Noémie’s head felt too heavy for her shoulders. With no clue what was happening, all she could do was breathe and stare into nothing. Even long after Ajax had left, his words lingered in the air, sending shockwaves down her spine. The way he had spoken—the finality in his tone—made it clear she wasn’t entitled to a choice or an opinion on the matter.Was she?It didn’t seem like it.Still, it would be a lie to say that part of her wasn’t relieved to hear they were leaving. But given the recent history between them, another part of her was suddenly terrified. She wondered who else would be joining them. Surely, Mrs. Halest wouldn’t entrust her to his care… Did he even know how to care for someone? Not that she needed much attention so early in the pregnancy. But still. The thought unsettled her. What would she do in an emergency? Whom would she turn to if she wanted to share something—something she would feel incredibly awkward discussing with any man on earth?Dinner only made her fee
A wave of nausea engulfed Noémie as they drove through the familiar roads of the city. The pictures of the models had changed, but the signboards remained the same. The faces of the people were still a passing memory, but the feeling of belonging—and being part of the crowd—felt just the same.Noémie did a double take when their car passed a familiar building—a multi-cuisine restaurant where she had treated her younger sister, Claudia, on the day she graduated. It had been a pleasant day. It was rare for her entire family to gather for an occasion, with everyone caught up in their own priorities, but that day, everyone had looked happy. Claudia had cut the cake and introduced her boyfriend to the family for the first time.Thinking about her family brought a fresh pang to Noémie’s heart. Her vision blurred, and tears soaked her lashes. She had yet to contact her sister and tell her about her return. Even after a week of staying at the main Halest Villa, she hadn’t been able to muster
One week had passed, and Noémie had yet to figure out how the hell Ajax knew about her dream house. She had tried to ask—the most straightforward way to approach him—but the moment he appeared in front of her, her tongue would curl back, and words would suddenly feel inaccurate and insufficient for one reason or another.It wasn’t as if they hadn’t talked at all in the past seven days. Noémie had never known Ajax to be much of a talker, but he was certainly capable of holding a conversation. His usual responses to any offhanded question ranged from yes, no, or maybe. Although, it was the humming that she found particularly vexing.To Noémie’s surprise, Ajax had started working from home. Many times, she would walk out of her room only to bump into a new face almost every day. The entire second floor seemed to be reserved for office work. The constant tapping of shoes and heels kept the house noisy until six in the evening. After that, silence would once again settle over the place, in
A huge grin spread across her pink lips as Ajax helped her climb out of the car.The strong aroma of coffee and pastries greeted them with a grand jingle the moment the door opened. They took a seat at a table near the window. Ajax removed his suit jacket and draped it over the back of his chair. After ordering an aromatic frappe for Noémie and a plain black coffee for himself, he also picked out some cupcakes and croissants on the side.When the barista left, Ajax set his phone aside and laced his fingers together on the tabletop. “Mom called yesterday,” he began. “She invited us to dinner this Saturday. Do you want to go?”“Sure, why not?” Noémie didn’t see any issue with it. At least, not unless Aunt Isabella had permanently moved in—now that would be a problem. “What’s the occasion?”Ajax opened his mouth to respond when his phone suddenly blasted beside him. Frowning, he glanced at the screen and let out a deep sigh. “I need to take this,” he said, already rising to his feet. “Do
The entire way back home, Noémie felt as if she were about to combust—with questions. She had so many of them. But the only reason she held herself back from bombarding Ajax was that he had yet to calm down.The moment Olivia ran out of the café, sobbing and sputtering frantic apologies, Ajax grabbed Noémie’s hand and led her to the car. She hadn’t even gotten the chance to apologize to the server standing to the side, their orders still in his hands.No words. Nothing. Ajax didn’t feel the need to say anything at all. He kept his mouth tightly shut, as if speaking would make him explode—or worse, make him punch someone until their teeth shattered. And for obvious reasons, Noémie had no desire to be on the receiving end of that.She thought she at least deserved an explanation. But the longer the silence stretched, her resolve to get answers simmered down. Not because her curiosity had vanished—no, she could assure you that wasn’t the case—but because genuine concern started to creep
