CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ONE (PART TWO)
==
The new house was bigger than his previous house, the layout is different too and so is the design. It was obviously new painted and some of the furniture just arrived earlier. But even though new, the kitchen was already stuffed with foods and drinks. Knowing this, both headed there as Tyler still look tired.
She told him to sit down while she prepares coffee and his food. He tried to tell her that it wasn’t necessary, but she insisted. He had no heart to tell her he already ate and waited patiently. Tyler obediently sat down and removed his coat then made it hang on the backrest of his chair then watched her maneuver the kitchen. When she was done preparing and sliding the food and the cup of coffee to him, she sat down directly across him.
“So, what are we?”
Tyler almost spit out the coffee he was drinking aft
==CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWO==Plop, plop, plop.Althea looked outside the window as the plopping sound of the falling drops of the rain slaps on it. It was tidbits at first, slow and small amount of water, until the sounds of falling and plopping become denser and packed.It was pouring. The sky was dark as the black, thick clouds were covering the moon. All the streetlights were foggy and barely lighting because of the heavy rain. The downpour was sudden, as it was; many people started rushing to seek shelters in the nearby sheds or just simply run to get into their respective households.“Althea? What are you doing there? It’s cold!”Althea turned towards the voice and saw her mother walking towards her with a worried expression. She had a thick blanket hanging on her shoulder. On her hands were two steaming cups of, she think
==CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWO (PART TWO)=="Rise and shine my dear daughter!"Althea groaned as her sleep was interrupted. She cracked her eyes open and saw her mother beaming down on her. She furrowed her eyebrows."Where are you going mom?" Althea asked when she saw her wearing clothes that she don’t usually wear inside the house. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table and noticed that it was only 9 in the morning. "And why are you waking me up too soon?"Her question made her grin from ear to ear.‘I have a bad feeling about this-’“We are going out!” Alannah said with full enthusiasm. Without even waiting for her daughter’s response, she began pulling the sheets off from her body. “Come, come, you stand up and take a bath, you’ve been holed up in this room for four weeks alread
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWO (PART THREE)==The Grahams family is not just known for their flower shop in the town. They are also known as the family of three with beautiful people. Their daughter might be a snob at the most times but she never fails to help the people in need.The same goes for her mother, Alannah Grahams, she’s helpful and generous to people, and sometimes she overdone it. The only thing that differs between the mother and daughter was their demeanor.Althea is cold and sometimes snobbish, meanwhile Alannah is the complete opposite of her. She’s cheery and the real life definition of a walking sun and ball of happiness.Her father on the other hand her father- Michael Grahams- is a mixture of both. A snobby but sometimes smiling man. He might not be that caring to others but they still like him as it was obvious that he loves his family more
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THREE==“Thank you for looking after Kai mom,”“It's nothing, Tyler. I really like this kid. He’s smart but at the same time innocent at things.” He heard her laugh on the other line. Her mother’s laughter also made him smile.“He is, really.” Tyler agreed. He shifted his weight by leaning on the backrest of the chair inside his room.His eyes quietly wandered across the room and landed on the bed where a person was sleeping soundly under the snowy covers.He watched it rise and fall according to the person’s breathing. The room was dimly lit
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FOUR==“What do you want?” Tyler immediately asked after closing the door behind him.He was just outside the living room and caught one of his guards and maid flirting with each other just outside. His head throbbed after seeing this, luckily, the two noticed him and fled before he could say anything.“Tyler! I’ve been wanting to contact you after what happened at the hotel…! Hun, did you also miss me…? I miss you a lot. Please come back, why aren’t you in the house, huh? Hun…” Sheryl was frantic at first, but she went with her usual sweetly sickening voice right after.He sighed in irritation and exhaustion. He knew that this would happen. “Sheryl, listen. I’ve been doing well. And I am sure you know about it. And no, I didn't miss you at all, not a bit, and please, just please
