“Whoa, finally....”
“Thanks for coming to help us move in, Sarah.”
“Hey, don't hesitate to ask for help.”
“But we had just moved into Jordyn's parents' house, and suddenly we were moving into our house again. You helped us unpack and rearrange our things.”
“We are best friends,” Sarah hugged Shanon's shoulders tightly.
“Don't hesitate to ask for help. I will be angry if you don't ask for my help at all.”
“Aw, that's so sweet.”
Shanon wiped the sweat dripping down her forehead. The cold air outside couldn't cool her body, which was hot and covered in sweat from working cleaning the house since morning. She and Avery finally decided to return to their house after occupying Jordyn's parents' house for a month. Jordyn turned down the rent she was paying. Shanon had been forcing him, but Jordyn was adamant that he didn't want to take the money, and neither
"She's pregnant."“Yeah, we've discussed that before.”“This time with the confidence that it is mine.”“And what's the problem?”Anthony looked at Doctor Jarvis like, seriously? Why are you asking me questions that I don't know the answer to?“I was hoping you could give me the answer, doc.”“You are the source of the problem itself. That's my answer.”"Thanks, but that doesn't help at all."“Of course, it helps you to solve your problems. You can introspect yourself. Only you know yourself well.”“I'm trying. But it never worked.”Suddenly, the comfortable leather chair became uncomfortable. It was as if he was sitting on a chair filled with sharp thorns. Anthony shifted restlessly in his chair. He had a panic attack when he tried to think about future plans for Shanon and their future baby.“I am a destroye
Anthony glanced at his watch, and it was indeed time for dinner. It couldn't be denied that he missed Shanon's cooking and the warm atmosphere of dinner at the dining table. Lately, he always ate at restaurants because he was sick of eating dinner alone in his very quiet house. He used to think it was normal. But, since Shanon came into his life, having dinner alone in his quiet house became very abnormal."Okay. It's best if you don't owe me a favor."Anthony stepped out first and ran around to open the door for Shanon. Anthony used his jacket to protect Shanon's body from the rain because Shanon's yard didn't have a canopy.That was the first time Anthony had entered Shanon's house. He had never seen the inside of the house because, in the past, he only talked to Yvone at the door. After passing through the main door, Anthony found a living room with a set of ivory sofas and a colorful, flower-patterned carpet usually sold at Ikea. The walls around the living
Two days later, everything was back to normal. Shanon and Avery decided to end their cold war after more than twenty-four hours of ceasefire. They didn't chat with each other at breakfast. Throwing insults at each other about who was stupid and who was naive for bringing Anthony home. Shanon avoided Avery when Avery was at home and didn't want to talk to her at all. Avery felt she was innocent, and she didn't want to be blamed by Avery.After a day living like hell, Avery began to realize that she was wrong. She had treated Anthony harshly when he had done nothing wrong. She felt bad because she had kicked out someone who had escorted her sister home safely in the middle of a rainstorm that pounded Boston.In the morning at breakfast, Avery deliberately waited for Shanon to come down to the dining table. She spoke as an older sister who had done wrong to her sister and she apologized. Avery explained that she came home in a bad condition. One of her customers stole sev
There was no response from inside after a while. Shanon tried to push the door open. The room was pitch dark. There were no lights on in the room and the curtains were drawn tightly. Shanon put her paperbag on the table. Her gaze focused on the mound under the blanket."What are you doing here?"Shanon gasped in surprise at hearing Anthony's hoarse voice under the blanket. The mound under the blanket began to move. Shanon then pressed the light switch. A very dazzling light illuminated the entire room.“Turn off the damn lights. You're going to blind me, huh?”Shanon ignored the whining and walked over to him. Anthony rolled himself under the blanket like a baby. He shivered from the cold, but tried to move away when Shanon touched his forehead."You have a fever?"Shanon's palms felt cool against his hot skin. Anthony never imagined Shanon would see him in such an embarrassing state due to illness."This must be because y
When he woke up, Anthony found his room pitch black. The curtains were still wide open and swaying gently in the wind. The sky outside had turned pitch black with a few stars.Anthony swung his legs out of bed. He walked to the bathroom to wash his face and rinse his mouth. His entire mouth tasted bitter. He dried his face with a towel and looked at his reflection in the mirror. Shanon was right, that he was very messy and pale. He had very dark eye bags hanging under his.Anthony then decided to take a shower. Two days without water, he was like an ornamental plant that was about to wilt. Anthony washed his sticky hair, he shaved, and he changed Shanon's dad's clothes into a comfortable pair of his own pajamas.Half an hour later, Anthony was sitting alone in the kitchen. He felt much better than he had this morning when he opened his eyes. Again, Shanon was right that she would feel better when she woke up after taking the medicine. But if it weren't for Shano
