Tristan felt like the world stopped revolving for a couple of seconds after hearing Jacob’s news of Belle. He felt a tingling sensation on his scalp and his hands were sweaty.”Meet me back at the office,” he told his assistant before turning on his heels.He stepped into his Lamborghini and drove back to the company. Jacob and Nathalie had just arrived when he stepped out of his car and all three of them walked toward the elevator.“What happened?” he couldn’t wait to reach his office. He was anxious.Jacob and Nathalie exchanged glances. Both were as nervous as Tristan at the moment. “We went to her apartment and the guard told us she hadn’t seen Belle so he assumed she was staying with Nathalie,” he informed his boss.Tristan let out a long, dispirited sigh. He walked quickly towards his office as soon as the elevator door opened. Jacob and Nathalie trailed behind.“What should we do now?” Nathalie asked no one in particular. She can’t stop herself from fiddling with her nails as s
“I already did,” Jacob quickly replied.Nathalie continued picking on her nails and Jacob couldn’t help but steal glances. He wanted to reach out for the woman’s hand to calm her down, but since he was driving and his boss was sitting behind them, he stopped himself from doing so.After traveling for almost an hour, they finally reached their destination. When the three of them stepped out of the car, they immediately spotted the blue car that took Belle.Tristan rushed towards the vehicle, peeking inside for several seconds before changing direction. He headed for the warehouse.Both he and Jacob took out a gun from their waists, ready to rescue the damsel in distress. They looked like Hollywood stars shooting an action movie.Nathalie was in shock. ‘Where did they even get these guns?’ she whispered to herself. She quickly followed Jacob behind. Although scared, she felt like it was scarier to stay in the car alone.Both men stood side by side right outside the door. Nathalie, on th
A week after the kidnapping incident, Belle was back to work. Tristan and Jacob didn’t ask her more about the incident. All that mattered to them was that she was safe.On her first day back at work, as soon as she stepped inside the building, she came across Jacob, who bought coffee for their boss. “Sorry, I should be the one doing that,” she told him apologetically. Jacob was about to respond when someone caught their attention.“Hey!” the woman called. “Hey you!” she called again when they first ignored her.Belle and Jacob stopped in their tracks to face the woman. Jacob was surprised, but Belle was confused as she was not familiar with her.Vernice eyed Belle from head to toe before rolling her eyes and smirking at her. ‘We really look alike, it feels weird,’ Vernice whispered in her head.“Excuse me? Is there a problem? Is there anything I can help you with?” Belle inquired.Vernice cleared her throat, looked around, then stretched her hand to offer a handshake to Belle. She too
“Are you not coming with us?” Tristan asked Jacob, who was still busy going thru some paperwork.His assistant took his eyes off the papers to face him, “I’ll follow you guys as soon as I’m done here.”Tristan nodded at him before turning to Belle, “Let’s go?”“Yep!” Belle quickly responded, following Tristan, who immediately walked out after she nodded. “See you later!” she waved at Jacob and closed the office door.When they reached Eden, Eric was already there, waiting for them. When a waiter saw them, he started serving drinks.In the dark corner of the bar, Esme watched them carefully. She was a little disappointed and frustrated as she couldn't push through with her plan with Eric there.After waiting for almost three hours, her patience started to run out. She was ready to leave when she saw Eric step out of the lounge.Thinking she had found the right opportunity to put her plan into action, she smiled wickedly. She quickly stood up after seeing Eric get into his car.“Hey, co
When Tristan woke up, the first person he saw was Jacob. “What happened?” he asked, trying to massage the throbbing pain in his head.“You and Belle were drugged,” Jacob informed him.“What are you talking about?” he asked, trying to lift himself from the bed.“I received a call last night, a staff member from this hotel told me that you checked in with your secretary. She said you’re both drunk and were carried to the VIP suite. I came over immediately. I knew something was wrong. You don’t drink to the point that someone needs to carry you,” Jacob narrated.Tristan looked around after hearing the word ‘secretary’, but no matter where he turns his eyes, he couldn’t see Belle.“I took her to the other room,” Jacob informed him, as he noticed that his boss was looking for the woman he was supposed to be with. Tristan furrowed his brows at him, “You were starting to take your clothes off last night with Belle lying next to you. Who knows what could have happened if I left her with you?
