CHAPTER 126 : The Nightmare At The Cemetery... ( Astheria, Australia.) "Stop! I'm sorry." Esmond gushed and shifted closer to Natalia in fright. "Just say my name alone and let's go. Please?" "Don't you want it dramatic again?" She teasingly narrowed her eyes. "No! Don't you know spirits move around during sunset? It still creeps me out till now." He whispered, his eyes fearfully darting around. A cold feeling swept through Natalia as she looked around as well. That part of the palace was near the rich woods which was already dark. The darkness was slowly creeping to where they were which creeped her out! "Stop joking. How did you know? Who told you that?" She whispered back, scooting closer to him until their frightened bodies pressed. "My sister. I never believed her until she died. I used to stay at her grave until I started seeing strange stuff after sunset..." Natalia immediately stood up with her phone. "Let'
CHAPTER 127 : Naughty Tendencies. ( Beverly Hills, California.) Thankfully, the young master felt better by the time they drove home. His agitated nerves had relaxed and his stress reduced. Tommy was already asleep so he carried him in. But the Madame of the manor appeared at the grand semi-circular staircase, looking like the furious mother. "Mom, he's sleeping." Arian quickly whispered to avoid her scoldings. "Really?" Mom Rose was shocked. "Yeah." "Aww. You're such a sweetheart, pumpkin!" She pecked him sweetly. "But don't EVER try this late night stunt again!" Arian meekly smiled. "I'll take him to bed. Your dad and the rest are waiting for you at the third living room. Go meet them." She said and walked up the stairs. As she turned around, Tommy De' Argent opened an eyelid and winked at his big brother mischievously before faking sleep again.Arian gagged!That... "My love!" Selena appeared out of thi
CHAPTER 128 : Without Looking Back... "Honey..." Mom Rose cried hurtfully. "I only got your superficial love when you needed me for something. When you declared the contracted marriage and I lost the most precious person in my life, I still tried to forgive you because I loved you.'' His voice shook. "I've sacrificed my life to pleasing you. Yet, it was nothing! You not only destroyed my happiness...but now you're also trying to send me away?'' He was in agony. "How could you, dad?!" Sir Argent looked away to keep his emotions neutral. "Do you know what? I don't care anymore. I'm done taking out your trash! It was all about the money, right?" Sir Argent sharply looked back at Arian but he remained quiet. "Well to hell with you, your money and your damn contract! Your control over me ends today." Arian threw his car key, phones and credit cards that was on him on some random table. "You don't need to threaten to disown me
CHAPTER 129 : The Beginning Of The New Year... ( Beverly Hills, California.) "Selena, have you ever thought that maybe... just maybe, Damon could stop being a player?" Minji pursed her lips and stared at her. "And where did that come from?'' Selena twitched her neck her way. "So is it possible?" She ignored her. The French mademoiselle crashed on the bed next to her, thoughtfully. ''It's possible..." She breathed and Minji raised her head. But; "When he's grown old and died!" She snickered and stood back up. "How are you so darn sure?'' The Asian persisted. Selena scoffed and continued pacing. "Damon has been a nasty Casanova for as long as I've known him. And just a reminder, that's my entire life! Girls bore him out easily. It's tragic for one to put their hope on him because they'll be the one to get heartbroken in the end!.... Which isn't usually far away." "I don't want to believe it." Minji muttered and lowered he
CHAPTER 130 : Sinfully Gorgeous. ( Beverly Hills, California.) "Remind me why I got into this car with you?" Bianca grumbled irritatingly under her breath. Damon Lorenzo turned to smile at her. "Probably the same reason most girls I offer a ride gladly accept." He mused. She raised a brow and he rolled his eyes. "The pretty face behind the wheels...duh!" He gesticulated to his handsome face and she scoffed. "You're such an airhead! They obviously just wanna rip you off." She snorted. Damon opened his mouth to disagree but stopped on a passing thought. The redhead was right in a way because those girls usually left with something valuable to him. The last one sweet talked him into giving her his car.His favorite sports car! "I should drop you off right now! Who knows what you'll con out of me!" He gasped accusatorily and she turned to glare. "Maybe the same thing you can't do without!" The car braked and they jerked f
CHAPTER 131 : A Huge Step Away... (Beverly Hills, California.) Natalia shook that thought away, not wanting to ruin the present. She turned Arian's face to hers and pecked him. His lifeless eyes changed to a naughty one in a flash. She smiled and bit her lip. "What..." He started but she pecked him again. Arian pulled her closer with a sly smile. Before Natalia could run away, he smashed his lips on hers. She giggled and wriggled but her hopeless movements only pushed the throw pillows off the bed. "You're ill. Don't play naughty because I won't hold back next time." He smiled, staring down at her. Natalia pushed his hair behind and nodded, smiling. "Time for breakfast." He said and pulled away. Immediately, the cold returned to her skin. Arian slipped his feet into his white slippers and turned to leave. "Aren't you forgetting someone?" She pouted aggrievedly. He turned back and smiled. Natalia scrambled out of bed into his oustretched ar
