Chapter 39 "Are you sure about this, Alicia?" Lilian sounds worried, or rather dull over the phone, and Alicia just sighs briefly. She has just told her best friend about Ren's confession, and she doesn't seem to like the idea. "I don't know, Alicia. I'm scared of what happened before. What if Ren is not different from him? What if he ends up hurting me?" She runs her fingers through her hair crazily like she's losing her mind, or she has lost it, rather. After the confession, she has been thinking about it since then and has literally done nothing else. Ren had gone out to get some things ready for their traveling, and since she insisted to stay back at home, she has been here. "I understand, but you just have to calm down, and think about it, okay?" Lilian says over the phone, and she sighs briefly. "I don't know what to think, Lilian. I love him, and I want to be with him, but I'm scared. I... I... I'm just scared," She runs her fingers through her hair for the seco
Chapter 40 Ren paces restlessly along the hallway, looking scared. His heart beats rapidly against his chest as he prays fervently that nothing happens to Alicia. How is his life going to be if anything happens to the woman he has come to love? How will he cope without her in his life? Those are the questions that keep running through his mind as he awaits the doctor to come out and tell him the condition of her health. The sound of his ringing phone brings him to an abrupt halt, and he quickly takes it out from his pocket, and there is Lilian's number displayed on the screen. He quickly slid the answer button. "Hey, Lilian," His rough breath is evident that everything is not fine, no matter how much he tries to comport himself. "Hey, Ren. Where's Alicia? I've been trying to call her, but her number is not going through. Is she there with you?" Lilian's voice sounds through the phone, and he gulps down nothing nervously. He has never been so scared all his life. Maybe
Chapter 41 Silence assumes the air as Ren watches Alicia gulps down the glass of water like she has been thirsty for so long. "Thank you," She whispers after she's drink enough, handing the cup to him, and he takes it from her. "Are you okay? Do you need me to get you something to eat? Are you hungry?" Ren bombards her with questions, but she only shakes her head in denial, and he slowly nods his head. As much as he has so many questions ringing in his head, too many questions that he wants to ask her, he knows that this isn't the right time to do that, considering what she must be going through at the moment. This is the time he should be here for her and make sure that she's fine. "Ren..." She pauses and takes a deep breath as a drop of tears slid down the corner of her cheeks. "Hmm? Come on, Alicia... You should stop crying... It's not something serious," He assures her, even though deep inside him he's so scared of what might happen in the future. What if the a
Chapter 42 It's been over three days since Ren and Alicia returned to New York, and since she is still a bit sick, Ren has tried so hard to be there for her all this while. It's a beautiful morning, and the day Alicia is going to meet up with her dad to get access to the family's business. Forcing her eyes open, she groans tiredly as she tosses on the bed. Suddenly, her phone starts to ring, and she lazily reaches out for it. She checks the screen to see the caller is her mom. "Hey, mom," she says on the phone lazily as soon as she answers the call. "Don't tell me you're still sleeping, Alicia. Your dad has been in the company for almost an hour. What are you still doing?" Her mom shrieks from the other end, and she snaps her eyes open as she quickly sits up on the bed, and glances at the wall clock. It's almost 9am, and she was supposed to be at the company at most, 8am. Why the hell didn't Ren wake her up? "I'll be there shortly, mom. I got to go now," s
Chapter 43 "Alicia?" The young tall man calls, shocked, and she gulps down nothing as she stares at him with her mouth hanging open in shock. "Felix?" Confused, she calls to be sure that she's seeing him, and not hallucinating. "Yes, it's me," He nods his head, and she slowly clenches her fists as memories of the past come running through her mind. The feelings she thought she had gotten rid of years ago come haunting her, and tears well up in her eyes, but she fights them back. She can't cry in front of him, no matter how hurt she is. That will only tell him how hard things have been since he left. "Wow! What are you doing here?" She asks as she blinks a couple of times, trying to cover up her sadness and shock. "Oh, I was just transferred to the company to work as a secretary for the new CEO. What are you doing here?" He explains and asks in return. "This is one of my dad's biggest companies, and I just became the CEO. Wow! I never knew I'd meet you again aft
Chapter 44 Ren stares around the spacious living room, looking a bit restless. He has been waiting for the past five minutes for some reasons best known to him. Checking his wristwatch for the umpteenth time, he sighs briefly and shuts his eyes. Minutes later, the footsteps descending the staircase pulls his attention, and he quickly snaps his head in the direction to see a young man graced in black trouser and a white shirt, walking down the stairs. "I thought you were not going to show up when I called you," The man says as he walks over to the couches in the living room, and groans as he sits on one of them. "Good day, Clement," Ren greets him grumpily with a gloomy look on. "I'll just go straight to the point. So, how's the deal going?" The man asks curiously. "Everything is going fine..." "If everything is fine, then why the hell are you taking so long, Ren? I trusted you to be able to take care of this job, so how the hell are you faltering now?" Cl
