Autumn was tense, but she managed to smile at Lucy. "Yeah, we'll fix a date for dinner and let you know about it," she replied. "Yes!" Lucy replied excitedly. "I can't wait!" She added and continued eating her food. The others at the table also continued eating their meals in silence. Autumn felt like she was being stared at. She looked across the table and saw that Perry was staring at her. He could see how tense and uncomfortable she had felt when her mum had requested dinner at her house. For one, her family had no idea she was seeing anyone, not to talk of getting married. Her mum would make a bigger fuss about it if she finds out that the said man is her boss. Another reason she was scared was their house. How would Perry's parents feel when they see that she's not from a rich family like theirs? She let out a sigh at the thought of this. "Are you okay?" Kyla asked her when she heard her sigh. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks," she muttered with a small smile on her face.
Perry looked at his mum, surprised at what she had just said. His eyes moved to Autumn. He tried to motion to her to decline the offer but unfortunately, she wasn't looking at him. "I'm fine with a hotel," Autumn replied quickly. "That's bullshit!" Mr. Moore suddenly replied. "Don't you two already live together?" Autumn was about to counter his words by telling him that they weren't living together, but she remembered that she had lied initially that he brought her breakfast in bed every morning. And that could only mean that they live together. "She's a simple woman, dad. I understand that she wouldn't want to interrupt anything here, so I agree that she should stay at a hotel." Perry said to his father with a straight face. "I won't agree with that. I insist that she stays here," Lucy said and grabbed Autumn by the hand. "Come, love. I'll show you the room where you'll stay overnight." They both headed up the stairs. "Let her stay with Perry in his room. They aren't
Memories from the night of their one-night stand came flashing back to his mind as he stared at Autumn. As his eyes went down to her lips, he couldn't explain what it was, but he knew he wanted to kiss those lips. And he did, much to Autumn's shock. For the first few seconds, she had no idea what to do, but after a few seconds of returning to life, she kissed him back. She wanted this so badly at the time, and even though it was not right, she let him do it anyway, and she enjoyed it while it lasted. He traced his hands on her face as he pushed her hair behind her ear. She immediately shut her eyes as they felt the softness of each other's lips. They pressed their foreheads against each other as their lips moved in sync, their tongues taking action in the process. Perry gave out a soft moan with his hoarse voice as he raised her hand to the back of his neck, then slid it slowly into his hair. He bit her upper lip and she moaned out his name, then, his lips traveled down
In all of Autumn's entire life, she hadn't felt this awkward before. She wondered why it always had to be this same man. The first time they had sex, she woke up to see a marriage certificate signed by them. This was the second time, and both of them knew it shouldn't have happened. Autumn had been awake for a while, but she refused to leave the bed because she was scared of what Perry might say after what they did the night before. She couldn't lie that she didn't enjoy or feel something there, but at the same time, she couldn't deny that what they did was wrong. Perry looked at the woman beside him on the bed and saw that she had her back to him, so he assumed she was still asleep. He got up and switched off the lights, then went into the bathroom to have his bath. When he was done, he came out and still met her on the bed. He scoffed and went on to dress up for the day's work. When he finished dressing up and she still didn't get up, Perry could already tell that she
Perry and Autumn left Perry's house through the back door, just to avoid his parent's teasing. As he drove, she yawned due to her tiredness. Perry noticed how she constantly yawned, but he acted like he didn't see anything. The car was silent, and when Autumn was tired of the boring atmosphere, she decided to bring up a discussion. "Why didn't you let me have breakfast? The table was already set." "We're going to a restaurant already, and if it's because you care so much for free food, I'll pay your fee." He said to her nonchalantly, but the words triggered her. "What the heck?" She scoffed, turning to face him. ?"Are you telling me that I'm complaining because I lost the chance to have free food? That sounds very stupid, you know?" "Then why the fuck do you keep questioning me about it?" He asked, raising his voice at her a bit. He didn't look at her though, his eyes were on the road. "Do you know how dumb it is that I didn't thank them for letting me sleep over at t
"I don't mind whatever he does though. I just detest the way he reasons sometimes, and this happens to be one of those times," Autumn muttered as Ella released her from the hug. "Anyway, that aside, I'm way worried about the coming dinner date. How in the world do I want to go about it?" She asked her friend, an intense look of worry on her face. Ella retired to the sofa next to her and laid her back on the seat. "What's holding you back from telling your mum though? I'm sure she'll understand." She said and shrugged her shoulders. Autumn turned to look at her, a look of shock and unbelief appeared on her face. Ella knew her mum quite well, and Ella was the only friend of hers that her mum knew as well. She was surprised to hear Ella speak that way despite knowing how her mum overreacts most times. "I can't believe you just said that!" "What? In the end, you'll have to tell her anyway. Why not do it now?" Autumn shook her head as she let out a sigh. "You're so unbelievabl
