Dallas's PovI woke up early in the morning. The sky outside my window was still dark, and so was my cell phone screen. I went into the bathroom to take care of my needs, then came back out after a while. I seemed exhausted yesterday, but thankfully, I felt refreshed for now."It's already up," I muttered as I exhaled, observing the view from the much nicer room than mine and Arabella's house. Sean's house was spacious, and so were the other houses around here, so they didn't get in each other's way. "Should I buy a house like this?"I could understand why Arabella would like her life here compared to our house. Although spacious, our house does not have a courtyard like Sean's, nor does it have an infinite distance from each other. There were neither trees nor a relaxing view like in Sean's house.I shook my head, not thinking about the last question because Arabella probably wouldn't come home right away when my stay at Sean's ended. There was still my sister's work and the cat that
Arabella's PovI sighed, looking at Dallas, who was still in his chair from earlier and hadn't moved at all, even though the other customers had left or gone to the beach. Some of the female staff seemed to notice him in between breaks, but no one dared to approach him.Mel just happened to nudge my arm lightly, startling me, and then flicking my chin at Dallas. "You know him? He says he's still waiting for his sister to work. She's so stubborn that even Max couldn't get rid of her after persuading her to wrap up the food she still hasn't finished earlier."I exhaled again, massaging my forehead, and felt dizzy from my brother's behavior. Some food was on the table, so the man seemed to eat slowly, occasionally typing something on his phone and looking serious.Dallas hadn't made a mess, but he had broken the beach cafe's rules by taking advantage of my position as staff. I would have to take responsibility for what he did."He's my brother. I'll try to send him away," I said casually
Arabella's PovI cleared Dallas' table when the break was over. A few more customers came into the café and immediately filled the empty tables, ordering what they wanted and then continuing to chat with each other or play on their cell phones."You're Bella's brother and asked permission to follow her around while she works?" Max asked, repeating my brother's summarized words as he watched us. He hurriedly opened a drawer and handed me the same apron I was wearing. "I'll let you, but you have to help us too. You'd better wait outside if you don't want to help."I looked at Dallas, who was watching the apron Max was holding, still considering. The man who was my superior moved his hand impatiently. "Do you want to or not?""I will, I'll do it." Dallas quickly put on the apron, and we were shooed away to serve the customers. I quietly took out my cell phone and snapped a picture of Dallas from behind and another one when we parted ways to serve different tables.I could hear the compli
Arabella's PovWe returned home after a long walk around the beach. I fell asleep on the way, exhausted from caring for Dallas and listening to his stories about his time at college with Sean and Emma. I felt that they were already close to my brother's story, even after they had their own busy lives."Bella, wake up. We're here." Dallas woke me up. I was still half asleep when I got out of the car, staggering until my brother had to hold my body to keep me from falling.The door to the house opened immediately even though we hadn't rung the bell. I felt my sleepiness disappear when I saw Emma clinging to Sean, draping her arms around my lover's waist. I just stared at the woman's hands until Emma spoke spoilingly. "You guys took so long. Sean and I ended up having dinner together since you came home late.""No problem, there was traffic. Bella also fell asleep, so I stopped by the supermarket so she could rest." Dallas replied to Emma's words with something I didn't recognise. He smi
Emma's PovI looked at the reflection of my bright face with a smile. It was like dreaming when I was in Sean's house and living with him, even though there was Dallas and his sister, but it didn't dampen my happiness. I could be with him for as long as I wanted and be close to him without being shy anymore.That guy was a bit cold now, probably because we were getting older since college, and he became embarrassed to openly like me. Even so, he still paid attention to me. When Dallas and I arrived, he swiftly moved my luggage and took me to breakfast every morning. I was like a princess with a prince on a white horse as my best man."You're still as considerate as ever, Sean," I said with a smile to him as he carried my two suitcases with ease.He didn't look at me but shook his head in response. "You and Dallas are friends and guests in my home. Of course, I'll help.""There are no friends like you." I thought of my other friends or associates. They were more ignorant and minded the
Emma's PovI felt my whole body trembling and my eyes heating up, almost crying from absorbing Sean's no-nonsense rejection. I was shocked, not expecting him to reject me when he always let me get close to him at home. I thought my declaration of love would be smooth, but the reality seemed to slap me hard.I laughed softly, squeezing the open top of my dress. "No, I must have heard wrong." I bit my finger nervously, nodding to myself as I repeated Sean's words that didn't sound sincere. "Yes, it's possible that he was too embarrassed because I expressed my feelings in a public place. The timing wasn't right either since we met at lunch."I didn't exactly work in an office, but I figured out some of my friends' lunch break schedules over the years. Although it varied, most of them only got a break that counted for an hour, even half an hour, if they were too busy. Sean, who is the CEO, must not be much different or even should not take a break because he takes care of many things."Ye
