Location: Silver Oaks Resorts, Maple Ridge, OrionSaturday morning.Melanie and Ryan wake up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated on their second morning. They both link up in front of Mel’s room and converge at the villa's patio. As they enjoy a leisurely breakfast, they can't help but reminisce about their wonderful first day."Yesterday was absolute bliss," Melanie sighs, smiling at Ryan."I know, right? You deserved every bit of relaxation." Ryan nods, taking her hand."I loved our beach walk, and lunch at the beachside restaurant was amazing." Melanie closes her eyes, replaying the day's highlights."And don't forget our pool time. You looked stunning in that bikini." Ryan chuckles."You're biased, but thank you." Melanie blushes, laughing.As they reflect on their first day, Melanie realizes how much she needs this break. The stress and anxiety of recent weeks seem to melt away in Ryan's presence."I feel like I've left all my worries behind," Melanie says, her voice filled with gr
Caleb and Alistair finish packing up and Caleb locks the house before slipping into the driver’s seat of his sleek grey Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, while Alistair settles beside him like the passenger princess that he is and as Caleb starts the engine, the V12 roars to life."Alright, let's get going," Caleb says, his eyes scanning the navigation system, and as he inputs the address of his destination into the car’s navigation system, his anticipation builds."You don't know the way to Silver Oaks Resort?" Alistair notices Caleb's hesitation. "I've never been there. I'll just input the address." Caleb's brow furrows as his fingers dance across the touchscreen, entering the resort's location. The navigation system springs to life, providing turn-by-turn directions."You're not exactly the 'ask for directions' type, Caleb. What's going on?" Alistair raises an eyebrow."Just making sure we get there efficiently." Caleb shrugs, as he goes ahead to lie to his best friendThe navigatio
Location: Silver Oaks Resort, Maple Ridge. Caleb and Alistair arrive at the Silver Oaks Resort, the luxurious entrance and manicured lawns exuding an air of serenity."Wow, this place is stunning!" Alistair exclaims, eyes wide with wonder. "Told you it'd be worth it." Caleb smiles, his expression masked and Alistair shoots him a strange look. He didn’t know if it was going to be worth it, he just gambled it, hoping that it was going to be worth it, and he is more than grateful that it is. "Dude, what's got you so hyped? You're not exactly the relaxation type." As points out as they check in, on noticing Caleb's unusual intensity. "Just eager to unwind, Al. Let's enjoy the weekend." Caleb chuckles. Alistair raises an eyebrow because he suspects that something else is going on, but says nothing, deciding to just observe Caleb in the meantime. He knows that something must have prompted them to come over to the resort and he knows his best friend too well to know that it should be
After receiving Caleb’s message and panicking for the first 20 seconds, Melanie decides what do to and how to handle the situation, so she texts him back. “Are you stalking me?” she texts him back. “That is such a strong word my love” Caleb replies her almost immediately. “Your first mistake is that you posted a video with your current location on social media and anybody could have used that privileged information to try to harm you, so I came here to keep you safe” he continues. “Keep me safe?” Melanie scoffs. “Who the hell do you think you are? And where exactly are you?” she questions him, looking around frantically. “The man of your dreams, and I am Somewhere, watching over you” He answers her. “It is either you tell me where you are so that I can come and meet you or I leave this resort” she threatens him. “I don’t feel comfortable knowing that you are watching me from the sidelines…it is creepy as hell,” she expatiates. “If you don’t feel comfortable, then tell me
Melanie and Caleb's peaceful slumber is shattered by the incessant pounding on the door. "Mel! Are you okay? I know you are in there” Ryan's voice echoes through the room.Melanie's eyes snap open, locking onto Caleb's. They exchange a panicked glance. Melanie doesn't vocalize her words, but she knows that there is no way that she will let Ryan discover Caleb in her room.Without a word, they freeze, but Caleb doesn't freeze because he is scared of Ryan, he froze because Melanie's anxiety was leaking into him."Don't move." Melanie's heart is racing, as she mouths silently to Caleb, and they both hold their breath. Caleb nods, his eyes fixed on hers but Ryan's pounding grows louder and more insistent. "Mel! Answer me! I'm not leaving until I know you're okay!" Ryan insists but Melanie and Caleb remain statue-still, barely breathing. The tension is palpable."Mel, please... I have a feeling that I saw Caleb lurking around last night. I know he's trouble so If he is in there with you
Ryan felt a mix of emotions, from shock to embarrassment, to hurt, as Melanie storms out of his room. The mixture of his complicated feelings stems from the fact that he did not expect Melanie to react so strongly over him just asking her a simple question. Ryan had no idea, that, asking Mlanie if she slept with Caleb, would be interpreted as him overstepping since she was the one who told him the first time that she slept with him and he was genuinely curious, which was why he asked her. His concern for her clouded his judgment after he went to check up on her in her room, and she didn’t open the door to let him in like she usually did.As he watches Melanie, walk away, his heart sinks and he can’t help but feel that he has lost his footing with her because he has seen her pissed and irritated about stuff before, but he has never seen her this angry. He loved Melanie, since the first day he set his eyes on her, but he has never mustered the courage to tell her, firstly because of w
