Phoebe’s POV My heart felt heavy after listening to the story my father was telling. Every detail he revealed felt like a sword piercing my heart. My breath became ragged, and I couldn't grasp what was happening to me until I felt a warm hand touch my back. "Hey, it’s okay. I’m okay," I could have sworn I heard Eric’s voice. "Phoebe! Are you okay?" I snapped out of my trance when I heard my name being called. It was Jonathan, his hand on my back. "Hey, are you really okay?" he asked, concerned. Mama and Randall’s eyes were on me now. They were worried. "I’m okay," I responded. "If I had known it before, maybe I could’ve—" "Known it before? What are you talking about? You could have just called him on the phone, sent him an email, or tried to contact someone who knew him and could have protected him. But you chose not to, because deep down, you wanted him gone," I voiced out. He flinched and lowered his head. I might have gone too far with my words, but I wasn’t ready
Notice: This chapter is in the future/ Present Phoebe’s POV It’s been exactly three years since we last met. Our awkward reunion feels like a scene in a movie. “Hey, Phoebe, where did you run off to this time?” Eli yells, almost out of breath. Smiling has become a habit when you have friends who joke all the time. I turn my attention toward her, scanning the area. There’s one person missing. “Where’s Cat?” “Seriously? You’re asking me that now?” I nod. She sighs and shakes her head. “She ditched us for her fiancé, remember?” she says. “Oh, yeah, I remember now. Sorry, my mind’s a bit scattered…” “Of course you will be like this. We’re in Singapore.” I flinch for a moment. “Yeah, we are.” “Let’s get going. We can’t be late,” Eli says, dragging me along like a lost child searching for her parents. We flag down a taxi and head to our destination. Where are we going again? Oh yeah, Kobby is having his baby shower today. As much as I want to escape the anxiety of
Eric’s POV I am a little hesitant to attention the baby shower of Evelyn and Kobby. It feels kinda awkward. I hardly have time to spare. Their call from a few days ago came as a surprise. There is no way I can refuse them. Today is the day and getting ready feels like an eternity. “Eric what you waiting for we going to be late” Chang calls. The most surprising turn of events is my closeness with Chang. Well It’s probably because he has always been then through out my struggles for the past three years. Yeah three years, it has been. “Man!” he calls again. “Don’t worry I have him covered” Andrew comes to my rescue. He helps me with my tie. “Are you ok?”he asks. “Yeah I am” I answer. “You don’t look like it” I let out a soft chuckle. “I am ok Andrew no need for you to be worried” I says to him and drag myself out of his arms. “Hey if you not ok, you can still decline!”he yells behind me as I take the stairs. “Done” I says to Chang. He can’t help but laugh at the respo
Two Years Ago Cuba A year had passed since we adapted to our life here in Cuba. The hospitality was amazing. Mama was able to secure a job as a fruit shop attendant with Randall's help. Jonathan was still trying to pick a good high school. He refused to attend any school. He still believes that one day we could all go back to our old lives. I wish it were true. But a year had gone by and nothing had changed. We were still in hiding. Fortunately, Randall was able to recover some of his saved-up money and a tiny bit of his lost fortune. Unfortunately, his wife and son hated me and my family very much. I understood their anger. I tried as much as possible to avoid running into them. We had to be careful about whom we spoke to and interacted with. At my new job in a flower shop, which hardly had customers, it was a peaceful place to be. Today was similar to the previous days. I sat at the front desk and watched the cars and people passing by our shop. It sometimes got depressi
Phoebe’s POV “What the hell was I thinking when I decided to be friends with this…” I muttered to myself while watering the new flowers that had just arrived. It had been a month since I saved Lucas from being beaten, and here I was thinking it was fate. Who was I kidding? He’s just a troublesome man who doesn’t seem to know when to stop being a bother. How can such a well-built man be so goofy and annoying? Not only that, but his easy-going attitude was the most irritating. He revealed to me why he was being chased. His father was the head of a drug cartel, and he had been helping the police bring down some of his operations. His father found out and sent his men to get him. He was lucky I found him in time. But I was quite surprised to hear him say all those words to a stranger he had just met. And he told me, “Strangely, I feel comfortable around you. Like we know each other or something,” repeating his words to myself. “Bella señora, there is a macho man outside looking f
Two year ago… Eric’s office Eric’s POV “Knock, knock” Andrew tends to get my attention every time he enters my office. I wonder when it started. He was probably being told to do so. I once saw him watching something on YouTube. How to make your boss smile again. Seriously does he still think I am some kid who needs to babysitter? It’s been two years since I closed up on everyone. Unfortunately, I was unable to change my name to my mother’s due to his influence. But I cut all ties with them. I heard Philip was now the director as he had always wanted. As for Uncle, Grandmother made sure he turned himself in. There was not much to sentence him with. He wasn’t the person who ordered the kill, he was just a partner, and that save his betrayal ass for allowing them to kill his brother. I could only sigh. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a tap on the table. “Eric!” he raised his voice. “Huh!” I exclaimed. “I have been standing here for minutes. No response from
Eric’s POV “What the hell is he doing here?!” I yelled waiting for Andrew to answer. “Eric calm down” “How do expect me to calm down when he is in my house? You know I don't want anything to do with them” “Eric” like whisper Andrew called my name. “Huh! What are you doing Andrew, tell him to leave now!” “Eric he knows” “Huh, knows what?” I glanced at Andrew and then to Chang whose demeanor looked a little weird. “He knows you have acrophobia” I flinched for a moment. I glance at Chang. I sighed. “So what?” “He saved your life, Eric, show some respect” Andrew scolded. I wondered why he was taking his side. It got me more fired up. “So you want me to take his hands and kiss it? Because he saved me. I never asked him to save me. It would have been better he had left me dead than to be indebted to him,” “What?” Andrew seemed upset. He stood up abruptly. “How can you say that? You..” Chang cuts him off. “It's ok Andrew. It's enough Eric” “What! It's never enough. N
One year ago. Port of Busan - South Korea. On a cargo ship, a mother and son hid inside to escape from her abusive ex-husband who was a gang leader in Busan. They hid themselves, hoping they wouldn't be caught. Three men disguised as fishmongers were in search of them. Speaking in Korean. “Where is that woman and her useless son,” “We need to find them or else our heads will be on the boss's plate,” “Where could they be” They could hear them talk about them. The mother covered her son's mouth. The Port was so big. It would be difficult for them to search every ship. And so the three men started asking questions about the moving ships. They were able to identify a few who would be leaving soon and unfortunately, the mother and son were in one of them. Ten in total were about to leave for export. They checked in with the shippers. Every last one. They were getting closer to the mother and son. While hiding. The son spotted a mouse. Afraid it would harm him, moved away