ESPLAZA, a renowned five-star hotel. It ranked top among all those luxurious hotels in the city. Apart from the normal services they provided, there were even rooms available for pairs who came to spend time but they had no proper relationship."President, none of what is said in the report card is true. I didn't do anything evil behind your back, they are just conspiring against me. Please trust me." A 35 years old man knelt as he begged for a chance. The others looked at each other, gulping with the thought that maybe their turn was about to come."Mr. Kennedy, what are you talking about? Are we conspiring against you? It was you who held this secret meeting, we were told to come. You didn't even invite the CEO but only some members that you see fit. That's why I've told the CEO to be here so he could see what a backstabber you are." One of the members present there commented."You... You are lying, you all are in one team. President, please trust me. I don't know anything about thi
Too stunned to speak, Conall froze at the spot. Everything went dark and silent except for the palpitations of his heart that was clear and loud. He couldn't move at all as his whole body stiffened, it was the first time ever when he met a woman who was so proactive and bold. Taking advantage of him, she didn't even seem regretful."Wow, what a scene!" Upon seeing them in that position, one of the guys stopped the rests from walking towards them. "Someone is making out here. Geez, they should get a room at least!""Yeah, but good for them. Look at we singles, we don't have anyone to f*ck. What a bad luck!" "I don't think the girl went this way. Let's look for her somewhere else. Let's go." Waiting until she could no longer hear their voices, Irene finally took in a deep breath. Unaware of where her hands were, she leaned a little and moving a bit backwards, she relaxed her body against his big frame.He was so much taller than her that she looked like a puppy in front of a husky. Al
• The Next Day •Tying her hair in a bun, Irene casually settled on the bed. The dark patches under her eyes were clearly visible and she felt somewhat annoyed even though it was only morning. After coming back last night, she tried to fall asleep but his words kept coming back to her mind again and again, and as a result she rolled on the bed most of the night until at 3 am she could finally fall asleep. Heaving a sigh she stretched out her arms and smiled brightly, "Forget about the bad time. Let's see how I can start my day today."As she was about to head to the door, the notification sound in her phone suddenly made a noise. At first she kept ignoring it until it started ringing. Groaning, she picked up the call.As soon as she picked it up, Maria's overly fretful voice spoke from the other end of the call, "Iri, check the messages I've sent you. Oh my God, I still can't believe that it happened. How can it be? Who is she exactly?""Wait, wait hang on! What happened? Who's wha
MacMillan was losing his breath as the hot temperature was too much for him to take. As per Zoe's summoning, he came here an hour ago. Unlike he thought she kept him stand there like a statue without any water.Seeing Zoe appeared there, he finally let out a sigh of relief. "You are probably aware of the reason I've called you here.""Yes, I am. Old lady Zoe." MacMillan answered, showing respect."Then you may tell me who the woman was from last night." Zoe could have scared anyone with that serious tone of hers. But since MacMillan knew how she was in real, he didn't take it to heart. Far more, he had no choice.With his mouth shut and showing no interest in slipping up, MacMillan stood there with a straight face when his hands were crossed behind."Answer me."[You are all ordered to keep your mouth shut about what you saw earlier. No matter who asks, you can't say a word especially if it's my grandmother. Get that?] Remembering what Conall has ordered them, MacMillan bowed his head
Everyone left the store as they were not allowed to be crowded there. And Conall had made it clear to the public that none was supposed to publish what just happened in social media or he would sue them.The staff were taking away the bags that Irene left in a rage, when suddenly one of the bags dropped from her hand and the clothes in it fell on the floor."I'm so sorry, Mr. Hudson." With that the employee picked it up keeping her head down, since looking right into his eyes was a crime for all. As she was hurrying to leave Conall ordered in a cold tone of voice, "Wait a minute.""Yes, sir."Staring at the clothes in the bag with sharp eyes, he took it away from her hand. He checked it and then asked, "Is this one of the bags that Miss dropped a while ago?""Yes, sir."'This is a kid's clothes. Why was that woman buying a little boy's dress? As far as I remember her parents died long ago and she was an only child. Then...'Checking her portfolio he learnt everything about her, out o
° The Next Day °Getting down the car Ellaine ran towards the cafe only to come to a pause at the door. Seeing nobody present in the cafe except the two staff members, she looked at Roma who had the same reaction just like her."Is it not open today? Where is Mr. Angel?" Ellaine scanned the surrounding but she couldn't see any cars nearby so she was disappointed thinking that he didn't come. "What's wrong? Ella." Hearing his voice from behind her, her face lit up brightly. Upon seeing him the corner of her mouth stretched. She smiled and walking to him she said cheerfully, "You are here, Mr Angel." "Yes, let's go inside. Shall we?" Conall pronounced."Yeah but there's nobody available there." Pointing her finger towards the cafe she voiced.Conall smiled and added, "Because the cafe will only accept us.""Only us?""Yes, that's why. Since it's reserved no other customers are allowed here today." As he explained the reason, Ellaine nodded her in accord and walked with him inside.Mac
