Three years later
Three years later, in front of the villa, a black BMW drove through the gate quietly. The driver expertly parked the car in the garage and opened the trunk. A second later, a tall woman in a blue business suit got out of the car and then took a small bag out of the trunk. It was, of course, none other than the suave and sexy Scarlett Morris.
Scarlett quietly opened the door. She could hear the muffled sounds of the TV coming from the living room.
A five-year-old boy wearing a white shirt and a gray cashmere sweater was seated on the sofa. He was watching TV absentmindedly– his eyes were glazed over, and his chin balanced in his hands. He clearly wasn’t paying attention to what was happening on the screen before him, yet there
Scarlett giggled and said, “Well, I wonder who he inherited his stubborn nature from….” She held Francis’s neck and took a deep breath. “What are you doing?” Francis asked.Scarlett just chuckled and said, “You just smell so good.”Francis just smiled, “Oh really? Do you like this scent? I got a new cologne just the other day.”Scarlett rubbed his cheek lightly and said, “I love it. It suits you well. It’s… mature.”It seemed that Scarlett had an endless charm to attract Francis. Even though they had been living together for many years now, he hadn’t grown tired of her just yet. The same went for Scarlett, who had, as time went on, come to appreciate Francis’s quirks a
While Carlos stood there still, Brittany and Shannon just rushed towards the bed to look for their mother.Carlos took a look at them and then looked up at his father and said, “Good morning, Daddy...”Francis just stroked Carlos’s hair and asked, “Have you had breakfast yet?”“Not yet. I want to eat breakfast with mommy!” he smiled. His smile was just like Scarlett’s.When Francis saw that smile, his heart would always soften. He didn’t have it in him to be cruel to Carlos. He tousled Carlos’s hair and let him into the room.Brittany and Shannon were on top of Scarlett at this point. Like noisy birds, they kept chattering into Scarlett’s ears. Scarlett had no
“I’ll be honest: I have no interest in current affairs,” Chuck scoffed, “But a couple of friends of mine called me up asking about you. That’s how I know you were even on TV.” Chuck said.“Ask you what?”“Oh, you know… the usual… they wanted to know if you’re seeing someone at the moment.”Scarlett laughed.“How dare they try to steal my uncle’s woman? They must be blind.” Chuck laughed out.“Fortunately, I’m married; otherwise, you would be very busy.” Scarlett laughed as well.“You are right. But I don’t want to be a matchmaker in life,” he said.
Eve grew up abroad. On account of her mother, she didn’t like her father’s family. Although her mother had never truly uttered a bad word about them, she had been accumulating deep resentment and contempt towards her so-called father as she grew up.When Eve was sixteen years old, a sophomore in high school, she had her first experiencing of sex in the back of a teal sedan. It had all been with some boy she had met only a week ago at a party, and Eve hadn’t cared much for him. She had just wanted to lose her virginity. He was cute and completely inexperienced.She was always passionate, bold, and unrestrained. But she was terrible at school– she just didn’t test well. As a result, she tanked her SATs and ended up at a community college studying botany. It wasn’t the most popular major, but Eve managed to get by.
To get to King Hall, Eve had to walk through a long corridor lined with soft, champagne-toned carpet. There were impressionist paintings on the walls, including big names like Monet and Manet. Eve wondered if the casino had somehow managed to loan them from The Louvre in Paris. She looked around in awe, another shiny pink drink in hand.As expected, there was a sensor on the door. Eve took her phone out from her handbag and leaned against a column, watching people coming in or going out.About half an hour later, a man came out to pick up his phone. At the sight of that, Eve instantly put her phone to her ear and pretended to be having a conversation, “Honey, I’m at the door. I will come back now!”As the man opened the door, Eve immediately grabbed the doorknob and smiled at the man while holding
Meanwhile, Eve wondered if Damon was giving her dirty looks for having managed to win a lot of money at the table. She was worried that he was infuriated and might get violent with her. Because of that, Eve was lost in thought, and when the elevator suddenly stopped, she fell down on her knees.“Ouch, my knees!” she cried out in pain.Eve was angry because she expected that any gentleman would have given her a hand in such a situation. Her knees were hurt, and the elevator was still going up, after all.She frowned angrily and looked up at him and frowned, “Sir, do you know how impolite you are? A girl just fell down right in front of you, and you did not even bother to give her a hand.”Within the next second, Damon reached his hand out to
Around midnight, Eve woke up to drink some water; she was parched as if she had been running a marathon in her sleep. She jumped up in fear when she noticed that Damon was right next to her in bed.“What’s wrong?” Damon asked drowsily.Eve rolled her eyes at him in the darkness and grabbed the bottle of water that sat on the bedside table.Eve was wearing a satin nightgown in a light golden color, like champagne. She looked elegant and mysterious, like some mischievous waif who seduced men to their deaths. As she tipped the bottle to drink from it, she revealed her long and slender neck.All of a sudden, there was a pair of big hands around her waist, which really freaked her out.“What the
When she left Damon’s house the following day, no one stopped her. She strode out of the house and stopped a taxi from going home.When she arrived home, she found that her mother was out on a date and had not returned home. She went into her bedroom and changed into something more comfortable. After that, she put on her earphones and headed for the kitchen while swaying her head to the music.In the following months, nothing much happened, and Damon didn’t show up at her house or try to get in touch with her. She didn’t go on any dates either. She mostly kept to herself those days.After a pause, one morning, Eve caught up with her mother for breakfast. With a magnificent spread of imported meats, cheeses, and bread in front of the table, Eve’s mother talked excitedly about her new boyfriend
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.”