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EIGHTEEN
Last Updated:
2024-12-17 23:13:03
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Seven Minutes in Heaven NINETEEN
ReignaThat scene from five days ago is stuck in my head!“Stop it.” mumbling to myself, I gave myself a few pats on the cheek, waking my system up to focus on my work. “He remembered nothing of it…Like I expected.” Sighing, I kept on walking a frustratingly slow pace on my way to take my break, feeling dejected even when I convince myself not to.Why am I so caught up with Carlisle?“Enough with it. I have much more problems at hand.”My birthday.Birthdays were overrated. Or maybe that was just what I told myself to feel better about the fact that no one ever made a big deal about mine. No family. No plans. Just another year marking time in the office, the air filled with the hum of keyboards and the endless scent of coffee.And tomorrow would be no different.Sighs. “Guess I’ll be swamped with work tomorrow again.”As I entered the break room during lunch, Venice was already there, stirring her coffee with a thoughtful look on her face. She glanced up when I walked in, her expressi
Last Updated : 2024-12-18Seven Minutes in Heaven TWENTY
Reigna“Happy birthday to you…happy birthday, dear Reigna…”The apartment felt colder than usual, even with the heater humming faintly in the background. I sat at the small table in the kitchen, staring at the flickering candle atop a store-bought cake I hadn’t even bothered to cut. The flame wavered, much like my resolve not to cry.“Happy birthday to me.” Finishing the song that I sang for myself, I blew the candle, my eyes watched as the flames disappeared and smoke replaced the one bright light atop the cake.Birthdays weren’t supposed to feel this empty.A sudden knock at the door startled me, shattering the heavy silence. I wasn’t expecting anyone. Rising cautiously, I peered through the peephole, and my breath caught.“Axle.” I whispered.lMy ex. The man who had shattered me into a million pieces and left me to pick up the shards. He was drenched from the rain, looking oddly out of place yet annoyingly confident, as if he belonged here.I hesitated before opening the door. “Wha
Last Updated : 2024-12-24Seven Minutes in Heaven TWENTY-ONE
ReignaThe morning felt like a cruel reminder of the night before. Pale sunlight filtered through the blinds, doing little to chase away the heaviness lingering in the air.I pulled my cardigan tighter around me, pacing the small space as I tried to make sense of the thoughts swirling in my head. Carlisle’s words replayed endlessly. Reigna won’t leave unless she’s told. Each time, it cut deeper.A knock on the door startled me. It wasn’t tentative; it was firm and deliberate. My heart leapt painfully in my chest. For a fleeting moment, I thought it was Carlisle.But when I opened the door, it wasn’t him. It was Axle, holding a brown paper bag and looking as unsure of himself as I’d ever seen him.“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, the bitterness in my tone making his expression falter.“I—I wasn’t expecting you to be here,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. His eyes darted past me to the apartment behind me. “I thought… I don’t know. I thought I’d drop this off and leave.”
