“Okay,”Nicholas replied. He extended his hand and introduced his name, “I'm Nicholas.” Sensing that the name might be difficult for a child to pronounce, he added, “You can call me Nick.” Coco smiled and shook his head, “Oh. Hello, Mister. I'm Charlotte. Since I hate my name, you can call me Coco.”Nicholas laughed. “What's wrong with Charlotte? It's such a beautiful name. I knew a beautiful woman whose name was Charlotte.”She crinkled her nose and said, “Knew.”“It's a little old–”Nicholas agreed. She said, “It's centuries old.”Nicholas laughed. “Not exactly.”“So, Charlotte.”This time, she threatened him with big eyes, “Coco.”Nicholas laughed at her cuteness and added, “Okay, Coco. Shall I help you with a house for your babies?”“Do you know how to do that?” She asked, happily. Nicholas said to her, “I can try “She rolled her eyes and said, “Oh please don't be like my brother. He is very bad at tires.”Nicholas said, “I will make it.”Coco said, raising her brow, “I will jud
The following day, Roseanne had dropped kids at their school and went straight to the cafe. Lisa, the receptionist was not there and so she was sitting in her place. Since she was quite close to her staff and there was no other person to cover Lisa’s shift, she didn't mind covering it. As she was doing her work sitting on Lisa’s seat, she saw someone placing a book in front of her. She looked up to find Nicholas holding a couple of books. “This is?” She asked, confused. “There is a section to donate books,”Nicholas told her. “I want to donate these old books.”Roseanne looked at the books that looked so fresh that she knew he took them from the books stores just a few moments ago. “Maria, take these books from Mr Hart,” Roseanne said. “He wants to donate them.”“Thank you, Mr Hart,” Roseanne said. Seeing the politeness between them, he felt uncomfortable. She was always polite to him yet he felt sometimes that she was keeping him at arms length. She would not entertain him. She
To say that Roseanne was scared to be an understatement. She put on a mask of bravery and asked him, “What does it mean?”“I am just saying that you should not ignore me,” Nicholas said, taking a sip of the coffee. He acted nonchalant after throwing a big bomb at her. “What made you think that I was ignoring you?” Roseanne asked him. “Each time, I am around, you try to hide or run away from me,” Nicholas told her. “Don't say that I'm thinking too much. I am not. I have noticed it.”“What is it that you can not be around me?” Nicholas asked, crossing the boundaries that he had made around him. He did not want to act on his impulses but this woman was making him crazy. He had been trying to stay away from her but it was harder for her. Each day he found himself running to her cafe. Initially, he used to tell himself that it was because he liked how this place felt. But soon he realised that he was coming here to catch a glimpse of her. She had made him starved with her attention. Wh
The doorbell rang and Nicholas got up to open the door. He did not find anyone outside the door. Thinking that somebody might have left as he took time to leave, he was on his way back. He was about to shut the door when he heard the sound of a little girl. A very familiar voice indeed which made him smile. Looking down at her, he saw her dragging the boy from his collar. She looked quite rowdy doing that. While she was skinny, her brother was a bit chubby. He wondered where she got the strength to drag him. “Leon, you cannot go back, ”Coco yelled at him. She wanted to beat him up but since she was a believer in non-violence, she chose to not do that, “You promised Mommy that if you apologize to Nick, she will not ground you anymore.”‘Why don't you tell Mommy that I apologized to that man?” Leon requested her. At no cost, he wanted to go inside. Coco did not know the truth about the identity of the man inside. If she knew, things would be different. But he could not tell anyone tha
“What about your babies?” Coco asked him. “They are also home? Do you not miss them? Do they not miss you? When my daddy goes to work far away, I miss him terribly. But he does not take me with him. Even if I go with him, I miss mommy back home. What should I do? Being a baby is so difficult.”Coco was just stressed that her father would not be coming home for some days. Although their mommy said he would be back soon, she knew that he would come late like always. Nicholas laughed. “Indeed, it is. But I do not have babies.”“Why?” Coco asked him again. Nicholas shrugged, “Because god does not give me babies.”Coco facepalmed herself and said, “Oh, silly. Men do not get babies. Girls get. Like my mommy got babies. What about your wife? Does she have babies?”Nicholas gave her a small smile and said, “My wife is with god. He did not give me babies and took my wife too.”On the other hand, Leon just rolled his eyes and dipped his cookie in the milk. “That’s sad.” She got down from her
“When did mommy invite him for dinner?” Leon asked as they entered the gates of their house. Nicholas did not let kids go alone. He came to drop them at their house’s entrance as he didn't feel it was right for him to let them go all alone, no matter how secure the neighborhood was. Moreover, they had become his new friends. He did not know that he would feel attached to anyone, outside his family. Little did he know that one day he would meet two children and end up becoming their friend. Coco told him with an eye roll, “When you were grounded.”Leon said, narrowing his eyes, “You are lying.”Coco said, “I am not.”He pointed his finger at her and stressed on her lies, “You are.”As if he did not know she was a bluffing queen. She was lying and he could tell that. He did not know what to say about his dumb sister who had no idea what a mess she had created for everyone. He came to apologize because he did not want Nicholas and his mommy to meet. His mommy would be very sad if she s