° The Next Day °Taking a sneak peek at the invitation card put on the table Irene looked back at the wall clock. She was invited to one of the business parties held in EXPLORE FANTE but she was reluctant to go there."Can I not attend the party?" With a lethargic tone, she asked Luxury. Though Luxury knew what she wanted, she answered uprightly, "No, you have to go because they invited you as the CEO of Desmond IO. You have been ignoring the invitations for long but you can't keep doing it anymore."Remembering about what Luxury told her she could only sigh in defeat. Irene never liked to go to those business parties no matter what kind of party it was as it didn't just give her any good feelings. It was quite stuffy and crowded in all those parties where rich people were an 'everyday member' so she didn't think that she belonged to such places and as a result she avoided whenever she was invited to a party in the past. That's why people never saw her face and it was a mystery whethe
Desisting near the balcony, Irene kept gaping at the night sky that was full of beautiful stars. She extended her hand in the air making a shape towards the beaming moon and smiled at it with watery eyes, "What a beautiful moon!"When she was admiring the moon suddenly a man approached her, " "Hello, Miss Miller. I am Jacky Kenneth, the CEO of SNS Enterprise."'How annoying! Why can't I enjoy some alone time without being interrupted by strangers? Geez!'Turning around Irene gave him a polite smile and greeted him the same, "Nice to meet you, I'm Irene."It felt kind of awkward since she didn't know him at all. Though as far as she remembered Luxury once told her about him and she especially reminded her to stay away from him as much as possible. Back then she didn't focus on him so she didn't remember his details at all."Uhmm, are you not enjoying the party? Everyone is dancing with their partners." Jacky mentioned, his focus was on her face and that was not giving her any good fee
"1, 2 and... 3."As Irene threw the flower bouquet towards the crowd, all the men and women ran to grab it. Surprisingly, Luxury picked it up and the crowd cheered for her.In the happy moment, Irene was watching how everyone was so happy. Her dream to have a fulfilled family finally became true.Irene was about to walk to Conall who was talking to his friends when suddenly a familiar face came to her view. Upon seeing her, the person quickly ran away."Babe, where are you going?""I'll be back soon.""Is everything alright?""Yes."Irene ran after the person, the faster the person ran the more Irene wanted to see who it was. For a moment, she thought she was hallucinating. Why would the person who hated her would attend her wedding?"Mrs. Thompson." Stopping at a point, Irene called out loudly and the person with a mark stopped. "If you came to see the bride's face, you should give her the blessings as well. Don't you know the traditions?"Hearing her, Alora turned to her direction.
• A week later •"There's only an hour left till the wedding starts. Mr. Hudson." Conall tossed his phone on the seat and sped up the car. If not for the sudden business urgency, he would have been in the wedding venue by now but... Ring!As his phone, Conall took a look at the front way then he leaned to get his phone. Boom! There, Irene moved back and forth anxiously. In a princess wedding dress, and with all the makeup and hairstyle, she looked like a princess.Checking the timing in her phone, she bit her lips then dialled Conall's phone number for the 16th time but she couldn't contact him at all.'It has been so long since the last time I talked to Conall, he said he would be here before the wedding starts but only fifteen minutes left till the wedding starts, he is nowhere to be seen. Far more, I can't contact him.'"Miss Miller." Luxury hung up the phone and hurriedly ran to her. "Did you contact Conall? Where is he?""Uhmm..."Seeing her pale reaction, Irene touched her
"Good morning, Miss Miller." Seeing Irene come out of the kitchen, Luxury greeted her. Irene put down the plate of fruits as she saw her. Noticing the file in her hand, Irene asked, "Good morning, why are you here? Is something wrong at work?""Ahh, no. I came here because Mr..." Just when she was about to answer her, Conall appeared there. "I have told Miss Martin to come, I've something important to talk to her." Conall added, walking to the ladies.Hearing him, Irene looked at him in confusion. She knew Conall didn't know Luxury so there was no way they were working together on something or maybe they did but she didn't know? But if that really happened then he would have told her about this, in fact Luxury wouldn't hide things from her, right?But that was not the thing which concerned her though, rather the file Luxury was carrying pulled all her attention."Wait, what's wrong? Did you find a solution for Mr. Desmond's case?" Irene questioned, sounding a little excited."It's n
