Exelle
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"Hello Jules, did you ever receive a call from Sam?" I asked Jules from the other end of the line as I paced anxiously in the middle of my office. I couldn't seem to sit still.
"There's none. And it's already been a month since the last call I had with her. What's the matter?" Jules replied from the other line, and I found myself biting my nails in nervousness.
"She called me last week to meet me at Dereko's Cafe, but after two hours, she didn't show up. Then later, I received a message from her saying she couldn't make it suddenly." I relayed everything to the person on the other end of the line. I pressed my lips together after responding to her, bringing my finger to my mouth, biting my nails due to the sudden rush of anxiety in my chest.
"Last week? But now, you haven't received anything from her again? That's not like Samara at all. But Xielle, don't worry o
Exelle ...Lies.Could it be a lie?"What do you mean he's in Italy? I mean, I saw him with my own two eyes. And I'm sure it was Alexis. I'm not blind or anything, and of course, I'm sane enough not to see some certain illusion. Besides, it's not a hallucination or whatever you may call it." I spoke continuously, then paused. Taking a deep breath, I continued, "I really did see him. I clearly saw him that night! I clearly—hah."I gasped for air, closed my eyes, and gave a smack on my own forehead before letting out a deep sigh through my slightly parted lips. I rested my body on the desk and looked up at the ceiling with barely open eyes. This was all so confusing, and I didn't like it.The anxiety that my thoughts about Alexis may have gone awry bothered me. I felt nauseous and paranoid."I don't like this, Elle," his musky voice whispered from the other line. He was calling me Elle again. Even though we hadn't met each other in person, or maybe we did, but I just couldn't remembe
Exelle..."So, this is the so-called twist?"As I scanned the pictures in my hands, my eyes turned colder. The images led me to my brightly lit laptop screen, which felt like a block of ice, leaving me cold and lost. It was as if my soul had turned into a dreary vapor, even after feeling cold.The ridiculous twist of fate turned into an unheard whisper in the wind."Lex..." I murmured his name.I miss you.I like you.And I'm so glad that I didn't fall for you.Yet, I almost did."How am I supposed to trust people when even you have gone sideways? Or maybe, from the very start, I shouldn't have accepted you. What an insane idea of mine." I chuckled bitterly to myself.How am I supposed to react? It's not like I knew his intentions from the start.Ah. Really?I guess I still lack something. I guess Exelle
Exelle..."Xielle, do you remember what I told you about our family's hidden paradise?"I heard my father's voice in front of me. I was currently reading a book while sitting on the sofa in the lounge of my father's office at MON. I had come here to escape my mother's attempts to seize my peaceful time by leaving the house. I lifted my head to face my father, who was smiling as he watched me.His dark hair, neatly combed, matched his hazelnut eyes, which reflected brightly in the sunlight. They were the same eyes that Hans had, and I loved them the most. My father was a human copy of Apollo, which must have been why my mother fell for him deeply.How I wished I had some of my father's genes so that I could look like Apollo's child too.My classmates from elementary and high school used to debate whether I w
Exelle..."Xielle, did you know? I don't really trust that childhood friend of yours," Samara hissed, her nose crinkled in annoyance. She was glaring at Rylie, my childhood best friend. I didn't understand why she didn't like Rylie, but I couldn't help but laugh at her expression, which looked kind of cute."Why is that? She's kind, isn't she?" I replied, trying to convince her with a bright smile.We were currently at the academy's football field. This would be our last year in high school, so we were spending most of our time lying on the grass carpet that covered the field. We watched Jilles, our boy best friend who was the twin of another friend, Jules, practice while Rylie was in the hallway talking to another student."I find her an
Exelle..."How about you go rest, Ms. Kim?" I heard Audrey's concerned voice as she handed me a cup of chamomile tea that she brewed.I looked up at her.Rest?I didn't know if I could even take a rest for myself.I knew there was a lot of work to do, and the rest seemed unimaginable at this hour. I blew a breath before sipping the hot chamomile tea, which blessed my cold stomach and nose with its fragrant aroma.I placed the cup on the coffee table in front of me."It's already been a month since the funeral, but Miss, you should rest, even just for a day," Audrey repeated as she poured another batch of tea into my cup.So, it's already been a month.The death of my friend was announced as a closed case. I glanced at my desk where papers about my work were piled up. One of them was a white envelope placed on top of the stac
