Chapter 43 Lilian POV "Why didn't you tell me all this while?" He asks me after I told him everything that happened, and I bite my bottom lip as I turn my gaze away, fresh tears streaming down my cheeks again. "Who told you that you can suffer alone? Who told you that you can keep things to yourself and keep dying inside slowly? I am your friend, why did you keep it from me?" He asks for the second time, sounding a bit pissed. "I just didn't want to bother you," I mutter as I stare out through the window. He is currently parked at the side of the road. We left the hospital a few minutes ago. I need to go home and look for a solution. I haven't decided yet, but I need to do something. "You didn't want to bother me? We are friends, Lilian... I care about you, I want to see you happy, I don't want to see you hurt. But did you think about how I will feel if ever I find out you kept something like this from me?" He scoffs, and I sigh briefly. It was also hard for me to keep it to mys
Chapter 44 Lilian POV "Uhm... Don't worry, Ren... Nate is..." I pause when my phone starts ringing, and I excuse myself to answer the call. "I've been waiting for ten minutes, aren't you coming out, or do you want me to come there and pick you up myself?" His voice sounds through the phone, and I gulp down nothing nervously. "Hold on, Nate, I'll be there in a minute," I reply to him before I turn to go back to the living room after I end the call, but I flinch when I find Ren standing behind me with his hands in his pockets. "Is that the Nate guy?" He asks, his eyes burning in rage. "Hmm. He offered to take me to the hospital..." "And spend the night there with you, isn't it?" He scoffs as he tilts his head sideways before he looks at me again. Seeing the angry look on his face, I can't but ask myself what the hell is wrong with him? "I don't know. He just offered to drop me off at the hospital," I reply to him in a low tone that he can barely hear me, but he did anyways. "T
Chapter 45 Ren POV I've been acting crazy since yesterday, and I know it, but sadly, I can't control it. I've been feeling so attached to Lilian over the past few days, and the more I tried to resist, the more I feel drawn to her. I had this feeling when I saw her in tears earlier, and I've made up my mind to help her take care of her dad, no matter what it'll cost me. I already contacted someone that'll get their passports and visa ready, and I'm going to talk to the doctor to do everything he can to keep the man alive until I can take him out of the country. Standing on the balcony of the hospital and staring up at the sky after I left Lilian to spend some time with her dad, I sigh briefly and close my eyes as many thoughts come flooding my mind. "Are you in love with her?" My subconscious mind asks me once I'm silent, and I bite my lip. Honestly, I don't know what to think anymore. I get so angry when I see her talking or smiling with another man, and it's drivi
Chapter 46 Nate POV I left the hospital as soon as I woke up this morning. I need to go home and take care of something. Thinking of Ren now is the least of my problem, as the only thing I'm concerned about, is finding the solution to Lilian's problem. I can't let her get entangled with that bastard again, not ever again. Are you wondering how I knew about what happened between Ren and Lilian that led her to stay with him? Well, somehow, I managed to locate her stepmom before yesterday, which was the second time I was going to see the woman. I already know she was Lilian's stepmom, but I didn't want to let her know, so she won't start asking me questions about how I got to know the woman. Lilian is my friend, and I ought to know the background of my friend, right? Well, after I met the woman, I asked her what happened, and she told me everything, not after I gave her some money to open her mouth. It was heartbreaking to have known that she was used as collateral. I'm s
Chapter 47 Tracy POV "Is either you get married to Ren, or nobody else. Can't you see that I'm doing this for you?" Mom snaps at me as she slams her hands on the center table in my room, glaring hard at me like she would devour me if I'm not careful. "Can you just stop, mom? Why are you doing this?" Tears stream down my cheeks as I yell at her angrily. I've been trying to keep calm all these while, thinking she would eventually stop, but she keeps getting worse each day that passes by, and it's driving me crazy. My life has been so peaceful since she was not around all these while, and now that she's back, I feel like committing suicide. "What kind of a mom are you? Other moms are doing everything in their power to make sure that their children are happy, and you're here threatening me, and forcing me to do things all because it's what you want. What the hell are you so desperate about? Because of his wealth? You and dad are wealthy enough, you are also blessed. Can yo
Chapter 48 Ren POV I'm still unable to recover from the shock of Tracy calling me earlier today. I would've concluded that someone was pretending to be her, but I heard her voice, and I didn't fail to recognize it. "Where are you going to, Ren?" Rena, who has been sitting on my bed, finally asks as she watches me get dressed. "I'm going out with the boys," I reply to her casually. "Don't lie to me, Ren. I know when you're going out with your friends, and when you're lying, and I can tell that you're lying now," She glares hard at me, and I sigh briefly. "I'm just going out to meet up with someone. Are you satisfied now?" I turn to her as I fix my wristwatch in my wrist. "A woman?" She further asks, and I nod my head. "Who is she? Your girlfriend, or one of your flings?" She asks me, and I sigh briefly. "Are we doing any form of interrogating contest here?" I ask her, and she shrugs. "Maybe, we are. You can't be seen with another woman like that
