After all the guests left, Owen invited Regina to come out of the bedroom, so she wouldn’t think that sending them all home was a ploy to get her alone and restart their relationship. He wanted them to leave her alone because he could see that Regina was getting overwhelmed by the amount of people in her house. “So now that I got rid of all those noisy people, you can do whatever you want.” Owen left Regina standing in the middle of the living room. He brought their dishes to the sink and began loading them into the dishwasher. The maids informed him earlier that there was enough space for the added items, and all he needed to do was start the machine. “Everything in the kitchen is clean. I’m heading to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Good night, Regina.” Owen was heading to his designated bedroom when Regina called to him. Now that everyone was gone, the house was too silent. It made her lonely. “You want to play video games?” “Video games?” “Yeah, I got the new game called
“Regina, are you using protection?” “Mother!” Regina yelled as her cheeks bloomed red out of embarrassment. “You do not want to get pregnant out of wedlock. Who knows if this boy will marry you?” “Relax! We are not sleeping together.” “Oh, is he gay?” Samantha asked as she inspected Owen from head to toe. “I’m not. I‘m extremely attracted to your daughter.” “Don’t worry, if you are. I understand you younger generation is more gender forward than we were in our day.” “Mother! Can you please tell me what you are doing here?” “I heard from your brothers that his mother had been here all week. Why was I not invited to the party yesterday?” “There was no party. You know that Mrs. Bennet just comes to see me whenever she wants, anyway.” “Still, I feel slighted. I heard all your siblings and their wives were here.” “Who feeds you all these stories, anyway?” Regina sat down on the stool, exhausted by the conversation. “You want breakfast?” she asked, diverting the conversation from
Owen looked at his watch after Regina left the office. He had several hours before dinner, so he went to work and called his brother, Myles, to come to him as soon as he got home.Myles had just passed through the front doors when he got the message, so he went straight to Owen’s office.“Brandy, so early in the day?” Owen was pouring himself a glass when Myles walked in. “This must be something big,” he added when Owen did not offer him any.“Regina wants to leave.”“Leave, Mom?”“She wants to go on a vacation on her own.”“And this bothers you.”“I am afraid she is pulling away, and she’d never come back.”“Afraid… that’s a word I’ve never heard from you before.”Owen just sighed. He’d been using big relationship words he’d never uttered in his life, just to convince Regina to stay, but all his efforts were fruitless.“Do you think if I let her go, she’d come back willingly?” He downed the glass in one gulp. “What do I have to offer her, anyway? Nothing… I’m such a disappointment to
Owen “Have dinner with me before you leave,” I asked Regina the other day and was glad that she agreed, because I didn’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t. I’ll be following her to France already, and even though I know she would be mad about that, I did not care. I had to make sure she was safe, and there was no way I’d sit at home while she started a new life without me. I take a deep breath to stop the heavy beating of my heart. I did not want Regina to go, but her mind had been made up, and there was no stopping her decision. “I brought food from that Thai restaurant you loved. I know you’d be eating a lot of pasta and bread when you get there, so I thought maybe we should eat something that would remind you of home.” I grinned at her to take the edge off my nervousness. “Come on in,” Regina greeted like she was welcoming a friend. “I wasn’t hungry, but now that you mentioned food, it made my tummy grumble. Let’s see what you have.” She said as she took one of the bags
Regina made small talk. She asked about my business, and I replied as if I was there to pitch her a building proposal, the only way I knew how. We discussed the island project and the historical restoration in France because those were the ones she knew about. The island hotel would be operational soon, and I wanted to take her there for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, but I knew that was not happening. She would be in France for the next three months, and I doubt Regina would break her plans for me. “Don’t enjoy your time in France so much that you forget me, okay?” I joked, but my message was genuine. She did not smile, but kept her head down. “I have a place on the third floor of the El Vénétie, at the top of Francois’ restaurant. They finally got a vacancy and gave it to me. Let me know if you want it, and you can stay there rent-free.” “Thanks, that’s a nice offer, but I would like to live on my own in France. It’s the whole point of finding myself.” Regina pulled her hand away,
“Look at you, little sis, spending business class tickets for your favorite brother,” Raffy said, fanning himself with the tickets for France. “Shut up, Raffy, or I’ll ask them to transfer you to the seats at the end of the plane.” He laughed and zipped his lips. Regina warned, “If anyone else hears about this, you are toast. I cannot buy business class tickets for everyone.” They were lined up at the check-in counter, teasing each other when Raffy got distracted. Ever since the abduction, he had been extra aware of his surroundings, scanning the area repeatedly to make sure his family was not in danger. Seats in the business class were set up in pairs to have extra legroom and more reclinable seats to provide comfort, but since there were three of them, Raffy volunteered to take the seat across from his wife, on the aisle, beside another man. He said the women were better off together so they could talk more on the flight, as he wanted to sleep. As soon as Raffy stowed their bags
