CELINE’s POV-Less five minutes after Lance finished eating all his food, that’s why everyone, including me, went home early.Now, I am driving to my apartment and the twins were waiting for me so we could eat together.When I glance to the rear-view mirror, I noticed the familiar car behind me. I stopped my car on the side of the road and he did the same. When I got out of the car, the driver of the car who was following me, and it was Lance.As Lance came down, he smiled at me together with he ignored the annoyed look I gave him.I marched towards him. “What’s your problem? Why are you following me?”“I want to make sure you get home safely where you live.”“Throughout a span of six years without you, I have been safe driving on my way.”“And also so I will know where you live, hence I can visit you–”“Don’t you dare.” I blurted emphatically. “I don’t allow you to come to my apartment, and if you intend to search where I live, I will never forgive you.”“Why don’t you want me to v
CELINE’s POV-When I was outside the apartment, I looked at myself in the mirror again to check if my eyes were no longer puffy because of what happened a while ago.In six years, I have only now come out with the genuine mixed with pain and anger that I felt towards Lance, so maybe I couldn’t stop myself from crying.I somehow covered my puffy eyes by patting a little powder on my face. I don’t want my twin to see me like this.When I got myself ready, I got out of the car and went straight to the apartment.As I opened the door, my twin greeted me.“Mummy!” the twins called me as they hurried over to me.I sat down to welcome their hug. I kissed their temples once they approached me.“Don’t run like that again. It’s dangerous to run like that.” I remind them.“Yes, mummy!” Skye answered happily.“We’re just excited to hug you, mummy!” Sunny also answered happily.I looked up at Tristan, who took my bag and the jacket that I put on the floor. “I’ll just put it on the sofa.”“Thank y
CELINE’s POV-“Why did you suddenly think of going to the Stellar restaurant, sweetheart?” I asked.I saw in my peripheral vision Tristan was also waiting for Skye’s answer.“Me too, mummy. I want to go to the Stellar restaurant again!”“W-Why… why do you want to go to Stellar?” I tried not to stammer out of shock.Not that I don’t want to go them to Stellar... just not now. As far as I remember, they had only been to Stellar restaurant three times and in those three times they were inside Tristan’s office.“Because I love daddy Tristan.” Skye replied.“Me too! I love daddy Tristan!” Sunny shouts happily.“What do you mean by that, sweetheart?” I question Skye again. I looked at Tristan and he shrugged his shoulders, even though he didn’t know what Skye meant.“Daddy Tristan said he named us.”I nod. “It’s true.”Overwhelmed by weakness, I succumbed to an extended period of sleep after giving birth to my twins. I had to take bed rest for six weeks. So during the twins’ first months
CELINE’s POV-My picture on Tristan’s lock screen is me looking at the camera, but as far as I can remember, no one took a picture of me like this when I was in school. I barely talk to others. I didn’t even have social media accounts because my parents forbade me to create any kind of account.Tristan glanced at me, then he took his phone and looked at my picture displayed on it.“About this?” When Tristan looked back at me, he paused for a while. “You look like you didn’t remember?” Tristan asked, laughing.“Which one? Which one did I not remember?” I asked in surprise. “You’re not a stalker, are you?”“What?” Tristan laughed out loud. “When I saw you again six years ago, I thought it was destiny that we would meet, yet you think I’m a stalker?”“I don’t understand, Tristan.” I was still confused as I asked him.Some of my memories then I forgot something, because nothing stuck in my mind was how I suffered from my family since I was a child and I only remembered a few things and t
CELINE’s POV-I was dumbfounded by what I heard and speechless with astonishment at what I found out behind Tristan’s lock screen. It was so meaningful that even I couldn’t believe it.Tristan drank his ice chocolate drink before speaking again with a dazzling smile. “It’s okay that you still don’t remember what I said, but maybe you won’t think that I’m a stalker?” he playfully said.I shook my head. “No... But I am lost for words. Because I’m not… I can’t believe it.”Tristan moved closer to me. “Can I hug you?”I nodded absentmindedly. “Yes.”As Tristan gently hugged me, my chest tightened. I felt the edge of my tears. Suddenly, the fear and pain I felt at the hands of my parents returned. I was scared, I was helpless.....**(FLASHBACK: Third year middle school)**-Just like the previous years, no one planned to make friends with me this school year. Because besides the fact that I still don’t know how to talk to other people, my fellow students are already avoiding me because
CELINE’s POV - Tristan broke away from the hug and gazed at me. He cupped my face and wiped my tears with his thumb. “If you’re not ready for me to even hug you, that’s fine with me, Celine. Just because I told you I have been waiting for you to love me for a long time does not mean you obligate you to love me right away. I’d rather wait over ten years than force you to love me.” Tristan took a step away from me, then let out a sigh. “I thought I couldn’t talk about it. I have no intention of telling you about this matter yet.” “Why?” I question curiously. “You might think that I’m pressuring you to love me back. Because of this picture,” he said, laughing. If I hadn’t asked about that picture, maybe I wouldn’t remember what happened then. The thing I don’t even remember is that I once had a crush on Tristan. What a playful chance. My intense fear crippled me, preventing me from fulfilling my wish of being with my crush, Tristan, even for a moment at the prom. “Tristan, why d
