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[ NEW YORK ]....SABRINA POV-THERE were so many thoughts running through my mind that I managed to slap my client. I wasn’t satisfied with slapping this maniac old man CEO; I stood up and poured orange juice with ice cubes in his face. While he was still in shock at what I did, I put away my things.I was in a billionaire company. I forced my Senior to give it to me and I assured him I would make the client agree to come to our company to assist. But this maniac CEO, while I was explaining, came closer to me, squeezing my arm until his rough hand landed on my shoulder and after a while, he slid his hand down to my chest so I couldn’t control myself anymore.“I will make sure you get fired from your job!” this old man shouted.I sneer a smile, then raise my middle finger at his face. “Bye, old freaking ugly man.”I hurried out of his office as I noticed he looked like he was going to turn into a dragon with smoke coming out of his nostrils.I was thinking about what happened yester
[ CHICAGO ]....CELINE POV-Two days had passed since I received Sabrina’s message. She even apologized to me for sending those pictures because she said shouldn’t have done it, I just told her it was okay.At some point, I could prepare myself for what Lance might say–but as long as he doesn’t say that, I will trust him.“Mummy, when is Auntie Sabrina coming back?” Sunny asked.Sabrina told me yesterday that she had resigned from her job and was going to look for a new job here in Chicago. I didn’t get to ask any more details because I was also not myself and was focused on cleaning her room.“Maybe before nightfall, Auntie Sabrina will be here.” I replied to my child. “Let’s go?” I asked them after I had tidied up their things.Dylan invited us to his restaurant for breakfast for the food tasting of his restaurant that will open in the next two days. Many people are looking forward to opening the restaurant, which caused that only a select few were invited on that day because it
[ NEW YORK ]....HANNAH POV-“What the f*ck Dylan?!”Boss Lance’s voice boomed as I entered the entrance hall heading towards the living room. I rolled my eyes after I saw Freya’s face and moved the joystick of her electric wheelchair towards Lance.“Babe, what’s wrong?” Freya asked softly.It’s still terrifying to watch Lance let Freya slither around him like a snake. She can take care of Freya, but letting Freya get close to her is what I hate. He is pursuing Madame Celine, but after what happened to Freya, he suddenly realized that he couldn’t hurt Freya? no No. He doesn’t need to take care of Freya anymore because it’s confirmed that she’s not pregnant.I can’t understand Lance’s mind anymore. When the time comes for him to cry again about what he is doing to Madame Celine, I will make sure that I am by his side and I will not leave his side to laugh at him.Lance ended the call, then looked at Freya. He has a blank face expression so I can’t read Lance’s feelings on his face wh
• • • • • ( F L A S H B A C K ) • • • • • ....LANCE POV -It was four in the morning when the private jet landed in the hangar. I still had time to eat breakfast with my family, Sunny, Skye and Celine, and most of all, I had plenty of time to spend with Celine on her special day. I couldn’t wait to show her my surprise.When I got off the private jet, I received a private message from an unknown phone number. My vision and surroundings went dark after I saw the photo that was sent to me. A few moments later, Hannah called.“Freya needs you.”“Freya?”I felt a twinge of suspicion. I looked around. My men were waiting for my order, while the others continued to watch where they were standing.I pretended to hurry back to the private jet. “I’ll be there in less than an hour.” I told Hannah and ended the call. “Let’s go back to New York,” I ordered the pilot. “My wife needs me.” I said it firmly, full of pretended concern. My statement surprised almost a
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 st
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,
( 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 hea
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 k
LANCE HART POV-I put down the folder containing the documents I had to approve, but after a few minutes of reading it I couldn’t focus. Over three hours had passed since Celine left. Five minutes had passed when she called me to tell me to remove the body guards I had sent. After that, she said she would call me again in an hour. I can’t rest until my own eyes see Celine is doing well, also I miss her so much.I stood up to get a black coffee. Just as I faced the table again, I recoiled after I saw Skye sitting on the sofa. Upon approaching him, my eyes bulged when I saw he was holding Starr’s picture. As I often did, I looked at their pictures; among the many on the table, Skye focused on Starr’s lone picture.Celine will scold me if she finds out Skye saw Starr’s picture. We were planning to tell our children about Starr before we got married, but we planned to tell them together.I sat down next to Skye and put my coffee cup on the table. “Skye, why did you wake up?” I attempted
CELINE SALVATORE POV-I wore a sleeveless sexy backless white dress high waist slim a-line short dress, paired with three inch black ankle strap heels. For the make up I did I kept it simple, for my short hair is loose.After checking myself I came out of the walking closet. I straiht to the mini living room where Lance was watching a children’s cartoon with our children.“What do you all think?” I asked them.Lance turned off the tv first then he looked at me, followed by our children.“Mummy, you’re beautiful!” Sunny, lauded.“You look amazing, mummy.” Skye, acclaimed. “You look gorgeous as always.” Lance, extolled.“Are you all sure? Look again.” I turned around once to show them the entirety of what I was wearing.“What the f*ck, why is the back of your dress like that?!” Lance exclaimed as he stood up.I glared at him for swearing in front of our children.“Mummy, what is, what the fa... fa…” Sunny asked curiously but had difficulty saying the word she wanted to know.“That’s a
