lit room with simple decorations. She didn’t bother examining whatever objects were around her when her eyes trailed to the long tube stuck on the back of her hand. She instantly recognized that it was an IV bag,
“Ms. Alisha Meyer, long time no see. How have you been?” ‘Very good, until you came.’ Was what Alisha actually wanted to say out loud. But, the words in her mind was completely the opposite of what was coming out of her mouth. “I’m good, thank you Ms. Linda. Congratulations by the way. I saw in the news that you recently won an award in The Fashion Awards this years.” She flashed her usual polite and business smile as she slowly laid down the papers back on her lap. Linda Voyle, a veteran fashion designer, was one of the best white lotus actress she had ever met. Meaning by white lotus, she was so great in acting so innocent, and making other people feel like she was often being bullied. Many had fell victim in her hands, including Alisha. She really couldn’t forget that day years ago, when she had just started her internship under Kristoff’s wing. Just like other women, their eyes preyed on Kristoff Montenegro who was currently in the middle of talking with some other businessme
While Alisha Meyer was relaxing on the plane, the rest of the Montenegro Corporation employees felt like they were facing the worst enemy of their lives. Who told them to work under such a scary boss? Almost every person in the boardroom were holding their breath. They were trying their best not to make any sound lest they attract the emperor’s wrath. They weren’t sure where to look at either, to their boss or at the wall. Only the sound of the pen tapping the table echoed in the whole room. The man in the navy blue business suit held his fountain pen in one hand as he leaned back on the leather office chair. His face looked blank, yet anyone could feel the oppressive aura that he exudes. If one would really look closely, they could even see that his brows were furrowed a little bit.The silence was too deafening that even a pin drop could possibly echo in the whole boardroom. “President,” The voice broke the silence, and everyone breathed, fearfully of what might happen to the owne
Alisha wanted to enjoy normal school life and even though the time will come when Quentin’s background will be revealed to the public, at least, he’ll still be able to continue living a normal life "Then I’ll get Lucas to come with you." Alisha angrily slapped him on his arm. "You’re overworking him too much!" "I don’t." "Do you think I don’t see the exhaustion in his face every time I see him at work? Besides, he was the one doing my responsibilities when I was on sick leave so now that I’m here and as long as I can do it, just leave him alone for a little longer so he could relax a little." While the two of them waited for Quentin to change his clothes, Kristoff suddenly received a call from someone. After looking at the caller ID, he glanced at Alisha before finally standing out to go somewhere before receiving the call. "Hello?" "Is my sister with you?" Russell Meyer asked as soon as the call was picked up. Kristoff peeked at Al
"I enjoy them very much! They were all delicious and way better than the ones I’ve eaten before." Alisha didn’t stop there and continued flattering the elderly woman. "Also, I could taste that they all taste very authentic. Did you travel to different Asian countries to perfect these recipes?" What she said was a half-truth and half flattery. If we move the elderly woman out of the picture, Alisha just greatly enjoyed and appreciated their food. Her family would often take vacations in different countries so her tongue is already quite familiar with the signature recipes of each country, and after tasting the food here in ’The Paradise’, all her words are purely admirations and praises. Being able to cook them exactly as it tastes and some foods, even better than the ones she tasted abroad, is really amazing. She wanted to genuinely praise the owner, but seeing Mrs.Kim’s character, she easily recognized this kind of person. Mrs.Kim is definitely the overbearing type of person. A
Upon reaching the downtown part of the city, the three of them took their time walking around until they reached a small restaurant. "The Eternal Paradise..." Alisha mouthed the name as she read the signage at the top. So it’s really the name of the restaurant ah... Kristoff did a quick fix of his cap and mask before finally stepping inside the restaurant. Inside, Alisha momentarily paused and admired the interior. She didn’t expect such an amazing interior in such a small restaurant. The first thing she saw when the door opened was the hanging leaves that seemed to crawl along the walls. Along with that, the chairs and tables were all made of wood. At the corner of the room, behind the glass was a small pool of water surrounded by bamboo. To accompany that, anyone could hear the sound of moving water. With all these elements together, anyone could imagine themselves somewhere in the middle of the forest or near the river. Pure peace and surrounded by nature. The three of them s