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIVE==“Explain why you’re here.” Tyler said sternly.Sharon flinched at the coldness of her boss’s voice and silently took a sideway glance at him. Although it wasn’t directed to her, she can feel his surpassed anger in his voice.It wasn’t that hidden and controlled at all, as his jaws were clenching and his brows were furrowed in a dissatisfied manner.Only a fool cannot see and notice his obvious fury.And, well, we have an idiot present in the room.“Don’t be like this t
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIX==She never thought that it would hurt like this. But the feeling of being betrayed twice makes her want to laugh at herself.Being cheated once; shame on him- get cheated twice; shame on you.Althea gritted her teeth after seeing flashbacks of the past. Why do things like this keep on happening to her?But unlike the past, he now has an explanation to say other than he ‘fell out of love’.It's better to be good or she’ll end this for good.“... I… Why won't you sit down first…?” Tyler asked with hesitation.Althea felt her head throbbed at that, and before she knew it, she already sent a flying slap to his chest.“Stop fucking playing with me.” She said angrily.“I am not, I just wanted you to sit
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SEVEN:==The door slammed open, causing its entire frame to shake. Sharon was startled although she already anticipated this to happen after forwarding the words of the security to him.‘Someone was fighting inside an elevator. A woman and two men.’At first, she was confused who they were and was hesitating to tell him as she thought that it was a trivial matter and she can deal it herself but seeing the actual footage and after the security personnel told her that it was the woman who just visited the boss, her hesitation dispersed into bubbles, and she passed the words to the still down Tyler.“Where is she?” Tyler immediately asked his secretary while taking big steps towards the elevator. Sharon was ahead of him to press the button of the elevator.“She’s at the security’s room together with
---I did what I was ordered to, and when I finally got to the bottom of it…What the fuck?“I knew things would be interesting if I keep him by my side.” Startled, I looked at my sister who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She was looking at the photo with interest in her eyes. She looked at me. “Erase every record the police had or anything within Victoria’s reach, we can’t have her figuring out everything before I can have my fun of them destroying each other.”“Hmmm,” I glanced at her. “Isn’t she your friend?”“Friend?” She smiled, appearing innocent. “I don’t have anything like that. Father banned that word to us, brother.”“... If that’s what you say.”“Good!” She turned and stretched her body. “Ahh, I can’t wait to see Sheryl get destroyed by the man she loves. Or maybe, it would be mutual destruct
—“Is that your fiance?” I asked as soon as I sneaked at her back, wanting to scare her.“Stop doing that!” She yelled at me. I laughed at her, telling her sorry. She clicked her tongue before nodding. “He is. Handsome, right?”“Hmm?” I pretended to think about it. “Not really.”She scoffed. “Really.”She turned her back on me and continued her work, facing the paper works that were piled on her table. She was 15.I stood behind her, looking at the man on her table.From the day I knew that all along, she was the leader, I decided to stay and look after her. When I told her about my decision, the pause she had was short but eye-catching. Before I could register the pause and understand the meaning behind it, she answered my words with a smile.‘I will be glad to have you under me.’ Her smile was pretty chilling, more bone-numbing than our father’s s
—I am older than her by 5 years, and I remember her looking at me from behind. Normally, one should feel happy to know that someone was looking at their back, admiring them, but that’s not the case with me.Every time I look back, turn to look at her over my shoulder, every time I caught her eyes, I can’t help but shudder:She feels the same as our father.We were only half-siblings. We have the same father, but that’s not the case with mothers.My mother died when I was four, then our father brought another woman into the house after that. That woman was Charlotte’s mother. She was warm and kind. I remember her talking to me a few times.‘Charles, even though you don’t have my blood, please think of me as your mother too.’ She said one time when I tried avoiding her in fear that she wanted me dead. That was what most people who wanted to seize my father’s power would do if they were in her position
