Joshua was frustrated when he lost track of the black car carrying Clarice. He hit the steering wheel and cursed that night. Whoever had kidnapped Clarice had become his target to kill.With his breath catching and his head feeling stuck for a way out, he called Darren, his friend who could always be counted on when he couldn't find a way out.Joshua explained the chronology of what happened to Clarice and he also shared the police number of the car that kidnapped her with Darren. He urged Darren to do his business and it didn't matter how much he would pay him as long as he found what he wanted.After calling Darren, Joshua drove to his father, Harry's house. But on the way he called the mansion and told the maids and servants to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious. He wanted Axcel to be safe there even without him for the time being.Arriving at Harry's house, he rang the bell repeatedly to reveal Flora opening the door."Joshua, what's wrong?" asked Flora, looking up at him."C
Clarice was silent when she heard how Zack told her that Joshua had killed Zoya and Joel. Somehow she wasn't too surprised considering she had previously received a mysterious message about Joshua killing Joel.At that time Clarice believed Joshua even more. And now ... when Zack told her that Joshua had killed Zoya, she wondered, how? And why?"If you keep quiet and wonder in your heart, I'll tell you, Clarice. Without a requirement," Zack said.Clarice kept looking at him steadily, waiting for him to explain what he said."Zoya was the one who helped plan the murder of Joel, your late boyfriend. Of course, my little sister would do anything to stay with Joshua. And you know what, Zoya is the one who sent you the mysterious message. Did it never occur to you at all who sent you that mysterious message?"Clarice shook her head. How could she know who Joshua's enemies were when she didn't know Joshua at all when she was with Joel?Zack's chuckle was loud, showing his annoyance at Clari
Clarice heard the door to her room open as she fell asleep in her sitting position with her hands and feet bound. Her body began to ache as she was not used to sleeping in a sitting position and she suddenly felt dizzy. Her eyes were not even strong enough to open wide."Clarice?" Zack's voice called out to her. He patted Clarice's cheek when she was completely limp. "We're going to move because your husband apparently almost found this place." Clarice heard his words but could not open her mouth to speak. Meanwhile, her body was suddenly picked up by Zack because Zack saw Clarice who was helpless in a matter of one night.Zack carried her into his car driven by his driver. Then his car and the cars of his men left the warehouse to move to another location."Take her to my hotel for now," Zack said, giving his driver an order."Alright, Boss."Clarice immediately tried to open her eyes when she heard the word hotel. Somehow she felt saved when she heard the place mentioned. And she
From the moment he heard the mysterious voice calling him on an 'unknown number', Joshua heard a distinctive feature in the voice. That the person who kidnapped Clarice, and who was calling her, was not American but British.The clue he got naturally led him to know who his British enemies were. Not many were his enemies but he had his own list of who they were.Then Joshua started to get suspicious of Zack. Yeah ... To be more precise, he even started to accuse Zack of being the one who called him and kidnapped Clarice. His emotions were so high just when he remembered Zack's name. As far as he knew, in the business field, they never had any problems. But Joshua knew quite well how Zack wished that Zoya could end up with him because he knew that Zoya liked him.Joshua had even observed for himself how Zack looked when he saw him and Clarice together, come the time when Zoya would be buried. Joshua thought he had tried to make sure no one knew who killed Zoya, but as it turned out wh
Clarice opened her eyes slowly while enduring the pain she felt in her feminine area. She looked to her right and left, and saw that she was in a different place. "Where ... where am I?" she asked. One of Zack's men approached her. "Miss, you're at the hospital." Clarice was stunned and she remembered that she was still kidnapped by Zack. What's more, she realized that her hands were locked with handcuffs attached to the hospital bed. She tried to remove them but was unsuccessful. Finally, she resigned herself and sighed with her panting breath. "Where's Zack?" asked Clarice. "He's outside." Clarice's eyes darted in every direction where she might find something that would release her. But with her hands locked in cuffs, she couldn't do anything. Moreover, her body was completely weak. "I'm thirsty," said Clarice, listlessly. The man guarding her glanced at her and he approached, reaching for the glass of water on the bedside table. He helped Clarice to drink and she gulped it
Joshua was still sitting on the chair next to the bed Clarice was lying on. He held her hand and kissed it repeatedly. In his heart, he kept praying that Clarice would wake up and look at him soon. Joshua desperately wanted to see her face whether she hated him or not.He knew that Clarice must already know what Zack had told her about him. And he wanted to tell Clarice the truth too because after all, it had happened."She'll wake up." Suddenly Flora's voice was heard, which came alone.Joshua looked at her and searched for both Harry and his son. "Did you come alone?" Joshua asked.Flora nodded with a smile. "Harry is looking after Axcel and I came here to see how Clarice is doing. You trust that she'll wake up, right?""I'm just afraid she'll hate me," said Joshua."She won't, Joshua.""How do you know she won't hate me?"Flora sighed as she looked at Clarice. She started to tell Joshua about where Clarice got the mysterious message about Justin killing Joel. Yeah ... Clarice had t
