I sincerely thank everyone for continuing to read and reach this chapter. I am truly grateful for your all support and patience. 🥹💞💓💕💖😊 🥹💕🌻 By the way, the book cover is new again. I hope you all like it. 😊💕💞💖🌻
CELINE POV-It felt like I had fallen and got up when I remembered I was in a meeting. When I got up at the same time as I opened my eyes, I was surprised to see that I was in the room and my children were next to me.I slowly got up to avoid waking my children. I took my phone out of my bag and saw that it was only seven in the morning.I usually wake up at twelve to one in the afternoon if my children don’t wake me up.I fall asleep late when I don’t take sleeping pills, so I wake up late. I still feel heavy every time I wake up. I always lack sleep and force myself to get up even after less than four hours of sleep, so that I can do something and be with my children before they start school again.My body clock is the reason I haven’t been able to work at the company, but now, except for waking up early, I feel light.I kissed my children on the forehead. I smiled, seeing them sleeping soundly. I just saw my children sleeping again in the morning.It was still one to two hours befo
CELINE POV-I picked up the medicine bottle. My forehead furrowed, reading what this medicine was.I took medicine like this after I moved here to Italy, but with the help of my family I could stop needing this medicine.This medicine is calming whenever feeling fear or unable to control heavy emotions.I shifted my gaze to Hannah. She was already standing and looking at me. Her eyes were red. What caught my attention was her trembling hands.“Q…Queen…”My brow creased, not just because of what she called me, but because of her raspy voice.I shifted my gaze to Giovanni. His eyes were also red.“What’s going on here?” I asked, still full of ponder. “Do you know each other? How? Since when?” I take back my gaze and forth between the two of them until my gaze settles on my brother. “Why didn’t you tell me?”If he knew Hannah, he would know that she was close to Lance.“I’m going out now…”My gaze shifted to Hannah again. This was the first time I had heard her voice shaking, as well as
CELINE POV-I spent time at the coffee shop after leaving the hospital and after talking to Hannah.Mom also informed me they had released Giovanni because his condition was better than expected. He just needed to rest his legs and arms for one to two weeks.I sighed, remembering the conversation between Hannah and me.I wanted to take back what I had told Hannah, to talk to Lance. It’s all clear to me, so why do I need to hear what he has to say?“Here,”I looked at the iced Spanish vanilla coffee along with the cookies and cream croffle that Ashley had placed in front of me.“Are you having a problem?” She asked, sitting in the other chair.“I’m sorry if I’m not that helpful here.”“It’s okay so I can learn to talk to other people too,” Ashley said with a smile.I smiled at Ashley’s words and took a sip of my coffee.It seems everyone is ready to face what they fear, yet I thought I was courageous, but for Lance’s love, I was always afraid of the truth. Even though I know he didn’t
CELINE POV-One corner of my lips twitched while reading the documents, including in Giovanni’s computer.It’s nice that Giovanni is in the right hands with our family company.I was dropping the folders I was holding on the table when Giovanni’s telephone rang, connected to the entire building.“Good afternoon, Ma’am Andrea. Mr. Lance Hart is here.” Enzo informed me on the other line.I glanced at the digital clock. Twenty minutes before six in the evening, I didn’t notice the time.“Let him in here.”“Yes, Ma’am.”After I hung up the phone, I arranged the papers I had read to hide them again.I hadn’t finished arranging them when I heard footsteps approaching me and, as I looked at the owner, it was the person I was expecting.“Sorry if I was late. There was a problem with my private jet, which required me to buy a new one.”“It’s okay, Mr. Lance Hart.” I said formally. I pointed to the open area. “Sit down there. I’ll be right next in a second.”“Sure.” He also replied formally.On
CELINE POV- The dinner that Hendrix and I were supposed to have didn’t happen, and I didn’t even go to see Lance, instead Hendrix drove me to the mansion. He didn’t let me drive, even though I insisted I could drive. I think it’s a good thing he forced me to drive to the mansion. The entire trip, I was thinking about nothing but what he said about Lance.I wanted to think about what Hendrix said to me.“Celine?”When I heard Hendrix’s voice, I noticed we were already outside the main door. He was already outside and the passenger door was open.I unbuckled my seatbelt, then got out of the car and closed the door.“Thank you.”“No worries. Think about what I told you. I’m here until tomorrow night.”I nodded. “I’ll think about it. I’ll call you right away if I change my mind.”There was a small smile on his lips at the last words I said.“I’m leaving.”I nodded, not knowing what to say.I followed Hendrix’s car with my eyes until it headed towards the main gate and exited.I remained
CELINE POV-I easily got Sunny to sleep, especially Skye. Skye’s eyes were tired from crying.Looking at my child sleeping after talking to Skye, I couldn’t rest. I couldn’t sleep well until I was sure my children weren’t burdened with heavy feelings.What if there were more things Skye and Sunny weren’t telling me? Things that were heavy on their hearts and minds.I slowly got up and kissed my children on the foreheads then left the room.My parents were waiting for me in the living room to talk to me. I was sure it was about their grandchildren. Like me, they couldn’t sleep well until they knew what they heard earlier.Once I went downstairs, I saw Giovanni waiting with our parents.“Did you talk to Skye?” Mommy asked as I sat down.Along with my nod, I took a deep breath. “He was referring to Lance. He has known for a long time.”“How?” Giovanni asked.“In their eyes. They have the same eyes, and when Skye saw how much they looked alike, he suspected Lance was their real father.”“
CELINE POV-It wasn’t even fifteen minutes before Hendrix returned to the mansion.Giovanni can’t accompany us and they don’t want my children and I to leave alone, we’ll have Hendrix drive us back to New York. Also, Hendrix himself showed up to take us to New York hours ago before he took me here to the mansion.Hendrix carried Skye while I carried Sunny. They both fell asleep again as I changed their clothes.“Say hello to Hannah for me,” Giovanni whispered to me as he hugged me.“If she asks you.” I laughed and whispered back to Giovanni.“Andrea.” He sullenly called me by my real name.I looked at our parents. I smiled at them. I’m so lucky to have parents like them, a family like them. Without their intervention, the fear of confronting Lance would have kept me frozen.“Be careful. We will go to New York next on our grandchildren’s birthday.” Mommy pronounce.“Hendrix, take care of our daughter and grandchildren.” Daddy reminded him.“Yes, Sir.” Hendrix responded.Daddy returned
CELINE POV-I held Skye's and Sunny’s hands and headed for the main door. I was about to ring the doorbell, but it suddenly opened from the inside.“Madame Celine!” Benjamin cheerfully greeted me, the mansion’s head cook who had also taught me to cook before. It was nice to see him still here. “Welcome back!” he tearfully muttered.“Thank you, Benjamin.”He gazed downwards at my children. “What are they doing here?” Benjamin looked back at me. “I mean, Sir Lance is planning to go to Italy two hours from now.”“What will he do there?” I asked. Perhaps he had other business scheduled.“To visit you. He plans to spend two days there to see you.”“Mummy, where are we?” Skye asked.Benjamin’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I’m so excited to see you, Madame. Come in first.”“Mummy used to live here, sweethearts.” I answered Skye’s question before we entered.Once we entered, I observed almost nothing had changed except for a wall with pictures of me, Skye, and Sunny hanging on the wall.“Mummy,
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