“I'm glad you decided to come here to France. Your mother will be surprised when she sees you,” Philip welcomed me with wide-open arms at the door. His eyes glittered with tears as he looked at me. Crossing the distance between us, he hugged me tightly.Unable to suppress my emotions, tears welled in my eyes. “We never expected you to follow us here. That's why, when I saw you, I couldn't believe my eyes,” he added when he let me go.“I feel like I would miss a part of my life if I were not with everyone, so I decided to come,” I told him truthfully, to which he replied with a blissful smile.“Come inside; I'll tell the servant to prepare a snack for us. We have something important to talk about.”Philip ushered me inside. My eyes surveyed the interior of the house, and I swooned. This house was on another level. Never in my life before did I imagine myself living in a place like this.Pulling to a stop, Philip turned to the two servants we passed in the foyer and ordered one to take
A YEAR LATER“Ladies and gentlemen, let us all welcome our dearest Summa Cum Laude, Lilibeth Phoenix, for her valedictory address!”A round of applause reverberated inside the huge auditorium. Everyone rose from their seats to acknowledge my presence. With the grace of a queen, I rose from my seat and faced the cheering crowd with a smile. With the same grace I showed earlier, I walked down the carpeted aisle, and a thousand eyes followed my every move. Cameras flashed in my direction, almost blinding me. I walked until I reached the stage and stood on the podium with my chin held high to deliver the speech I had memorized by heart. Just a year ago, I was nothing. As others put it, I was an insignificant speck of dust with no bright future waiting for me. However, I proved them wrong.I smiled, proud of the gold medals hanging around my neck, proof of how hard I had worked during those months, juggling my duties at school and work while having a delicate pregnancy. All my sacrifice
Six days from now, it will be my twenty-fifth birthday, I thought to myself while seated in my swivel chair inside my plush office, which was located on the eighth floor of the sixteen-story Fleur De Luna Hotel. My parents hired an organizer to oversee the preparation of my birthday party. I have nothing to do except sit down, relax, and wait for my special day to arrive. However, it was impossible to just sit still and wait for people to get the job done. I'm used to working on things on my own without relying on anyone.Despite my parents' protests, I helped them prepare for my birthday party, which is going to be held at the magnificent La Paraiso Hotel, which is now my property. My property. The thought brought a smile to my lips. Who would expect that I am now the owner of the hotel where I got kicked out a year ago? It's been more than a year since I stepped foot in that place. I wondered if any of the old employees would recognize me now. Maybe they would, since nothing in
A leopard never changes its spots. That's my other way of saying a playboy will always remain a playboy, I thought to myself as I tore my gaze from the TV screen just as the commercial ended. Finishing my cup of coffee, I leaned back in my seat. I tried to sleep, but after an hour of trying, I gave up and waited for the luxury private helicopter to land.When my private luxury helicopter landed at the airport, the splendid summer morning sky greeted my eyes as I got out. The airport still looked exactly like the last time I saw it. Grey Gabriel Bradford owns this place now, and I doubt it will ever look the same once he's done with it.While I was waiting for my car to arrive, I pulled my phone from my handbag and dialed Sophia's number. “I just arrived, Mom. How is Isabelle doing? I was wondering if she's feeding on the milk I left her.”I had breastfed my daughter since the moment she was born. What worried me now was that she might notice I was gone and refuse to feed from a bot
Elizabeth Bradford stared at me with bulging eyes. Her eyes were so wide that an apple could almost fit inside. Thinking that it must be her imagination playing a trick on her, she blinked several times, but when I didn’t disappear from her sight, which she was expecting, she jerked out of her swivel chair. The force of her movement caused the poor chair to tumble onto the floor with a loud thud.“Lily!” she gasped, chasing her breath. The intense rise and fall of her chest made her appear as though she'd been running a mile when, in fact, she was barely moving.“Lilibeth Phoenix,” I corrected her, my lips stretching into an even sweeter smile. I saw her clutch her chest with both hands as if she were having a heart attack.Her eyes surveyed the golden earrings dangling from my ears, then moved to the signature clothes draping my body, before settling on the limited edition pink stiletto shoes covering my feet. Realizing how expensive everything was, her jaw dropped to the floor.“No
My pulse jittered, and my heart began to beat like crazy as his gaze lingered on the window where I stood. Recovering from shock, I jumped away from the window and hastily closed the curtains with my trembling fingers.My goodness! Did he see me? The question thundered inside my head, making me breathless. My palms turned cold as ice, and I brushed them against each other to create some heat to ease their stiffness.“Are you okay, Miss Lily?” Christina asked.My eyes shifted to her. She had just finished placing the food on the table and was waiting for me to eat. However, eating was the last thing on my mind now. After seeing my ex-husband, I had lost my appetite.“I'm fine,” I replied.“Are you sure?” Christina asked politely, concern evident in her expression. “You look pale, as though you've seen a ghost,” she added, worry in her eyes.'It's not a ghost I saw, but the devil himself,' I thought to myself before meeting her gaze and forcing a smile to appear on my lips. “I'm okay,”
