For a moment, I felt a tug on my heart when I saw his tears glistening in his eyes. But I stood still, despite the shaking and shuddering that I was feeling. I faced him with all my strength, trying to show him that I really had moved on.However, I can't stand still with his eyes weak and glistening because of tears. He lifted his clenched hands and put them on the wall, cornering both of my sides, ensuring that I have no side to turn to if I leave. He then bent down a little as he neared the side of my face, enough only to whisper in my ear."I can accept all your painful words, Pen. I can even accept all your hatred, and every time you shoo me away, even though I feel my heart hurting, I can keep up with it too. Because I love you."The three words coming out of his mouth ring a bell in my mind, recalling all the fucking he did in the past few weeks. That turned my eyes black and dark. I pushed him with all my strength and slapped him hard. His face turned on the other side because
"Jess! I have something to tell you!" I closed my eyes tightly as I leaned my back against the back of my room's door. The phone is in my ear, hearing Jess' laughter even if I haven't told him anything yet. I pressed my palm on my forehead and breathed deeply to soothe myself.I had just tucked Jared in his bed when I went straight to my room for this call. It is a good thing that Jess immediately answered my phone call."What is it?" Amusement can be heard from his voice.Walking to my bed and sitting on it, I groaned at Jess. I laid my half-body on the bed; my feet were hanging on the floor."Ethan told me that the name of the model is Eleanor!" I rolled my eyes when my mind recalled everything that had happened today. He chuckled, which made me irritated at him more. "You told me they stayed at the hotel for four days! Alone! But he informed me earlier that they didn't and they were not alone. They went in that hotel for just their lunch, and they were with their secretaries and at
Is it possible to let the person who once destroyed your life enter your life again for the second time? The probability that you will be destroyed and shattered is as high as the skies; however, why do we keep on accepting the people who we know could bring nothing but harm to our lives? Why do we keep on sacrificing our peace, in trade for uncertain and short-lived happiness?I don't know.Because if I do, I won't be replying to Ethan's message at me, allowing him to call me in the middle of the night, even after all that he had done to me."Hello," his husky voice conquered my ear so much that I almost fell asleep because of how peaceful it sounds.I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. My heart is pounding my ribcage as I hear the sound of his deep and heavy breathing."Hi," I answered with my small voice. I was pinching my legs as I waited for him to talk; however, as the seconds passed without him talking and only breathing huskily, I think I just wanted us to stay this way
It's almost lunchtime when I finished all the proposals I needed to run a thorough check. I let out a deep sigh as I massaged my temple, closing my eyes and relaxing a bit, trying to concentrate and give myself a break for all the paperwork I had reviewed and signed today. When I opened my eyes, I caught a glimpse of another batch of papers under my table. Whispering my groan, I sighed heavily and stood up to avoid the piled papers."Are you okay, mom?" Jared's soft voice lingered in me as I massaged my hands as well as my fingers.I take a look at him, still sitting on the chair beside me, sketching different designs on his sketch pad. I smiled at him and nodded, showing him that everything was okay. He pouted and narrowed his eyes a bit, checking me from my head to my toe, analyzing if I was telling the truth that I was okay or not. In the end, he nodded his head and smiled a bit."It's lunch time. What do you want for lunch?" I asked, caressing his hair while taking a look at the d
"Bitch," she whispered, and tears started to form around her eyes. Watching my employees around, I gave them a knowing look, which made them immediately go back to work. On the other hand, Jason, who was looking troubled as he watched the two of us here, didn't know what to do.I sighed and calmly looked at Elyse, despite my heart burning with anger. I am not going to lose my dignity and class for this kind of woman. The last thing I want to see and hear is my name being dragged into this kind of issue. I am more than this, and I won't stoop that low to prove a point.I shook my head and turned my back at her, not saying anything, even though my heart was screaming for a million words."Miss, you can't..."I knew by now that Elyse was trying to follow me. I stopped Jason from completing his remark by raising my hand. I faced them and smiled assuringly at Jason, not minding Elyse, who was giving me a dead look and was trying to follow me inside. I don't care about her. Whatever she wan
"J-Jared," I whispered when I heard his little sobs coming out of his small lips. When he took a look at me, I saw his tears continuously falling down his face. He is holding my legs tightly but warily; it seems like he is afraid of losing me, and at the same time, he is afraid of hurting me."What are you doing to my mother?! Why are you hurting her?!" he screamed at Ethan, voice laced with concern, anger, and pain, his tears keep on falling and his lips quivering as he grunted in front of his father."Jared..." I called to stop him from saying that, but he ignored it. Pain is written on his face and eyes; it can also be heard in his voice."My mommy is bleeding! You made her bleed! I hate you! I hate you so much! You hurt my mother!" He continued on screaming while sobbing. My brows furrowed at what he said—that I was bleeding. When I took a look at my right hand on his shoulder, I saw it bleeding, maybe because Elyse accidentally scratched me earlier.My eyes went to Ethan and Elys
