Asper Reigh Dahlia's Pov
“Any news at the cafe?” I asked her as I put the ordered cupcakes in the box.
I only visit the store once a month to avoid getting seen by many people. And if there were a lot of customers at the store, I immediately went home so I wouldn't bother our employees serving there.
I just ask Miracle for everything that happens in the story since she is always there.
“I was planning on hiring an extra waitress since we are getting a lot of new customers these past few days.” She put a folder on the counter. “You can check the resume of those who got interviewed yesterday and tell me who you want to hire. Aside from that, I also need to hire two new delivery drivers because the order for deliveries is also increasing.”
“You mean, within the five months of the cafe, it is starting to be recognized around the city?”
She nodded. “Your accidental encounter with Saraya gave a good impact on your store,” she said. “Her visit to our store was such a big help.”
Saraya is an internet food influencer. She likes to travel around the country and feature different cafes and rate its product.
And unexpectedly, while she was making a video for her new target cafe, she bumped into me.
It was a bit strong so I fell and sprained my wrist. That is why they had to bring me to the nearest clinic and get me treated.
She apologized too much even though I already told her that it was not her fault. I also didn’t look around my surroundings at that time because I was busy staring at what was happening inside my store.
And guess what? She thought I was a homeless woman who was waiting outside my own shop. She even took me inside the SweetHeart and treated me to a lot of sweets, as her way of saying sorry.
She also ordered something for her and when she tasted it, she decided to feature SweetHeart in her video instead of her initial plan.
And since I didn't want to take her moment, I didn’t correct her and let her take a video inside the store. I just told the waitress to guide her because I can’t be seen in the camera.
Miracle also didn’t want to be included in the video but Saraya got to tour the whole store and included it in her video.
Miracle laughed as she remembered what happened. “And until she left, you still didn’t tell her that you were the owner of the SweetHeart Cafe.”
“And until she left, she still thought of me as homeless.” I laughed and shook my head.
Well, I still couldn’t believe that happened. I mean, I was wearing decent clothes. Clean jeans and a shirt so I never really imagined that someone would think of me as a homeless person.
“I was curious, what were you doing outside the store that day?” she asked. “And you didn’t even try to enter the store.”
“I was in the area that time so I decided to take a quick check at the store,” I said after placing five boxes of cupcakes in front of her. “But when I got there, I saw that you have a lot of customers inside so I didn’t bother to enter.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “Anyway, speaking of that woman.” She finished her tea and stood up. “She called me yesterday and asked if I saw you peeking in the store.”
“Why?” I asked. “Is she coming back here?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “She didn’t mention anything. She just told me that if I see you again outside the store, give you something to eat again.”
I chuckled. Her views on me didn’t really change, huh? What will she do if she finds out that I am the owner of the SweetHeart Cafe?
“You really got that girl’s attention, huh.”
“And it is not my intention.” I walked her outside and helped him put the box of cupcakes in her car. “When she calls again, tell her the truth so she stops worrying about me anymore.”
She smirked. “I don’t want to. I want her to know all of this when he comes back here so we can see her reaction.”
I just shook my head. She really likes to make fun of someone.
She was about to enter her car when we both turned our heads at the vacant lot beside my house. There was a big truck parked there and it contained construction materials.
“Oh. I didn’t know someone was already bought that lot,” Miracle said while roaming her eyes around. “Did you know about it?”
I shook my head. “I think it just arrived.” The materials haven’t been unloaded and the workers were still having a meeting.
She looked at me. “Do you want me to look into it?”
I nodded.
Whoever lives in that lot will become my neighbor so it is better for us to know about them first so I can prepare for my disguise. The only partition we have in our lot is a wall that only covers the first floor of my house so there is always a possibility that they will see me, especially when I am on my room’s balcony.
“Just the basic information about everyone living there,” I said. “I just want to make sure if I need to avoid getting seen by them or not.”
“Okay,” she said. “I will give you an update later.” She entered her car and started the engine. “I gotta go. I am sure, Mrs. Santiago is already waiting for me.”
“Message me the next order. I will start making it,” I said. “And oh, I will also be making the list for my personal grocery and for the ingredients that I need for our product. Get the twins but all of it immediately.”
Since I am using my own kitchen to bake our products, some of my employees at SweetHeart were assigned to buy the ingredients that we need for our product.
I am still not contacting any suppliers yet since I only make small batches. But now that we are gaining more customers every day, I guess I have to find good suppliers.
“Okay.” She drives her car.
