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CHAPTER 49
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 50
LAYLA NEEDED TO blink twice to see if she wasn’t just imagining things, Celine’s visit made her a bit disoriented, but yes, Ambert stood outside their door, in front of her, holding a bouquet of white roses and was wearing a black suit like he was attending a funeral—their relationship had collapsed and died, didn’t it?—or a wedding. Celine talked about an engagement ring with matching photos, so the topic of a future wedding shouldn’t be far.But she thought Ambert would be sleeping drunk until tomorrow morning so he was the last person she was expecting to see standing outside their door. The first person, of course, would be Celine. Ambert seemed alone; no one was inside his car, which was parked just outside their small, front yard.“The gate was open,” he said, his face apologetic, “so I thought I’d go straight to the door and knocked.”He was wearing a suit which unfortunately had wrinkles and creases like it was worn haphazardly, like he stumbled and fell to the floor numerous
Night And Shining Armour PROLOGUE
IT WAS A SCENE every man would be furious to watch. A scene where the woman he loved was having passionate sex with another man. The muted fifteen-minute video disgusted Ambert but he couldn’t take his eyes off it. He focused on Layla’s face, trying to see if she was enjoying the act. But why wouldn’t she? She was in love with Allan, the man she was in bed with, the man currently seated in front of him, watching him watch the video. Ambert grimaced when he saw Layla biting her lip and closing her eyes while Allan sucked her nipple. They were both completely naked, and when he saw Allan kissing her downwards to her belly, he shut his eyes hard. Enough! he screamed inwardly. Gritting his teeth, he handed back the cell phone to Allan. It was a good thing Allan wasn’t smiling or grinning at that moment as he was sure he could break his face with his fist if that was the case. Allan’s expression was that of a businessman nervously trying to close a very important deal. “I’m deleting i
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 1
WHEN AMBERT LIFTED his eyes from the documents he was reading on his desk, he saw two women standing beside the door of his office, looking at him.One of these women was Louise, his twenty-six year old secretary. Louise, married for four years now and had two daughters, was beautiful. But the woman standing beside her, who looked in her mid-twenties, was far prettier and more gorgeous. Louise stood at five feet seven inches and looked only an inch taller than the other woman. And he loved what the other woman—why was he calling her the other woman, he almost smiled, she had a name, he was just forgetting it at the moment—was wearing: pink blouse, black slacks, medium-long black hair and silky white skin. She was carrying a laptop bag in one hand and a cell phone in the other.Her lips instantly formed into an enthusiastic smile when their eyes met—and it made his heart bounce a little faster and louder, which was quite unusual. His heart, they said, was made of steel and wasn’t easy
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 2
Layla didn’t answer and looked blankly at her laptop bag while remaining seated—and he didn’t like that reaction—or her lack of reaction. Ten out of ten women he asked to have lunch with him would accept it in a heartbeat. And he wasn’t being a chauvinist here, just stating a fact. He was always respectful of women and they most likely sensed that in him so they always felt safe with him. And what’s a little lunch? They would eat in a public place, where not a few people would probably gawk at them and monitor their every move. He had become some sort of a celebrity after Olivia won as Miss Universe. Some media people even tagged him as Mr. Universe, a moniker he didn’t relish. Certainly, a lunch date between two professionals was no big deal and he had done her a favor by agreeing to this interview so he had no reason to refuse. The interview would certainly help her career. In a civilized society, Layla refusing his innocuous invitation could be considered a terrible offense.She fi
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 3
FORTUNATELY, LAYLA ACCEPTED Ambert’s friend request and he immediately went to her account and looked at her photos. He never thought he’d one day be a stalker but here he was, browsing a woman’s social media posts because he was interested with her. He didn’t see a photo of him in her photos or an article about him on her Timeline. Maybe it was buried deep on her account. He also didn’t see any photos or posts that would suggest that she was in a relationship. Or maybe, she just valued her privacy. No, she told him that she was single, so it must be the truth. He still was looking at one of her photos when it suddenly vanished. All of a sudden, her photos were nowhere to be found. He went back to her Timeline and the photos he saw a minute earlier had disappeared magically, too. What happened? He really wasn’t an expert when it came to Facebook or other social media platforms. In fact, the last time he logged into his Facebook account was more than a month ago. So was it just a Face
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 4
“SHE WAS CROSSING the street and was about to walk to the curb when the car, which was at the middle lane, suddenly swerved towards her direction and hit her,” Edmond explained. “When she fell, he scooted away and vanished, without attempting to see what happened to her or help her. I wanted to run after the car but I thought she needed my help more so I stopped my car and attended to her. She stood up and tried to walk but I was able to convince her to get into my car. She got disoriented but she was able to give me a number to call.”“Thank you for what you did, Sir.”“It’s nothing, it was just the right thing to do.”“Did you get the plate number of the car?”He shook his head. “Unfortunately, I did not but the make and color of the car, I can tell you.”“Please tell it to the cops, sir.”“I will.”“What’s your name, sir.”“Edmond.“I’m Ambert. Thank you again, sir.”It was at that moment that she saw Anika walking towards them. He politely excused himself from the man and walked t
