OLIVER I could not sleep that night. I kept tossing in bed, and when I am not tossing, I am pacing around or looking down from my balcony with a glass of drink on my hand. If I Jerry was not drunk, I would have stalked her home. I came here as a businessman, so I did not come with men. I could take care of myself already. So, there were no men to send to stalk her I waited outside the car for a few minutes, watching the restaurant. I could see her sometimes, when she comes to attent to a table, but I could not see when she goes to the counter. After a while, when Jerry threw up again inside the car, I had to leave there, so mad at him. I managed to take him into his room and dumped him on his bed. He would be the one to clean up the mess he did in the car, and I will surely punch him so hard in the face the next morning. I freshened up and thought of going back there, but decided against it. She might not be Ellen and if she sees me around again tonight, she might
ELLEN I was off work that morning and I have never been grateful for it because I will have to stay at home and recover from the blow Oliver gave me yesterday when he showed up unannounced. I called up the nanny agency, I needed to get a nanny for Sophie. For all I know, Oliver might be watching me. Nanny arrived and I have her her job description. I will never be with Sophie in public, not until I was sure Oliver was out of town. I lazed about at home throughout the day, watched a K-drama and ate popcorn. My phone rang in the evening waking me up from sleep. I looked at it and saw it was Akira. A pit grew in my stomach. I knew it has something to do with Oliver, but I just hoped it was not. “Hello, Akira,” I said. “Valerie, he came again and offered me some cash to give him your name and address. Listen, no matter how drop dead gorgeous that Italian man looks, you should report him to the police?” Akira spoke Japanese. I did not quite understand all she said
ELLEN Again! What does that even mean? I still played my cool and smiled nicely at him. "What will you like to order, sir?" I asked again, ignoring his remark. "You know, it took me a lot to get your name," he said, ignoring me once again. I huffed. I had to act like he was bothering me. "What do you want, sir?" "Oliver. Call me Oliver Moreno." "What do you want from me, Mr. Moreno?" "I want your contact." "I am sorry, we do not give out our contacts to customers." My heart was pounding. Oliver was interested in me, and I knew he would do anything to get me and my contact. I was done for. There was no escaping. He knew my name and he would find out about me being the Ellen he knew. Why did my workplace give out my information without my permission? I could sue them. "You know I could get that if I want to?" he asked, leaning closer to me. "Mr. Moreno, you are harassing me, a
OLIVER She became even more endearing with her resistance. However, I picked up something from the way she blatantly tells me no. She said it so curtly as if she had something to hide. She does not hesitate. Two things were involved. It was either she was not Ellen and was another strong-willed woman who knew what she wanted and did not have to think before rejecting me or she was Ellen hiding behind that face, so I will not find out who she was. I had gone to the manager of her business and collected her address and her name and had worked on it all night. I got all the information I wanted about her, but there was no child, so I decided to follow her up. Something did not match up, and I knew it. I will pester her until she gives in. Going into partnership with Clockwise for information was a bit overboard, but it was worth it. She drew me in, and I found myself getting sexually attracted to her. She has Ellen's body. Even after a child, Ellen had curves i
ELLEN I quit at Clockwise because I could not continue running into Oliver. I did not even do it properly. I texted Kenji, telling him that I was done since my privacy could not be respected. He replied, telling me that Oliver Moreno already had my address. I was furious and panicky at the time. If Oliver had my address that means he must have checked out my apartment. He knew where I was staying, and I expected him to show up anytime soon. I took Sophie to Akira’s place. Akira was a bit skeptical because she did not want to get involved in the way of danger. I understood her through. That night, I was in my kitchen speaking with Lily when my doorbell rang. I wondered who it was at my door. I was not expecting anyone. “Who is there?” Lily asked. “I do not know. I must go now. I will speak with you later.” I closed my laptop and went to the door. I saw Oliver from the glass door and my heart skipped. It has been a week since I quit. Now, he is here.
