CELINE POV-Hanna left me in this big house. She told me to wait for Lance and Lance will be here any moment.While waiting, I went around this whole house. The upper floor has a dazzling living room, facing the big blue with a beautiful fireplace and a large skylight. There is also a luxurious primary suite that includes a gigantic bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, shower and a huge walk-in closet. The glassed-in dining room is beautiful. There is also a media room and a larger guest bedroom. On the middle floor, there is a large room with a fireplace right off the pool and an enormous deck. There is also an enormous bedroom with a bathroom, gym, playroom and five-car garage, tennis court, shooting range. What makes it more beautiful is the beachfront and sea views.I looked away from the pool area where on the enormous deck there was a table for two and scattered red rose petals and candles.I closed my eyes and inhaled. I felt my fist clench as I stopped my tears from falling. Why does
CELINE POV-Three minutes, five minutes. I think Lance was on his knees in front of me for almost ten minutes while I just looked at him.I was waiting for him to stand up or else he would laugh at my surprised reaction, but no. For ten minutes, he was still in this position, saying nothing.“Excuse me?” I broke the silence between us.“Celine, marry me again.” He repeated.“No.” I answered, looking directly into Lance’s eyes.I almost laughed when I saw the surprise on his face.Does Lance think that after six years, I still love him so much? I admit Lance still has a part of my heart, but not my brain. Now I know my value as a woman, as a person and above all as a mother, I will not settle for the same as Lance.Once Lance stood up, I also stood up. “Is this what you’re aiming for, so you want to see me? To test how stupid I am?” I asked. “Of course not. I want you to come back to me, Celine. I want us to start over again.”“While you’re still married to someone?”He became silen
CELINE POV-“Are you done?” I asked Lance after he scolded me for everything he did he said was effort and love for me. “If you would just scold me for everything you did, you wouldn’t have bothered to spend time bothering me.”Lance’s eyebrows slowly furrowed until his facial expression softened. “No. No, Celine, that’s not what I meant. I don’t blame you for anything. I’m happy to see you, even though you’re pushing me away. I just want you to see everything I do to prove my love for you.”“You have nothing more to prove to me, Lance. I am content with my life in Chicago. I lived and coped without you. You also been okay with six without me in your life—”“No!” he cut me off. “I have been miserable every day since the disappearance. I always look for your presence. Goddamn! I almost went crazy looking for you. I can’t… I can’t live without you, Celine.” he weakly said. Lance took my hand. “Celine, please. Let’s forget everything that happened before and let’s start—”“No.” I immedi
CELINE POV-“What?” I asked in disbelief.I heard what Lance said clearly, but what he said didn’t sink into my brain and I hoped I was just wrong in what I heard.“We will not leave here until you accept my wedding proposal.”“Are you really crazy, Lance? Why do you insist on what I don’t want?”Lance took out the red box again and took out the engagement ring. “Just fucking wear this fucking ring to let you get out of here.”I looked at Lance in disbelief. “Lance, stop this–Lance! What are you doing!?”Lance took my hand. His grip didn’t hurt, but I couldn’t get rid of his grip either.I circle my fist after Lance forced me to put the engagement ring on my finger.“Just fucking wear this ring, Celine.”“And you really want me to be a mistress, huh, Lance!?”It was only then that Lance realized he was still married. He let go of my hand and hid the engagement ring in his tro
CELINE POV-“How dare you?” My voice wavers and stutters, lacking stability. “What right do you have to question my love for you? I gave you everything. I fought for my love for you. I fought for our marriage even though I shouldn’t have fought for anything at that time. I gave you everything. My whole being, I am ready to give my whole life for our marriage to be with you. But what did you do? You divorce me and marry another woman.”I shouldn’t worry about what happened then. I also don’t want to blame Lance for everything I did because in the first place I was the one who wanted to fight for my love for him.Now, I realize that I’m even more angry with myself for letting all of that happen out of fear of losing Lance.“You did all that because you just needed me, Celine...” Lance said hoarsely.I was stunned by Lance’s criticism of me.“Have you admitted to yourself that you only need me? That’s why you stayed with me?”“Do you still think of me that way? That I only want money f
CELINE POV-* * ( C O N T I N U A T I O N O F T H E F L A S B A C K ) * *-“M-Mom… D-Dad…”Horror filled my entire system when I realized my parents were also here. I didn’t know my parents were also here.My body trembled not because of hunger but because of my parents, who were both glowering me.“What do you think you’re doing? Are you leaving this room? For what? Show the people downstairs and get their attention?”I quickly shook my head in denial of what they were saying. “I just want to get something to eat.” I almost cried because I was so scared. “I haven’t eaten since yesterday..”“And you want us to believe what you say?” my father asked me as he unbuckled his belt.My feet voluntarily retreated away from them to get away. By the time they got close to me, that thick belt was sure to hit my skin until it broke.When they entered my room, they closed the door.“You deserve to be taught a lesson,” my mother said angrily. “Then remember that you should not disobey