CHAPTER 132 : Another Heartbreak... ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "She knows we're together!" Jeffrey reached for her but Nicky took a huge step away. "It doesn't matter if she knows you're MY boyfriend. Ashley's so much in love with you that she can't complete a single sentence without including your name! You guys spending so much time together rekindled her feelings without her knowing it...and without you realising it." "I'll stay away! I...I promise I'll stay away from her." He stuttered, dreading where the conversation was headed. Nicky smiled sadly. "I'm not a monster, Jeff. Like you rightly said, she still needs you. And besides, what difference does it make?... I've seen the way you look at her.'' "No. Stop that!" "Stop what?!" She retorted, feeling the hurt too. "Wh....h...let's go in and talk...." "No!" Nicky stated firmly, knowing that the moment she stepped foot in his bedroom, her decision would automati
CHAPTER 133 : A Forbidden Love. (Beverly Hills, California.) Lee Minji took a warm shower late at night because she had trouble sleeping. Extremely cold weathers wasn't her thing. She missed her new Cali friends at the club. They'd been binging her for days, inviting her out but one peek from her window at the snow down the streets was enough reason to turn her off! Minji was halfway done towelling her hair when the doorbell sounded. She cocked a brow, not expecting Selena that late. She hastily retied her bathrobe properly and wore her slippers, almost tripping in the process as she rushed to the door. "Coming!" She yelled, folding her head towel well. After Minji opened the door, she found a better distraction. The only difference was that he looked a bit wet....and broken? "Wine?" Damon Lorenzo raised an expensive bottle of French wine with two glasses. Minji opened the door wider and stood aside. He pushed himself inside. She had
CHAPTER 185 : Final Epilogue. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "What are you doing?!" She bulged her eyes and moved away. "What?" Arian sheepishly groaned. "Don't 'what' me! You know what I mean!" She stated, playing their usual nightly 'what' game.....which usually followed the same pattern. Arian seductively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. "We have the rest of the night to ourselves." He deliciously bit his lips and swept down to capture hers.But Natalia stepped away. "I need to check if the twins have yanked their heads off already." She tried to escape but Arian blocked her. "You're just coming from the nursery." He sexily pouted and Natalia almost gave in. She shook her head to reject the temptation. "I think it's time for Adrian's milk." She tried again but Arian easily caught her. "Adrian's asleep and his milk isn't until midnight. So..." He kissed her and slowly
CHAPTER 184 : Epilogue (2). ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "By the way, where is Jake?" Elva curiously asked. "He had some work to do and promised to be here this evening." Naomi answered. Natalia had set up a special committee of her most trusted ministers to hold the Empire for a few days. Jake was among the members so he had a little delay. "I really admire you." Naomi continued, taking the attention away from herself. "Being an Empress, a wife, a mother, a philanthropist and also a role model, all in one package!" She dramatised. "It's no wonder you haven't changed much with three kids! On the contrary, it made you hotter. I'm just expecting my second child but I feel like a granny!" Nicky joked and fondly rubbed her huge baby bump. "No! You're not a granny. You're my mommy." Louisa raised her head and pouted.The girls giggled when Nicky blushed. "It's no wonder you don't miss Jeffrey whenever he goes away on b
CHAPTER 183 : Epilogue. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "How was your night?" Arian kissed Natalia as Adrian rubbed baby drool all over his face. Natalia stretched lazily and closed her eyes. "Stressful." She pouted. "I know, right? This champ is quite a handful at night.'' He tickled Adrian who hung on his neck like King kong. "Da-da! Da-da!!" He squealed happily which echoed arouund the room. "As if you weren't a handful yourself." She scoffed and turned away, pulling the duvet closer around her. It made Natalia a little jealous that Adrian hadn't yet learnt to call her mama. In fact, Dada was the only word he knew! Arian noticed it and chuckled, pulling her back to face him. As usual, he was shirtless wearing only sweatpants. Some habits were just so hard to break! Not that Natalia was complaining though. It made her husband look uncontrollably sexy! Adrian grinned down at his mama in his diapers. Fa