SABRINA RODRIGUEZ POV-I smiled after Celine sent a picture to our group chat. Joy welled up inside me at the thought of their happiness. I keep telling myself that she deserves her happy family. Despite all the problems and hardship they have gone through she and Sir Lance still love each other very much.I put down my phone and I drank the twentieth shot of whiskey.“Please have one more shot of whiskey.”I think the spirit of alcohol had kicked into my body. My head was aching from the loud music and the surrounding people, plus the various smells mixed with the smell of alcohol and cigarettes. Why did I even think of going to this bar?Since I’m finishing the project I’m doing for a client who will build a mansion for their growing family, I take a whole day off. I shopped almost everything I wanted I remained unsatisfied, so I went to the nearest bar I saw. “Thank you.” I told the bartender as he handed me a shot of whiskey.I drank the whiskey straight again and paid. I should
CELINE SALVATORE POV-Lance fulfilled what he said, after the grace period of three days he would finish all the work and, could take care of the wedding preparation. Today is our fifth day of preparation.We hired a wedding planner that Christine suggested to us. Her recommendation felt like a sure thing, given my experience with her previous wedding planning success. The wedding planner also suggested our photographer.This evening, we got back from Italy because we had a dress measurement.In Italy we found a designer who will sew wedding gowns, suits and bridesmaids’ dresses. I took the bridesmaids’ measurements one by one three days ago,. For the final touch, one week before the wedding, the tailor and designer themself will come to New York for last fitting for all of us.We have accomplished a lot in the five days of wedding planning. We might move the wedding to an earlier date.“I’m leaving.” I let him know after I took the bag from our room and returned to the living room.“
CELINE SALVATORE POV-I put back my gaze at the secretary. “Thank you.”I stood up and left in front of the secretary.I took a breath and it seemed heavy to know about that thing. It was clearly a work discussion, but the thought lingered–I quickly dismissed it from my mind.I shouldn’t waste time thinking about other things. Lance loves me, he loves our children, we love him–it is the important thing and above all I trust him.I was about to get in the car but I saw the man get out of the car and come towards me.“Can we talk?” Lucian asked as he approached me.I sight at the time on the watch I was wearing. “Sure.”——————————Lucian take me in a private restaurant, where he rented the entire restaurant for the entire time.I invited him to a coffee shop, but he refused. He said what he had to say was a private matter.When we arrived at the restaurant and sat down, the waitress served us food, after that, Lucian told them to leave us.“I’m sorry, Lucian. I didn’t plan on staying lo
CELINE SALVATORE POV-“What do you want for dinner?” I asked Lance after I cleared away the container. “I’ll cook dinner.”“About that.” He held my hand, his other hand caressing my knuckles. “I’m not sure what time I’ll be home. I still have a lot of work to finish, so I can finish everything by tomorrow.”He sounded sorry, as if the sin he had committed was too big.“It’s okay, don’t worry.” I said with a smile to ease his burden. “Just, please, take care of your health.” I said, almost begging. “On our wedding day, I don’t want our friends to drag you down the altar so our wedding can go ahead.” I joked.“I won't.” He said, laughing, then hugged me tightly, just enough so that my body wouldn’t be trapped in his arms. “Thank you for giving me strength. I don’t even need to drink energy drinks anymore.”I hugged him back.For a moment, the surroundings became silent as we still hugged each other.“Celine.”“Hmm?”“Can we have one round?”I pulled away from the hug. When I looked at h
FREYA POV-After I finished fixing myself, I put the final touch on my makeup, my red lipstick as red as blood. I checked my phone first. I tightened my grip on it seeing that until now, after two days, Lance announced his engagement to the whole world. They all kept talking about all this. Our wedding back then, it maybe, was grand because I pressured him into every detail but to announce to the whole world he didn’t do it. He hasn’t said who he’s going to marry yet but I’m sure it’s his pathetic ex-wife he’s going to marry.I called that stupid thing, but he still didn’t answer my call. In my annoyance, I threw my phone somewhere in my hotel room. That stupid. I cooperated with him back then because he promised he could find a way to keep Celine and Lance away. I even sacrificed my smooth face and skin. The beating me back then in the old building was our plan. No one kidnapped me. It was all a plan to make Lance believe someone else hurt me. After beating me and got hurt, I shoul
CELINE SALVATORE POV-“As soon as possible?” I asked, with a hint of doubt.“Why don’t you seem sure?” There was concern in his voice. “Didn’t you change your mind?” There was fear in his voice.“Of course not. I just don’t know if your schedule can handle it if we get married so soon.” I spelled out.The worry on his face quickly disappeared after I explained it to him.“When would you like us to get married?”“Before our kids go back to school, so they won’t be confused about which surname to use and can use your surname.”“When is the new school year for our kids?”“Two months from now.”“Two months?!” I was the one who was worried by his question. “W-Why?”“I thought I would have to wait just less than a month to marry you.” I lost my concern. I thought he was the one who changed his mind now. I wish to give back my surname to you. If possible, we will get married next week.”“That’s a short amount of time for preparation.” I explain with a beaming face. “On a serious note, when
CELINE SALVATORE POV-It’s not like it used to be that my children wake me up every morning, now I wake them up.Skye and Sunny were still rubbing their eyes when I woke them up.“Good morning, sweethearts.” I greeted them and gave them a sweet kiss on the top of their heads.“Good morning, mummy.” They greeted me sleepily.My smile widened seeing their father was still sleeping soundly. I saw that his forehead was unfurrowed, he didn’t smile widely, but his face was peaceful. He looked like a puppy sleeping. He was so cute when he slept like that.For all the years, I think this was the only time I’d seen him sleep. In all these years, I finally saw Lance sleeping without anger on his face.“Daddy!” Skye and Sunny happily approached Lance at the same time.Sunny climbed onto Lance’s tummy while Skye was on the side of Lance’s face.“Daddy, wake up!” Sunny woke up. I came closer to them, theb supported Sunny’s body when it moved.“Daddy!” Skye and Sunny woke up at the same time to th