Chapter 45 Next day...His head bangs with a headache as he forces his eyes open, welcomed by the blurry ceiling. He groans in pain, rubbing his fingers on his forehead while grimacing in pain. Recalling what happened the previous day, he quickly snaps his eyes open and sits up on the bed, looking around the room. He's alone in the room. He tries to recall how he ended up at home, but the last thing he can remember was being at the bar after he left Mr. Clement's house, and drinking until he wasn't conscious of where he was. His stomach suddenly grumbles, and he holds it tightly as he swings his legs down the bed before dashing into the bathroom to empty the content of his stomach into the water closet. He sighs in relief after he's done, dragging himself back into the room afterward. Once he pushes the door to the room open, he stops and gulps down nothing when he spots Alicia already in the room. What the hell is he going to tell her later? Sorry, wife, I went to
Chapter 46"You don't look ok, Alicia. What's wrong with you?" Ren asks, glancing at her as he drives down the road. It's already 7pm, and they are driving to Mr. William's mansion for the party. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired," She lies to him, and he slowly nods his head even though he knows that she just lied to him. Silence assumes the air as Alicia stares out through the window, many questions running through her mind. She's surely going to meet Felix there, how is she going to feel being around him? She keeps asking herself, but can only sigh deeply. "Come on, wife," He pulls her out of her train of thought as he places his palm on hers, and that is when she realizes that they are already at the parking lot of her dad's mansion. Many cars are already parked in the garage, which means that the mansion must've been filled with guests by now. He hops out of the car and walks over to open the door for her afterward. Taking her hand in his, he smiles at her warmly
Chapter 100 Everything went too fast, Mr. Douglas was finally sentenced to death by hanging since he killed two people, and his wife was sentenced to life imprisonment for being an accomplice and didn't say anything when her daughter was killed. It has been three months since Alicia has been at home, while Ren and Felix have been managing the company in her place. The two men have developed a strong bond together in which they are now best friends. Lilian too has been supportive of her friend, although she was still single. Alicia on the other hand was in her final trimester, and they would be expecting a baby anytime soon. It has been a hard day for Alicia, since she has been struggling the whole day, trying to suppress the pain she kept having occasionally. She has been feeling this pain for the last one month, and the doctor would always tell her that it was fine whenever she had gone to the hospital. Sitting on the couch and watching TV, she suddenly feels a st
Chapter 99 Writer's POV Mr. Williams has finally been laid to rest a few days ago, and the last few days have been hard for Alicia. Trying to balance between getting over her dad's death, and caring for herself and her unborn child has been difficult, but with Ren, Lilian, her mom, and Felix beside her, she was able to improve. It was supposed to be a beautiful morning, but no day has been beautiful to Alicia after everything that happened. Just if she had known, she would've involved the police before and let them handle it, or at least told her dad about it, maybe the innocent man wouldn't have lost his life, but then, she believed that God has already destined this to happen in the first place, so there was no reason to regret it now. Standing on the balcony and leaning over the rail while staring up at the sky, many thoughts run through her mind, including finding out later that Emily died at the hands of her dad. Although they were never on good terms, but she was
Chapter 98 Alicia POV We all pace restlessly in the hallway after dad was taken into the emergency room, and the doctors are trying to revive him. He was shot in the chest, and I don't know if he would survive this. Douglas and his wife have been taken care of by the cops and have been apprehended. "Calm down, babe, he will be fine," Ren tries to calm me down, even though he knows things may not be fine. My dad is inside there, fighting for his life, and I don't even know if he is going to survive it. "Will he be fine, Ren? Will he be ok?" I ask him, but he only sighs and pulls me into his arms instead, hugging me tightly, while I cry on his chest. My stomach is already big and round since I have passed my second trimester. The sound of the footsteps drawing close behind us pulls my attention, and I quickly turn to see that it's the doctor. "How is he, doc? Is my dad ok? Is he going to be fine?" I bombard the doctor with questions while I wait for him to r
