"Yes, I am aware." Regina pressed her lips together, responding with empathy.
Unable to tolerate the wait any longer, I swiftly whisked Justin away from the hospital.
As soon as we reached the exclusive restaurant I had mentioned, I wasted no time in placing a generous order for multiple delectable dishes. "Duck soup, prawn meat dumplings, garlic beef bone marrow..."
These dishes are packed with essential nutrients.
Once I placed my order, I made sure to inquire with Justin about his culinary preferences. "What would you like to have?" I asked him.
"Feel free to indulge in a delicious meal. I'm not hungry," Justin replied with a distant look on his face.
I couldn't help but break into a warm smile. "Of course. Would you be interested in having dinner with Regina after you have already consumed enough food to satisfy your hunger? You could consider getting a meal for her. There is no doubt that the food served at this establishment is of the highest quality.”
I attempted to bear with the situation and found myself inclined to request him to prepare the meal for my rival. Justin gave me a frigid stare. "Regina has a very poor appetite now."
To be honest, I did not have much of an appetite either. When I compared myself to the majority of people, I discovered that I had a significantly smaller appetite. The reason for my extensive order today was for the baby that is growing inside of my belly, but Justin appeared to be completely unaware of the reason for it.
"Oh, so I'm the one who indulges in food?" My cheeks swelled up like a miniature goldfish, and I assumed an angry expression on my face. I went so far as to fold my arms across my chest while maintaining a look of disdain on my face.
Even though I was experiencing an overwhelming amount of frustration, I made an effort to keep up a pleasant appearance.
Justin had been a witness to every aspect of my being over the course of the past three years with me.
Because of the alluring and seductive woman in bed, as well as the adorable and compliant woman in everyday life, Justin was able to persevere through those three years of solitude that were so long with me.
"Feel free to indulge in as much as your heart desires." Justin let out a deep sigh, overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness.
Eventually, the plates were brought to the table. I indulged in a satisfying meal without hesitation. I found myself feeling even more ravenous after becoming pregnant. As anticipated, a pair of individuals consumed a greater quantity of food compared to a single individual.
Food that was typically not regarded as tasty suddenly became incredibly delectable.
After indulging in a delightful feast, my stomach was nearly satiated. I dabbed at the corner of my mouth with a tissue and inquired of Justin, “Didn’t you want to talk to me earlier? What is it that you wanted to talk about?”
"What did you tell Regina just now?" Justin inquired with a chilly tone.
Oh crap. It seems like he had been eagerly anticipating this moment solely to question me.
I shrugged nonchalantly. "She revealed that she was battling leukemia. And she also accused me of being a third party in your love story."
"Yes, she has been suffering from leukemia, and we're eagerly anticipating the bone marrow." Justin's gaze was brimming with indescribable feelings as he locked eyes with me. "The results for the bone marrow matching have been released. There is definitely a good match. You're familiar with this person too."
"What do you mean I am familiar with this person?" I was completely taken aback by your statement. Totally confused by Justin's mysterious intentions.
"Indeed, Margarette, you have previously expressed your willingness to sacrifice everything for me. Isn't that right?" Justin's lips gently parted, causing a subtle shift in my expression.
After some careful consideration and a period of deep reflection, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread when I finally grasped Justin's intended meaning. I reluctantly gestured towards myself and inquired with a hint of stiffness, "Wait. Are you referring to... me?"
Justin paused briefly before giving a nod.
"How absurd!" I couldn't help but abruptly rise to my feet.
Now that Regina had returned, Justin immediately felt the urge to end their marriage and eliminate any trace of the unborn child. And yet, Justin wasn't content with just that, he also had the audacity to try and steal my very existence?
I found myself feeling quite unsettled by the question of how to donate bone marrow while being pregnant.
"No way!" I immediately declined without hesitation, blurting out, "I absolutely won't agree. Not only am I going through a divorce because of her, but now I'm also expected to donate bone marrow for her? Justin, just what do you take me for exactly, huh?"