Melanie storms into her room, the door swinging open with a soft thud. Her emotions still simmer from the heated exchange with Ryan and her mind races with the thoughts of betrayal and overstepped boundaries.As she enters, her gaze sweeps the room, coming to an abrupt halt on the figure lying on her bed. Caleb is sprawled across her bed, half-naked just as she had left him earlier. The sheet rides low on his hips, revealing the defined contours of his chest and abs.Melanie’s breath is caught in her throat, her anger momentarily forgotten as Caleb’s eyes meet hers, a lazy smile spreading across his face. “Hey,” he drawls, his voice husky and for a moment, Melanie stands frozen, her eyes locked on Caleb’s. The tension between them crackles, a mix of unresolved emotions and unspoken desires.The memory of their passionate night floods back, and Melanie’s cheeks flush, most especially because she did not expect to find Caleb still in her bed, looking so relaxed and inviting. “Hey,” sh
Location: last floor of the guest house in Silver Oaks Resort, 77B Maple Ridge, Orion.Caleb walks into the room he shares with Alistair, still smiling after his conversation with Melanie."Hey, man!" Alistair calls out, not looking up from his laptop screen."Hey, Al. What's up?" Caleb drops onto their bed, kicking off his shoes. "Just trying to complete this one mission in GTA Vice City after you left me without a word at the bar yesterday, to go be with a woman that is not yet your woman," Alistair says, though his eyes remain fixed on the screen, his fingers flying across the keyboard, but he rolls his eyes. "Saying that I left you without a word is too big of an allegation, my friend" Caleb chuckles.“I remember mentioning that I would step out to speak to Melanie…” Caleb tries to recall.“Speak not sleep with her right?” Alex corrects.“Oh…shut up” Caleb laughs, heading to the bathroom to freshen up.As Caleb showers, his mind wanders back to Melanie. Their conversation left
“Is it just me? Or does it really feel like Aiden is struggling to decide if he wants to like me or not?” Melanie points out after Aiden walks away from the table and Caleb shoots her a strange look. “What is there to decide? You either like someone or you don’t like them, there shouldn’t be any in between,” Caleb points out but Melanie shakes her head because she doesn’t agree with him. “So what is there to plan now? Are we keeping him or a we letting him go back to his mom where he truly belongs? Melanie asks and Caleb pauses to think. “You really want him here, don’t you?” She paints out and he shakes his head. “I honestly don't know,” Caleb answers her. “If you don’t know if you want him in your life or not, why can’t you just settle without a fight?” Melanie asks him. “Settling without a fight is way too easy for her, and I am guessing that she must be expecting that, but when my lawyers are done gathering the evidence of how poorly she raised him,” Caleb informs “ You thi
Melanie and Caleb retire to bed fulfilled that night and in Melanie’s point of view, she can feel closer to her daughter more than she felt before, and In Caleb’s point of view, his perspective about Melanie not being able to stand him starts to change because he saw her genuinely laugh and smile, the type of smile that reaches her eyes and he felt really content because who could have thought that Dawn's death will make Melanie to stop running away from him as a person but laying herself down as a living sacrifice. Melanie and Caleb’s grief journey continued throughout that week, with at least one highlight of the day. On the first day, they started by creating a memory garden, where they planted trees and flowers that held special meaning to them. The next day, they decided to take a cooking class together, they learned how to make different baby foods that Caleb learned after he found out about her, but she didn’t even stick around to try. On the third day, wrote letters to the
Melanie, Tony, Olivia, and Alistair return to Caleb's mansion to join Caleb because the day is far spent, but Melanie hasn’t been able to do so much out of the list of activities that she has set out for the memorial. As they pull into the drive way, the day has been emotionally draining, but she tried her best not to let it weigh her down, while she did everything with a smile on her face, so that nobody will be worried about her mental health, and with Alistair, Olivia and Tony, she had a lot of fun while trying to face her grief like a big girl.As they step out of the car, Melanie's eyes land on Caleb, who is standing by the entrance of the house, and she rushes to hug him because she didn’t realize how much she missed him and wanted him back. A warm smile appears on his face as he sees her full fit, and Melanie can’t help but feel a flutter in her chest as she takes in the sight of him.“Hey,” Caleb says as she approaches him before Olivia and Tony step out of the car to also gre
