SIX MONTHS LATER.I picked up my car keys, as I spoke into the phone trapped between my ear and shoulder, "Tell the pilot to slow down, I'm still at home."Grace chuckled, "Why don't I give the phone to the pilot so you can speak to him, dummy."I laughed out loud, almost letting the phone slip from my shoulder. "You brat! I hope your tongue isn't the only thing that got sharper during that trip.""Come pick me and you'd find out." There was a pause on her end.But I could hear the muffled voices of people in the background and the somewhat clear voice of someone softly issuing out instructions. It must be the flight attendant. "Please, rip your phones, secure your belongings as we would land in the next couple of minutes.""Okay, I've got to go," Grace finally said, "We're about to land." Then with a manufactured deep stern voice, she growled, "Don't keep me waiting, Sydney!""Yes, ma'am," I said even though the line already went dead.I stuffed everything I might need into my handba
MARK'S POVRecently, I have been very troubled, my mind kept skipping a beat each time it wandered and I remembered that kick I felt on Bella's tummy. Most times, it was almost always as if I could feel how it had felt in my palm again, as if I was reliving that moment. It was like a daily reminder that I was going to be a father soon. I was going to father a child I had no idea if I wanted. A woman I have started to have conflicting feelings about was carrying my child and I had no idea how to deal with that. I felt stuck.I had thought I loved Bella and I was ready to do anything to be with her. Finally, I got to be with her but I wasn't so sure if I loved her anymore. My heart didn't skip a beat at the sight of her or her smile anymore. I didn't feel at home whenever she was around me anymore, instead I felt…suffocated and suddenly want nothing but to be away from her.The only good time between us was whenever we had sex. Those few minutes where I get to satisfy the itch were the
SYDNEY'S POVI slammed my laptop shut and some of the attendees raised a brow. I smiled back at the person and turned back to the speaker for the day.The day had been hectic since I arrived in the morning. It was one work after another, one meeting after another.We had just finished the first session of the seminar on jewelry design that was hosted in our company. Thankfully there was a short break before the second session again.I traipsed to my office, dumped my laptop on my desk and walked out of the building complex, exhausted.I just wanted to be alone while getting some fresh air after being stuck in that conference room for hours!I walked to the cafe next to the office building for a cup of coffee. The cafe was a perfect place I could hide and none of the other employees would spot me and start trying to engage me in a conversation I wasn't interested in.After ordering my coffee, I got a seat on the far end of the cafe, just beside the cafe's glass walls. At first, I found
"What the hell?!" I threw my hands in the air and said as my breath calmed, "Why did you just appear like that? You almost gave me a heart attack."She folded her lips, "You almost gave me a heart attack when I noticed you sitting here too." She arched her sleek brows, "Have you been stalking me? Well, I'm sure today's stalk was a success because you heard everything, didn't you?"I looked at her, "You…you…"A cold smile formed on her lips, "You what? Don't tell me you heard nothing." Then she tutted and her brows furrowed in concentration, "Don't lie now, Sydney."I rolled my eyes, "What I meant to say is, you shouldn't drink so much coffee, you're pregnant."Bella chuckled and I wondered what was funny about what I said. Then she sobered up, rolled her eyes and said, "Who asked you to order coffee?"I gaped at her, at a loss for words. The coffee was ordered for me! I didn't invite her to sit down and share a drink, but I didn't want to argue with a pregnant woman. Besides, it was n
"She once had a child?" I thought to myself and my body stiffened a bit. Surely never expected that update.When could this have happened? Was it during those three interminable years when she had vanished without a trace? But despite the amount of questions I had, I still tried to act composed and I schooled my expression into one of indifference.I focused on the almost invisible ripples forming on the surface of my coffee as I slowly stirred the steaming liquid."I don't want to hear it," I said flatly with nonchalance.To be honest, I was mostly not interested in hearing any stories about her murky past even though at some point before, I used to be interested in it. What purpose would it serve to dredge up all of those stories anyway?In the background of where we both sat I could hear voices and clinks of cutlery, but it all faded like far away murmurs as Bella's eyes drove like nails into me. Her fingers curled around her own cup and she slowly took a sip before rolling her eye
After I officially divorced Sydney, Doris transferred her remaining shares to me. I became the largest shareholder and the de facto person in charge as I now held 46% of GT group's shares.Due to the new development, the shareholder resume was officially updated and as expected, my networth soared. The public caught a whiff of it and I received a wave of interview reviews from TV stations, newspaper publishers and journalists always were always on the standby for whenever they would catch me outside.My position in GT group was now grounded and was not tied to anyone but I knew I still needed to be careful and watch out for those who might come together and to sell their sticks to one person among them just to watch me go down.When the requests would not stop coming in, I finally instructed my assistant to respond to one of the interview requests and inform them that I had accepted the request. I chose the most famous economic TV channel. That way, everyone will get a bit of what the
The only light in the room were the brightness of our phone's screens and that of the TV. The TV had been muted while Grace and I idly worked on our phones."Woah," Grace put her phone before my face, "Sydney, look at this."My gaze settled on the dress on the screen. It was almost like one of the ones Grace had designed. I frowned, "it looks a lot like the dress you designed."Grace laughed lightly, "It is the one I designed," she scrolled to the previous slide, "This is the original one. She's one of our clients, she got it from us so she replicated it and tagged us."My mouth formed an 'O' as I nodded."Yeah." She reclined back on the couch where she had been laying. "She really tried, right?""Yeah, but I could still tell that it wasn't your work. It was just your design.""Hmm," she hummed, "I think she did well. Perhaps, we should recruit her.""Oh please."Grace laughed at my outburst then she abruptly stopped laughing. "Isn't that Mark?"I frowned and paused the shorts I was w
I folded my lips, resisting the urge to let out a groan as Grace added 'finishing touches' to my make up. She had been adding 'finishing touches' to my make up and dress for the past hour."Grace…" I groaned, unable to keep.mute anymore. "What are you still doing?!""Finishing touches.""Finishing touches."We said at the same time and Grace burst out laughing. "Relax. Didn't you say you wanted to go late. I'm making good use of your lateness.""Yes, I wanted to go Kate but now I'm way too late. I bet the event would have ended by now."Grandma Doris sent me the invite and it was well past the time stated there. I was now three hours late."You're taking so long on this makeup, I don't want it to be heavy. What if it rains?" To be honest, my butt was already hurting and it felt sore from sitting on the stool, even though it was cushioned."It isn't heavy and it won't rain," she muttered absentmindedly."Grace-" she interrupted me."Finally done." Grace drew back and smiled at her hand