I had no intention of donating, and I would come up with any excuse to avoid giving anything to my rival. After all, I had the added responsibility of taking care of a child. If Justin were aware of the circumstances surrounding the child, it is likely that he would strongly urge her to consider terminating the pregnancy in order to prioritize Regina's well-being.
This man was completely crazy with Regina that he would go to such length even sacrificing me!
While I had previously expressed my willingness to sacrifice everything for Justin, it's important to clarify that my commitment only extended to him and not to Regina. Perhaps it was because Justin believed that Regina was his entire world, which is why he would go to such great measures to utilize me in order to prolong Regina's existence.
I felt a deep pang in my heart.
"Margarette, if you're willing to save Regina, I'm open to accepting any conditions you have." Justin wondered if he had overlooked some of the requirements.
However, I couldn't help but blurt out, " Really? anything? Then how about we don't go through with the divorce? Are you willing to do that?"
I can't help but ponder if he'd be willing to give up being with Regina in order to save her life.
Justin gazed at me in complete silence. His hesitation was palpable. It was clear that his desire to rescue Regina and be by her side was strong, but unfortunately, circumstances forced him to make a difficult choice.
"Margarette, let's not be too greedy. Even if I agree with you, it's important to acknowledge that my actions were solely driven by the desire to save Regina, not by any feelings of love for you. Given this, would you still choose to remain with someone like me who is incapable of reciprocating your love? think about it." Justin's voice dripped with icy disdain.
Was I really so greedy, or was Justin the one consumed by his own desires?
I had a ghostly complexion. As soon as Justin uttered those words, a sudden pang of anguish pierced through my chest.
Out of nowhere, a question popped into my mind and said it out, "What if I'm open to the idea of you not loving me?"
His eyes, usually filled with charm and tenderness, seemed different this time. They lacked their usual cuteness and gentleness. There was a profound sense of sadness and a touch of excitement.
Justin's words completely shattered all of my expectations. "I have no desire to do agree in your terms, and if you insist to proceed, you will risk losing everything you have right."
"Haha, Justin, you truly let me down." Despite my efforts to please, Justin remained uninterested, leaving me feeling disappointed and overlooked. All of a sudden, a wave of self-doubt washed over me, making me question my own worth.
"I told you, don't be too greedy!" Justin's face was filled with a deep sense of sadness.However, fear did not consume me. I was on the verge of losing it all anyway, so what was there left for me to fear?With the child growing inside me and my last bit of self-respect on the line, I was determined not to make any compromises this time."I believe we don't need to finish this meal. I already lost my apettite." I grabbed my bag, my face devoid of emotion. Justin was fully aware of the depth of my affection for him.However, he had exploited my emotions, oblivious to the fact that I would also experience heartache.Once I left the restaurant, I took a moment to collect my feelings before returning to Montefalco's ancestral home in order to see grandma.Grandma was incredibly kind and loving towards me, just like a grandmother should be. Despite my disagreement with Justin, I couldn't overlook the significance of his grandmother.In addition, grandma has been experiencing some health i
“Mother, I’m here to see Grandma. Since Grandma is going to rest. I’ll go ahead now.” Even if Justin’s mom didn’t ask, I still told her the reason why I came.As she looked at me leaving, I could still see from my peripheral view how Justin's mom glared at me with such pity.I guess I was too sensible. I hid everything inside and never complained to grandmother. And I let Justin do whatever he wanted.“Would you like to spend the night here? I asked the kitchen staff to buy wild yellow fish. It tastes good,” Justin’s mom said calmly.Although she was asking for me to stay, her attitude didn’t change at all. It was still dull that I couldn’t tell whether she was asking that to me wholeheartedly or out of force.I appreciate the effort in whatever way she must have learned about the yellowfish. Perhap, my mother-in-law was only doing this because she pitied me, her thin and fragile-looking daughter-in-law, especially after asking me to stay and have dinner with them.And I somehow appre