Exelle . . . "The scapegoat has been caught." I heard Dark's words from the other line. Scapegoat? "What do you mean by that? Is it really a murder?" I asked, my eyes wavering as I watched the news airing on the screen. I hadn't noticed that a different news segment was playing on the TV until Dark answered my question. I didn't care about the news on the TV; all I wanted to hear was Dark's next words. "Stay away from Riguera, Elle." Those were his parting words before ending the call. The ringing of my phone echoed in the room, accompanied by the voice of the newscaster from the TV. I stood there, blankly staring at my phone's screen as it turned black. "Alexis..." I murmured his name, wondering what I would do if I saw him again, appearing in front of me. *** I raised an eyebrow, trying to control the u
Exelle . . . I quietly look at him as my gaze waver without me noticing it. I hummed in response. Deep inside me, I now realized that the thought of acting affectionate with him made me sick. Why did I trust someone who showed no feelings for me in the past? We did have a history, but we were only connected through painful memories from years ago, and those memories still haunted me. If I think about it, aside from the fact that I knew him in the past, I only got to know him through Rylie. I pressed my lips together, not minding that he was watching me. If I spoke now, it felt like I would choke on my own words. It suddenly felt suffocating, but I didn't show it. His eyes still held tenderness, but when he said he was sorry, there was no sincerity in it. Dark's evidence against Alexis clearly showed that he
Exelle..."Did you really miss me?" He sat on the edge of the bed, and the soft mattress rippled like a stream as I tried to move while sitting on his thigh. He only asked one question, and when I didn't answer, he didn't pursue it any further.Silence.I felt his palm travel down my back. Though there was still a layer of fabric between his hand and my skin, I could feel the warmth it emanated. When his hand reached my lower back, his breath hitched, and he claimed my lips.He grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me closer.As if possessed by something, I accepted the kiss and kissed him back. The heat, the touch, and the scent made me shiver, but suddenly, a memory intruded like an untuned music in my head.~I already sent the money. I think we also need to consider changing the name of the company now that it's already yours.I adj
ExelleI looked at my hands, which were tied with nylon rope, before glancing at Alexis, who was silently standing in front of me. I saw how he clenched his hands into fists.At the same time, he turned to look at Rylie, who still remained unconscious."Take her to the gallery," Alexis said, and the newcomer immediately followed the order.I didn’t say anything and just relaxed my body, while still pointing the gun in their direction, ignoring the fact that Rylie was being carried out of the place. I secretly glanced behind me to check the area, and I was relieved to see another door leading out of the hallway.My eyes then shifted to the round window in the door, which was just to my left. The window, made of clear glass, made it easier for me to see the transparent glass window in the rectangular frame inside the room, which offered a clear view
ExelleI huffed for a moment before glaring at the two bastards standing side by side at the doorway.I didn’t struggle to escape, but my mind was awake enough to function and think of the things I needed to do.Although it’s no use doing it now, I calmed myself and let them do whatever they wanted. I felt tired, but honestly, I was just waiting for the right timing, a chance where I could fight them more freely and escape from their grasp. I don’t believe that there’s no escape in the middle of the sea, unless the chances of surviving are too slim to be possible.‘I still have Dark.’‘Yes. I still have him.’‘And I trust him.’I kept reminding myself that this would all be over soon. That’s actually the purpose of those words. It&rsq
THIRD PERSON'S POV...The red dot on Techno's monitor flickered. Dark watched it with a furrowed brow as he continued giving orders to his team. But his heart skipped a beat when the red dot, which represented Exelle's location, suddenly started to move."What's happening?" Dark dashed over to Techno's station and asked him, who continued typing rapidly on his keyboard."The PH-HQ must have figured out what's going on," Techno replied, and as if on cue, a radio connected to the other team crackled to life.There was a long silence before a muffled voice came through the radio. It was Bern, Bernardino Morales, the leader of the NCI Philippine HQ team."This is Alpha B of PH-HQ, reporting. The target is on the move. We can only watch from the sidelines until your men arrive because they outnumber our team," Bern reported from the other end. He pa
