"Don't take them off!
Even though her name was mentioned, Liz still didn’t recognize it. “Sorry, who are you?”“We haven’t met, but I saw you at Lana’s yesterday, and I was impressed with your look. You were wearing a dress from where I work. I admired how well you styled it.”Liz frowned. "Where do you work? I was wearing a Hermes dress.”Liz was wearing a dress from her boutique that hadn’t sold yet. It's the most expensive one.“Yes, I work there. I wanted to offer you something, but you were closed today.” Rein sounded disappointed.“You were at Gemma’s?” Liz jumped up.“Yes, I actually wanted to look inside. Your boutique is gorgeous.”“I’ll come! Wait a moment. Don’t go anywhere... actually, just wait at the coffee shop nearby. Go to the coffee shop located at the end of the street. I promise the coffee’s great. I’ll be there.
"Where will we work next?" While watching Val use binoculars to observe Eren in the building across from them, Asher inquired. Val was making sure the task went smoothly."Hmm... I haven't decided yet. There are two options: either Paris or Japan." Val hadn't made a choice yet."You didn’t consider Cuba?" Before handing it to Val, Asher remembered adding Cuba to the list."What's with you?" Val lowered the binoculars and finally turned to Asher, distracted."What?" Asher raised an eyebrow, not knowing what Val was upset about. The question should’ve been normal."This is the second time you've questioned the jobs I chose. You never used to. Do you want to go to America?" Val frowned suspiciously.Asher complained a lot, but he had never questioned Val’s decisions about jobs before. He would usually just work as instructed."I'm not questioning it." Asher quickly turned back to his laptop, but his calmness was fake. H
“Girl! I have a little sister!” AJ was the first to shout upon seeing it, dancing happily as confetti rained down.“YEAHH!”Then Lori rushed to hug Ruby. “Congratulations… You’re going to have a lovely daughter for sure.”“Two,” Ed replied.“Huh?” The excitement halted for a moment as everyone stared at Ed, who had bent down to pick up a piece of paper that had fallen from the piñata. Ed noticed it, but the others ignored it.“What do you mean, two?” Ruby asked.“This. Twin.” With a slightly trembling hand, Ed showed them the word written on the paper. It wasn't out of fear or anything like that, but rather disbelief. Ruby felt the same.“Is it true?” Ruby moved closer and took the paper from Ed’s hand. She wasn’t the only one reading it—Lori and Liz peeked over her shoulder, and even Otiz looked on cur
Liz made a mark on the list resting on her lap. It was for the third dress that had just passed in front of her. Its bright color and layered skirt had caught her attention—beautiful.Coincidentally, Liz had a scarf that would go perfectly with it. She already imagined how she would display it later.The mannequin display in front of her boutique was the place's main attraction. Because of Liz's talent for mixing and matching, many people came in. Dresses that seemed unappealing on their own would look perfectly wearable once Liz styled them the right way."Are you sure? That dress barely made it through the selection. A lot of people didn’t like it," Rein whispered from beside her as he saw Liz marking another dress—a mustard yellow one that reminded him of an omelet. Not pretty.All the dresses currently on the catwalk had already been approved, but that didn’t mean all of them were suitable for sale. This summer collection lineu
Despite the overwhelming number of guests in the room, Liz still spotted Asher easily. His figure stood out to her.He was holding a glass, picking out food, and then turning to another room. Liz was about to call out, but he disappeared again.With quick strides, Liz followed where Asher had gone. When she saw him again, he was standing in a dim corner, facing the wall. It was an unusual place and posture.Liz sighed, sharpening her focus. Asher was adding something to his drink. He shook the glass briefly, then began walking again.Liz continued to follow, now with a whole new set of questions. In particular, what was Asher really doing in that place?Asher entered a quieter room. There were still guests, but it wasn’t as crowded as the main hall. Liz felt a wave of relief as she saw him stop, but then her steps froze when she saw what had caused him to halt.She is a beautiful woman. The model was likely a fashion show veteran. Tall, with an exotic face. They laughed together, and i
Liz growled as she tried to open her eyes. Her head hurt badly. It had been a long time since she’d woken up like this, because it had been a long time since she’d partied to the point of getting drunk.“Huh?” Liz gasped and opened her eyes wide, fighting the pain, suddenly remembering that she hadn’t been out partying at all. Someone had knocked her out.“That hedgehog…”Liz growled again, angry because she clearly remembered who had done it. Asher!She threw off the blanket and got out of bed, only to collapse onto the floor. Her head wasn’t in sync with her desire to be angry. She still couldn’t stand properly.“Shit!”Liz rubbed her head several times, slowly, waiting for her vision to clear. Whatever Asher had given her, it was strong, making her want to kill him even more. How dare that hedgehog touch her and knock her out?Liz sat on the floor for a moment
