"The condition is getting worse." Dr. Leigh looked at Lucas and Sonia, who seemed to squint their eyes. Honestly, she didn't care much about how her mother was on the bed."Well, what can we do? Don’t call me an ungrateful child. I’ve done my best for her," Sonia retorted. There was still a trace of the rejection this woman had shown her. Chasing a higher career, she was willing to leave everything behind."Dr. Leigh, thank you. Could you please leave us alone for a moment? I apologize for my rudeness," Lucas said with a commanding smile."That's alright, Dr. Lucas. Miss Sonia, I’ll take my leave now." Dr. Leigh did not want to be there when she heard Sonia’s response."Thank you, Dr. Leigh." Lucas smiled warmly again.Sonia merely nodded slightly, indifferent. She was actually reluctant to come here. Seeing this woman lying there didn’t fall within her range of concern."Sonia, you shouldn't say that. We have really tried. Your mother is your only relative; if she is gone, you will b
Hayle couldn’t believe there was such a beautiful village so close to them, not too far from their current bunker. She would be happy to live here.Jaxter nodded in agreement. As long as Hayle liked it, he would be ready to live anywhere."Can the vineyards and the horse farm also become ours?" Hayle asked, gazing far into the distance."Well, I haven’t discussed that with my acquaintance yet. But if you really want it, I’ll try to get it," Roberto explained.Jaxter looked at Hayle, who seemed mesmerized by the view before her. "Yes! Just make sure you can get it," the man said. He wanted his wife to have whatever she wanted here."Eh, there’s no need if they don’t want to sell it. It might be their livelihood," Hayle said. She just enjoyed seeing the grapevines. They would look beautiful when in season."I will definitely try to get them to sell it to us," Roberto assured."But not through coercion or violence. I don’t want that. They must give it willingly," Hayle said, glancing at
"Lucas is really something, isn't he? He managed to get a director position so easily," a doctor was heard mumbling in the St. Joseph Hospital café."We knew from the start, right? Sooner or later, he was bound to get it," another doctor chimed in.Lucas, who had just finished his work and intended to enjoy his afternoon at the café, was taken aback by the conversation of his colleagues. They were separated only by bamboo plants arranged to create a partition for some of the seats in the café."But I still can't wrap my head around it. How could things go so smoothly for him? I’m sure there’s something going on here. Don’t you suspect anything? I think Lucas might be the one who killed Mr. Hudson and hurt his wife. What do you think?" Dr. Lean, who had seemed very envious of Lucas’s success from the start, tried to voice his thoughts. It sounded quite inciting.On the other hand, Lucas simply listened with a blank expression and sipped his coffee."Stop it, Lean. You have no proof of
“Does it still hurt?” Hayle asked, gently touching Jaxter's wound, which had turned reddish. The gunshot wound now looked much larger.“No. It’s just that my left hand still can’t grip strongly,” Jaxter replied, quickly covering his body with a shirt. He didn’t want his perceived deformity to be seen by his wife.“If that’s the case, we can postpone the horseback riding lesson,” Hayle said, looking at her husband, whom she had just finished examining. The wound had healed, but damaged nerves would not recover quickly or might even remain permanent.“It’s fine. I’m still able to teach you. Just like last night when I worked on you,” Jaxter said, giving his wife a faint smile. Of course, what had happened last night immediately crossed Hayle’s mind. It wasn’t the first time, but she still blushed at the memory.“That has nothing to do with last night. I only did that to trap you,” Hayle said with a teasing smile. “Can you trap me again?”Hayle squinted and then promptly pinched her husb
"They're not here?" Cassius looked up. The banker's window was faintly visible with the rocks around it. But Cassius was certain this was the place."None, Sir. There’s no trace of them here at all," one of the guards reported immediately on what he found around the mountain."Give me the report from the nearest village." Cassius got into his car, but his eyes never left the bunker. He only shifted his gaze once he was inside the vehicle."Sir, what if Mr. Jaxter is no longer in the country? Or perhaps he has moved to another city?" One of Cassius’s subordinates glanced at him."Jaxter is someone who values his sovereignty and upholds agreements. He wouldn’t stray far from his domain. Besides, Jaxter is not the type to give up easily. Unless he’s been influenced by that woman, but that doesn’t seem likely," Cassius smirked. It wouldn’t be interesting if Jaxter suddenly decided to become a commoner. "All his power is here. I’m sure he won’t be far from here; search within a 20 km radiu
The night enveloped the streets in darkness. Without adequate lighting, a car sped along the asphalt flanked by trees. Lucas's eyes darted around wildly."Are we still far?" Lucas asked, squinting despite the digital map in his hand still glowing."Not much further. We just need to go around this hill, sir," the driver replied, glancing briefly at the man squinting at him before returning his attention to the surroundings. His mind wandered; he hadn't expected Hayle to live in such a place.Moments after this brief exchange, the car came to a sudden halt, causing Lucas to nearly collide with the seat in front of him."What’s going on?!" Lucas asked, clearly startled by the situation."That's it in front, sir!" the driver said, with a strange yet fearful expression.Lucas looked ahead and saw someone blocking their path. Three people were walking toward them with a challenging and confident demeanor. Lucas squinted again, and his eyes widened further as he recognized the man walking w