Last Updated : 2024-12-26Seven Minutes in Heaven TWENTY-TWO
CarlisleThe penthouse was eerily silent, save for the distant hum of the city lights below. Erwin’s muffled cries from the other room were a stark contrast to the usual laughter and chatter that filled the space when Reigna was here.“Why isn’t mommy coming home lately?”The emptiness pressed against me like a physical weight. I leaned heavily against the kitchen counter, staring blankly at the remnants of dinner—a shattered bowl on the floor, spaghetti sauce splattered across the pristine white tiles.“Did I do something wrong that mommy wants to leave Erwin behind?”The evening had been a disaster. Every attempt to calm Erwin, to coax him into eating, had been met with resistance. Reigna would have known what to do—she always did. But she wasn’t here, and I was failing.Tonight, like any other nights, his gentle questions turned into loud cries and tantrums.“Mommy!” Erwin’s voice pierced the quiet, sharp and tearful. “I want Mommy!”I turned toward the living room, my patience alre
Last Updated : 2025-01-03Seven Minutes in Heaven TWENTY-THREE
ReignaThe past few days had blurred together, each one more suffocating than the last. I’d stopped going to work, stopped answering calls. My apartment had become my sanctuary and my prison, the walls closing in as I avoided the world outside. The ache in my chest refused to subside, but at least here, alone, I didn’t have to pretend.I was curled up on the couch, the television humming softly in the background, though I hadn’t been paying attention to it for hours. A knock at the door startled me out of my haze. My heart sank. I wasn’t expecting anyone, and I didn’t want to see anyone either.The knocking grew louder, more insistent.“Reigna! Open the door!”Emma.I froze, gripping the edge of the couch. Her voice was sharp, cutting through the silence of the apartment.“I told you, we should leave.” Another voice joined hers, lower and more frustrated. Axle.My stomach churned. Before I could decide what to do, the door flew open from God knows what kind of trick, and there they we
Last Updated : 2025-01-18Seven Minutes in Heaven TWENTY-FOUR
Reigna[RED WARNING]My barely filled apartment felt so suffocating right now. My things may be at Carlisle’s, but with the tension building between us, everything seemed to hold me on a chokehold.“Reigna-”Cutting him off, I kissed him again, venting my frustrations to my actions as I kept him by his collar, a hand on his tousled hair while his large, calloused, hands, were left with no choice but to respond and hold me close, trapping me just right in his arms as he kissed me back with the intensity which makes my head spin.“Stop pushing me away.” I mumbled after parting away, breathless with my forehead against his. “This is the game you wanted, Carlisle. Let me play.”As I fumbled with his buttons, he stopped my wrists, lacking force. “Not like this, Reigna. You’re just emotional and-”“Daddy.” I breathed as I looked up, I didn’t let him finish and just stepped closer, deliberately pressing more to subtly palm his clothed length. “Please, let me.” Unmasking my desperation to be h
Last Updated : 2025-01-20Seven Minutes in Heaven TWENTY-FIVE
Reigna…I was spent.Carlisle leaned back against the driver’s seat, one hand on the wheel and the other resting casually on the gearshift. His hair was slightly mussed from a long day, but the tension that usually creased his brow seemed lighter.Currently, as the sun begins to set, we are on our way back to his penthouse, bringing me home to the place where a little boy is waiting for me.“You’re awfully quiet,” he said, glancing sideways at me.I shrugged, fiddling with the hem of my sweater. “It’s… a lot to take in.”His lips twitched into a faint smirk, the kind that made my heart flip in a way I refused to admit. “You’ve been saying that all day.”“Well, it’s true,” I muttered, looking out the window. “You can’t just waltz into my apartment after—after that—and decide I belong in your penthouse again.”Carlisle’s smirk deepened. “I didn’t waltz. I knocked politely.” His tone is a little playful, a sign that we’ve been patching up the distance I pulled. Which I believe drew me cl
Last Updated : 2025-01-21Seven Minutes in Heaven TWENTY-SIX
Carlisle“Are you sure you’re fine?”Reigna laughed, her soft voice rang as she exited the elevator before me. “Calmd own, Carlisle. I’m just going back to work. You don’t have to ask me that for eighteen times today.” She smiled, reminding me of how repetitive I am.Currently, we are on our way to the company, with her, as much as I hate to, insisted to go there the usual way—her booking a cab, and I follow behind with my car to avoid suspicions from the employees, and for me to keep her safe at the same time.“But you are carrying a lot of things.” I sighed, slowing down my pace to match hers. “Let me just-”“No.” she denied for the nth time, moving her hands away from mine as I tried to get the box she’s carrying. Apparently, she asked her best friend, Venice, to pack a few of her important things to be sent to her, and now she have to bring it back to the company.If only I could just take it from her, but I can’t make her feel I’m bossing her around like a do— “Okay.” I grumbled,
Last Updated : 2025-01-26
Latest chapter
Seven Minutes in Heaven THIRTY-SIX
