EVERETTE: It had been an nth time since I stared at my wife’s picture when we had our cruise ship. It was a candid picture of her while we both sat on the sand. A year of missing her. My wife was gone just like what I dreamed. When I entered the house, when I returned back from working on the company, her clothes were still there, but she never returned. At first, I was scared that she was kidnapped again, but there were witnesses of her going somewhere else alone. She was not kidnapped. The truth was, she was only looking for a perfect opportunity where she could go and run away. It had been what? One fucking years of her absence. No calls. No text. Not even anything. Until now, I blame myself for what happened. Maybe…if I did not work late, I would still be able to stop her from disappearing. “Why don’t you give up, Everette?” Vincent said. “If you did not find her, it only meant that she did not want to be found.” We were in the house. I asked him to come and he did witho
CHRISTY:"He is gone," Poppy announced after talking to my husband. I hid in the kitchen as Poppy struggled to look for some alibis and lied to my husband. I was glad I was able to watch the CCTV camera and found him approaching. If not, he would know I was here, working in Poppy's bakery shop. If Everette will find out that I was only here for the whole year, he might be mad at Poppy. The woman had no fault. In fact, she was kind enough to give me a job where I wanted it. Everette…he looked like a hermit who just came out from his hiding place. He had a rugged expression on his face, but he was still handsome.How long has it been since I last saw him face to face? More than a year already and I just wanted to run into his arms."Thank you, Poppy. You're the best," I said weakly. “Thank you for having my back.”She looked at me with a stern look. “I was not happy with what you did, okay? I was only forced to do it because I loved you. But Christy…how long will you keep on punishin
CHRISTY: When you least expected someone, you would meet that someone. I thought my husband had already gone home like what Poppy had said. Did Poppy lie to me or was it only because my husband waited for me to step out? "Kitten...It's you." He looked at my face and down to my body and back to my face again. "I was right. You are only at the bakery shop. W-Why did you have to lie?" he asked, his voice trembling. His hair was already long and his mustache and stubbles had grown so much as if he was a completely different person. Despite that, he was still beautiful. The very person whom I managed to love. "I'm not. Y-You're mistaken, Mr." I pretended to fan myself. "You're drunk, Mister." "I only drank two canned beers, Kitten." He sauntered towards me, but I stepped back. "What are you doping? Like I said, I am not who you think I am." His expression turned glassy. "Kitten, please. Tell me what I did to punish you like this. What did I do wrong, Kitten? Why did you leave me
CHRISTY:Then Everette's eyes snapped open.I held my breath as I stared at his beautiful eyes."Kitten...""You're awake. Are you done pretending that you were asleep?" I asked softly, already tired of fighting with him. A year of hiding from him only made my love for him grow even stronger.My heart yearned for him, and seeing him after a year, I felt like I had become whole again.He sat while I snatched my hand away and put it on my lap."You still love me," he commented."I did not say anything like that," I denied, averting my gaze. "Yes, you did. I heard you say one, Kitten.""It was only your dream, Everette. You did sleep, right? You were dreaming earlier."Touching my chin, he forced me to look at him. My toes curled. Yes. I still loved this man. A year of not seeing him made me want to jump at him and kiss him like crazy and have lots and lots of sex as if to make up for the lost time. My hands yearned to touch his face and traced the outline of his cheeks. Everette le
CHRISTY:To say I was excited was an understatement. For the nth time, I'm going to meet my date whom I met at Swiped, an online dating app. Others might call me cheap for that, but I did not care. Poppy Brooks, my best friend, had been married for the second time to her billionaire husband, and I believed it was the perfect time for me to settle down.Not the billionaire thingy, but the married part. But...why did men seem elusive? I had met different kinds of men and the last one was Pedro. I thought he was the perfect partner for me, but it turned out he was two-timing me with another woman whom I did not know. I lifted my chin while pressing my lips for the fourth time. Is my lipstick not smudge? Am I beautiful? Will my date not run away upon seeing me?What if Rett preferred tall and skinny women? I was not that skinny, but voluptuous. Though I appreciated my body. A lot. "You have to get serious, Christy. Date serious men who don't only after your body and sex. Get marri
CHRISTY:Runaway bride. Billionaire jilted groom. Yes. I was Everette Watson's runaway bride. A billionaire and owned a multi-billion company where my father was also an investor. Our marriage was about a potential business marriage, but since I was a romantic fool who believed in love, I did not accept the marriage and ran away even if I risked my parent's wrath. My parents disowned me, but did not care about it thinking this was my life and I was the only one who could decide for me."You look lovely in that dress, by the way," Everette commented while devouring me. It was an overlapped v-neck red dress which I had been saving for occasions like this. The fit was perfect for my size. If he was the Rett I chatted with three months ago, I would be happy by now. But seeing him made me look like a fool.Did he even know it was me behind the screen name? Did he know it was me replying to his messages? Did I fall into Everette's trap?But I never noticed any signs that he knew me. T
CHRISTINA:Could my parents sell me to this man? I mentally shook my head. Why would I be surprised?They could. They already put me in a business marriage and selling me off was not that a big deal. For them. My parents sold me to Everette. That was clear. Was that something surprising? No. But I thought I was done being a collateral to their failures. "I...I don't believe what you are saying," I said."You want a receipt?" he challenged. "Everything is put in a contract. It was already signed. I can give you a copy."I sucked in a breath as I struggled to maintain my composure. How could my parents sell me like this? "No. Seeing your damn receipt means I trusted your lies." I stood. "I need to get to the bottom of this."Oh, come on, Christy. You don't have to investigate. You know in yourself that what Everette was telling is the truth. Your parents sold you. Period. I stood. "Let's cut any communication, Mr. Watson.""Not even wanting to listen to everything I say?" He clic
CHRISTINA:This was supposed to be a joyful day, but how come it led to this? My heart was already full of anger so that tears wouldn't come out of my eyes. It had been a couple of hours since I left our house and stayed in my car. I wanted to go to Poppy and pour my heart out, but Sebastian and her were newly made up and I did not want to become a burden to them. If I had known I had such kind of parents' I would have never been born."You're fat. Do some exercise," I remember Mom said upon seeing how my clothes no longer fit. I had an additional half pound on my weight and she already said I was fat, though there was nothing wrong with being fat."Wear some bangs. You have a huge forehead," she said another time.I never remember her praising me for being good. For excelling in my academics. All she was focused on was my physical appearance and how I was different from my peers who were already marrying billionaire husbands.Mom did not know how to show affection to us, nor did