[MARGA’S POV]Her son was really full of nonsense!However, it would seem that none of this reasoning from Justin would ever work for his own mother. Wilma looked at him coldly. “I am not your mother for nothing, Justin. I know how poor you’re in lying, so don’t pass the blame to your wife. You’re such a disgrace!”Although Justin’s way of blaming me for not being able to provide a child yet made me shock, I was even more surprised when my mother-in-law actually refused to believe her own son. She’s a very good lawyer after all.Justin frowned. “I’m telling you the truth, mother.”“Enough, Justin. I am no fool to believe your lies.”Somehow, Justin wasn’t lying about the part where he wanted a child. However, he just didn’t want to have it with me. As a matter of fact, he didn’t want to have this marriage with me at all, which was why we’re even having this divorce. I am well aware that if they were to discover the truth about me being pregnant with his baby, Justin would undoubtedl
[JUSTIN’S POV]With my mother’s connections, she could easily find many good men to introduce to Margarette.For some reason, the thought of Margarette marrying another man, with all her obedient and charming ways being monopolized by someone else, made me feel a little suffocated. I have to admit, even though we’re headed for a divorce, I still can’t bring myself to let another guy have her that easily. It’s like giving away a copy of Regina to someone else.Damn this possessiveness, creeping up again. Yet, I just turn my back on my mother, refusing to escalate the argument further. “I’m too tired for this. I’m heading up,” I say, quickly making my way upstairs to see Margarette in her room, ignoring my mother’s continuous rants.I needed to talk to Margarette, to reprimand her for the trouble she caused today. My original plan was to scold her for telling my mother about the divorce—it should have only been my grandmother who knew about it.It was reckless of Margarette to do such a
[MARGA’S POV]Last night was like a tug of war between Justin and I. When I thought about it, I never imagined that I would have the slightest bit of courage to respond to him in that manner. In addition to the fact that I was pregnant at the time, it is possible that the conflicting feelings that I was experiencing at the time were the cause of my irritation.It was a stroke of good fortune for me that Justin did not develop any suspicions on account of my mood swings. Being in the first trimester of my first pregnancy appeared to be crucial for me. I need to exercise self-control in order to avoid becoming irritable around Justin, as he might actually take notice of my behavior.As soon as I opened my eyes the next morning, I discovered that I was the only person in the room. Last night, Justin slept next to me, but when I woke up, I discovered that the space next to me was empty, and there was no sign of his warmth or presence. The fact that I continued to look for Justin despite
"Margarette!" It was a truly remarkable response from Justin. It was precisely as if he had recently witnessed a ghost before. Since I am nearly searching every nook and cranny of the city in an effort to locate my spouse, it would appear that I am able to accept the notion that I do appear as his ghost at this point. And here I was, by complete mistake, coming into the two of them while they were having their secret appointment for lunch. "It would appear that the two of you have already completed eating, as I see it. Unfortunately, you didn't even bother to wait for me, which is a shame. In all honesty, I am rather hungry as well, my dear husband." I started to sound snarky and flirty as I pushed my shoulder on Justin's shoulder as he was standing close to me. Due to the fact that I appeared to have disrupted their date, Regina's reaction was unmistakably visible; she was keeping her aggravation and envy to herself in silence. All of a sudden, Regina, who was unable to suppress her
Justin's arms enveloped me, his touch igniting a cascade of sensations that coursed through every fiber of my being. The tender embrace radiated a comforting warmth, as if his very presence had the power to chase away the chill of the world. From the moment I laid eyes on him, I couldn't help but form a scathing judgment. This man, with his air of arrogance and self-importance, seemed utterly oblivious to the world around him. It was as if he existed solely to serve his own interests, paying no heed to the needs or desires of others. In my mind, he was nothing more than a contemptible dickhead.Yet in this very moment, it defies that thought. The warmth of Justin's embrace enveloped me, a comforting shield against the uncertainties of the world. In his strong arms, I found solace and reassurance—a tangible reminder that I was protected and cherished. The way he held me close spoke volumes, whispering secrets of security and safety that only our hearts could understand. As Justin's