CHAPTER 182 : The Seal Of Their Love. ( Astheria, Australia. ) Still sitting on the floor, Naomi slowly arranged her things inside a cardboard box. She shivered a bit because she was still wearing her clothes. But Naomi didn't care. There was more important things to be done than caring if she had gotten a cold by wearing her wet clothes for so long that it'd dried still on her. A knock sounded on the door. "Please go away. I'm a little busy." Her hoarse voice sounded. Naomi knew the visitor wasn't on an official business. If the Empress or the royal assistant needed her, they'ld have easily sent an email. And so far, they hadn't. Naomi couldn't blame them though. She felt embarrassed and hated her family's history. And after everything they had done to the Santianas, she couldn't bare to look at anyone anymore. After a while, the knock sounded again and this time, the person walked in without consent. Naomi didn't bother to l
CHAPTER 181 : Where's Naomi? ( Astheria, Somewhere in continent Australia. ) ( Hours Later. ) "She's not in danger but I still recommend a lot of rest. You can see her. Just make it as quick as possible." The aged doctor whispered and walked away. Elva Thompson and Jake Buniz nodded before walking into the Royal study. They found Natalia leaning on her desk, gently running her fingers over her grandmother's diary. Louis had kept it safe like he'd promised. "You should be resting. Doctor's orders." Elva let out a small frown in displeasure. "I'm fine." Natalia curtly said and stood up. The thick sweats she was wearing matched with her pale skin. She returned the diary to one of the drawers and faced them back. "Tell me. The casualty report?" She ordered. "We lost a good number of our men while the rest are being taken care of." Jake reported. "And Max?" Jake lowered his cold eyes in hes
CHAPTER 180 : The Battleground (3). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) The Mob boss snickered which sounded like something made in hell and back hugged Natalia, erotically pulling her closer. Arian fought the impulse to take a step and lunge at him! He was purposely riling him up to draw him into the sensors! "Tsk! Don't make her feel bad!" He clicked his tongue. "You were smart, my love. But sentimentality was all I needed to sneak into your lives.... And you gave it to me." He nuzzled her hair and possessively trailed kisses down her neck. Arian's insides cringed feeling his control slowly snap while Natalia's self hate increased each passing second. "Let her go!" Arian snarled, running out of patience and clenched his fists. "And you expect me to ask 'Or what?'." Leonardo cocked a cocky brow. "Look around you, fool! We ain't in some shitty movie. This is my turf! I run this freaking game!" He viciously barked. "What do you want?" A
CHAPTER 179 : The Battleground (2). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) Meanwhile, the automatic doors trapping Arian De' Argent in the hallway reopened after the lights had suddenly turned off and returned after five seconds. Arian turned to continue the search for his love but stopped when Naomi froze....and then fainted. He hastily caught her before she could crash land. "Hey, hey!" He called seeing her drowsy eyes. "What..." The French heir froze on his interrogation when he saw four darts pierced into her pretty brochette and a fifth one stuck on the skin of her neck. Naomi had thrown herself in front of Arian when she noticed the danger he was in without thinking. Arian pulled them out and tapped her lightly. "Hey, stay with me, okay?" The timid spy tried to nod but the snake venom was working tremendously fast, already at the second stage of the symptoms which was total paralysis. "Hey!" Arian yelled. "What?!" Max yelle
CHAPTER 178 : The battleground (1). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) "Who do you want to go first?" He casually, but deviously asked. The gunshots continued more fiercely and through the cameras, Natalia and the few in the room could see the gory battle going on. As observers seeing the whole battle ground, anyone could bet that Astheria had an upper hand! "The only game we'll be playing is the one you'll be losing." She seethed in confidence. Leonardo coldly smirked which gave her goosebumps for some reason before placing his hand on a screen which scanned his fingerprints. "Good evening, Master. How may I be of service?" The voice of an artificial intelligence echoed from thin air. "Ava, place the fortress on lockdown." He ordered. "As you wish, Master." A moment later, metal doors sprung up trapped everyone in. Those who were fighting outside couldn't get in and those who were in couldn't get out. Natalia's heart skipped a be
CHAPTER 177 : Let's Play A Game, Shall We?... ( In The Carribean.) "Something is wrong." Jake Buniz stated, pacing restlessly around the communication tent. The geniuses among the little battle squad was in the same tent, doing what they did best with the gadgets and devices in there. They were all dressed the same with silent and serious features. "She should've made contact by now." The Captain of the army continued. "Let's think more positively. It could be that Naomi hasn't yet located the Empress.... Even though it's not really a positive thought. However, you above everyone else knows how shady these Kelions are. There's still a few hours till midnight. We should give her a little more time." Max offered, more relaxed than his superior as as he typed away on a computer. "I trust my instincts. And right now, something doesn't feel right." Jake stopped behind him and leaned over with a hand on his chair and the other on the table.