"Dante?" Grace said, not understanding what he was doing here or how he could speak English. "What are you doing here?" "It's nice to meet you also," said Dante, with broken grammar and a heavy Italian accent. "You learned English?" Grace asked. "Yes. I realised I might meet another American beauty who didn't speak Italian," he said, still smirking at her. Giuseppe interrupted and said, "Oh, you two know each other already?" Grace turned around to look at him in confusion. "This is my son, Dante Lombardi. He came here from his college in Pisa to help me during the summer break." Grace didn't know how to feel about it. The last time they met, he was shamelessly hitting on her and Grace had rejected him because she was with Theo. She was scared that this might affect her chances to grow in the business. She knew she would have to get on good terms with him in order to make sure everything remains well at her job. Grace turned to Dante and smiled, extending her arm to shake his ha
Grace yawned as she got up from the bed and stretched her arms. "Good morning, beautiful," Grace heard a raspy voice say behind her. She turned around to see Theo lying on his back with his hand resting under his head while his other hand drew random patterns on Grace's bare back. It sent chills down her spine to feel him touch her so sensually. She realized that both of them were completely naked with nothing but bed sheets covering their private parts. Grace smiled shyly and climbed on top of Theo, resting her hand on his cheek before diving in and giving him a passionate kiss. She pulled away and smiled at Theo. He smirked and said, "That was amazing. Only if there wasn't your stinky morning breath ...." Grace gasped embarrassingly and slapped his chest, feeling offended at his remark. She got up from him and tried to get away but Theo's strong arms pulled her back down, pinning her on the bed as he swiftly climbed on top of her body. "You can't take jokes, can you?" Grace gulpe
Theo stood behind her with her phone in his hand. "Wow you look mad," he said as he kept the phone on her desk. "You left this in the car." All of Grace's frustration suddenly melted away and she smiled at him, getting up to hug him. "Thank you." "That's nice," said Theo as he hugged her back. "What's nice?" Grace asked, pulling her head away but her hand still resting on his shoulder. "You showed gratitude for once," Theo said playfully. Grace scoffed and playfully smacked his arm, earning a hearty chuckle from him. All of a sudden, she saw Dante approaching them. He had some papers in his hand. When he reached them, he looked up and saw Theo standing next to Grace. "Do you work here?" He asked. "No," Theo replied, squinting his eyes at him as if trying to recognise his face. "I just came to drop my girlfriend's phone." "Ah, so you're the lucky man," said Dante, smiling cheekily. That remark seemed to click something in Theo. "You're the guy from the club right?" Theo asked
Grace looked at the time and said to Dante, "Wow, it's really late. I'll go now." "Why? Stay for a while," said Dante. Grace had talked to Dante for about two hours and she lost track of time. It was almost 8 PM and she had told Theo that she would be home by 6 PM. Grace got up and picked up her purse to leave. "No, I have plans with Theo tonight, we'll talk some other time." "That's too sad," said Dante with a pouty face, then he got up himself and walked with Grace to the door. When they walked out of the cafe, they saw Theo waiting outside Grace's office, leaning against his car with a worried look on his face. Grace waved to him and ran over to him, with Dante slowly following her. "Hey, I'm so sorry, I went to the cafe to have a drink and lost track of time," said Grace as she hugged Theo and kissed his cheek. She felt like his body was too rigid and he ended the hug too fast. When she pulled away she saw that his eyes were fixated on something else. He was looking at Dant
3 years later Eden sat in her chair, fidgeting with her sweaty fingers as she waited for her name to be called. She was both excited and nervous for the new chapter of her life that was about to begin. "Eden Brown," the Vice Chancellor of her University announced. Eden stood up, fixed her clothes, put on a confident smile and walked over to the stage to collect her degree. She was now graduating from college and she knew what this meant. She would finally be eligible enough to take over her father's business and act as its CEO. After Alfred died, there was chaos in his company. It was so sudden that no one knew what to do. Eden was bombarded with letters, e-mails and calls, asking what to do next. When Bennett saw that it was too overwhelming for Eden, he asked her to step down until she completes her education and not worry about it at all. Eden trusted him so she backed down and let him handle it. Bennett hired a trusted member from the board of directors to act as the interim C
"Okay but listen to me." "Alright, go on." "Maybe it's all going just fine. Maybe they don't really need me." "Mhm." "Yes, and I know because I saw the charts and it's been going alright. Profits are good, reputation is back on track and I'm getting my cut of the profits. There's really no need to change anything," Eden said breathlessly as Bennett listened to her calmly. "Mhm." "And the current CEO is doing a good job, I don't understand why I'm really needed there to be honest," said Eden, her voice shaking with fake optimism. "Mhm. Keep talking," Bennett replied as he pretended that he agreed with Eden's argument. Eden noticed his sarcasm and groaned in response. "So do you suggest we go back and burn your degree? Can't lie I enjoy burning things, it'll be fun." Eden sighed and leaned back on the car seat and looked outside the window to see a huge skyscraper in front of her with the name "Brown Industries." It was supposed to be Eden's first day at work as the CEO of her f
