By the time he had made love to every inch of her body, it was already four in the morning.Opening the door of their bedroom with all the care in the world, he found Noémie lying on her stomach. The sheets covered her naked body while her dark brown hair draped her back.Four years ago, after she gave birth to Lovette, Ajax hadn’t waited to propose to her. He had done what he should have done a long time back. And that was to listen to his heart. A round brilliant diamond-cut ring he had gotten for her, hoping she wouldn’t absolutely hate it.She didn’t.Something told him that even if he hadn’t put on a grand gesture and hadn’t showered her with yellow plumeria (her favorite) on the roof of the old Halest Villa, she would have loved him all the same. She would have said yes despite everything and had made him the happiest man in the entire universe. He could still taste her admission on his lips.Ajax locked the door behind him and approached the bed with a thoughtful stride. He too
Heat surged to Noémie’s face, making her cheeks a deep scarlet. “Oh God, no!” She gasped in disbelief while also trying to hide the huge grin dying to claim her plush lips “I think I liked you better when you barely spoke like three words a day.”That was barely the truth. Sure, she had fallen for the same brute that he used to be, but now that he had started to open up and had exposed her to this wilder and a bit darker side of his, she didn’t want him to stop. She loved him for everything he was and more. There was no way she could hate him for anything he did or said. He was the perfect man any woman could ask for. A perfect man who belonged only to her. There hadn’t been a single moment she regretted saying yes to him the day he proposed. Four years with him had been nothing short of a dream.“It’s because you love me now,” he said with a pleased sparkle in his dar
With so many curse words flying around, he didn’t want his daughter to get corrupted so damn early on.Noémie didn’t need to be told twice. She dashed over to the dining area, greeted Sonia Halest humbly and pulled her little girl in her arms. “What were you even doing up there?” she couldn’t help but ask as she took Lovette upstairs.“For the better view, mommy,” the little girl told her as if that was the most normal thing in the world. “But who’s that girl in the white dress? Is she a bride? Where is her groom? Do you know her? Why is Uncle Vince so mad at her? Did she do something he doesn’t like? Oh no!” She gasped, pure horror crossing across her face. “Did she chew with her mouth open? You know uncle Vince hates it the most…” and on and on she went until Noémie disappeared inside a room and the do
Claire knew she fucked up. Big time. No less.Out of all the outcomes she imagined moments before making the biggest decision of her life, this was not what she had in mind. To be chucked out of his home right after confessing her love for him? Damn! The possibility never even crossed her. And why would it? He fucking loved her. Didn’t he?Unless she had hallucinated that entire conversation fourteen months ago. Or the way he looked at her as if she was the most beautiful woman on earth. As if she was the only one he truly, truly desired.Claire wondered what had changed. How could someone change so much in merely a few months? Was it even possible to hate a person with this amount of passion whom you’ve loved so much once upon a time? Had she hurt him that deeply?Yes! Her inner voice instantly supplied. Claire ignored it.No. This would not do. It couldn’t be the end of what they had. It just couldn’t. She refused to believe the small, reasonable voice growing louder at the back of
“So, what are you going to do next?”Grandma asked as they sat in a booth at the nearest burger joint. Her pale, wrinkly arms propped on the table. She looked at the mess of a bride across the table with genuine curiosity. Her bob-cut hair gave a hip look to her calm features.Claire took a big bite of the burger before swallowing it down with a mouthful of fizzy drink. “I…” She took another sip from the straw, a loud one, fetching much more attention than she already had the second they entered through the doors. “I don’t know,” she admitted in a small voice.Grandma raised her eyebrows, apparently amused. “Since when did you make hasty decisions, Claire?” There was a teasing tone in her voice.Claire choked on her food. “It’s the first time, obviously.” She cleaned her mouth with the napkin. “But sadly, it only looks go
Claire averted her eyes, tugging at her bottom lip while staring out of the window.She knew Grandma was right. Vince was probably right, too. But while everyone was fucking right, what was she supposed to do?In less than seven hours, she humiliated her entire family, slapped Lucas, broke the engagement, and was rejected by the only man whom she did all those things for. She had no clue what she was going to do next.Her dad would be furious. He would probably throw her out of the will sooner or later. Her step mom would never have the courage to speak in front of her father, and her brother would never take a stand for her like in any other instances in the past. She was in so much deep water. How was she supposed to swim her way out of this?“Claire?”Claire didn’t know for how long she had zoned out when
The next morning when Claire woke up and walked out of her room, it surprised her to find her grandma’s small apartment swamped with several men in suits.They were so many of them she had to rub her eyes and pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t still asleep.She was not.All those men had been actually occupying the small drawing room of the apartment. Nothing about the scenario in front of her made even a little bit of sense.At first, she thought her father or Lucas had finally caught up with her.And that thought alone gave her a tiny heart attack. Not literally. But you get the point.Her heart lurched and her legs recoiled. Her first instinct was to make a run for the room she emerged from and lock it until she thought of a better plan. She would not let them drag her back to that stupid wedding. She would let no one take control of her life anymore.
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
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