As she was dragged into the bathroom, Autumn protested, telling whoever it was to let go of her. "Will you just let go of me already!" She yelled at the person and her clothes were released immediately. As soon as it was, she was shocked to see that it was Lisa who had dragged her in. "What the heck was that?! Why did you drag me?!" She snapped at her as she adjusted her gown and her hair, looking in the mirror opposite her. "We need to talk, Autumn," Lisa said and locked the door from the inside to make sure nobody barged in. "If you want to talk to me, you have my phone number, you could have called me or texted me. Why the heck did you have to drag me like that?! Do I look like a thief or something?!" Autumn snapped at her, raising her voice, as she was not having any of the drama Lisa caused some minutes back. "I knew I could have done all that, but it was more fun to drag you," Lisa replied to her and shrugged, making Autumn even more pissed at her. "And what was i
Autumn arrived at her desk and did her usual early morning routine work by arranging the office and awaiting Perry's arrival. Not quite long after she finished and had retired to her seat, her office door opened and she assumed it was Perry. She had made up her mind that she would act as if nothing happened between them the night before and that morning too to avoid awkwardness. She stood up to greet him, but as she looked at the door, she realized that it was someone else that walked in. The sound of the heels of the female who had just walked in was loud and it got louder as she approached her table. She was chewing a piece of gum, and she wasn't doing it neatly. Autumn rolled her eyes and had her seat, wondering who she was. She couldn't help but notice that the lady was beautiful, though. "Good morning," Autumn greeted her cordially when the lady got to her desk. "Are you here for an appointment?" She asked her. The lady scoffed immediately, a look of shock on her f
Becky's surgery was done successfully, and Autumn was caught between working, taking care of her mom in the hospital, and her younger sister This made her quite stressed that she almost fell sick. Soon, her mum was discharged and they returned home Meanwhile, Perry had been thinking of ways to apologize to Autumn and urge her to return home as his wife. After much thought about it, Khalid gave him advice about what to do. He made some findings on where Autumn now works, and he found out it was with one of his business partners Immediately, he reached out to Marco, Autumn's new boss, and also her family and asked for their help in getting her back. He told her boss that he should send her on a business trip to Vegas, and her boss agreed. Autumn was very surprised when her boss told her to do this. She had just taken a leave from work to Los Angeles to take care of herself, and he had granted her the leave All of a sudden, he called her to come with him on a business trip t
"Do you not know that she's pregnant already?" Max chuckled. "I know quite well, and that's why I'm telling you this because her baby is mine and not yours." Perry paused for a minute and stared at him like he didn't just hear what he said. He scoffed, wondering if he was aware of what he was talking about. "Can you even hear yourself?" Max smiled. "I know you'd never believe me just by my words, so I made sure to gather my evidence to show you." "What the heck?" Perry stared at him unbelievably, as he felt his heart beating heavily. "Even if what you're saying is true, why are you telling me now?" Max let out a sigh. "You might call it selfishness, but my heart hasn't healed from the hurt she put me through. I know your engagement with her is very close, and I don't want to see her happy after everything she did to me." "And what did she do to you exactly?" Perry asked as he sat up in his seat curiously "What could she have done that made you despise her so much to com
"Autumn is my ex-wife!" "Excuse me?" Gloria responded. She heard him well, but she wanted to believe she didn't. "Autumn is your ex-wife? You married your secretary?" She scoffed. "Am I good to go now that I've told you?" "What the… you're serious?" Her eyes opened wide in shock. "Was she also the one at the party the other night?" "Yes," he simply replied. Only then did the realization hit her. She knew she had heard that voice before, but she didn't know where it was She had wondered why his secretary was rude to her the very first time they set eyes on each other, but now she could tell why she had behaved like that to her. "You dated that thing?" She asked, her face filled with irritation. "Watch your words, Gloria. I'm not in the best mood at the moment, and you know that" he responded. "Do you even know how I feel about that at the moment?!" He raised his voice at him. "You claimed to divorce her and now you're coming to pay her bills?" "Please—" "Oh, spar
