Mason tossed Eira’s file aside. It was safe to say he agreed with her.Ava let out a sigh of relief. She was about to take it away when Eira’s passport-sized picture slid out of the file. She tied her black hair into a ponytail and her eyes were glinting.At first glance, she looked just like Zoe when she was eighteen years old.Ava acted fast. She picked up the picture, stuffed it back in the file, and got ready to leave. However, Mason called out to her, “Wait a minute!”Grabbing the file, he took the picture out for a brief moment and put it back in. He said softly, “We’ll keep her as an intern! She won’t receive any special treatment.”Ava tried to reason with him. “Ms. Zoe wouldn’t be happy when she learns about this, Mr. Mason. Eira isn’t any ordinary girl. She’s related to Lilith. I’m worried that…”His voice was even more nonchalant when he said, “Just do what I say!” He had given his orders, but Ava didn’t move an inch.Raising his eyes, he saw her smiling gently.“I
Mason got off from work early on Christmas Eve. He left his company around four o’clock in the afternoon. He wanted to buy Christmas gifts for Yanni. Naturally, he’d get something for Zoe as well.The weather had been particularly cold recently. So, he bought a light pink LV cashmere scarf for her. He got into the car once he was done buying their gifts. Luke drove and pulled out of the mall’s underground parking lot.The snow became heavier as the minutes went by and thin banks of snow covered the street. Luke stopped the car in front of a traffic light, reached out, and wiped the rearview mirror. “If the snow gets any heavier, it’s going to block off the road, Mr. Mason. I’ll come by earlier tomorrow and…”Leaning back on the backseat, he fiddled with the toy he bought for Yanni and said softly, “Tomorrow’s Christmas. I’m spending time with my baby.”Luke went along with him, “It looks like you’re a family man now!”Mason smiled lightly in response.Just as Luke was about to
It was close to seven o’clock at night by the time Mason returned to the manor. Zoe had finished her dinner.She was feeling better recently, but he still hadn’t called off the bodyguards. It was a snowy day, but all of them were committed to their duties and stood guard at every corner of the manor.Luke parked the car and Mason stepped out of it. He left the gifts in there on purpose because he wanted to give Zoe a surprise.Walking through the door, he gave his black overcoat to Layla and peeped at the living room before asking, “Did Zoe have her dinner?”Taking his overcoat, Layla smiled faintly, “She did! It snowed this afternoon. Ms. Zoe even carried Yanni downstairs and admired the snow by the window in the evening. Yanni might be young and small, but she wasn’t afraid of it. On the contrary, she kept giggling. I think she likes snow!”Affection filled his heart as he took off his shoes and headed upstairs.The light was warm and yellowish in the bedroom on the second floo
Mason proceeded to put Yanni back in the crib. Then, he hugged Zoe from behind, leaned into her ear, and asked lightly, “Why didn’t you open your gift? Go on. See if you like it!”She didn’t like him getting close to her like this. Shrugging him off gently, she went to open her gift and saw the light pink scarf in there. He put it on for her and said gently, “It looks good on you!”It had been days since he last had sex with her. Moreover, she looked better recently. So, he couldn’t help but think about getting intimate with her. To drive the point home, it was Christmas Eve tonight. Naturally, he was affected by the holiday and wanted to do something romantic.Hugging her from the back, he breathed at her ear and said with a husky voice, “Let’s give it a try, Zoe. I’ll stop the moment you feel uncomfortable.”Before she could answer, he swooped her up and put her down on the couch. Leaning on the couch with one hand, he held her hand with another and kissed her. He murmured, “I’ll
They ended things on a bad note.Ever since that night, they treated each other even more coldly. At times, it seemed Mason’s obsession with her was the only thing holding them together.He wouldn’t set her free.What he didn’t know was that Eira’s presence made Zoe’s postpartum depression, which had been starting to improve slightly, way worse than before. It was so serious that she had to take antidepressants, which meant she had to stop breastfeeding Yanni. So, the baby drank only formula now.All the promises he made about making up to her turned to dust before their strained relationship. Perhaps he still cared about Zoe, but he craved Eira’s adoring and admiring eyes more than her. It was enough to make him forget about home.It was the end of the year and Zoe’s condition got more serious. She’d get insomnia and had to take sleeping pills every night. At first, she merely needed one of them to go to sleep. Now, however, she needed to take three to knock herself out. Howeve
She was about to respond to him, but he had already walked past her.Eira couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She could sense that Mason was astounded by her appearance and had a thing for her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have looked at her that way and he certainly wouldn’t have given her a ride that time. However, why didn’t he want her?At that moment, Lisa scanned her from top to bottom and asked Ava, who was standing next to her, “Is this young lady the intern?”Ava responded respectfully, “Yeah! This lady doesn’t know when to quit! She always finds excuses to get near Mr. Mason and he had been accommodating with her.”Sneering, Lisa said, “Don’t worry, she’s a nobody. She’s not going to be able to marry into our family!”Eira heard Lisa’s remarks and felt thoroughly embarrassed. She, too, knew she shouldn’t have tried to seduce a married man, but it wasn’t as if she could control herself.She loved Mason!…Two days later, Ava went to Mason’s manor to give him some document
It was eight o’clock in the night by the time Mason was done with the video conference. Instead of going back to the bedroom, he walked over to the window in the study and smoked a couple of cigarettes. A wisp of smoke hung in the air, covering the study with a greenish hue.Mist covered the entire window. He reached out and wiped the glass, only to find four inches thick of pockets of snow gathered on the ground. It snowed particularly heavily this winter, it seemed.With a cigarette between his fingers, he breathed out wisps of smoke as he stared out the window with deep, profound eyes. He stood there like that until he finished smoking. Then, he snuffed out the cigarette and left the study.The first thing he saw was the company yearbook when he stepped into the private lounge. It was just laid there, looking conspicuous. He flipped through it and saw the picture where he stood shoulder to shoulder with Eira. It’d be pushing it to claim that there was nothing between them.Zoe h
Mason didn’t feel the need to hide his intention. He proceeded to roll over and got up from the bed. The moment he opened the door, cold air rushed in and disturbed Yanni, who started to moan in the crib. Zoe rose and patted her baby’s back, trying to put her back to sleep.Moments later, he came back into the bedroom. He cast a glance at Zoe before making his way to the fitting room to get changed. Then, he said, “I need to head out. You and Yanni can go ahead and sleep.”Carrying Yanni in her arms, she went over to the fitting room. He was in the middle of changing out of the bathrobe and into his shirt and casual pants. It might be snowing heavily out there, but he wasn’t going to dress thoughtlessly. After all, he was about to meet Eira in the middle of the night.Then, he saw Zoe in his peripheral visions and frowned, “Why aren’t you going back to sleep?”Lowering her head, she checked on her baby, “Yanni’s making a fuss! If you care about Eira that much, why don’t you just