Mr. Madden led Eden down to the huge main hall where everyone was waiting. Eden's eyes scanned the room to find the man she encountered that morning. She just wanted to see the look on his face when he found out who she was. Mr. Madden cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention. The chattering in the crowd quieted down and a few whispers traveled the room. On a normal day, Eden would be nerve wrecked to have so much attention on her, but she realized how less it mattered to her after learning how to perform in front of a crowd. Another reason why Eden was not worried about the eyes on her was because she had another motive on her mind. She was still looking for that man. "As you all know, the sudden passing of Mr. Brown has affected us all deeply. Before he left, he handed the future of this company in his daughter's hand, who had worked hard to become worthy of this position. Let's all please welcome Miss Eden Brown as the new CEO of this company," Mr. Madden announced l
"Listen, Miss Brown, I had no idea that it was you-" Steve tried to explain himself to Eden but he was cut short by her. "It doesn't matter who it was you harassed," said Eden. Steve looked around to see if anyone was overhearing their conversation. Lucky for him no one was around. "If it wasn't the owner of this company, and maybe just a cleaning lady, you would have done the same and not felt as guilty as you feel now." Steve looked positively horrified. He knew what was coming, he thought his days at the company were going to be over. "Miss Brown, please understand, I've been working at the company for 7 years, I've proven to be a good employee and-" Eden cut him off again. "So you've been terrorizing women here for 7 years?" "That's not true-" "Do you have a wife, Mr. Madden?" Eden asked. "I do." "Kids?" "Yes, two daughters." "I should fire you right now. You know I'm perfectly capable of doing that right?" Eden asked with a threatening tone while she turned away from him
Eden let out a monstrous scream as Bennett held her hand. He could feel her nails digging into his skin but he knew he couldn't let go. "PUSH!" the doctor screamed at Eden. "PUSH! IT'S ALMOST OUT! PUSH HARDER!" Eden let out one last loud scream before it was over and she could finally take a breath. Her grip loosened on Bennett's hand and she fell limp on the bed. She heard the sound of crying and suddenly all her energy was back. Three years after their wedding, Bennett and Eden's daughter was born. The baby was wrapped into a clean towel and handed to Eden. There was still some blood on her body but Eden wanted to hold her before the nurses took her for a bath. "Emily," Eden whispered. "Her name is Emily." Bennett leaned in next to Eden with his eyes full of tears. He looked at his little baby girl like he had never seen something so delicate and precious. Eden's heart raced faster than ever when she saw Bennett pick Emily up in his arms. When she saw his tears and the smile
Three years later: Grace woke up and noticed something weighing down on her stomach. She turned her head around to see Theo sleeping peacefully next to her. The droof falling from his mouth and onto the pillow made her smile. She quietly reached for her phone on the nightstand and clicked a picture of him before kissing his forehead. She was up 10 minutes before her alarm went off so she turned it off and walked to the bathroom to get fresh, hoping Theo would get a few minutes more to sleep. When Grace walked out of the bathroom she saw Theo sitting up on the bed with his phone in his hands and his eyes wide open with shock. "Woah, that drooling picture isn't that good," said Grace. Theo didn't look away from the phone and kept staring at it. Grace got concerned and asked, "What's wrong?" "Nothing's wrong. I'm going to be an uncle," said Theo, his voice monotonous. "Wait. Wait. Wait. What are you talking about?" Grace walked over to him and sat next to him on the bed. "Theo." "E
Theo's PoV Theo looked at Eden and Bennett suspiciously as he stared at the ticket they handed him. "This doesn't make sense. You want me to come to your honeymoon?" "Yeah, of course. It's so much more fun when you're there too," said Eden. "I mean, yeah sure, I'll go. But are you sure you're okay with this?" Theo asked. "Theo, it's not like we're asking you to stay in the same hotel suite as us too," Bennett reasoned. "Alright. I could use a vacation after the last few days happened," said Theo and put the ticket in his pocket. "But promise me you're not going to make me feel like a third-wheel?" "Yes, yes we promise. Also, your ticket was a last minute idea so we couldn't get it in the same flight as us, but the landing time is only two hours apart so we'll see you there when we land," said Eden. "I know we're all thinking it but I'm gonna say it, this is all sounding very suspicious and weird but I've heard some good things about the nightclubs in Paris so I'm not going to co