"Oh, are you her husband?""Yes. She is my wife," Anthony pretended to put his arm around Shanon's shoulder.“I'm sorry darling, it's hard to get a parking space here.”“O-oh, I'm fine.”Shanon slowly removed Anthony's arm from her shoulders. She ignored Anthony's growl of protest and pretended to be busy answering questions from the receptionist to fill in the personal data form."Okay, I will call your name when it's your turn. Please sit in the waiting chair.""Thank You."Shanon walked towards the row of waiting chairs, still ignoring Anthony who was following her angrily.“Seriously, are you ignoring me?”“What are you doing here, Anthony?”"What do you think?""I don't know. You suddenly appeared and chose an obgyn for me as if you had the right to do so. Seriously?"“I do have the right to do so,” Anthony tilted his chin up arrogantly
Wednesday, and the day after the annoying fight in Anthony's car, Shanon was huddled in a corner of the campus library with a laptop and a stack of textbooks to help her formulate her thesis conclusion. Her fingers typed smoothly on the keyboard. The calmness made her relax and helped her concentrate on writing her thesis.Shanon could hardly imagine that her adventure in taking the master's program was almost over. With all the tears she had shed, all of them would be rewarded with her success in achieving a master's degree. Within one month, she would present the results of her research in front of all the students and lecturers of the master's program, including Anthony and the campus council.Thinking about it made Shanon's stomach churn, and she felt like throwing up. She repeatedly covered her mouth with the palm of her hand as her stomach churned even worse. Nervousness made her unable to concentrate on typing some words on her laptop.Half an hour later,
"What time does your sister get off work?""Usually it's six or seven o'clock if she has to take stock of goods in the warehouse.""Okay. We have about two hours.”“Excuse me, we?” Shanon asked skeptically.“There is no more we. You're on your own. I have nothing to do with your business. So, take me home, and then it's up to you how you meet Avery.""Are you still angry because of our argument yesterday?"“I'm mad at you for everything. Not just because of our argument yesterday."“I want the best for you. For your safety and our child's safety, I want you to stop working at the club.”“Who do you think you are? How dare you control my life? This child is my responsibility,” Shanon hugged her stomach defensively.They had only left the campus parking lot for five minutes, and they were already arguing in the car. Anthony didn't know how he could rec
Her marriage was in turmoil. Shanon almost believed her wedding was canceled because Anthony couldn't come to his own wedding. Isn't that crazy? The main character couldn't attend his own wedding!Shanon was stressed about handling all the wedding preparations alone while Anthony was in Singapore to attend a damn conference which he said was very important to him. Anthony delegated all his responsibilities to Shanon and only gave a few short confirmations via telephone every time Shanon called to ask about several things related to their wedding. Anthony then asked Ben to do things that Shanon couldn't do herself because she was pregnant. Anthony promised to arrive in Boston the day before their wedding, and he asked Shanon to calm down.But, the day before their wedding, Anthony didn't show up at the airport at all. Shanon, who had been haunted by worry for weeks, tried to call Anthony to ask for clarity about his return. To her surprise, Anthony gave her some very ba
"Turn right."“No. We still have to walk straight over there.”“But I want to see the baby crib here.”"There is a baby shop that makes the best quality baby cribs there."Shanon folded her arms across her chest. Her eyes narrowed at Anthony.“Well, I keep forgetting the fact that I'm going to marry a man who bathes in a thousand dollar soap. You obviously couldn't possibly buy a baby crib at Ikea.”“Don't be so skeptical about my life, Shanon. I just want the best for my son.”“I know, I know. I'm just not used to your very wow lifestyle."“I don't like you commenting skeptically on my lifestyle. Like it or not, you have to get used to it from now on. You will live under me.”“Oh, really, Anthony. I want equality. What century do you think we live in, huh?”The two of them stood in front of the Ikea entrance and glanced at each other sa
“Deal.”“Nice doing business with you, Mr. Maddock.”Avery held out her hand to shake Tim Maddock's hand. They ended the meeting with satisfied smiles on each of their faces because they managed to reach an agreement on their next project. Tim Maddock then walked away, leaving Avery who still remained in the restaurant to pack up her things.“Avery? What a coincidence, huh?”Avery looked up. She just gathered the documents and put them in the briefcase. Her face lit up when she saw who had just greeted her.“Jordyn. Hey, what are you doing here?”“Umm... Lunch. Actually, it's not really lunch. I only ordered coffee because I was trying to build a good image in front of people I had just met.”“So, do you want to have lunch with me? I haven't eaten anything since just now.”"That is a good idea. You saved me from starvation. Thanks, Ave.”&ldquo