Chapter 97 Writer's POV "My uncle, Mr. Douglas Williams, has been blackmailing me for the last few months now..." She stops to see the shock on his face as his eyes slowly widen in shock. "Wh...what are you saying?" He yelled from the crowd, even though his conscience was judging him deep down. "Mr. Douglas hired someone to get married to me, so he could claim my dad's properties," She said, airing confusion in the hall, as everyone started murmuring. "What are you talking about?" Her dad finally stepped forward, confused about what Alicia was saying. "You should ask your brother, dad... Ask him what you have done to him to make him think he could ruin your life. Ask him why he hired Felix, forced him into a relationship with me, and when we planned to get married... Why he sent him away and made him look like a bad person!" She yells at the top of her voice as tears brim in her eyes. Seeing the confusion in her dad's eyes hurts her even more, because this man
Chapter 96 Alicia POV I feel nervous today, especially as Ren is not here with me. It was finally the day for the end-of-the-year party, and I was supposed to be happy, but I don't feel any emotions as the only thing I feel at the moment is emptiness. I arrived with my parents and Lilian moments ago, and they left to greet the guests. My uncle is not yet here, and I think he must be preparing himself to get the title of a CEO today. "Hi, Alicia," Hearing his annoying voice behind me, I turn to see him standing with his devilish wife beside him, both smiling innocently at me. If I was not aware of what they have done, I swear I would think they are the sweetest people on earth. "Hi, uncle, Aunt," I reply to them with a smile, since I have to pretend nothing is going on. I don't want him to do something stupid here. The last thing I want now is someone getting hurt in this building. "Brother, you are here?" My dad utters as he walks up to us, and they both excha
Chapter 95 Writer's POVNext evening It was a beautiful night for the family of Mr. Williams, since they just came back to the country, and the grand dinner date was going to host tonight. Mr. Douglas and his family were also invited by his brother to the date, and of course, he honored the invitation. "It has really been a while, brother. I have missed you so much," Mr. Douglas utters as he glances at his brother, Alicia's dad. "I have missed you too. How are you, Emily?" Mr. Williams replies to his brother before he turns to Emily and smiles at her. "I'm fine, Sir," Emily replies to him. "Where is Alicia? Why is she not here yet?" Mr. Douglas asks as if he was missing Alicia, but that wasn't the case. "I think she should be here any moment from now," Mr. Williams replies, and just then, Alicia walks down the staircase, graced in a red short gown that stops right before her knees. She has her hair packed in a tight bun, light make-up on her face with a red li
Chapter 94 Mr. Douglas POV It was finally a few days to the end of the year party, and I can't help the excitement that fills my heart, since I have been looking forward to it. Yes, my dream is finally going to come true, so it's only right that I am happy, right? As my driver drive me to the restaurant where I asked Felix to meet me so we can talk, I can't help but think back at the things I've done, and I can only be proud of myself. Just a little one more shot, and everything will be fine. I finally arrive at the restaurant a few minutes later, and the driver pulls over at the parking lot before he comes to open the door for me, and I step out of the car. Stepping into the restaurant a few minutes later, I spot Felix already sitting at the far end of the restaurant, waiting for me. I had called him earlier today to let's meet at the restaurant tonight because I have something to tell him. I just hope this works out. "Have I been keeping you waiting?" I ask
Chapter 93 Ricco POV Driving to Emily's house to check on her and maybe get her to change her mind this morning, but I was disappointed when I found her hugging someone in front of their house, but I became perplexed when I drove closer and found out that the person she was hugging was Ren. Is she kidding me? I wanted to turn back and leave, but I can't help it. "Is he the reason you broke up with me?" I turn to Emil and ask after I punch Ren hard in his face, and she sighs briefly. "Can you just leave, Ricco? You are creating a scene here," She utters without remorse, and I scoff as waves of anger spur through me. "Why? You are embarrassed? You don't want me to embarrass him? What has come over you, Emily? Have you forgotten who this young man is? He is your cousin's husband for goodness sake, what the hell do you think you are doing?" I yell at the top of my voice, finding it difficult to contain my anger. I feel my blood boiling in rage, and my knuckles itch to
Chapter 92 Emily POV I know it must've been hard for Ren to have dumped his wife like that and decided to get married to me, but what matters to me is that we are finally going to get married soon, and I don't care about any other thing. I haven't talked to my parents about it, but I'm planning to do so today. Descending the staircase after I left my room a few minutes ago, I take a deep breath and gulp down the lump in my throat as I spot my mom and dad in the dining, having breakfast. It's just 8am. "Good morning, mom, dad," I greet them once I arrive at the dining and pull out a chair to sit on. "Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?" Mom asks, and I nod my head. "How was your night?" Dad asks with a wide smile on his face as he glances at me, and I nod my head. "It was fine, dad," I reply to him. "I made your favorite, baby. Why don't you have your breakfast before it gets cold," Mom says before she stands up to serve my food. "Thanks, mom,