But before he could treat my wound, Jared immediately got in between us, making him move a bit to give him space. He took the first-aid kit Ethan was holding."I'm going to take care of my mom's wound," he said dryly, the shuddering and aftersob in his voice were still there. I thought Ethan would insist on treating my wound instead, but it seems like he is ready to oblige for everything that Jared wants. His lips were apart as he nodded his head, letting our son take the first-aid kit in his hand and moving away to let Jared sit in front of me.However, before Jared could squat in front of me, I held his hand, and I stood up immediately. His forehead creased as he watched me stand up."Baby, it's alright. I can treat it.""But I can take care of it, too, mommy. It bothers me whenever I see your wound; it makes my heart hurt, mommy. I don't want you hurt; I don't want you in pain." He then turns around to face his father, who is watching the two of us talk, with his lips apart and eye
I quickly pushed Ethan a bit away from me. And I felt my cheeks burning as I realized we were about to kiss! I don't know if I should thank Jared for getting in between us or not.Oh damn, Pennelope! Of course, you should thank your son! Why? Do you also want to kiss him? Of course not!"Mommy, are we in our house already?" He asked in a little husky voice, squeezing his eyes as he got up from laying on my lap. Ethan's arm was still on my lap, even though Jared is now wide awake and sitting beside me! And I know he also knows he won't need to carry him! But still, his arm stayed there.I glared at him and signaled for him to remove his arm from my lap before Jared could see it. However, instead of removing it and moving a bit, he even has the guts to move near us! His car is big, yes! But with the three of us here in the backseat, I can't breathe properly!"Yes, son. You fell asleep while we were on our way, and we are being too careful about carrying you so that you won't get awake,"
Ethan's POV“I didn't expect you to come home today.” Pennelope whispered, caressing my naked body with her soft hands. I kissed her head and embraced her more. We are in the bathtub of her room and we have just finished making love.I missed her so much.“When I learned you are planning a party for your company's fourth anniversary, I wanted to surprise you. So I made sure I am present in your big event.”She lifted her head from lying on my chest. “How did you even know about the party?” She narrowed her eyes. I sighed and smirked. “Ethan!”I chuckled. “I'm sorry, I just can't stand getting no information about you so I made sure that all your men will report to me before I leave for Italy.”She groaned. “And I did not even know about it?”“You will not let it happen if you find out about it.” I ran my fingers on her arm down to her ring finger, where the ring I just gave her is on. “It really fits on your finger.” I whispered huskily.She laid her head on my chest again as we b
Pennelope's POVI saw and read it in the magazines multiple times. He was seen in a famous hotel in Italy with the same woman multiple times. So it is possible that he is already opening up his heart for someone. It hurts, yes. But I asked him this. So I don't have any choice but to accept whatever consequences it may cause me. The woman is a famous model here in the United States so maybe he really did not go to Italy for a business trip, huh? Maybe he went there for the both of them to date?I gulped and shook my head, trying to erase the thoughts running in my mind.It only took twenty minutes before we arrived at my company. Everyone greeted us with their big and warm smiles as we approached the hallway. Today is my company's fourth anniversary. And I am happy to celebrate it with my employees. The Spades together with David Falcon got jailed already. I don't know how it happened so quickly but they are sentenced for a lifetime imprisonment. I learned that Elyse is pregnant wi
Pennelope's POVOne call from Ethan and I felt all my blood go to my head. I immediately answered the phone with my trembling hands.“Ethan, w-what happened?” I asked nervously. I can hear his deep breathing from the other line, indicating that he's already tired. “He is already saved. I already found him,” he said with a husky voice.“Oh, god! Thank you! Where are you? Where is he? I'm going-”“He's unconscious…” he said, which cut me off.“What? Ethan, where are you? I'm going there! Ethan!”He told me the address of where he is right now together with Jared. It is the address of an Hospital. I don't know what to feel. I wanted to be happy and feel relieved because my son is already found, but I can't completely be happy knowing that he is unconscious now. Ethan did not let me drive my car. He asked one of his men to do the job for me. And although I wanted him to know that I could do it alone, I did not waste any more time. All I want is to see my son. All I want is to embrace
