Moreau walked first. Deliberately widening her stride with a steady pace, but that did not deny that Abihirt would stop whatever she was doing. The man's touch on her wrist was a testament, then a tug left her stuck against the wall.
"You're angry." Abihirt's deep, raspy voice sounded almost like a whisper, filled with labored breathing when their faces were so close. Moreau swallowed roughly. Wishing she could forget some things, she deliberately turned her face away from looking directly into her stepfather's eyes. There was nothing to talk about for now. It would be useless if they tried to just build something that wasn't. "I know you're angry. Your mother used to act like this too." Abihirt spoke again, but Moreau was a little incredulous that the man would bring Barbara into the conversation. There was no correlation between her, who was trying to seem okay, trying not to explode at any significant time, and her mother who probably had some quirks and"Your skates, Sir...." A servant came to hand over something Abihirt had requested, but his attention was riveted straight on watching Moreau's beautiful form still moving on the ice. The girl was spinning. Moving her legs. Like surfing, but it all looked exactly the same awesome pattern. He remembered how he always played a video of his mother doing something similar. There was almost a resemblance. The only difference was that Moreau knew how to rebel, while there was the desperate variety of a woman who decided to end her life after facing the attitude of a cowardly husband—even as a father... the old bastard was irresponsible. Abihirt did not want to remember all the events that were listed as part of the worst of his life. A moment to turn his attention to the man who was still waiting for an answer. "Just put it down." Just a short order; done immediately, then the man walked backwards. At first there was no intention of just being here. H
"You often see me and Juan training and also attending tournaments. There seems to be another reason or do you have an interest here, hence the sponsorship of our activities?" she asked with some form of suspicion. Perhaps it was just curiosity. She was sure it must be someone with a particular interest to be able to do all this. "My mother was a figure skater." There was something strange in Abihirt's deep, raspy voice, but Moreau didn't understand where the correlation between something burdensome the man was feeling and what they had in common—meaning... the woman who had given birth to such a handsome man. "Wouldn't it be great if your mom was a figure skating ex. You can bring me to meet her and I can learn more—" "Do you want to meet her in the grave?" Just like that. Moreau was silent for a moment. She really never meant to or at least not to offend Abihirt. The man didn't say it from the start and made the information seem like a surprise.
"You closed it down? Wait...who are you? The owner of the mall?"Nor would she be able to hold back any longer. An overreaction that might have amused Abihirt, so much so that there was almost a smile before it was drowned out by a touch on the top of her head. "I am the highest shareholder." Abihirt replied calmly. The man was rich. Moreau understood, but never thought that her stepfather would be willing to sacrifice the most important part of his income just to have some fun; to enjoy the remaining time between them. "How big of a stake do you have to be this influential?" she asked again to make sure something might sound more reasonable. "95%." Damn it, Moreau was stunned for a moment. It wasn't just a share, but there was a trend where Abihirt's position was almost at the line of complete owner of a mall of this size. "You're not afraid of losing your mall profits just because you want to have an affair here?" Not knowing that stat
"So hard, that you'll forget how to be yourself."Her stepfather's statement was spoken without emotion. However, for some reason Moreau felt there was something odd when the man decided not to say anything against the judgment she gave to someone—supposedly her mother's father-in-law. "What does that mean?" she asked slowly. Perhaps there would be another time. Not now, after feeling inappropriate to talk about something irrelevant. Let Abihirt reveal the answer. "Not all heirs will always inherit everything their parents had. I pioneered." That sounded sarcastic, but Moreau didn't expect Abihirt's statement to be directed at her. There was a note of inheritance from Jeremias Riveri—though up until this point Barbara seemed to have no interest in simply urging her to start an important lesson on the need to cultivate a company. Perhaps there was some purpose in her being preoccupied with the various activities of her figure skating career. Against a body
"Looks like you're shopping in bulk, Moreau ...." There was no impressive information when Barbara suddenly appeared after opening the door to the room a little rudely, then stood proudly with her arms folded in front of her chest. Moreau would not deny it as she stared straight in her mother's face. There was no smile. Instead, there was a cynical tendency, as if it had been in place before Barbara had set foot here. Moreau silently snorted. It was quite surprising and strange to have her mother come unexpectedly. That woman shouldn't know anything, but perhaps it was just a habit; showing up; commenting; and saying inappropriate things. In any case, she was too lazy to deal with her mother. Knowing there would be more serious problems if they eventually crossed the line. It could end up as a bad prospect to say that all of this was bought by one person. Moreau had refused when Abihirt offered something more. She just didn't want to. Coincidence—indeed; th