I watched her car until it completely disappeared from my sight and that was when I decided to go back inside the house.
Before I could even close the gate, I frowned when I saw a black car stop behind the truck that came earlier. It is near my gate so I stood there waiting for them to get out of their car so I would know the face of my future neighbors.
But they were taking so long and I got bored so I closed the gate and went inside. I will just wait for Miracle’s update later.
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovI have been preparing another batch of cupcakes for the product that Miracle will display in our shop. That is the only thing that I did throughout the whole day. And when the sun finally set, I started taking care of the paperwork that Aasiyah sent to me.Other than that, I still have enough time to relax and even clean the house.That is why even though I am staying at home, I don’t get bored here, I have a lot of things to do and everything I need is inside my house.Sometimes I couldn’t help but laugh at myself because the life I have here is completely opposite to the life I had before.I often get out of the house and socialize with different people. And I feel like I am going crazy when I limit my appearance to the public and stay inside our house.And now, I realized that being in solitude is addictive.I can think clearly about things happening around me and when I want someone to talk, I can just call Miracle.So, this life I have right now is not a
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovSince Miracle will be here early, I woke up earlier than usual. I don’t want her to wait outside my house because she will surely hiss at me since we had an agreement last night.That is why when I saw her car arrive in front of my house, I immediately got down to open the gate for them to take inside everything they bought for me even though I still hadn't washed my face.“I thought you would wake up early?” She raised her eyebrows and looked at me from head to toe. It is obvious that you just got up in bed.” She also pointed at my hair.She was with Saki and Sari, the twins that work in my store, who helped me with stocking my groceries and supplies for our product. This is some kind of part-time job for them since Miracle couldn’t handle getting all the things that I need alone.I smiled and slowly fixed my hair. “Well, this is earlier than usual,” I said. “And you arrived earlier than what you used to do.”We both turned our heads to my neighbor’s lot and
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovMiracle dropped me off in front of the grocery store where I usually went. Then, she continued to drive her way to the town proper to open our store.And since I don’t want to waste more time, I immediately went inside the store and started wandering around while pushing a cart to buy everything I needed.Well, I already know what I am going to buy even though I don’t have a list and I know its location so I know where to go to get the things that I need.I have been buying my stuff in this store since I got here so I only have been spending less than one hour whenever I shop here.After putting everything I need to buy in my cart, I immediately bring it to the cashier to pay for it and ask them to deliver it to my house, just like I always do.It is one of their services that I like here. That is why even though there are other stores near our subdivision, I still choose to shop here. I can just leave everything to them and continue shopping at the nearby sho
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovWhen I got out of my balcony, I saw the progress of the construction of my neighbor and I was amazed to see that they already built the whole mansion.Well, they hired a big team for this project and they worked non-stop for the past few days since they arrived, as if they were trying to rush everything.I am just glad that my house was soundproof so the sound of their machines doesn’t bother me, even at night. And we don’t have any other neighbors near us. They won’t bother anyone.However, I was still shocked to see their progress. I mean, it is a huge property but they still manage to build a two-hundred square meter mansion in just a few days, while the rest are just part of their garage and garden.“It looks like their work is nearly done,” Miracle said. She was now staying here, in my room, to be exact, while eating the brownies that I baked earlier and watching a movie.Once a week, I encourage her to take a day off from work. And since she doesn’t want
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovMy neighbor’s house finished after fifteen days only. From the foundation, floor, and roof. It also has water and electricity service. The furniture and appliances also arrived earlier, the only ones missing were the people living there.And from my room, I can see that they have heavy security. A lot of guards were roaming around the property, there were CCTV cameras in every corner and the height of the wall around it was so tall that nobody would try to climb it.Five cars suddenly arrived and parked in their garage so I think those are the people who live in that mansion.I immediately put on my contact lenses, grabbed the box of cupcakes that I baked earlier, and left the house.I make this for my neighbor since according to Miracle, it is better to have a nice relationship with them, so if anything happens to me, I can count on them. And of course, vice versa.Though, I actually doubt if I can help them with anything.I stood up in front of their gate an