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (10)“He is so cute…!”Days had passed since the birth of her son. Althea was peeking at him with a glass wall between them. She still has IVs in her hand, and she hasn’t recovered most of her energy yet, but she seems like she was overflowing with one.She had her palms against the glass, Althea feels like looking from where she was is not enough, she wanted to slip through the wall and hold him. But it was still not safe, so she held the urge in.A bracelet on her son, the letters were a little bit incomprehensible, but she can read them. It was the name of her son:Alexander Kai GrahamAlthea felt giddy, she can’t wait to hold him in her arms soon.“He’s your son?”“Yes,” Althea responded without thought. When she realized what she had
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (09)—Blood was trickling down.Plop, plop, plop.Bead-shaped blood fell from her private area continuously. It seems like someone pressed the pause button of the world; Althea felt everyone in the supermarket stopped moving.‘No.’ She thought to herself as she watched the blood slowly forming into a puddle beneath her feet. She can feel the hot liquid trailing down her legs. ‘This can’t be!’This day is supposedly like the normal days she had. Strolling around and buying things she thinks she wants. But in the middle of it, she just suddenly felt it come down.She’s only six months pregnant.“Oh my god!” A lady came to her, holding her shoulders in worry. Her eyes were on the blood, aghast. “You are bleeding!”
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (08)—She didn't think of it anymore and immediately set an appointment for the abortion.The next day, she went to the center and waited in line.Althea was all covered up, afraid that someone might recognize her in this hospital. She was pale, she had to deal with the morning sickness alone, and she had no idea what to do the whole time because, in her previous pregnancy, her mother was there.Now she was alone, dealing with everything she doesn’t want to.Althea wants to sob and to get everything over with. She can’t believe she committed a grievous sin to her friend. If only she didn’t get tempted with the money, things would not escalate like this.‘It’s all his fault,’ she galed at the entrance of the hospital where few people were going in and out. ‘He fooled me!’
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (07)—“A brothel?” Althea asked as soon as she entered the place. Her eyes wandered around and she felt overwhelmed by the red hue of the place. The lights, the atmosphere, the people. Everything here was new to her. She doesn’t know what to feel.“First time here?” The lady in heels asked. She gestured to someone far away by her hand and the other nodded before leaving their sight. “Don’t be nervous, you will only be entertaining guests… Why you don’t want to? It’s money, you know.”Selling myself. If it was her in the past, she would strongly disagree and storms off from here. But now, she has nothing but emptiness, she abandoned her pride and morals. She doesn’t have any desire to live anyway. This much won’t hurt her.“Anything’s fine,” Althea said, her
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (06)“What happened to you?” Altheaopened her eyes and saw a fuzzy scene. There were heads in front of her peeking at her from above. Althea could not recognize the features of the faces, but she knew they were medical workers because of their uniforms. It was the uniforms that the nurses and the doctors wear that she sees every time she goes to the hospital for check-ups and visits to her father.“You have been stabilized…” She heard muffled voices as if she was submerged in an ocean, waters entering her ear canals. She tried to move, but her body was too heavy like lead. She gave up and remained still, still unable to do anything, not even talk.“The man who found you and sent you here already paid for the medical bills…”‘What are they talking about?’ Althea had no clue. ‘It seems important.
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (05)“Do you like it?” The man asked Althea who was silent with her head bowed. “Do you like it?”“...” She had no response.His eyebrows twitched. He dislikes being ignored despite ignoring people.He bends down and held her chin to look at him forcefully. “Hey, little mouse, I am asking you a question. Do you like it?”“...” She still had no response.With eyebrows raised, he stood up and stretched his arms. “Sigh! After all, we did to repaint the wall, that blood only amounted to that much. It wasn’t even able to cover one-fourth of the wall. So regrettable! Now, the little fierce rat is not fierce anymore…”He glanced down, his cold eyes looking at the woman who was sitting on the cold ground motionlessly. “She can’t even appreciate our