“Hey, I found these on the board up there,” Raffy said, showing the pictures he took of the postings. Maggie began mapping out the places, and since a few of them were already in the area, they decided to drop by after lunch. “I didn’t realize we were in the University district. This is so cool. I feel like a student again.” “This is a good time to explore Paris and fall in love,” Maggie said in a dream-like tone. Regina laughed. “Always the romantic. I’m here to find myself, remember?” “You’re single. Finding yourself can mean finding a French guy or two. French men are very suave and sophisticated lovers.” “And how did you learn that?” Raffy asked as he nibbled on his wife’s neck. “Raf, let me go!” She giggled and pushed her husband playfully. Regina had to look away. It reminded her of the reason she needed to get away from her family and people she knew were happy. After lunch, they visited a few apartments, and Regina liked most of them, but they were above her price range
“Welcome. You are aware that this is your first therapy session, so feel free to ask any questions.” Regina sat with a nervous smile on the couch. She chose Dr. Mary Cervello based on her online picture, and before the doctor spoke, Regina felt scared that maybe she had made the wrong decision to set up the appointment. But Regina was glad that, like her picture that showed friendly eyes framed in red octagon glasses, an easygoing smile, and greying red hair, the doctor had a soothing, friendly voice as well, making her feel immediately comfortable. Regina was counting on Dr. Cervello to get her better, and if she did not feel comfortable, it would have been difficult for her to meet with the doctor. “I am recording this session, so please state your name.” “My name is Regina Albright.” “Tell me about yourself.” “I was an ER nurse, but a shooting accident at the hospital gave me so much trauma I couldn’t step foot inside the building. So I became a home-care nurse for Mrs. Benne
“Regina, are you okay?” Arthur’s softer voice asked from the other side, and she looked up as she wiped her tears away. “I need to tell you something before he comes back. I drugged you the entire time you were with Jacob because he wanted you to cry and scream when he raped you, but he wouldn’t touch a sleeping body. He said it felt like he was fucking the dead. So I made you sleep.” “You what?” “I drugged you, so he couldn’t do anything to you. All the things he told you were lies. None of them happened.” “You did that for me?” she asked, confused about whom to believe. Was this version of Arthur telling the truth, or was it also another lie? “I couldn’t bear the thought that I stood by and watched while he harmed you.” “Why?” “I always loved you, Regina. I always will,” Arthur said before his face changed again. “That stupid shit. What did he tell you?” Armed with the knowledge that nothing happened between them, Regina stood to taunt Jacob. She wanted to get to the bottom o
“I wanted to see.”“And there’s a reason I told you no.”“Babe…”“That guy left me for dead, Regina. Would you like to see a picture of that?”“Yes. I want to understand why a man with a face so kind could be so horrible.”“I will show you the footage from the precinct and how they found out Arthur’s mental illness.” Owen sighed, knowing that keeping the truth from Regina would just give her more reason to sneak around. “Then will you come to bed and forget about this?” She nodded as Owen retrieved a file from his computer and showed her a video of Arthur arguing with himself at the precinct. He was fighting with himself as if there were two people instead of one, and Regina felt unnerved. “The doctors said Jacob was too traumatized by Arthur’s loss that he erased the fact that he was dead. In his grief, he developed the Arthur persona, who was kind and smart, just like the actual person. It was a form of coping mechanism.”“Where is he now?”“In the psychiatric hospital inside the
“YOU KILLED ARTHUR! YOU DON’T DESERVE TO BE HAPPY!” It said before images began appearing on the screen. Regina was frozen and horrified because of the text, she was trying to figure out what the images were but Owen closed the lid before she did.“Don’t touch the computer. It was just a virus. I have a friend who can clean this for you.“Who would send such a horrific message? And what is that message about Arthur? Is he dead?”“Yes, no. It’s a long story. Don’t worry about it.” He said as he moved the laptop to his desk.“Don’t lie to me, Owen.” Regina stood up to face him. “We said no secrets. What was that about? And why is there a naked woman on my screen?”“Did you have an affair and not tell me, because gods help me, I am not taking this crap from you.”“No babe, I wouldn’t do that to you. You have to sit while I tell you what that was about.”“I can’t sit. My blood is boiling right now.”“Okay, let’s go to the kitchen, get a glass of water for both of us while I collect my tho