“Justin, get off of me!” I immediately protested as soon as I realized what he had done.After mustering enough courage to push him off me, i was only able to make him move an inch apart from me enough to prevent his lips from coercing with mine once more.However, Justin’s golden brown eyes glowed in the still dim space of the karaoke room. At that precise moment, I could very well tell that there would be nothing that could hold Justin back.He instantly held both of my hands above my head with just a single hand. Meanwhile, his other free hand was tracing across my lower body. After a while, his hand settled on my belly. “Stop touching me!” I protested while trying to struggle free from Justin’s grip. But much to my disappointment, Justin’s hold on me was way too strong for me to subdue. At this rate, it would be impossible for me to actually push him away from me completely so that I could actually escape.Justin’s body frame was way larger than mine; it goes without saying that
The room felt heavier now, as if the ghosts of the past had never truly left. My father’s study had once been a place of quiet authority, filled with the scent of polished wood and old books. Now, it was chaos—a graveyard of secrets waiting to be unearthed.Leon and Dorian moved swiftly, sifting through papers, searching for anything that might explain my father’s connection to Elise’s father. But my hands trembled as I flipped through the documents.My father’s handwriting stared back at me in sharp, deliberate strokes.Project Haven—Initiated 20 years agoI frowned. “Project Haven?”Leon peered over my shoulder. “That name mean anything to you?”I shook my head, but something about it felt... familiar. Like a memory I had brushed against in passing but never grasped fully.Dorian pulled a dust-covered filing box from beneath the desk. “We’ve got more.” He popped the latch and revealed stacks of old documents, some stamped with red ink.CONFIDENTIAL.I swallowed hard as I pulled out
The weight of the locket in my palm was heavier than I remembered. The last time I had seen it, I was a child—too young to understand the depth of what had been stolen from me. And now, years later, it had resurfaced in the hands of a man who had every reason to use it against me.Leon’s grip on my knees tightened. “We need to figure out why he has this.”I nodded, but my thoughts were elsewhere, tangled in memories I had buried long ago. My parents. Their deaths. The accident—or what I had been told was an accident.I took a shaky breath. “This locket... it was my mother’s. She gave it to me the day before she died.” My voice wavered. “When they found me after the accident, it was gone.”Leon’s eyes darkened. “Someone took it.”“Not just someone,” I whispered. “Elise’s father.”Dorian entered the room, his usual calm demeanor slightly frayed. “I just got word. Elise’s father left town hours ago. Whatever game he’s playing, he planned this move in advance.”Leon cursed under his breat
The moment we arrived at Leon’s safe house, a heavy silence settled between us. The tension in the air was suffocating, thick with unspoken fears and the weight of what we had just learned. Alexa was gone. And Elise's father—the man who had been a phantom in the shadows of our problems—had finally made his move.I paced the length of the dimly lit living room, arms crossed over my chest. My mind raced, trying to piece together the possibilities of where Alexa could be and what they might be doing to her. Dorian stood near the window, his sharp eyes scanning the darkness beyond, while Leon leaned against the wall, his jaw locked tight.“We need to move,” I said, breaking the silence. My voice came out steadier than I expected, but my hands were trembling. “Every second we waste, Alexa could be—” I cut myself off before finishing the thought. I refused to let fear paralyze me.Leon pushed off the wall, his expression unreadable. “Dorian already has our people searching the perimeter of
The city swallowed us whole the moment we stepped out of the car. Anacortes was the same—steel and stone, sharp edges and dark alleys—but I felt it in my bones. Something had changed. Or maybe it was just me.I wasn’t the same woman who had left this place behind. I wasn’t the same woman who had fallen in love in this city, built a life here, and thought she could outrun the ghosts waiting in the shadows. I had returned, but not as a victim. Not as the woman Elise’s father had once underestimated. No, this time, I was ready for war.Leon moved beside me, his presence solid, his energy coiled like a predator waiting to strike. He was on edge too. We all were.“Dorian.” Leon’s voice was low, sharp. “What do we know about Elise’s father’s movements?”Dorian’s fingers danced over his phone screen, his brow furrowing. “He’s been careful, but not careful enough. There’s been an increase in high-profile meetings in the city—business moguls, politicians, even a few well-dressed criminals. He’
