CHRISTY:Everette and I were not talking as we were driving to his company. We were using his car, even if I insisted that I wanted to ride with Happiness. The sense of comfort and security that the car gave me was at the highest level.I felt him constantly glancing at me now and then but pretended that I did not care a bit.I was still mad at him for snapping at me. For making me feel as if I did the greatest sin of all—touching his phone. I admit it was not good to touch someone else's phone, but still…why did he have to be mad?It only showed that he was guilty. “About earlier…” he started while his eyes were glued to the road.I folded my arms in front of my chest. “What happened earlier? I no longer remember.”That should be enough to tell him that I was not in the mood to be talking about it. I was afraid that if he kept on insisting on what happened earlier, I might snap and tell him hurtful things that I might regret earlier.The best thing to do was to keep silent. “You k
CHRISTY:The moment I stepped out of the car, Everette was there to assist me. He offered his hand, which I gladly accepted. He was a complete gentleman all along the way and never failed to assist me.He looked at me with kindness when he felt my cold hand."Don't be nervous. My people are all kind. I already told them that any kind of disrespect towards my wife would never be tolerated."Lies. No one was kind except Poppy, Kelly, and Sebastian.My own mother was not even kind to me so why would they do the opposite? They would only talk behind my back. “I’m not nervous,” I denied. “What made you think that?”“Your hands are like ice.”“I'm only cooled. It does not mean anything, Everette. Mind your own business.”Upon entering the lobby, the security guard was all smiles.“Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Watson.”I returned his greeting while feeling Everette's pat on my hand. My steps faltered when I saw Everette's employees were in line as they waited for us. In front of them was
CHRISTY:Could the ground swallow me whole now rather than answering her answer?What would I say? Dammit. I was expecting that everyone was given a memo on my face to watch out. "Miss?" the woman asked. "Are you lost? I'm sorry but if you don't have an appointment, you cannot meet the CEO." The woman was only doing her job, but a part of me was a little bit annoyed at the outcome of this tour. Right. Would Everette tour me around his company or not?“Ahm…is it really necessary?” I mumbled.“I’m so sorry, Miss but that is one of our protocols. I cannot do anything about that. Mr. Watson might fire me.”“Are you perhaps the other secretary?”“I am Secretary Levi’s secretary, Miss.”Oh. This might be the woman Everette was talking about earlier. The other secretary. Well, it was not my fault that she was not there on the ground floor earlier.“I know Levi. I am his friend.”The beautiful woman scratched her belly. “Secretary Levi doesn't have a friend.” She motioned for the door. “I w
CHRISTY:The meeting ended roughly two hours later. As much as I wanted everything to finish in only a minute, we had a lot of things to deal with. The next thing I knew, it was already late. I continued looking at my watch and phone. She had not returned my messages. When we were on Swiped, she always returned my messages, but now, it was rare.“Be safe on your way,” I exclaimed and ended the meeting shaking my business partner’s hands. “My secretary will update you on the progress.”“It was nice having business with you, Mr. Watson.”“You, too,” I retorted and waited until he was out of the restaurant. “It’s my pleasure, Mr. Smith.”I checked my phone again. No replies from Christina. She was not fond of replying. She could have at least replied to me. Was that too much to ask?She was always giving me a headache. She was stubborn. Defiant and won't even submit. I did not need full submission, but it would help if she would listen to me now and then. Her nostrils flared whenever s
CHRISTY:I felt Everette’s gaze on me, but I tried to pretend that it did not bother me at all. Little by little, his tears were making me unconscious, and it was too damn hard to pretend that I was not affected at all.“Remember when I said back then that I want to open a coffee shop where customers are also allowed to read whatever books they want while they are waiting for their orders?” Poppy’s eyes brightened as she played with Sebastian’s hands. “Oh, that one? Go for it. What are you waiting for? Bastian and I will always be at your back. We are always one call away, Poppy. Please remember that.”Poppy’s loyalty and friendship had already been tested since time immemorial and she was not the type who would leave me alone. When I ran away from my wedding…when my parents disowned me, she was the one who stood as my family. I chuckled, temporarily forgetting about Everette. “I think I need to plan for that. I still haven’t decided on the location, yet.”“There’s a two-story bui
CHRISTY:If Mom meddled, it only meant that she was up to no good. She was brewing with something I did not know at all and that was something I should be wary about.Everette did not know the woman behind that smiling face and I should protect him from Mom. Mom…how do I say it? She was good at dealing with people to the point that she could easily befriend them and when you lowered your guard, that was the time when he would strike.“Your Mom has been constantly texting me. Are you listening to me, kitten?”Everette snapped his fingers in front of my face.He did not know anything so I must pretend that there was nothing to be watched out for. I groaned inwardly. She must be planning something. “What did she say, Everette?” Maybe I will visit the mansion again? To have a chit-chat with Mom.“Nothing much. She was asking about you. If you are well.” Mom would never ask if I was still alive or not. “She also asked about our relationship. If you are taking care of me. If we are not fi
CHRISTY:My hand started to get cold. After seeing how Everette’s mom looked at me, and how Clara hated me, it was enough to say I wouldn’t be going to their family dinner. Why would I pretend that I wanted to be there when in fact I did not? I was always not good at faking everything, especially when it comes to people. And I was certain his Mom would only want his child and was only forced to ask me to join because I was Everette’s plus one.“Kitten, Mom, and the rest of my family were already expecting us. The elders wanted to meet you.”Was he certain his Mom was included? I did not think so. “What’s the point of having that dinner?” To fake myself? To put myself on display for their judgments, I asked, stood, and went to look for a rug to clean the table. I put the peelings in the trash while shaking my head. I put up with going with him before because Poppy and Sebastian were there, waiting for us. But this so-called dinner? There was no Poppy. I would only put myself in an a
