A PANG of anxiety went through her.She kept calling Ethan, hoping that the car would come to a stop and her husband would run towards her. However, it did not happen. It was as if cold water had splashed over her. Her whole body tensed, making her unable to move for a brief second before the fear started to consume her.Her husband was going away!Afraid that she would lose him again, she stepped back, parted her lips, and immediately ran to the cab she hired. As the adrenaline rushed through her, she commanded the driver to follow the car where Ethan was.“Drive faster, Sir. It’s my husband. I need to see him!” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks as she couldn’t help but become anxious by the second.The car Ethan was in was driving so fast. Luckily, her driver understood that it was urgent and drove fast too to follow her husband.Swallowing the lump in her throat, she tried to figure out for herself why Ethan did not even look her way. She called him, but he never responded.
“WHO WAS SHE?”Ethan was raising hell when they went home. He was damn frustrated. He could feel that his insides would explode in frustration.Jasper had been so silent on their way home, but with the way the man drove the car so fast, Ethan knew that the woman who called him back in front of the company building chased them.He wanted to know why they ran away from the woman. Was she dangerous? Why did she know his name? Why did she chase them?Those were the questions that kept fucking up his mind. The only person that he thought could answer all these questions was Jasper, but the goddamn nurse would not open his mouth to say a single word about what happened.“Jasper!” he shouted. His chest went up and down due to his heavy breathing. The apartment was silent, which only meant that Ellaine was not home yet. It was a perfect time for them to talk. “Goddamnit! Why don’t you speak now while Ellaine isn’t here yet? I’m so fucking confused!”“This is not the right time for you to know
EYES followed her as she paced back and forth in the living room, hands clasping together in anxiety as she waited for Andrew to call. On the couch, Megan, who was holding Marsha on her lap, and Gregory were seated, waiting just like her.Michelle knew it was impossible for her to seek help from the U.S. police faster, which is why she decided to contact Andrew and Megan. The couple had seen the CCTV footage and were taken aback to see Ethan in person. Andrew immediately took action and went out to go to the police for some help.Andrew had been out for almost two hours. Michelle could feel her heart ripping through her ribcage. She had not calmed down since seeing Ethan in front of the company building. The desire to see and hug her husband consumed her, so she wanted to see him as soon as possible.Her daughter, Marsha, was only watching her quietly. The little girl’s eyes radiated with curiosity and utter confusion. Michelle hadn’t told her that she saw Ethan, but the little girl k
SHE rested her elbow on the railings of the stairs, gazing down to the bottom of the stairs with furrowed brows. Jasper. She hadn’t known anyone whose name was Jasper. The man she was speaking to on the phone confused her.“Jasper,” she uttered his name in utter curiosity. “Who are you, really?”“Your voice tells me you are a feisty woman,” Jasper commented, which was followed by a sigh. “Let’s just say I can be your ‘helping hand’ in this situation. “Didn’t you see your husband earlier this afternoon?”Michelle sucked in a deep breath. “Yes, and how did you even know that? Like I asked, who are you, Jasper?”There was a moment of silence. The darkness of the second floor was utterly triggering the nervousness she felt deep within. She wanted to know this man who just sent her a cryptic text message. She wanted to know what he knew about her husband…“Who are you?” she asked once again. This time, desperation emerged in her voice.“I am the man who was with your husband earlier.”Mich
“THE NAME of the man is Jasper Reid.”Andrew handed her a paper that had a well-detailed sketch of the man. Michelle was surprised to see the familiarity of the man’s face. It was really that person who accompanied Ethan that day when she saw him.“He’s a caregiver,” Andrew added. “We are not sure what his motives are for taking Ethan away, but the cops are already tracking his location. He’d be on the news as a wanted person. I’ll put a price on his head so anyone who sees him will not hesitate to report him to the police.”“No, you can’t do that,” Michelle objected, sitting down on the couch near her. She could feel her mouth running so dry due to a lot of things she had on her mind. “Don’t do that, Andrew. We can’t publicize that he’s wanted.”“What do you mean we can’t do that?” Andrew looked at her with a confused expression.“Michelle, this is for the best. We need to find Ethan, and so to speed up the process, we thought we could seek help from the media to track that person do
“SIT down,” Jasper directed her, pointing over the available couch on his left.Michelle stifled in her direction. Anger went through her that she could no longer make any movement, and only looked at the man with sheer amount of hatred. Her eyes were bloodshot. One wrong statement from the man and she’d definitely lose her mind.“Don’t you dare lie to me,” Michelle said warily. She gritted her teeth, and dashed into the available couch to sit.Jasper sipped on his glass, and poured a drink to another glass. But then when he saw her pregnant tummy, his lips formed a thin line. “Alright, no drinks for you.”“Let’s not go around beating bushes, can we?”The man smirked, shaking his head afterwards. Michelle observed Jasper’s expression. He totally looked like an angel who could not do bad things, like a typical nerd you would see in the university wearing thick eyeglasses and with his sleek back jet black hair. There was no hint of danger on his face, too. No one could really tell that
