I WOKE UP feeling cold. When I opened my eyes, the quiet peaceful sky greeted me. Somebody was breathing beside me which gave me warmth. I inhaled a deep breath and moved, only to witness Callan’s peaceful face as he slept deeply.The alcohol didn’t have much effect on me this time. But the cold at this hour alarmed me. I touched his forehead and sighed in relief when I felt him still warm. I looked around and the surroundings at the resort were quiet, maybe everybody was asleep.My gaze landed on the men wearing suits who were sitting at the entrance part of the villa. One of them was sleeping and the other two were talking in low voices.“Hello…”They saw me and immediately walked towards the pool.“Callan is still fast asleep. May I ask for help in carrying him to…” I paused a little, feeling quite embarrassed to say, “Our room.”“At once, Mrs. Chevalier,” both of them stood on each side of Callan and stood up. Callan moved a bit and maybe realized what was going on.With eyes half
Callan’s POVTHE COLD WAS SEEPING THROUGH the back of my neck and to my hands as I stared at my father gasping the hair of some man. Blood was running from the wounded side of his head. He was shivering in fear and growling in pain.A 12-year-old me stood right behind my father. I was feeling the same but without the blood running down my head. Instead, I was shivering and my hands were just grasping the ends of my shirt. We were in the underground portion of our mansion; the hall was dark with only a light hanging in the middle right above the head of the man being tortured. I could not understand why my father was hurting him. He was shouting the words “I’m sorry… I apologize, Don Thoron. I stole the money from the capo. I gave it to the Cato clan. Did you tell them about us—the ravij?”There was no response.“You are well aware of the code of silence,” my father’s voice was stern and another punch landed on the man’s stomach.“Arghhh!” a shout escaped the man’s lips. He was limping
I SLEPT KNOWING there was nothing left for me to do but figure things out sooner. As the next day arrived, Callan’s words resurfaced inside my head. This was the last thing that he said to me before he called it a night. “No one can hurt you as long as you’re with me.”‘But you do, Callan…’ I wanted to say. The gala will be in the evening and the invitation has already been sent to us. Callan was the one who received it from the guards. Then handed it to me as he was fixing his hair. “We’ll leave in an hour. I’ll wait for you in the car.”“W-what? In an hour? Callan, I just woke up.” I looked at the blanket covering my body and touched my hair which I’m sure is a mess right now. “We will roam around the road for a bit and look for clothes for the event in the evening.”“Aren’t you gonna attend to your clients?” I asked as I immediately got out of bed and fixed the sheets. “I am only doing this just because I owe you a lot, Callan. Once this meeting with your relatives is over, you
THE LADY STAFF at the store went near Callan and asked, “What can I do for you, sir? We have a variety of suits that would surely look good on you.” The staff mumbled without tearing his gaze at Callan. She even grazed him with a look that attempted to lure him in before she smiled sweetly.I looked away from Callan and started looking at the shelves. Another lady appeared in front of me, but this time she approached me and said hi.“Hi, how may I help you?” “Umm…” I said as I looked around the surroundings. In my peripheral vision, I saw Callan still chatting with the other lady, now laughing at each other. “I’m looking for a gown, floor-length elegant looking. What color would you suggest I wear that won’t wash out my basic facial features.”“Ma’am, you have a lovely bone structure. And your hair is wavy, smooth as the big waves in the sea. It’s even black which highlights your beautiful lashes.” Her words were so gentle and honest, that they moved me. I didn’t expect that she’d sa
IT TURNED OUT that the Chevalier charity event will be held at their beachfront hotel, at the biggest hall. There was no need to travel but surely, my heart was hammering inside my chest already like it had run a marathon for the past hour. We were currently back at the villa exclusive to us. The penthouse that Callan has requested has been booked since his grandfather will be attending the event too and has been staying there for several days now. No one just informed a single person about it until today. I knew I had to be ready to meet Callan’s family. I don’t wanna be a laughing stock at the event, I wanna represent my family’s name with dignity. Nor do I intend to just admit the fact that I was the downgraded version of Arinya. Because I am not. I may not be the woman Callan is in love with but, our agreement has led me to this situation and helped me get up on my feet. I should return the favor by presenting myself as a good wife to him. Someone that his family wouldn’t belit
AS MY HEART SHATTERS, I covered my mouth to prevent myself from sobbing and getting the attention of the crowd. I took a step back one after another. That was when Callan saw me. He paused and looked at me. His eyes widened in shock. Arinya turned toward me as well. She also smirked while intentionally leaning close to Callan.I shrugged my shoulders and started backing away until I turned my back and quickened my footsteps toward the double doors of the hall. A few people have seen what happened and were curious. While Callan’s family looked at me wondering what was happening after they had just seen Callan with Arinya right across the corner.And I thought we won’t set ourselves up for any type of embarrassment but it was the opposite. I feel disappointed…How could Callan act that like with her ex in front of his wife—what would his family think?I couldn’t face his family after what was happening. What would they think about me right now? An option?Callan was so stupid for not
