Nicole's POV"Lately, what bad things have you been doing?"The question came out of nowhere from one of the men in the room, someone who had previously been appointed by the bottle and was now the questioner for the woman who took her turn next.I recognized her as Alice, one of the women who had gathered with me and Selena before the men and women were paired with each other.The young woman looked nervous. "Bad thing?"She looked at everyone, trying to find any help she could get, but most of the people in the room just returned curious glances. I could see the woman open and close her mouth several times, at a loss for something to say or choose to keep it to herself.I could understand. There was probably something wrong she had done, whether trivial or significant, but it could have affected the way everyone looked at her. After all, everyone in this room is either the son or grandson of a conglomerate and an influential person in the business world.The self-image of each perso
Nicole's POVThe bottle spun again, and the game resumed among them. The hustle and bustle of the crowd of men and women was giving me a bit of a headache, but I said nothing as I watched the fun.The people who I had previously seen as just someone I knew by name, I could slowly recognize some new things from this game. No tension could sometimes be felt in a regular business meeting, just fun and familiarity for one special night.I glanced at Chris, noticing that he was leaning back on the couch and giving the impression that he wasn't interested in mingling at all, but no one seemed to mind. I was also still silent, wanting to ask questions but also not wanting to engage with him too much.He just happened to look at me. "Why are you looking at me like that? Do you have feelings for me now?""Don't get your hopes up." I finally opened my mouth, deciding to ask the thing that was still nagging at me. "You... why bring that up in front of everyone?""So what? I only mentioned it in
Nicole's POVEven though it was just a kiss on the cheek, what Chris did to me instantly made my blood boil. He'd returned to being a jerk, but this time not just in front of myself and my family but in the eyes of many people I didn't know well.The exclamations of the men and women participating in the game could be heard, delighted by the man's sudden kiss. An excited man was heard exclaiming. "How romantic, Mr. Grant!""Oh my, Miss Nicole is really lucky...."I looked down, hiding my face from being seen by others while hearing all the words that seemed to be congratulating our non-existent relationship. I couldn't help myself anymore until my ears felt covered momentarily before standing up."Miss Nicole?" A woman told me something was wrong with my attitude, but I ignored her.That was when the voice of the man next to me rang out, and his hand momentarily restrained me from leaving. "Nicole, are you angry?"I no longer cared about the eyes of those people or Selena, dismissing
Matthew's POVI walked down from the yacht that I had just boarded with my father. We had just finished a tour of the sea to refresh ourselves and check things off from work, and we would continue today's activities by returning to our family business."That resort is really nice," my father complimented, looking at me with pride. You did well, Matthew. The opening is going to be amazing."I nodded, smiling, as I remembered that the day the resort our family built would open was just around the corner. So many things had been prepared since a few months ago that I felt my hard work would pay off when my father's words happened.With the opening of the resort, employment opportunities for the community and profits for our family business will increase. Socialites from various cities and countries who come to this city will also have new and luxurious travel experiences."Thank you, Father. If it weren't for your help and teachings, I wouldn't have been able to do it." I said, complimen
Matthew's POV"Hi, Nicole." I greeted the woman who was silently staring at her phone screen alone.Nicole raised her gaze slowly, surprised at my sudden appearance. I smiled, moving closer to her as I took off my glasses. She returned my smile faintly when I was already sitting next to her, looking at me."You really came." She said with a hint of amazement.I shook my head, finding her words even a little strange. "Of course, I came. I wanted to meet you too, Nicole."The woman paused and reached for my hand first, slipping her hand into mine while muttering something under her breath that I couldn't hear. "What?"I'm glad you came here, Matthew." She finally said.I felt my heart beating a little harder, accepting her honest words and feeling the woman's head resting on my upper arm. When I glanced at her, the woman who had spoken earlier had closed her eyes, seemingly comfortable with what she was doing to me, who was a little confused.Before coming here, she sent a message imply
Matthew's POV"What do you mean, Matthew?" She finally spoke, still staring at me until I hesitated for a while.If it was like this, the information gathered so far might not have been entirely correct. I spoke anyway, deciding to bring it up first so that nothing was hidden between us, and it actually bothered me a little.I took a breath. "I know, Nicole. It seems you are Nicole Martinez, Christian Grant's ex-girlfriend, someone who should have died nine years ago."There was a long silence between us. She stared at me for a moment before turning her gaze away from me. Our handshake loosened so that my hand just rested on top of her slightly clenched hand. I swallowed, looking down at her."You.... What did you do that for, Matthew? Don't you trust me?" She asked, sounding overwhelmed with emotions I couldn't explain.I knew that my words would upset her, but I didn't know that I could see the impact directly. I felt guilty, able to feel the pain visible in her shaking shoulders. I
