WINTER:“And this one, Miss Winter.” Samson scrolled another picture of his gallery. It was another picture of Cali, inside his shower room, fully clothed, but his body all wet. His clothes were all on, but I couldn't help but dream while running my hands all over him. He was sexy and hot, and I just wanted to lick him all over like what I did to him…the night I finally gave my body to him. He looked like an ice cream in a cone waiting to be licked. I sighed softly. I wanted to keep him for myself.Shame on you, Winter. Just a simple picture and you’re now ogling at your ex-husband? What the heck was wrong with you?Shame flooded my whole body.What the heck was I thinking? I mentally slapped myself. Then, I made my expression serious. “What will I do with the pics? Don't you think I believe your words? Coming over here. Jumping over the wall just to give me these pictures? I don't believe it. Cali and I were talking earlier.” He should have given me these earlier. But why now?
WINTER:This was not the first time that Hawk offered me to kill someone in my stead. And each time he did that, it always brought shivers running down my spine. It was scary how this man loved. If no one would stop him from his killing spree, then who would? I inhaled deeply. There was so much more to life than killing someone because something got out of hand. “Don’t put blood on your hands for my sake. It’s not worth it. Killing someone is not worth it regardless of your reasons, Hawk. Don't do it for me. Don't do it for someone else.”“It is worth it, Miss Winter. You are always worth it. I am willing to be killed and get killed for you.” He watched his hands and fear gripped in his eyes as if he remembered the sin he did a couple of years ago. The sin that he was trying to forget was now coming back to him. “I…already killed someone.” It was not bragging on his part. It was more like recalling a nightmare. His body shivered at the memory. I engulfed him with a hug. He stiff
WINTER: If I was surprised to see Nathalia, Hawk was too. Then, it changed into something else. Something more like fear? His breathing labored as if he had seen a ghost with whom he was running away. He looked everywhere. Then his eyes landed on me. He stared at me as if he was asking for some help. My gaze landed on the groceries on the floor. He dropped them when Nathalia ran to him."Mommy, what are they doing?" Liam asked when his eyes were glued to the two's hugging form. I cleared my throat and had the urge to close Liam's eyes using mine, but realized Nathalia was not doing anything wrong with my bodyguard. Her only issue was clinging to him like a gecko. Desperately as if she did not want to let go of Hawk. "Ahm...they are hugging?"Hearing my statement, Hawk released Nathalia as if he were burned. His eyes were back to me as if he did not know how he would explain this. Nathalia pouted, then straightened herself. "You are hurting my feelings, Hawk. This is not how I am
HAWK:Miss Winter was disappointed in me. How will I face her after this? I made my intention pretty clear that I loved her. And now she will hear that I had sex with Nathalia Wright? Her ex-husband's secretary?“Miss Winter…please?”She looked away. My shoulders dropped. She would think I was playing with her feelings. She would think I was a liar on top of that. All because of Nathalia Wright. Why did she have to come with perfect timing? Miss Winter left me and the woman, without giving me the chance to explain. Just as I was about to follow her, Nathalia blocked my way with a grin on her face. Dammit. Why did it happen like this? I had no plans of telling Miss Winter of what happened that night. I was about to bury it in my grave. The very reason why I told her I would visit my family was so that Nathalia wouldn't be able to locate me.Everything was according to plan until she arrived. I nearly succeeded in evading her. "I was glad I came to visit this house. If not, I wil
WINTER: The more this woman shoved herself into me, the more I disliked her. She was desperate and lacked dignity."You don't know what you are saying," I said and flicked her forehead, but not that strong. It was enough to awaken her from her delusions. Or that was what I was hoping. The sooner I got rid of her, the better. “Ouch! What was that for?”“Something that would awaken you.”Touching her forehead, she inquired, “From what?”“From your dream.”She stomped her foot. "I know what I am saying!" she declared. "I only wanted you and that's final. No one can change my mind and no one is allowed to."Stubborn woman. Miss Winter was not this stubborn. She was easy to work with, one of the many reasons why I fell for her. Miss Winter was incomparable to the rest of the women. I stepped back, a few meters away, and lit my cigarette.Inhaling the smoke deeply, I eyed her.That woman was beautiful. I did not understand why she would waste her time on me. There would be far more han
WINTER:As I was about to go to bed, the servant knocked on my door, and I was informed by the servant that Calcifer was there. Frowning, I stared at the clock on the wall. And it was like what? Ten o’clock in the evening.Why was he here?This was the first time he had visited after almost three weeks of not seeing each other. I glanced at the other side of the bed. Liam was already fast asleep as well as Dad. When I retired to my room, I already felt like a dried vegetable. There had been a lot of happenings in the house. I did not know where I managed to get the energy in my day-to-day life. Maybe it had something to do with my son. If not for Liam, I had already given up by now. I was about to sleep now. “Why do men always give me problems?” I mumbled to myself. After Nathalia's visit, Hawk and I had not been able to talk about it. The man seemed to be avoiding me at all costs. I had no idea what the two had conversed about. All I was hoping was that they had come to an agree
