Nicole's POVI don't know what I've done to be rewarded like this all this time.Did I unknowingly make a mistake in the past, or did it happen in a previous life? I have to experience this kind of miserable thing again. Too many times. Everything that hurt me from a few years ago was already excruciating, and so was this time.On the one hand, I didn't want to be in this place, amongst the pouring rain with the many black umbrellas used by the mourners, but on the other hand, I had to be there to say goodbye to him.The unconscious, bespectacled man eventually decided to really go. The doctor's attempts to save him were unsuccessful, and his own life eventually disappeared.My gaze fell on the grave a few steps ahead of me. A carved and new-looking coffin was nearby, ready to be inserted. A few songs rang out until the coffin, to be the man's final resting place, was entirely covered by dirt.I would never be able to see that man's sweet, warm smile, his gentle gaze or his voice agai
Nicole's POVI was with Benny. A glass was between us, and we were sitting face to face. He looked calm, while my gaze was cold when I talked to him."Are you satisfied now, Mr. Thompson? Matthew is dead, and you ended up in prison."I deliberately asked him that, thinking that the old man would at least feel sad about his son's death, but he didn't. I could see the smirk forming on his pale lips, and his voice sounded hoarse when he decided to respond to my words.He snorted quickly. "Aren't you the one who should be feeling sorry, Miss Nicole?"I paused, automatically squeezing the hands on my lap. I did feel that way before I decided to come here, not because of the bespectacled man's death but because of the relationship between us that could have ended better without his father.Many things could have connected us, like my dead twin brother. Matthew would have known much about him, and maybe we could have reminisced about him and become close friends. However, our relationship wo
Nicole's POVI walked with Chris and Richard as a family. Although, in the eyes of the law, we were not related at all, this walk together had been planned a few days ago. The man and I agreed, while my son seemed to take our answer well."Ah, we're finally here." He said with relief.I smiled slightly, watching my son, who was staring at the shop in front of us. "Yes, you want to check out the shop that sells your robots yourself, right?""Hmm." He nodded. "I want to check it out with Mom. Mom needs to see what I did to my robots, and so does that guy. He has to see how good the robots I sell are because that guy had protested about some things regarding the robot making I did, but there's never been a problem so far."I nodded, knowing that my son has a perfectionist side in his robot-making. He always makes sure that nothing goes wrong in the final result of his robot prototype and the robots that are produced afterward.There are several stages of quality control, and he oversees
Nicole's POVWe were in front of the grave of someone I had just met. My father's gaze was fixed only on the name on the headstone, which read Catherine Duncan.Father held both of my shoulders with each hand, holding me quite tightly. His breathing sounded quite heavy to my ears, but his voice sounded soft when he spoke."Honey, this is our daughter, Nicole Duncan." She looked grim but tried to smile with the words she wanted to say after this. "I could only bring her here even though we've been seeing each other for a while. She's Natalie's twin that we didn't know about...."I could feel my father holding back his emotions by my side. His eyes looked teary, and his grip on my shoulder tightened slightly. He lightly rubbed my shoulder when he decided to continue. "She, our child, has been through a lot. It's a miracle I found him in such an unexpected situation, Catherine."My father poured out his heart to his wife and my mother, who had left his side long ago. Despite the decades
Nicole's POV"Isn't this the necklace that Mom once wore, Dad?"I looked at the necklace in my hand, which was very similar to the one in the painting of my mother with my father and Natalie. The eyes of the necklace were of a very pretty yellow gem.My father finally nodded. "Yes, this was your mother's. I kept it for Natalie to use someday...." He was lost for words for a moment. "I'm sorry. I only knew then that your twin sister was our only child, but then we met Nicole.""You are now my only child, with fate leading us and Richard back together as a family." The man smiled slightly. "That strange, familiar feeling when I first saw you was my premonition as a parent."I nodded, understanding that there was nothing wrong with my father's words. I didn't feel hurt at all by my father's words about my dead brother and their connection to the necklace.After all, my whereabouts were unknown until the operation that uncovered my identity as the missing child of the Duncan Family.I ret