Days after the incident, Jacob received a call from his father, John. He was told that the old De Clarion wanted to see Tristan.He was also asked to bring with them a copy of Tristan’s marriage license. Jacob informed Tristan, who just nodded at him in understanding.They left an hour before lunchtime to drop by the City Hall and get their copy, before driving to the villa. Tristan plopped down on the couch when they got there.“What do you need it for?” Tristan asked his grandfather, handing the old man an envelope.“I need it to transfer some properties under your name,” he then sipped on his tea.John placed a couple of documents on the table. As Jacob arranged them for Frederick, he also opened the envelope to take out the copy of the marriage license.Placing it right in front of the old man, Frederick glanced at the license and did a double-take. He leaned closer to look at it, but he wasn’t content.He picked it from the table and looked at it closely as if checking its conten
After what happened between her and Tristan, Belle tried her best to get in touch with Lawrence. It took her a few more days to find out that he was already back from Dale.With the help of Jacob, Belle managed to secure an appointment with Lawrence at Williams Corporation. As soon as she gave her name to the front desk, she was led to the elevator up to the CEO’s office.“What can I do for you, Miss Roberts?” Lawrence asked as soon as he saw her walk into his office. “Have a seat,” smiling at Belle, he pointed toward the couch.As she sat down, she placed a copy of the marriage license she got from Jacob on the table. Lawrence took it and his eyes widened immediately.“Who submitted Tristan and Vernice’s marriage license to the City Hall?”Lawrence put the paper down and leaned on the backrest. “It was Esme,” he answered truthfully.“As you can see, Mr. Williams, the name signed on that license was mine and I must admit, that it is my handwriting too. This is a copy of the original l
“He’s already sure about divorcing Belle?” Frederick asked for the third time. He still can’t believe that his grandson was stupid enough to let go of someone like Belle. He can’t believe he would rather go with a woman who doesn’t know anything but shop and travel at the expense of his own money than someone who can actually work for herself.Jacob nodded, he was also sad about his boss’ decision, but just like the old De Clarion, he couldn’t do anything about it either.Frederick’s frown deepened, he let out an exasperated sigh, took the paper from the table, and put it back again.He’s feeling uneasy from all of these. He still can’t think of what Tristan and Joyce will become once they get married. ‘I doubt she even knows how to cook’ he mumbled to himself.“Call Belle, ask her to visit me here…” Frederick instructed Jacob, who immediately stood up. Before he could take another step, the old De Clarion cleared his throat, “tell her to bring me some mango cake.”Jacob turned around
On their bed and while lying on Tristan’s arm, Belle recalled the invitation she got earlier. She forgot to mention it to the man over dinner and even after.“Love, I got a cruise invitation,” she started. “I’m sure you have one too. Are you going?”Although sleepy, Tristan forced himself to respond. “I am, I know the organizer. He’s a good friend of mine. You should go too.”“Can we go together?”“I have a meeting that day and I don’t know what time it will end. The cruise will leave at eight but you have to be there by six for the program. You can go first. I’ll ask Marco to drive you there.”“Alright then. You look very tired love, go ahead and sleep.”Belle planted a kiss on the man’s forehead before squeezing closer to him. Minutes later, they were both taken to dreamland.A few more days later and the day of the cruise came. Just like what they talked about, Belle went ahead. He’ll meet Tristan there.Surprisingly, when she boarded the yacht docked at the Bree Port, no one was t
When Tristan and Jacob arrived at the hospital, Belle’s attending physician told them that the woman had been moved to a hospital in Dale. This was the request of the patient, according to him.Upon hearing that, Tristan instructed Jacob to call the company’s pilot and prepare the private jet. They have to reach Dale as soon as possible.Fortunately, they didn’t take that long to reach the hospital where Belle’s confined. Jacob did the honor of approaching the nurse’s station to ask where the woman’s room was.When Tristan found out that Belle was staying in a ward, he ordered Jacob to move her to a private room. And there he spent all his time taking care of her.“What happened to her?” Lydia asked.Tristan was a bit startled as he didn’t hear anyone opening the door. He stopped wiping Belle’s arm and placed the towel back in the basin.He sat on the chair next to Belle’s bed, and let out a sigh, before facing Belle’s adopted parents. “I’m really sorry about this,” he started.The yo
Tristan dropped Belle off at her company. She was about to enter after greeting the guard when someone called her. She immediately turned around and, to her horror, it was Esme and she was holding a gun.“Finally, we’ve met! I’ve been trying to see you for days!” Esme sneered.“Put the gun down Madam!” the guard shouted, walking over in front of Belle to protect her.However, instead of following the guard’s order, she shoots him. The guard immediately dropped right in front of Belle and it freaked her out.“What are you doing?” she screamed, but Esme just smiled at her. The crazy woman gestured for her to go in and Belle quickly followed.When they reached her office, Esme locked the door and pushed Belle to her table. “I still can’t believe that you’re alive…” she whispered.Belle wanted to say something but no voice would come out of her. She’s been inhaling and exhaling since they got in, but it won’t calm her nerves.Esme made her sit on her swivel chair, while she was pacing bac
