"Don't you realize you're disturbing my sleep, Abi?"
There was no choice. Moreau had fought hard to keep her words calm. Slightly successful... maybe. Wish it had always been that way with the prospect of it ending better. Abihirt needed to say a few things, it was okay to be brief. At least the man could hand over a clue. Woe. Instead of speaking, the man moved his face—seeking a more comfortable position, and reminding Moreau how they had faced moments like this. The time when Abihirt found Samuel in her mother's office. The man was angry, jealous, and looking for an outlet. After all, she was always the shortcut. "Abi ...." Moreau muttered almost like a whisper. While staring straight at the ceiling of the room, trying to hold back something that was suddenly quite painful. Don't know .... Maybe her feelings were not right. "Step aside a bit, Abi." There were only a few ways to be free from the various pressures. Moreau kept demanding tThe stark difference between his mother's arrival—when Gloriya came to visit and someone with indecipherable motivations was enough to give Froy a thick dose of tension, so he took the most hesitant action of simply sitting across from him—almost looking down as those gray eyes stared too intently at him. "Why are you visiting me, Uncle?" Finally, Froy would not be able to hold back any longer. The first time Abihirt set foot in this place felt almost impossible. He still waited for a short answer, knowing that his uncle had a bit of a habit of not saying anything; tended to observe the situation around him before starting; then would dominate the situation. It had been too long, urging the tension in Froy's shoulders to become something storied. His legs had been shaking under the table and his entire hand was cold like a layer of ice. He blinked repeatedly just to neutralize this kind of reaction. Perhaps being obnoxious would be enough to make him look brave, wh
"So Abi has withdrawn his report and now Froy has been released?" Moreau naturally raised one high eyebrow as she overheard her mother's conversation with someone on the other end of the line. It was certain that Gloriya was the main culprit, which explained how relief had played a role between them. A little surprising, but it was fairer not to try to make too much of it. Perhaps there was something that gave Abihirt an impact and Moreau still believed everything—they went through last night, was one of the reasons. Someone claimed to need quiet, and so did her stepfather. No wonder she didn't find him anywhere when she woke up this morning, though she thought it was a routine necessity—always rewarded by a similar pattern, not requiring a detailed description to explain. "I think Abi went straight to his office after meeting Froy. He didn't say anything to me. No one knew. It could have been a spur of the moment decision. You know he's that kind of person. But I
For a moment, Barbara sounded like she was sighing, though the woman immediately made an unusual gesture in her presence. "Froy and Lewi are getting married next week. Are you sure you're ready to attend their wedding?" Moreau's eyebrows raised faintly, feeling a little odd about what her mother was talking about. "Why are you asking me that?" She was curious, and didn't feel awkward asking Barbara that. "Perhaps because Froy is your ex-lover. If you're going to get your heart broken, you shouldn't bother involving yourself." It was funny to find her mother suddenly caring, as if Barbara's anger had run its course and she was no longer thinking about how presumptuous she had been in a silent relationship with her husband's nephew. "Who said I was going to get my heart broken?" A little curious and it was okay to ask a question that immediately made Barbara seem to think for a moment. "Didn't you guys just break up and Froy went straight into a rela
"Moreau, hurry up! Juan is waiting for you out front." The sound of her mother's shout boomed into the room. Moreau looked at the door briefly. She was sure Barbara was on the ground floor and tried to keep urging her to hurry up. Well, at least she had dressed herself up for Froy's wedding. No exaggeration, just a little thicker make-up than usual. After all, it was about to be done. Just need to add some lipstick as the final part and Moreau was carefully doing that. She stared into the mirror as she smoothed the touches on her lips using her fingertips. The lip liner that blended with the nude color gave the impression of being thicker and Moreau liked it a little. She smiled slightly. Deliberately taking a step back to reconfirm the entire look that bounced perfectly there. The spegetti fashion slip dress in light satin with a touch of silk blended perfectly on her body after being adjusted by the straps that tied at the back. The shape of the front view almos
[I fucking want to take you all the way to the red room right now.] Just a cell phone notification and Moreau immediately found her stepfather's sharp gaze in the distance. They had been separated from each other since the beginning. She decided not to get too close after arriving at Froy and Lewi's wedding. It was nothing. At least she wanted a little freedom instead of being stuck in the middle of Barbara's surveillance. Unfortunately Moreau never expected Abihirt, who barely let go of his attention when he got the chance. Like the time the man had been alone in a corner of the garden, while Barbara had been among a gathering of new acquaintances, including Gloriya there. The woman seemed to be enthusiastically engaged in a lot of conversation and had almost completely forgotten the existence of her reclusive husband. [Right now, my date is Juan. You will never take me anywhere as long as I am with my date, let alone in the red room. Never."] Moreau added
"My mother is here, Juan. Don't let her come up to you and say badly magic words you never wanted to hear in your life. And don't ever talk about my relationship with Abi in a place like this." It was too dangerous. Juan had to understand. They could talk about something else. Maybe over a drink. There were various light dishes and they shouldn't be missed. "You guys seem to be really enjoying your time together here." Lewi's voice suddenly came between them. It was not a good time. Moreau did not expect to have a conversation with the woman, while Froy never seemed to want to be separated from his official life partner. The main problem—was that the man was looking oddly at her. Moreau didn't quite like it here. Uncomfortable at Froy's hostility, whether it was because the man still held all sorts of accusations at the top of his head or Abihirt's warning about her freedom was the most glaring part. She didn't want to think about either of those things. Staying stuck wouldn't
Gloriya wouldn't have much choice when the woman started the summary by asking questions. "What happened here?" That summarized a significant prospect. "Where did you get that necklace?" Instead of answering, Abihirt's deep, raspy voice did not hesitate to ask questions. In just a short time... a pure reaction—almost resembling fear—appeared on Gloriya's face. The woman's lips half-opened, then immediately clamped shut as she seemed to be thinking of something; perhaps some sort of alibi to use for a rebuttal. Moreau could hardly tell the difference between the two when she was stuck with a situation like this. "What the hell is going on?" Barbara suddenly whispered slowly from a short distance away. Making Moreau turn to her mother's face briefly. "I don't know," she said as she faintly realized that Gloriya was about to say something. "Our father gave it to me." There was silence for a few moments. But it was then that Moreau unders
"Thanks for the ride, Juan. Are you sure you don't want to come in? Don't want to meet Pipao?" Moreau made the offer again, when on the way the man had repeatedly declined her invitation. This had come with a reason. She knew. Just testing the extent to which Juan would have a stand. It was unlikely that such a decision would ever change. Well, Moreau would say no more, immediately opening the car door and taking one step out—setting foot in Abihirt's yard. "I'll send you pictures of Pipao later," Moreau said as she gazed into the window, where Juan then chuckled; slightly glaring at her. "Don't keep teasing me, Amiga. I want a date too. Not just you. You'd better hurry up and get in or you'll be stabbed mercilessly by your handsome stepfather." Juan's accusation was truly troubling. Moreau had no intentions whatsoever, other than hoping that she would be given the chance to meet Pipao. It was worth underlining about the man's statement regarding Abihirt; al
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