Exelle...When I opened my eyes, I saw a figure of a man sitting in front of me. But upon recognizing who it was, I frowned and shot him a hateful glare."You f*ckin' bastard!" I yelled at him, but he didn't respond.I tried moving my body, only to discover that my wrists were tied behind me. As I struggled, the metal shackles on my ankles and wrists clanged noisily against the cold cement floor.I groaned as pain shot through my wrists from the struggle. It infuriated me so much that I didn't even think about the danger I was in because my anger at seeing his face took over. I anxiously looked around, realizing we were in a room with no windows, just a door, and a large mirror on one wall.It was the kind of room you often see in dramas and movies. The one that looks like an interrogation room."Don't waste your time struggling. You won't escape from
Exelle..."So, are you telling Xiellenna? Those things that you've heard and seen?" Rylie's voice pierced my ears. Her tone was so arrogant that it made me want to run over and yank her hair off her head.She's infuriating me, but honestly, I have no idea what's going on.Because everything around me is darkness. As I opened my eyes while listening to the strange noise around me that I couldn’t explain, all I could see was endless darkness.It was so cold and eerie.It was also so quiet, yet every now and then, I would hear a sound spreading around me. The noise echoed and lingered until it faded into the distance, only to be followed by another unknown sound. It repeated over and over again.At first, it was like the drip of water, then the sound of someone being slapped, followed by something breaking, and then something hard falling. The mi
Third Person's PoV---Dark's gaze remained fixed on the sleeping figure of Exelle. He watched the young woman as he stood by the side of her bed. Behind him was Audrey, nervously biting her lips."I shouldn't have given her that video," Dark's ears twitched as he heard his cousin speak. The sadness and concern were evident in her voice as her eyes seemed to lose their strength, quietly staring at Exelle.But he just shook his head. "She still has the right to know what really happened to Samara," and that's the truth. No matter how much they tried to hide what truly happened, Exelle would find out sooner or later. Aside from the fact that the video was an irrefutable piece of evidence for Samara's death, it was also one of the few pieces of evidence they had against Riguera."We can no longer be complacent against the Black
Exelle.."Mondregal, Howard, Vanidestine, Hara, and Wang."Audrey paused in her speech when she noticed me looking at her, listening intently. I remained seated on the bed. It felt strange because she wasn’t reading from EXellene Royale, but instead, she was discussing information about the five families that govern the NCI.Audrey coughed lightly as I smiled and nodded slightly."Mondregal is the family whose NCI headquarters is currently located on Lena Islands. A Philippine-European NCI family. More importantly, this is where our family, the Ryans, work for," Audrey continued and then moved on to the next family. "Next is the South Korean Wang family. While the Mondregal NCI HQ works together with the EU Intelligence and Service Center or the EU INTCEN of the European continent and the National Intelligence Cooperating Agency of the Philippines, the Wang fami
Exelle"She's looking for Raellina," I said, taking a sip of water from the glass.Rylie is looking for her twin sister, Raellina. And as I remember from Rylie before I lost my memories when I was ten, she told me she needed a heart. But that doesn’t mean that if she had successfully killed me back then, she would have gotten what she wanted.Because if I really died when she pushed me down the stairs, she still wouldn’t have been able to use my heart for a transplant. And we were just kids back then. And currently thinking about her whereabouts, I’m not sure if Raellina is still alive."Mama, she looks like Rylie!"I remembered a vague memory of mine, back when I first saw Raellina on the Lena Islands. I thought she was Rylie back then, but my papa corrected me about it, and they even asked me to keep it a secret. During
Third Person's PoV"Wow!"The young Xiellenna exclaimed when she saw the beautiful view of an island below the clouds where their family's private plane flew over. It was a crescent-shaped island with man-made extensions, featuring a castle-like building on top of a hill, resembling a fairytale setting from storybooks."Wow~wow~wow. Mom! Dad! It has a castle on the hills!" the seven-year-old Xiellenna excitedly said again before turning around to face her smiling parents. "Oh my~look over there! Amazing.""Our baby must really like it," Lillian said before embracing her approaching child. She gently stroked her daughter's hair and gave her a kiss. Her daughter giggled and nodded."Yup, mama. Xielle really likes it. No, I mean~I really, really, really like it." Xiellenna giggled in her mother's arms. It was warm and cozy, making her feel secure and s