CELINE’s POV-My mind woke up following I heard my twin giggling. Other than that, I feel the pillow I often hug is becoming hard. I squeezed my pillow.“I have a tickle there, Celine.” I heard Tristan giggle.Immediately I opened my eyes and the smiles of my twins and Tristan’s face opened up to my sight.“Good morning, mummy!” The three speak, but the voices of my twins are loud.I hugged Tristan while one of my feet rested on his thigh.Tristan and I talked a lot last night, and I just fell asleep here.He opens up to me with something about his family, just like his brother, who is looking for his first love, the reason he doesn’t want to get married either. His father has been cheating on his wife several times and he never does not want to imitate his father in such a thing and one of reasons Tristan doesn’t want to come back to his family. For the length of our conversation last night, I got sleepy, but I was holding back my sleep because I was also curious about Tristan’s fa
CELINE’s POV-I accepted what Tristan offered me. Except this is a good chance that I can avoid Lance if I am in the kitchen. My twins are enrolled in a kindergarten closer to the Heavenly hotel. The travel time will only be ten minutes, unlike here where the travel will take almost an hour to get there.I signed the contract, the one Tristan gave me. Afterwards he asked me who I wanted to be there with so I said it was Bianca and the rest that I would be with was Tristan, who asked our staff.Due to the impending reduction in staff, Tristan is busy dealing with the applicants who have applied here. He wants to screen the applicants himself like before, but the problem is that there are too many applicants.It’s fine with Tristan that the applicant has no experience, however most of the girls who applied flirted with him. There’s even a woman who asked Tristan to marry him during the interview.“There are still a lot of applicants.” Bianca said, laughing after taking the resumes of
CELINE POV-I placed a pillow on Sunny’s back before sitting her upright and in a comfortable position. I took the salmeterol from her bag and put the mouthpiece on her lips.“Breathe quickly and deeply,” I instructed Sunny.After doing that, I removed her inhaler, then Skye counted one to six seconds.“Breath out slowly,” I instructed her again.After that, Skye held Sunny’s hand and counted again.“One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six…”I glanced at Lance, who was on the edge of the bed. He is intently looking at Sunny, his forearm on his chest while his other elbow rests there where his knuckle was moving.“Sixty!”Once Skye’s count reached sixty, we repeated the procedure from the beginning. We did this ten times until Sunny’s feeling and breathing were normal.“She is okay now,” I grabbed Lance’s attention.His blue sea eyes widened as he looked at me. “What do I need to do?”“Get out of this room.”“What?”He asked in disbelief.“I’ll put them to sleep first,” I quickly added.“Oh…
CELINE POV-“Daddy Superhero, are you the one who will take us to our new house?”“Yes, sweetheart. I will take you to your new house.”Lance had two bodyguards with us carrying our two suitcases.“Do you want me to carry you?” Lance asked Sunny.“Yes!”I had no choice but to hand Sunny over to Lance. I didn’t want to cause trouble here and scare the kids.Lance picked up Sunny, and I carried Skye.“Does our new house have a big playground?” Sunny question as we walked towards the basement parking lot.“Do you want a playground?”“Yes! I want a big playground where Skye and I can play.”“We’re going to build a playground there.”Sunny clapped her hands in joy at Lance’s words.Once they arrived in front of a van, his people opened it, and Lance got in with Sunny.After he lowered Sunny from the seat, he looked at me. “Get in,” he coldly ordered me.I let Skye out of the car first, then we went to the second row of seats together.When we sat down, the door closed, and the driver got
CELINE POV-“Mummy, are we going to move far?” Sunny asked while I was fixing her clothes.“Not too far,” I replied.“Mummy, why are we suddenly moving?” Skye asked.Surely Skye was curious and felt that there was another reason why we were suddenly moving house, and he needed an answer.“The rent fee here is a bit expensive. Mummy found a better and cheaper apartment to rent .” My excuse.“I hope there is a park or playground where we are moving,” Sunny commented excitedly.I put on a face mask for them.I grabbed one large bag and grabbed two large suitcases. I tried to fit all our belongings into the two suitcases. I only brought the most important things.“Let’s go, sweethearts.”When we got out and got off the apartment, I immediately flagged down the first taxi I saw.“Mummy, Auntie Sabrina won’t be coming with us?” Sunny question as we boarded the taxi.“No, sweetheart. But she will visit us again like before,” I replied. “At the airport,” I told the driver as he got in.I won