Joshua sat in the exact chair where he would meet Zack through the glass booth while talking on the phone that was a facility in the prison for visitors who wanted to visit inmates.His face looked flat and rigid, filled with emotion and impatiently awaiting Zack's presence to talk to him.When Zack finally appeared, he sat down opposite her. His face was equally as stony. They picked up the receiver and started talking."You should know who you're dealing with, Zack," Joshua said, opening his voice. "I have powers you don't have.""You're a fucking loser," Zack retorted."I am. And so are you. I thought you were pretty good at strategizing. But I'm still one step ahead of you."Zack clenched his fists. He remembered how he was trapped and caught by the police for Joshua's actions. He himself didn't know how Joshua could do all that, because he didn't think Joshua had that kind of ability."You don't know me well enough, Zack. Too bad for you, good for me. Your family didn't even come
Joshua spent his time in Joana's absence working for a full day. He left a lot of work behind when Clarice was kidnapped, so he had to work hard.Then at noon, time for lunch, he had a visitor. It was Darren, his coworker and friend who helped him find Clarice and take care of everything."Sorry if I came without telling you first," Darren said as he placed two cans of beer in front of him. "Well, it doesn't hurt to savor our victory, does it?"Joshua closed his laptop and focused on Darren. He opened the beer cans and they made a toast to their victory."Thank you, Darren. You help me a lot, you know," Joshua said."Well, that's what friends are for. You're still wrong, though. But your power is unrivaled, I must admit, Joshua."Joshua tilted his head with a faint smile. "You know, since admitting my mistake to my wife, I feel very close to prison.""Don't be, Joshua. You did what you thought was right."Joshua was silent. It wasn't about him that he was thinking, but Clarice. Admitti
Clarice cried after she heard the judge's decision that Joshua's sentence could not be commuted or even reduced. Because Joshua committed a murder that left two victims dead, Joshua was sentenced to life imprisonment.Clarice immediately left the courtroom and chose to take a deep breath of air outside. Her body shook with unceasing crying. Her chest felt so tight that she couldn't bear to see Joshua in person forever.Then Darren came and touched her shoulder. Clarice immediately turned around and looked at him. "What?" she asked."He's waiting for you. Meet him, I think he wants to have you at a time like this. He needs you, Clarice."Clarice almost refused. Yeah ... she wasn't in the mood to meet her husband for now, but what Darren said was true. She just needed to strengthen her heart more to face her husband.A big part of Clarice also blamed herself because if she hadn't told Joshua that she would be relieved if he confessed at the police station, then the life sentence wouldn't
A month without Joshua in her life still leaves Clarice struggling to cope with new days. She continued to visit the prison and even the phone calls from Joshua came every day. Clarice always considered her visits to the prison as a form of encouragement for her even if it only lasted for a few hours, because she was honestly never satisfied with that limited communication.Her relationship with Darren was also still going on as it should. Clarice continued to think of Darren as her mentor while Darren always secretly monitored Clarice's condition when she was away from him because he thought that was what Joshua wanted from Clarice; to be safe when she was away from him.Clarice finally managed to understand some of Joshua's work after a month of learning from Darren. She was glad that she understood so quickly that she didn't have to keep calling Darren or meeting him because all she wanted to do was get away from Darren.Joana had even started living at the Mansion as well so they
Darren put Clarice on his bed. He took off her high heels and covered her with a blanket. Sighing and massaging the bridge of his nose, he stared at Clarice for a few moments. He felt that this was the first time he would have a special relationship with his best friend's wife. All this time he had been with other women who were different and single of course. Then fate made him have to have business with Clarice. Joshua's offer was tantalizing, any man who saw Clarice would immediately want to agree to the offer. But his little heart said it was difficult."How can you share your wife with me just because you're in jail, Joshua?" he asked as he looked at Clarice who had fallen asleep due to drunkenness. "What if I fall for her, Joshua? Doesn't that make our friendship break?"This time Darren restrained himself. He rolled out the bed cover on his couch and picked up a pillow. He lay down on it and closed his eyes to sleep.The next morning Clarice woke up, opening her eyes slowly. S
