"Boss, we have news." Lucas stated when Kristoff and the others return at home. Instantly, Kristoff's mood dropped and Quentin feeling the change in his Dad’s mood was very considerate and understanding that this was going to be an adult talk that he shouldn’t interfere, so he quietly went back to his room under the eyes of his butler. Kristoff and Lucas immediately went straight to the study where Lucas presented a folder to him. "According to our spy’s report, the Red River Pack has has been slowly bringing in various kinds of firearms and they have been also expanding their numbers quite faster than usual. They're recruiting rogues and humans." Lucas reported as Lu Chen skimmed through the file. "As we’ve expected, they’re aiming for war. It seems like they’ve been growing fearless day by day." Kristoff Montenegro didn’t hide the anger in his tone as he thought about his enemies who are planning to put everything into chaos. Kristoff growle
"Haaaaah...." Alisha heavily sighed in defeat as she stared at the flashing digital clock on her desk that read seven eighteen in the evening. What addressing the engagement problem? She wasn’t even able to finish any of her work today. She really had tons of things she had to catch up on work, but she's too absent-minded to do anythingm.. Looking at the stack of clipboards on her desk and other documents on the table, she felt like lighting a candle sympathizing for herself. It seems like this pile won’t disappear for awhile. As Alisha lamented on her work for the next days, she fixed all her things on the desk and prepared to go home. "I’ll go first." Alisha stated to Lucas who was still looking over something on his computer. Lucas raised his head then glanced at Kristoff's door before returning his attention to Alisha "Should I call for the president?" Understanding what he was implying, Alisha quickly shook her head. "No need." Both of them ar
Alisha’s eyes fluttered open very slowly, like a budding flower in the first day of spring. The sound of beeping machine was the first thing Alisha heard when she slowly opened her eyes. White ceiling reflected in her orbs, and she felt the stinging needles stuck on her skin as she tried to move her arms. "Alisha, you’re finally awake." Alisha felt a warm hand enclosing hers. She shifted her sight towards the soothing voice, and she quickly recognized that the person holding her was her mother. It was evident that she had been crying with all the streaks of tears left on her cheeks and the slightly damp handkerchief she was holding. Alisha⁷ empty eyes reflected the white ceiling above her. "Mom?" She heard a voice, instantly waking her up from her reverie. She blinked, and the light returned into her eyes once again. Alishqa recognized that voice and quickly roamed her eyes inside the room. She saw her mom at her bedside, t
With Kristoff Montenegro leaving temporarily for work, Little Quentin was left on the care of her parents for the time being as they stayed in the hospital. Since the little guy didn’t wanna go home and wanted to stay with her, her Dad voluntarily accepted the job of the babysitter. "Arnold personally cooked this for you." Alisha watched her mother take out all the dishes from the stacked thermal lunchbox she brought from home. With her still recovering, most of the dishes prepared for her were on the lighter side. She unconsciously smiled as she remembered how Arnold loved to cooked for her. So she couldn’t help but feel touched seeing the foods in front of her. It was made full of love and wishes that she recovers quickly. Taking a spoonful of the soup, the flavor of ginger quickly spread inside her mouth. As she continued eating it, she somehow felt calm. As she ate her lunch, the door across the room opened revealing her Dad
As Alisha cautiously watched the video, she swiftly changed browsers once again when she heard the sound of her room door opening. She did it quite so naturally as if she didn’t do something so sneaky behind everyone’s backs. She relaxed, as her sight darted to the nurse entering her room with some familiar stuff she uses for the daily check-ups. She closed her laptop and moved it on the side table, making some space for the nurse. Quentin ìalso sat back on the sofa as he watched his Mom being treated by the nurse. The process was quick and it was finally over in just a few minutes. Alisha ìrubbed the cotton stuck on her arm, a stinging pain left behind when her blood was taken out awhile ago. Her gaze stopped on the covered wound, as she relaxed her clenched hands. If one didn’t look closely, no one would’ve noticed how hard she bit her lower lip and the crescent markings of her nails on her palm. Yes, she has Trypanophobia. She was diagnosed back then after the kidnapping. After
"Can I choose not to open it?" "No." "..." "..." "I just won’t accept it then." "..." Kristoff's eyes paused for a few seconds on her face before he pushed the document to her hands. If one is looking closely, you’ll even see the slight curl at the corner of his lips but Alisha completely missed it, and instead, her sight was glued on the folder on her hands. She froze in her place and treated the folder as if it was a bomb that would explode once she moves even just a bit. Whatever is in this.... Alisha is definitely sure that it’s not good. Because judging by Kristoff's tone, it’s something she would dread to know... or something that was better left unknown. Alisha’s gut feelings are screaming to ’Do not open!’ this ominous folder. But she doesn't have a choice, right. Taking one last suspicious look at Kri6 who looked so tall beside her as he looked over her as if he was a supervisor waiting for the student to comply with hi
Silence filled the room after Kristoff uttered those words. The little kid slept deeply beside the two people without a care in the world. Alisha Meyer fell into a trance and then she gently looked at Kristoff's eyes. Those pair of eyes that kept pulling her into him as if she was hypnotized. Her heart pounded so loud that she suspected he could hear it with him being so close to her. Her eyes trembled as she felt Kristoff's hand tighten on her own. She could read it in his eyes. His anxiousness at this moment. He could almost hear his thoughts, almost begging her to open her mouth and give him a response. This person, the proudest person she’d ever known was now right here in front of her, humbly asking for her to marry him. This rich and cold person didn’t even present her a ring or flowers yet, she couldn’t find it in her heart to turn him down. Because deep down she knew, she knew that this person only became like this because of her. He humbled himself even if he didn’t need
Even though that person had already long disappeared from her sight, Alisha didn’t look away from the glass door entrance. The paper almost tore apart by clenching her fist too much. She felt a cold chill behind her back as if someone was still watching over her despite that person being long gone now. ’Long time no see. It’s been a long 10 years isn’t it Miss Meyer?’ Clearly, the person who wrote the note was implying about her and Yany’s kidnapping 10 years ago. And from the note alone, it seems that person was somehow involved in that incident. Was he the mastermind behind the kidnapping? 10 years ago, the Meyer family exerted all their forces into finding out the mastermind behind their kidnapping. Despite having such powerful connections and people, they weren’t able to catch the true mastermind behind all of it. The kidnappers that were caught on the scene had been murdered an hour after they were caught. They were killed before being questioned so the chance of finding out
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