“You are acting weird, Christina,” Grey told her without bothering to hide the irritation in his voice. He gave her a look that made any employee quiver in fear. As expected, the staff paled under her skin. At the same time, beads of sweat formed on her temples despite the cold temperature inside the room. Her lips began to tremble as though she wanted to burst into tears, but she managed to pull herself together and looked him straight in the eye.“You're not allowed to enter the comfort room,” she told him calmly. Her remark only made the frown on his forehead deepen in irritation.Christina was acting strangely. He noticed her weird behavior the moment he entered the office. He had a feeling she was keeping something from him. His instincts had never been wrong.“And why am I not allowed to use the comfort room? Are you hiding something there?” he confronted her, and something that resembled fear crossed her eyes.Opening her mouth, she tried to reason with him, but no words emerge
The night of my birthday party finally arrived. I thought to myself, looking at my reflection in the full-length mirror in awe. “I—I look like a princess!” I murmured to myself in disbelief as my gaze surveyed the gown clinging to my body like a second skin.The long fiery red gown hugged my curves perfectly, and the bright color made my fair skin look radiant. The plunging neckline revealed a generous amount of my cleavage, but it wasn’t vulgar. Overall, the tight-fitting gown made my hips appear slimmer while the halter top enhanced the look of my shoulders, giving me a classy appearance.The gown looked stunning, and I was proud of myself for designing it for tonight.“You don't just look like a princess, darling. You look more like a regal queen,” Leilani said beside me, a proud smile plastered on her lips as she surveyed me from head to toe.From looking at my grandmother, my gaze returned to the mirror to examine my reflection once more. I almost did not recognize the woman sta
**ONE YEAR LATER**Days had turned into weeks, weeks had turned into months, and the months had turned into a full year, but the bouquet of flowers, boxes of chocolates, and romantic letters never stopped coming. Not even for a single day in the entire year.With the amount of effort Grey had put into his courtship, it was hard not to soften and fall for him even more—especially when he visited home every single day to continue what he called “courtship service,” which included being a gardener, a car repairman, an electrician, a plumber, and sometimes a cleaner.I once told him it wasn't necessary for him to do anything like that since we are in modern times. Men no longer woo women and their families by doing house chores, but Grey was stubborn and wouldn’t stop. He told me it was his way of showing respect and dedication to me as his wife, so I allowed him to continue what he was doing and just enjoyed the moment while he was at it.After his ceaseless dedication, Grey's hard work
A few seconds later, the soft voice coming from the bed made Grey and me abruptly pull away from each other so we could look at the bed. We both saw our son looking at us. My heart jumped, and I immediately went to Dylan’s side and grabbed his hand.“Mama.” It was the first word that came from his lips. The sound of his voice made my heart swell with joy. Despite being away from me for years, he had never forgotten that I was his mother. I was so happy that tears welled in my eyes. From looking at me, Dylan’s eyes shifted to his father. He opened his small mouth and, in a soft voice, mumbled, “Papa.”Grey's throat moved as he swallowed hard. I could tell by the way he sucked in a deep breath that he was trying to contain his emotions. “Yes, my little boy, papa is here,” Grey replied, his voice thick with emotion as he spoke. Crossing the small distance between him and the bed, he gently pulled Dylan into his arms. He was trying his best not to burst into tears, but his eyes clearly sh
“For our children, Lily,” he replied, looking me straight in the eyes.For our children… Yeah, for Isabelle and Dylan… But was that enough reason for me to stay? I thought to myself, wanting to actually hear him say that he wanted me to stay with him because he loves me.Grey continued, “I know if you leave, you will take the children with you, and God only knows how long it will be before you return here so Dylan and Isabelle could be with me again. I know I could visit them anytime if you're in Europe, but it wouldn't be enough for me because I want to be with them all the time… I want them to have a complete family, which I never experienced in my life.” His eyes filled with even more emotion as he said those words.Even though I never experienced having an absentee father and an abusive stepmother raising me, I knew that it wasn't easy. To say it was hard was an understatement. Perhaps ‘hell’ would be the right word to describe the situation.Grey had the luxury that everyone want