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 5
“BEFORE I ORDER,” Anika, wearing a striped red shirt and pink capri pants and white sneakers, said as she scanned the menu at their table, “let’s be clear on who’s gonna foot the bill. And that it’s you.” Anika only wore formal attire when she was hosting her TV show. She was six years older than her. She was smart, graduated cum laude, and had a doctorate. She came from a well-off family, her father a rich engineer, and her mother, a journalist, who also came from a wealthy family. Ambert laughed. “I will never let a woman, whoever and whatever she is, no matter how rich she is, pay for my food and her food while she’s with me. I won’t even go Dutch with Bill Gates.” “I’m not rich but it’s nice,” Anika grinned. “That is why women like you.” He grinned, but didn’t say anything. “It’s a fact,” she grinned back at him. “All women like you. And now,” she looked back at the menu. “What’s the most expensive food here?” It was just a joke as Anika only ordered lasagna and iced tea. “So
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 6
THE TRAFFIC LIGHT turned red and the cars slowed down and stopped in front of Layla. She had just alighted from a bus and was waiting for her chance to cross the road. She stepped into the street and began walking as soon as the cars in front of her came to a complete halt. She glanced at her watch: it was almost 12:30 pm. She was on her way back to the office when she received a call from Anika, asking her to go back to Ambert’s office for some additional questions. Always a good soldier, she made the bus stop, and then she alighted, crossed the street and climbed a bus going to the opposite direction. Layla was about to stepped on the curb when she heard the angry screeching of car tires—she glanced to where she thought the noise was coming and saw a car hurtling towards her. She stepped onto the curb just as the car was about to hit her—the sidewalk proving to be an obstacle the car refused to hurdle. The car whizzed by her just a few inches from her before it hummed away while she
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Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 50
LAYLA NEEDED TO blink twice to see if she wasn’t just imagining things, Celine’s visit made her a bit disoriented, but yes, Ambert stood outside their door, in front of her, holding a bouquet of white roses and was wearing a black suit like he was attending a funeral—their relationship had collapsed and died, didn’t it?—or a wedding. Celine talked about an engagement ring with matching photos, so the topic of a future wedding shouldn’t be far.But she thought Ambert would be sleeping drunk until tomorrow morning so he was the last person she was expecting to see standing outside their door. The first person, of course, would be Celine. Ambert seemed alone; no one was inside his car, which was parked just outside their small, front yard.“The gate was open,” he said, his face apologetic, “so I thought I’d go straight to the door and knocked.”He was wearing a suit which unfortunately had wrinkles and creases like it was worn haphazardly, like he stumbled and fell to the floor numerous
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 49
“WE TALKED JUST hours ago and he never mentioned anything,” Layla said.“He was waiting for the rings, I guess,” Celine said and smiled. “You can’t propose without a ring.”Makes sense, Layla thought. “Did he specifically mention my name? I mean, did he tell you that the ring was for me?” “Well,” Celine hesitated, like she was trying to remember something. “I can’t recall if he mentioned your name while we’re talking about the ring. You know Ambert, he could sometimes really be a man of few words. But I assumed that that it was for you since you’re his girlfriend.” Well, that’s because you don’t know the whole story, she wanted to tell Celine but stopped herself. The whole story being that Ambert didn’t really love her, that he was just trying to repent and now, with the information about the ring coming out today, that he could be in another secret relationship, and the woman in this secret relationship was the one he really wanted to marry.“If it’s for another girl,” Celine conti
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 48
LAYLA CRIED ALL night and barely slept.When dawn broke, she called up Anika to tell her that she wouldn’t be going to the office that day and would just come the next day. Anika just asked if she was sick and said goodbye when she said she wasn’t. She didn’t know if she would be disappointed or relieved that Anika didn’t inquire about the whole brouhaha that was going on—it was impossible that she hadn’t know about it. She was probably just careful not to add insult to injury. Or maybe she wanted to talk to her face-to-face and would just wait for her to come to the office.At breakfast, she announced to her family that she had broken up with Ambert—and Ambert, because he couldn’t do anything about it, accepted it.“I thought he didn’t easily give up,” a visibly disappointed Lillian remarked.“He’s probably guilty,” Layla said softly but enough for everyone in the table to hear.Her mother and brother didn’t seem ready to join the conversation. And were just eating heartily, which wa
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 47