"Alisha, you’ll be fine. Trust me." Then she was pulled into a hug by her husband. She let herself be buried in his arms as he tried comforting her. He gently patted her back while whispering encouraging words in her ears which made her put down her worry. "Hmm. Thank you, Kristoff." She muttered as she relaxed in his embrace. "Wife." "Mm?" "Can I request something?" She shifted in his embrace, slightly raising her head meeting his gaze that was a few inches away from her. She gestured for him to continue speaking. "Um," He cleared his throat. He looked a bit nervous as if he was going to say something that she wouldn’t like at all. "Can you call me husband?" The instant those words escaped his mouth, the sound of coughing resounded in that enclosed space. Alisha almost pushed him, as she covered her mouth trying to stop herself from coughing after choking in her saliva. Damn it, to choke on your own saliva...that was really embarrassing. Kristoff automatically patted her ba
"Kristoff, I will never feel scared as long as you’re by my side." For the first time when he founded and established the Montenegro Corporation, Kristoff Montenegro was dozing off during work. His eyes glued on the desktop in front of him, yet he didn’t make any progress at all. He looked so out of it that fortunately, he didn’t have any meetings scheduled later that afternoon. Because right at this moment, there's only one thought feeling his mind. His wife's words keep on replaying in his mind. Reaching out and placing his hand to where his heart was. He was surprised to discover that it's crazily pounding as if it was trying to escape from his body. Weirdly, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling too. He grinned like a little boy that foolishly smiling whenever he thought of his crush. That kind of feeling. "Alisha..." His eyes trailed back to the part of the room where his two couches are. It felt like the scene a while ago was flashing before his eyes once again and he coul
The next morning, the three had breakfast together as usual. Alisha was back to being her carefree self, the topics from last night thrown at the back of her head. Quentin ate the hawthorn as a dessert, the one they bought last night as a bribe that didn’t work at all. "Mom, are you coming with us tomorrow?" "Hm?" Alisha was caught off guard with the question so she wasn’t able to quickly respond. She faintly glanced at Quentin before returning her look at the little kid on the opposite side of the table. "Of course, Mom would be with you tomorrow." "Hmm!" Then he returned to eating his dessert. Alisha's sight stayed at his figure for a few more seconds before looking away, suddenly feeling heavy after answering that question. Tomorrow is Little Quentin's parents’ death anniversary. She knows its normal for a kid to remember his biological parents’ death anniversary but if you think about it, it’s a date that you wouldn’t really want to remember at all. After all, it’s the date
Game over. That was what the machine flashed before Alisha's eyes looked at the gun she was holding loosely from her hands. "..." "..." God help her or she’ll really beat this man up right now. Damn it! What kind of date was this? Was he really trying to date her or annoy her? He hadn’t even let her win a single game for the last 2 hours! She frustratedly stuffed the gun back in its place after finishing the shooting game. Then she glared at Kristoff for one last time before finally giving up on trying to gain a win from him. Seeing the triumphant smile on his face, she thought that Kristoff looked more like a teenager than his age. "Happy?" She sarcastically asked him. Sensing the tone of her voice, Kristoff quickly wiped off the smile on his face and shook his head. "No." "You’ve won so many games, and you’re still not happy? So are you saying you still want to continue playing?" "...Sorry." Kristoff finally returned to his senses. He bowed his head and apologized to her
"...a date?" So suddenly? Right now? Alisha looked at her attire. In her working clothes? Aren’t she supposed to dress a little bit more special if they go on dates? But this infuriating man is just dragging her around in their working attires? "Yes, let’s change our clothes first then we can go roam around." Oh. Thank goodness. Even though Alisha already expected it, she really didn’t think that Kristoff would really bring her to a small store that sells new and cheap clothes. Ever since he said that they’ll leave the car at a parking lot, she already had a faint hunch in her heart. Kristoff Montenegro didn’t follow the usual development of extravagant dates of CEOs but rather, it seemed like he was going to take her into a simple but lowkey date. Alisha looked at Kristoff jwho was checking out the clothes and smiled. The extravagant date sounded good but a simple date like this was actually of her cup of tea. Since she grew up in a high-profile family ever since she was bor
Seeing his furrowed brows finally straightening out as she continued to massage his head, Alisha felt relieved. Before, when their relationship was still strictly an employee-boss relationship, she would usually serve him a calming tea and try to lessen the workload that had to go through him. As a reliable subordinate, that’s the only way she could think of to help the president. But now that she’s his wife, she can now at least help him like this. She continued massaging his temple for a few minutes more while Kristoff thoroughly enjoyed the treatment. "That’s all for now." She uttered as she finally stopped pressing his temples. But before she could pull away, Kristoff quickly grabbed her right hand that was still on his head. He grasped it firmly without even opening his eyes. Slowly, he pulled it downwards his face and made her hand cup his cheeks. Watching his actions, she blushed and when he lean more on her hand she felt her