"Me?" The man pointed to himself with a confused expression that Liz was starting to despise. He looked incredibly dumb."Yes, you! I can't believe how stupid you can be! Is there nothing in that brain of yours that remembers me? You brag about being smart and all, but your memory is shorter than a finger!"Liz wanted to keep ranting, but her eyes caught the gaze of two confused children. When Liz lived with Ruby, she learned not to swear in front of kids because they imitated."I mean... you're just a little forgetful. That's... all."Liz lowered her voice, feeling a bit awkward. Five pairs of eyes stared at her in shock. Her harsh words must have been quite a spectacle.The woman, who had previously been speaking Italian, waved and invited them inside. She knew that kind of conversation wasn’t meant for children to hear.Then Anne-Marie broke the tension. She giggled. "You’re just like my mother," she said.“
“Missing? What do you mean?” Ed frowned. He didn’t want to misunderstand.“Correct. I received a report from the police. Rein Cardenas, Senorita Liz's work partner, reported that she suddenly disappeared from a fashion show, hasn’t been reachable for almost twenty-four hours, and hasn’t returned to the hotel.”Ibanez handed Ed a copy of the police report."The police confirmed Senorita's identity here, and our people there realized who she was and told me," Ibanez explained further.Ed abruptly stood up, shocked by this unexpected source of information.“No one from the police should inform Ruby! Have they contacted her yet?” Ed asked.“Uh... I...”“Tell them to delay it! Now!” Ed snapped, frustrated.Ibanez complied, but his instincts were still not as quick as Otiz’s. For such details, Ed still had to give direct orders. Otiz would have anticipated this and prevented the information from reaching Ruby.“Book a flight to France,” Ed said, while Ibanez was still sending the message.“Y
“Such chaos,” Liz lamented as she watched the crowd of rowdy children, who had become the main guests at her wedding.“Yeah, I didn’t expect it to get this wild either.” Ruby sat beside her, watching AJ hand out chocolate-covered strawberries to the other kids.He wasn’t alone—Claud, Val's second child, was helping him. They eventually grew close, even though their conversations were sometimes limited because Claud was more fluent in Italian than English. Still, they got along well enough.“How did it all start?” Ed frowned.“I don’t know.” Ruby was also unsure.“Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed when AJ asked.” Liz deeply regretted it.Somehow, AJ had convinced Liz to provide a chocolate fountain for her wedding, and it had become the source of chaos. The younger children were enjoying it, but soon chocolate stains appeared on the white tablecloths, as wel
"Do I have to? I already checked that document yesterday. Can’t you do it instead?" When Ed saw another email from Otiz, he complained.It was a financial report. Since Matteo had spread his investments in every direction—across more or less thirty companies—the financial reports Otiz received came from all directions, across different types of businesses. Ed hadn't anticipated this.Being an investor wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed. He still had to work.“You’re the one who has to check it. I’m just the middleman,” Otiz firmly refused.He could refuse because the request was made over the phone. Perhaps if they were face-to-face, Otiz would be more compliant. He was no longer blindly following Ed's orders, carefully sorting out what should and should not be done. He was only responsible for delivering financial reports, not reviewing them.Ed grumbled. He was quite used to reviewing company pa
"‘What do you want to show me?’ As she approached Ed, Ruby inquired.She left AJ's side; he was busy reading a story to his two younger siblings. Elena and Elisa sat quietly, either really listening or getting sleepy. It was already time for their afternoon nap."Read this," Ed shifted, making room for Ruby to sit beside him, and handed her a phone displaying an article in Spanish. Less than two hours had passed since the publication of this hot news story.Ruby didn’t pay attention to that, though, because she was immediately stunned by the headline.‘DEA ARRESTS MAJOR MEXICAN CARTEL AND EXPOSES BILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS NETWORK’"What... you...?" Ruby turned pale and panicked, of course."Read it to the end," Ed said, pointing to the rest of the text that she had not yet seen.Ruby read quickly and frowned. There was no mention of Ed or Rosas anywhere. Only Reyes. Marco Reyes. He was the story's
