The moment she saw the vehicle winking light at her to tell her ‘I’m here,’ her eyes widened in shocked disbelief.A Bentley? And it looked brand new. As in out of the garage brand new.She shifted her gaze to look at Sam, who burst out laughing. He must be amused at the sight of her reaction.She said, “You’re...giving me a Bentley?”Sam pulled her into his arms and then kissed her on the forehead, his lips firm against her skin. “Only the best for my girl.”Chan swallowed hard, her throat tight with emotions. When she managed to steady herself, she raised her gaze to his and asked, “How much did it cost?”Sam raised a brow. “You really want to know?”Chan nodded.He shrugged his broad shoulders as if to say that the price was nothing. “Just over three hundred and fifty.”“Three hundred and fifty? As in three hundred and fifty thousand?” she asked.He nodded.Chan felt breathless suddenly as she turned to look at the Bentley. Good Lord, but that car alone was the same price as a hous
The moment Chan entered, nostalgia hit her, and she felt her heart aching. She missed this sort of environment. She missed the blackboard filled with written words. She missed the walls filled with children’s paintings. She missed the student’s desks and chairs, and of course, the humming noise of children laughing and giggling and chatting.“Lilly, good morning,” a woman said in greeting.Lilly said, “Good morning, Mrs. Brown.”Mrs. Brown said, “Did you have a good weekend?”Lilly nodded.Mrs. Brown then turned to Chan and said, “You must be Chan?”Chan wondered how the woman knew who she was, and indeed, even her name.She nodded as she said, “I am. Hi.” She reached out her hand, which Mrs. Brown took and shook.Mrs. Brown said, “Lilly talked so much about you. She told us you’re moving in with her and her father?”Chan blushed. Gosh, she didn’t know Lilly had been telling her teacher about her.She nodded. “Yes, I just did two days ago.”Mrs. Brown said, “And how do you like it?”“
Chan couldn’t wait much longer to get into her new office. The moment she was in her bedroom, she picked up the boxes containing her work materials and moved them up to the third floor. Of course, she had to make a couple of trips, but that was fine with her since she enjoyed the process.A few hours later, everything was ready. A sense of delight and satisfaction filled her as she surveyed her new workroom. Her laptop and art display tablet sat on the study desk while her other material such as notebooks and drawing materials were on another desk to the other side of the room. Now all she needed to complete this room was her books to fill that empty shelf. But, of course, that could come later when she was fully settled in.Sitting down on the leather chair, Chan chuckled. It was very comfortable, a far cry from hers back at the apartment which had been hard and not at all soft to the backside. She had never been able to sit on it for too long before she needed to get up to ease the
After helping the two darlings with their backpacks and exchanging a few words with Mrs. Brown, they stepped out the door and saw Timothy heading their way along the corridor.“Hi, Chan,” the boy greeted.“Hi, Timothy,” Chan replied. “Ready to go?”The boy nodded. Then he went up to Lilly and took her by the hand. “Let’s go.”Lilly nodded, and the two were about to head off when Jason said, “Hey, why are you holding Lilly’s hand?”Timothy said, “Because I’m looking after her.”Jason frowned. “But I’m looking after her. I already made a promise with Mommy and Chan.”Timothy pulled a face. “I’m the older brother, so it’s my job to look after Lilly.”Jason wasn’t having it. “But what about me?”Chan chuckled. Oh dear, it looked like the two brothers were competing for Lilly’s attention. This could be a problem.She said, “Why don’t you both look after Lilly? You can hold her hand, too, Jason. With two boys looking after her, I’m sure Lilly will be very well looked after.”Jason brightene
“Bye-bye,” Lilly said to Timothy and Jason a few hours later, waving as she and Chan watched the boys heading into Marian’s car.“See you tomorrow,” Jason said.“See you tomorrow,” Lilly shouted back.A moment later, the boys and their grandmother were gone, and Chan took Lilly by the hand and led her back into the house.“Bath?” Chan asked as they climbed the stairs.“Mm-hmm.” Lilly nodded.As Chan was bathing Lilly, her mind was on Sam, who was currently at work again, up in his office on the third floor. He had said something about an urgent meeting with Jeremy and the others on the team. It was probably about the new hotel and resort project they were currently working on.Of course, the episode back in the living area this evening was still fresh in her mind: the kissing, and more so, the way in which Sam had looked like he had wanted to say something. Or rather, ask something. She remembered, too, that he had said something like tell me when you’re ready.Suddenly, Chan swallowe
Sam had enough of their little nonsensical bickering. Chan’s lips were too enticing for him to hold back, and he found himself snapping them up for a scorching kiss, which took her by surprise, causing her to gasp out.She was soft and warm against him. The sweetness of her taste was so damn intoxicating that he couldn’t control the passion inside him and kissed her harder, pressing his lips against hers and then demanding her mouth to part for him.She groaned under his ardent ravishing, and then he felt her weakly parting her sensual lips that never cease to fascinate him.The moment her mouth was open, he eagerly plunged in his tongue and invaded her to explore and taste her sweetness. She was just so beautiful. Everything about her was exquisite.His tongue ravished hers as she tried to keep up with his demand. Their lips locked, and his tongue stroked and danced with her, their beat a heated, stormy one.By the time he decided to move back and release her, Chan was breathless and
The feeling of waking up to find a man in the same bed was completely new to Chan, and the moment she fluttered her eyes open and saw Sam beside her, she swallowed hard. Her cheeks flushed hot as what had happened last night came rushing back to her. It didn’t help either that Sam was watching her, a smirk playing about his lips. How long had he been up? she wondered. How long had been looking at her sleeping?Because she couldn’t help herself, she reached her hands out and covered his eyes. “Stop watching me so intensely like that. And stop smiling.”Sam caught her wrists and removed her slender hands as he said, “Well, good morning to you, too.”“How long have you been up?” she asked.He shrugged. “Since around six.”She raised a brow. “That early?”“My usual time.”She nodded. “Right. And you usually do your morning exercise.” She looked around, searching for an alarm clock. “What time is it now?”“Around seven,” he said.Chan looked at him, flabbergasted. “And you’re still in bed?