CELINE POV-Lance hugged me without breaking the kiss. He pressed his body towards me until he walked and I couldn’t do anything but walk backwards and at the same time I sat on the bed.During the three seconds, Lance doesn’t remove his seductive gaze from me as he unbuttons three buttons of his clothes. “Lance–”Lance claimed my lips with his lips again. I did not open my mouth to not respond to his every kiss. For this reason, it didn’t take long for Lance to pull away from the kiss and he stared at me.“Celine, please. I want you...” he said in his throaty voice.When he is about to kiss me again, I tilt my head to avoid his kiss.“Why can’t you give me a kiss?”If I followed the impulse of my body, I would have given Lane more than a kiss. But I would rather endure the body heat I feel than give Lance a kiss and give him a slight chance to be a fool to him again.“I will sleep in another room.”I stood up without looking at Lance.Lance’s warm body pressed against mine from beh
CELINE POV-I was thinking hard about whether I should continue touching this part of Lance’s body. I’m not sure if it’s right for me to touch it without him being conscious and without him knowing.I need to touch that and not just pinch.I took another deep breath before doing what I had to do.Using my thumb and pointed finger, I grabbed the end of Lance’s shirt and slowly lifted it up, until I saw Lance’s abs, then I let go of the shirt that was held by the tip of my finger.I check Lance’s face and I don’t think he woke up.Is Lance fast asleep while holding my hand or is he just pretending? I will know the answer to what I will do.I stared, and I didn’t blink for a few seconds in the time looking at Lance’s tan skin abs. Lance’s abs were shining in my eyes. I might call his abs are sparkling eight pack abs.I shook my head and closed my eyes. What are these things I’m thinking? I shouldn’t think about anything. What I need is to get out of here.I pinch Lance’s four abs first.
THIRD PERSON POV-“I’ll explain again from the beginning?” Celine asked reassuringly while hiding her irritation.“I think you need a break first,” Lance said formally. “I’ll review what’s in the folder again.”Celine blinked her eyes innocently a few times for a second while looking at Lance, who was so engrossed in the folder that he didn’t notice Celine’s actions.She didn’t know what to do as she waited for Lance to finish reading the document in the folder again. She could already feel the pain in her feet from wearing three and a half inches heels.Celine wanted to sit down for a moment to rest her feet, but thinking that she was in a formal meeting, she wasn’t sure if she should sit down, so she stood up.By chance, Lance glanced at Celine’s feet and was surprised to see her wearing high heels. He hadn’t noticed that Celine had been wearing such high heels all this time.Lance shifted his gaze from what he was reading. “Miss Andrea, you can sit down.” Lance said, still formal.
CELINE (ANDREA) POV-A wry smile glimpsed on my lips after I presented Mr Lance Hart with the best wines we could offer him, as well as other wines he requested me to explain.In my last explanation of the presentation, I no longer look at the slides. Out of the thirty slides, I didn’t memorize five or four slides because of how many times I explained it to him.No. I was wrong. This is not a familiar occurrence, I prefer to call it an annoying occurrence.He tilted his head while looking at the folder Enzo had given him a while ago, where the printed slide I had presented to him several times was attached.Lance and I were the only two left in the conference room. His secretary, who was with him earlier, had to be dismissed because he had an emergency job that needed to be fixed. While Enzo, who was with me, also left because he had other work to do that Giovanni left.After a second, he looked back at me. “Can you repeat your explanation from the beginning? I don’t understand what’
CELINE (ANDREA) POV-I tilt my head, cross my arms, frowning as I look at Giovanni.“Andrea, why are you looking at me like that?” He asked.Giovanni is in the hospital, lying in a hospital bed. His favorite car crashed into a pole because he dodged a cat, so now he has a mild arm and leg injury.“After driving for so long and taking such good care of your car, you suddenly crashed your car into a pole? And now, really?”“Accident. I can’t avoid an accident.”“Why do I felt that I don’t want to believe you?” I blurted.“Are you saying I’m lying?”“No,” I shook my head. “I was just pointing out that… the timing of your accident was great.” I said with a sarcasm tone then sighed.While he was on his way to the company, he called me and said he was in the hospital.I was at the coffee shop when he called, serving customers’ orders. I was startled by his screaming in the other line, causing me to call our mother to come see him. He said that what happened to him was serious and that he