CHRISTY: I must keep my distance around him or I will be crying in the end. For the nth time. Whenever I loved someone, it was I who always cried whenever we broke up. This man…if he kept on doing this, I should never be blamed if I fall for him.And if you truly fell for this man, what would happen to you? No one loved you for real, Christina. All they cared about was what you could offer to them in return and that was it.I wanted my heart to rest even for a bit. “Touch me and you are dead,” I threatened. He grinned from ear to ear. “Please don’t kill me, kitten. I have a lot of things to do. A lot will cry when I die.”Lucky him while I? No one would shed tears for me when I left this world. It was only Poppy and Kelly and their baby. “This feels like a date,” I commented all of a sudden without thinking about it and it was already too late when I realized what I just said.My cheeks flamed and I just wanted to hide under the table. Everette gave me his signature warming smil
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: 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:"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
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: I want the world to swallow me now. What a very perfect timing. Beatrice being able to witness me slapping her husband. I would understand if she would hate me after this. She loved her husband so much that salpping him will be the reason why he would throw a fit. I did not know how to console Beatrice or how would I be able to face her and explain what she just heard and what she had witnessed. Did I regret going to their cabin? I did not. All I was thinking was this woman who looked like she could not even hurt a fly. "Beatrice..." I mumbled. Approach her. She deserved to know what her husband said. Are you sure? The other part of my mind said. If the truth would hurt her so much, was it worth it? Left with no choice, I sauntered towards her. "How long had you been listening?" I asked directly, no loger beating around the bush. If she hated me after this, all I had to do was accept everything adn move on. There was so much bigger things that needed my attention.
CHRISTY:I did it! I was able to slap Drake! I was able to avenge Beatrice!It was not so me to hurt anyone, but after slapping Drake, I felt this weird sense of fulfillment coming from the inside of my chest. Instead of getting guilty, all I felt was the sense of fulfillment of avenging Beatrice. My palms were itching to slap him again, but once was enough. As long as I was able to send him the message that not everyone liked him was already enough.Drake glared at me, watching the imprints of my hands on his palm. It hurt even for a moment and he would no longer be able to forget me. Staring down at me, he asked, "What the fuck was that for? As far as my memories are concerned, you and I had no proper conversation. What did I do to earn a slap from you? Be thankful that you're a woman or else," he trailed off.“So what if I am a woman?” I asked. I scoffed. "You have to ask me those questions? Are you that dense?" I asked. He stared at me for a long time, his face bright red wi
CHRISTY:Beatrice looked at me as if I had grown horns. I was a bitch for suggesting it to her, but what could I do? I was not the type who would just stare at a woman who was hurting because of a man.Yeah. I know. It was the suggestion that she was totally unexpected. Or maybe she already expected it, but she could not do anything about it. Perhaps I was not the only one who had told her to divorce her husband. "Y-You want me to divorce my husband?" she asked in disbelief, using the same words I had suggested. "Do you even hear yourself?" she asked. “Divorce? How could you say that!”"I heard myself loud and clear," I said nonchalantly. “It’s time to let go of that jerk.”Tears swelled in her eyes.Beatrice always had a waterworks, and I did not like any of that. A woman’s tears were like a stab wound on me. I kneeled in front of her and said, "It's time to let go of the man who did not even love you. Do you understand? Stop hurting yourself because you deserve someone who would s
CHRISTY:"I knew women like you. You will grab every possible opportunity," she spat. “Seeing you annoys me even more. You reminded me of your Mom.”“Mom and I are two different beings, Mom,” I said politely, even if my heart was already bleeding too much. And I could not blame Clara. Mom showed her worse side. “As long as my husband won’t believe that I will cheat on him, I am fine with whatever you say, Mom.”Clara’s hand shook in anger. She was dying to hurt me. To slap me once again. “Christy is right, Mom. The only thing that you can do is accept this marriage.” Everette kissed me on my hair. Clar did not like it a bit. “Mom, let us have peace. Christy admitted it was a mistake that she left me in the altar. But don’t you think it’s already too long since that happened? Let’s move on, Mom. Please?” Everette was about to touch his Mom’s hand, but Clara slapped his hand away and looked at me with disgust.“You’re a witch. You bewitched my son!” She was about to slap me, but Everet
CHRISTY:Panic kicked in as I struggled to break free. No matter how much I attempted to shout, my voice was muffled. The person holding me won't budge at all. I kicked in. I thrashed. I shouted, but no words would come out.Everette! Please help me!What the heck was happening?"Stop squirming or I will hurt you for real," he threatened. “Do you think I will hesitate hurting a woman?”I stopped, sensing this bastard won’t hesitate to hurt me at all. My body went cold. It was the man whom Everette had fought with. Vincent was right. Sooner or later, he would come to get me. I should have listened to Vincent when he said I should be careful. Everette’s enemies would resurface. Did I listen? I did not. As he dragged me deeper into the darkness, I was losing even more hope that someone would be able to help me.It was safe to let him think that he was able to get my trust. Hot tears welled in my eyes as I thought of Everette. Would I die not being able to see my husband? If I knew