ReignaThe drive home was suffocating.The tension inside the car was too thick, lingering between us like an unseen force, crackling with everything that hadn’t been said. Carlisle’s hands gripped the wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white, and his jaw was clenched like he was holding himself back from saying something he knew he shouldn’t.I refused to speak first.My heart was still racing, my skin still burning from the scene at the bar—from the way he had pulled me away from Axle, from the way his fury had been barely contained, and from the way he had looked at me.Not just with anger. Not just with control. But with something else.Something undeniable.I turned my head toward the window, watching the city blur past us in streaks of neon, trying to steady my breath. I couldn’t let myself think about it too much. Couldn’t let myself fall into the trap of reading into something that might not be there at all."Do you even understand what you're doing?"His voice was low, stra
Seven Minutes in Heaven THIRTY-FIVE
ReignaI needed air.He kept on giving me signals I keep on mixing up—and in the end? I am stuck with my own thoughts, troubled by my own fault, and bothered by the anxiety that barely kept me focused on my work, or anything I do for that matter,One minute, I was fine, doing my job. The next, I was being called out in front of everyone, the weight of his judgment pressing down on me. Like I had embarrassed him. Like I had embarrassed myself.I spent the rest of the day avoiding him.I kept my head down, finished my work, and ignored the way he watched me—because I knew he was watching. I could feel it. Every time I spoke to someone, every time I moved past his office, every time I so much as laughed at something Venice said, his gaze was there.It made my skin burn.Not because I was ashamed. Not because I was guilty. But because I didn’t know why he cared so much.And I hated that I cared about that.So when Venice appeared in the break room near the end of the day, hands on her hip
Seven Minutes in Heaven THIRTY-FOUR
CarlisleThe morning crawled by at an agonizing pace, my body still weak from the fever, but my mind refused to rest.It wasn’t the headache that bothered me. It wasn’t even the lingering exhaustion weighing down my limbs. It was her.Reigna moved through the office as if nothing had changed, as if last night hadn’t happened, as if she hadn’t stayed by my side, wiping my forehead, keeping me steady, whispering words of comfort. She was back to being composed, efficient, and perfectly normal—and it bothered me more than it should.I knew I wasn’t acting normal either. I was distracted. Too aware of her. Every time she walked past my office, every time I heard her voice, every time she tucked her hair behind her ear—I noticed everything.I was never the type to waste time on useless emotions. And yet, here I was, unable to focus on a single thing because of a woman who wasn’t even trying.A knock on my door snapped me out of my thoughts."Sir?" Reigna’s voice came through, calm and prof
Seven Minutes in Heaven THIRTY-THREE
CarlisleThe drive home was quieter than usual.Reigna sat in the driver’s seat, her hands gripping the wheel tighter than necessary, knuckles slightly white from the pressure. I could tell she was still upset, still thinking about Violet’s words, about how she didn’t know enough about me.She was wrong.She knew too much—knew how to push my buttons, knew how to break through the walls I built, knew how to crawl under my skin in ways I didn’t understand.And yet, she thought she didn’t know enough.I exhaled slowly, my body slumped against the passenger seat, the fever making my limbs feel like lead. My head was pounding, and my throat felt raw, but the worst part wasn’t the sickness—it was her silence.The windshield wipers hummed softly against the glass as light rain pattered outside, blurring the city lights in the distance. The car’s interior was warm, wrapped in a soft glow from the dashboard."You’re driving too fast," I murmured, my voice hoarse.Reigna glanced at me, her brow
Seven Minutes in Heaven THIRTY-TWO
Reigna“Deep breaths, Rei. Deep breaths.” I mumbled to myself.Carlisle had never looked this fragile before.His usual imposing figure was reduced to something completely still, his body slumped against the couch in his office, face flushed from fever, breaths slow and uneven despite falling asleep, all because his temperature spiked after an hour of finding him sick.I knelt beside him, carefully pressing a damp towel against his forehead, feeling the heat radiate from his skin like a furnace. Even in his sleep, his brows furrowed, as if even sickness wasn’t enough to rid him of his perpetual state of frustration."Idiot," I muttered under my breath, adjusting the blanket over him with delicate fingers, making sure it covered him properly. "You run an entire company, handle million-dollar contracts, and yet, you can’t even take care of yourself properly."I’m scared. For him. This is just a fever but I could barely stop myself from crying.Carlisle stirred slightly, his lips parting
Seven Minutes in Heaven THIRTY-ONE
ReignaCarlisle Amoroso was impossible.The moment I stepped into the office that morning, I knew something was off. He wasn’t his usual, cold and calculating self—he was worse.I should’ve seen it coming. He had not forgotten about last night, about me staying out late instead of running home like a good little secretary. And now, he was punishing me the only way he knew how—by making my day a living hell."Miss Amethyst," his voice rang from his office for what felt like the tenth time that morning.I exhaled sharply before stepping inside. "Yes, sir?"He barely glanced up from his screen. "Redo the meeting minutes from this morning."I frowned. "Redo?""Yes," he said flatly, still typing. "They don’t meet my standards."I folded my arms, staring at him. "Sir, I wrote them exactly how you—"Carlisle finally looked up, his stormy gray eyes locking onto mine, sharp as steel. "Are you questioning my instructions?"I gritted my teeth. "No, sir.""Good. Have it done in twenty minutes.""
