"I didn't go there to cause trouble." Gerald tried to defend himself but his mother countered it. "If you didn't go there to cause any trouble, what happened to the outcome of you being locked up by the police?"Gerald murmured something before saying out loud, "That was Isabella infuriating me. She rallied her friends up to fight against me."His mother glared hard at him. "It seems like you have forgotten about protecting your image and your reputation. Why wouldn't they bully you when you are giving them the chance to play cheap tricks."Mrs. Cooper made him to understand that she was disappointed in the kind of gift he gave to his own daughter."It is your ex-wife you have issues with. Don't mistreat that child otherwise that woman who is ready to swallow you up will take her far away from you."Mrs. Copper knew the full story about the whole birthday saga and the kind of present he gifted her granddaughter and couldn't help scolding him."I will never mistreat Isla." Gerald defen
As promised, Richard sent over a catalogue of some apartments to Bella and asked her to make her choice.The five apartments were all located in high-rise buildings and when Bella found out that about them, she was conflicted."The apartments are beautiful, but I don't think I can afford any of them in the long run. They are expensive," she reported back to him in a text and the next second, he requested a video call.In her mind, Bella was praying that Richard wouldn't offer to pay her rent just for her to get any of those apartments. Fortunately, that wasn't the case after she accepted the call.From the background, Richard seemed to be in bed."Babe, those are my apartments that are currently available. They are not for you to rent," he revealed, giving a toothish grin.Bella's brows creased in confusion as she thought carefully about what his aim was. Luckily, he didn't keep her hanging or wait till she asked."Since these apartments are all in my name, the people you are afraid o
Bella made her way straight to Richard in light steps. She was going to greet him normally but then to her surprise, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and brought her in for a hug.While Isla was still distracted, he leaned in to steal a soft kiss from her lips. Bella was shy and immediately pulled away.It didn't matter that the kiss only lasted for three seconds, she could still feel the lingering sensation and that wet feeling on her lips.A grin appeared on Richard's face just before Isla turned her head to the other side."I prepared dinner for you," Richard revealed. "And be rest assured that you two are not going back this night.""Well, I'm glad that this is the weekend," Bella replied like she had come prepared for anything. After all, this was the man she had missed so much, so she was willing to do anything in other to spend some quality time with him.Richard has been looking after them even from a distance and there was no way she wouldn't feel touched enough to be wi
After walking for a while and soaking in each other’s presence, Richard reached out to take her left hand, forcing her to meet his smiling gaze.“I bought some gifts for you as well. I don’t know if you would like them. I left them in my bedroom, do you want to see them?” he asked.There were only two words that registered in Bella’s mind; gifts and bedroom. And when she heard that, she narrowed her gaze as a small smile slowly crept up to her face.“Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?” Richard probed with curiosity etched in his brows,Bella has been in a serious relationship before, so she was not a shy ignorant woman who didn’t know anything. Although she didn’t know if she was thinking too much, there was only one way to find out.“Nothing.” She shook her head. “Let’s go,” she urged.Richard tightened his hold on her and led her back into the house. As soon as they entered from the backdoor, Richard inquired about Isla and was told that she was watc
Some days later, Gerald wedded Kareen in a private wedding ceremony that made it to the blogs.It wasn't because of the extravagant set-up that Kareen enforced that brought the public's attention to them, but because it was reported that most of Gerald's colleagues in the movie industry declined his invitation and didn't show up for his wedding.Once again, the effort Kareen made to attract attention in a positive light failed.She had deliberately invited and paid off two news publishers to take photos of her expensive wedding props and write a good article but the majority still found a way to push it aside and talk about something else.Scandalous Gossip Blog reported that Gerald and Kareen's wedding had nothing to do with privacy after they paid off some paparazzi to write a good report about their wedding.Bella's massive supporters which came about because she was a good person in the public's eyes and had never once involved herself in a public drama only to be publicly disresp
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, that’s what it means,” Bella insisted.These days, Bella was after setting boundaries and finding peace. If there was anyone going to be a threat to her mental health, moving them to the sideline shouldn’t be a problem.There was a deafening silence hanging in the atmosphere. This wasn’t the first time Bella was saying ‘no’ to her ex-mother-in-law. The first time it happened, Bella was involved in a fatal accident.“Isabella, listen. I don’t care what you see me as. I am not Gerald, so don’t treat me the same way as him. I have a very busy schedule and I believe that I don’t need your permission to see my granddaughter. Isn’t that right?”Bella nodded. “You are right. You don’t need my permission to see your granddaughter. But you have seemed to have forgotten that I have a job and my own schedule. Also, I am no longer your daughter-in-law, so I don’t have to answer to you anymore.”Bella was showing Mrs. Fallon that she was no pushover. If she had
From that moment onwards, Bella refrained from ignoring Richard openly."Would you like some more mashed potatoes?" she inquired when she got up from her seat to serve herself more food."Yes, please," Richard replied and lifted his plate for her. She took it the next moment and filled it with more dishes she knew he would like.During dinner, Bella's parents left business out of the conversation and talked only about family and happy memories.Seeing how well her parents were interacting with Richard, Bella had mixed feelings about it.Of course, she would like for her parents to like the man she was dating, but on the other hand, she was scared for their reaction when they found out that Richard was Gerald's uncle and they were seeing each other.Bella was so distracted by those thoughts that Richard noticed.He answered Mrs. Smith's question before putting his big strong hand on Bella's thigh. There was no one sitting on their side, so he wasn't afraid of being caught.Bella felt t
Richard deepened the kiss by pressing her body to his. Slowly, he released her lower lips and met her gaze briefly.“I wish I could have every fibre of you right now,” he confessed in a breathy tone.A small smile tugged at the corner of Bella’s lips as she rested her face on the crook of his neck, letting her hot breath fan his neck.“It’s cold out here,” she reminded.“My bad,” Richard confessed. “I forgot to turn on the heater.” Right as he said that, he released her from his embrace to turn the heater in the car.Winter was truly not the best season to pounce around without warmth and he had totally neglected that with his need for her clouding his senses.Returning to his initial position in the back seat, he gathered he in his arms as his fingers found the hook of her bra to undo it. But at the dying minute, Bella clutched his arms, stopping him.“You won’t let me see them?” he asked with a hint of teasing in his gaze. She shook her head in denial. “Not today.”Richard’s