MY EYES WIDENED in shock. Not knowing what to say, or believe whether there’s actually truth in what Aunt Yna just said. I have spent many hours hoping that my parents were actually alive. Wishing and praying that everything that just happened to me was only an extremely harsh nightmare. But each time I do so, I always keep failing.Over time, I have realized that reality won’t stop being cruel just because you don’t wanna accept it. “W-what are you t-talking about, Aunt Yna? You can’t just make up something and lure me to believe it…” With my shaky voice, I mumbled that to Aunt Yna. Several people were walking back and forth at the airport. While here I am, standing in front of a married couple shaking and close to crying.“That’s the truth. One of our men saw Seena in Italy.”Callan’s words saying that my mother is already dead echoed inside my head. I bit my tongue and balled my fists. Callan was so convinced by the truth that he knew. I, too, believed it because I had no choice o
THE SUN was setting on the horizon hours after the long drive and we were now heading towards the dock at the port here in our hometown. Aunt Yna extended a hand for me after she climbed onto a boat floating onto the water. Uncle Mariano, her husband, went in front of the boat’s wheel and started the engine. I accepted Aunt Yna’s assistance. As soon as I settled onto the side of the boat, sitting right at the edge, Uncle Mariano immediately drove away. Our movements were quick, not wasting any second. “Are there people following us?” I mumbled, my heartbeat throbbing louder each second we got to spend in the middle of the vast ocean away from the shore. “Where are we heading, Aunt Yna?” My mother’s friend, Aunt Yna, nodded while looking into my eyes as if realizing that my worry was understandable as I just got home with a weighing jet lag onto my shoulders from hours of plane travel, then I was told something that was, once again, too shocking to carry. Then this... we were travel
Growing up, I have had a sense of good and bad in the world. I learned that people make choices and sometimes they make bad actions, which makes other people label them bad. Yet, there’s more to people being and choosing to do bad things. I had never seen people do the most brutal bad things until I saw men barge into our house and fired bullets at my father’s already dead body. And my mother—which wounded my soul to the point of not even knowing if I could ever get back on my feet once again, only to discover that I have been betrayed by my own mother. She’s already dead. For real this time. I have not forgiven her, but I have learned to move forward. But the sudden turn of events of my life allowed me to grow in ways I wouldn’t have imagined and led me to the arms of the man that I could trust, fight, and grow old with. And today’s our 5th wedding anniversary. Even if we had to go through hell and fight for our lives, it led us to this paradise that I wouldn’t trade for anyth
TWO MONTHS after staying in our new house in Chicago, I have grown much closer to my husband. Our routine was basically waking up and preparing meals for us both. On some days, he’ll be joining me in the chicken, and on other days, he’ll still be there but will be doing work on his laptop. Callan had been hands-on in collecting real estate properties in our area as part of the expansion project of Chevalier Holdings. I love staring at Callan as he gets lost in his work, conducting meetings with his colleagues. While I cook in the kitchen and prepare snacks for him. Then I would get lost in doing my own tasks as well. On these days, I have seen Callan in every mundane moment that I could think of and I have loved him more. The way we lay in each other’s arms around evening after all our tasks are accomplished it certainly felt like home. Ever since I lost my family, I have learned that life must go on even if you feel like the world has just collapsed on your shoulders. A significan
I COULDN’T believe that a day like this would still arrive in our lives. I was standing in the middle of the airport with people roaming around. While Callan had just paid our travel tax and was smiling widely raising our first-class plane tickets up in the air. He looked better than he did weeks ago, I must say. He could smile now. Joke things with me. His face has more color time, and the dark circles under his eyes start to fade away. As for me, I still wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares of the chaos we experienced. I remember there were nights when I dreamed of the people I killed. That night when I shot Aldo Cato. Things haven’t been easy for us to return to living our normal lives. We had been deeply affected by the loss, battle, and exhaustion that we had gone through just to sort out the mess in the mafia world, at least in our lives that involved dealing with the Cato clan and resolving things regarding the order and structure in the ravij organization. We