"Where are you headed?" Perry asked his parents as he looked from Lucy to his dad and back at Lucy "Gloria and I are here to have a surprise dinner with you," he added, and Gloria simply smiled at them. Lucy rolled her eyes at him. "That's none of your business. We have somewhere urgent to go," she said and walked past him, but Perry was quick to drag his mum back by the hand. "Perry!" She snapped at him and yanked his hand off her arm. "Can someone at least tell me what's happening?!" He asked at the top of his voice, while Gloria stood there staring at them. Mr. Moore checked the time on his wristwatch, and seeing that arguing with Perry would only make them late, he decided to tell him what happened "Autumn's mother needs to go through an operation and the fee is a little high for her." Perry's eyes went wide open in shock. "Her sister called us for help, and that's where we're going. Is that okay now?" He then turned to Gloria "My dear, we won't be available tonight
Autumn rubbed her hands together anxiously as she awaited the response of the doctor. He cleared his table and sat on his office chair, while she sat opposite him. "What's going on with her?" She asked him with a look of fear on her face. The doctor looked at her, then at the paper in his hand, then back at her. He then started to explain his diagnosis. "She happened to have arrhythmias, heart valve problems, and high blood pressure in her lung arteries, which led to a heart failure that made her collapse." "Oh my God," Autumn gasped, as she covered her mouth with her hands. Her eyes were teary by now as she stared at the doctor. "Isn't there anything that could be done about it?" She added after a couple of seconds. "Will she survive it? What do I have to do to make her feel better? Will she get better? She won't die now, will she? Please, be honest with me," she begged with teary eyes as her heart began to beat heavily. She had arguments with her mother a lot, but she w
Autumn arrived at Biarritz Tech Company and rushed over to the receptionist's table. The young lady looked at her with an emotionless face, expecting her to say something since she had no idea who she was or whom she was there to see. "Good afternoon," Autumn said and stood in front of the receptionist. "I was called a couple of minutes back to come over to this company right away." "Name?" "Autumn." "Autumn?" The receptionist raised her head to look at Autumn again, giving her a disapproving stare. "Do you not have a last name?" "It's Dax. Autumn Dax." Confirming that 'Autumn Dax' was on the list of new employees, she gave Autumn a brisk nod. "Go to the office on the last end of the next floor." "Thank you," Autumn replied with false pleasantness and skipped towards the elevator. On getting to the next floor's waiting hall, a young lady stepped out of the office directly opposite her and called out, "Autumn Dax." "Here!" She replied and launched to her feet. The
A couple of weeks later, Lisa and Olive took a day off from work to see Autumn. When they noticed that she hadn't been coming, they reached out to her. They were shocked to hear that she had resigned from work. Seeing that there was no other way to see her, they picked a date and decided to meet up at a nearby restaurant. Autumn arrived there first and ordered a drink while she awaited the arrival of her friends. The television was on, and it was set to a news channel. She was lost in thought about her search for a new job when someone mentioned Perry's name, which jerked her back to reality. "Isn't that the billionaire CEO of Trek Tech?" A lady squealed from her seat as she pointed at the tv. "Omg! It's him! He's getting engaged again!" Another one exclaimed and murmurs aroused in the room. Autumn managed to listen to the news amidst the murmurs, to know what exactly was happening. "...and had divorced his ex-wife, whom he didn't mention her name to cover her identity.
Perry looked at his mum, who was stunned at how he shouted at her. "I'm sorry for raising my voice at you, mum. But I just want you to understand that nobody else has a say in my marriage affairs." "Your father and I have come to see Autumn as our daughter, and we knew how happy you were and how positively you changed in a couple of things," Lucy replied with a serious but concerned look on her face. "So I don't understand why you should divorce her over—" "The whole thing was fake!" Perry blurted out, while his parents just stared at him like they had no idea what he was saying. "Everything was fake from the start, mum. We signed a deal with each other when dad wanted me to get married at all costs." "Perry Moore!" His father growled as he shot a deadly glare at Perry. "You both deceived us all along?!" "I've said all I can. I'm off to work," Perry said and walked towards the exit. "Perry!" His father called, but he didn't turn back. He walked out of the house and slamme
Becky walked to sit beside Autumn on her bed. She looked tattered and rough, and Becky's heart sank to see her daughter that way. That was the first time she had ever seen her so bedridden over a guy. "Do you want to talk about it now?" Becky asked her calmly. Autumn reached for the cupboard next to her bed and picked up some papers on it, then gave her. Becky collected them wondering what it was about. She went through it and was shocked to see that they were divorce papers. She was even more shocked to see that Autumn had signed her part. "You signed these?" Her eyes were wide open in shock as she stared at her daughter like she knew not what she was doing. "I've made up my mind, mum. He sent these papers because he has moved on. I'm ready to do that too," she got up from her bed. "I'm going to drop the papers at the mailbox, so they can be delivered back to him." "Are you sure about this? Do you think you're doing the right thing?" Becky asked with a face filled with