HER BODY started to calm down, yet her heart ached so much.Dried were the tears she had shed moments ago. Her breathing went back to normal, and the cold that made her tremble finally left every bit of her skin. Sitting on the couch, her gaze was focused on the glass on the table. But her mind was somewhere else.That explained everything…The reason why Marsha felt that there was something different about her father when she saw him at the park; was the same reason why Michelle felt that something was off when she saw him in person in front of the company building.That explained why despite knowing the name of the woman he was with at the moment, Ethan never bothered to seek his way to escape, and why he never tried to go home even once after the plane accident.Everything was planned without their knowledge. While everyone, including their family, thought he was already dead, somebody out there was brainwashing her husband, confining him, and telling fake stories to keep him in th
“ANSWER ME!”Taking a deep breath, Jasper raised both of his hands to indicate that he wouldn’t fight. He slowly spun around, and stared at Ellaine. The look in her eyes was filled with hate and suspicion. There was a hint of fear too, which trigged the woman to keep pointing the gun on him.“Where have you been?” Ellaine asked one more time through her gritted teeth. “It’s past midnight.”“Don’t I have the liberty to go to a bar and have fun?” Jasper asked in low voice but filled with sarcasm.Ellaine clenched her jaw tightly. She sniffed many times, even came closer to him, and sighed a relief when she realized that he was telling the truth. His smell reeks of alcohol, as part of the plan, so that Ellaine would not be suspicious of his sudden disappearance at midnight.“You should have drunk alcohol here,” Ellaine said.“I need some sex too,” Jasper retorted. “There’s only one woman here, who’s apparently not available to have sex with.”Ellaine put down the gun and pushed him on th
"THE VICTIMS were sent to the hospital for proper treatment," the cops told her the moment she arrived in the area where the accident happened. Michelle could not stop crying and asked the policeman which hospital her husband had been brought to, driving immediately as soon as she got the answer she needed. She dialed Megan’s phone number and informed her best friend about the name of the hospital so she could follow because she knew that Andrew also needed her. When she arrived in the hospital, she felt nothing but the dreadful feeling coursing through her. She wanted to compose herself, but her mind was already haywire because of all the worry she had for her husband. It felt like the rest of the world stopped revolving, and all she did was run and run... "Two victims of a car accident were sent to this hospital. Where are they?" she managed to ask the front desk officer. "How are you related to the victims, Ma’am?" "I am the wife of one of them," she answered, taking a deep bre
MICHELLE walked down the stairs with Marcus in her arms. She just finished breastfeeding him and now wanted to hang out with the people in the garden.The Steinfields, her father, and Megan were all out there, preparing for the New Year’s Eve that they would celebrate that night. They all came together to welcome another New Year, and she could not be more thankful that these people came to their house to join them for another chapter of their lives."Look at that little pumpkin. He has gotten bigger, Mich," Gregory commented and immediately took his grandson from her arms.Michelle giggled. "That baby loves to sleep and eat every single time.""He looks definitely like you when you were a baby.""I believe he definitely looks like Ethan. See those marble gray eyes, Dad?"Gregory chuckled. "Well, eyes won’t lie, I guess.""Of course, Dad."She could not help but smile seeing her father try to make Marcus giggle by making faces. It was such an adorable sight, and she felt honored to wi
SHE glanced around the men's boutique, her curious eyes efficiently trying to find good clothes or anything she could give Ethan as a gift for their year-end party. Ethan already had anything; name it and anyone would find it in his vast walk-in closet. That being said, Michelle was having difficulty deciding on the best gift she could give him—that one thing that would make him smile and surprise him."There are so many designer shoes at that corner. But I don’t know which one is good for Andrew," Megan stated, and it was followed with a sigh of defeat. "God, why is it so hard to find gifts for men?"Michelle laughed a bit. She could relate, as she was having difficulty choosing too. It just so happened that they both married men who had everything, so every year they’d end up cracking their heads trying to get them nice gifts."Are you able to choose anything?" Megan curiously asked her.She shook her head, pouting her lips. "Not yet. I don’t think work suits would be a good gift. H