Seven Minutes in Heaven THIRTY
ReignaThe city was alive with the quiet hum of passing cars, the distant chatter of evening pedestrians, and the occasional rustle of leaves in the crisp evening air. I sat on a worn wooden bench in the park, staring at the pavement as if it held all the answers I couldn’t find.I should’ve gone home.Carlisle had told me to. But after everything—after the disaster at work, after his confusing words, after the way his arms had felt around me—I couldn’t bring myself to return to an empty apartment.I needed air. I needed distance."Miss Reigna?"I jumped slightly at the familiar voice.Turning my head, I saw a petite figure standing a few feet away, blinking at me in surprise. Nanny Lucy.She was still in her university uniform—white blouse, navy skirt—her backpack slung over one shoulder. Her red hair styled in curls were tied up in a messy ponytail, and her face, always so warm and gentle, was filled with concern."Lucy?" My voice came out softer than I intended. "What are you doing
Seven Minutes in Heaven TWENTY-NINE
ReignaThe office had never felt so suffocating.To be fair, when I was a kid, I was always told that I am too sensitive and it’ll make everything hard on me. I think I really am sensitive.I sat in our floor’s lounge, fingers frozen over the keyboard, staring at the numbers on the screen that refused to make sense. I had done this report a hundred times before—hell, I could usually do it in my sleep—but today, my brain was sluggish, uncooperative.I exhaled slowly, rubbing my temples. I hadn’t been able to focus all morning. Ever since last night. Ever since... him. Last night.The memory of Carlisle’s arms around me, the warmth of his breath against my skin, the way he had held me—not out of obligation, not out of a game, but out of something real—it lingered, messing with my head in ways I couldn’t afford.And now, I was paying the price.I wonder what I really am to him…"Miss Amethyst?"I flinched at the sound of my name, my eyes snapping up to see one of my coworkers, Patrick, s
Seven Minutes in Heaven TWENTY-EIGHT
ReignaErwin is asleep in his room, but here we are, seated in the penthouse’s bar and occupied by thoughts that none of us has yet to speak of.I stood a few feet away, watching him from behind as he leaned against the bar, his broad shoulders rigid with an unspoken weight. His fingers tightened around the whiskey glass before he brought it to his lips, taking a slow sip.“Carlise? It’s okay, I will listen about…about whatever runs in your mind.” I finally said, breaking the silence.Carlisle didn’t turn around. “Listen?”I let out a frustrated breath, but chose not to retort in his seemingly disinterested tone. “Yes. About what happened earlier. About Axle. About you punching him.”He exhaled sharply, setting his glass down with a little too much force. “It was nothing.”“Nothing?” I stepped closer, my heels clicking softly against the marble floor. “Carlisle, you punched him in front of everyone. You nearly lost your temper. That wasn’t nothing.”He let out a humorless chuckle, swi
