One man was seemingly checking if the two persons in the flesh matched with the photo on his phone. After he had double-checked with careful scans, the two men walked a few steps toward Skyler and Scarlett. One of them said respectfully, “Good evening, Mr. and Miss. Morris. Welcome to London! Mr. Sandler sent us to pick you up. The car’s ready for you there.”
Skyler thought they were some scammers or con artists in the first place until he heard the familiar name “Sandler.” Scarlett was unexpectedly calm, and she declined the kind offer politely, “Thank you, sir. But don’t bother, we can take a taxi.” Scarlett turned around and was about the leave. The man stopped her by saying, “Sorry, Miss. Morris. Can you wait for a second? Could you just hold on for a moment?”
The other man quickly dialed a number
Francis seemed to be attending a meeting. He interrupted the presenter and walked out of the meeting room.“Listen, Scarlett. Two other Cambridge students rented the house, which means Skyler will actually have two roommates. I’ve investigated their backgrounds, and they just seem like regular kids. You don’t have anything to worry about.” Francis explained to her patiently.“But…but you didn’t even ask me before you made these decisions? I am his sister!”Francis leaned against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I didn’t ask you because you didn’t want to talk to me.”Scarlett was stunned and couldn’t find the words to argue with Francis at all. But obviously, Francis didn&
Scarlett was made sober by his words. She urged, “What do I have to be afraid of anyway? I have not done anything wrong!”She sat up straight when she yelled at Francis, but Francis wore a gentle and affectionate smile on his face. Scarlett had not looked at him, so from such close quarters in over a month, his elegance and charm caught her off guard. So, she kept staring at him and couldn’t move her eyes away.Francis leaned on the bedside; he touched Scarlett’s face gently and cautiously. “I’m so sorry for what I said that day, babe.” His voice was low and a bit hoarse. Scarlett could practically hear the guilt dripping from his words. She felt that his gentle touch and soft voice had almost healed her wounds. But she pinched her own thigh to warn herself to remain reasonable and remember the deep pain he had caused h
(Warning: This chapter contains a sexual scene. If you're not comfortable reading it kindly skip it and move to another chapter)In the morning, when the sun was warm, and the yellow glow shone through the tulle curtains into the room, the two shook off their slumbers at the same time.“I want to sleep!” Scarlett was alert to Francis’s movement and pulled the quilt to cover her head. Francis stretched out his hand and moved from Scarlett’s back to her waist, soft and gentle.“No way!” Scarlett buried herself in the bed. Francis pulled her into his arms and caressed her gently. “You’ll sleep even better after great sex, babe.” He whispered into her ear, trying to seduce her.Francis had, after all, been celibate for mo
“What do you mean? We’re boyfriend and girlfriend, aren’t we? Why shouldn’t we live together? That’s the real question…” Francis leaned on the door and stared at Scarlett with his hands in the pockets of his trousers. If they had not been in the middle of a dispute, Scarlett would probably have admitted that his posture was sophisticated and attractive.“Just because I’m your girlfriend doesn’t mean I don’t get to have my private space and time to myself.” Scarlett raised her voice.“You can do whatever you want. I will not interfere in your personal life. But living together is the most basic tenet for two people who are in a relationship.” Francis answered very patiently. He was the one begging her to stay, after all. He needed to be careful with his words so as not to upset
Chuck looked at the rearview mirror and backed the car. He was grinning ear to ear, and he was tapping his feet on the accelerator pedal to the beat music.“Francis talked to dad, and dad’s now reconsidering the marriage! This is revolutionary. It’s like a protest! Thanks, bro! I recognize your distinguished contributions to this great, heroic cause!”“Blah…” Scarlett pretended to throw up at his pretentious tone.“Come on, you should be happy for me!”Scarlett just closed her eyes; she felt exhausted and sleepy. Chuck was too high energy for her right now.“By the way, where’re you going?” asked Chuck patiently.
“Saudi Arabia?” Scarlett stared at Dan in shock. “Are you asking me to go with you?”It had been three weeks since the semester had started. Scarlett went to school as usual to take the all-important Russian newspaper reading and analysis course. Dan waited for her outside the classroom to inform her of his fieldwork trip to Saudi Arabia.“Yeah. I think it’s a great opportunity. You’re the only person I know who can speak Arabic properly. It would be so great to have you on our team. And I guess you’re not too busy this semester, right? You’ve only got a couple of classes, and Professor Kroll just asked for a month-long leave, so it really seems like perfect timing to me.” Dan adjusted his glasses and looked at her excitedly.“I mean, yeah, I guess&he
Back at the villa, Scarlett immediately rushed to the bathroom without telling the housekeeper that she was back.“Oh, god, my period is ahead of schedule again!” Scarlett checked her underwear and murmured.“Hello?” Scarlett got a call from Francis.“Come over now for dinner, I'll ask Will to pick you up.”Francis’s words reminded Scarlett of the reason he was not home that day. He had told her in the morning that he had a family dinner at his parents’ home.“I'm not coming. I’m not feeling too good.”“Why? What’s wrong?”“Nothing. I just don&rsq
Scarlett rolled over and buried herself in the pillow. “I'm gonna give you the cold shoulder,” she said. “You always affect my judgment.”But deep inside, Scarlett was really thinking about becoming Mrs. Sandler.Scarlett thought to herself. “Mrs. Sandler, what a fascinating title... But am I asking for too much?”***After class was over, Scarlett walked through campus. She passed by the mailroom and stopped to check if there was any mail for her. The old mailman handed her a thick envelope.“Scarlett Morris, correct? It looks like this document needs your urgent attention.”Scarlett nodded in surprise. “Oh
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.”