ELLEN "Leaving so soon?" The smoothness of his voice was striking and the grin on his face made me forget that I was already pissed. He sauntered up to me, still having that grin on his face. "Hello, mi cara." I tried to ignore his musky scent that filled my nostrils just as he moved closer to me. If I stayed, I would not make it easy for him. He cannot come to our date late and act as if nothing happened. "I guess you are done with your 'important' meeting," I said with a fake smile, emphasizing on important to let him understand that I did not appreciate the value he gave to our date. "I am sorry to keep you waiting. It was urgent and unavoidable." Jerry walked up to us. "This is my cue to leave then." "You have done a great job, Jerry. I will see you later," Oliver said to Jerry and turned back to me. "So, Val, what would you like to eat? Are you hungry?" I looked at my wristwatch. "Isn't it quite late for that?" "
OLIVER Could it be a coincidence that Valerie and Ellen do not eat chocolates? It was too connected to be a coincidence. I have everything I needed to be sure she was Ellen, except for one thing. Sophie. If I ever see Sophie with her, I will be sure she was Ellen. If I found out who she is, I might keep acting like I did not know, and I will win her over. She acted suspiciously. She could not quit at Clockwise if she was not hiding something. I was certain she was hiding something, and that is why she avoided me at all costs. A woman that does not know me before would not be acting so weirdly and evasively around me. Even if she was being cautious. There were levels to it. I enjoyed her company though, and if she turns out to be Valerie and not Ellen, I do not know what I would do. I got attracted to Valerie because I thought she was Ellen. I missed Ellen and wished she could just come out from wherever she was hiding to give me a warm hug. Valerie and I
ELLEN “Momma!” I froze when I saw Sophie bouncing out of the living room. All I wanted at that moment was for the ground to give way under my feet. How was Sophie here? I had taken her to Akira’s. I knew I could not hide her forever, but I did not know it would come out so quickly and this way too. Oliver was already furious because of some news he received from Dante about Tony. This would just add to the fire. I dared to turn and look at him and his eyes were radiating fire. There was no explanation for me now. “Mr. Moreno!” Sophie squealed, not even taking notice of the tension in the air. She ran to him and to my surprise, he squatted, opened his arms and she ran inside. I closed my eyes and let the tears fall. When I opened them again, he was hugging Sophie tightly, rubbing her back, and glaring at me. I knew I had to speak with him. Where will I start and how will I tell him my reason for leaving? “Mr. Moreno, you came back for us. Do you k
ELLEN I met Dante and Jerry waiting at the reception when I was allowed to go home, but there was no Oliver. I searched around for him with my eyes, but he wasn’t there. I did not know what to feel about that, but I knew he had a very good explanation for not showing up at the station. “Where is Oliver?” I asked Dante, noticing his mood. Something was off about the way they looked at me. “He wants to see you,” was Dante’s calm reply as he took my arms gently. “You are now free from the police, and we are glad.” He flashed me a smile that I knew was fake.Cold shivers ran down my spine. Dante was a terrible actor, and I knew something was wrong. Maybe Oliver has hurt himself. I was so uncomfortable with the atmosphere around them. “What is going on? I want to speak with Oliver,” I demanded, my voice cracking with emotions. “Calm down, Ellen. There is nothing wrong. Oliver has a surprise for you and would like to meet you somewhere,” Jerry said with a much more
OLIVER “What the fuck just happened? Why the heck is my wife being arrested?” I asked, glaring at Nicholas. “I was involved with Antonio, not my wife.” “Oliver, you have to calm down. Your wife was the last person Antonio texted. They have been talking. I am sorry, but your wife might not be as innocent as you think.”I clenched my hands and glared at Nicholas. I was only stopping myself from punching him right now because I did not want to make things worse. “The good thing is, you can bail her out since she is just a suspect. She was taken for questioning, and I will make sure I do the questioning.” “Do whatever you have to do. I want to watch when you question her.” I grabbed a bottle of drink and poured it into a glass, gulped it down, poured again, and gulped it again. I was torn in two. One part of me was thinking about whether Ellen was as innocent as she appeared. She had been jumpy lately, but there was no way she would have killed Antonio. He died
ELLEN "Okay, I don't know what this is all about, but I am getting curious as hell, Oliver," I said, waving my hands in front of me. Oliver was behind me, leading me carefully to whatever surprise he had for me. I was blindfolded, and my heart was already racing. "Just a little more time, mi amor." He carefully led me until he came to a stop. I sighed. We were finally at the surprise, and I held my breath because I did not know what to expect. Oliver put his arms around me, hugging me from behind. I could feel his breath on my neck. "Are you ready?" he whispered in my ear. "I am curious. Oliver, show me already!" I whined. He slowly took off the blindfold from my eyes. I blinked twice to get my eyes accustomed to my environment. I gasped when I saw what was in front of me. "Oh, my God, Oliver," I said as tears pooled in my eyes. "Do you like it?" Oliver asked. I walked away from his hold, reaching out for the beautiful flowers.