WINTER: Yes! You could kiss me whenever you want! my mind screamed. You can stop until we are both breathless. My body yearned for him. And it had been a long time since I last tasted a man since I had run my hands to his hard chest. The last time was when I had given myself to my ex-husband. Four years had passed, yet the memories felt like it had happened yesterday. I held my breath when he leaned in, our faces merely a couple of centimeters from each other. His hands suddenly went to my waist and pulled me towards his body. A gasp escaped from my lips as my heart continued to hammer against my ribcage. “Please don't hate me after this, Pumpkin,” he muttered and dunked his lips against mine. Hate him? Why would I hate him? I loved his kisses. Cali's mouth was soft and plump. I could taste the alcohol on his lips. His kisses were feathery as if he was hesitating to kiss me. To hurt me by kissing me. Why would he? This was what I wanted. This was what I had been dream
WINTER:It had been a few hours since Cali had slept on my shoulders. My shoulders were already sore from being in the same position, but I didn't want to move. If I did, he would awaken. I wanted to stay like this even for a moment. I wanted to stare at his face for as long as I could since I could no longer go back to this moment.This felt like we were married before. The only difference was that it was I who would sleep on his shoulder while we stared at the twinkling stars in the sky. But of course, it would only happen when he would come home early. “Pumpkin…” he mumbled to himself. “Please…don't leave me,” he whispered. My heart clenched. Dammit. “I won't leave you, Cali. I promise,” I whispered even if he could not hear me or remember it. He would usually talk to his sleep even before we got married and it was cute to listen. Sometimes, I would ask questions and then he would answer on point. But when I asked him about it the next day, he had no memories of it. I bit m
WINTER: One week later… Just like what I wanted, it was a small wedding only, attended by some important people. The wedding only happened in the mansion, something Calcifer did not approve of, but agreed to in the end. Did he have a choice? He did not. In the end, he had no choice but to give in. My wedding dress was nothing fancy. It was a simple one which I bought at the mall. Cali wanted to hire someone to make the dress for me, but I declined. I didn't want anything extravagant. It was better to donate the money to some charities. After all, what was more important was the marriage. Our marriage life after the wedding. We only invited the pastor to come into the mansion. The press found out about our wedding. It was all over the news, but I told Cali not to give any statement about it. I will do it when I want. Despite the venue, Cali was still able to ask the wedding planner to transform the hall into something beautiful, with a lot of flowers on each side. The servan
HAWK: The door burst open and saw Miss Nathalia’s angry look. I stopped drinking and looked at the newcomer. The alcohol did not even make me drunk. I need more. “Miss Nathalia. Cheers.” I offered a bottle of beer, but her expression told me she was not a bit happy. “Is this all your plans, right now, sulking in the corner? Smoke. Drink?” Nathalia asked. She put her hands on both of her lips as she looked at me with disappointment. Almost a week of staying in this apartment which she had helped me get. In the meantime. I was supposed to start working on her, to be her bodyguard, but I did not have the strength to work at the moment.It still hurts.Miss Winter was my ultimate love and there was no other woman beside her.The alcohol made me numb the pain, but when I got sober, it was back again. When will this end? "I am only giving you this week to fix yourself. If you will not, I will kick your butt and let someone drag you to my condo and stay there."She had been pestering
WINTER: The crowd was expecting my answer while all I could do was stare at Cali kneeling down, holding an opened box where the ring was waiting for me. “I know this is not the kind of proposal that you’re expecting. This is simple, but I thought that you also did not like anything fancy. This is not like what you see on social media platforms, but there is one thing that I wanted to assure you. My feelings are real. My promises will remain the same. It's the feelings that matter, right?”Cali was expecting my answer, and the more I was silent, the more he grew nervous. My eyes went to Dad. He was already wiping the tears from his eyes while Nathalia was silently cheering for his brother. The servants seemed like they could no longer breathe because of the fast beating of their hearts. “Cali…I…” I bit the inside of my cheeks. Was I ready now? “May I talk to you for a moment?”His mouth fell but was able to get hold of his emotions. Clearing his throat, he said, “Yes, Pumpkin. Wh
