Chapter Three

So, Ann, along with Charles and Emma, took a flight back to New York. The plane ride wasn’t long, but Ann felt her heart bursting.

The twins were quite excited. Their eyes were sparkling as they saw a lot of people in the airport. During the flight, they were fascinated to see the scenery outside the window. The beautiful white clouds had caught all their attention. 

Ann smiled to see this. She was so glad to see Charles and Emma enjoy new things.

Charles turned around and looked at Ann sincerely. He asked, “Mom, we are going to your hometown, right?”

“Yes, Charles, we are,” Ann answered.

“Then, will we meet Dad there?” 

Ann was surprised that Charles asked like this. She was too focused on not seeing her family so she forgot about this secret man. Suddenly, she felt a sharp sting right through her chest. She saw how the twins were eager to meet their dad, but she couldn’t even do anything about it. 

She simply smiled and replied, “No, mommy’s coming back to New York because I found a new job here. You’re going to love New York.”

The twins frowned, hiding their disappointment, and Ann felt helpless. She hated seeing the twins like that, so she said, “Don’t worry, mommy will find daddy, and you’ll meet him.”

Just like that, the twin’s enthusiasm was back. They were so sweet as they marveled at the majestic view of the sun outside. It was so beautiful.

The plane arrived at JFK airport. Upon arrival, Charles and Emma clung to Ann like two lost puppies.

“Aunt Emily, we’ve arrived,” Ann smiled as she answered her ringing phone and continued. “We’re heading over now.”

During the ride, the three of them could see the views through the car window. Tall buildings loomed before them, and everyone on the streets seemed to be busy with their own lives. 

Ann breathed in and remarked, “Ah, the busy streets of New York, I guess that didn’t change much.” 

Aunt Emily was Ann’s mother’s younger sister. She was in her early fifties and had an uncanny resemblance with her sister. She loved her late sister very much, so of course, she had always been so kind to Ann. Aunt Emily had a fortune, and owned a big apartment in the Upper West Side. She was a single woman and never married.

Four years ago, she was the only person who knew of Ann’s childbirth. 

Soon after, Ann and the twins arrived at Aunt Emily’s apartment. 

Aunt Emily welcomed them in front of the door. She hugged them gently, saying, “Ann, you grew up just like your mother. It’s so lovely.”  

“Hello, Aunt Emily, you look well,” Ann smiled. 

Emily invited them to enter her apartment. It was a peaceful one, which had three bedrooms, one living room, and a big open kitchen. The apartment was fully decorated with plants and greens. 

 After helping them put their luggage, Emily smiled back to Ann, “You need not to worry, child. You’re the only family I have left. It brings me so much joy when you said you’d be staying here for a while.”

“I promise to pay you back, aunt,” Ann said.

“We’re family, Ann. You don’t have to,” Emily said. 

Ann smiled, “You’re too kind, Emily”

Soon, the four of them sat on the big couch in the living room together. Emily averted her gaze at the cute twins. She wrinkled her nose as she extended her arms to them. She said, “Oh my, you must be Charles and Emma. I always see you on TikTok. You’re too adorable, aren’t you?”

Emily’s smile was plastered all over her face as she played with the twins. She was very fond of them, saying, “Do you want to play board games?”

Charles and Emma looked at her with enthusiasm, “Sure!”

Ann chuckled, “Say hello kids, Aunt Emily is my mother’s sister. She’s family, and she’ll help us settle here, okay?”

Charles nodded. He hugged Aunt Emily. So did Emma.

They played for the rest of the afternoon.

In the night, the twins were sent to bed. Ann and Emily caressed them to sleep. 

“Although being separated for years, there still was a strong sense of familiarity and bond between us,” Emily said. “Your mom used to do this every night for you, Ann. She loved caressing you. To a mother, nothing is more important than her kids.”

Ann felt warmth and comfort as she was reminded of her mom. 

