Plopping on the couch, Tristan cupped his face with both hands. He knows he’s seen someone wearing cartoon underwear too, but he can't recall who that was.After a few minutes and as he calmed down, he recalled his business trip to Dale. It was the summer of last year. ‘Right, it was during that time!’Jacob booked a hotel suite for the two of them but they didn’t go to Dale at the same time. Tristan arrived one day earlier than his assistant.When he got to the hotel, a staff member insisted on assisting him, but since it was his first time alone in a place he was not familiar with, he refused. He took it as a challenge instead. Nothing huge, but it was still challenging.When the receptionist handed him his keycard, he went straight to the elevator, up to the topmost floor of the hotel. His suite was in 1718.Double-checking the card, he quickly inserted it into the lock when he found the right suite. Inside, he placed the key card, his car key, and his phone on top of the coffee ta
“Where is she?” Tristan asked when he got inside the car and noticed that Belle was not with them.“She already left, thanks to you,” Jacob responded.“What do you mean she already left?”“She left! Resigned! Bye! Adios! Ciao!”Tristan glared at him but Jacob didn’t back down. He’s furious because of Belle. He can’t believe that Tristan could do that to her.Despite the absence of his memories, he never thought he could actually do it with Joyce. The worst is that Belle saw them. She witnessed it with her own eyes.“Can you please calm down and tell me what’s going on?”Jacob rolled his eyes and smirked before looking at his boss through the rearview mirror. “Belle saw what she was not supposed to see,” he informed him.Tristan’s body stiffened after hearing what his assistant said. Joyce indeed tempted him, they kissed and were a bit intimate, but that was it. Nothing else happened after that.What he didn’t expect was that Belle saw it. She may or may not have seen everything, but s
After hearing the audio, Tristan can’t help but get furious. After everything the trio has done, he still can’t believe that they’re capable of doing something as stupid as they did.Above all else, he couldn’t believe that Joyce could do something like that to him. She almost got him killed and if he wasn’t lucky enough, they’d all be gathered for his funeral.“So what’s the plan?” Frederick asked after a few minutes of silence.“We didn’t let you listen to this, but I got it the day after the accident,” Jacob informed Tristan. “We decided to hold on to it since we don’t want you to get confused with the information in this audio and the stories Joyce’s fed you.”Tristan sighed, “Should I pretend that I haven’t gotten my memories back?” he asked, and Jacob quickly nodded.“We can’t take any action right away or Joyce will be suspicious and it might be dangerous for Belle.” Turning to the woman, he asked, “For now, maybe we can hide you in the meantime?”“Where?”“You can stay here wh
A week passed and things seemed to be going well for Tristan and Joyce. The woman was elated at the thought that she had gotten Tristan all for herself.Most of the time, she’s in his office, dragging him out for coffee or some snack. And Joyce would always feel ecstatic whenever he went along with her, without refusal at all.After office hours, she’d pick him up so that he could drive her home. It may be weird, but for Joyce, it’s her standard in a relationship.However, unbeknownst to her, Tristan would take a detour after dropping her at her apartment. Without her knowing, the man she’s head over heels for is madly in love with someone else.Eventually, one day, she called the man to let him know she was on her way to the De Clarion Empire. To her surprise, Tristan refused. For the first time in the past two weeks, he turned her down.Tristan told her that he needed to visit his grandfather, as he wasn’t feeling well the past few days. Since it involved the old De Clarion, she let
No one was able to sleep after what happened. Everyone stayed in Frederick’s room, including all the housekeepers.“I don’t think it’s best to confront her…” Frederick stated out of nowhere. He was just staring blankly outside the window.“What should we do?” his grandson asked.The old man sighed before tapping Tristan’s hand. “Just do what you always do. Pretend you don’t know it was her. We don’t know it’s her.”Tristan looked at Belle as if waiting for her to give an opinion, but the woman just nodded and smiled lazily. The man turned to his grandfather and nodded as well.Despite the temporary solution they had already come up with, nobody left the room. Everyone remained quiet, sighing from time to time.The next day, Jacob and Tristan head to the office earlier than usual as they have to drop Belle off at her office. Without them knowing, someone’s watching them.Joyce followed Tristan’s car until he reached De Clarion Empire. She was about to step out of her vehicle when her p
Joyce, on the other hand, was flying in the air. She stepped out of the Empire with a beautiful smile painted on her face.She hated herself for doubting Tristan. Thankfully, he forgave her and all was well between the two of them. ‘This was all Vernice’s fault,’ she thought to herself.And speaking of the devil, the devil just parked. She wanted to ignore Vernice, especially when she saw that Esme was with her, but they called her.“Didn’t you hear us? We’ve called you several times!” Vernice pouted but Joyce just shot her eyebrows up at them.It was Esme who spilled the purpose of their chance meeting. “What happened to you and Tristan?”“We’re okay…” she plainly responded.Vernice creased her forehead, in disbelief at what she heard. “How are you okay? You two didn’t even fight?”As she’s aware of where the conversation is going, she just told them that Tristan has explained to her and that he forgave her for getting mad and causing a scene. Then she excused herself, saying she had
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
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
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