There was something odd about her mother's statement. Moreau didn't think she had ever reflected anything to the woman, but the knowledge in Barbara's mind seemed to have gone beyond the point of simply taking the silent action of monitoring things. "Since when and how did you know my account balance?" asked Moreau to make sure her mother was really going to post a confession. It didn't matter if Barbara ended up snickering before the woman got started. "Ever since you started being a rebel, and I hope you haven't forgotten that I'm still your mother." There was certainly no justification for the status between them. Moreau understood that her mother was trying to appear in control. She just didn't like her exaggerating things. Exaggerating things where Barbara barely had the right to simply take the long view. "I'm adult enough, Mom. All the money in the account is my money. You have contributed nothing and you have even violated my privacy." Still in
Dinner would not have been so awkward if the events of the previous afternoon had never happened. Moreau had just sat directly in front of Barbara who had said nothing, even though the woman knew they had resolved the conflict by hanging perhaps, but there was really nothing more to talk about. She didn't think owning expensive things was a mistake. Or perhaps Barbara was waiting for someone else. Moreau just realized Abihirt was nowhere to be seen. Normally, the man would have been at the dinner table earlier; keeping Barbara company. Strange. If she had to admit something; she was still interested in just taking a step back—about the man's pale face when he persuaded Barbara to leave her room. Perhaps the correlation between the two was quite plausible. Moreau silently exhaled air from her lips, a little accidentally noticing that Caroline had prepared a special dinner—a healthy meal for the man who was not present here. The woman hadn't even left yet. Had it not bee
There was not much to do after Barbara left home. It's worth pointing out that Moreau still took a disobedient course of action—deliberately deciding to watch until quite late with so little interest in climbing the steps, but she had to. She and her mother did not strike up much of a conversation after Barbara's last statement at the dinner table. Their complicated relationship could not be said to be entirely at fault, though it was. Moreau couldn't expect things to go well, while they knew Barbara always wanted what she thought was right—then never wanted to try to take the place of simply standing in someone's point of view; no matter if it was wrong or not. It would have been the worst decision if Moreau hadn't expressed all the disgust in her mind, because after all, they knew what finally made Barbara stop from wanting to see Abihirt's expensive watch in person. The man is sleeping .... There was something Moreau could not describe when thinking back
Moreau let her hand soak in the water, letting the touch there, on Abihirt's arm like leaving a trace of mutual need. "Your mother will not be home today." Then a whisper from that deep, hoarse voice added something Moreau had hardly ever thought about. Reflexively... she parted her lips and asked, "Why?" "Your mother asked permission to take a vacation." Okay. She might have forgotten that; about Barbara's statement the other day during their dinner together. But that didn't mean this was part of their freedom, did it? Moreau still wanted to keep the boundaries or actually she was still waiting for when the irritation in her mind would disappear. "But I still want to go home," she said finally. Let Abihirt relent. The man should always give in, though Moreau unexpectedly felt her stepfather's embrace loosen. Only briefly, which made the new touch feel more intimate as she was lifted high and invited to sit by the lake. Perhaps Abihirt
"Thank you." There shouldn't have been anything else. The only thing Moreau wanted to do was put the necklace back on. She would be self-sufficient for times like this. Ironically, there was no time to read the slightest warning when Abihirt unexpectedly pulled her into the lake. "Abi—my phone!" Moreau shouted instinctively. She was now flooded quite high up. Almost her entire body was completely wet. And the very first thing she did was to grab the handheld cell phone that was clearly tucked into the back pocket of her pant. At least it was still on, but it was quite doubtful that it would last after almost the entire compound was submerged in water. She gave Abihirt a sharp look. Didn't know whether to feel grateful when still holding the necklace in hand so tightly. Probably, she would have gone straight to the edge just to make sure if her cell phone was okay or not. Moreau lifted the flat object high into the air. The lake shore felt shallow enough tha
"You have to be careful." Don't know why, but that's what Moreau said. She looked longingly at Abihirt's face. The first brief reaction was a faint nod. There was nothing else to do when she only needed to observe her stepfather's body was out of sight. Abihirt dived. Moreau did not expect that she would be waiting for quite some time. That was surprising. There was no clue about her stepfather from the start. Abihirt's method was definitely not like Froy's who often popped into the air, though this made Moreau feel very scared as she further examined the calm surface after a few puddle runs. Abihirt was completely unpredictable about appearing, and then... at times she would daydream—the sound of splashing water immediately drawing her attention closer. Moreau straightened her shoulders. Unfortunately, she would not immediately find Abihirt turning his head towards her. The man presumably just wanted to scoop up some oxygen and dive back into the water.