Jaxter has really hit rock bottom if he has to seek refuge in a place like this. Cassius looked out at the road, which was almost entirely dark. The cooling asphalt was only illuminated by the headlights of their two cars.No one responded to that statement because they knew Cassius was just muttering his thoughts out loud. An occasional cunning smile appeared on his lips. He would be able to complete his task as soon as possible.However, just as their car was speeding past a street lamp, suddenlyBoom! Boom!The sound of exploding tires made their car start moving erratically. Of course, this immediately startled the people in the car. The drivers of both cars struggled to regain control as their tires suddenly burst."What's happening?" asked one of Cassius's subordinates sitting in front."I don't know. Seems like a trap!" said the driver, making Cassius squint his eyes."A trap, you say?" replied the subordinate before his sentence was abruptly cut off when they heard a barrage o
"I've already instructed the guards to take him away," Jaxter said, watching Hayle, who was ready with everything needed to stop Cassius's bleeding.He tended to the wound temporarily because Jaxter wanted the man to stay alive. Two guards who were now his assistants helped. Hayle cleaned and stitched each of Cassius's wounds, which were now in a relatively stable condition."And then?" Hayle seemed to be warming the tip of the scalpel and pressing it against the part that was still bleeding, though lightly, as Cassius was unconscious. Anesthesia was no longer needed."Do you really not want to see him?" Jaxter stood a bit far from his wife, who didn’t even look at him. She appeared very focused on what she was doing.Hayle frowned and glanced at her husband, raising her eyebrows as she saw her wife’s bloodied gloves. "If I wanted to see him, would you allow it?"Jaxter shook his head slowly."Then there's no need to ask. I have other work to do. If you disturb me again, you'll be the
"How was it?" asked Hayle approaching her husband. Seeing Jacob only gave her a faint smile. Of course it made Hayle very curious. How did the man meet his wife.Actually Hayle really wanted to witness it. But, she had her own business to take care of Zave's lecture that she had promised a few weeks ago. Therefore, she could not cancel this."They just talked for a while." Jaxter answered his wife's curiosity."And then? What did they talk about? Did they talk about bringing Rui?" Hayle with a very curious face.There was actually one thing that made Hayle a little worried about all this. They were going to take Rui and keep the two of them apart. Because after all Hayle -she knew this was very selfish- had taken care of and loved Rui with all her heart."I don't know what they're talking about. I wasn't inside with them.""Ha?" Hayle wrinkled her forehead with an incredulous face. "Why aren't you even with them. I want to know what they're talking about." Hayle was really upset why e
"You put her in the Isolation room?" Jacob asked with a deep frown on his face."It's better to keep her from escaping. There are many things that will happen if she gets out of here. I don't think I need to explain, do I?" Jaxter seemed to just stare straight at the hallway that would lead them to a room that was quite secluded there.Jacob played with his lips. He slowly walked, fortunately Jaxter was understanding enough to match his pace."Thank you for hosting her here." Jacob lifted the corner of his lips before glancing at the man whose facial water had not even changed. "I know that you intentionally put her here for her own good too. You must know that her enemies are everywhere. Even my family is after her.""I just wanted to fulfill my wife's wish. To live in peace." Jaxter didn't seem to care what Jacob said. They stood in front of the steel door that was tightly closed."You can imprison him anywhere. Maybe underground, in a secluded place. You could have even just elimin
"Rui a lot of things happened before you were born. Both your adoptive family and your biological family. We may not be able to be like most parents. Our previous lives will leave you dumbfounded. But, you don't have to think about what happened before you were born. I just want to say, whatever ever happened to me, I will do it again as long as I can get a daughter like you." Jacob held the princess's hand very tightly. Staring at her hazel nets that looked so beautiful and drowning."I knew you would ask about what happened to your real mother." Jacob pursed his lips. He took a deep breath and grabbed something from the nightstand drawer beside his bed. That made him frown. "This is a picture of your mother. I don't want you to not know her."Jacob handed over the cell phone he took earlier. He asked Roberto to find any photos of Ice that might still exist. And, luckily, there was one of her when she was still undercover in Laurence's group.Rui took the cell phone in her father's ha