Chapter 49 Ren POV 'Let's start all over again' those words have been ringing in my head since I got home, and I can't even bring myself to get some sleep, because how the heck am I supposed to sleep? Yes, I'm excited that we are going to be together, but fuck it! She's not even happy with it. She was forced by her mom, and even if I want to refuse this, I can't, because she's going to suffer it. Then came the thoughts of Lilian. It seems to me that I'm starting to develop feelings for her, but how can I love someone like that? She's chubby and a bit ugly, or maybe I'm the one seeing her like that. I don't even know what to do or think anymore. Pushing all the thoughts to the back of my mind, I finally decide to get some sleep and wake up early to get the house especially ready tomorrow, since Tracy will be moving in. I have no idea how long I'd been asleep, but the sound of my ringing phone pulls me out of my deep slumber, and I toss on the bed as I lazily reach out for it, befo
Chapter 50 Ren POV It's finally daybreak, and I have an appointment at the office, but I don't feel like going there now. "Aren't you going to the office?" Rena asks as we both sit side by side along the hallway, and I glance at her. "No, I'm not," I reply to her, and she slowly nods her head. "You've been overly nice to Lilian lately. Have you fallen for her? Do you love her now?" She inquires, and I glance at her. "Don't even think of lying to me. It's written all over you. You needed to see how worried you looked when she passed out. Aww! My brother is in love," She whines, and I roll my eyes. I guess it's obvious, and I can't deny it anymore. "What should I do, Rena?" I ask her, and she pulls a puzzled look. "About what?" She inquires, and I sigh briefly. About everything. What should I do about Tracy, Lilian, about my messed up life? I'm confused, honestly. "Nothing. Never mind," I reply to her, and she sighs briefly. "If you want to talk about anything, I will be here
Chapter 89Lilian POV"Babe, are you ready?" Ren's voice sounded from outside the room before the door opened, revealing him. He was graced in a pair of black trousers and, a purple button-up shirt that had the sleeves folded up to his elbow. His hair was styled beautifully in a wavy style, and all I could say was admit that he looked cute."Why are you staring at me like that?" He asked after he walked inside the room and covered the distance between us. He pulled me close and, our bodies pressed hard against each other, and my heart fluttered. It had been two weeks since we started dating, and those days had been the best of my life so far. I couldn't pray for any life happier and sweeter than this."You look cute," I admitted, and he raised his eyebrows as he pouted his lips."Feels good to hear that from you. You look gorgeous too, my love," He smiled at me heartily as he tucked the strands of hair on my forehead, behind my ear. Furthermore, he wrapped his arms around my waist and
Chapter 88Ren stared back at her wordlessly, not knowing what to say. This was something he had waited almost all his life for, something he had always daydreamed about... The day he had wished and prayed for every time. It was finally here, and everything still felt like a dream to him."Lil...ian?" He called to be sure this wasn't a dream. Slowly, he touched his lips and blinked his eyes."I love you, Ren," Lilian said again, and this time, he pulled her into his arms and claimed her lips. It was literally their first proper kiss together, and he felt like never stopping this. The way her body made him feel, the way his heart beat rapidly, he knew that yes, this was love. He was finally experiencing love. Although he had been with women in the past and even with Tracy, none of them ever made him feel the way this lady was making him feel. None of them had ever made him so helpless the way Lilian had made him. He kissed her slowly and tenderly until they were breathless, and when he
Chapter 87Lilian POVRen had been there for me since the last two weeks that my Dad had been buried, and although the pain is still there, Ren was there to fill up the space, and denying the fact that I felt something for him now was the last thing I would do. Even if I did, deep inside me, I knew that I was just deceiving myself.We would be leaving for LA first thing tomorrow morning, and our things were ready, but deep inside me, I wasn't ready to leave this place. I still wanted to stay back here and spend some time with Ren.It was night already and Ren had not yet returned home after he left three hours earlier, and I was worried about him. For the fifth time, I dialed his number as I sat on the couch in the living room, but just like every other time that I dialed his number earlier, it never went through, and it got me scarier as many thoughts came parading my mind. What if something bad had happened to him out there? What if he got into an accident and his phone stopped work