LAYLA HEARD AMBERT calling her as she approached the door of the restaurant but she didn’t stop and continued walking. She didn’t even glance back as she got out of the door. Her steps grew bigger and quicker as she walked to the direction of the road and stopped at the curb to hail a taxicab even though her feet both felt heavy. She didn’t think she had time to call an Uber as her goal at that time was to get away as quickly from Ambert.She waved at the first taxi she saw and it pulled over in front of her. She finally glanced back at the restaurant as she was getting inside the vehicle, and saw Ambert coming out. She went inside the car and closed the door, and told the driver to move. She didn’t dare look at Ambert again. But after just a few hundred meters of journey, she started feeling guilty. Did he deserve what she just did? They were there to talk, and she walked out on him just when their conversation was becoming more interesting. And emotionally hurting. She probably shou
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 46
LAYLA DIDNT KNOW how long she just stared at Ambert, not speaking, not making any movement. She didn’t know even know if she was showing any emotion or expression on her face. Her father had always been successful in inflicting pain on their family before, but she never thought that until now, he would still be able to hurt her with the mere mention of his name.“The detective told me, Sadie’s detective,” Ambert continued, there was a visible uneasiness on him, was obviously forcing his words out of his mouth, like his tongue was just shoving them out, like he would rather bite his tongue and make it bleed than speak, “that your father was about to leave Celine but then the unfortunate incident… which I initiated… happened. At that time, your father was still staying in your house and was successfully hiding the affair. He took pity on the boy… Joel, who was Celine’s son with her first husband. And he also took pity on Celine, who was inconsolable. Apparently, the detective said, Celi
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 45
AMBERT REGULARLY CALLED Layla at night but it usually at around ten in the evening. It was only twenty past eight, so it was a little early and a bit unusual, so she was sure that he was calling not to have their regular nightly chit-chat—he was calling because he had learned that Sadie visited her tonight and that it wasn’t a friendly visit but something which had the intention to harm and hurt.Layla took a deep breath and picked her cell phone up and answered it. She would be vastly disappointed if Ambert would talk about a different matter. “Am I bothering you?” he asked the moment he heard her voice, and strange, but she could almost see him smiling.It was Sadie who was bothering her, she thought, but he probably already knew that. “No,” she said. “We just finished dinner.” It was what he about to discuss with her, something she was sure would also bother her.She heard him clear his throat. “I received a text message from Sadie,” he said, going straight to the point. “She told
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 44
IT WAS AROUND seven PM when Layla got home and when she entered the house, she saw sitting on the living room couch beside Lillian a woman whose photos she had seen a lot of times on the Internet, specifically on Ambert’s Facebook but never in the flesh—Sadie. The woman was listening keenly to Lillian, and her beauty glowed, like somebody had snatched a star from the skies and dumped it on their sofa, even though she was dressed very casually. She wore a green shirt with floral design and denim jeans and no makeup.Ambert had since deleted all of Sadie’s photos on his Facebook account but Sadie, Layla discovered when she visited her Facebook account and Instagram once, still had Ambert’s photos. If she was just too lazy to delete those photos, or she still wanted to have a glimpse of Ambert whenever he logged on to her social media accounts, Layla didn’t know.And to say that she was shocked to see Sadie inside their house would be a vast understatement.“You’re here,” Lillian stood u
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 43
AMBERT WASN’T SAYING anything but Layla could feel that something was bothering him. Yes, he was obviously happy whenever they got out and roamed and strolled—he was genuinely happy when they went inside the Eiffel Tower, he was obviously happy, too when they got to the city’s other tourist attractions, but every now and then, she would catch him getting lost in thought and would sometimes scowl at nothing whenever he thought she wasn’t looking at him.It all started when his phone rang at their first day here in Paris. It woke her up but she still was so sleepy she didn’t move and open her eyes and tried to sleep again. She felt Ambert climbing out of the bed and walking out of the room. She opened her eyes and didn’t see his cell phone on the night stand. She shut his eyes and fell into sleep again.And after that, something changed in him. The excitement in him seemed to decrease. Who called him? Was there a problem back home? Was it work-related? Or something personal? She didn’t
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 42
AMBERT SAW SOME confusion on Layla’s face when he confirmed to her that he was talking about France, the country. And he sort of had an idea why—she remembered his tryst with Sadie in that country. A woman who loved him would not easily forget that and it was for that reason that he wanted her to take to France, to Paris specifically, to have that memory with Sadie erased and replaced with brand new Paris memory with Layla. That every time he would remember France, or Paris, he would remember Layla and not Sadie; that every time he went to Paris, it was Layla he’d remember and his moments with her and not Sadie.And why did he suddenly remember Paris and had a hankering to travel there? Well, while inside Anika’s office, he saw the Eiffel Tower miniature he gifted her, standing proud on top of her desk.“I saw a post on your Facebook where you said you wanted to see the Eiffel Tower up close and personal,” Ambert said.“Yeah, I remember posting that,” she replied and then smiling awkw
