Two weeks later
A man with a heavy beard and disheveled clothes entered the lobby with a huge bouquet of roses in his hands, and a few threads of large balloons that had printed "Sorry" and "Forgive me" on it. He hurriedly walked to the elevator not minding other people's amusing gaze on him and pressed the number to his floor.He was getting impatient with each second passing and Xavier beside him could see the way he was acting, he smiled faintly as he had never seen his master to be that impatient to see someone.Before Xavier could step out from the elevator with his luggage, Steven hurriedly walked to the door of his apartment and then pressed the doorbell.DING DONG ... DING DONG ...Not getting any response from the inside, he pulled out the key of the door and unlocked it himself. As he entered the apartment it was pin-drop silence, frowning he shouted, "I am back, sleepyhead."He then walked to the bedroom but when he opened the door, he was stThere was no response and then he turned the handle to check if it was unlocked and indeed it was unlocked. Just when he turned to walk into the bedroom, where there had another attached bathroom, a woman wearing a bathrobe walked out with a surprised look on her face."What happened, Augustus?" She asked as she saw his intense appearance."Why you didn't pick my phone. I had told you multiple times to keep your phone with you even when you go for a bath..." Augustus scolded her and Laura lowered her head as she apologized, "I am really sorry for that. I would be careful next time.""Go and change, we need to talk," Augustus told her coldly and then took off his coat, kept it on the stand, and then sat on the sofa casually. "Have you cooked something yet?" Augustus shouted from outside while Laura was in the bedroom changing her clothes."No... I wasn't feeling hungry," Laura answered him back.He then shook his head, looking helpless and worried, as he stoo
Laura, wearing a sweater with tights and a beanie cap on her head, was looking around for the papers she had prepared last night for the submission of her resignation. Just then a knock came on her door.KNOCK...KNOCK.."Coming," She yelled from inside, finally finding the papers she was looking for, and then she took out a square box from the drawer of her corner table, multiple emotions surged into her eyes staring at that box. She rubbed her thumb over it feeling heaviness in her heart and then finally stepped out of her room just to find Augustus sitting at the table waiting for her."Breakfast," Augustus said sharply while sipping his coffee. "We're getting late..." Laura frowned looking at his calmness."Your health comes first," Augustus stated and Laura huffed in annoyance. She then sat on the chair and started eating grumpily. She chewed the food like she was chewing wax."Done..." She finished the breakfast quickly and then stood up hurriedly, whil
As Steven entered his office with a radiant smile on his face, he stopped when he saw Laura’s back at him.An inexplicable feeling of happiness arose in his heart looking at Laura after soo long, he had missed her a lot and knew that she had too missed him a lot that is the reason only why she had been so angry with him.Laura was holding her cap and gloves in her hands while her face was leaning on the floor to the wall glass ceiling window. She looked calmed and disturbed too.Steven frowned looking at her depressed silhouette, he didn’t expect her to be calm like this. The Laura, he knew, stayed calm only in the serious situations or the situations where she felt hopelessly disappointed.Has he disappointed her? A wave of guilt appeared on his face but he quickly shook away all the negative thoughts and outcomes that he least expected today. Today is the day he won’t let Laura forget.He intentionally cleared his throat, as Laura had sti
Staring at her firm and calm appearance even after she was so close to dying from his hands, Steven's eyes flashed with the complicated feelings.“Get out,” he breathed harshly as he stepped back from her.Laura was stunned by his behavior, she opened her eyes and stared at him blankly, his eyes that were furious before had turned into sorrow.He is staring at her with sadness and disappointment in his eyes while clutching his gun tightly into his hand.“I said get out, otherwise I am gonna lose my mind, Laura.”He yelled loudly and Laura staggered back, scared.She then stood up and ran out of his office with wobbled legs, and Steven sighed sadly behind her as he collapsed on the ground and then threw the gun away from his hand with a regretful and annoyed look on his face.THUMP***Breathing heavily, Laura kept running crazily until she was out of the building. She went to the same bench she used to sit and think abou
“Wu…Wu…Wu…”In a huge room, a woman was knelt down at the center looking miserable. She was whining loudly in grief, the woman’s face was covered with her hair but her heart-wrenching cries made everyone step near her in curiosity and sympathy.Suddenly a bright light flashed on her petite silhouette, and finally, the weeping woman looked up and showed her face clearly.It was Laura, her eyes were swollen and the most shocking part was that she wasn't shedding tears but the blood from her eyes.She exhaled, “Why?” and said with difficulty, “Why did you leave me? Why?”BOOM***“Laura…!!!”Steven yelled in a hoarse voice.“Master,” Xavier, who was working in the kitchen rushed to his room when he heard his loud cry. The sweat beads dropping from Steven’s forehead and his heavy pants were proof that he had seen something terrible that looks worse t