“Esmé you wanted to know why I did this? I wanted my daddy to prioritize me. I should have been the heir to the ravij organization! I was his eldest daughter! It wasn’t fair!”As she said that, Callan took a shot from the revolver she got from me, the shot left a dent on her chest as she looked upward towards me muttering soft voices leaving a faint fake smile on her face as if she was grateful.I then hugged Callan, replaced my face on started crying Callan patted my head and he tried to calm me down, “It is over, my wife. It is over.”Immediately afterward, someone spoke from the black boxes in the room, “What a great show this was. It is certainly not over. Definitely not. Please move upstairs.”Callan shouted, “Bastard, I will kill you for killing my men and for hurting me and I will break your limbs for hurting Don Thoron.”Callan laughed, “Whoa, well, you should be very careful what to say next. Move upstairs. I am right here waiting.’“It must be a trap. Husband, let us go bac
FURIOUS, I RAISED my face upright in the eyes of the man who was holding a sniper on the 3rd floor looking at us, and then one by one other men from other floors looked below from the balconies of that building and some started shooting from the windows. We covered ourselves and I aimed precisely, even though many of my bullets were not hitting the target, I managed to take down quite a few from the sight. The abandoned building was a 12 storey high and there were soldiers of the Cato clan inside and outside. The men that spotted us first were the ones on the balcony. As instructed, twenty of our men started running to the gate to enter the building. As they were running, one fell down and got shot. Another soldier tried to lift him up on his back but ended up getting shot as well. The others ran for their lives and got inside. As they went inside, they took down all the men of the Cato Clan on the first floor and started walking upstairs. I could only hear bullet after bullet, no
MAYBE IT IS true that when love finds you, the fear of losing it is greater than the risk of dying itself just so you can fight for the person you love.Is rescuing someone worth it? I do not know about anyone but for Callan, I will do everything.“Hey, Esmé. We are ready. It is only logical if you lead this mission in the absence of the underboss.”I cleared my throat and thought of the words he just said.I looked around; I don’t think whoever leads the troop will matter at this point. We are all marching towards a similar purpose.But if I were to judge the situation, Aakil should be the one to lead instead in the absence of my husband. Or maybe Capo Mariano.“Hmm… maybe Capo Mariano could be the leader. Or Aakil?”Aakil cleared his throat and then spoke, “The consigliere mentioned your courage and we saw it too. That gave us determination. This is what the organization needs. I cannot take Callan’s place. I am not a descendant of Ravij's head. They won’t accept me as their leader
CALLAN DID NOT SEND any updates and I was left without any notice. I woke up to an empty space beside me on the bed. With everything that happened for the past days and after learning that Don Thoron had been captured by the Cato clan and had been tortured by the men in their camp in town, I knew Callan was deeply affected by it. I saw it in his eyes before he left.The unwatchable footage sent to us was brutal. But Uncle Mariano said that Don Thoron particularly said not to risk the remaining troops to save him because Callan still has to be protected when he returns.If nothing is heard about him for three days straight, Callan shall immediately become the new mafia boss of the ravij family.Callan didn’t say anything, but he balled his fists and he was greeting his teeth. No one could talk to him other than me.Their mafia boss had been captured, tutored, and maybe already dead at this point.Preventing the urge to cry from the sinking feeling in my stomach, I got up in bed and gra
CALLAN'S POVI arrived at the hideout of the Cato Clan in my hometown… the silence was deafening.In the middle of the night, I moved in silence as well.I brought a gun with me and started looking through the surroundings.I saw a group of Cato’s men, feeling so complacent as they roamed around their camp—an abandoned building with almost no lights to light up the place. That was an advantage for me.I already hid my car with weapons somewhere nearby. As I stepped out of the darkness, I was welcomed by a group of henchmen who were carrying knives in their hands.One of the men tried to enrage me and said, “Look the dead man’s son is here.” I drew my gun and shot his head and they all went alarmed and hid behind the walls and barriers and I hid behind a stack of broken tires nearby.There is a room up ahead that they are guarding. That was their hideout. I remember when Arinya brought me to their hideout not knowing I was the first son of the ravij family. Her twin brother treated me
CALLAN'S POVMY MIND COULD only think of the darkest things that could happen as time passes by. I have no other means to unleash feelings of ease and lightness, I only hope Don Thoron, my father, was still breathing.Whoever that person was that dared to smash my father with a baseball bat, I don’t care if she’s a woman. If she’s as evil as the men that we come across in the organization she deserved the violence she was causing to others. And Aquila, the last time I saw him was at the bar when I broke things off with Arinya. They were stepping into the situation. The news was Aldo Cato died after all with the mission that we did.Esmé did well in shooting him multiple times, just like I told her. I will make sure that whoever was orchestrating actions from the Cato clan does not live to tell the tale. The lion of the ravij family that was once sleeping inside has now risen up and it will now obliterate all creatures that cross the path of his might. “We have to leave if we want t