"Eh? You." Rui was startled when she came out of her father's hospital room and saw the figure of a man who seemed to be walking towards her place."Yes. I heard your father was taken to the hospital, is he okay?" asked Arzhiel who immediately came to this hospital when he heard the news."Yes. But he's fine, he just woke up." Rui smiled faintly at this man who could make her heart feel uneasy."So, why aren't you inside?" Arzhiel wrinkled his forehead. "Do you want to do something?""No, I didn't. Mrs. Hayle and Clay's father wanted me to go out for a moment. They want to talk to Jacob's father. So I'll just go out." Rui said it in a slightly mischievous tone. I don't know, it's hard to act casual in front of people we like."Oh, I see, so I can't go in there yet either." Arzhiel looked at the door of the room. "I saw this little cafe near the hospital garden. It's not far, want to wait there instead?"Rui hearing that was a little startled and raising her eyebrows, she nodded slowly
"Rui ...." Hayle stared at her daughter to which Rui immediately responded."Yes? Mom?" Rui showed a subtle streak on her face, following the question that fell from her lips."I know that Rui probably has many things to ask. But, is it okay if you, Mom, and Jacob's father talk first?" Hayle gently tried to give understanding to her daughter. She knew that it was not difficult to usually talk to this sweet girl.Rui pursed her lips and nodded for a moment. Although there were indeed a lot of questions in her head but Rui couldn't force herself to stay there. One of her principles said that it was better not to know what she shouldn't know. Or maybe not yet.Jacob smiled proudly at how the princess behaved. Although he was reluctant to release the delicate grip of his daughter. But it was something they had to do. The three of them stared at Rui's departure who soon disappeared behind the door of the infirmary."I'm glad you guys took care of her to become such a great girl. I don't th
The door slowly opened. Making all the hearts of the people outside the door beat faster.When Jacob saw the figure of a woman sitting at the end of a fairly narrow room, on an old-looking bed. Curled up as if frightened with her hair loose over her face.Jacob frowned, not really having any expectations about how the woman who was predicted to be his wife was doing."Ice." Hayle walked into the room. Leaving the two men who seemed to be still observing the situation inside Ice's hospital room.As usual, Hayle sat at the end of the bed closest to her. Always trying to communicate well with the woman who never even looked at her."I'm here again, but this time I'm not alone with my husband. Would you like to see who came with us?" Hayle said it as gently as possible. It was always like that if she was dealing with this woman because according to Hayle, that was how to treat someone like this Ice.But, even though Hayle had seduced the woman. Of course Ice didn't seem to understand what
"Good morning!" the cheerful, friendly voice filled the room where Hayle was on duty, if not the kitchen.The woman raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly. "Good afternoon, Jac.""Yes! Yes! No need to emphasize it. But it's early in Alaska. I guess it is." Jacob rubbed his face. He still looked sleepy."The time difference between here and there is only an hour Jac, so I guess it's already daytime in Alaska." Hayle shook her head. Even at this age, she still couldn't let go of her innocence."Yeah. Every now and then make me happy Hayle by just following what I say." Jacob made a little annoyed face at being corrected by this woman."Eat your breakfast, or actually brunch. After that take your medicine. You have to take it, right?" Hayle said. Yesterday she saw him taking his medicine after their warm dinner."Not really. It's just for pain relief. Yesterday's flight made my leg ache, so I took it. It's quiet, even though four bullets have gone through my body. I'm overall very healt
"Why did you say something like that earlier Jax?" asked Hayle who glanced at her husband as she rubbed lotion all over her body after she finished putting on her clothes after cleaning herself."About what?" Jaxter took off the shirt he was wearing one by one. After his wife it was time for him to take a shower."About Ice."Jaxter did not answer immediately. Tickling the curiosity and attention of Hayle who immediately tried to see what happened to her man's face."Do you still suspect that Ice might betray us again?" Hayle asked."There's no harm in being on guard. We already have the life we dreamed of all this time, I won't let a single person ruin it." Jaxter glanced at his wife with a rather sharp gaze. Making Hayle unable to say anything. In a life like the one they lived. Tranquility was a high price they had to pay with so many sacrifices before."So about when will you let us see him. I'm sure Jacob and Rui will want to see Ice." Hayle tried to be cooperative with her husba
"At first I can't remember anything, I woke up in a hospital bed in Hawaii. All I knew was that my whole body was in a lot of pain and I couldn't get out of bed at all. The doctor who treated me said that I had been in a coma for more than half a year." Jacob recounted what he experienced after what happened to him. Everyone in the house was silent, they were listening to what this man was saying. Even so, his hand continued to hold Rui's hand."Then when did you get your memories?" asked Arzhiel who was even more curious about this man's story. Moreover, what he knew was that this man was not in an accident as told by his parents. Instead, he was attacked by people they didn't know."It took a long time for me to remember. About 3 years after the incident, I had a serious memory disorder. I even forgot everything. And, suddenly I woke up with a terrible headache, then I remembered my name and some glimpses of my previous life.""At that moment you remembered Rui?" asked Hayle now who