Tina looked at Steven and then to the washroom door in the hall with panic rising in her heart.“Laura…”She yelled but Steven shushed her, “Don’t tell her, I want to surprise her.”Tina gaped at his words and then nervously nodded her head. She then had no choice but to step away as Steven entered the apartment with a huge bouquet in his hand.He looked dashing and charming as usual.Tina quickly closed the door and then gestured to him to sit on the sofa, Steven looked around with curious eyes and then sat on the sofa.“She’s in the bathroom,” Tina whispered slowly, she didn’t know if Laura was going to let her walk back to her home alive after she will see Steven in her house, no correction in Augustus’s house where they both had been …She stopped her wild thoughts in the middle and then sat on the sofa beside Steven shaking her legs in nervousness and swallowing her saliva wit
After waiting for a long time, Steven finally lost his patience and then walked to a nurse who he saw first near the emergency door.“Excuse me, the woman I had brought here, how’s her condition now?”Steven asked politely.“That young lady …”The nurse paused thinking and then replied, “She had been transferred to a ward and soon we are shifting her to another hospital.”Steven frowned, Laura had been shifted to a ward that means she is stable now. He sighed in relief and then asked her ward no. The nurse gave him the instruction to her ward and he thanked her gratefully.Before Steven vanished from the nurse’s sight, the nurse stopped him and asked curiously, “Who are you by the way? Are you blood-related to the patient?”To which Steven replied calmly, “I am her boyfriend.”The nurse’s eyes widened and she looked at him with a shock on her face as she murmured confused
From the corner of his eyes, Augustus watched Steven Leaving the ward with a disappointed look on his face. Augustus sighed in relief and then murmured in a low voice.“God, please forgive me.”He then looked at Laura who had again fallen into a deep sleep and then touched her forehead. “I am sorry Laura, but I need to do this.”After saying this, Augustus went out of the ward with a dark face and after a few minutes, a few nurses came inside, and then they all shifted Laura to another patient bed and then straight to the ambulance that was already waiting for them.Just like that, Laura was shifted to a different hospital while Augustus accompanied her inside the ambulance. While pushing the stretcher inside the OT, Augustus’s cell phone rang showing his wife’s name. “Lisa”Augustus frowned looking at the name and then at the door of OT feeling perplexed, he then decided to silence his phone with a guilty look
One Year Later“It’s a great honor to interview you Mr. Aldrich or I would say the prince?” A woman in her mid-thirties sat straight with a sharp face and a gentle smile as she began her interview.“Steven would be fine.”“So, Mr. Steven first of all congratulations on the success of your new foundation for cancer patients. This would be the third center you had built in one year. Is there any reason why you’re so passionate about it, saving lives?”“I had lost my wife because of cancer and didn’t want anyone else to lose their loved one because of it. The treatment at the right time saves many lives.”“Oh, deeply sorry to hear about your loss.”“Huh, it was never a loss for me.”“Pardon?”“Please continue.”“So Mr. Steven, what do you want to say about Miss Steva’s praises for you and your wife? It’s been 8
Steven’s bitter laugh echoed in the room and the man standing in front of him winced in discomfort.“I never wish pain for you, Steven. I was angry with you, but that didn’t mean that I would want to destroy your happiness… No… Never…”“So, then why was my happiness taken away from me, Dad, why…” Steven asked, disheartened, and then unexpectedly started crying out while hugging the painting in his arms.“Steven…” The Old Master rushed to him to console him but he looked inconsolable.“I am still hoping that it is a dream, tell me, dad, it’s a dream… I want to wake up, wake me up… Wake me up…” Steven said in a choked voice and then started hitting his face like a mad man, the painting dropped to the floor and it showed a bald, petite woman in the embrace of a man that looked like Steven.Old Master's eyes widened realizing that it was Stev
“Are you sure?” The doctor asked Laura as he handed her a paper.“I am,” Laura replied to him firmly but still he looked hesitant. “It’s going to be fine,” Laura said calmly and then scribbled on the papers.The doctor sighed helplessly and then nodded to the nurse indicating her for the surgery to get started.***“DO YOU LOVE ME?”“ALL OF ME?”“I LOVE YOU.”“LET ME GO.”It has been eight hours since Laura was taken inside the OT and Steven stayed glued to his place waiting for her to come back, her voice echoed in his ears and he kept shaking them away, tiredly.“Drink something, it will make them go…” Augustus said as he handed him a cup of warm coffee. Steven looked at him blankly and then nodding his head, he gulped it down.“She will be fine…” Augustus comforted him while sitting beside him.&ldqu