After Melanie ends the call with Kalinin and Ryan, she makes her way out of Caleb’s inhouse office and she heads straight to his room where she realizes that the room looks and feels different to what she is used to, but she isn’t able to pace it till she sees the note on the bed.“Good morning sunshine, you mentioned that you wanted your thinks moved out of your room, so I supervised them moving your things from your room to mine… once again, I am sorry for speaking to you the way I did yesterday,” Caleb apologizes again and she walks into his walk-in closet to see that a space has been created for her in the room.She exits the walk-in closet for the bathroom and she realizes that all the toiletries on her own side of the bathroom are composed of the toiletries that she was into when she was staying with him, just that everything is brand new.“I have no idea the products that you used now, but these were the ones that were in your bathroom, so I just asked him to have new ones sent
The next morning, Melanie slowly opens her eyes, groggily taking in her surroundings. She is still in Caleb’s office, sitting in his chair, but as she looks down, she notices her body is covered with a soft, plush blanket.“Could it have been one of the stewards that needed to clean up?” she mutters, feeling a sense of surprise and wonder, trying to recall how the blanket got there because she didn’t remember covering herself before she went to sleep, and she is certain that she didn’t bring a blanket with her to the office the previous night.As she lifts the blanket, she sees that it is one of Caleb’s because it has his distinct monogram, embodied on the corner. A faint smile crosses her lips as she realizes that Caleb must have covered her with the blanket while she was asleep, and her eyes scan the room, searching for any signs of Caleb, but he is nowhere to be found. She wonders if he went back to his room to sleep or left for the important meeting that he mentioned the previous
“Can I be brutally honest with you?” Melanie speaks up after a while, and Caleb raises sb eyebrow at her, curious about what she has to say. “I have no idea about what the hell I am doing and I don't think I have ever lost anyone close to me to be able to grieve properly…in short the closest thing that I have lost was my puppy” Melanie informs him. “Do you want to go upstairs to get the full gist?” Melanie asks him and he considers for a moment.“Not exactly,” He answers her“I have an important meeting at work tomorrow and I really need to get some sleep,” Caleb excuses.“Can't Alistair stand in for you at the meeting, as usual? Or doesn’t he know that you lost your daughter?” Melanie asks him multiple questions.“I haven’t told anybody on my side, not even my mom … so no, he doesn’t know and even if he does, there is no way he can stand in for me because the only thing he has been used to doing over the years is running the night club with me, so I left him to take care of the nig
As Melanie steps out of the hospital ward, she is met with the bright hospital light that seems to mock her somber mood, and she squints her eyes, scanning the area to see if Caleb eventually changed his mind and decided to take one last look at his daughter, till her eyes land on Ryan who is relaxing on the wall, waiting for her.Ryan’s face is etched in concern as he watches Melanie approach him. He can see the pain and grief, written all over her face, and his heart goes out to her as he envelopes her in a warm hug.“Hey babes, I’m so sorry about Dawn…I can only imagine how you must be feeling,” Ryan says, his voice soft and gentle.“Funny enough, I was imagining what it was going to look or feel like to be one of those mothers who found anything that their children did to be cute, but now I just feel so lost,” Melanie scoffs, her eyes welling up with tears that she blinks back.“I’m here for you, Mel…what can I do to help?”Ryan nods sympathetically and Melanie takes a deep breath.
“Is it just me, or did the doctor just leave here?” Melanie questions Caleb after staring into space for a while, but he doesn't give her an answer, he is just standing there trying to process the news of his daughter's death. It is not until Kalinin steps out of the ward, her face etched in sadness as she envelops her in a hug that Melanie recalls the previous 5 minutes.Kalinin was with the doctors in Dawn's ward while they tried to save her, she has just witnessed the devastating loss of the young child, and her heart goes out to the grieving parents. As she walked past Caleb to give Melanie that is standing in the hallway a hug, she could see the anguish and despair written on his face. As Kalinin hugs Melanie, she doesn’t say a word or do as much as move, her eyes are just dating back and forth, trying to process everything. Kalinin tightens her arms around Melanie, holding her close as she starts to do so uncontrollably. “I am really sorry sister…I had no idea that she was a
The drive to the hospital was a tense and uncomfortable one, with Caleb and Ryan barely exchanging a word. The air is thick with animosity, and the silence between them is palpable. Caleb is still fuming from their earlier conversation, and even though Ryan agreed for him to drive his car, it doesn’t make Caleb feel any better, judging from the way he gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white with tension. Ryan seated beside him, stared out of the window, his eyes fixed on the passing scenery because he thought that it would make things less awkward, but as they drove, the only sound was the hum of the engine and the occasional beep of the car horn. The tension between them was so thick that it seemed to have a life of its own. Despite their mutual dislike for each other, they both knew that they had to put their differences aside for the sake of Dawn. They drove in silence, each listening in their thoughts, as they navigated the bustling streets. As they approached