The room was quiet and still, and for a moment, I thought I was alone. However, when I opened my eyes, I saw that my whole family was inside the room. The only one missing was my grandmother, Leilani, who I bet wasn’t allowed to leave the house considering the time of the night. Slowly, I got up from the sofa. As I did so, I cast a brief glance at the wall clock and was actually surprised to see that it was past three in the morning, which meant I had slept for a straight two hours. Feeling refreshed despite the short hours of sleep, I felt somewhat relaxed, and as the rollercoaster events of last night rushed into my thoughts, I realized how surreal it felt, as though what had happened was only a dream.My gaze surveyed the room, looking for Grey, but he was not inside Dylan’s room.“Lily,” my mom called after she finally noticed I was awake. Everyone in the room looked at me, and they all wore the same worried expression on their faces. I bit my lower lip at the sudden rush of guilt
Grey said nothing. I expected he would snap and lash out at me for keeping the truth from him all this time, but his silence was the reaction I didn't expect. The lack of reaction on his handsome face filled my chest with tension. I would rather see him angry and furious than see that blank expression on him.I held my breath, waiting for him to say something, but even after a minute passed, he didn't open his lips. The only sound I could hear was the hum of the monitor and the thunderous sound of my heartbeat as I prayed he would express how he felt.Please speak… Get mad at me… Lash out at me… Those were the words I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't let them escape my lips.The silence that seemed to go on forever was shattered when he finally opened his lips. “Why did you keep the truth from me, Lily?”His achingly soft voice left a sting in my heart. I bit my lower lip, folded my hands in my lap, and kept the tears from falling down my cheeks as I replied, “It was the best thing
The police finally arrived. Too tired to even move, I stayed in my place. I didn't know how long I'd been seated on the ground until I heard footfalls approaching behind me. Without looking back, I knew it was Grey. I just knew it was him.“Lily?” His soft voice confirmed my assumption, and he pulled to a stop beside me, kneeling on the ground. I raised my tear-streaked eyes to him and saw panic and fear shining through his hazel-green eyes.“Is Dylan alright?” The words barely emerged from his lips. He looked at me with a wretched expression on his face. That must have been the same look on my face when I first thought Dylan was gone.“He's still weak, but Dylan is alright, Grey,” I replied, warm tears flowing down my cheeks in abundance.Grey slumped beside me. The weight he seemed to carry heavily on his shoulders disappeared as he let go of the breath he wasn't aware he was still holding. His hands covered his face, and he stayed that way for a while.“Grey?” I called weakly, wond
Ash landed on the floor, groaning in pain, blood leaking from the grievous wound in his right shoulder. He thrashed and cursed under his breath as he struggled to stop the bleeding, but the pressure he applied wasn't enough to stem the crimson liquid from flowing.All the while, my hawk-sharp eyes remained fixed on him. Just in case he tried to attack or escape, I'd shoot him—not in the shoulder this time, but somewhere more fatal so he wouldn't be able to move again. My fingers were cold and shaking, yet I didn't move the gun away from him for a second, fearing he would take the chance to grab the weapon from me and reverse the situation.“Untie yourself, Grey,” I told him. My eyes remained locked on Ash as I removed the ring from my finger and tossed it to where Grey was seated. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him pick up the ring, push the button, and the dagger popped up. He began to cut the rope with the small dagger. “Damn, how did you manage to cut the rope with this?” he mu
The shot reverberated inside the room, mingled with the sound of my own horrified scream. I closed my eyes and waited for the pain to strike. I even expected blood to flow from my injury, but there was nothing. Counting a few more seconds, still nothing happened. No wound and no pain. Reluctantly, my eyes opened, and I found Ash looking at me with a sinister grin on his face. The terror he saw in my expression pleased him in a horrible way. He crossed the distance between us and pressed the muzzle of the gun against my temple.The moment the cold, hard metal touched my skin, terror swelled inside me until it grew to the size of a monster. I could barely breathe. Without looking in Grey's direction, I knew he was feeling the same way, watching the gun pressed against my temple. The deafening sound of my heartbeat resounded in my ears, and I wondered if the two men could hear it too. Perhaps they couldn't at all, but I felt as though the world had stopped turning, and the only sound I c
My lips began to tremble. The deafening sound of my heartbeat resounded in my ears. This isn't happening, I told myself as my gaze remained locked on Natalia's dead body, which resembled a pale mannequin. She sat upright on the sofa, her long hair cascading down her shoulders and falling to her lap where her fingers were crossed. She looked alive and dead at the same time. I even tried convincing myself that it wasn't her, that it was just a mannequin, but I couldn't fool myself.I swallowed deep and hard. My eyes snapped shut. I counted to ten, then opened my eyes again, but she didn't disappear, which I had expected. She looked so real, and the thought alone sent shivers down my spine because I knew I would end up just like her if I didn't escape from my captor.“Holy shit,” Grey hissed under his breath in pure disbelief as he finally managed to get up and followed my gaze. “It's Natalia… It's not a mannequin like I thought at first,” he added, confirming my biggest fear. I was stil