Moreau's body suddenly stiffened at the sight of the water splashing, while Abihirt had gotten closer to Froy. The man offered help to his nephew and there was some relief that they were slowly swimming to the shore. She and Gabriel instinctively ran to the lip of the lake. It wasn't Froy Moreau was thinking about. Only her stepfather. Let Gabriel take the remaining action by welcoming the man—who seemed to be panting—to be laid down on the grass with a groan. The cramping was painful. The feeling could be imagined so clearly in her mind. Moreau winced, but also looked over to find that Abihirt had climbed to the ground. Now the man towered over her soaking wet. Staring at his nephew half annoyed, though saying nothing but letting Froy calm down a bit more. Slowly... at least it had subsided. There was still no conversation. However, Gabriel again offered to help when Froy tried to get up from his seat and looked up hesitantly. "I can't find the necklace."
Moreau continued to watch her stepfather. The unpredictable handsome man was now at least trying not to be incensed at any form of resistance from Froy. "You know that throwing something small into the lake will make it difficult for you to find, so why do you keep doing it? You keep throwing Moreau's necklace for no reason." Abihirt's question was simple enough, but it more than made Froy almost faint. The man's eyes moved restlessly. It took a few moments of pause to actually find an answer. "I was out of line, Uncle. I was angry at the attitude you gave Lewi and the way you gave the necklace to Moreau instead!" That was like a huge protest. Froy's voice boomed loudly. The man was lucky, because it seemed like Abihirt had paid with money to make people leave the park, which Moreau only realized when she looked around. Not a surprise. She should be used to it. "What's wrong with that? Didn't I replace Lewi's necklace with a new one?" Abihirt's statement this time made Fro
Moreau thought that Gabriel's involvement in the trip to Sierre De Guadarrama National Park was something that made it an unfair prospect. However, it turned out that she was wrong to include such a notion, as Abihirt's wishes were more understandable when asking her to move to Gabriel's car, while the man walked into the building—quite a flashy place there. Moreau had been to this place before; it was where Froy got married and she ended up asking for permission to leave early. It was a little odd to think that Abihirt had actually come to the man's nephew for some sort of accountability. Now she found her stepfather forcing Froy to walk. Although it seemed forced, Froy would have no choice. The man's body had disappeared in the car. Only a tendrils of shadow remained, then she also had to watch Abihirt's body get into the driver's seat. The car engine started and that's when Gabriel understood to bring them up behind. "Abi wants to ask his nephew to dive
Moreau shook her head for a while. In the end, she decided to lift her face. She was almost surprised—of course, because this was not what she wanted to find; the smallest hint of disappointment on her stepfather's handsome face, no matter how much Abihirt tried to keep every detail of the reaction between them brief. The necklace left to her was indeed a lasting memory and Moreau was sure it was very-very precious. "I apologize." She still could not take it for granted that Abihirt did not want to prosecute anything at the moment. There was an impact where her heart felt like it was being crushed. Staring at the man made her eyes sting and heat up. To the time that kept crawling forward... would soon be accompanied by seepage of water and Moreau would not be able to hold back. Perhaps Abihirt understood how worry controlled the fear in her mind, so the man hugged instead of saying angry. Hugging after letting her tremble as if this was an unexpected outburst of trouble. "N
There was only one step left, so Moreau should have been able to finish this sooner. She swallowed harshly. A moment of staring at the doorknob with great fear before finally being overwhelmed by the determined action of pressing and pushing inside. Perhaps she did so in such a hurry, that the sound that broke the surface immediately attracted someone there. Who would have thought that Abihirt would be towering in front of the translucent glass, while the man's gray eyes were assaulted by the view from outside. There was something Moreau couldn't quite put her finger on. She felt—then—Abihirt was daydreaming, because after all... detecting the man's response; little could be expressed in the odd way that Abihirt acted oddly upon realizing her presence. There were no words. No sentence was even close to being uttered. Silence. And yet, in those moments of near—closeness, Moreau felt how her heart rumbled loudly. Like it didn't want to stop. It was still hammering and sh
"Why don't you come with me, Juan? I'm afraid to go in alone." Everything was supposed to be fine—no; actually—a little fine, until Juan's shocking confession almost made the whole stability of Moreau's mind and how she had desperately fought for, now suddenly fall apart. Juan's decision seemed so absolute, though Moreau still hoped the man would suddenly change his mind and then they could settle this whole matter quickly. Unfortunately, the faint shaking response was something so real. It had such an impact that Moreau almost forgot how to breathe properly. She turned her face out the window, glancing around the place. Not ready to go down yet. Almost desperate at the thought of being so close to Abihirt. What was the man currently doing in there? Busy with some important business? "Just accompany me for a moment." Once again Moreau tried to persuade. This time really craving how Juan would agree. She looked up at the man, but was always met with the