Emily smiled and said, “You did a good job raising them on your own, Ann. Hold your head up high. I… will help you with the kids, so go chase your dream.”

Ann hugged Aunt Emily and replied, “I appreciate it so much, Aunt Emily.”

The next day came, the twins were up earlier than usual. Ann jumped from her seat, seeing the twins already coming down out of their bedroom. She said, “Oh, you two are awfully early today.”

“Aunt Emily said she’d make us hot chocolate!” Emma smiled brightly.

Emily patted their heads gently and smiled, “Call me grandma. I’d prefer that.”

Ann and Emily took videos of how adorable the twins were as they tasted the hot cocoa. Their smiles gave Ann the courage to continue with her decision.

After breakfast, Ann nervously went to the Lionheart Company. It was her first day working there. She dressed in her best suit and a pair of high heels in order to look decent.

The interior design of the company was dazzling and extravagant, and Ann felt very lost when looking for her working desk in the building. When walking around like a bee, Ann didn’t notice there was a group of people behind her. 

Suddenly, Ann realized she went in the wrong direction, so she had to turn around. Just then, “bang,” Ann bumped into someone. A man. 

Ann bowed her head and sincerely apologized to that man. 

He seemed to be an important person. He wore a fancy black suit, which seemed very expensive. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face, which could make lots of women fall in love with him immediately after they saw him. Besides, he was surrounded by a bunch of people.

But he looked at her indifferently.  

The men surrounding this important person were all in fancy suits. They looked at Ann contemptuously, saying, “How careless! Don’t you know he is the CEO of the Santorini Enterprise Group? Lionheart is merely a sub-company of Santorini. How insolent.”        

The central man --- CEO of the Santorini Group cleared his throat, saying, “That’s enough. We’re here to do inspections. Stop wasting time here.”

Before leaving, he looked at Ann with an intimidating gaze. 

Ann didn’t like this experience, but she could do nothing but suffer. 

After this, Ann finally found her office and working desk. Some co-workers went to her immediately. 

“Welcome aboard, newcomer,” a lady with curly brown hair said. “We heard your experience this morning. You bumped into Simon!”

 “Simon?” Ann was confused. “So, he is Simon?”

“Yes, him,” a man in a deep blue shirt said. “The notorious CEO of Santorini Group, also known as The Unattainable.”

“Why is he called The Unattainable?” Ann asked.

“Because he owns everything. He is young -- only 30 years old, handsome, tall, and rich. Everyone would fall for him. But, no one could dare own him,” the brown-haired lady said.

“But now, things have changed. Simon has been dating Vivian for over a year, and they are going to engage soon!” The blue shirt man said excitedly. “Since Vivian is one of the hottest actresses nowadays, we are convinced.”

“Vivian?” Ann became nervous now. Would it be her? That Vivian she knew?

Until now, Ann had time to think about what happened this morning. She bumped into Simon. Out of her surprise, she felt something different in her heart. She didn’t know what that feeling was, but it seemed like -- crush?

She had a crush on Simon the moment she met him? That was so incredible!

Just as Ann came back to her senses, she felt quite shameful about that, because Simon already had a girlfriend, and also, she was the mother of her twin children.

Ann took a deep breath as she muttered to herself, “That’s right. I should give 100% of my focus to my children. No more distractions.”

There wasn’t much work for the first day. Ann had to get familiar with her task and make some copies. So, Ann brought a big stack of paper to the copy machine.

On her way there, she suddenly lost balance on her high heels. Without surprise, it caused Ann to fall down. But instead of falling on the floor, Ann fell down on someone’s embrace.

When Ann turned her head, surprisingly, she saw Simon on the ground ---- under her. The paper was all around them, meanwhile, one of them was on Simon’s face. 

She immediately stood up and apologized, “I’m sorry, I really… I didn’t mean it. I uh… I’ll make it up to you.”

Simon’s eyes seemed to ask her, “Make it up to me how?”

Ann gulped hard.