Nicole's POVI don't know how this happened, that Matthew and I could start a relationship from friendship, with no clear status, to now. At first, I only thought of revenge, thinking that my life would be meaningless without that goal.If anything, I only intended to focus on Richard, who was also why I could face things until now. Without my son, I couldn't have gone through all these things with everything that had happened to me before."Hmm...."After yesterday's meeting, the man with glasses and I talked for a long time. We discussed everything from my past identity as Nicole Martinez to the continuation of our relationship, which had always held some of my fears. I couldn't help but admit that the man's existence had taken away some of the meaning of my life in the present.He obviously knew it, and at the end of our meeting, he expressed his love for me, so today was the second day we had a relationship as lovers.Several times, I had to stare and hold my phone as he sent me n
Nicole's POVI stood up, looking at Richard, who had also stopped walking and was looking at me, and then the man still sitting on the sofa one after another, for a few moments, without saying anything to make me feel nervous.He looked back at me. "What's wrong, mom? Were you guys doing something before I came into this room?""Ah, yes, we were just talking, Richard." I hurriedly said because I was still feeling panicked.My son didn't miss my tone, looking at me more seriously. "You have nothing to hide from me?"I nodded, looking at my son, who finally seemed to accept my answer and continued his steps closer. At that moment, I locked eyes with Key, who had also entered the room with Richard. I saw the man's lips slightly twitching at the ends as if he was holding something in, and his eyebrows raised only one way.Turning to his gaze, I immediately knew that the man who had been my assistant and son for several months in this city clearly knew that I was doing something more than
Nicole's POVI have received the gift given by the man's secretary. Evan. I wanted to refuse, but the man, whose age was not far from Key's, looked really pitiable and almost pleading as he spoke to me."Miss Nicole, I'm sorry, but if you don't accept this gift then I will get in trouble from Mr. Chris," he said.I stared at the man without saying much. I obviously had my reservations, staring at the two gifts that seemed unremarkable at first glance. Still, considering Chris's proposal and the answer I gave him temporarily, the situation was clearly different.He told me to take as much time as possible to come up with a final answer to his proposal. Still, in the end, he acted arbitrarily, like he was pressuring me to give him the answer immediately by giving me something like this.The secretary seemed to see my intentions and quickly returned to pleading before me. "Miss Nicole, please do me a favor just this once. Mr. Chris has already sought several opportunities to remove me fr
Chris' POVArriving in the car, I sighed.All my strength seemed to be drained, and I allowed myself to just lean back on the seat, loosening the tie that suddenly felt like it was strangling my neck. My gaze was only fixed in front of me, on the road that began to pass by faster after the car sped up.My secretary finally spoke. "Were you rejected?"I looked at the man. He had helped me prepare for today's proposal, including decorations, rings, and various other things that were supposed to be done after the proposal, but that didn't happen with me leaving first.She was crying, and I didn't really have the guts to look at Mr. Duncan and my son. Aside from my mixed feelings, I just followed in my footsteps, which led me out of the place and away from the miserable feeling."You seem to really like the fact that Nicole rejected me," I finally said, sounding as cold as I felt toward the man who was still driving.She didn't say anything.I exhaled, feeling a tightness in my chest that
Nicole's POVChris was silent. I could see that he seemed to be processing my words, but I wasn't done talking. There was still something I wanted to tell him."Until now, I've been confused by the feelings I have for you, Mr. Grant."I clasped my hands together tightly. "If I were to accept your proposal without thinking, it would not only make me look like I'm playing you, but also betray my own uncertain feelings."As I said, I felt very mixed after hearing and seeing his attitude during his proposal.There were feelings of joy, sadness, hatred, and hope, all in equal measure, that confused me.On the one hand, I liked this proposal in the deepest part, which I buried deeply. Still, I also couldn't let go of the thing that had kept me alive all these years after his betrayal by leaving me and the evil deeds of my old family.I didn't want revenge, but the residual feelings were still there, as were my feelings for the man in front of me.Both had the same deep impression on me duri
