{Later in the evening.}Charlotte slowly descended the stairs, and immediately as she arrived in the sitting room, Anna came out of the kitchen.Anna ran to meet her with a concerned expression. “How are you feeling now?” she inquired, grabbing her left arm, worried. “Are you okay now?”Charlotte nodding, wearing a smile. “Yes, I am fine,” she responded, adding, “thanks to you. You are my angel. If you didn’t help, I might be dead now.”“It’s nothing, mother. You are my mother and its responsibility of a child to take care of her mother. And besides, I am also doing my duty as your son’s wife.” She said in a calm tone, slightly curtsying her head with a peaceful beam on her face.Charlotte grinned with the left part of her lips. “Not all children know that… example is my son, Cohen. Isn’t he the one who hurt me?” She pointed out. “He dare yelled on his mother because of another woman,”“And not even his wife, but his ex-wife. If he raised his voice at me because of you, I won’t get an
“Mom.” Elsie called, walking down the stairs in a hurry.Charlotte looked at Elsie and without uttering a word, she took her eyes off her, and gazed directly at her front.Elsie walked to Charlotte’s front and sat down, looking downward in guilt. “Mom…” She called again, but Charlotte still ignored her. Instead, Charlotte turned her face to the left to avoid eye contact with Elsie.Elsie stood on her feet and walked to the side Charlotte faced, still maintaining the guilty expression on her face. “Mom…”“Leave me alone, Elsie,” Charlotte finally said a word to her. “You and your brother have ganged up against me. You took side with him and refuse to listen to a word i say. So go and meet your brother and let me be. Only Anna loves me in this house. Only her care about me.”“Mom…” Elsie called, unable to add another. She wished she could just open up and tell her mother the secret but it wasn’t part of her plan to do it yet.Charlotte completely turned to face Elsie wearing a serious c
Patricia came out of the kitchen. “He isn’t here?” She murmured. She thought Bastian was still in the sitting room and he would come to the dining room once he sees her set the table.“Gosh!” She let out and exhaled softly, thinking about the last option she had; going into Bastian’s room to call him. She wasn’t afraid of facing him, but after giving Bastian’s actions a long thought, she couldn’t face him out of guilt. She realized Bastian was doing everything for her sake, but it was already late to make a correction since she had spoken rudely to him in Cohen’s present.She has wanted to apologize since, but couldn’t sum up her courage because she didn’t know how to stand before him or even the appropriate line to use to apologize.“What should I do?” She asked herself, but no matter how much she cracked her brain, no idea came into her mind. Had it been they were in the office, she might have sought Ailee’s help, but now that they were alone, she has to do whatever she could do.“
Anna served Cohen’s meal and placed it at his front.“Thank you.” Cohen let out, offering a helping hand as he collected the meal from her before she could place it on the table.Anna slightly bent her neck with a smile on her face. She walked back to the food container and served Elsie’s portion. She took it to Elsie and Elsie collected the meal from her, beaming. “Thanks.”Anna grinned slightly, curtsying her head as she bent her neck for Elsie in return. At first she was surprised at the sudden change in Elsie’s behavior since she came to meet her in the kitchen and offered to help to wash the dirty dishes.Anna rejected it, but Elsie insisted on during it, which made her think Elsie might have had a second thought about going against her, or probably because her mother had warned her.After Anna came out of the kitchen and saw how Cohen behaved to her and felt concern and also took care of her when a pot burnt her hand, Anna began to sense it was a setup.Anna sat on the chair nex
“Dear, please be quick. We have something to discuss.” Cohen informed as Anna packed the dishes to take into the kitchen.“Okay.” Anna let out. She picked the plates and took them into the kitchen. “Is this a meeting or between you and her alone?” Elsie inquired, pretending she didn’t know what Cohen wanted to discuss.“It’s between us. Everyone must be present.” Cohen responded.“What’s it about?” Charlotte showed interest.“It’s about…”Before Cohen could complete his statement, Anna opened the kitchen door and interrupted, causing Cohen to wait until she arrived back at the dinning and sat in her seat.“I am back.” She informed.Cohen nodded and sighed. He went silent and cast his face downward, pretending he was afraid to pour out his mind.“Cohen, your wife is here, will you start now?” Elsie let out even though she knew what Cohen was trying to portrait.Cohen lifted his gaze, and stared at Anna’s face in guilt before he started speaking. “Sweetheart, I am sorry about this. I
Anna bumped into Elsie immediately as she took a step away from the stairs. They halted and stared at each other for a few seconds, and without uttering a word, Anna hissed and walked past Elsie.Elsie grabbed Anna’s left-hand arm and dragged her back to her front. “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”Anna snickered. “What do you expect me to say?” She raised a question and since it didn’t require an answer, she continued. “I know it’s your plan. You told Cohen to be nice to me when your mother is around.”Elsie nodded, beaming. “Impressive. As expected of someone like you. You are a hypocrite, so I am not surprised you figured it out quickly.” She said.“Elsie, you know who I am. I just hope you won’t let you guard down. But believe I am a master planner and I know when an action is genuine and fake.” Anna uttered.“Thanks for your concern and advice. I will keep it in mind, but shouldn’t you be happy if I let my guard down?” Elsie let out.Anna chuckled. “I should be happy, but yo