Clarice drove her car to the prison where Joshua was. She had the desire to visit Joshua every day when she finished work or when she was free. Unfortunately, she didn't bring Axcel this time as she went straight to the place. She smiled to herself just thinking about seeing Joshua. She even tidied up her appearance and wanted to show off a little to Joshua that she was now a career woman. Even though Clarice was still upset with Joshua about the talk about Darren and her, she was still going to see him.Clarice waited in the meeting room with her body sitting up straight and her heart beating fast."Hey, gorgeous," greeted Joshua who Clarice had been missing for the past day.Clarice stood up and hugged him immediately. She even aggressively kissed him blindly, not caring about some of the other visitors.Joshua then pulled away realizing that Clarice's lust had peaked. "Hey, are you alright, Clarice?" Joshua asked. They ended up sitting together, side by side with Clarice's head on
"Alright, Clarice ... based on the expression on your face, I think Joshua told you about you and Darren things. Is that right? I mean, no offense because I was told by him too so as not to be surprised if something happens between you two," Joana said quickly in one breath.Clarice's eyes widened in shock. "He told you that too?! What the hell is he doing?! I got so upset when he said things like that to me. I mean ... How could he—"Clarice chose not to continue because she was honestly embarrassed and didn't know what to do. Just the thought of her being with her husband's best friend made her shudder with horror because it was tantamount to cheating on her."Look, Clarice ... I've been in the position of not being able to have sex a few times. So sometimes I choose to have one-night stands with other men on different nights. I mean, I just want to say that staying horny is not fun."Clarice sighed as she rolled her eyes. Her hands were clasped around her waist and she seemed to be
Accompanied by Joana and Darren, Clarice entered the police station and began to meet Joshua who was now wearing an orange suit which means he was now a prisoner. Clarice, Joana, and Darren stood tensely as they waited for Joshua to appear. Although there were chairs and tables, they were not interested in sitting down until they saw Joshua in person.Joshua arrived shortly after they had waited. Handcuffed and then released to meet his friends and family, the warden left him behind."Boss … I'm glad you okay," Joana said, sounding sad."Joshua, I'm going to try to get you out of here as soon as possible," Darren said without any reply.There was only Clarice who didn't say anything but remained silent with her body trembling and her eyes filled with tears.Joshua looked at her with a smile that was so strange to Clarice's eyes. Yeah ... they looked at each other but Clarice saw a different smile from him. A sad smile that Joshua had never shown in his life."No hugs for your now con
Her eyes flickered as she sighed looking up at Joshua. And Clarice knew the meaning of that look, that Joshua wanted her to talk about what she was feeling. "So," Joshua said with a sigh, then sat back in his chair, "what haven't you told me about how you feel lately, Baby?"Like she was in a game where she had to choose one or the other, Clarice really couldn't choose. She was so reluctant to even tell him what was bothering her that her tears came, falling.Joshua quickly stood up and his burly hands touched her wet cheeks and wiped them. "Hey, what have I done to make you cry, Baby?"That was the problem. Clarice's lips were almost closed and she couldn't open them. She couldn't say it because she didn't want to hurt his feelings."Look, if something is bothering you lately, you should tell me immediately. And if it's because of me, I'll be prepared to listen.""That's the point, Joshua! I can't! I can't tell you how I feel these past few days!" responded Clarice quickly. "I can't
The year of Axcel's birth was the biggest celebration Clarice has ever had in her life. She didn't even expect that her son's birthday would be celebrated as big as her wedding with Joshua But she's happy that it was the celebration he deserved.Although Clarice initially told Joshua that there was no need for a big celebration, Joshua made their son's birthday celebration a big one with the help of Joana who was always ready whenever Joshua needed her."So, what about all this? Do you like it?" asked Joshua, whispering at her side.Clarice smiled without looking at him but at the festivities of Axcel's birthday."It's too much. But I'm happy. Well, I don't even know if Axcel understood his birthday or not because he's only one year old."Joshua put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently. "It doesn't matter if he understands or not, the important thing is that we try our best for him, Clarice, and we made a picture moment with him.The smile on Clarice's lips was always ther
They returned to the mansion just the two of them. This time they again left Axcel at Harry and Flora's house because Joshua felt that he and Clarice needed to rest without interruption.Actually, Clarice had never minded Axcel's presence at the Mansion even when she was tired. But she knew that she couldn't defy Joshua's orders which sometimes she really couldn't refuse."Would you like a warm bath? I'll prepare it for you, Clarice," Joshua said, looking at his wife with a tired face."Hmm, yeah. I think that's a good idea. I'll rest for a while until you finish preparing the warm water," Clarice said.Joshua watched her until she lay down on the bed and then he went into the bathroom and started preparing the bathtub for them to soak in together.When Joshua came out of the bathroom, he saw Clarice already asleep on the bed, snoring softly. Joshua didn't have the heart to wake her up because Clarice looked so peaceful in her sleep.Joshua then decided to take a shower first to clean