They paused for a moment and take their time looking at Vincent who was walking without an intention of looking back at them. Celestine looked away and subtly wiped the tears that escaped from her eyes.
Lander cleared his throat and glanced at Celestine. She was hugging herself with eyes glued to the sea.
"Vincent used to be a very talkative kid with a dream of being a pilot."
Celestine's forehead creased after hearing what he said then she slowly looked at him. He wasn't looking at her nor to the sea, instead he's looking at the sand, digging it a little with the tip of his shoe.
"I remember us escaping from our mansion and meeting at the secret park just around the neighborhood so we can play. We're just in elementary that time, I can't exactly remember everything but until now, I can still remember the time when his father first laid his hands on Vincent in public."
Celestine could hear the sadness in Lander's voice. She
Santiago tapped the stick of his cigarette using his index finger as his thumb and middle were holding the cigar in between to remove the excess ashes on its tip.Boredom was evident on his face as he groggily laid his back against the backrest of his swivel chair. Waiting has always been the most boring thing he could ever do and that's what he was doing now.He yawned, tears escaping from the corners of his eyes. He glanced once again to his phone that is lying on his table, hoping that he received a text but doesn't receive any of what's he's waiting for."Fuck, what's taking them too long." He frustratedly laid back to his swivel chair, closing his eyes and putting pressure on his eyelids using his fingers.Minutes and hours had passed but he didn't receive any updates from his men. His mind filled with unnecessary thoughts the reason why he decided to contact them instead.After the second ring, someone answered t
Every step that Santiago took echoed to the hallway. He was walking slowly. As he stepped to the first floor of the apartment he felt something wrong, like something, would happen and he wouldn't be in his favor. He clenched his jaw and massage the gun in his hand.Stepping into the apartment felt like a wrong decision and he can't just shrug it off. Santiago knew that Vincent isn't stupid and he can turn the table and put him in the situation he planned for him so he should be careful.He licked his lower lip and stopped in front of the door where his men told him to go. He take a deep breath as his hand went to the dirty doorknob. His other hand is firmly holding the gun, making sure to not forget to pull the trigger if ever Vincent has prepared something for him behind the door.Santiago slowly turned the doorknob. It made a clicking sound and the cold air from the inside immediately escaped from the space he made upon opening the door. 
"Sorry, I'm late. How are you?" Laila put her bag on the table and sat on the chair in front of Steven. She was supposed to go straight to her friend's house when he texted her to just meet him in their favorite coffee shop. She wiped the sweat on her forehead using the back of her hand and took a deep breath.From the hospital, she headed straight to the coffee shop for she doesn't want her friend to wait longer for her."I'm good." He feels the warmth of his cup of coffee by wrapping his hands around it."You don't look really good to me though," she pointed out and raised her hand to catch the waiter's attention.He sipped on his cup of coffee. "How was the man?""Oh, about him, unexpectedly until now he's still unconscious."He creased his forehead. "Are you monitoring him? Are you sure that he hasn't regained consciousness yet?""I'd like to have a slice of chocolate cake and, uhm, tall-sized v
"Damn, give me the fucking signal now..." Sebastian whispered to himself as he peered outside the cabinet in a thin gap of its door. His fists is trembling as he was watching his boss groggily letting Santiago lead his body anywhere he please.Sebastian had been waiting for Vincent to give him a go signal to come out of the cabinet and corner Santiago but then until now, Vincent hasn't given him anything yet and it's driving him nuts. From his viewpoint, he could see the condition of Vincent, and based on what he's seeing, his boss is not on his best condition to fight Santiago and his men if ever they decide to betray them."I've been waiting for so long to do all these things to you, Mogilevich. You don't have any idea of how many times I imagine of killing you," Santiago said as he was holding Vincent's jaw.Celestine... Celestine... Celestine...His eyelids are heavy, his face is numb and he can feel the exhaustion throughout his body slowly
"Celestine, stop that. You're so drunk. Let's go home," Lander said as he pulled the glass of tequila that Celestine was about to drink again.For two hours, Celestine did nothing but take glasses of tequila and consume it. Lander could barely count the number of glasses of tequila that Celestine had drunk."Can you just let me do what I want Lander? I'm not drunk okay?!" Celestine said angrily as she snatched the glass of tequila that Lander get from her earlier. The tequila accidentally poured into Lander's shirt because of the abrupt move of Celestine to get it. Instead of apologizing, she just drink what remains on the tequila glass she's holding and raised her hand again to call the bartender's attention and ask him to mix a drink for her again.In just a minute, the bartender gave her another drink and without saying a word Celestine drank the tequila straight. Her cheeks are florid and her eyes were unable to focus in one direction now. And it is also qui