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovI didn’t expect that I could get close to my neighbors. And the reason why we become suddenly close? Well, it is my dessert.They love the cupcakes that I gave to them the first time I visited their house. And after Karyu learned that I was the one who baked the product of my shop, they made a made-to-order request for everyday supplies.Rajiv was opposed to that idea. He said that they should be ashamed of requesting something that may bother me or ruin my schedule. But I immediately told him that it was okay. I can make their order every day and deliver it personally since I can include that from the other orders.Of course, they insisted on paying the full price of their orders. Even though I said that it was okay if they didn't. I even tried to give them a discount but they also didn’t accept that. So we come to a compromise by giving them free delivery.So, I always go to their house, stay there for a little bit, and chat with them.And I have been doing
Asper Reign Dahlia’s Pov“I know that I was the one who suggested that you should be close to your neighbor,” Mira said. She just arrived and she saw me leave my neighbor’s house. “But I didn’t expect that in the first three weeks, they got there, you would already have freedom to get in and out of their house.”“Well, they trusted me easily and they loved my desserts.” I opened my gate and we went straight to the kitchen since I made the table and put our food there. “They want everyday supplies of SweetHeart’s product so I’m just giving them a special delivery.”“And it is making you busy,” she said. “You should start hiring someone who will help you make our products.”“For now?” I shook my head. “I can still manage my time with doing our products and some other stuff.”“Are you sure?” she asked. “I can just put a hiring sign so when you need them, we can just call them.”She has a point there.Just like what I told Miracle, I can still manage everything on my own. I have so much t
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovI am not really against any third gender. I don’t have a problem with them, and in fact, I love to engage in a conversation with them because I know that they have so many things to say that I am sure will help me learn about them.But I think Miracle can’t blame me for spacing out after she said that the man that I met twice and the owner of the house next door was Caspian Jyn.Well, he had a lot of admirers, and stalkers, to be honest. And if I heard it right, even the princesses of the Hexoria Kingdom were also finding their chance to make him agree to enter an arranged marriage with him.But sad to say, no one really succeeded.Aside from that, he never really socializes with anyone, especially with girls.And now, I understand why he was like that.“He doesn’t like women,” I whispered. “He likes men!” I looked at Miracle and held her shoulders. “The Caspian Jyn that every woman around the world adores is actually gay!”Miracle was also shocked by what I w
Caspian Jyn’s Pov“Something is wrong,” Rajiv said after his phone call and turned to me. “They are all acting weird.”I frowned. “Who?”“Lucky and the rest of Asper’s bodyguards,” he answered. “I don’t know what but Asper has been acting weird ever since she met Reina at Yain City.”I leaned my back in my chair’s backrest and looked at him. “What makes you think that they are acting weird?”“Asper changed, Jyn,” he said. “For the whole year that we haven’t seen her, she changed a lot. She is no longer the type to just stay on the side, keep quiet, and do nothing.”“You think they will cover for her if she is doing something without our knowledge?”He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know how Asper thinks now and the caporegime that we assigned to her are all afraid and loyal to you,” he said. “But I still can’t shake the feeling that Asper is doing something.”I know what he is trying to say because I also felt that way.“Pull out the last batch of security details that we sent there
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovDad told me not to worry too much after I mentioned to him what Hector said to me. He assured me that he and Aasiyah are ready for everything that the palace will possibly do.He already learned his lesson through what happened to me. He has no plans on making any decision for Aasiyah and he will support anything she decides once the palace proposes a marriage for her and Cloven.Well, I know my sister. Even though she is the youngest in the family and my parents kind of sheltered her, she will never let anyone around control her.Just like me, she will fight if she doesn’t want the situation. No one will persuade her to do something she doesn’t like.But to ensure that we have another person backing us up for my sister's sake, I also informed Miracle about this. I can count on her to assure me that Aasiyah will not experience the harassment that I got from the palace before.And it made me feel relieved after talking it all to them. It is reassuring that even
Asper Reign Dahlia’s Pov“I already transferred the foundation to my sister,” I repeated. “My lawyer finished taking care of the paperwork last year and it was finalized last week. The foundation is now formally owned by Aasiyah.”Shock was still all over his face after I explained that.Aasiyah will hold a press conference about this to publicly announce the transfer. It was scheduled for next week but since there are still threats to her safety because of me, they might reschedule it once Dad formed new security details for her.I frowned when I saw the concern on Hector’s face as if I made a huge mistake.“Aasiyah took over the foundation when I left our home two years ago,” I continued. “And because of what I have to do, I decided to completely let it go. And Aasiyah decided to shoulder everything since she fell in love working there.”“You…” He cupped his forehead and sat on the floor. I don’t know what his problem is but he is acting as if it was big news for him.And it is not