The next morning, when Noémie woke up, she found herself surrounded by flowers. Literally. All kinds of them. Roses, daisies, violets, daffodils, buttercups, orchids—flowers she couldn’t even name that early in the morning. Despite her lingering sadness from the events of the previous day, she couldn’t help but smile as the sweet, fresh fragrance filled her senses.A soft groan of delight escaped her lips as she stretched her arms above her head, rolling her shoulders with a grin. Excitement flickered through her movements as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, her bare feet brushing the cool floor. A melody hummed in the back of her mind as she walked to the table across from her bed, plucking a daisy from a bouquet. She curled her fingers around its delicate stalk, inhaling its scent with a quiet chuckle.Of course, she thought about the person behind the surprise. But she didn’t have to wonder for long. There was only one name—only one man—who had been leaving her these un
Normally, Ajax tried his best to handle everything from home.It was neither easy nor convenient for his company staff, but the thought of leaving Noémie alone scared him shitless. He was afraid of repeating the mistakes that had led to him losing his wife and unborn child.That day, if he had been the one driving Linda to her regular check-up, perhaps circumstances would have been different.Or at the very least, he would have been with them if fate was determined to flip his entire life upside down. He wouldn’t have slipped into depression, and he certainly wouldn’t have used alcohol to drown his sorrows. What happened between him and Noémie that night wouldn’t have happened, and he wouldn’t have a child on the way because of it, either.Ajax could not understand, for the life of him, why he had done what he did. Even if he had been drunk as a lord—had no sense of time or day—how could he have done something so awful to her? To anyone?Sure, he had been out of his mind and unaware o
In the past few days, Noémie had been bored out of her mind. She had nothing to do except eat, rest, and watch whatever she could find on TV.Ajax usually stayed busy until seven in the evening, and the only time she got to see him was during meals or after he had finished his office work for the day.To her dismay, those brief moments were the only times she felt even remotely excited.Perhaps it was due to the hormonal changes the doctor had mentioned, or maybe she just felt lonely, but even though Ajax wasn’t much of a talker, his presence alone was enough to fill the emptiness inside her.Since the day she saw that stylish woman visiting Ajax, Noémie had been curious about her, too. She didn’t want to be, but her boredom often forced her to think about
Claire hadn’t expected Vincent to prepare the contract so soon. It took her by surprise when the same delivery men appeared at her grandma’s place the next day and brought her back to the old Halest Villa.According to the giant clock hung in the drawing room, it was exactly 9 o’clock in the morning. The old Halest Villa was dreadfully quieter than the previous day. The maids and guards were the only people she noticed since the moment she walked in and took a seat on the couch, waiting for Vincent to make an appearance.Claire was nervous. Her legs were shaking with anxiousness after every passing second. The conversation she had with Marvin the previous day didn’t make her feel any better either. It made her feel even worse. She knew she shouldn’t be hiding something so important from Vincent—especi
[Nine Months Ago]A man in a white lab coat punched a six-digit code and waited calmly as the heavy metal door groaned and slowly slid open. Behind him, two tall and hefty men stood. One of them carried an unconscious woman in his arms.The door revealed a restless lab, with men in similar lab coats bustling here and there. The pungent scent of chemicals and something acidic hung heavy in the air.As the three men entered the lab, the man in the lab coat paused and lifted a hand to guide the two large men.“Take her to cube number five,” the man said, and without waiting for a response, headed in the opposite direction.The two hefty men followed the order and stationed the unconsci
Marvin pursed his lips, settling back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. “Fine. Let’s talk about something else, then.”Just by the shift in his tone, Claire could tell what was coming next.“Would you like to explain that video about your pregnancy?”“Not really.”“Claire!”Claire groaned and held her head in her hands. “Why do you even care?”“You’re doing that to get that Halest boy, aren’t you?”“So what?”“You need to let him go!”“I can’t. You know I…I can’t do that.” How could he even ask her such a thing?“It’s not fair to him, Claire. He doesn’t know—”“He doesn’t have to know.”“Claire!” He leaned forward, his gaze hopeful and brimmed with concern. “Don’t do this. You’re just hurting yourself. And him. It’s not fair…” He reached out and cupped the back of her hand with his. “…to you, too.”Claire yanked her hand away. “Drop the act, Marvin. We both know you don’t give a crap about me.”“I don’t know what I’ve done to make you feel like this.”“Are you serious?