A month after the graduation party, which was full of drama and showers of congratulations from her friends, Shanon still couldn't come out of her euphoria. She welcomed the day with joy and the promise of a better future. Every morning she woke up and realized the fact that she was Anthony's fiancé. Formally. There was no secret. Everyone knew for sure that she belonged to Anthony, and vice versa. Just imagining it, her life became lighter than before. Negative thoughts disappeared in an instant from her brain."Good morning."“Hi, princess. You look really excited.”Shanon kissed her sister's cheek briefly. Avery had been sitting at the dining table since seven o'clock. She was ready in a formal suit, a black bag sat on the empty chair next to her, and she had a cup of coffee on the table.“I'm always excited. What would you like for breakfast?”“You don't need to bother making me breakfast. You prepared me br
I apologize....Shanon turned off her phone before she read the entire message Anthony had just sent her. Just seeing the word at the opening of the message, she could already guess that the message would end badly. Something like, Anthony couldn't be there on her graduation day and couldn't see her throw her cap in the air.“He sucks,” Shanon muttered under her breath.She squeezed her phone before stuffing it into her bag.She and hundreds of students from various departments were gathering in the main hall of the university to celebrate their graduation. Shanon had worn her best dress along with a black robe and academic cap. Avery put on light make-up and put on soft pink lipstick, which made her look even more stunning. Unfortunately, Anthony couldn't come to complete her happiness today. Though she really hoped that Anthony would come to see her go up on stage and make a speech on behalf of the hun
“Cheers.”“Oh man, is this party necessary?”“Of course it is necessary. Let's have a toast.”Shanon lazily clinked her glass with Sarah's. Hers had apple juice, while Sarah's had beer. Her house was very noisy tonight because Sarah and Jordyn threw a party to celebrate her graduation. Shanon officially completed her master's program and graduated with the best grades. They insisted on celebrating with a party because Shanon deserved the best graduation party. An hour ago, they came to her house with three boxes of pizza, several boxes of Thai food and Chinese food. They also ordered fries and burgers. The living room table had turned into a party table with a variety of food that they couldn't possibly finish that night.“I feel like you guys shouldn't throw me a party.”Shanon looked at Anthony with a frown. Anthony had just arrived after Sarah called him to join them. Anthony didn't need to think t
“This is the time.”Shanon released her hug from Sarah. She wiped the tears dripping down her cheeks.“I'm sure you can, Shanon. Show them who you really are.”“Thank you, Sarah. You're my best friend. I wouldn't have been able to get through all of this without you.”“We love you, Shanon.”Shanonh turned to look at Jordyn. She then snuggled into his warm embrace."Wish me luck."Shanon walked into the hall with extremely impressive calm. The campus council and lecturers had gathered in the hall to test her. They were all there, except Anthony. Shanon was sad because she couldn't see Anthony this morning in the hall. But, an hour ago they had spoken on the phone. Anthony regretted that he couldn't be there for her when the campus council chewed her out. Anthony promised to always support her from afar.“Are you ready, Shanon?”“Yes, Mr. Angelo.”
“Jane Heather.”"Who are you?"Jane frowned in annoyance at finding an uninvited guest suddenly entering her room and locking the door, as if she had given her permission to do so."I'll call security to drag you away from here and report your impoliteness to—""Who? Those damn campus councils? They won't hear you. They are busy crushing Anthony and Shanon.”“Where are your manners? Call him Professor Bruce.”"Not anymore. He was no longer a professor since the rusty campus board fired him. They stripped Anthony of all his titles. Now, he is just an ordinary guy. Without any title.”"You must be kidding."“Do I look like I'm kidding now?”Jane studied the woman's face closely and she suddenly snapped her fingers.“I know who you are. You're from the economics department. You're one of Anthony's students. I see you always stick with the other woman."
After disappearing from civilization for two days, Shanon decided it was time for her to face all the problems she had left hanging in limbo.For two whole days she just holed herself up in her room. She removed her cellphone battery and did not want to be exposed to the outside world in any form. Her mind created all kinds of terrible scenarios about her life and future. Avery had tried to persuade her many times to come out of her room, but she ignored her. She used two full days to think. She wanted to blame Anthony for all the problems that happened to her. Before she got involved with Anthony’s life, everything was normal. Her only misfortune was having a very cruel stepmother like Yvone.But, after she got involved with Anthony, things got out of hand. She experienced a series of events that she had never imagined before. Including the problems she was currently facing. She never thought that she would be in danger of failing to get a master's degree just b