It was already bright and shiny when the police finished their investigation. Belle feels like her head is not attached to her neck. Everyone else looked like they were floating."According to the investigation, the guard said that a woman in her late 40s entered the village saying she was a visitor to Luisa Villa," the investigator stated.“Why did he let her in? He didn’t even ask for identification?” Frederick asked irritatedly.“Actually Mr. De Clarion, he did, but what’s weird is that he received a call from someone claiming that the woman should be allowed in. The person who called introduced himself as the butler of the family, John.”Frederick looked at John and so was the rest of the people in the living room. The man raised both hands and spoke, “I have nothing to do with that call.”The police nodded at him, “We believe that Sir, we checked your background and we found out that you’ve been serving the De Clarions for almost four decades already. In addition, you do not have
The past days and weeks have been peaceful for everyone. Joyce was locked up and there was no news about Esme either.Seeing that it’s safe to go back to work, Belle and Tristan decide to resume their posts, Him as CEO of De Clarion Empire and her as CEO of Sweet Sue.All is well for them or that was what they thought.Little did they know, someone was watching all their moves. Someone was hoping to take revenge on them, all of them.A week after Belle came back to the company, she received a package with a dead rat inside. It also came with a note that says ‘You’re next.’Instead of taking it seriously, she decided to just have it thrown away. She also ordered the guard not to receive any packages, unless he knew who they came from.After one more week and three more packages with warning notes, it stopped. To not cause any worry, Belle decided not to tell Tristan about it.However, on her way home one night, as soon as she turned left to the next street, she saw one of the homes in
Everyone was surprised to see Lawrence Williams. No one expected him to show up at the De Clarion Villa.“Dad!” Belle exclaimed before rushing to her father. “How are you?”Ignoring his daughter, Lawrence turned to Frederick first. “I apologize for coming without notice. I just wanted to check on my daughter,” he explained.“That’s not a problem,” the old De Clarion responded. “Please sit down.”As soon as they had settled down, Lawrence turned to his daughter. “What were you saying earlier? What did Esme do last night?”Belle, Tristan, and Jacob repeated the story for Lawrence to hear. After learning everything, the man started bawling and no one stopped him.Everyone in the living room let him pour out his emotions. They understood what he was going through, they understood his pain.When Lawrence calmed down, he apologized again for the scene he had just caused. Then again, he was forgiven right away.“I don’t understand why she keeps doing things she’s not supposed to do. I try my
As the news was about to start, Lawrence grabbed a plate and placed some food there. He leaned back and started eating, while the maid placed his coffee on the end table.A female newscaster was then shown on the screen and behind her was a villa with a beautiful landscape. Lawrence can’t help but be impressed.‘News Flash! Just this morning, a cleaner called the police station to report a murder case. According to the informant, she arrived at this villa as part of her daily schedule. She has the key and has access to the main door and all the other rooms. As she was used to no one being home early in the morning, she proceeded to open the master’s bedroom and was horrified by what she saw.On the bed, a man was lying down, looking wasted, and next to her was a woman bathing in her blood. According to the police, the woman sustained 18 stab wounds on her neck, chest, and stomach. The man with her was taken to police custody for further investigation.The police cannot give any inform
Belle nervously opened the door to the villa. She was quietly praying that when she got home, Tristan would be there waiting for her.When she got in, it was only Frederick and John talking in the living room. Still hopeful, she quickened her pace and sat next to the old man.“Is Tristan home? What about Jacob?”The old De Clarion exchanged looks with the butler. “They’re not here, what happened?” John asked, worried and confused.Belle started narrating what happened. Fiddling with her fingers, she couldn’t stop worrying although John had already told her that he was coming with her to look for them.Meanwhile, outside the villa gifted to Vernice, Esme’s car was parked in a dark spot. Waiting for who knows who, she took out her phone and started dialing.“Where are you?”“We’re on our way. We got the girl.”A smile broke on Esme’s face, she was already feeling triumphant.Minutes later, a car parked next to Esme’s car. “Go right in. Tristan’s already there. CCTVs are everywhere in th
Days passed and Thursday arrived. Belle’s going to meet Vernice at Eden. She was nervous initially, but after she told Tristan about it the last time they met, he assured her that he'd be there too and that dissipated her worries.When the clock strikes 6 in the evening, Belle starts preparing. Since it was just a casual meet-up, she decided to dress casually as well.After taking a shower, she dried her hair and applied a thin layer of face powder on her face. Then she grabbed a red cardigan, black jeans, and a red slip-on. She just tied her hair in a high ponytail and set off.Belle arrived past 7 and the bar was already packed. As soon as she stepped in, she looked up to check the VIP room that was assigned to Tristan. She secretly smiled and sighed in relief when she saw that the lights were on.After confirming Tristan’s presence, she proceeds to walk in, looking around. She then saw Vernice waving at her, so she approached her table and sat in front of her.“I thought you were n