Nicole's POVAs I walked in, I could see the restaurant's decor, which looked like a very romantic place. Like I saw outside, no one was inside except me and my assistant.We walked in together, he walking behind me, but I was busy with my thoughts. My brain seemed to be spinning rapidly, and I was thinking about this strange thing as best I could.My father had deliberately directed me to this restaurant for dinner. Still, that man was nowhere to be seen, nor was Richard and whoever was supposed to be in this restaurant to serve us. The deserted atmosphere added to the aggravation of my thoughts and the additional fear of the unusual situation.I swallowed, wondering, even as I followed the lit candles still guiding our path. Why is the restaurant in this state? Shouldn't we have gathered and enjoyed dinner by now?I already felt that my father, my son, and everything that happened today were acting strangely. I have absolutely no idea what's going on. It really felt like I was walki
Nicole's POVI looked at my father, who had been watching me since earlier. I ignored it at first, but after a while, I got curious and finally asked him. "Is there something you want to talk to me about, Father?"He shook his head, smiling slightly with eyes that seemed to sparkle. "No, no. I'm just happy to see that you've been in good spirits lately."I smiled back at him, although I also thought that my father's attitude was quite strange. I didn't feel as excited as he said, just as usual. The things my father said were even more applicable to him, who somehow looked radiant.Of course, I felt happy about whatever my father went through because I knew he could behave like that now. After the betrayal of his old friend, I felt that my father became much more reserved and only focused on his work, but now he's become better than that.I finally changed the subject. "Is Richard with that man, Father?"He nodded.Lately, my son has been spending a lot of time with Chris. It was usual
Nicole's POVI was already in my study, realizing that the thing that happened a moment ago was really happening.The things I felt and the attitude I showed the man... I touched my chest, feeling the pounding of my heart that always became unusual whenever I couldn't control myself, especially when it came to that man. Chris.I didn't know what was wrong with me anymore, feeling messed up and not knowing what to do to fix what had happened."No," I said, with a complementary slap to snap myself out of my current situation. "I need to focus."It wasn't time for me to dwell on whatever feelings were surrounding me and dwell on them. Work was waiting for me, and I couldn't put it off any longer for any reason.I slapped my cheeks repeatedly. Only then could I take my work seriously.I spent most of my days staying out of that man's reach. Sometimes, Chris was at my house for some business, but I still avoided him and didn't show myself to him as much as I could. When I came home, I aske
Chris' POV"Chris!"A shouting voice rang in my ears. I turned my head and saw a woman running towards me. She immediately hugged me tightly. Smelling the fragrance of her body so close to me and catching a glimpse of her face, I felt certain that the woman in this embrace was Nicole.I looked in the direction the woman had previously run and found several people scattered around the streets, shouting and moving away from each other. This was paving the way for a tree snake that seemed to have escaped from one of the shops in this row of streets.Not far from the snake, two staff members who seemed to be from the shop could be seen chasing the escaping animal with nets and ropes. They looked tense, following the slithering animal's movements on the hot street.The atmosphere was definitely noisy, but I could only feel the fear of the woman who was in my arms and was giving me a tight hug without any warning as if I was her life preserver and didn't want to be let go by her anytime soo
Chris' POVI felt that my relationship with Nicole was fine, even better than a few weeks ago, even though she sometimes tried to ignore my presence around her.She was becoming more talkative with me about some mundane things that I didn't know would happen so soon. She didn't kick me out anymore, even if I went over her limit, which would usually make her upset and follow her emotions.I still remember when she acted shy when receiving my cheek kiss and her anger at the charity event when I kissed her on the lips. My reactions to those two things were quite different. One was closer to negative because I was in a hurry, while the other was closer to positive, even though they were close in time.Perhaps my thoughts on our current situation were correct.She probably doesn't hate me as much as she used to, and I can also do things that I could never do even if I wanted to. For now, I won't do anything more than the usual touching of a young couple, but even that already makes me happ
Chris' POVI returned Nicole's widened gaze, feeling a little pleased and proud of myself. "I know, you must be admiring me, right, Nicole?""Are you showing yourself off?" She snorted, changing her previously unseen gaze to what it was now, slightly sharp. "Why would I admire you sitting down?"I noticed the woman who looked a little sullen. I still don't know the reason, but she seemed to be annoyed that I accidentally made her emotional with my out-of-context words.Anyway, I was happy with her attention and unconsciously said whatever came to my mind.I cleared my throat softly, returning the conversation. "If you try, you can do it too, Nicole. Cooperation with Mr. Divo." The woman was still looking sulky. "You might be able to get this deal done first.""I can't." The woman's father suddenly spoke up, looking serious. "If Nicole does that, it will be dangerous for her."The woman seemed to turn her attention to her father, frowning as she asked. "What makes it dangerous for me,