Caleb and Melani eat their dinner in considerable silence without either of them trying to say anything to each other, even though they both have quite a lot to say.“Like I said earlier, the reason for this trial relationship is because I came close enough to getting trapped inside a marriage with Alex Sinclair almost a month ago, which is while I feel like a trial relationship is an important vetting process to determine if the other person matches what each of us wants in our partner, so the fact that I brought up this trial relationship doesn’t mean I should be the one benefitting from it,” Melanie finally breaks the silence, while Caleb listens carefully because he isn’t halfway gone with his food like Melanie is with hers.“This is an evaluation period for me, where I am trying to check if you have everything that I want in a man because the last thing I want is to settle for less just because you have a lot of money to throw around”“I may not be from a rich family, but I am wo
Since Melanie insisted that he should order takeout for Alistair, he goes back to Oakwood Essentials to grab him pizza from Food Court and a wide variety of soda from the departmental store, so that he can have something to snack on later after they probably talk things through, before he leaves the mall and heads back to the guest house.On getting back to the guest house, he picks up the key card to the room, before making his way back to his and Alistair’s shared room, but on getting to the room, he realizes that everything in the room is just like he left it, without any sign of Alistair entering the room while he was away.He feels really disappointed and sad, as he drops the peace offering that he got for Alistair on the ground, before stepping into the shower for a quick bath. His shower doesn’t waste time because he wasn’t under the shower this time around to get his mind off things, he just wanted a cold shower after a stressful day, after which he returns to the room to chan
Caleb waits for a while before trying to clarify anything with Alistair, and his order actually comes in, so he picks up the room delivery, opens it, and takes it to Alistair who is a picky eater to lick so that the natural sugar from the honey can help stabilize his blood sugar level.“I don’t like honey at all, so I won't lick it,” Alistair refuses and Caleb almost loses his temper, but he calms himself down and goes to the table to find a cup, then he takes a large spoonful of honey, mixes it with water to create a soothing drink for him before going back to him.“You have to drink this, otherwise I will force it down your throat myself,” he says to Alistair, but he still shakes his head.“I don’t like the taste of honey,” Alistair says.“Well brother, you don’t have a choice here, so take it and chug it down in one goal because neither of us will sleep with their two eyes closed in this room today if we don’t sort this out” Caleb warns as he hands the soothing drink over to his be
Caleb’s mind reels with the Alistair ten-year-long revelation. He feels like he has been punched in the gut, his breath is knocked out of him as the room seems to be spinning around him as he struggles to process the truth that Sophia, the woman he blamed himself for violating almost ten years ago, had manipulated him and actually fed him aphrodisiacs without his knowledge or consent.“When did you find out?” Caleb asks his best friend, trying to suppress the wave of anger, betrayal, and disgust, trying to overshadow him.“The morning of your accident,” Alistair answers and a wave of emotions hits Caleb.“How could she do this to me, most importantly, how could you do this to me?” Caleb questions Alistair as he thinks back to that night, wondering how he could have been so blind.“It wasn’t in my place to tell you at first, because later that day you got involved in the crash and was in a coma for two weeks,” Alistair tells him.“What happened to telling me after I woke up two weeks l
Only Caleb knows how much he blamed himself over the years for taking advantage of someone that he considered a little sister, waking up to her half-naked body, with her covered in the white duvet of the hotel room that morning. Caleb shakes his head to wipe off the haze of the memory he never wants to remember again, but no matter how hard he tries, he starts to relive one of the worst days of his life over and over. *Flashbacks* About ten years ago, Caleb Wellington's birthday was the morning of July 10th.Caleb’s eyes slowly flutter open, that morning and he has a huge grin on his face because it is finally his birthday, He couldn’t wait for his father's special present for him because, everything he demanded from his father, Ryan Wellington, Ryan asked him to wait until his birthday and it feels so surreal that the day is finally here.Caleb was not the type of person to look forward to his birthday, because he felt like it was just any other day, but he didn’t feel the same wa
“Whoa…is this…?” Caleb trails off, his voice caught in his throat. He can’t believe that his father got him his dream car and not just that, he got it customized, the exact way he remembers mentioning that he wanted it customized. The car is gorgeous, and he can’t wait to get out of the passenger seat and take the wheels from his dad, but he decides not to allow his excitement to get the better of him, and just allow his father to drive. Caleb’s eyes light up with a huge grin as he rolls down the glass and runs his hand over the sleek black finish exterior, feeling the curves and contours of the vehicle.“This is insane!” Caleb exclaims, still grinning from ear to ear.“Dad, this is… wow” Caleb tries to put what he is feeling into words, and Ryan smiles because that is the exact reaction that he was expecting to see from him.“Do you want to test your new toy?” Ryan inquires and Caleb ponders on whether he wants to take the key or not, but before he is able to make a decision, Ryan
Location: Silver Croft Avenue, Blackwood City, Pearl Coast.Sophia, a stunning 28-year-old woman with an olive skin tone and a flair for fashion, paces around her father's opulent living room, her heels clicking on the polished marble floor.Sophia, popularly called Sophiee by her two bosom friends, holds the phone close to her straight hair, which falls just below her chin. She is styled in a chic, bouncy bob with a side part that adds to her effortless charm.Sophie draws her lips parts her gorgeous lips which are painted in a rosy hue, into a thin line as she waits for Valeri to pick up her damn phone, after calling her four times already. Her outfit is sleek and modern, featuring a long black shirt that dramatically skims her curves, barely covering her bum. The top's hem grazes the top of her thigh, creating a flattering line. She dramatically taps on it, wondering why Valeri answered her call on the first ring. She makes a mental note to inform Valeri to keep her phone close si
Sophia’s eyes drift away, her mind consumed by the turmoil that is brewing inside her. Aiden is an inquisitive child who always has questions, and if she doesn’t properly coordinate her mind on how to answer his question, because if she answers his question the wrong way, she may end up setting herself up for a huge problem later.“But really, how will I pad the truth to Aiden that over the past 12 years, his father never wanted to see him?” Sophia asks herself again as her eyes drift from side to side.“How nicely can I put it to a 12-year-old that his father’s idea of fatherhood is only limited to throwing money at us, but never is time and attention,” Sophia’s heart breaks as she thinks about it. Her tears threaten, to spill because the weight of the truth threatens to crush her.Aiden’s innocent question has unleashed a torrent of emotions. As Sophia struggles to find a perfect response to his question, she can’t bear the thought of shattering her son's illusions that Aiden must h
“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