WINTER: ONE MONTH LATER...“Mommy? Why is Uncle Hawk leaving us?” Liam asked, watching Hawk bringing his bag outside. Not only Liam and I were sending him, but Calcifer was also with us and the rest of the maids. None of us wanted him to go. “He is just visiting his parents, Liam. He does not know when he will be back, that's why he resigned.”He looked at me with pure innocence. “Daddy? I don't understand why he needs to leave us while he visits his parents,” Liam continued. Cali patted Liam. “You will understand when you become an adult.”He pouted. “I don't want to become an adult, Daddy. I want to be your baby forever.”“You will be our baby forever.”A month had passed since I accepted Cali's love. A month of always showing me how much I meant to him and our son. He never failed to show us how much he loved us, by cooking and traveling abroad. Above all, Liam was the happiest. He constantly brags to his classmates that his Daddy is already with us and he constantly wants Ca
WINTER:I rubbed my hands together as I waited for Hawk. Craning my neck, I stared at the gate, waiting for a car to enter— the car I let Hawk lend.My heart continued to hammer against my ribcage. Damn it. Why was he making me this worried? Was he punishing me? It was already six o’clock and he was not here yet. I wonder what happened to him. He was not this late. He also never was the type who never texted me where he was right now.I bit my fingernails while pacing back and forth on our porch.That man. I will give him a scolding for making me worry this much. This was so unlike him. Did he want me to die because of worrying?Cut him some slack, Winter. That man is hurting after you told him the truth. Do you think it is easy for him?But he went out to have some check right? It was nothing to do with me and Cali?I stopped and checked my phone again for the nth time. Still, no messages coming from him. Damn it. What seemed to be wrong?What if I call his number? Why haven't I
HAWK:Nathalia was pretty easy to talk with.The moment I asked for her pin code, she gave it to me without hesitation. Was she always like this to other men? [Don’t be shy to order something online, Sweetie.][Are you there, yet? Your silence is making me nervous.][Hawk! You have to answer me, or I will call the police and declare you missing.]I shook my head while reading the last message.Answer her. She does not joke when it comes to you. Again, left with no choice, I texted some replies and hit the word send.[Yes? Yes? Is that the only thing you could answer me, Sweetie? I’m putting all my efforts into giving you a reply and you’re going to answer short ones? You are seriously hurting my feelings.]I pocketed my phone after telling her that I was going to enter her condo.She was not the one who I was expecting to text. It was Miss Winter. But I did not receive anything from her.I stopped at Room 703 after double-checking it. This was the room Nathalia had given me.I was a
HAWK:I stared at the ceiling like a fool. Now what? Where would you go now? Why did you lie to Miss Winter saying you’re sick? Now, you’re forced to go out and spend the rest of your day there. Now, you’re forced to go out and spend the rest of your day outside while your guilt is eating you away. You never lied to Miss Winter like this. I smiled bitterly. Could I be blamed? When I heard Liam and that bastard’s laughter, I gave in to the temptation and I went to the pool and saw them myself. The bonding of the real father and Dad. Something which I will never be able to achieve. My chest felt like it was being wrung. I held my breath as the pain became too much seeing how they looked good together. The three of them. Liam was happy. Miss Winter was happy with the bastard’s presence in the mansion. When he failed to sleep in this room, something might happen between them.I closed my eyes tightly as images of them being together entered my mind. Something already happened betwee
WINTER:Hawk's silence was not helping at all. “Hawk? I'm waiting.”"May I use this day as my day off? That's the reason why I approached you.”“Day off? Where would you go? You did not usually use your day off, right?”“I'm not feeling well right now. It started last night."Worry flashed over me and touched his forehead. “You don't have any fever at all.” But sometimes, you felt hot inside your body but on the surface, it was not hot. "Do you want me to call our family doctor to check on you?""No, Miss Winter. I already called someone. A friend of mine. I will visit his clinic so that he will know the diagnosis."“Don't you think it's better to stop smoking? It's not good for you.”“I will think about it, Miss Winter. It's not easy to quit.”“If there's a way, there is a will. Do you have a friend who is also a doctor? No offense, Hawk. But I don't see you hanging out with anyone.""I met him on social media.""Oh, I see. Is that person to be trusted? Hawk. Please be careful. Ther
WINTER: I was dreaming. You know the feeling that you were aware that you were inside your dream? That's what I'm feeling right now despite facing Cali in a fine dining restaurant. He wore a suit while I was wearing a red dress. He looked so handsome.“Why are we here?” I asked. “You don't remember, Pumpkin?”“What?”“We are celebrating because we are having our second child. So don't drink any alcoholic drinks from now on.My eyes bulged. “I'm with a child?”He chuckled and grabbed the wine glass from my hand. “This is supposed to be mine.” He emptied the contents. “We're going to have a baby?” I asked.“We are. I'm so happy, Pumpkin.”I looked down and saw that there was indeed a baby bump. Tears simmered down my eyes when I felt the kick of my baby inside. “We are going to have a baby?” I whispered while caressing the bulge on my stomach. “Thank you for approving to have another baby,” he whispered and kissed my hand. “Calcifer!” a woman's voice suddenly shouted. We all lo