"It's been a month, Conrad. What are you going to do now? You can't settle this privately. Not with someone like Heide."From the view outside the glass window, my eyes then caught sight of Drayton who's pacing back and forth in front of me."Calm down, she's not going to win." I reply while trying to avoid the possibility that my Eve probably hates me now."How are you so calm? Look, she accusing you of r*ping countless women in that strip club. And then she got a whole group of paparazzi pestering the love of your life whenever that she's out with your sister."Sister... Feliza is my sister. How did she manage to keep that from me?"Heide is going to win if you're just going to let her do this whole game on you. It's going according to her will again. We both know what's going to happen if she succeeds this time." Drayton sounds like my father when he found out that I've been working as a stripper for years now. It almost killed him."Do you think Conrad will just let Heide win? 'Ca
Drayton was guilty as fuck as we were following what we planned. But then that day was also the day that my father decided to show up and take me as I become one of his responsibilities. He looks so intimidating at the time, and he obviously didn't prepare any words to say to his son that he failed to watch as he grows up. He looks nothing like me base from his clothing. But with his sea green eyes similar to mine, I am indeed his son. In the end, he paid for everything that the three of us intended to steal. And then I was brave enough to spit out my only one condition for him to be able to take me in Las Vegas.And that condition is to bring Záviš and Drayton with us. The three of us grew up together. Drayton doesn't have his parents anymore, and Záviš is a rebel. He has his reasons, and one of them is that his father was an illegal dr*g user and his mother was an alcoholic."Son?"My eyes glance at the door and I found my father standing beside it."Can we talk?" I can't read his f
I lazily stand up from laying down on the sofa bed because I got bored reading a novel from my phone.I don't know, it's been what? Two hours?God, this is not healthy.I inwardly cuss at myself when I felt the surroundings spinning around me for a second there. This is what happens when you try to find entertainment from your phone and you're laying down as you do it.I decided to head to the spacious kitchen of Mrs. Fletcher's penthouse. I am living here in her place because she thinks that it's the best thing to do as of now. Staying out of the spotlight, and running away from those fake paparazzi. And by running away, that actually meant flying to Chicago. It's been five months now, and I swear to God that I will kill Conrad for leaving me like this.If it wasn't for Feliza and her mom, Morissey Fletcher, I wouldn't be able to survive this long. And I'm beyong grateful and glad that I met Feliza's and Conrad's mother. That made me so confused if I should be thankful that everythin
"I never met Conrad in his adult version, but I know that Colton and Noralin tried their best to raise my boy very well. It's just a shame that it wasn't me." I immediately settle my eyes into hers when after hearing her voice crack. Only to figure out that her eyes are teary and glistening regrets and sorrow. "Mom," Feliza's voice is warning her mother not to go over everything that happened in the past again. But her warning eventually sounded soft and provably not in a way that she expected it to be. "I'm sorry. Until now, the past is still capable enough to inflect a little bit of pain in me. But I'll overcome it soon, I promise." It was my turn to slightly squeeze her hand to tell her that I'm also here for her. Feliza and I are here for her. And I'm sure Conrad will be too. Soon enough after everything. "But for now, I think I need to get some sleep. I didn't sleep well last night, I was watching some Turkish telenovela." When joy is finally back and audible in her voice, Feliz
With a triumphal smile on my lips, I accept the hand in front of me for a handshake. My father indeed have an incredible lawyer. He saved my ass there, and the case went so smoothly."Thank you. I'm deeply grateful." He smiles at me with the same smile that I'm showing him. "It's nothing, it's my job. Been doing it for years, specifically for your father." I nod at him before eyeing the other side of the court. My grateful smile turns into a smug one when I caught sight of Heide.She's going to have a hard time believing all this shit. But it's strange to see devastation all over her face instead witnessing her trashing the place. That's a kind of habit of her that I once defined her with when it's just her bad side showing.It's over now, and she's going behind bars. I can finally be with Eve. And fuck it, I don't care if the rumors aren't yet cleared or haven't yet left the senses of the people. I'm going to do whatever I want, and my father advised me to trust my publicist that I
