“He has a girlfriend,” Hana murmured.
Hana was sitting by the dresser, her fingers fisted in the air as she tried to take off her earrings. She couldn’t remember how many minutes or hours she had spent in this position, but the moment the driver parked, she had run into her room. Baba wasn’t home when she returned. Mama had been watching a soap opera, so she didn’t get a chance to question Hana.
She finally removed the second earring and tucked it into the case on the table. A groan from the bed reminded her she wasn’t alone. Her sister was reading on her tab. Hana had taken her advice to split the book so Cara was making all the final touches.
“Who?” Cara asked.
Hana picked up her laptop and opened the manuscript. She thought she was done with it. The book had ended with a happy ever after, but the happiness she felt the day she put the last full stop to the document was missing. There was a hol
On Friday, Calvin skipped family dinner. Late in the afternoon on Saturday, he went to his parent’s house and tiptoed into the room to avoid calling attention to himself. Calvin had just climbed into bed when a knock came from behind the door. Pushing the cover off his legs, he sat up against the headboard. The door opened without his permission, and he hid a groan as his sister enter. He must have forgotten to lock up. Sweeping a hand over his body covered in a tank top and briefs, he asked, “What if I was naked, Cam?” “Are you?” “See for yourself,” he retorted. Thoughts of Angel still plagued him, but he wasn’t sure who to discuss it with. Camilla must have heard him enter because he had been very quiet. “So, did that guy ever call you?” Camilla shut the door with her foot and rested her weight on it. They were silent for a moment. He didn’t know if it was a good idea to mention Angel. If Camilla knew, then the
Days had passed, weeks too, and Calvin was yet to hear from Rock. He had started avoiding Charles, not because he didn’t care for his friend, but because he didn’t want to be part of the wedding Charles was planning. His best friend was going ahead with his plans, and as much as he didn’t want to be a buzzkill, he couldn’t hide his disapproval. If he could get a chance with Angel, he would convince her to marry him instead. His parents did it once, and it worked for them. He could do it again. His screen blurred as he stared at it. He had a lot to do. He hadn’t gotten a new assistant to handle aspects of Kenna Prime. People had been showing up, but none of them were good enough. It wasn’t that they lacked the credentials to work for him. He was too distracted to sit still through an interview and pick one of the many available options. He wanted to be a part of the hiring process because the person would work with him as closely as Destinee did. Calvin shut his lapto
Calvin opened the backdoor of his car for his sister to enter. The driver was already behind the wheel. Camilla flipped her hair proper diva style, letting some strands brush his cheek and slipped into the car. He laughed. Given the valuable information she had brought to him today, he couldn’t bring himself to be bothered by her antics. Her iPad was still with him, and he had no plans of returning it anytime soon. But as soon as he joined her in the backseat, she stretched her hand to him. “Give it back.” “Come on. Let me hold onto it for tonight.” Calvin wanted to read the story. Live in the world his angel created. Maybe she would explain why she left him. Perhaps he could understand how her mind worked. He also had to tell her about Diane. She meant nothing to him. They were just sex buddies. “Nope,” his sister replied. “I’ll get you another one.” Tapping a finger to her pouted lips, Camilla told him, “You’ll retu
Hana burst into her sister’s room with a yell. Her phone almost fell from her hand, but she caught it before it hit the ground. Cara, who was taking a nap, roused and rubbed the back of her palm over her eyes. Hana jumped to the bed, yanking the comforter from Cara’s body. Since her sister started attending rehearsals, they hadn’t been spending as much time together. When Cara didn’t look at what Hana was showing her, she held her head steady, forcing her to look at her screen.It was Cara’s idea to put the book on pre-order so they had a chance to send ARCs and promote it before release. Hana hadn’t expected anything. The last few days since the pre-order went live, she had refreshed her page so often to see zero preorders. But today, there was one order. One person freaking paid for her book. She was one book closer to being a bestselling author.Cara had also taken charge of creating social media pages and handling it for her.
Rock, the private investigator Calvin hired, didn’t find anything useful on Angel Kent. She was a new indie author with only one book, which was set to release in June, in her name. Without a picture or her first name, it was a dead end. When Rock asked for more information, probably someone Calvin knew who was in touch with Angel, he had given out his best friend’s details.Calvin had almost disagreed with the PI’s idea of stalking Charles, but it was their only lead. Now, he had Charles’ schedule and had gotten a call from Rock alongside a picture of his best friend with a pretty lady.His lady. No one told Calvin to rush to the venue after getting that picture. He left everything he was doing to be here.Angel wasn’t the only person shocked at his presence. Destinee had tried to stop him from leaving the office, but he ignored her. Angel opened and closed her mouth.Calvin couldn’t help himself from
Words blurred on Calvin’s screen. He had no idea why he was wasting his time here when he had been unproductive for most part of the day. He peeked at his wristwatch and sighed. 1:45 pm. He had never wished for Camilla’s disturbance like he did now. He needed a distraction. Someone to pull him out of this slump he was about to slip into.His phone rang, but once he saw the name on it, he placed it face down. Charles. There was no point holding on or waiting for a girl who blatantly said she couldn’t marry him. He was doing himself no favours. So why couldn’t he stop thinking about her?The door opened, and his assistant offered him a tight smile without entering.“I was knocking, sir.”He didn’t hear. Sitting up, he grabbed the armrests and released a breath. “Come in.”Destinee walked in and dropped her tablet on his desk. He flipped it around to see the images on the screen better. Pictures of
A groan escaped Hana. She fluffed the hem of her dress and smoothened it again. Why did Charles want to see her? She already told him everything she knew about Kyle, which was so little. He had warned her to be careful around him without saying more. Now, he wanted to see her. Why? To cancel the wedding? He couldn’t. He was her only hope out of this place. If she got out, she could get Cara out and Mama too, eventually.Cars drove past theirs. People continued in different directions. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry of some sort. The tinted window shielded her from the glares and curious glances as the car curved into a busy street. It was a narrow street with cafes and shops on either side. Some people were at the tables outside, eating and talking. She saw no signs of Charles. This wasn’t his typical scene. He always preferred private spots.“Where are we going?” she asked the driver.“Almost there, miss,” the man replied.
A day had passed since Hana’s encounter with Charles. She stared at Kyle’s card, her fingertips dancing across his number. Her phone was on the table beside the card. She had typed only the first digit and panicked.“Hana?” someone called from behind. Hana looked over her shoulder as her sister charged towards her. Cara opened her mouth but stopped. Grabbing the card from the table, she screamed, “Oh my God.”Hana plugged her fingers into her ears. “What?”“You know Calvin Kyle McKenna?”Words sat in Hana’s throat, but she wasn’t sure how to voice them. She had kept her last interaction with Kyle to herself. But how did her sister know him? He was hers alone. Well, not hers, but not Cara’s, either.“You know him?” Hana asked instead.Cara laughed and settled down on the floor. Crossing her legs under her, she flipped the card upside down. “No. But