Nicole's POV"Let go of me, Matthew."The man didn't say anything for a while, just held my hand tightly as if he didn't want to let go, but his words before this still hurt me.I could feel his hand reaching my chin, pulling my face gently so that I would look up at him, but I lowered my head so that I could avoid his gaze."Nicole...."I kept my head down, watching my teardrops finally fall, but eventually raised my gaze to look at the man watching me with a sad expression. Maybe he felt guilty, and I didn't say anything because he had already hurt me with his words.Matthew wiped my wet cheeks, looked at me with increasingly apparent guilt and finally spoke to me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for talking to you like that, Nicole."I could see the look in his eyes and felt his other hand reaching out to take my hand and bring it together. I still didn't know what he was trying to achieve by saying something that hurt me. I wasn't sure if he was feeling insecure about Chris or just wanted t
Matthew's POVI looked at Nicole, who was fast asleep beside me, wearing the blanket we had shared earlier. I could see the reddish marks I left while exploring her body, around her slender neck and shoulders, as well as her lips that still looked moist.I rubbed her head gently before finally getting up slowly so as not to wake her. I had somewhere to be for a moment.A shot glass was already in my hand, with only a small amount of colourless alcohol left in it. I put the small glass down as I exhaled, enjoying my time to catch my breath without anyone around me.That was the plan initially, but someone suddenly approached me and stopped beside the empty seat. She sounded shy as she greeted me."Hi. ...."I glanced at her without turning my head, seeing a woman in a sexy beach outfit with a sweet smile and showing a friendly impression of me. We were obviously meeting for the first time, but I knew what women like her were thinking, wanting to approach me with bad intentions.At the
Nicole's POV"Oh, I didn't expect something like this to be here," I said, adjusting my mask.My fiancé nodded. "Yes, it's quite fascinating, isn’t it?"We were now at a festival filled with people, all wearing masks of various shapes that covered parts or all of their faces. It felt like a masquerade party, but the difference was that our outfits were more casual, reflecting individual styles.“This is fun. This way, no one will recognize us here,” I smiled, looking at him as he glanced back at me. "We can move around more freely… Did you plan all of this before we came for the vacation?"He shook his head. "No, I just happened to remember about the festival when we were on our way. It’s a nice place, right? Especially with our house not far from here."I nodded. At first, I thought we’d spend our vacation mostly in his spacious holiday house or occasionally playing by the water and sand at the beach, just like a busy couple finally getting a rare chance to relax. But something else
Nicole's POVMaybe life is a joke deliberately thrown at me or a curse that keeps repeating with no end. Or perhaps the man sitting calmly next to me is just a stalker.I had yet to learn how he managed to find me here. This vacation wasn't even planned, and within less than a day, Matthew and I were already on our way. It seemed only possible for him to know my whereabouts if he had been following me from the beginning."Why are you here?" I asked, giving him a sharp, disapproving look.He seemed surprised, straightening up and pointing at himself. "Can you recognize me even with this mask? Impressive."I fell silent, realizing I had made a mistake by asking him that. I had forgotten he was wearing a mask and hadn’t spoken a word since sitting down. My only clue was his eyes, which would be hard for anyone else to recognize, but not for me.I grew frustrated at the realization. After all, I’ve known him for years, and that fact couldn’t be erased. But I shouldn’t have asked—I should
Nicole's POV“Mom!” Richard greeted me enthusiastically as soon as I returned from vacation. He seemed so excited that he ran over to me. We hugged for a moment before walking hand in hand toward the house. I glanced at him, my cheerful little boy smiling back at me. “I brought you some souvenirs, Richard,” I said, showing him my shopping bags. “Wow, what’s in here, Mom?” he asked, taking the bag and looking up at me. I smiled, gently brushing his hair. “You can open it later.” “I got you a souvenir too, Richard,” Matthew said, stepping out behind me. Richard turned toward him, seemingly just now noticing the man in glasses who had been with us the whole time. He smiled and accepted the shopping bag my fiancé handed him. “Thanks, Uncle. I like getting lots of gifts,” he said, looking at us both briefly before letting go of my hand and walking ahead. I glanced at Matthew, who looked slightly disappointed by my son’s reaction but then turned to me. I smiled to reassure h
Nicole's POV“Nicole?” I heard my father call, bringing me back to reality. I looked at him again, offering an awkward smile since my mind was still scattered by his words about Richard and that man who seemed to cause trouble once again. “Yes, Dad?” “Were you listening to me?” I nodded. I still couldn’t believe my son was continuing the plan we once discussed, which I later stopped to keep him from doing something dangerous on his own. Even though my son had assured me that no one would ever learn about his actions, I couldn’t allow such behaviour to become a habit, especially for someone as smart as him. He had a future ahead of him, and I couldn’t let him ruin it by guiding him toward the wrong path. However, aside from my son, the other thing on my mind was the man—Chris. I was surprised to learn that someone as reckless as him could remain mature in front of my son when he usually acted the opposite toward everyone around him, especially me and my fiancé. My father wa
Nicole's POVI stared at Richard, who still hadn’t answered, his head bowed to avoid looking directly at me. Gently, I touched his chin and lifted it slowly so our eyes could meet again. “Will you still go through with your plan even after I’ve spoken to you like this?” I asked. After a moment, he finally shook his head. Confusedly, He looked at me. “How did you know about my plan? I didn’t tell anyone, not even Grandpa or Key.” I let out a quiet sigh, softly stroking his hair before cupping his cheeks, my gaze still full of concern. I felt relieved that he had admitted his plan to me before meeting with that man, but my suspicions about his intentions had been correct. “I’m your mother, Richard. I carried you, gave birth to you, and raised you before the servants, Grandpa, and Key helped take care of you. Of course I know.” He held my hands on his face, gently pulling them away as he spoke, his gaze fixed on them. “I just wanted to cause a little trouble at his company, Mom
Nicole's POVA month had passed, and the relationship between my son and that man had progressed quite well. Today was the fourth time they would meet and spend time together without me being there.During their first meeting, my son admitted that he still disliked the man who had caused so much trouble and chaos in our lives. But over time, as their routine encounters continued, he tolerated everything that had happened."His robots are of much better quality than before, Mom," my son mentioned as I visited him in his room after work.I nodded. "Are you talking about the robots you criticized in front of him?""Yeah. It seems like he really took my suggestions seriously and used them well." He snickered softly. "Of course, it worked because I experimented with the staff a lot."I smiled and gently ruffled his hair, praising him.Besides conversations like this, my son never shared any positive impressions of their meetings. But after the second meeting and beyond, he stopped speaking
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,