Asper Reign Dahlia’s Pov“You are really out of your mind, Asper,” Hector shook his head after I told him what I did to Jyn’s men who were assigned as my bodyguards. “You used yourself just to hold them in the neck.”“I only have myself, okay?” I said. “I can only take advantage of Jyn’s feelings for me to make them what I want.”He shook his head again and continued bathing the horse. “You like taking advantage of everything around you to make sure that every situation will side with you.”We are in the horse stable right now. He is working while I am sitting in the corner.“Don’t talk to me about taking advantage of things, Hector. You have done worse than what I am doing right now.” I rolled my eyes. He talked like he never abused his position as the crown prince to get what he wanted before.He looked at me and pointed to himself. “I am trying to change myself for the better, right?” He pointed at me. “But you? It seems like you are changing your path.”“Well, I am entering the wo
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovI received a warm welcome from the original workers of the farm. I have known most of them since they started working here when Granny was still alive. Some of them were hired by me when I started handling things around here and there were new ones that Dad hired to help Judith with the work in the mansion.And of course, Hector, who immediately got along with the people here. They know that he is the former crown prince but it seems like it doesn’t matter to them. They might be treating him as a normal person but they are all nice to him.Which is good since we never know how long he will be working here.Since I let him choose what work he wanted to do here, he chose to take care of the horses we have here. Maybe because he is already familiar with that since they have been taking care of horses in the palace. And he often joins horseback tournaments so he knows how to handle one.After taking care of things around the changes that will happen around the far
Asper Reign Dahlia’s Pov“Sorry, Dad.” That is all I can say to my father who I was talking to through Lucky’s phone right now. I am standing in an abandoned port while staring at our helicopter that was burning down through the sky. “I am still not sure about how much money I have right now but I will try to buy a new one for you.”I heard Dad sigh. “Don’t worry about that. I already had plans to buy a new one for myself and give that to your brother.”“Oh.” I scratched my head. “Now, I feel even more bad. Helicopters are the easiest mode of transportation that he can use to go to Yain City without neglecting his job here at Ilore City.”“But you are okay, right?” Dad asked. “It is good that you noticed the problem in the helicopter sooner than later.”“Maybe I was getting sharper when it comes to danger.” Ever since I learned about the Rioghail, Dad made sure to train me every day. Not just some self-defense techniques, but also about the things that I should be looking around me th
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovEverything that I need to move to the farm is all set. Dad already sent there the people that will help me to start the new chapter of my life.Though, I will still visit here from time to time. That is why I don’t understand why my siblings and mother are crying right now.“Seriously, guys?” I shook my head while looking at them. Especially Kezia who has been hugging me tight. “I am just three hours’ drive away. You can visit me any time you want. And I will also try to visit as much as I can. This is not something like when I was hiding in Yain City. You can call me whenever you want.”“It is still different whenever you are here,” Kezia exclaimed. “Why do you have to live there? You have been taking care of Granny’s property remotely since you all got it, right?”“I know.” I sighed. “But now that I don’t have the SweetHeart and the foundation, the farm is currently my primary source of income. I had to study everything about it from scratch. So, please? Sto
Asper Reign Dahlia’s Pov“Give him time, Asper,” Miracle added and lay down in my bed. “He is not used to what is happening to him right now.”“I understand what is happening to him and I am trying my best not to become his burden while he is fixing everything around him,” I explained. “Isn’t that the reason why I am leaving? I chose the farm because I know that I can do everything to protect myself there without holding back. So that when he is finally ready to come back to me, he will not worry about my safety anymore.”“Does it mean, that when he finished solving all his problems and he is ready to come back to you, you will not hesitate to accept him again?”“Yup,” I immediately answered, which made her get up. I looked at her and smiled. “Moving on from him is not really part of my life. I just want to give him space while he is working on his personal issue. And I am working on my life so I can live it the way I want without fearing for my safety.”We will not be able to do anyt
Asper Reign Dahlia’s PovPeople in the house were shocked by my decision to hire Hector and as I expected, Jasper and Kezia voiced their disagreement with my decision. Though Dad didn’t say anything, I can see in his eyes that he is also on their side this time.Mom, Easter, and Aasiyah also do not agree with it but they choose to respect what I want to do, just like what they kept doing for the past months. I guess they trust me that much now.“He is changing!” I insisted on them because they kept telling me that I shouldn’t trust Hector since we all know who he really is. “Why don’t you give him a chance?”“Do you really believe that he is capable of changing?” Jasper asked. “What if he is only pretending to get your sympathy? And when you are finally comfortable with him, he will use that opportunity to take back everything he gave up and force you again to marry him.”I narrowed my eyes on him. “Are you hearing yourself now, brother? We all know that Hector is incapable of pretens