Arabella's PovI stayed silent as Emma spoke, fighting back the drowsiness until my eyes watered. I didn't find her words important, even when she called me nothing and heard her recognize herself as Sean's soulmate."Are you crying?" She chuckled mockingly, oblivious to my very sleepy state. "I was going to tell you something, but you might lock yourself in your room if you find out. Forget it."I pursed my mouth, not curious about the story. But seeing Emma's face, which still looked haughty, I couldn't resist asking her. "What story?"I heard nothing important except Sean admitting that he had rejected Emma's declaration of love yesterday afternoon. I wasn't at home because of work, but Emi told me that that woman seemed upset and in a bad mood after coming home. I understood why she skipped dinner.Emma folded her arms under her chest. "I've been through a heated relationship with Sean. We love and crave each other, although we've never really shown it to you and Dallas."I blinke
Arabella's Pov"Just come in. The door is unlocked," I replied from inside the room, changing my position to sitting when Dallas opened the door. The man looked happy, so I looked at him in surprise. "Why do you look so happy?"Instead of answering immediately, Dallas smiled wider and pulled something out of his blazer pocket. The shape of the object the man showed me looked so familiar that I recognized it immediately—a car key. The man held them out to me. "Here, yours.""Mine?" I stared at Dallas with widened eyes, unable to believe what I saw so clearly. I couldn't accept it. "You bought me a car?"Dallas exhaled, pulling my hand gently so I could quickly take the car keys into my hand. From the model, I knew that the car my brother bought me was from the same company as his. "With this, you don't need to order a taxi or give Sean and me a ride anymore if you want to go to the cafe. You also got your driving license done a few years ago, right?"After I entered adulthood, Dallas d
Arabella's POVDallas returned home three days later. He delivered the things I'd asked for perfectly, so I complimented him while he showed off how hard he'd worked to find all the things I needed."It wasn't too hard to find the snacks you wanted, but the embroidery took some time to do." He explained. "You know that Adele is old, so she taught me by example. I'm really good at copying what she makes quickly."I just nodded with a smile, accepting that Dallas' words weren't entirely true as the embroidery still wasn't very good, but I appreciated his efforts and his leaving, which had given Sean and me a chance to be alone while he was gone."Thanks, Dallas. Where are you going?" I asked as he quickly organized his other belongings instead of staying at our house as usual.He sighed heavily. "I have a job waiting for me.""Oh?" I looked surprised, though I could hardly hide my pleasure that the 'Days without Dallas' could continue for longer. "You're going into town again?"Dallas n
Arabella's POVIt had been seven months since my wedding to Sean, and it was only a few weeks until I went into labour. I stroked my belly, which had grown to almost twice my size, but my baby remained calm, a far cry from the two men in front of me who were feuding.They had been arguing for a while about where I should stay when I gave birth to my long-awaited baby. Sean, of course, wanted me to live with him in our house, but Dallas didn't like that and suggested something very similar to himself."Bella and the baby should stay with me for the first month." My brother said with determination. "If necessary, you can also come over occasionally, but I don't want you living in my house with them."Sean looked annoyed, letting out a breath that was so long it didn't sound like it was going to end. "Dallas, Bella is my wife, and the baby is my chil. There's no way I'm letting them stay at your house when we already have a house together.""So? I want them to stay a month at my house. Y
Arabella's POV"Now, Mr. Sean and Miss Arabella, please give each other a kiss to solemnize this marriage," the priest said to conclude our wedding procession.I felt so happy when I looked at Sean from behind my veil. He grabbed the end of the veil, flashing a smile as big as mine as he draped the veil over the tiara I was wearing, and then took my waist into his arms.I could feel the thrill of knowing what he was about to do and closed my eyes. The touch of his lips was soft, kissing me as we breathed and then opening my mouth with the help of his fingers. We kissed deeply and long until the applause from the guests was heard, as well as the excited cheers that made Sean and I stop our kiss.Our warm breath was faintly visible together, and then I lifted my gaze to look at Sean, who was also looking at me. We exchanged smiles again, knowing each other's feelings that we were both thrilled and happy with the wedding that finally happened that day."I'm so happy, Sean," I whispered t
