(Red’s POV)Liam moaned, moving his head from side to side before leaning on the chair’s headrest. He closed his eyes and sighed again.“I should not have bought my own house if I’ll only be sleeping on the plane,” he groaned, opening his eyes when the cabin crew came with our breakfast.“You should have declined when I asked you if you wanted to join,” I sighed and leaned my head to the side, glancing at my kids in the lounge area, having breakfast except for Onyx, who was having a tantrum early this morning. Aya carried our son in her arms, trying to pacify and entertain him.“Why is your boss grumpy today?” he waggled his eyebrows at Cora.She shrugged her shoulders but pressed her lips together to suppress a smile, which she failed to do.After getting off the plane, Liam went to the next one to join us on this five days vacation. He sat up, picked up his coffee, and moaned as he inhaled the aroma of his drink.“What’s with Onyx?” Mike asked, joining us. “Why am I here?”“Don’t as
(Red’s POV)“Daddy, where’s the beach?” Sapphire asked, raising her head to look at me. In her other hand was a toy bucket filled with silicone sand molds.“Beach?” My eyebrows knitted as I turned my head, finding Ariana.Like my daughter, my sister looked disappointed to see that Sherrilyn’s mansion was in the middle of a private residential area. Her arms crossed over her chest as she whispered to Leslie and Addie. Violet walked toward the porch and waited for someone to open the door. Sherrilyn was home and was ecstatic about our surprise visit, but now I wondered why it was taking her maid minutes to open the main entrance.“I told you there’s no beach here,” she rolled her eyes. “But there’s one nearby … I think,” she pursed her lips as she looked at me, confirming her thought.Violet was only four years old when we last visited here, and the beach resort she remembered was one-hour away from this place. Visiting Sherrilyn didn’t happen regularly, not because I didn’t want us to
(Red’s POV)“Something’s not right,” I sighed as I stopped pacing the bedroom.I glanced at Liam lying on the bed; his eyes either admired the ceiling or just fixated on the dust webs dancing lazily whenever the wind blew since he opened the window. I heard him heave a deep sigh and got up in bed.“Yeah, I know.” He nodded and clucked his tongue. “You could just ask Fabian to come and cook for everyone. Why did you let Sherrilyn dictate the food she wanted for dinner to Aya as if this place was a restaurant?”I squeezed my eyes shut and pursed my lips, stopping myself from cursing.“You should have stopped Aya and told her we’d stay in the hotel,” He sighed again.“You think I’d let her go to the wet market, Liam? Have you ever been to a wet market? Do you think I’d let my wife be in that kitchen and cook for that number of people? That’s not what I’m trying to tell you, Liam,” I growled in a low voice.My blood boiled, remembering Aya panicking when she saw nothing in the fridge to c
(Aya’s POV)A month ago, going on vacation like this was my dream. I imagined myself boring my feet on the powdery sand of the beach or lying on it as I let my body be kissed by the waves on the shore. Addie and I would usually talk about watching the sunset, camping on the beach, stargazing, and waiting for the sunrise.With Leslie’s salary and her income from her business, it was possible to reach that dream, but instead of spending on a little treat for themselves, they would save the money on rainy days, not for them, but for Katie and me.Last night at our dinner, Sherrilyn sadly announced to her grandchildren that she had an urgent business trip the next day and would try to be back on Friday morning or evening. I thought this would make Violet and Green sad, but they excitedly asked Red if we could go to the Sunny Horizon Resort early, hoping to catch the sunrise at around six in the morning.I could not guess whether it was the sugar rush or the excitement of going to the beac
(Aya’s POV)“Hi,” Ariana grinning at Ned, shaking hands with them.Addie rolled her eyes, probably wanting to smack Ariana first before hitting the guys in their faces for showing her sweet smile to them. Although we had not been together long, I knew her smile meant crazy ideas, sometimes making Red nuts. Looking at her suspicious smile, I thought it was the same one I saw on the day of my interview.“Too bad we can’t give our names,” she said, shaking her head, not to our uninvited visitors but to Vin, who was looking at us. “But it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, right?”“A little more of this; I’ll drag Ariana to the water and make sure to drown her,” whispered Addie. “You won’t, and you can’t stop me,” she muttered, her nostrils flaring in annoyance.“Fun. I like that,” Ned smiled, turning to her. “What do you have in mind?”Ariana puckered her lips at the volleyball net. “You win, you get our names, and you get a date with...” she turned to me and pointed her index finger at me.
(Aya’s POV)Gino!I blinked many times and reminded myself to breathe. My eyes swept at him from head to toe, and I swore to heaven he looked better... much better than before. As I stared at him, I wished he had gotten ugly or plain, but he got taller, more handsome, and sexier. Why would I have to see him again at the beach? My memory of him without his shirt, he was not as hot as he was now. I swallowed hard when my eyes pinned on his abs, wishing it was only my imagination.Heat crept through my cheeks as Gino swept his dark eyes over me. Like me, he must have forgotten to breathe.“Aya,” He murmured my name like the way he would whisper in my ear when he put his arms around me.I closed my eyes, squeezing them tight as I felt a deep stab in my chest.“Boss!” Leslie cleared her throat, taking his attention away from me. “Let me explain...” She bit her bottom lip and looked anxiously at her partner as if asking for help.Gino didn’t look interested anymore in the reason she had wri
(Aya’s POV)“Daddy, aren’t you going to shake hands with him?” Violet asked curiously, looking at Gino’s hand.“Let me do it for daddy,” Liam chuckled, stepping forward and shaking hands with Gino instead. “Don’t mess up with the big boss, Gino.” He murmured, but enough for me to hear. “Don’t. Come. Near. His. Wife.”Gino flickered his eyes on the man beside me and gasped, realizing he was Red Carlington, the CEO and the owner of The Pacific. He opened his mouth but closed it again and then looked at Addie to confirm if Liam was telling the truth, but my cousin looked away. “Why don’t we finish the game?” Ariana said excitedly to break the awkward moment.Ned rolled his eyes, disappointed that his prize was no longer available. “Your team’s winning already,” he muttered as he took the ball and gave it to her. “And it’s obvious I’m not getting that date.” He glanced at Red, narrowing his eyes as he thought. “How about I get you a drink?”“Sorry,” she shook her head. “Not thirsty. Not
(Aya’s POV)“Am I Katie’s father?” Gino repeated his question, pulling me closer to him. There was a hint of pain and hope in his eyes.“What on earth are you saying, Gino?” I growled, brushing his hand off again, and when I succeeded, I pushed him away from me. “Red is Katie’s father.”He scoffed, squinting his eyes for a second and shaking his head as he eyed me. “I don’t get the chance to meet my boss every day, or maybe not ever since he never showed up in the office, but I knew his story, his life! He only has five kids, Aya, and -”“And what?” I hissed angrily. “Just because you think you knew my husband’s life, you have the guts to think you’re Katie’s father?” I sneered and made a step, but Gino blocked my way.“I’m not going to stop, Aya, until you tell me the truth,” he said, raising his hand to hold my arm again, but I moved back.“Stay away from me, Gino,” I pushed him back and walked past him.“I never stop loving you, Aya, and I know you still love me,” he yelled, but I