The dinner went well, Steven didn’t ask Laura anything related to Steva and neither did Laura say anything to him related to her or his past.The next day, Steven left with Laura early in the morning afraid that Tyler would try to stop him, he can’t ignore Tyler’s plea. In his eyes, he is still a child. He had already informed Arthur about his leaving so he would be able to convey his message to Tyler.After what happened last time at the beach he didn’t want to repeat it as he took Laura away from this place as soon as he can.“Here we are,” At the request of Laura, Steven had brought her to meet her mother. “Can you come after some time?” Laura requested Steven as she didn’t want him to go inside with her, she needed some alone time with her mother.“Laura…” Steven was going to refuse her request but Laura pleaded softly, “Please… Steve…”“Fine…
“STEVA."Laura looked from the woman’s shoulder and saw Steven standing behind her with a bottle of water in his hand. His face looked angry as he clenched his jaw and then started pulling Laura with him in a rough way.“Steve…” Laura was completely taken aback by the sudden anger in him but he turned a deaf ear as he kept dragging her with him to the castle not caring about her health.By the time, Laura entered the castle, she was panting heavily and in desperate need of oxygen, at this moment she wasn’t even able to form a word but gasping for air with difficulty.Looking at her state and his brother’s stern face, Tyler rushed to them with a worried face.“Brother, what happened to sister-in-law?” He asked anxiously and it was only then that Steven realized what he had done as he turned and exclaimed, “Laura…”Laura's body fell to the ground as soon as he let go of her hand and
PRESENT“Steve…?” Laura looked up at Steven who was lost in his past with his hand pressing on his chest as though he was feeling the pain from it.“Huh…” Steven’s trance from the past broke and he looked down at the small face of Laura.“It’s alright… It’s gone…” Laura said while taking his hand away from his chest.“Hmmm… but it still haunts me…” Steven confessed in a hoarse voice.“Steve, people can’t change their past you need to move on with it,” Laura told him and he sighed agreeing to her words.“You were just like me, remember the first time, when I saw you crying for Augustus in my room, I knew exactly at that moment that if I won’t help you, you would end up the same way I did. Maybe that is the reason I never wanted to leave your side and stay with you every time so you won’t end up regretting just li
“Steve, do you love me?” Steva’s question made his heart skip a beat.He tilted his head in her direction and said with a bitter smile, “Do you still have a doubt?”Steva smiled with painful dimples and gasped in pain, “Why… Why Steve? Nobody loves me, so why do you?” She started sobbing.“I don’t have any reason to love you… I just love you…” Steven said truthfully and held her face closely and sealed the moment by kissing her lips, she tasted sweet just like she is, he couldn’t help but devour her deeply and then a sudden thud made him fall on the sand heavily.BOOM“No…” Steva said looking flushed and distressed and then ran away from Steven.Days passed to this incident, neither did Steven see Steva after that and nor did Steva try to contact him. They both again went back to strangers burning all the blissful memories of the past.But no m
THE UPCOMING STORY IS RELATED TO STEVEN’S PASTA middle-aged woman wearing a knee-length dress in a light pink color was chatting and laughing happily and then after a while, she turned and called the young boy who was standing near the door looking shy and flushed.“Steven.. Come here.”The boy wearing a plain shirt and trousers walked nervously to her.“Here, that’s my son, Steven.” Sofia Aldrich (Old Madam) introduced her son with a wide smile to the woman sitting in front of her. “Steven, Hello, I am Steva.” The woman offered her hand with a polite smile, Steven shyly stretched his arm and shook his hand with her.“So, tomorrow we will start the class, ok. I don’t want you to be late.” Steva said in a strict tone but her sea-green eyes were soft on him. Finally, Steven passed a smile to her and then nodded his head.“Great… Thank you so much Steva for agreeing on it&helli
After burying Old Madam in peace, Steven stayed behind with his father, and brother to complete the last honor and sent Laura back to the castle because her health condition wasn’t particularly good at the moment.“It’s the young master’s order.” Mr. Xavier informed her as he started pushing her wheelchair towards the car. Laura turned to look at Steven, reluctant to leave him, she spotted him standing under a large tree, his eyes staring blankly at the particular space.Soon, she saw a woman approaching him, when Steven noticed the woman’s presence, he frowned badly and then walked away with a stern face. Laura tried her best to have a look at the woman’s face but her face was partially covered by a long hat.“Mrs. Aldrich…” Xavier’s voice brought her back and then absent-mindedly she sat in the car.***“Laura…” As Laura entered the castle, she saw a woman standing in the