Arabella's POVBefore I knew it, time had flown by. The preparations for my wedding with Sean were ready, and we were now at the building where our special once-in-a-lifetime event would be held.I had been looking forward to this day since Sean said he would propose to me, and it finally arrived in the blink of an eye. I had seen the decorations that Sean and the wedding organizer hired with a little help from Dallas.Everything looked amazing, even though I could only see briefly. Everything is no less, even more than what Ellie and Nick prepared for their engagement ceremony.I was sitting in front of the mirror, assisted by two people who took care of my makeup during the wedding ceremony that would last into the night and make me into the bride I had always wanted to be.Wanda was with me. She had been watching me get made-up and was looking at me as I was receiving lipstick on my lips. "I didn't expect that you, who has always been kept out of reach of men, would be getting marr
Sean's POVDallas was waiting for our return. He opened the door for me and saw me holding Arabella, who had fallen back into a deep sleep in my arms. The man let me in first and closed the door before asking me for his sister."Let me carry her to her room, Sean." He said, extending both his hands towards me, but I refused to let Arabella out of my arms.She was already comfortable. I didn't want her to be woken up by her brother's unreasonable request. "No need. I just need to go upstairs to lay her down. Thank you for opening the door.""I opened the door because I wanted to scold you."Dallas was already blocking my path to our room upstairs, almost reaching the stairs had the big man not been standing in between.I stared at the man, unafraid of his threats, which I had experienced many times during the time Arabella and I had been secretly dating until now. He always wanted to interfere even though his sister said he never liked it, as well as our agreement from the hunt, which
Arabella's POVSean took my hand. We walked among the beachgoers who were still arriving until late in the evening, and then headed for the less crowded side of the beach that was littered with a few shells stuck in the sand."I found one here, Sean!" I smiled broadly, pointing out the shells with beautiful-looking shells.The man approached, nodding approvingly as he took a long look at the shells I was holding before showing me the inside of the small bucket he was carrying. "Check out mine, Bella.""Wow, why are there so many?" I looked at Sean in disbelief when I saw that the number of shells he had caught had already reached half the contents of the bucket. "One, two, three... ten? You cheated!"Sean laughed. "I didn't cheat, the part of the beach I visited earlier did have a lot of them. I've only taken a few.""I'll go there then."I took Sean's hand, approached the beach that the man had explored earlier and shifted slightly to a place that he hadn't touched. He said that when
Arabella's POVI sat next to Sean, watching him take care of our wedding online by talking to the wedding organizer he had recently contacted while Dallas checked on the process of building our wedding hall in person.After my pregnancy checkup, they both agreed not to let me handle the wedding and told me to rest. Both of them didn't want me to get tired and asked me to pay attention to their busy lives."This is your first pregnancy, Bella. "You don't have to take care of the hassle like us, but take care of you and your baby during these preparations," Dallas said, reminding me again before leaving this morning.I was going to protest, but I also realized that my sister's words didn't hurt. "Can you take care of this alone?"I was a little worried because he acted quickly to take over the wedding affairs held by Sean before, while Sean took over my part. I only remembered that the construction of our wedding hall was already largely underway.Sean hadn't allowed me to see the progr
Sean's POVI swallowed, trying to listen to the words of the doctor who explained what Arabella should do for her pregnancy between the sharp eyes that didn't stop looking at me."Miss can take the supplements downstairs. This nurse next to me will take you." The doctor ended his explanation with a shady smile.We said goodbye to the doctor before following the nurse to pick up Arabella's supplements. I was trying to remember what I should do to help my beloved during her pregnancy, so I forgot about the threatening figure in front of me."You!" Dallas unhesitatingly grabbed the neckline of my T-shirt and pulled me hard. His piercing eyes clearly showed his desire to kill me when we arrived at the hospital's lower parking lot."You animal! You're not even married to Bella, Sean!"I said nothing, knowing that there was no point in adding oil to the fire that was raging before me. My neck felt constricted, but I still had room to breathe, so I didn't try to protest.Arabella tried to st
Arabella's POV"We're going to have our wedding at the same place as Nick's, but I'm going to expand it again," Sean said when we arrived home after our walk.I still felt tired, but I eventually pushed that feeling aside to listen to Sean's explanation better. "When did you plan this?" I asked."A few days ago, it seems or yesterday? I've asked Nick for a favour so we can rent the place right away for the next week." The man seemed relaxed explaining it to me, but it surprised me.I looked at him intently. "You said... one week?""Yeah, is it too soon for you?" He asked, instantly looking worried after hearing my question.I shook my head. On the contrary, I was feeling very excited about the timing of our imminent wedding, not in a month, but even less than a week when a few days had passed.I had initially been dreading this kind of fast-paced wedding, but after talking things over with Sean for some time and meeting Tya to make the dress I would wear when I got married, I felt our