"Do you want to know how the case went?" He asks, like the case never went inside my head. Like I never thought of it; like I never thought of him losing it and losing the chance to be with me again. "Do I want to know? Hmm," I eye him meaningfully with a hint of sarcasm. "I don't think so, Conrad. Maybe I don't want to know." I heard him sigh after I've given him a small part of my entire attention. "Do you hate me?" I want to piss him off. "Hate is a strong word. And I don't hate you." His face made a little frown and I immediately use a massive force to stop myself from smiling and telling him that he looks handsome even when he's frowning. "You feel like you hate me." I shrug, "Then why did you bother to ask?" "So you hate me?" "No, I don't. Why would I even hate you?" He decides to walk the short distance between the door and the large bed, and then he sits on the edge. I'm glad that he sensed that I don't want him near me. "I don't know, maybe because I left you without
After putting Conrad in a state of shock, it took him an hour to recover. And now he's rubbing my baby bump with a small smile on his face. We're both sitting on the couch in the living room, and I'm leaning on him. Busy paying attention to the television rather than minding the disbelief left in him."Hell, we made this?" He still sounds like he doesn't believe it. I just chuckled at him as my hand lands on top of his on my tummy."I think she was made that night we had a marvelous dinner." Conrad was quick to correct me. "It's going to be a 'he', Eve." Here we go again. Why does it matter to him if I use the pronoun 'she'? I'm not even sure about the gender of our baby yet, but I can't push myself to use 'he' either. "What are you going to do if it's going to be a girl?" I ask, sounding like I'm challenging him. I hear him scoff because of what I said. "I'm going to be an excellent dada." He brags and I just laugh at him. "Thought so."Half an hour later, I decided to stand up and h
Even if these people doesn't know the truth, I still don't want them to view Conrad in a very inappropriate way. He doesn't deserve any of the treatments that he's getting because of the accusations that Heide created against him. "We should tell father as soon as possible. Or maybe Noralin, she's going to be so stoked about it. She loves babies, and now that you're pregnant, she's going to obsess over you." After this and that, Conrad didn't want to waste any more time and he completely tricked me into changing clothes. Mrs. Fletcher lets me borrow one of the dress that she owns. A floral white one that's big enough for me to breathe comfortably. My baby bump is obvious, but I don't have any other choice because the three of them think that the dress suits me. "Ready?" I nod at him, "Yup. But promise me that we'll come back soon for aunt Astacia." Conrad promised, and then we all head down to the parking lot. When we all climbed into Conrad's car, he starts to drive all the way t
"A runaway groom? What the hell? Why would he do that if he's just using Aurella for self interest?"My face is probably showing Conrad a huge question mark right now. A huge question mark with my curiosity coming with it. The origin of my curiosity is cannot be identified, but I have a feeling that I somehow believe that this Lucas Zayd Foster can't betray his own system that day.I have a feeling that this Lucas, became a runaway groom and it's all for a woman that he can't stop thinking about.Cupid probably made him realize exactly the moment that he's standing at the altar waiting for Aurella.Poor Aurella."I don't know. None of my friends know. It's still a mystery up until now."Well, that mystery is fucked up. Really fucked up. There's no way that Lucas wasn't rooted on his place when he saw Aurella walking down the aisle. There's no way that he never thought of the consequences that comes after his actions. There's no way that he just decided to put Aurella in so much fame.
"Where's the banana cake?"I look around the kitchen to search for the banana cake that my aunt Astacia bought for me.Today, Conrad and I decided to gather everyone up and tell them the good news. Well, some friends already knew 'cause Conrad couldn't contain his happiness. But our family still have no idea at all. All they know is that we're all gathered here for a dinner together. And they're not going to suspect anything at all due to the reason that Conrad and I do really host a family dinner every month.I figure out that it's a good way for Calvert to know the whole family. It's like a get together but all for Calvert. It takes so much effort for some members in the family to make it here in our house every month. And I appreciate it very much that they all agreed to this family tradition in the making. They reschedule more important matters and sometimes, I think that it's too much. But sometimes, I think that it's worthwhile especially that it's all for Calvert."I placed it
"What?! What do you mean she's back on business?"Bryce is shocked to the core and it's makint me want to burst into laughter. And it's all because I know that Aurella Aglauros is not just a widely known supermodel.She's someone from Bryce's past. Someone that's trying to put him down for years now. But actually, they're like cats and dogs in the business world. It's not just Aurella that's trying to destroy my friend here. My friend here is also determined with every fiber of his being to fire back as strong as she's trying to kick him out.But that was years ago though. After bickering for a long time, Aurella decided to stop handling their family's business and just focus on her modeling career. Maybe it's because of the pressure that her family is putting her into. Or maybe she has other reasons kept.Just like my dirty little secret."Conrad? Are you still there? Hey? Talk to me, asshole.""Bryce, language! You're with my son." It's absolutely my turn now to snap on him."Relax.