ELLEN I had the sweetest dream in months and woke up with a smile. I ran my hand beside me at the part Oliver was supposed to lie in but found it empty. I opened my eyes and saw that it was really empty. I will not be happy if Oliver goes without saying goodbye again. Panicked, I sat up, only to see Oliver standing in front of the dressing mirror, all dressed up. I sighed with relief. "Good morning, my queen," he greeted and stalked toward me. "I hope you have a good night's sleep?" He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on my lips. I clutched the sheets around me and blushed like a teenager. He sat beside me and ran his fingers over my ruffled hair. "Has anyone told you that you look prettier in the morning?" he said, flashing me a sensual smile. "Okay, you are flattering me now." "I am not. I am serious." "Well, I got a little job done on my face; you cannot attribute it all to me." I looked down at my fingers as I spoke. Oliver moved closer to me and curled his foref
ELLEN I was lying on the lazy boy by the pool when Oliver came rushing back. I could not contain my laughter as he came back down almost immediately. "Are you sure you went to the room?" I asked, eyeing his bulging muscles. He wore a black vest that showed all his perfect chest and arm muscles and grey sweatpants. "I needed to be with you," he said, dazzling me with his signature smile. I stood up, walked up to him, and took his hands. "I made a special dinner for us and hope you like everything." "I love whatever you make, Elle." The table was set behind me, and rose petals were scattered around the poolside with candlelights surrounding the table. A bottle of wine was on the table with tall wine glasses and the wrap of my meal. I led Oliver to the table and made him sir. "Tonight is a special night," I whispered in his ear. It was a special night for me. It was the only night I had felt free in a year and a few months. My troubles might not be over, but I wanted to s
OLIVER Antonio Romano is dead. That phrase lived rent-free in my head. I had seen the bastard only a few hours ago, and now he winded up dead in his apartment. All fingers would point at me, no doubt. I was the last one to get physical with him before his death, but I did not kill him, even though I would gladly have done that without hesitation. I left the house hurriedly so that no police would arrest me in front of my daughter. The police would come for us soon. Tony's father would not take the death of his remaining son lightly. Our source told us that police were swarming his house, looking for evidence. Nicholas was already in the company, and he wanted to get information from me first before the police saw anything. I walked into the meeting room. Dante, Jerry, and Alejandro stood when they saw me, but Nicholas remained seated, regarding me calmly. I ignored him and turned to Dante. "What's up? What is this I hear?" "Oliver, you should be speaking to me right now."
ELLEN I made sure to wait for Oliver and his men to come home. It was way past midnight when they came back to the mansion. Once I saw their car, my heart lurched in my chest. I knew this was the time to get out with my secret. I had already braced myself for what would come next, but part of me still maintained that t was not the right time. This was past midnight, and Oliver must be stressed from wherever he came from, considering that he left so early in the morning and came back this late. I wanted to heave this off my chest, but I did not want to be selfish. I should consider his mood before breaking such news to him. I had waited for the perfect time to say it, but none had presented itself. When he was happy, I didn't want to ruin his mood. When he was sad or cold, I feared what his reaction would be. In as much as I told myself that I considered his mood, I knew that I had held back so much because I was scared of losing him. When he came into the room, looking all bloo
OLIVER MORENO Antonio Romano. The bastard. He was already out of his car, tossing his keys to one of the men that would park it for him and hopping into the club. A few other vehicles followed the direction of his car. We got out of our car and started toward the club. One of the men we planted inside notified us that he was there already. They had gone there as harmless clubbers and took in every detail we wanted and knew where his men were positioned. We walked to the front of the club. The bouncers recognized us and let us pass. But I was sure they had notified Antonio, and if he didn't already know that we were there, he would probably be waiting for us. Loud sensual music hit us as we stalked into the club. A wave of booze and alcohol wafted toward us. I was in front while Dante and Alejandro followed closely behind me. A few heads turned towards us, especially the ladies, but I was not there for any of them. We stood by the entrance, my hands tucked into my pockets wh
ELLEN I woke up alone. I knew that I had slept alone last night. I knew when Oliver came in last night. I didn't understand the feelings that were running inside me. I knew he was the only one I felt safe around after my attack, but when I was calm enough, I didn't know if I wanted to trust him that much. I still didn't know how to face him with a clear eye. I wanted to tell him about Tony, not to get even, but to remove this heave from my chest. Tony texted me last night when I was still in the living room with Lily, and I did not even tell her about it. I headed straight into the room, feeling worse. I thought about suicide, but I also thought about Sophie. I could not let her go through that pain because of my mistakes. I wept a little in the bathroom, with the showers on, so that everyone would feel I was taking a shower. I contemplated using the razor on the counter to cut myself until I bled out, but I couldn't. I tried Oliver's number, but it was switched off. I wanted to s