Nicole's POVI was surprised by what Richard said. Old grandma. He could call only one person when it came to Chris."Give your phone to Chris, Richard," I said to him, trying to stay calm even though my pounding heart wouldn't let me.My son was like a world unto himself. He was my life since birth; he was the only thing I depended on to survive, even when the hitmen were chasing me until I had to be involved in an accident and was rescued by my father.If something happened to him because I wasn't by his side, I wasn't sure if I could live as usual or leave him in someone else's hands again.I was feeling very emotional right now. I had entrusted that man to have a meeting with my son, but right now, he was meeting that man's mother, with whom I had no good history.The man's voice was slightly audible on the phone, so I finally spoke. "Why did you let your mom meet with my son, Chris?""My mom came in unexpectedly. I kicked her out."I didn't immediately believe his words. The man
Nicole's POVRichard is the most important person in my life. He was my world and the only light I had when so much was happening. I knew something dangerous could happen if Nova, the man's mother, was in the same place as my son.She was one of the people I hated, and she mistreated me. We had met again when I became part of the Duncan Family, but that old woman's arrogant attitude remained the same.Anyone she considered inferior would continue to be seen that way, although she never did it overtly and hid her bad attitude behind her polite words. Anyone who was sensitive could figure it out well, including me.Imagining my mature and brave son and that woman I hated terrified me."Here we are, Miss-" I didn't hear the rest of the driver's words.I exited the car, slamming the door with increasing agitation as my footsteps quickly approached the man's residence. The house still looked the same and made me clench my fists tightly, but I didn't stop my steps until I arrived at the hou
Nicole's POVI exhaled slowly. I was at the bookstore my son wanted, following in his footsteps and Chris's, who seemed to have planned this first.The man looked happy, as did Richard, who walked ahead of us. He had his eye on a few books he wanted to buy and picked up more than I expected. That kid doesn't leave anything to chance, especially when it comes to something he loves besides robots and books.After starting his formal lessons, the boy grew thirsty for knowledge that neither his private teachers nor our family members taught him. He looked up everything he wanted on the Internet, but if that wasn't enough, the boy would jot down some book titles so he could buy them later.He looked at me after putting another book that the man had brought for him into the basket. "Mom! You should get some books too. Don't you love books as much as I do? It's been a while since you bought a book."I gave my son a faint smile. His words were true, but I didn't really want to linger here. My
Nicole's POVA few days passed, and we were about to prepare to leave and arrive at the airport, which was quite far from the residence.The Duncan family had a separate airstrip at the airport, so only a private plane and some crew would oversee our departure. Still, before that, I saw someone I didn't expect waiting near the plane and looking at us, specifically at me, intently.He'd obviously arrived before us.His gaze felt like I had done something wrong to him, which shouldn't have been possible since my son had already told him the necessary things so that he wouldn't misunderstand. Still, there seemed to be something that made him look that way.I tried to remain calm while Chris walked closer to us. He stopped in front of me, just staring at me which made me involuntarily swallow by seeing the feelings that appeared on his face."I had heard from Richard that you were going to leave this place, go back to your hometown to calm down, but...."The man looked at me with a furrow
Nicole's POV"So, Mom... did you leave me here?" Richard asked slightly tearfully. "Do you not love me anymore?"I shook my head. "Of course not, Richard. I love you and would take you with me, not leave you. You know how much I love spending time with you, don't you?""I know...." He nodded. "But, Mom...."My son looked silent. He was sitting opposite me, but I felt his presence far enough away from me that I wanted to reach out to him. I refrained from doing that. I wanted Richard to make a decision based on him, not just on my persuasion.I sighed very slowly, looking at my son who had his head bowed with both hands clenched on each knee."I know that what you're doing here is because you're interested in robots, creating a company in the same field and developing it. You've done it, Richard."I saw it for myself. Although we rarely met to talk about the business, I was always aware of my son's business progress through Key and the company's official website, which I visited from t
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