"Drive the fucking car fast, Sebastian!" Vincent shouted as he hysterically glanced outside the car and back to Sebastian. He's holding on to his pants tightly."I'm on it, Boss. Don't let your emotion—""Shut the fuck up and just drive this fucking car fast."Sebastian clenched onto the steering wheel tightly. He could still remember the time when Vincent lost his capability to think straight just because of a woman and seeing his boss acting the same way is making him worry about everything.A woman in Vincent's life does no good to him and knowing that he's starting to let Celestine in his life is a very dangerous thing.Sebastian just took a deep breath and stepped on the gas pedal.After that, the whole ride becomes peaceful. Not one of them dares to speak. All that could be heard inside the car was every heavy breath of Vincent, trying to calm himself down.He's fuming mad and it could be seen
As Celestine writhed in pain because of the forceful punch that met her stomach—emptying the air on her lungs, the man took it as his chance to lift Celestine and take her wherever he wished. Celestine's body is helplessly lying on the man's right shoulder while her head was on his back. As he walks, her head started to feel like spinning and she feels like vomiting. She wanted to struggle from his grip and get away from him but it seemed impossible to escape from the man that was much stronger than and her. The pain in her stomach becomes unbearable. She can't lift nor move a muscle. Everything felt heavy, especially her eyelids that she was trying her very best not to close. She can't lose consciousness. She needs to save herself. Her inability to bring energy towards her whole system to function well has ruined every self hope she has to at least have a fighting chance to escape from him. "L-Let me g-go," she weakly said
"Why Felix is here?" Nicholas asked. They've been monitoring every move of Celestine and it was quite surprising for him to see Felix."I don't know," Carter answered as his eyes were on Felix. The man is wearing their usual uniform and he's on his way in Lander's direction.Carter cleared his throat. "Boss Vincent probably asked him to do something that's why he's here.""Yeah, I think you're right," Nicholas said.They did nothing but wait and see things from where they're standing. They're hiding behind the coconut tree that is surrounded by tall leaves that made them almost invisible to the human eye."Wait, wait, wait, where he's bringing Celestine?" Nicholas asked again."Maybe he'll drive Celestine home.""I thought boss already agreed to Lander to drive Celestine home?""Maybe he changed his mind," Carter said.Carter and Felix aren't close. Their relationship is just pure business. Carter can't even remember the
"V-Vincent..." All she remembered was throwing the gun somewhere and she ran towards Vincent. His eyes are wide open as well as his mouth. He's not moving. She tried to wake him by touching his chest yet after minutes of sobbing and trying to save him, nothing happened. His chest is not moving, it was as if he is asleep but his eyes is open. He's not breathing anymore. "N-No, Vincent. Wake up, c-cmon... Wake up p-please," she whispered to his ear even though she knew to herself that no matter what she do, it's already too late. She hugged his body and she sobbed in his chest, hoping that it was just a bad dream even though she still can feel the intensityof the gun when she fired it. "Celestine, let's go. C'mon, you need to leave now. Any minute from now Vincent's men will come to check on what was happening here. We need to go now." Celestine looked at the woman who suddenly speak. It was Sophia. "S-Sophia..." Sophia's eyes is roaming around the mansion checking if Vincent
"Clean the cell, leave no trace of his blood there, burn the gun, his clothes, and his apartment," Vincent authoritively said as he was washing his hands on the sink. His men immediately nodded his head after hearing what his boss had said. They were having a good time talking while eating until they heard a gunshot coming inside of the cell. Everything happened so fast that the the only thing they know was thinking that their boss had planted a bullet in Kingston's head but it wasn't what they are expecting because when they go to see the cell, it was Kingston who is holding their boss' gun. "What the fuck are you still doing here? Didn't you hear what I asked you to do?!" Vincent shouted when he noticed that the associate is still standing next to him like an idiot. Vincent's shout was enough for the associate to get back to his senses and get out of the bathroom and do what his boss asked him to do. Vincent closed his eyes firmly and threw his head back while he is clenching
"Let me go!" She had been screaming yet no one seem to hear her, they are ignoring her. She is inside of a van with five men inside, all of them are wearing masks and they are all silent. There is nothing that could be hear inside except for her screams that don't seem to bother the five men. She closed her eyes firmly and stopped trying to untie her wrists on her back for a moment. She has to remind herself that she had been in this position before, her getting kidnapped by the enemies is something that is not new for her and instead of feeling scared she should think of a way to escape from them, though it might be impossible to do that because what is the strength of a woman compared to five strong men surrounded her. "Good thing you finally get tired of screaming," the man driving the car said while he is chewing a gum. She opened her eyes. "If you think that Vincent will come to save me, you better think again. You got the wrong person. I am not Sophia, you should've taken h