The moment we stepped into the house, I could feel the tension in the air. Every shadow felt like a threat, every silence too loud. Leon locked the door behind us, and Dorian immediately pulled the curtains shut, moving with a precision that told me he’d done this before. I was no stranger to fear, but tonight, it pressed against my skin like a second layer.Elise’s father was behind this. I could feel it in my bones. And that terrified me more than anything.Leon paced near the fireplace, his face locked in a storm of controlled fury. Dorian sat at the table, his fingers moving across the keyboard of his laptop, eyes scanning for any digital trace of Alexa. I stood in the center of the room, my mind spinning with a thousand possibilities.“She’s out there somewhere,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “And we’re running out of time.”Leon exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “We need to figure out what Elise’s father wants. What’s his endgame?”Dorian didn’t look u
The moment we stepped into the safe house, the air felt different. Heavy. Charged with something unspoken but undeniable. The low hum of tension sat thick between us, each of us knowing that Alexa’s disappearance wasn’t a coincidence. It was a move—a calculated strike from Victor Langford, a man whose power was as dangerous as his reach.I couldn’t stop my hands from trembling as I reached for the envelope Leon had just read aloud. You should have stayed away. The words were scrawled in sharp, deliberate handwriting. I imagined Victor writing them with a smirk, knowing exactly what this message would do to us.Leon exhaled sharply, crushing the paper in his fist. “We need to move fast.”Dorian nodded. “I’ll put our guys on the streets. If they moved Alexa within city limits, someone saw something.”I swallowed, forcing my voice to steady. “We can’t just wait for information. We need to hit back.”Leon’s gaze snapped to mine, a flicker of something unreadable in his expression. “What a
The night felt heavier than before, the air thick with unspoken tension as we pieced together what Elise’s father’s return truly meant. My mind raced through the implications—if he had found her, it meant he wasn’t working alone. It meant he had resources, people willing to do his bidding, and most of all, it meant we weren’t prepared for what was coming.Elise hadn’t moved from her place on the couch, her fingers white-knuckling the phone. She wasn’t the same woman I had met before—there was something fragile about her now, something shattered. I understood that feeling far too well.Leon and Dorian were standing near the kitchen island, speaking in hushed voices, but I caught fragments of their conversation.“We need to move her somewhere else,” Dorian said, arms crossed. “If he got to her once, he can do it again.”Leon ran a hand through his hair, his jaw tight. “Moving her won’t change anything if he has the means to track her.”“Then what do you suggest? We wait for him to knock
The tension still lingered, like static in the air, even after we had ensured Elise’s safety and returned to the penthouse. The night had been long, exhausting, and I was running on nothing but adrenaline and borrowed time.Leon stood at the kitchen counter, pouring himself a glass of whiskey. The amber liquid swirled in the crystal tumbler as he took a slow sip, his eyes trained on me. He didn’t have to say anything—I could feel the weight of his gaze."You’re shaking," he murmured.I exhaled sharply, glancing down at my hands. He was right. I hadn’t even realized it.Leon set his glass down and crossed the space between us in two strides. His hands, warm and steady, caught mine, stilling them. "Come here."I let him pull me into his arms, the exhaustion catching up to me all at once. I buried my face against his chest, breathing him in—woodsy cologne, something faintly smoky, something undeniably him."You always act like you have to carry the weight of everything on your own," he m
The air in the penthouse was heavy with unspoken tension. I sat at the desk, eyes scanning through the files, absorbing the weight of what we had in our hands. The evidence was undeniable. Justin and Elise’s father had left a trail of financial crimes, bribes, and illegal dealings that could tear their empire apart. The question was—how did we move forward without tipping them off too soon?Leon stood behind me, his presence strong and reassuring. His hand was still on my shoulder, grounding me in the moment. "We need to be careful with this," he murmured.I nodded. "I know. We have to strike at the right moment."Dorian, now lounging on the couch, exhaled loudly. "I hate waiting. Feels like we should be doing something more than just sitting on this.""Patience is key," Leon countered. "If we rush, we lose the advantage."Dorian rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. I closed my laptop and stretched, the weight of the day settling deep into my bones. "I need a break."Leon caught my hand