The moment Sam took a seat at the head of the table, Mrs. Wakefield placed a cup of coffee in front of him. When she moved back, Jim Mane, Sam’s personal assistant, placed a folder in front of him.Sam opened the folder and scanned through the documents as one by one, the staff entered the meeting room.“Morning, Sam.” Jeremy’s voice drew Sam’s attention away from the documents in front of him.“Morning,” he replied.“How’s Lilly and Chan?” his cousin asked.Sam couldn’t help but smile brightly whenever his two darling girls were mentioned. “They’re good.”The dashing grin on Sam’s face caused Jeremy to chuckle in amusement. “Damn, but don’t you look too damn happy for my liking.” He took a seat and said, “Which makes me miserable.”Sam raised a brow. “I thought you were over Chan and over the fact that I’ve taken her from you.”Jeremy folded his arms across his chest. “I am over Chan and the fact that you stole her from me.” He leaned forward. “It’s just that you look so damn happy,
A GOLDEN COIN FOR A NECKLACEA Random Thursday“This brings back memories,” Chan said as they strolled down the street, exploring the Thursday Night Market along Surfer Paradise.Holding Darany in his arms, Sam chuckled then said, “Mm-hmm. The first time I met you.”Chan nodded. Sam leaned toward her and then planted a light, gentle kiss on her lips, which made Chan blush.Chanlina, in Chan’s arms, said, “Daddy kissing Mommy.”Suddenly, Darany chanted excitedly, “Monkey! Monkey show!” He was pointing toward a thick crowd of people on the other side where a monkey was performing.“Isn’t that...” Chan left her sentence unfinished.Sam chuckled. “Yeah. Let’s go watch.”“Yay!” Darany put his little arms up in the air in excitement.Once they were amongst others in the crowd, watching the monkey doing cool Kung Fu moves, Darany tapped at his father’s shoulder. “Daddy. Rany wants down.”“All right, but don’t go running off,” Sam warned.The boy simply gave his father an adorable, toothy gri
Old Mr. Jones was entering a new phase in his life: rock bottom. He had just lost his job, his entire savings swiped from his bank account due to identity theft, and he was in over his head in debts. Today, like yesterday and the day before that, he considered ending it all. Then again, he always hit pause. He had his wife and granddaughter to think about, after all.Sometimes life just seemed to come at you, bringing bad luck after bad luck and disaster after disaster. Not only had his only child and her husband just died from a car accident, leaving their only eight-year-old girl with him and his wife, but the company he had worked for had laid him off, along with fifty others. A week later, his wife had a mild heart attack, freaking him out so much that he himself nearly had a heart attack. Then that same week, he found his bank savings had been drained, and he hadn’t a clue how since he hadn’t been withdrawing any money. A phone call to the bank confirmed that it was a case of ide
One Year LaterWhen Chan fluttered her eyes open, she smiled, and a sense of contentment and happiness coursed through her being. The morning sun was bright, filtering into the bedroom through the window. She lay there in bed for a moment, just enjoying the moment, basking in the peace and quiet as she gazed out the window, enjoying the view of the beach and ocean in the distance. When she finally moved and got out of bed, she went into the en suite and took a good, long shower. Done twenty minutes later and now dressed in a lovely floral sundress, she headed down the stairs.As she approached the living area, happy chatter reached her, and she knew literally everyone was in there. It was a Sunday, after all, and it was well past ten in the morning now.She came to a stop at the entrance of the room, her heart constricting with emotions. Yes, everyone was in here, all right. Fran was holding one of her little darlings, Chanlina, in her arms. The baby girl was cooing as Fran tickled th
By the time they arrived home, it was dark. Once Detective Liam put the car into park, Sam got out and then drew Chan to him. He picked her up in his arms and then carried her toward the house. Of course, everyone was already at the door waiting since Jeremy had phoned Dara to tell her they had found Chan and that she was safe and sound.The moment they spotted Chan, the sisters came rushing forward.“Chan, are you okay?” Soriya asked. She had clearly been crying hard. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were raw.Chan gave her sisters a weak smile. “I’m fine now.”Once they were in the living room, Sam placed her on the couch, and Fran immediately brought over a mug of hot chocolate for her. Chan gladly accepted it, her hands shaking. She began sipping eagerly as everyone gathered around the living room, Keith included, who was now talking to Liam and Jeremy.Though the crowd was keen to ask Chan questions about her ordeal, they knew she needed time to gather herself. Once she finished