CELINE (ANDREA) POV-When my parent’s mansion came home, I went straight to our room. Skye and Sunny are asleep. My mom is next to them. I kiss my children’s forehead first before bathing.I took a quick shower to just freshen up.Getting out of the bathroom, I slowly wake up my mom.“Are you just coming?” Mommy asked as she woke up.“Yes, mom.”“Who brought you here?”“Hendrix. They took me here before heading to the airport with Sabrina. ”Mommy smiled when I mentioned Sabrina’s name.“Sabrina, she looks nice.”“Yes, mom.” I proudly answered. “As I say, she is the last person I know will never leave me.”My mom kissed my forehead. “I’m happy you have someone to depend on when we are not with you.”I smile.I didn’t even tell my family what I had experienced in the hands of Sabrina’s parents.“I’ll take you to your room?”“Don’t bother. I will not get lost going to our room.” Mommy jokes. “Go to sleep. You must be tired. Good night.”“Good night, mom.”When Mommy got out of the ro
CELINE POV-After setting the coffee on the table along with the chocolate cake and muffin, I sat down.“I’m sorry if I only took care of you now. Ashley is still not very used to interacting with people.” I explained to Sabrina. “Taste them. They’re one of her specialties.”It was late at ten at night when Ashley and I closed our coffee shop. I helped her talk to our guests, so I didn’t have time to take a break and attend to Sabrina. Before Ashley left, she made coffee and baked Sabrina so that Sabrina would eat freshly baked.My family takes care of my children during these times.“It’s okay, Sunny and Skye entertained me, so I wasn’t bored either, also your brother.”I laughed when she mentioned my brother. “I hope Giovanni didn’t hurt your head.” I said, laughing. Knowing my brother, he has a talkative nature.“I’m used to it.” Sabrina laughed until she let out a sigh.“How are you?” I asked.She sipped her cappuccino, then smiled. “I’m fine. Your friends didn’t abandon me. Than
CELINE POV-The crowd applauded after the ribbon cutting for Ashley and I’s coffee shop.“I hope you all enjoy and–”I stopped speaking and left my hands in the air when I saw Lucian at the end of the guests with a bouquet of red roses.“Why did you stop speaking?” Ashley asked in a whisper, not yet noticing her fiancée.I pointed at Lucian.At the same time Ashley looked at what I was pointing at, our guests also looked.“Lucian…” I heard Ashley whisper in disbelief as she stared at her fiancée.As Lucian walked towards him, the crowd parted ways and gave Lucian a way to get to his fiancée.I took a few steps to the side so as not to interfere with them.Hendrix approached me. “Are you okay?” he whispered.I nodded. “I need to.” My answer whenever I am asked that question.I fix my gaze without emotion on the red roses that Lucian gave to Ashley.I don’t have a splendid memory of red roses, because of that memory I hated red roses. But Ashley loves red roses so I don’t just let her
( 7 M O N T H S L A T E R )[ MILAN, ITALY ]....THIRD PERSON POV-Rayne Ashley Evans was busy checking every item, every corner of the cafe that was just hours away from its grand opening. She had asked the staff several times if anything was missing and each of them patiently answered the cafe owner’s repeated questions.“I’m sorry for asking so many times,” she apologized to her staff. “I was just nervous.” She explained.“It’s okay Ma’am.” One of her female staff members assigned to clean said.“We understand, Ma’am,” her barista agreed.Ashley smiled at how her staff at her coffee shop were giving her so much patience.“Alright, get ready. We’ll be opening in less than two hours.” Ashley announced to everyone with a smile.“Yes, Ma’am.” Everyone said in unison before leaving Ashley’s presence to check how many times they had checked their respective jobs and positions assigned to them since two weeks ago.Meanwhile, Ashley sat down at the table and let out a sigh. Her he
CELINE POV-“Are you not going to stop messing around and now you make up stories?” I angrily asked Hendrix.After we had breakfast earlier and I dropped my kids off at school, Hendrix blocked my path and pulled me into his car. Before I could get out of the car, he got me inside and quickly started it.He took me to a private resort I assumed he was building because I saw its name outside.Everything was still being built at this resort and only in front of the beach could we talk quietly.He handed me some papers. When I saw its contents, I didn’t bother to examine it anymore, especially after he told me what this thing was.“What should I do so that you don’t come near me anymore?”It was getting annoying that he kept coming near me. I was tiring of pushing him away and now he was making up stories?“I’m not forcing you to believe. I’m just giving you a choice.”“Choice for what?” I asked, holding back my irritation. “One more thing,” I took a quick look at the paper he showed me,
LANCE POV-I looked at the sky where I ordered the fireworks. Celine would see my birthday surprise for her. I’m hoping she liked it and I also sent Hendrix to that place. Hendrix agreed to work with me, but he had one condition and that was to protect my family in his own way. I agreed as long as he would update me if my family was safe.“It’s so beautiful. Are those for me, babe?”I shut my eyes before looking at Freya with a forced smile. “Yes.” I answered sparingly.I need to be with Freya, I need to show I regret everything I did to her. It’s unfair to her after what happened to her. I will make her bait to those who betrayed me.I waited all night for a message from Hendrix and after he said someone was still trying to kill Celine, it was not enough to show a sudden change of mind. I had to make everyone believe what I was doing with Freya..I went back to Chicago. I shouldn’t have gone to Celine that day, but I couldn’t stop myself. I went to her and left because I might not s