The second the elevator doors of Grandma’s apartment building opened, Claire groaned at the sight of Marvin, her older brother. God, what was he doing here? she thought to herself.After the intense conversation with Vincent, the exact delivery guys dropped her back at the place they picked her up from.“What are you doing here?” she asked exasperatedly as she shuffled out of the elevator while rubbing her temple.At the sight of her, Marvin peeled his back off the wall and stood up straighter. “I’ve been out here for almost an hour,” he grumbled. “Where have you been?” Adjusting the collar of his shirt, he demanded with a deep frown.“First off, that’s not the answer to my question,” she paused in front of him to fix him with an annoyed look. “And second, why are you outside again?”In response to her question, Marvin only sighed deeply in his chest, scratching the back of his neck. “She won’t let me in,” he muttered with a shake of his head, clearly talking about Grandma. “I would h
“Not to me, but to yourself.” Stepping away, he yanked her hands away from his shirt. “You always tell yourself these sweet lies and find comfort in them, Claire. You think you’ve changed, but you’re still the same.” Turning on his heels, he ran a hand through his hair. Frustrated.“Vincent…”“This time you went too far, Claire. Too far. You dragged my family into this. I’m not sure if I can ever forgive you for misleading them with your fucked-up lies.”“Don’t say that, Vince. I did this for you. For us.”“Stop it, Claire!” He snapped, wanting nothing more than to yank his hair out. “Just stop it!”Rushing to him, she hugged him from behind. More tears flowed through her red-rimmed eyes. “I know what I did
Claire knew she had gone too far. She knew what came out of her mouth was bound to fuck everything up. Even more than her situation already was. Vince would hate her. He didn’t have to spell it out for her to know she was only worsening her impression in his eyes.What other choice did she have, though?She was running out of not only time, but also options. Patience was her least remarkable character trait, after all. And when it came to Vincent, her patience grew even thinner. So much time she had already wasted in coming to her senses that now every second she had to stay away from him felt like a stab of the knife straight to her heart.Perhaps that was the reason that when Ajax dismissed her and she was led out of the study by a maid, she wasn’t surprised—or let out even a squeak in protest—when Vincent grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the closest empty room.
[Six Months Ago]After seeing off her husband at the airport for a two-days business trip, when a woman named Susan Green returned to her apartment, she barely kicked off her shoes and filled herself with a glass of water when a knock on the door arrived.Unsure of who it might be at the lunch hour, she opened the door only to find no one outside.Susan frowned. She was pretty sure she had heard the knock. Not once. Not twice. But thrice. Someone had knocked at the door thrice. Wondering if the kids in the building had once again picked up the bad habit of annoying the random neighbours, she closed the door and locked it.However, just when she hoped to get back to the kitchen counter and grab herself a glass of water, her gaze fell on the yellow manila envelope on the floor. It looked like someone had slipped it inside from under the door
Claire did as she was told. Quietly, she pulled the back of the chair and sat down with her fingers tightly laced with each other.For a long minute, no one said anything. The only sound in the room seemed to be the ticking of the clock. The tension in the room felt tighter and thicker than she had ever experienced. When someone did speak, it came from her left where Sonia Halest sat.“Is it true?” The older woman asked with a frown.Before Claire could clarify what the question was regarding, Vincent beat her to it.“Of course, it’s not!” He snapped, pounding a fist on the desk and glaring at Ajax. “Did you even hear a word I said? It’s all a lie. There’s nothing between us.”“Vince…” Claire tried to say when he spun his head and glared at her.
Claire sighed into her chest and felt her back slump against the door. Her heart ached to see him this mad at her. She wondered what could she possibly do to make things back to normal between them.On second thought, things had never been normal between them. Perhaps that was the reason she felt so clueless and hopeless and helpless. She did not have a single clue what could she say or do to make him love her the way he did once. Had she taken too long to come to her senses? Was it possible that he liked someone else now?Claire hated the idea of Vince being with some other woman. No. That would not do. He only belonged to her. He only loved her. Sure, he was refusing to admit that right now, but she wasn’t planning on giving up on them soon. She would make him hers, no matter what price she had to pay.With that determination in her heart, she sucked in another deep breath