Chapter 86 Lilian POV I waited along the hallway after Ren went to speak with the doctor about the arrangement to deposit Dad's body in the morgue. I couldn't deny the excitement I felt even amid the pain when I heard he was coming over. We hadn't talked in a week after the incident at the hotel, and since he said he was going to give up, I thought he already went back. I thought I was going to wallow in pain alone without anyone there for me, but when I realized that he was still here, I was elated. I sat on the bench in the walkway and buried my face between my palms. My eyes were dry of tears, so I just sat doing nothing. I thought my Dad was going to be fine, I thought he was going to come out strong, but I was mistaken. I sat there for thirty minutes before he finally showed up, and I stood up as soon as I smelt his familiar cologne. He walked up to me gracefully. "His body has been deposited in the morgue, and the preparation for his burial will begin shortly," "Thank you,
Chapter 85"I'm sorry, Ms Sanchez, but we lost him," Lilian froze on the spot as she stared at her dad, who had been covered with a blanket. Her head was numb for the next few minutes, unable to process everything that was happening because it wasn't all adding up no matter how much she tried to think it through. Her Dad dying? That was the last thing she would ever accept.Her heartbeat slowed down until she could barely feel it. Her body went cold, so cold that she could barely feel any part of her body. Slowly, she dragged her feet toward the bed, her body trembling fearfully. She finally stopped beside the bed, and her hand trembled as she reached for the blanket and removed it from her Dad's face, revealing the poor man's pale face."Da..." Her voice trailed off as her lips quivered. She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. Her eyes glistened with tears and in no time they streamed down her cheeks freely.Again, she swallowed nothing and finally turned to the doctor who
Chapter 84One week laterLilian stood in front of Nate's office, her heart pounding hard against her chest. Again, she asked herself if this was what she really wanted, but after giving it thorough thought although it was a difficult decision, she knew that this was the only way out of all the mess. Turning in her resignation was the only way she could get herself out of this mess. The last one week have been filled with her brooding over what happened, and she needed to get herself out of the mess at this point.She breathed in and out, then knocked on the door and waited for him to usher her in. "Come in," Came his calm voice from inside the room. She swallowed nothing as she pushed the door open and peeped inside to see him seated behind the desktop on the desk in front of him. She finally walked in fully and counted her steps toward him."Oh, Lilian, it's you?" Nate looked from his desktop and smiled at her."Good morning," He uttered, and she just nodded, looking everywhere els
Chapter 83Ren stared at the screen of his phone, contemplating whether to call Lilian or not. As much as he didn't want to care about her or worry about her, he couldn't help but worry about how she would be feeling after what happened yesterday.His thumb trembled as he held himself back from calling to check on her, and he eventually tossed his phone on the bed. He was supposed to leave for LA this morning, but he had canceled the flight for no reason. How was he supposed to leave here when Lilian was still here? Even though he said he was going to give up, it was difficult to do."Ugh! This is crazy," He ran his fingers through his hair as he sat up on the bed. He breathed out, then stood up from the bed and dragged his feet into the bathroom where he had a long and relaxing bath, and by the time he walked back into his room, he realized he'd spent an hour and a few minutes back in the bathroom. Not that he had anything to do that morning, anyway.His phone beeped just when he was
Chapter 82Lilian POVI tossed on the bed for the umpteenth time, finding it hard to get some sleep no matter how I tried to force myself to. Staying up for the whole night was the last thing I wanted, but nothing was working out no matter how hard I forced it. How was I supposed to sleep when I just realized that I'd been a fool all along? 'I have a girlfriend' she scoffed and sat up on the bed when she recalled those words. This was all her fault, and not Nate's. She was the one who assumed he had feelings for her, but why did he give her so much hope with his actions if he never liked her?"You have no right to blame him. It was still your fault," Her subconscious mind reminded her, no matter from which angle she tried to look at it from.The long-awaited time was finally here. The next morning Lilian had been looking forward to. She could barely get a good sleep last night, and here she was, awake at 5am for no reason.'Let's meet and talk tomorrow' Just before she was getting re
Chapter 81Ren drove the road, his eyes vision blurred by the tears that brimmed in his eyes. It hurt! No matter how much he tried to pretend that everything was fine, it wasn't just working out."Why can't I just stop loving her? Why do I have to be a pathetic loser?" He pulled over at the side of the road and slammed his hand on the steering wheel, venting out all his anger, but his heart didn't stop burning. Thinking about how obsessed Lilian is with Nate made him feel like he was losing his mind."Don't think about it. She doesn't want you, so you should fucking move on and stop brooding over her," He whispered as he rested his head on the steering wheel, but if only it could be possible to do, he wouldn't have hesitated to.His phone beeped and he checked to see that it was a text from Tracy.'Where are you, Ren? Are you safe? Why are you not answering my calls? I'm going crazy here' he tossed his phone back on the seat next to him after he read through the text that had just pop