Anna rushed into the room, and was a bit startled to see Cohen inside, causing her eyes to widen and she took a step backward with her right hand placed on her chest.’Cohen was sitting on the bed edge, pressing his phone with his head cast downward and his eyes fixed on the phone screen, and immediately as he heard the door open, he raised his gaze and seeing the manner Anna entered, and how she was panting, he threw a question. “What’s wrong?”Without allowing her to give a response, he guessed, “have you committed another evil act?”Anna instantly took her hand off her chest and discharged the last deep breath to relax her mind. She gave Cohen a deadly stare, giving a savage response. “Yes, I just did.”Cohen nodded, comprehending. “I know already, but I am eager to know what it is this time around.” He let out.Anna beamed discreetly, changing the tune and topic of the conversation. “Cohen, I never knew you were such a great actor. You did a great job pretending in your mother’s p
“Call to inform us once you land in Russia.” Elsie instructed, handling Cohen his traveling box. Cohen collected the box from her and pulled it to his side. “Okay. I will.” “And don’t forget everything I told you. My efforts on lecturing you mustn’t be a waste. Okay?” Elsie uttered.Cohen nodded, beaming. “Sure. How can I forget my teacher’s words?” He made a joke. “I put your word in my left palm because I won’t dare eat with it.”“Thank you, Elsie. You taught him how often he should call Anna and reassure her when he gets to Russia, right?” Charlotte inquired.“Hun!” Elsie toned. She instantly beamed and nodded. “Yes, I even warned him against getting closer to Patricia and to never let anything mutual happen between them.” Charlotte beamed, impressed. “I am proud of you, Elsie,” she said, looking at Elsie’s face. She faced Cohen and brightened her smile. “You must follow all her guidelines and listen to every word she says. Okay?”“Okay, ma.” Cohen bent his neck. “Let me be goi
To my dear readers,Thanks for embarking on the journey of my first novel. Your time, coins, gems, and comments mean a lot, and it's the reason I keep going until the end.While writing this book, some left comments to criticize my works and I appreciate them all. I will make use of them and put more effort into avoiding such mistakes (grammatical, word usage, and construction of the plot) in my next books. I am a new author and still finding my way and I promise to work harder and better to make every coin and time you spend on my works worth it.Cohen and Patricia's story ends here, but we will still meet them in the next books in the series.As planned, I want to continue to create the characters' universe for them because of the impact they make in this complete novel. I hope you will stay with me and keep giving your support.If things go as planned, we will have another five amazing journeys to embark on in this series and the next books to come are for:1. Ailee and Bastian.2.
-THREE MONTHS LATER-“What are you doing, Cohen?” Patricia challenged as Cohen slowly reversed the car. “Aren’t we going to pick the kid at the school anymore?”“We will.” Cohen answered as he drove into the other lane and headed toward their street.“Then why are you reversing? Why are you heading back home?” She questioned.“I forgot something at home.” Cohen informed.“What did you forget? Hun?” she asked, looking at him with a side of her eyes.“My phone.” Cohen responded.“Why must we go back to pick up your phone? It will take less than an hour to get back home. Can’t you just let’s go?” She queried.“I can’t because I am a business owner. I mustn’t stay away from my phone.” Cohen gave an excuse with his eyes fixed on the road ahead.“It’s the weekend, Cohen. No one will call you today. Stop giving excuses and let’s pick the kids. We shouldn’t keep them waiting for a long time.” Patricia said.“I’m not going because of business, but I need to pay fees before we can take the kids
Cohen discharged a deep breath as he walked out of the bathroom. He paused for a second and rounded his hands over his waist, forgetting what he wanted to do next at that moment.A thought passed through his mind and he wiped his right hand over his face with the left still on the waist.Patricia’s phone rang, and he walked to the cabinet on the bedside and picked it up. “Who could be?” He wondered with his eyes furrowed, confused, and before he could turn to the door, the call ended and a message came into her eyes.Since Patricia’s phone was always unlocked, Cohen saw the message’s content and his eyes enlarged as a surprised tone escaped his mouth. “Hun!”He bit his lower lip and after a few second thought, he reached a conclusion and instantly swiped the message to the left to delete it. He returned the phone to the bed cabinet and rushed out of the room.He arrived in the sitting room and saw his mother watching the TV while Elsie was packing their breakfast out of the kitchen an
