"Achi?" "Yes, love?" "Um... W-Would it be alright if I went o-out today?" I paused mid-twirl, making her loose strand of hair slip out from between my fingers. With my head still propped up against my arm as I laid next to my little wife on the bed, I glanced down at her, noting her fiddling fingers. Looking up at me hopefully, Jane continued, "I-It's just I haven't left the estate for several weeks a-already a-and your mother invited Liam and me on an o-outing for today s-so I thought it would be nice to do something d-different for once..."I pursued, hesitating on agreeing outright. The people who wanted to kill her were still out there, and I didn't want to risk the possibility of losing her so soon after getting her back. Noting my hesitation, her face immediately fell. "I-I g-guess it's still too much to ask for right now... I-It's probably still too d-dangerous, and I know that you're still working very hard to find the people w-who tried to hurt me... I'll just tell them
"Danary, are you ready to go?" I perked up in recognition of Haraya's voice and the familiar clamoring of the visitors entering through the front door. It must've been why Achilles darted out the backdoor in such a hurry. He truly was such an antisocial man when it came to anyone besides Liam or myself, but it was still something I found quite adorable in my giant of a husband. I helped Liam down from the island top and walked out in hand with him to greet our visitors. Even though it was still only morning, Mrs. Cordova was already spiritedly chatting away with her friend, pointing out all the details and ornaments along the walls as Ms. Mellisa stared at the interior of our house in awe. I guess it was the first time Ms. Mellisa had visited our home due to Achilles's overprotectiveness, but I figured that Ms. Mellisa was a safe person. She had apparently been friends with the Mrs. Cordova for decades, even before Mrs. Cordova married Achilles's father, and generally acted as a g
"Now, now, Mellisa... Don't you think you are rushing things a bit too much?" I tensed up as a tall, lanky brunette walked up to our table. He was dressed messily, with his buttons done in every which way, similar to his wild hair. But the thing that caught my eyes more was the gun that he was haphazardly twirling in his hand. Ms. Mellisa's expression dropped at the appearance of this man, making no indications of releasing Liam. She unamusedly replied, "Stop acting so condescending, Albert. I'm the one holding what you need. Personally, I would've preferred getting rid of this annoying child from my sight, but you and Margarett still need him for your plans, don't you?" The atmosphere dropped 10 degrees colder as the man stalked closer to the pair. Stopping abruptly in front of Ms. Mellisa, he lowly questioned, "Who do you think you are to threaten me?" Roughly pushing her aside, he grabbed hold of my son. Liam's eyes grew two times wider as he took in the sight of the man before
Ten years later"Brother Liam! What are you doing out there?!" I tore my gaze away from the light fluttering of snowflakes and glanced back at our house curiously. A fiery little girl came flying out the back door with a flurry of blankets.And before I even knew what had happened, I was bombarded with a pile of soft wool and pulled down to her height by the blanket hooked over my head. A familiar head of warm hazelnut curls and bright silver eyes popped up into my view with a big pout gracing her lips. Not caring for the fact that I was a full ten years older than her, she harshly scolded, "It's too cold out here! Are you trying to make Mom and Dad worry?" I chuckled softly at her antics. Though she was a tad overprotective, I had to admit that it was getting a bit too cold for me to handle, but I honestly liked the snow too much to give it all up. After all, it was my favorite season. It was the time of year when all the best things in my life happened. Getting saved by Mom
"So, I was talking to Mellisa the other day, and she was telling me about how her daughter had just graduated from college. Apparently, her daughter studied finance at university and landed a job nearby."I hummed mindlessly, not paying much attention to my mother's usual chatter as I sliced my steak. It was nothing out of the norm for my weekly dinners with my family, so I didn't think much of it."And we were thinking. Wouldn't it be nice if you took her out to dinner sometime? Maybe get to know each other a bit."I paused mid-bite and looked up from my plate.My father and younger brother quickly diverted their eyes, not wanting to get caught up in what they figured would end up as another big argument.My mother continued, "Her daughter is new to the city, so it would be nice if she had someone to show her around. And—""I'm not interested."She furrowed her eyebrows. "But you haven't even met the girl yet. I'm sure you'll like her if you just—""I don't need you to set me up on
I rubbed my small towel against my forehead, wiping off all the sweat accumulated from my morning workout. Panting as I tried to catch my breath, I glanced at the clock above my gym.6:30 AMHmm, I still have an hour left before I need to start heading to work.I scrolled through my calendar on my phone, double-checking my schedule. From what I remembered, I should've already finished all the paperwork that needed my attention this week, and I didn't seem to have many meetings for today. Joseph, my PA of 5 years, must've cleared today's schedule for Ms. Belcalis's arrival.I tossed my towel into a laundry bin and walked over to my bathroom to take a quick shower. After all, this entire floor was my residence.I lived in the penthouse of one of the luxury apartment buildings I owned. I was one of the few permanent residents in this building since it was usually only rented out to business directors, usually only people that worked for me, for a few months at a time as they traveled bet
I felt like my words were biting me in the ass at the moment.That little lady, Ms. Belcalis, worked so efficiently and diligently that I now had a brand new stack of paperwork to go through at the end of the day despite the fact that I had come in this morning with a completely empty to-do list.We visited 7 potential sites for building the new headquarters, met up with 4 different architectural firms, and spoke with 5 different construction firms for quotas within the last 12 hours. With all the driving between different sites and negotiations with the heads of each firm, we ended up skipping lunch and barely even had a chance to sit down.Her options were so well researched that I had no qualms and had no trouble narrowing down on a single location for my new building, along with an architectural and construction firm to lead the project for me, even though it had only been the very first day on the project.To add on, she managed to go through the entire day without exchanging a s
I stared incredulously at the little white bag in my hand.I couldn't believe that I, the notoriously cold head of Cordova Industries, woke up early this morning and sent away my driver to personally go to a bakery near my apartment before work to pick out a few pastries for a woman.For a woman that I barely even knew.To add on, I ended up staring at the enormous array of sweets in confusion for so long that one of the employees had to walk up to me and offer to help me. It must've looked utterly ridiculous to see such a large figure hunch over the display, fretting over these tiny pastries.I sighed when the elevator chimed, signifying that it had reached my office's floor. When I stepped out of the elevator, I was met with the usual greetings from all my employees as I made my way to the back of my floor.To no one's surprise, I found Ms. Belcalis already sitting in her glass office and typing away at her desk even though it was still far earlier than her actual start time.I knoc