HE brushed his fingertips over the soft angles of his wife’s face and could not help but adore every feature she had. It was his morning routine whenever he got to wake up first in the morning, and he would find his wife still sleeping soundly next to him.Needless to say, he’d become easily addicted to her and to this kind of morning with her. Her strawberry scent that kept him enticed every single day, her soft skin that kept him warm at nights, her laughter and soft touches that kept him sated and content, and her presence that made his world colorfulHe had no idea that a man like him, who had amnesia, could be in love so hard; madly and deeply. However, he wanted to treasure that moment at all costs. This kind of beauty in his life needed to be protected and kept.Michelle’s forehead formed a knot as she lifted her head. A soft moan escaped her closed mouth, which made him smile. Seconds later, she slowly opened her eyes and met his intent gaze."Good morning," he murmured under
"YOU’RE making me crave for sex," Ethan said, kissing her neck and sucking her skin sensually.Michelle’s lips parted. She was in deep pleasure, and whenever Ethan would say things like that, a big lustful part of her was getting more aroused.Her hands traveled around his firm back. She touched the muscles he had there. A moan escaped her lips when Ethan bit her neck firmly, making her dig her nails over her bare skin. She bit her lower lip and shut her eyes, but when Ethan claimed her lips again, everything went so fuzzy.It didn’t take long before the man was able to strip her naked. The cold air brushed against her skin, making her shiver. But when Ethan pulled up to stare at—admire—her naked body, she felt the scorching heat go to her. He looked at her as if she were a piece of beautiful art. The gleaming desire to take her was evident in his marble gray eyes, and the smile of contentment that curled in his lips gave her more confidence."You’re beautiful, Mich..." Ethan said bre
The ring of her cell phone jolted her awake. With a forehead crease, Michelle rose up and quickly turned off the alarm on her cell phone. It was already 6 o’clock in the morning. She hadn’t been able to sleep for at least six hours, but she had to get up and follow the "mom on call" schedule to better take care of her little sunshine—none other than Eionn Marcus.It had been what? A month had passed when she gave birth to their second child, and Michelle could still feel the excitement getting through her whenever she would walk into the nursery room, open the curtained windows to let the sunlight lighten up the entire solemn place, and wake up her little one by planting kisses on his fluffy cheeks.It had been her morning routine. She was strictly following the "mom on call" schedule because it wasn’t only giving her much time to bond with her baby but also making sure that Marcus’ health was always a top priority."Good morning, my little sunshine..." she greeted her baby with a hea
THE CAR was filled with her whimpers, cries and screams. Her nails dug over the leather seat in the passenger seat. She was lying down there, making a few deep breaths to relax herself but the great amount of pain consuming her entire body was making her ballistic and a mess.Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead. Her legs and belly were both getting numb as the minutes passed by. Ethan was driving the car so fast, completely alarmed by her situation. He was panicking so much, and so even she was in great pain, she reminded him to drive carefully as she didn’t want them to get into some road accident.“Oh, my God...” she murmured, crying. “I think I’m going to die. He’s coming out. Faster, Ethan!”“Uhm, you just told me to slow down a bit,” Ethan said nervously.“Fuck. I swear this will be the last time you’d be able to impregnate me!” she screamed on the top of her lungs and made a push before she took a few deep breaths again. “I really swear to God—““Calm down, Mich! We’re on
AFTER A MONTH, "WILL you be fine without us?" Michelle looked at her father. At first, she thought that the old man was teasing her, seeing how he curled his lips downward, but she realized that he was actually worried, seeing the worry in his eyes. Still smiling, she took a deep breath and softened her expression as she looked at her father, who she hadn't realized had become more frail as time passed. She was so busy with her life that she wasn’t able to watch out for her father. Distracted by what life had thrown her way, she didn’t notice that her father was really getting older. "I’m going to be fine." She checked over her shoulder and found Ethan, who was fixing a chandelier’s light bulb in the living room. "Ethan will be here, so you shouldn’t worry that much. I hope you and Marsha would enjoy hanging out." Her old man laughed heartily, shaking his head. He and Marsha would go to the school where they enrolled the little girl. It was going to be Marsha’s first day in her ne
"GOSH, you have to calm down, Mich!" Megan said.Michelle shook her head, pacing back and forth in the living room. Her mother-in-law called an hour ago, saying that they would send Ethan back home. Selene did not mention whether the result of the surgery turned out well or not, so she could not calm down a bit even though the people around her were telling her to do so.Megan and Andrew came to visit as they were excited to find out how the surgery went. All of them were in the living room, waiting for her husband to arrive. Holding her pregnant belly, she didn’t stop walking around, getting very impatient as she wanted to know how the surgery turned out for Ethan."I don’t understand why Mom didn’t tell me how it went," she said and stopped in front of them, biting her fingernails. "Do you think it went bad and that’s why she couldn’t tell me?""We can’t assume, Mich," her father said, sipping on his coffee."Your Dad is right. We can’t assume unless we see it personally," Andrew ad