“Who is here for me?” Anna threw a question at the security officer escorting her out of the room, showing no interest in meeting the person. The security officer opened the door for her and immediately as she sighted Patricia, she veered around.Patricia quickly stood on her feet. “Is that how to treat a guest?” She threw a question. “Shouldn’t you at least stay to hear why I am here? Your daughter, Rachel, don’t you have any message you want to pass to her?”Patricia’s words made Anna’s feet froze, and she halted for a minute before she slowly veered around and walked to the chair and sat down. “I have no message for Rachel. She doesn’t deserve a mother like me. I don’t worth to be called a mother,” she poured out. “Tell me why you are here. I don’t want to talk with you.”Patricia discharged a deep breath and sighed. She stared at Anna with a pity and despite having a lot of things in her mind, she couldn’t open her mouth to talk at the moment.Anna sighed. “Take your eyes away fro
Anna abruptly opened the door and banged in, panting. “Ma! Ma! Ma!” She shouted, running towards Patricia’s desk.Patricia was shocked, and she couldn’t utter a word. Instead, she widened her eyes and watched Anna arrived in front of her desk before she could pull a word out. “What happened?” She asked, the worried in her voice cooperating with the concern in her voice.Anna breathed heavily as she bent her back and placed her hands on her knees.“What happened?!” Patricia raised her voice. She was getting more scared by Anna’s reaction.Anna panted for another second before she raised her hand and stood straight on her feet. “It’s him…” she uttered, but couldn’t complete her statement.She pointed her thumb at her back, crossing it over her shoulder without looking backward. “It’s him…” she continued, struggling to complete her statement but couldn’t.“It’s who?” Patricia asked, with her lips already quivering. “Calm yourself and talk, Anna. What happened? It’s who? Please, talk. You’
Ailee walked into the office and stood in front of Bastian’s head. She bowed her head, holding a file in her hand. “Good morning, sir,” she greeted, but Bastian, whose head was placed on the desk, didn’t respond to her.“Good morning, sir,” she greeted again, but still no response.She furrowed her face. “What’s wrong with him?” She asked herself in a low voice. She observed him for a second and bent a bit to check if he was sleeping, but his eyes were wide open, making her guess he was just lost in thought.She elevated her shoulder a bit with her mouth shaped to the left a little. “What’s wrong with him?” She asked herself put the file on the desk and let out. “The president said I should give this to you.”She eyed her for another few minutes and turned around to leave, but as she took three steps forward, she halted because she was worried and couldn’t leave Bastian in that situation.“Gosh…” she uttered and discharged a soft breath and, without giving her decision a second thought
Patricia heard a knock on the floor, and she stopped pressing her laptop. She glanced at her wristwatch. “8:05 Am? Who could it be?” She wondered.She stared at the door and raised her voice so it could reach the person. “Come in.” She permitted and immediately continued pressing her laptop.“Good morning, ma.”She heard a familiar voice and instantly raised her gaze. “Cohen?!” she exclaimed with her eyes widened in disbelief, and she couldn’t say another word. Instead, she fixed her eyes on him and watched him stride closer.Cohen arrived in front of his desk and bowed his head. “Good morning, ma,” he greeted. He raised his head and crossed his hand behind him as he stared downward and slightly bent his neck to apologize. “I’m sorry I arrived late,”“I have to drop my mother at the hospital.” He exclaimed.“What are-” Patricia opened her mouth to talk, but Cohen interrupted her.“I’m sorry. I know that’s not an excuse. I shouldn’t involve family matters in business, but I have to sta
“Be careful…” Patricia cautioned Williams, who was already a few steps ahead of her out of the hospital and had been jumping around since the doctor said he was perfectly healthy now. There was no injection for him anymore.“Mom, please call Dad. This call for celebration. I am happy,” Williams let out. He stopped jumping, but couldn’t help pacing fast because he was so excited. He halted and glanced backward at his mother. “And don’t forget to invite Mr. Cohen as well. He needs to be there. I hope he is fine now and will have the strength to come.”“Sure, I will,” she agreed. She took a few steps closer to her and bent in his front. She passed the medicine nylon in her right hand to the left and placed it on Williams’s shoulder. “Williams, I know this won’t sound well with you or you won’t like it, but now that the truth is out and you know who Cohen is, you should change how you address him.”Williams furrowed his face as he raised his shoulder, stretching his hands beside him. “What
-Many weeks later-“Ma, it’s Mrs. Charlotte. She has been waiting for over two hours.” Anna proclaimed immediately as she entered the office. Patricia was working on a file, and Anna’s announcement made her halted. She raised her gaze and looked at Anna’s face. “Why did you keep her waiting?” She questioned. “You should have told her I was in a meeting.”“I did, but she insisted on staying, and Ailee told me to allow her. I even invited her to come into the office to wait for you, but she declined saying she doesn’t worth it.” Anna explained.Patricia sighed and closed the file on her desk. She stood and walked out of her seat, asking, “where is she now?”“At the third floor. She is waiting with others question,” Anna responded. Patricia had already walked to her side, and before she could add another word, Patricia increased her speed and already walked past her.Anna turned around and paced to Patricia with three steps between them. “You can stay. I will go call her.” She offered.