Two black vans speed down a deserted road. It was already nighttime, and they were the only ones there. The end of the road was in sight—a black iron gate.“Ram it!”A shout rang out, and the vans didn’t slow down. The passengers inside, all dressed in black, held on tight as a deafening crash echoed.The gate fell, bent, but opened. The two vans barged through and stopped right in front of the brightly lit house.“Get in and kill everyone!”Another shout, and the people inside the vans scrambled out, storming into the beachside house. Some were carrying firearms; others were wielding clubs.However, as they entered, everyone froze. No one came to greet them. The house was supposed to be full of guards, which was why they had come in numbers—ready for a confrontation.In reality, what greeted them was silence. Not a single person appeared, even though the house was brightly lit.“
"AJ, don't make Abuela tired!" Ruby reprimanded AJ for running away with something, while Mia pursued him.But it was impossible to make AJ stop, especially since his younger siblings were laughing joyfully at his antics. Elisa and Elena had just learned to walk, and they happily followed him around.AJ couldn't stop when he had such an audience. Mia seemed to be scolding him, but everyone knew Mia could never really be upset at AJ.Ruby had to step in, followed by Ed to watch over Elisa and Elena. Although falling on the sand wouldn't hurt, the beach had sharp rocks that could scrape them."Mommy! They should chase me! Don't pick them up!" AJ didn’t want his little sisters to be carried away and stop the fun."Alright," Ruby said, intending to supervise them closely."How about we take a vacation?" Ed abruptly proposed the idea, having just finished reading a message on his phone."Hm?" Ruby was surprised. There had been no suc
"Here."Ed gave Otiz a handkerchief to wipe away his tears. If it had been just a few, he would have let Otiz cry—and wiped the tears with the sleeve of his jacket.The problem was that Otiz couldn’t stop crying. He had already been emotional when Ed stood beside him at the altar, and it got worse when he saw Lori walking down the aisle, escorted by flowers. It was all too beautiful and dazzling for his eyes.“Sorry,” Otiz stammered, wiping the remaining tears from his face.“What are you apologizing for? At a wedding, shedding tears is not considered inappropriate. You're just too happy. No one will blame you.” Ed gently patted Otiz’s shoulder and then turned his gaze forward.Of course, Lori was the focus of the event. Her choice of dress was perfect, blending seamlessly with the entire garden decor. Flowers, ribbons, music, and all the other elements were carefully and precisely chosen—now showcasi
Ed tapped his finger on the glass in his hand. His eyes were fixed on a single point—Marco Reyes.The man was speaking with Otiz. Nothing important. Marco was just making small talk, and Otiz was doing the same—being polite, answering Marco's questions about his law firm's progress. Ed actually needed to speak to both of them, but he chose to start with Marco first.Ed just needed to gesture with his chin, and Otiz understood immediately. He excused himself, making up a reason, and left Marco alone."I need to talk to you," Ed said as he approached."Oh? What is it?" Marco immediately followed Ed, moving to the quiet side yard. The other guests filled the living room."I want you to handle the shipment to Ecuador and Brazil next week."Marco looked as if he had choked. This was incredibly surprising. Ed had never let him touch the South American market before. Ed had always handled it himself. Marco had only been managing North A
"Mommy, I want to try! You be Elena, and I'll be Elisa."AJ reached out his hand, asking for the milk bottle from Ruby. He wanted to try feeding the babies—and he chose Elisa.Usually, Tita was around to help Ruby, but today Tita was busy, so Ruby had been on her own since earlier."You can, but please be careful, okay? Don’t let her choke, and don’t squeeze." Ruby guided AJ's hand to hold the bottle filled with pre-warmed breast milk, helping him apply just the right pressure so it wouldn't press too hard against Elisa's lips."Wow! Look, Mommy! She's drinking!" AJ exclaimed happily, eyes sparkling with joy. This was the first time he was directly involved—doing something for his little sister. AJ usually watched, but at first he was afraid to hold the babies. He would look in awe but wouldn’t dare touch them.“See? It’s not a big deal, right? You don’t have to be scared anymore.”&l
From their disheveled appearance, it was clear that Liz and Asher had either just rushed out of a room or possibly run over here. One thing was certain: as soon as they heard the news about Ruby, they had hurried over."Where? Ruby... You're pale. Why... It shouldn't be happening now."Just like Lori, Liz was out of breath as she approached Ruby, panicking. The news had shocked everyone. Liz had already planned to stay in Puerto Vallarta next week to be there for Ruby when she gave birth.Of course, Liz no longer lived at Ed’s house. She had managed to buy her own apartment.“I’m fine, and they’re fine too. But the nurse hasn’t brought them here yet. Calm down… breathe.”Ruby was already able to speak clearly and now had to calm Liz down. She was the one lying down, barely conscious, yet had to reassure everyone else."Are you really okay? No problems? Any complications?" Liz touched Ruby’s bo