[Camari]“Finally!!!” cheered Jasmine excitedly. “We're at the beach!”I just shook my head as I watched her run toward the shore. We arrived in Honolulu an hour ago. Our flight was smooth, and the plane landed safely. The distance between the airport and the hotel was pretty close. So, we checked in, stored our luggage, and came here in no time.Jasmine couldn't wait to touch the sand. I let her do what she wanted while I stared far out to sea. I hadn't seen nature in a long time. In the three years I was married to Farrell, we didn't travel.I didn't even remember taking a vacation while working at Bloom Enterprise. I was a workaholic to show my parents what I could do. I wanted them to be proud of me and appoint me as Dad's successor without hesitation.“I'm hungry. Come on, let's eat.” Jasmine took my hand and pulled me towards the hotel.“I thought you'd keep playing with sand and building castles until bedtime,” I teased.She laughed. “I have three more days to play in the sand a
I felt terrible since discussing her with Jasmine at work. I regret not forgiving her mistake that night. Even though what she did was evil, I understood her. Thankfully, I met her in this place.“Hi, Emily!” Jasmine and I replied. We approached her. “Are you on vacation alone?” asked Jasmine.“I'm not. I'm with my parents and family.” She pointed at the group inside the store. “Are you two on vacation together?”“Yes. Since Camari's single again, I invited her to look for a man in this place,” Jasmine admitted.“And Jasmine was the lucky one,” I added.“Emily, are they your friends?” a woman asked. We turned to her.“Yes, Mom,” Emily replied.“Hi, Mrs. McFadden. Hi, Mr. McFadden,” Jasmine and I greeted the couple.We chatted for a while, introducing ourselves. Emily’s parents encouraged her to leave with us. Her mother would continue the activities with the rest of their family. We welcomed the suggestion and took Emily with us.“Are you serious that I'm not intruding?” asked Emily,
She chose a restaurant, so I followed her car into the parking lot. I turned to Nicole, who had parked her motorcycle not far from me. I walked into the restaurant with her.Unlike the previous conversation, the waiter took me to a room. It seemed like the woman had something secret she wanted to discuss with me. I sat down and didn't order anything when the waiter asked. He excused himself after asking us to wait for the order to be delivered.“Well? What do you want to talk to me about?” I asked, seeing her only stare at me. ”Don't get mad because I'm having dinner at Grandpa's house. He invited me to announce your son’s wedding with his true love.”“I regret the meeting, but I'm more disappointed with how you caught Farrell's attention.” She looked intently at my clothes and hair. “So, is this my son's weakness?”I laughed amusedly. “What? What you're looking at is not Farrell's weakness that I mentioned the other night, Eleanor, but his favorite.”“I should have realized you were w
[Otis]The world was unfair. I had to suffer from rejection from my siblings and father and being bullied by friends at school and in the neighborhood. Growing up, people didn't change the way they looked at me.Yet those who hurt me seemed to forget what they had done in the past. How could she greet me and invite me to dinner without any guilt? She even smiled when she asked me to chat over a meal.What did she want to discuss with me? Did she want to mention all the horrible things she had done to me during school? The change in her demeanor must be because I appeared in public with a better status. I couldn't believe Emma would look at me, let alone say hello if I was penniless.“Are we going home, sir?” asked Jasper after he sat behind the steering wheel.“Yes.” I opened the tablet screen and checked the incoming messages.I was focused on checking the stock condition when the car suddenly stopped. Fortunately, we were still in the office neighborhood, so Jasper wasn't driving fa
I accepted the phone and looked at the screen. There was a picture of me and Camari sitting together at the wedding blessing. The headline surprised me. I scanned the content and huffed.I returned the phone and picked up mine on the bed. I tried calling Jasper again. He still hadn't answered. Oh, God. Could something have happened to him and Nicole? My head suddenly throbbed. Oh, no. Please answer your phone.“Jasper and Nicole aren't answering your calls?” she guessed.I nodded in frustration. “I'm sorry.”“You're not guilty. I'm at fault. You told me this wasn't a good idea, but I insisted. I'm sorry.” She lowered her head and closed her eyes. “I shouldn't have let my heart decide my actions.”“There's no point in regretting what happened, Camari. We have to think of a solution to this problem.” I tried to contact Jasper, and he still hadn't answered. “We'd better get out of here.” I waited until she stood up and then walked towards the door.I opened it and checked the corridor. We
[Camari]I couldn't believe Bella would go that low. She invited me over just to set me up. I didn't listen to what the people closest to me said twice and experienced awful things twice. I was such a fool.Mom and Dad must have been disappointed to see the news about me. Because of that, I was afraid to check missed calls and messages on the phone. The only thing I was brave enough to open was the news to know what happened. I didn't expect it to go viral in the media.Thankfully, I had friends who cared about me. Jasmine, Brad, Russell, and Emily were on hand to help Otis and me out of the hotel. Reporters swarmed not only the hotel but also the apartment and office. Ridiculous.I was nobody since my divorce from Farrell. The media had only shown the news about me as it was, unlike the news about Farrell and Bella, which made the front page. But one scandal and reporters were hunting for news about me.The solution to this problem was simple. I knew what the culprit wanted. She want
[Otis]My whole body trembled with anger. My heart was beating so fast, deafening my ears. I tried to control myself at Brad's club and in the car. I couldn't even reply to Camari's goodbye.Nicole was accompanying Camari in her unit. So I could talk alone with Jasper. I couldn't believe he was that careless. He wasn't someone guarding me for a year or two. He had been my bodyguard for ten years.I took a deep breath as I stood by the sofa, then sat down after exhaling. I mustn't shout and let my emotions get the better of me. The discussion topic was a big problem that needed to be solved with a cool head.“I'm sorry, sir,” Jasper said for the umpteenth time. He stood beside me as he bowed his head deeply.“Are you doing this to win a bet?” I asked without emotion.“Bet?” Jasper asked in confusion. He gasped. "You mean about our bet? Sir, Nicole and I didn't expect our drinks or food to contain drugs. You know I’ve never neglected my duties intentionally.""Two million dollars is a l
I was relieved that Camari spoke first. We hadn't discussed this after parting ways in the elevator because we hadn't expected our parents to come. I didn't even expect Father to tell me to marry Camari.I was a forty-year-old grown man, not a seventeen-year-old teenager. Seriously. Why would my parents still interfere with my life choices? Especially since he never wanted to know if I was alive or dead.“What do you have to say, Camari?” Father asked."Otis and I need to talk. Our future is our responsibility. I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I need to discuss it with him before I decide,” Camari explained."Okay. We're moving to—” James looked around him."No. Otis and I will talk outside. You guys stay here." Camari stood up. “Come on, Otis.”I looked around me before getting off the couch. Jasper and Nicole followed us out of the apartment. Camari walked to the elevator and stopped. She looked at her unit door before letting out a long breath.“I don't want to marry you,” Cama