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.
CELINE POV-Returning home, Lance went straight to the second floor and entered the main bedroom, then turned me over to the king size bed.“Why don’t you just let me go, Lance?”“Not until you come back to me, Celine.”“Comeback to you?” I stand up. “I am not losing my sanity to come back to you. Can’t you see? My life now is happy in Chicago–”“Because of whom? Is it because of that man that you are happy?”“Because I was free from you. Because I was free from our marriage. Letting you go is one wonderful decision I made in my life.”“And letting you go was the stupidest thing I did, Celine.”I looked away from Lance and turned away from him. I can’t keep up with how he glares at me.“Celine, why don’t you just give me a second chance?”I shook my head.“Don’t you love me anymore? You don’t even have a little love for me anymore and you prefer to be with that man?”“Tristan... never hurts me. He always thinks about my welfare.”Lance gently grabbed my arm and made me face him. “I w
LANCE POV-The time I heard that, I ran to the room where I locked Celine. I used my gun to remove the locks. Immediately upon opening the door, we went inside one by one. I right away looked for Celine on the bed but she was not here. I was about to look for Celine in the other part of this room, I just saw this man carried that Celine. This man put the denim jacket on Celine’s body.“Put her down!” I threatened and pointed a gun at the man.Instead of obeying my order, he went straight out of this room. I was about to fire him a gun, but Hanna quickly covered my gun with her palm.“What are you doing!?” I shouted at Hanna.“Madame Celine has wounds on her forearm.”“What!?”“On her neck there are a few small scratches. Did you do that to Madame Celine?”“Are you sure you didn’t hurt Celine like that?” Hanna asked with judgment towards me.“H*ll, no! I never and even then
CELINE POV-“What do you mean? Why did you ask about that?” Tristan asked me back.I shrug my shoulders. “Curious?” I reply to a question. “Where?”“They said it was Lance’s private villa. Lance’s private property is hard to find.”“Let’s just say I have my own ways to find you everywhere, Celine. I think we should just forget what happened.”Everything Lance said came to my mind and how he fell asleep just by holding my hand, as if he was safe in my hand. And the madness that I think of this is maybe I should forget.I nodded. “You’re right. We should forget that this weekend never happened.”———When we arrived at the airport, Tristan took care of everything, especially paying for our plane ticket to Chicago. I have nothing except myself. I left my bag at the private villa. And, Tristan thinks ahead. He got an id from my apartment before coming here so there was no problem buying tickets for us.It’s almost two hours before our flight time, so now Tristan and I are just waiting t
CELINE POV - “Who is that?” Tristan asked me after Sabrina left. “Do you have a sister?” “You don’t know Sabrina?” I was surprised to ask. Sabrina was quite popular at school back then and if Tristan remembers me, I expect him to remember Sabrina more. “No. I never met her.” “Eh?” I asked, and I was speechless. “I thought you knew her. As far as I know, you were together at the gazette club then.” Tristan shrugged his shoulders, who really did not know about Sabrina before. Surprisingly, Sabrina used to be with him more often in the school club because Sabrina followed Tristan. “But you haven’t forgotten me?” “Why would I forget you?” Tristan asked back. I pressed my lips together for a second to stop myself from smiling. I felt a little strange feeling that wanted to make my lips smile wide. “Why did you ask Sabrina?” I asked to change our conversation. Tristan didn’t seem to remember anything about Sabrina back then, either. “I was just curious.” “Are y
CELINE POV-When I take Skye and Sunny to kindergarten, unlike before, they give me a kiss or a hug or they give me a super hug. Since last night, they’ve completely disregarded me.Skye and Sunny followed what I was telling them, but there was no enthusiasm or smile on their lips.Last night, if Tristan hadn’t talked to Skye and Sunny, my children would have ignored me. They didn’t even want to send Tristan out last night. Tristan just promised that he would come back and sleep in the apartment if he wasn’t busy.Once I arrived at the Stellar restaurant, it was as if heaven and earth had joined me. In the five years that I have been here, only now have I had no desire to work.Even then when I was juggling my studies, taking care of my children and working here at Stellar restaurant, I never ran out of energy because I always had in mind that I wanted a beautiful future for Skye and Sunny. But now I’m thinking about my children because I can’t think of anything about how mad they ar
CELINE POV-“Here”Tristan handed me a brand new phone.“That’s complete. For that reason, it’s open. Additionally, I already saved my phone number there, and I also saved your new phone number on my phone.”“But...”“You didn’t like the phone? I can change that.”“No. Not like that. How much did you spend on the phone so I can pay for it?”“What? No. I’m not making you pay for it.”“But this phone is expensive. Right, the cost of this phone is almost five thousand dollars?”“It’s okay, don’t worry about that.”“But, Tristan. It seems like this is too much for you to help.”“Celine, I don’t count what I do to you and our children. As long as I see you and our children happy, I’m happy too. And your smile, as well as the smile of our children, is the best pay for what I do.”I don’t know what to say and what I should do for how much Tristan has helped, not only me but Skye and Sunny as well.“Anyway, how are Skye and Sunny doing? Are they still mad at you?”I nodded sadly. “They almos
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