"You know he is dangerous, what if he reveals your secret? No, no. I can't...""Shhh! Calm down. Just calm down, will you?" Pulling her in a hug, Conall tried calming her down. Irene told him everything Luca, and after knowing it all, he didn't seem to even bother."Conall, he is not as simple as he looks. He is really really dangerous, trust...""Shhh! Just take a deep breath first, then I have something to say to you."Irene wiped her years of and asked, "What is it?""Do you want to marry me? Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?""But Mr. D..." Interrupting her, Conall held her hand and looked into her eyes, "Shh! Just answer me, I want to know your answer.""I do."Smiling lovingly, as he showed her his phone she was surprised. "Wait when did you...""When you were telling me about Luca Desmond.""So your men are already working on this?"Conall pulled her close, having her rest her head on his shoulder he kissed her forehead, "Yes, so don't worry. You just need to
"You know there are many beautiful places we can go to. There's k..."When Conall was excitedly describing about places to Irene, she kept looking at him from the distance. The words Mr. Desmond told her kept playing in her head over and over again, and everytime she remembered it, her fear of losing him got her bad. 'I know Conall can't be touched, he is more powerful than Mr. Desmond. But he has enemies and he has secrets that can ruin him... Far more, he raised me so if he wants, he can ruin me faster than I can even imagine.'As Conall touched her shoulder suddenly, Irene was taken aback. "What are you thinking of? Is it me in a wedding suit or us in wedding dresses?""Ahh yes. I'm fine..." She didn't smile at him at all, though his smile made her feel a little better but she was so worried. She knew Luca looked fine but at times, he could be very dangerous. Far more, Irene was the CEO of Desmond I. O. in name, the real one was Luca. He was still the sole owner of the company th
"I don't wanna stay like a guest. Let me work as well..." As Irene picked up the knife, Conall held a cherry in his mouth. He approached from the behind, grabbing her waist he turned her around and feed her the cherry. "You!" "Have some sweet."Irene wanted to leave but when she went outside, she found out that Conall took her to an island from where she wouldn't be able to leave by herself even if she would want to. Having no choice, she stayed with him. But so far, he didn't let her do anything with her hand. Even when she said she was hungry, he decided to cook by himself instead of letting the chef do it. "Have a seat, I will be done soon." Conall took her in his arms and then he put her on the counter. "Wait, I want to help."Conall watched her making a cute face as he walked to the kitchen. While he was putting on the apron she kept looking at him. Suddenly he took it off and uttered, "Since you don't wanna stay like a guest, how about you help me put this on?"'He just put
"I wished this before, I wished that she would break up with him and come back to me.""It's dangerous, get down..."Suddenly he jumped down, and hugged Maria, she was taken aback. "I know I am a bit selfish but I couldn't help. My love for her never died, it was always one-sided and even though I had a chance to make it both sided I... I have ruined it all with my own hand. But when I heard that she broke up with him nor does she love him... My mind was so... You know I was just so happy. So damn much happy! Haha." Those words echoed in her ears again and again, Maria felt uncomfortable for some reason. "Mr. Wilson, let go."Alvin let her go and looked at her pie-eyed. He touched her face and smiled foolishly, "I will marry her, Mary. I will... Right now, I'm just on seventh heaven."Maria felt bad somewhere in her chest, it hurted so bad that she couldn't say anything. Since the day she met him, she didn't think of him as someone special but now... She had a different opinion. "D
"Thank you." Alvin voiced, smiling at her. Giving a cup of coffee to Alvin, Irene took a seat opposite of him. She didn't look so good though, her face full of sadness and compassion."Are you alright?""Yeah, thanks for asking. Alvin." She gave him a small smile as she grabbed a cup of coffee as well. For a few moments, silence took place in the living room. Since he came to see her, he didn't see her smiling wholeheartedly at all. Alvin put down the cup on the table and crossing his chest he looked straightly at her. "Irene.""Yes?""I want to ask you something but I don't know if... If I should ask it or not.""What do you want to ask?"Since he asked for a chance, she didn't hold any grudge against him. So when he wanted to meet her, she agreed on their meet up. With a slight hesitation, he asked, "About Mr. Hudson... Are you planning on really marrying him?"The moment he took his name, Irene remembered how Conall clearly told her on her face that he couldn't marry her. Her ga
"Mr. Hudson, one of our men had found out Miss Miller's whereabouts.""Where is she?" Since she vanished into thin air, Conall had tried every way possible to find her but as if she didn't exist, there was no news of her so far. "Daddy, won't you play with us?" As Rowan called out for him, Conall gave him a small smile from the distance. "Let me take this call first, I'll join you guys once I'm done.""Ok, daddy.""Yes, she was last seen in a cafe with a man at the northern area of the city. It was an hour ago." The voice from the other end of the call came through and Conall furrowed his brows, "Who is he?""We couldn't find it yet, we are still searching for his identity."Conall kept his fists clenched even though he looked calm. "I want to know where she is right now, why did she meet that man and everything about their relationship. Inform me of every details, got that?""Yes, Mr. Hudson."Hanging up the phone, Conall let out a sigh. At least he could relax now since her last lo