Chapter 31 Nate POV'Can you give me your number? I just want us to be in touch, and nothing else' her words replay in my head as I sit in the lobby while waiting for the doctor to send for me. I have been here for over twenty minutes, but the doctor seems to still be busy with some patients in the ward, so I was asked to wait for him in the lobby. 'I'm sorry about everything, Nate' I sigh deeply as her words ring in my head again. Why the hell can't I still get that out of my head no matter how much I try to? This is annoying and driving me crazy. Still lost in thoughts, my phone suddenly starts ringing and I quickly remove it from the pocket of my jacket where it has been hiding since, and checking the screen, I can't help the smile that spread on my lips upon seeing Lilian's name displayed on the screen. We haven't talked since yesterday, and I'm sure she must've been worried about me. "Hey! I have been calling you since yesterday but you didn't answer my call. Do
Chapter 32Lilian POV An awkward silence assumes the air as he drives down the road, and I stare out through the window. Gosh! I shouldn't have allowed him to drive me in his car because it makes me feel so uncomfortable right now, especially after what happened back there. I was in the office when I called him and had to rush down here when I learned that he was sick. Thank goodness that Ren left the office briefly, so I got the chance to leave the office. "Thanks for coming... It means a lot to me," He suddenly breaks the awkward silence, and I nod my head without sparing him a glance because I'm so embarrassed right now. Recalling how he embraced me back there just now makes me feel like disappearing into thin air right now. "I'm sorry for not telling you that I was sick... I didn't want to bother you," He says, and I can't help but turn my gaze to look at me unbelievably. Is he being serious right now? How can he say such a thing? He has been there for me, he has s
Chapter 33 Ren POV'Why did you have to come into my sister's life, you bastard? Because of you, she's suffering now. Are you happy about it? Are you happy that her own mom now hates her because of you?' Tyler's words echo in my head for the umpteenth time as I drive down the road, and I hit my hand on the steering wheel. 'Do you know what she has been going through because she called off the engagement between you two? You are nothing but a monster that wants nothing but to hurt my sister. I am warning you, Ren... Stay the hell away from Tracy if you don't want to get on my bad side, not that you haven't before anyway' I felt so guilty that I couldn't even utter a word. I felt so horrible and less of a man that I sat down there and watch him rain insults on me. You weren't expecting me to react, were you? It was all my fault after all. She wouldn't have been so mad at me if I was not being a jerk, so what the hell should I have done? Fight him? Talk back at him? That will onl
Ren POV"What did you say?" I itch my ears to be sure I heard her right. "What? Do you think of yourself as a human? You're nothing, but a monster! Look at the post online, who is getting all the insults? Who is getting bullied there?" She yells at me as more tears stream down her cheeks. Her eyes are red with rage in them, and I can't deny the fact that I'm confused right now. Is this the same Lilian I know, or it's someone else posing to be her? "Lilian..." "What? 'She irritates me'... 'Of all women out there, why does he have to settle for less?'... 'She's so ugly. I can't even stand her'. They are saying all those words to me. I am a human too, Ren..." She pauses and scoffs as she flips her hair backward before she continues, "I deserve to be treated like one, and I won't have you, or anyone else treat me like a piece of trash, ever again! If you're scared of your reputation, then deal with it. I won't have you say trash to me anymore!" "What? Are you shocked? You
Lilian POV'I am not your slave, Ren... I am not your slave!' those words replay in my head for the umpteenth time, and I hit my back head lightly to be sure my brain is still there, because what the fuck! Where the hell did those words come from? Where the hell did the gut come from? "We're here, ma'am," The cabby's voice pulls me out of my train of thought, and I quickly alight from the car and pay him. I watch as he drives away before I turn and head toward the bridge. This place is quiet as always and will be nice to calm my head here. Leaning over the rail of the bridge, I take a deep breath and try to clear my head, but nothing is coming through. Who could've uploaded those pictures on the internet? My phone suddenly starts ringing, and I bring it out of my pocket. It's Nate. "Where the hell are you, Lilian?" His voice sounds through the phone as soon as I answer the call, and I bite my bottom lip. Should I tell him where I am? I want to be alone and clear my he
Chapter 36 Ren POVDriving down the road, I can't help but keep wondering what I came here for. Why did I save her? Shouldn't I just have left her to die? Not that she is important to me, anyway. I glance at her for the umpteenth time, but her attention is outside the window, and I bet she has tears in her eyes. Well, wondering how I knew she was there? After the incident, I tried to call her but she ignored my call. I don't know why I decided to track her location, and finding out later that she was at the bridge, I felt she would do something stupid, which was why I had to rush down here. "Why did you show up? Shouldn't you have just let me die?" Her voice breaks the dead silence in the car, and I glance at her to see her staring into space with tears streaming down her cheeks. I don't know why I have suddenly become soft toward her over these few days, and it makes me feel weird. "Are you stupid? You were going..." "To me, that is the best... Am I not a patheti
Chapter 37 Two weeks later Lilian POV The past two weeks have been so choked up for me, and guess who has been indoors because of the fear of being attacked by reporters? Well, it's me. Quick one, I never imagined Ren is a celebrity that would have many fans on social media. I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in the insults I've been getting all these while. Even after the pictures of me making an attempt on my life went viral, nobody pitied me, they didn't give a damn about what happened to me, all they care about is my appearance. The sound of my ringing phone pulls my attention, and I lazily reach out for it. It's Ren. "Meet me in the living room," His voice sounds through the phone as soon as I answer the call, and the call drops dead afterward. "What happened?" I mumble as I get off the bed and advance toward the door. Have I mentioned how Ren has been strangely nice to me recently? I don't know what came over him, but he hasn't bullied me in a while, and h
Chapter 38Tracy POV "What the hell do you think you are doing, Tracy?" Tyler yells at the top of his voice as he barges into my room and finds me sitting on the floor with a bottle of alcohol in my hand. Guess who has been drinking the past few days? Well, it's me. How the hell am I not supposed to drink when my life is messed up? My parents who are supposed to be protecting me suddenly abandoned me and hated me because I refused to be with the man they want me with. Who does that to their child? "I am talking to you, Tracy. What the fuck are you doing to yourself?" Tyler yells for the second time, snatching the bottle from me. "I told you to leave me the hell alone, Tyler... I told you to mind your business and let me be, didn't I?" I yell at him, as I manage to stand up to my feet, but I stagger and fall to the bed as tears stream down my eyes. "Are you out of your mind? Do you want to kill yourself..." "What do you care? What the fuck do you care if I choose t
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