Having left her phone at the apartment and with the remote for the television far out of reach, Scarlett had no way to entertain herself and kill time. All she could do was close her eyes and pretend to sleep so she wouldn’t have to interact with Francis too much.
Because she was weak, Scarlett managed to actually fall asleep amid all the pretense.
When she woke up again, it was four in the morning. Francis was long gone, even as the scent of his cologne hung faintly in the air.
At night, Scarlett felt more emotionally fragile than she had in the past few weeks. Lying in the hospital bed, Scarlett held the quilt that smelled strongly of disinfectant and couldn’t help but cry.
She cried for her ridiculous persistence and for the loss of a good man. She c
Unexpectedly, Carlos just burst into tears. He cried very loudly and looked up at Scarlett.Scarlett patted his back to comfort him. She also wanted to cry, but she held back and said, “I’m so sorry, my sweetheart, it’s all my fault that I haven’t been able to come and see you in such a long time.”Chuck was usually annoyed in the presence of crying children, but right then, Carlos’s crying made him more sad than irritated. Chuck sat down on the little sofa and remained silent.Carlos was a strong boy, and he wouldn’t cry even when he took a fall. But he was crying so hard that blue veins appeared on his forehead.He put his arms around Scarlett’s neck and was almost out of breath from crying.
Scarlett played with Carlos all day, and because of that, Chuck had no place to go, so he became bored and started playing video games.Scarlett gave Carlos a shower, and after that, she put a cute yellow robe on him that made him look like a little king.After that, Scarlett lay down beside him, and she started to tell him a bedtime story in a low voice. In less than ten minutes, Carlos fell asleep and started snoring.Chuck stretched himself and took a look at the time, getting ready to look for Scarlett.“Shall we go back now?” He asked.“Isn’t Carlos so cute? He is so cute, and I really don’t want him to grow up.”Chuck cou
Sarah grabbed Bell and said, “Let’s just leave her alone. Let’s grab something to eat first. I’m starving.”“Hey, you really don’t want to have lunch?” Bell asked again before she left.“Just go without me! It’s fine.” Scarlett said.After sitting there for more than ten minutes, Scarlett couldn't control her mounting restlessness. She wanted to get out of there and go see her dear son. She grabbed her purse and hurried out. She did not want to miss Carlos’s first birthday– not even a second of it.Scarlett walked around to look for a gift at the shopping mall. Everything she saw looked appealing to her, so she wished she could have just bought out the entire store!
Francis pointed at a blue dress and said, “This one looks fine to me.”“Yes, sir.” She grabbed the dress he picked and left the room quickly.With everyone streaming out of the room to tend to their various tasks for the big birthday party, only Bill Harris, the designer, remained. He stood there, worried, wondering how he would pull this off. Although he had been called in to help style Scarlett, he noticed that Scarlett wasn’t even there yet! It was only a couple of hours before the party would begin, and he was becoming increasingly panicked.“Mr. Sandler, what about jewelry? Do you need something special?” Bill asked.“No need, thank you!” Francis shook his head.&ldqu
Scarlett ran after Francis with Carlos in her arms and came to the door of the bedroom breathlessly.The domestic help took the blue dress and laid it out, “Madam, please try this one!”“What’s this?” she asked.“It’s for the party, of course.”Scarlett looked down at her current outfit in embarrassment. She had dressed very casually: she was wearing a black blouse and some ripped skinny jeans. On the other hand, Francis was dressed in business casual and looked exceedingly suave.It was as if the dress had been made to measure for her. Once she changed into it, it fit her just like a glove. It highlighted her curves perfectly and complimented her delicate complexion supremely w
Francis and Scarlett stood in a tearful embrace. The heat between them was unmistakable. Francis was the one who broke the silence.He said, “If you stayed here, Scarlett, I knew that you would be like a fledgling sparrow trapped in a cage forever. I didn’t understand this properly before, but I think it would have been much better for me to just focus on giving you a wonderful life without any worries... I kept trying to shield you from every possible danger, but that’s not realistic. The world is full of wonders, and life is only beautiful because of the moments of risk and danger that come enfolded within it… I have to let you live your life to the fullest. On your own terms.”“What made you change your mind?”“I just want you to be you.” he smiled slightly a
Chuck just smiled and said, “It’s not a bad idea for you to go to France if you ask me. I think you’ll have a good time, and learn a lot, too. It’s my personal opinion that everyone should spend some time away from home to really be able to find who they are and what they’re most passionate about, you know what I mean?”Scarlett stopped looking at Francis, and for the first time, she felt a little scared and said, “Why do you all have that faith in me? What if I fuck it up somehow?”“Does that matter?” Chuck raised his eyebrows without care and said, “You can always just come back if you don’t like there. We are still friends, and we will always be here waiting for you. Your home will always be here.”Scarlett raised her glass and took a l
He still remembered when he had gone to start his career in Europe with just a little bit of money; he had no fear then because he had had nothing to lose. He risked everything and had managed to create a business empire unrivaled in the world.Scarlett was frustrated and lay on the bed, “I hate to part with you. I want to be able to balance my family with my ambitions.”In recent days, Scarlett found that she loved Francis much more than she had realized before. From the moment he had shown her that he could let her go, she wanted nothing more than to fall right back into his arms.“I don’t want a divorce. How can you do that to me? How can you divorce me after I fall completely in love with you?”“Scarlett, it’s for the b
When Scarlett woke up, it was eight o’clock in the morning. She rolled around in bed for a few moments before sitting up. Her head felt heavy.“You’re awake!” Francis said as he walked into the bedroom from the balcony. He smiled at her. “I thought you’d be out for hours. Aren’t you jetlagged? How long was the flight from Lisbon to Irving anyway? And didn’t you have a stopover in Dallas?”Scarlett rested her head on Francis’s shoulder and said, “Well, I wanted to go to bed early last night. No thanks to you, we ended up staying up so late! I barely got enough sleep. You’re exhausting me, Francis!”“Oh? Am I? I’m so sorry, Scarlett.” Francis teased. He kissed her neck and tousled her hair.