"Fuck," Kingston murmured when he tried to make a movement. His body is sore from all the punches that he had received. He doesn't know how long Vincent had been keeping him inside of the cell because he couldn't see any light from the outside. All he wanted was Vincent's men discovered a new hobby and it is to beat him up every fucking minute. He spit blood on the cold tile floor then he tried his best to move his body for him to comfortably lie on the floor. As he was trying his best to move, he is holding his breath firmly. He can endure the pain but his body needs a rest. He never felt so restless his entire life until Vincent kept him inside of the cell that makes him feel like he is visually impaired. "Fuck this," he continued cursing as he was trying his best to quicken his movement so the pain he might going to feel will be all at once yet his body is not cooperating. He can feel the tiredness of his body. Every inch of his being wants to rest yet in his mind, he keep tel
Celestine stopped walking as soon as she figured out that Saoirse is no longer following her. She turned around to see what her manager was doing and she found her a bit far from where she is with a devilish smile. At first, she is hesitant to call her attention but then she remembered why somehow she wanted to have this conversation with her manager. "Hey! Everything's fine?" she asked loudly, making sure that despite the distance between them she will still be able to hear her. Saoirse who was startled by her voice immediately composed herself, remove the devilish smile on her face, and act as if she had done nothing wrong then she jogged towards Celestine's direction. "Sorry, I just had to reply to that important text message," she explained as soon as she reached Celestine's side. "Anyways, I know a place here where we can talk privately." What Saoirse just said made Celestine's eyebrow raise. She's not in her manager's side for months now unlike before that they are usually t
"Good morning, Miss," the maid greeted as soon as she opened her eyes. Last night, she wasn't able to sleep. She doesn't know if it is about the temperature or is it about the idea that Vincent and her isn't fine. But between the two, she choose to believe that it is because of the room temperature. "W-What time is it already?" she asked as she was helping herself to sit on the bed. The windows in her room is open yet the sunlight is not hurting her skin, giving her an idea that she woke up early today. She looked at the maid confusedly. Maids are not allowed to enter the room, not just her room but in any room without asking for permission that she is confused for why the maid is inside of her room the moment she open her eyes. Even though she wants to point out about the maid tresspassing inside of her room she just decided to shrug the idea off. She wanted to start her morning in a good mood since she slept with a heavy heart last night so instead of scolding the maid she just p
"H-Here's your coffee." She slightly tilted the tray that she was holding. Vincent lick his lower lip and run his fingertips to his scalp. He doesn't have an idea of how he supposed to deal with her after knowing almost everything that she had done. He couldn't believe everything that is on the papers. He couldn't believe everything that Kingston said. Everything is an act of betrayal. Everything isn't true. Celestine planned it, she tried to be in control of his life and he never did question her, it also somehow his fault yet it wouldn't justify the fact that she is the mastermind. She did what she did and he wouldn't let her fall for her stupid game anymore. She might had already plan how everything is going to end for him but he will change it. He will change the ending and it is him who will have the loudest laugh in the finish line that she had prepared for him. "I didn't ask you to bring that to me." He turned his back on her then he pulled his sleeves up. She, on the othe
Celestine hit her shoulder when she felt a mosquito pinching bite. Its blood was on her palm. It's dead. She grimaced, disgusted by the blood that is on her palm. She looked away from her it and wipe it on the hem of her t-shirt. The blood in her palm is something that doesn't freak her out anymore like she used to. Seeing blood anywhere becomes a normal scenario for her ever since she met Vincent. She glance in her palm and even though the blood wasn't there anymore, she can still see it; her hands that is covered by blood. She closed her eyes firmly to keep herself calm but instead of avoiding the idea that her mind had made up for her, she smell the blood. She can smell it. Blood that almost smells like hers, the scent that she's been trying to get out of her system. That smell, it was so familiar. A shovel suddenly entered her mind. The dried red stain in the shovel is what brings her back to the past that she's been trying to get off of her mind but couldn't. "Miss, are
"Did you already sent the letter?" The man slightly nodded his head. "Yes, Sir." "Are you sure that she will receive the letter?" "Certainly, Sir," he answered with great confidence. "Good. Go back to your work now." He rest his back on the backrest of his couch. The letter successfully sent to Celestine, he just hope that the letter reach her before Vincent get to read them. Just when he thought he can finally have his fifteen minutes break, his phone suddenly rang. He pushed himself to reach for the phone on the other side of his table. He picked it up and put the phone against his ear. "Who is this?" he asked. "How are you, Bonifacio?" said the man on the other line with a devilish smirk lingered on his lips. That voice, he knows that voice very well, he know it so well that he immediately recognized the person calling. "Venedict," he said. Venedict chuckled. "Guess you still remember me." He clenched his jaw tightly. They haven't heard anything from Venedict sinc