Grace didn't regret her decision of sleeping with Theo, and after all he said to her she didn't think that it didn't mean anything to him. She just felt embarrassed that even after trying to show Theo her resolve, it only took one kiss for her to give in. "I didn't think you'd want to avoid me after what happened this morning," said Theo. He came closer to Grace and whispered in her ear, "I want you more than ever now." A chill ran down Grace's spine. She stopped herself from shuddering and looked away, trying to ignore the feeling. She didn't want Theo to think that she would fall for him again so easily, he needed to know that she can't forgive him this fast after everything that happened. "Yes, I guess too much stress can make people do or say certain things they wouldn't do under normal circumstances," Grace replied with a cold voice. Theo seemed to have taken offense to that. He shifted away from Grace and looked out the window, not saying a single word to her again througho
Grace's PoV: "The bride and groom may kiss now," the pastor announced and Bennett and Eden kissed each other. Grace watched them with tears in her eyes, she felt so happy that her best friend was finally happy. Of course she felt guilty for being late for bringing the dress. She remembered why she was late and quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. She looked over to the groom's side at the altar and saw his best man, Theo, standing next to him and smiling at Grace. She quickly averted her gaze and started clapping for Bennett and Eden. Everyone left the chapel to attend the reception ceremony at a different venue. Eden had forgotten her phone and asked Grace to bring it to the reception. When she walked out all the cars were filled up with only one left, but someone was already inside it. Grace thought she had already had a rough day, that person can squeeze one more passenger in the car. Grace opened the door and stepped inside the car, closing the door behind her. "I'm so
Eden paced around the room while her make up artist tried to get her to settle down. Grace was still not done with the dress and Eden was considering getting a readymade dress. It was an hour before Eden had to walk down the aisle with Buddy. He had offered to walk with her since there was no other father figure present. Eden picked up her phone and dialed Grace and it went straight to voicemail. She sat back down on her chair hyperventilating when she suddenly heard the door burst open. It was Grace standing with a dress bag and heavily breathing like she was just running. "Oh my God, Eden I'm so sorry. Something happened and I-" "It's fine, it's all fine. Thank God you're finally here, I was just about to go and buy a last minute resort," Eden said as she stood up and walked quickly towards Grace. "Can I see it now?" "No, close your eyes. We'll put it on you and then you get to see it," Grace smiled with excitement. "That wouldn't be very convenient but okay," said Eden. "Let's
"Okay, so we got the guest list done. Invitations will be sent out tomorrow morning, the venue is booked, flowers are decided and the caterers have been taken care of," said Grace. "Now there's only one thing left to do." "Grace, I really wish you didn't bother yourself, Sophia and Natalie with all these tasks. We have help doing all of those things. You should focus on your store," said Eden as she buried her nose in her laptop, staring at the previous year finance reports. "And I really wish you would stop working for just a couple of days so you could enjoy your wedding preparations," Grace urged. "You've done nothing but work since Bennett announced the date of your wedding." Eden sighed and looked up. "I've been working so hard because I'm going to get off work a day before the wedding, the day of the wedding and the day after. That's three days going without work, and I need to prove to everyone I care about the business too." "Eden, I know this is important to you, but no on
Eden wore a beautiful cream gown that went down all the way to her ankle with a slit that reached up her left knee. It had a heart shaped neckline and thin shoulder straps. Grace was wearing the same dress as her since both of them were bridesmaids at Sophia and Natalie's wedding. They waited at the altar as both their father's walked them down the aisle. Eden couldn't help but get teary as she saw the wedding happen. She didn't remember what happened the night they got wasted at Grace's house and she didn't remember saying anything to Bennett, or even calling him. "The brides may kiss now." Natalie and Sophie kissed each other and the applause erupted from the guests. Eden and Grace hugged them tightly before congratulating them. After the wedding, all the guests made their way over to the reception. Eden saw Grace getting in the car with Theo while holding his hand and smiled at the thought of them finally making up. Eden got in her car with Bennett and smiled at him when she
Eden's PoV Eden got back from a tiring day of work and went through the mail to see if she received any. She saw a purple letter that caught her eye. It said that it was for both Bennett and her. When she opened it, a wave of happiness washed over her. It was an invitation for a wedding. Sophia and Natalie's wedding invitation. Eden almost started jumping around with happiness and squealing with excitement. She picked up the phone and immediately called Grace to ask her if she received the invitation. Grace picked up the phone and started screaming loudly on the phone. Eden couldn't contain her excitement and started screaming too. She heard the door open and the sound of footsteps running towards her. "What's wrong?! Eden?!" Bennett yelled as he ran over to Eden and saw her grinning ear to ear with eyes full of tears. "Wha- what? I don't understand? What's going on?" "NATALIE AND SOPHIA ARE GETTING MARRIED!" Eden yelled. "I can't believe this. Oh my god of my god oh my god." R