“Dad, thank you for giving me the extended leave. France has inspired me a lot with my artistic side. Did you see my paintings?”“Yeah, I have a few of them put up in the hospital and around the house already. Is that what you want to do now? Paint?”“Oh no, that’s just my side hobby. I was inspired by the nursing home in France and wanted to build a non-profit nursing home as a branch of our hospital.”“That sounds like a good idea. I think someone suggested that before and we just didn’t have time to look into it. Talk to the project manager so we can get this started. Which wing do you want it in?”“Well, that’s the thing. I want it to be separate from the hospital, in a more scenic setting so we can usher the old people to rest peacefully. I don’t want them to feel like they’re in the hospital all the time.”“Are you willing to put in work for this project? This will be a lot of work, starting with finding available properties. You can’t just quit mid-way because it’s too hard.”R
“What are you telling them?”“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. I have everything in control.” He said confidently as they walked to his mother’s room.“Mom? Are you awake?” Owen asked. Myles was reading her a book Regina sent from France, and the scenes were getting steamy, so he was glad that his mother’s attention got diverted to the guests. “Look who’s here?”He stepped aside, and Regina softly exclaimed, “Surprise!”Mrs. Bennet stared at Regina, wondering who she was, and then it clicked. “Mandy? Oh, I’m glad you’ve come. I’ve missed you so.” She grew emotional as Regina sat on the bed and hugged her.“So did I Mrs. Bennet. I am glad to see that you are better.” Regina touched her forehead to get the temperature and her wrist to check how fast her pulse rate was.“Oh, it was nothing. They just worry too much. Now I’m in the hospital when all I want to do is see that dog.” Bella had been constant in her life, and like Regina, not having seen her for a few days, threw everything out o
News of Owen’s mystery woman spread throughout the nation as pictures of the couple were shared across every website on the internet. “Owen, what are we going to do? Can we hire someone to delete the pictures?” Regina asked as the car sped away. He smirked, “No.” “No? But your reputation?” “I’m a single man in a relationship with a beautiful woman, so I don’t care about the pictures.” “But the paparazzi, they’ll know.” “We’re not hiding our relationship, my love. Unless you want to.” “I don’t.” “I know you don’t want your face in the media, so we won’t tell them who you are. Let them find out on their own.” “I don’t care if they find out. I’m through hiding. It didn’t do me any good, anyway. I kept lying to people I really liked. I just hope they could forgive me,” she said, leaning back into the seat, more relaxed. “Well then, that’s settled,” Owen smiled and leaned over to nuzzle her ear. “You know they’ll be at my apartment waiting. What do you say we go to yours and lock
Regina asked how they all knew each other, and the three men regaled her with stories of when they met while re-constructing the apartment she was staying in.“So I have a question. If Owen owns the complex, then why do I have a small apartment?”Caelan and François both laughed and teased Owen.“Well, I didn’t want you to get suspicious about paying such a small price for an enormous apartment, so we gave you the smallest unit. It was Caelan’s place.”“Aww…” Regina looked at Caelan, “You gave it up for me? I’m sorry if I brought in mismatched furniture in there.”“Don’t feel sorry for him. He got a bigger apartment out of the deal, so he’s happy about that.” Owen butted in, and Regina laughed.“I don’t mind how you decorated the place. I like it and will keep most of the furniture,” Caelan replied.“So I heard Owen hired you to follow me around and disrupt my dates with Jason. Is that true?”“Well—I—He—Yes, it’s true,” Caelan could not defend himself, so he admitted the truth.“So th
The sun was peeking through the horizon by the time the couple fell asleep, satiated and full of love. Neither wanted to sleep lest everything was just a dream. Regina woke up first, staring at the sleeping man beside her, waiting for him to awaken. “What are you doing?” Owen asked, his voice husky from sleep.She blushed that she got caught running her finger down his chest, tracing the lines of his abdomen. “Waking you. Did it work?”“It did.” He grabbed her waist, pulling her toward him. He hooked his legs around hers and kissed her neck. “I missed you so much that when you stopped sending me messages, it made me go crazy.”“I’m sorry. I was so ashamed about what happened that I did not know how to handle the situation. How could I not know anything about my body?”“There were a lot of things happening during that time. Stop blaming yourself. We’re here now, where we should be. Just don’t shut me out again.”“I promise I won’t.” Owen nibbled her neck, and her body came alive. “W
“I had a baby—”“I know.”Regina scrunched her brows in shock. “But I never told you. The diary said you didn’t know.”“The baby was ours,” he said, holding her gaze. If her mouth wasn’t hanging open before, it was now.“How—”“How did I know? I have the same tracker app you do, and they were synched together so I could watch your cycle. I wanted to know when it would be safe because we were having unprotected sex. We needed to take extra precautions to prevent having an accident.”“But we still did.”“It doesn’t make a difference. I still love you.” “You knew, and you didn’t tell me?”“I was waiting for you to share your troubles, so I gave you the space you needed, but you just distanced yourself from me. I didn’t want to nag you because you’ve been through so much already. So I waited.”“The diary said I couldn’t tell you because I felt guilty.”“I know.”“But I didn’t tell you…”“You said it in the letter that you sent me.”“The letter that you keep talking about?”“Yes, do you w