Nicole's POVI showed the puzzle piece to Richard, asking my son. "Do you know where this is for, Richard?""Let me see, Mom." He lifted his gaze to the puzzle I held before pointing towards the spot I had found moments ago, much later than Richard. "Right there, Mom. The piece you're holding is ambiguous, but look at the color combination for reference."I secretly smiled, glad to see him explaining to help me keep solving the puzzle with him instead of just telling me where it was. "Yeah, Mom seems to be getting a headache since we've been working on this for over an hour.""You can just ask me again if you're having trouble." He smiled before getting serious about the remaining pieces of the puzzle.I managed to attach more than a dozen pieces, completing the hundreds of pieces already attached by Richard, who looked happy that we had almost finished his puzzle.He picked up the last puzzle piece and showed it to me. "This is the last piece, ma'am." His eyes shone brightly, and he
Nicole's POVI watched as Chris just stood there. He then knelt, held my headstone with one hand and spoke. "Nicole, I am so sorry for what I did to you back then…."I frowned, not understanding how such words could come from his mouth after all these years. Regret, he said, what was that man thinking?I looked at him sharply, annoyed by his words that made no sense. Chris was continuing with his words. This time, instead of looking sombre, the man looked annoyed to the point of clenching his fists. I could gnash his teeth even though we were pretty far away."If only I didn't believe that video of you kissing Jayden...." He tightened his grip even more until he looked red and closed his eyes momentarily. "I just found out that Adeline was the one who sent the video.""I talked to that woman a few days ago. She was finally arrested, along with her mother, and she told me that she sent the video so that our marriage would never happen."Chris seemed to open his eyes, revealing the tear
Nicole's POVI returned home feeling empty. I still hadn't come to terms with what Chris had said at my grave, the fact that I'd just found out, and the other things that left me not knowing what to do.".... Cole."That guy said all those things long ago when no one was around, but I don't understand why he could say all those things so easily when we've met several times before."Nicole...."He just tried to get close to me for no apparent reason and even defended Adeline in front of my eyes several times instead of apologising for the things she said. I was so angry, jealous, confused and hurt, not knowing what to do to stop feeling all this."Nicole." I heard my name being called, as well as someone's touch on my shoulder. "What have you been thinking about since before?"I turned and looked at Edwin, who was frowning at me. He was the one who had called out and touched my shoulder. "Dad, what's wrong?""I've been calling you since earlier, but you didn't answer at all...." He bli
Nicole's POVI woke up with my head aching and my eyes feeling heavy to open. Vaguely, I could hear Richard's voice, which seemed to be waking me up. My hand also felt moved, which made me drift out of my sleep."Mom, Mom." He called me several times while moving my hand. "Come on, wake up, Mom."I opened my eyes slowly, looking at Richard's face, which was so close to me before I shifted my head slightly. I grimaced. "What's wrong, Richard?"My son's face looked sad, so I wrinkled my forehead.He said, obviously noticing my state from earlier. "Mom, it is very difficult to wake up. When I hold your hand, it also feels too warm. It's not like the usual mother.""Grandpa said you were already asleep before I came back from the lab, so you've been staying in your room for a long time."I paused, raised my hand with some difficulty because I felt weak, and touched my forehead, which was warmer than usual. My son was right. I closed my eyes for a moment while sighing, then opened my eyes
Nicole's POV"Am I still not getting better?" I muttered, complaining to myself as I felt my headache again.I had almost finished the medicine the doctor had prescribed and was resting more than usual. Only four more tablets until I was supposed to recover, but not much seemed to have changed other than my body was neither feverish nor weak like before.I had also been going to the office less and less and forced to work remotely, something I didn't like but had to do to improve my condition. In the end, some of my assistants, including Key, were the ones who traveled more to take care of projects that fell under my responsibility.I felt bad, but Edwin and Richard monitored me so that I couldn't go anywhere that they thought would make me sick again.I stayed like that for a few days and finally took a breath to work outside the house and buy some things that Richard had left for me. My two protective family members let me go after seeing my condition and hearing my words.I sighed
Nicole's POVI was surprised to hear his words, which mentioned me in the past. I couldn't avoid his gaze or the grip of his hand, which still felt tight, so I tried to calm myself by exhaling and smiling faintly."Really? I don't know if there's someone who looks like me." I said, looking at his probing gaze but simultaneously loosening our grip so that I could pull my hand away.I touched my hand lightly and clucked before looking at him again. “I hope you don't act like this to someone you just met, sir."The man stared at me without comment, no longer playing games and turning to see what signs of lying he could pick up from my behavior, but I maintained a calm demeanor so that I could stare back at him without giving him the reaction he wanted.I had practiced this before, repeatedly, though in reality, it didn't go that smoothly when I faced Chris or Adeline. Those two were too close to me, so it was harder to pretend, but my connection to Jayden ended after our relationship end
Adeline's POV"Shit." I cursed softly, looking down between my knees, which I hugged tightly.I felt so stressed by all the things that happened to me that I ended up in prison. I felt scared and very uncomfortable after facing the hazing among the prisoners, especially the ones my mom and I had to face as new people.They were kinder to my mom because she was older but harsher to me, who was accused of being the main culprit in Nicole's death. There was no quiet time for me while the sun was still up until the other prisoners fell asleep on the mats I had prepared.The head of the prison ordered me to do various things in our cramped cell, while my mother was only allowed to sit quietly and was not allowed to help me when I faced any difficulties. If I did something wrong, she would call me incompetent and slap me lightly a few times.I felt humiliated, but I couldn't help but want my body to be battered the next day. They said it was done on an invisible body part so that the warder
Adeline's POVJayden seemed to be grinning. "Partner from where? You're the one who committed the crime that landed you in jail, not me. I'm just interested in having that woman.""You!" I quickly stood up from my chair and pointed at his face.I was angry at his words that cornered me. In fact, he was also one of the causes of Nicole's death."How easy it is for you to abdicate your responsibility!" I was still pointing at the man's face, which still looked disinterested. "I've been giving you information about that woman and helping you get close to her all this time, but you don't want to return the favor?"Jayden's face hardened. He came back closer to the glass, towards me, and hit the table hard. The look in his eyes that looked angrier shocked me, and I did not expect this change in his attitude."Hey, you're the one who tried to kill that woman without my knowledge." He said, almost sounding like a growl. "You made me so angry that I'm going to make sure you rot in prison for