Ethan's POVHearing that, my sight darkened and all I wanna do right now is to go with the Spades and get my son back with us. I don't care about their lives anymore. I will kill for my son.I will kill just to save my son's life.I brought all my remaining men with me, having their weapons equipped within themselves. It's already dawn. Anytime soon now, the sun will rise, which means another day will start again. And I swear to all the heavens, all of this chaos will end before this day ends. I swear it. And if I swear, I only don't swear. I make it happen.The Spades mansion is big but not as big as the Falcon's mansion. They are surrounded by my men there. So it was easy for us to get informed about what was happening there. I took my guns and suppressed sniper rifle with me and wore my earpiece.“Are you sure you can do it by yourself? I can join you, Ethan.” Erman said with a worried tone.I clenched my jaw and tightened my grip on the gun. “No, I can do it. But always be ready,
Ethan's POVThe unending challenges are exhausting me. The pain throwing to my heart is killing me. But I have to bear the pain to fight back. Because I knew that everything would be worth it. Whatever I am doing and fighting for, I know it will be worth it. My family, Pennelope and Jared, is worth it. I ran my hands on the prepared and ready to use weapons in the headquarters. I know I promised my wife that I will not hurt any innocent people and I also promised that no one will die. However, I cannot promise we won't be using guns because this is not just about who is much powerful and has better connections, this is about who is smarter, who has the best idea, and who does not have weakness.I used to be called a heartless billionaire. I used to play fire with women everytime I wanted to take some steam off my body. I did not care about their feelings. I did not care about other people's feelings. Not until Pennelope came into my life.She changed my perspective about everything.
Pennelope's POVI am eager to end this. It has ruined beautiful things, turned special events into something horrific. Am I going to wait for further destruction before I end this?No. This has to end already. I do not know if Ethan already knows what Killian has said to me. Do I believe him? Not really, but hearing him out, telling me his explanations, I believe him at some point. Every word he said was full of sincerity.I know that he is good at faking things and this may just be his way to lure me… but I can feel that he is telling the truth. “Please answer the phone…” I whispered to myself as I wandered around the balcony. After the call I had with Killian, I immediately typed Ethan's phone number to call him. Unfortunately, he is not answering it. I have been calling him for the third time now and there was still no response. “Please…” Just as I said it, Ethan's baritone voice came on the other line.“Baby…” I knew it was him. I gulped and for a moment, I forgot the words
Pennelope's POVI do not know what's happening. The events occurred quickly. Ethan's men guided me to our car and they drove me back to our house, without Ethan with me. With my trembling hands, I took my phone out of my purse. Just like rain, continuous messages from different people popped out on my screen. I could not read all their messages one by one. Even Jessie has multiple messages on me but I did not try to read it. I went to a famous website platform, and I saw what Ethan was saying. Dalilah Spade, mother of Elyse Spade, is being interviewed by one of the most reliable and famous media outlets in the country. “We are still investigating everything. The Falcons are users. They used and involved my daughter in their crimes. And now, my daughter's life is being ruined because of Ethan Falcon. We thought they were married. We thought Ethan Falcon married our daughter. But it turned out, everything was just a lie.”I gulped as my heart knocked my chest hard and loud. “For five
Pennelope's POVEthan's explanation did not make me feel better. It did not ease the pain that I had felt back then or the betrayal I am feeling right now. I still feel... betrayed. I still feel... like I was a trash... easy to throw away and easy to forget. "Should I thank you then for s-saving my life?" My voice broke as I asked Ethan that question.No matter how hard I try to stop my tears from falling, I can't. They are flowing down like rainfall. It was easy for him to give up on me. It was easy for him to abide his family's want, just as easy as like that. He married me. He made a promise, and I kept it in my heart. But why did he let me go away? Why did he let me feel the pain I felt back then? Why did he let me go through all the pain I went through? His love was not enough to fight for me. His love was too shallow."B-Baby," he tried to hold my hand, but I shoved it away. I sobbed hard as I looked into his eyes. I glanced at his father, who's crying, and at Elyse, whose ey
Ethan's POVThe sound of water coming from the shower is so relaxing. Its cold breeze is calming my nerves, and it brings chills to my deepest bones inside.I do not usually experience it before, but now that I have seen Pennelope and have fallen in love with her again after five years, I suddenly feel the excitement of being alive. That day, I immediately called the leader of my men to find Pennelope. The excitement to see her again is so strong that I could not concentrate on work and could not take even a single nap. I need to see her again. I need to talk to her. And it may be wrong to say it, but I need to get her back. I need to win her back and bring her back into my life again. The five years of being tortured are already enough. Actually, I already gave up on finding Pennelope and having her back in my life again. Not because I do not love her anymore or because I do not want her in my life anymore. But rather because I knew that what I had done could not be forgiven. And ev