"No need to cry about it, Eve. I understand, and I can see that you've been tired and stressed out lately. You're doing your best, and that's all that matters."Whatever I do and say to calm my wife, I still can't succeed at stopping her eyes from crying and dropping tears all the way down to her cheeks.She keeps on apologizing about misplacing her wedding ring, and then accusing me of cheating on her with Aurella. And me, being me, as her husband, I keep on assuring her that it was all fine for me. I always understand her, and I always try to picture myself in her shoes. And every time that I do that, I'll eventually think that I won't survive as a woman and a mother at the same time. I don't even think if I can be graceful and incredible just like how my wife Genevieve is."No, it's just, it's so stupid of me to misplace my ring. And it's not just any ring, Conrad. It's my wedding ring! The ring I had since we got married. I'm sure that offended you even just a bit."I cup her face
I have a feeling deep in my gut that Bryce won't disappoint me at all, and that he will take care of Calvert real good. But the mother in me says that I needed to tell him that in order for him to get even just a single hint that I'm a monster at worrying when it comes to my son."Don't worry, Eve. I won't make you regret on the decision you've made. And this is not the first time that I've watched over kids. I'm good at taking care of them, so just trust me."I nod, "Okay. Thank you.""You're at the nursery school now, right?""Yeah.""You sound really tired, Eve."I look around to find an unoccupied bench to sit to. But when I'm finally about to sit, my phone beeps telling me that the phone call I had with Bryce just ended."Oh, well—""You sound really tired, so you should go home now and take a rest."Bryce suddenly pops in front of me and he's wearing his signature small and unrecognizable smile. "Go, Eve. I'll be watching over Calvert. I promise, after I watch you get into your
"Come on, mama! I'll be late!"I have no idea if I should be proud of Calvert being excited to go to the nursery school everyday, or be all lazy and have Conrad to send him off.It's been a week since my little Calvert had started going to the nursery school, and I've been trying my best to match my schedules with Conrad. And of course, with Calvert too. Asides from having different schedules, Conrad and I have no one else to watch over Calvert or to send him to the school whenever that I can no longer ditch my work with a massive force.I am still a magazine journalist under the publishing company of my own husband. But now, I am also a mother and an author who's busy with her third book. I know that I can just take it easy, or maybe do things one by one. But I can't just easily cross out one thing that I am passionate about. One thing that makes me who I am. Without these things, I wouldn't be someone who Conrad calls his wife; I wouldn't be someone who my little Calvert calls his m
"Mama and Dada are here for you. And about Paddington, I think I can find you a teddy later after all of this. What do you say?" Calvert claps and kisses both of my cheeks. "Can I come with you, dada?" I glance at my wife to look for her approval. But the look on her face is asking me, 'Really? Spoiling him?'. I know that this might not be good, but I can't stand looking at my boy knowing that he's nervous."Of course, you can come with me. But now, let's handle this preschool business first. We'll be over it, and you will have a very good time. Mama and Dada will watch over you."He smiles, "You promise?"I show him my pinky and he instantly binds his with mine. "I pinky promise."After promising to my son, his tiny hand holds mine and he walks over to Eve to hold hers too. We all walk together inside the nursery school without letting go of each other's hands. And when Calvert finally finds the best seat for him, he waves his hand at us who are quite far from him. He then listens att
"Good morning."Even with my eyes closed, my lips manage to form a smile when I feel her lips touch the surface of my cheek.How the hell can she wake up so early?And how is she so good at this?"You better get up now. You're going to be late for work if you stay in bed for 5 more minutes."Oh, whatever. I don't care if I'm going to be late for work. I'm the CEO anyway and I'm very good at it. But for now, I want to stay in bed for a little longer. With my wife.The sound of Eve's sweet giggle instantly fills the whole bedroom when I pulled her on top of me by her wrist."Conrad! You should get up and take a shower now." She's still giggling as I wrap my arms around her. Stopping her act of resistance; only making me tighten my hold on her. "I feel very lazy today, my wife. I don't want to go to work. Can we just stay here all day?" How dumb of me to ask even though I know she'll never approve it. Plus, I interfered with her work last night. Meaning, nothing can stop her now to conti
"Mama, let's have an agreement."I heard Conrad let out a small laughter that made me glare at him. Only for a matter of seconds because my eyes settle on Calvert and I give him a soft look.Conrad laughed because he knows that Calvert is about to propose an agreement that will lead to letting him stay up past his bedtime and finish the entire show. Conrad also knows that my defenses are always weak for our little boy. And honestly, I find it difficult to hold my ground sometimes. Back then I used to wonder why some mothers would just easily give their young ones whatever they ask for. But now? I totally understand. It's a different kind of tormenting feeling when you don't want to give your child what they want. But as an adult, you should always choose to do whatever is best for them. The level of difficulty of parenting will never be matched by anything in this world. And I just hope that I won't lose my mind.God."You don't have to give the same agreement all the time, baby." I s