“Don’t you miss me?” Scarlett laughed on the other side. Her hair was wet, and she was wearing a champagne-colored nightgown. She looked as pretty as ever.“Of course I miss you, but I can’t do anything about it, right? I can’t cry on daddy’s shoulder as Brittany did.” Francis said. He came to the balcony and lit up a cigarette and felt a little relaxed.“Brittany cried?” Scarlett asked in surprise.“Yep, she cried for over an hour,” he said as he breathed out a plume of thick smoke.Upon hearing that, Scarlett felt kind of guilty. Was she selfish? Was she a bad mother, a bad wife?“Francis, do you resent me?” Scarlett asked as she Skyped with
As Carlos grew up, he learned the fact that his father was very powerful. But he couldn’t tell his mother what to do.“I gotta fly to Portugal for business... I’ll be gone for a month,” Scarlett said one evening.“Why do you have to be gone for such a long time? Can’t you just get one of your associates to go instead? What’s going to happen to us while you’re gone? At least try to see if you can come back sooner….” Francis moaned unhappily. He hated being away from his wife.“Carlos will take care of his sisters, and besides, Brittany and Shannon are very good kids.” Scarlett comforted gently. “You don’t have to worry about anything.”“I’m not talking about them. I&rsqu
Francis suddenly grabbed Scarlett in the crowd, who walked next to Eve and then tightened his grip around her waist. He pinned her against the pillar and gazed at her without looking away.“What are you doing?” she blushed as she noticed that he was staring at her.Francis moved his hand from her hip to her waist. He was turned on by her sexy figure– as always.After that, he kissed her fiercely– just like he was kissing her for the very first time in his life.Scarlett was taken by surprise and kissed him back passionately as the fireworks blazed on.They parted breathlessly and stared at each other with lust in their eyes.“I hope you’re glad
Scarlett looked up at Skyler. He smiled at her and said, “I’m very relieved that you’re gonna get married to Francis. So now you don’t need to worry about anything in the world.”“You’d better be quick. I will open the door now!” Eve said with her hand on the handrail.Scarlett and Skyler smiled at each other and felt that there was indeed nothing to be scared of anymore. They had, after all, suffered deeply for two decades. Now that was all over. They couldn’t dwell on the past; it was time to step into the future and embrace happiness.“Go ahead, I’m ready!” she smiled, readying herself for the walk down the aisle.As the door opened, Scarlett walked out with Skyler gripping her arm. He was smiling
There was a minute of silence over the phone– Francis and Scarlett said nothing to one another. Scarlett pouted and asked, “Wait a minute… are you laughing at me? You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”“No, I’m the same as you. I feel nervous,” he said in a low voice.“What?” Scarlett asked curiously.Francis was standing in front of the window of his study room with his hands in his pocket, looking out at the vast, blue sea outside.He took a deep breath and smiled, “I said, I’m much more nervous than you are. I’m sure of it. You have no idea how nervous I’m feeling right now.”Scarlett laughed gleefully. Hearing that Francis was
Scarlett was about to drink up from her can of beer, but on the command of Eve, she was made to down an entire bottle of whiskey instead.“For our lovely and beautiful bride!” Eve said.With that, they blasted some tunes and began dancing wildly. Eve approached Scarlett and said something in her ear.“Say it again! I can’t hear you!” Scarlett shouted loudly.“I’m saying, don’t be a housewife! Live for yourself now and forever.” Eve shouted loudly.Scarlett just laughed and had a drink with her.“Cheers!” she said.The party didn’t come to a close until 4 am the fol
At this moment, Carlos took Shannon by the hand and walked in slowly, and said, “Brittany, mommy is tired. Please go play by yourself.”But Brittany just ignored him and took Scarlett to jump on the balcony. She was excited about the big blue swimming pool in front of them and said, “Mommy, I want to swim. Mommy, please go swimming with me.”The setting sun shone on the swimming pool; it was very quiet.“My sweetheart, could you ask daddy to go swimming with you a while later?” Scarlett said as she touched her head.Though Brittany was unhappy about this, she was not a stubborn kid; after that, she turned around to go look for Francis. Carlos was a little worried about her, so he instantly followed her.
Eve was pissed off and almost fainted from how angry and frustrated she was feeling right then.Damon immediately held her around her waist and said smilingly, “It’s our wedding day, Eve! I know you’re stressed out and panicking about this whole pregnancy thing, but this is actually good. You’re not pregnant! We’re in the clear! So let’s just try to enjoy this day now, why don’t we? What do you think?”As the guests left, Eve and Damon checked into the presidential suite at the hotel. When they got in the room, Damon suddenly realized that Eve was on the first night of her period. She may not be interested in having sex with him.“You know I don’t mind that you’re bleeding down there at all, right? A real man braves the red tide.”