Chan swallowed hard, her body tense, her gaze fixed on Dave in front of her. He, too, had his gaze fixed on her face, a dark smile on his lips.He said, “When I discovered your father was quite a wealthy man, despite his and your living conditions back then, he had his will drawn up with me as one of his witnesses, believe it or not.” He laughed. “He was that trusting. He was so gullible. In that will, he was going to give his daughters everything, and I knew I just couldn’t have that. I knew Lisa and Amie would agree, so I pitched a plan to them. Oh, they got freaked out at first, but then the hunger for money was just too overpowering for mother and daughter. In the end, they decided to do what I told them. I taught them how to lace Michael’s food with antifreeze. He got sick and must have caught on as to what was happening, but of course, we persisted. Needless to say, we failed the first few times. That bastard was hard to kill, I must admit. That, or Amie was lousy at concocting
Chan hadn’t a clue how long it had been since she had escaped Dave and Lisa’s clutches, but she knew it had been a while. The sun had moved farther to the west, so she knew it was late in the afternoon. By now, Sam would have notified the police and be on his way to get her, since she had turned on the tracking device a while back.Suddenly, she stopped, feeling exhausted. She had been on the run this whole time, now and again scanning behind and around her to ensure that she was not being followed.God, she had no idea where she was going, whether she was heading deeper into the bush or out toward the road. She hoped it was the latter because if she was heading deeper into the bush, it’d be harder and longer for Sam to find her, and she didn’t want that, not when the sun was going to set soon.She was thirsty, and her body was sweating profusely, but she dared not stop because she knew the moment she did, she’d shorten the distance between her and Dave, and when he found her, it’d be
Sam hadn’t a clue why but ever since that morning, he had been having this sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if his instinct was telling him something bad was about to happen. Hence, he hadn’t been able to concentrate on his work, and he had kept phoning Chan every two hours or so to make sure she was fine. The last time he had contacted her, she had said she was going to pick Lilly up as Mrs. Campbell had to dash to the hospital to take care of her husband.Everything was going to be fine, he told himself. Then again, why the heck wasn’t this bad feeling going away?“You okay, Sam?” Jeremy, who was sitting across from him, asked.Sam nodded. “Yeah,” he said distractedly.Jeremy shook his head. “You’re not fine. You look like you have something on your mind. Chan? The court cases?”Sam was about to tell Jeremy to stop prodding when his cell phone rang. It was his mom.He quickly picked up.“Sam.” Fran’s panicky voice came from the other side of the line, and Sam was imme
Chan knew exactly what type of talking they intended to do. They’d threaten her, like they always do, and she suspected that it had something to do with her father and the will. They must have been informed about Chan and her sisters contesting the will for the second time, now with new evidence and another set of new wills, and of course, them being suspects of the attempted murder of her father.Chan shut her eyes for a moment, doing her best to stay calm. Her mind, however, continued to race, working on how best to deal with this situation.Within five minutes, Lilly would finish school. When no one came to pick her up, one of the teachers would notice and they’d phone home. Fran or Marian would then contact Sam, and he’d suspect something had happened to her. When either Marian or Fran came to get Lilly, they’d likely spot her car parked three blocks down from the school, and of course, Danny in it.Oh, God, she hoped the little pup was all right. It was hot, and she hoped he woul
It had been a week since Chan and her sisters had the meeting with Keith and Liam, and since that day, the two men had advised her and her sister to be vigilant, in case Amie, Lisa, and Dave tried to make contact. Chan knew just what sort of contact the two men were referring to. She had doubt Amie would be able to track her and her sisters down since they had moved, but it was a good idea to be cautious nonetheless. Hence, she had avoided going out alone unless it was necessary and spent most of her time in the house, working on her next book, like she was doing now.“Chan?” Mrs. Campbell’s voice drew her attention away from her work. “Chan?”Chan got up from her seat and then opened the door of her office. She was coming down the stairs when she spotted Mrs. Campbell along the corridor. She noted the woman looked a little flustered.“What is it, Charlotte?” she asked, concerned.“Do you mind picking Lilly up from school this afternoon?” the woman asked. “Ian just called. He’s at the