CELINE POV-I pulled back the arm he was holding with a frown.I waited for him to speak, but after a few seconds, he did not clarify what he was saying; instead, he just fixed his gaze at me.“I don’t have time for this.” I broke the silence, and this is my saying goodbye to him.Before I could walk away to leave Tristan, the door opened again, and two men entered. The one with a name plate is the manager, and the one wearing the suit, I think, is the owner of the restaurant that Lucian Morgan summoned.“Sir Lucian Morgan?” The owner of this restaurant called in surprise. “I didn’t know you were here. Is there anything I can do for you?”I looked at Tristan. “Give me your resume,” he said as he extended his palm.”“Why?” I was confused.“To know why you will not get a job in this city.”I glanced at the two men who had just entered. When they stared at my face, the manager whispered something to the owner of this restaurant, who was circling with his pair of eyes after that.By tha
CELINE POV - “Thank you,” I told the tenant after she finished talking to me. Before entering, I let out a sigh. The tenant informed me that from today the rent for the apartment will be 10,350 dollars. Almost five times the rent last month. I need to pass the interview and get a job; that kind of rent is out of my budget. “Who are you talking to?” Sabrina asked as I entered. “Nothing.” “You sure?” "Hmmm,” I nodded. “Did you bring all your stuff?” I asked, changing the topic. Sabrina will be back in New York to focus on her review. “Yep. It will be a while before I get back here. I have an exam coming up, so I need to focus on my review. But—” she raised her one pointed finger as if she were stopping me from speaking. "But it doesn’t mean that if you need me, you’ll disturb my review. That’s a big no. Okay?” I just nodded. “Oh! Maybe that’s the one who will pick me up,” Sabrina said when someone rang the doorbell. Sabrina opened the door excitedly, and upon se
CELINE POV-After I picked up the kids and we were going out, we saw Conrad in the parking lot.When Conrad’s gaze caught ours, he immediately came over to us.“Boss Lance ordered me to pick you up.”“Didn’t Lance understand what I told him?”I clearly told him earlier before I got out of the car that I don’t want us to have any kind of connection and that even picking up anyone who has anything to do with him, he shouldn’t do it anymore.“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Madame. Boss Lance just sent me here to pick you up. Shall we go?”The weather was cloudy.I just nodded and went in the direction of Conrad’s car.“Where is Daddy superhero?” Sunny asked as we entered.“He’s busy,” Conrad replied.“He is just like Daddy Tristan, always busy.”I stroked Sunny’s hair and didn’t comment. It would be better if Lance got away from us sooner rather than later before Sunny got completely attached to him.The trip from school to the outside of the apartment building was quick, and a
CELINE POV-When we got down from the apartment, I shifted my gaze to Sabrina after seeing Lance here with the car we rode in yesterday.“Wow!” Skye couldn't help but marvel at the car again.“I don’t know. I’m just not in the mood to go outside.” She explained before I could ask."Maybe it was just a coincidence. Right?” I asked sarcastically.“Yes. Of course, it was just a coincidence.”I believed what Sabrina said.I sat in front of the kids. “Skye, do you want to ride in that car again?”Skye catches a glimpse at Lance. “No.”“Why?” Sunny asked. “You want that car.”“Yes.”Sunny held Skye’s hand. “Then, let’s go. We’ll be safe with him.”Skye and I both did nothing when Sunny pulled him towards Lance.“Let’s go to school, daddy superhero.”Skye looked at the ground.“I’m not here to just drop you off.”“Eh? Why?”Lance sat in front of them, then showed the car key in front of Skye. “I will give this car to Skye.”His voice is not so cheerful but not too dry either.Skye quickly l
CELINE POV - “Sunny, it looks like she really likes art,” Lance said as she stared at Sunny. We were at the Art Institute, walking around. It was surprising that apart from the four of us, no one else was here, or maybe because it was only a few minutes before seventeen o’clock, the museum’s closing time. Since there was no one else around, I let Sunny look at the art alone, of course with Skye by her side. We were about ten steps away from them so that Sunny could enjoy going here more and so that Skye wouldn’t be too nervous. Sunny held Skye’s hand wherever she went. “As she said a while ago, she’s not sure either,” I replied coldly. “Why isn’t she sure? She seems to be enjoying it now.” “Maybe because she’s just used to coming here, or because she appreciates everything she sees. In her condition, she can only go to places like this occasionally, to museums—when there aren’t too many people, the surroundings aren’t dirty, she won’t see anything that can excite her fe
CELINE POV-“Skye, are you okay?” I asked when he didn’t move or speak after seeing Lance.“I’m sorry, mummy.”“Why, sweetheart? Why are you apologizing?”“I am not brave.”I hugged Skye.I told him once that if he wanted something or wanted to do something but was afraid, he should go for it rather than regret it later.I don’t want Skye to be like me; there are many things I haven’t done because of fear of the people around me or what might happen because of fear.“It’s okay to not be brave sometimes. You can still feel scared.”“I want to go home. I want to see Daddy Tristan.”I bite my lower lip. If I had a hard time without him, I’m sure the kids have a harder time adjusting without Tristan. How many times have they looked for Tristan in me? I’m running out of excuses why we can’t be with him.I don’t want to confuse the children by telling the truth about why we can’t be with Tristan again.“Are you sure you want to go home? I thought you wanted to ride in this car?” “I’m scar