When Roseanne reached her cafe, the police had already arrived. Her heart broke seeing how her cafe had been ruined. The newly built flower section which was in the front had taken the entire brunt. Tears pooled in her eyes seeing her hard work getting ruined by a group of goons. “Miss Deluca?” The officer in charge began talking to her. “We have been working to find the people who did this. We tried checking your CCTV but we couldn't find anything there.”“How is it possible?” Roseanne asked him. The CCTV was working perfectly till the time she was there. “Miss Deluca, your CCTV was not working when this incident took place,” The office informed her. “We are working on the case. If we find something, we will inform you.”The officers left soon after. Maria sent Roseanne home as there was nothing that they could do. Roseanne couldn't reach Nathaniel but she texted him, explaining the situation. As she reached home, it was almost morning and still she could not sleep a wink. On the
Saying this Roseanne left, leaving Nicholas behind. For some time, he was standing there, unable to move. He could not take her words out of his mind. Her eyes burned Anne Rose's, the same way she asked him for divorce that day five years ago. At that time, he didn't take his wife seriously and as a result, he lost her forever. However, he was not going to commit the same mistake again. He wanted to ask her what she meant. Why did she look, sound and feel like Anne Rose at this exact moment? The more he accepted that Anne Rose and Roseanne were two different people, the more there would be instances that forced him to think otherwise. He ran behind her. He wanted to get answers from her. She was still halfway. He grabbed her wrist and made her look at him. She yelped as he pulled her towards him. Her bloodshot eyes glared at him. “What's your problem, Nicholas Hart?”“I don't know,” Nicholas told her. “Tell me, what did you say that I am your problem as if I ruined your life?”Wit
“Are you nervous?” Charlotte asked, glancing at Sebastian as they stood outside the grand Hart estate.“A little,” he admitted, adjusting his collar.She leaned closer, whispering, “I’m more nervous than you.”He squeezed her hand. “I’m here with you.”“Dummy,” she muttered. “I’m nervous for you. My father might just eat you alive.”Sebastian paled slightly. “Great. That’s reassuring.”She smirked. “Don’t worry, I will bring you back alive.”He let out a nervous chuckle. “Maybe we should just walk in blindly and hope for the best.”With that, still holding each other’s hands, they stepped inside the Hart mansion. The housekeeper led them to the family room where a formidable audience awaited. Nicholas and Anne sat together, exuding quiet authority. To their left, Nathaniel and Sabrina watched with interest, while on the right Ellora and Nikolai observed with mild amusement.Sebastian greeted them one by one. He was trying to sound calm but his palms was damp.“You took a whole month t
The front door swung open, and Anne’s eyes widened in surprise.“Belly?” she said, barely masking her surprise.It had been a month since Abella left for her Europe trip, and she hadn’t mentioned anything about returning. But here she was, standing at the threshold, looking very exhausted. Without a word, Abella stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her mother in a tight hug.Anne was taken aback. She gently rubbed her daughter’s back. “Sweetheart, is everything okay?”Abella’s voice was small. “Estelle and Ronan got divorced.”Anne’s heart clenched.“She moved to London,” Abella continued, her grip on Anne tightened. “She is never coming back, Mom.”Anne held her even closer. “Oh, baby,” she murmured. “I know. I know. Come inside.”As they stepped in, Abella whispered, “I lost my best friend. She will live oceans away now. And the worst part? I can’t even cry about losing her because she is going through something so much worse.” Her voice trembled. “I don’t know what to do.”A
“What is this?” Emery asked as Ronan threw a file onto the table.Ronan’s jaw was tight, his hands clenched into fists. “Divorce papers,” he said flatly.Emery blinked in shock. “What?” She quickly picked up the papers, her eyes scanning through them. “Why?”“She wants a separation,” Ronan said, his voice laced with disbelief. “She already signed them and sent them to me. She wants me to process them so she can officially file for divorce.” His voice was eerily hollow as if he still couldn’t comprehend the situation.Emery’s expression hardened. “Then go to her. Fix this.”Ronan shook his head. “She is gone. Her mother told me she left for a vacation. No one knows where she is, not even her own family. They didn’t even know she filed for divorce until I told them. They are trying to reach her, but she is nowhere to be found.”Emery turned her attention back to the papers while flipping through the pages carefully. The documents were precise and every detail was written well. But when
Abella straightened up and stretched a little. “I think I will have iced tea instead of coffee. Coffee feels too serious for me,” she said with a smile.Cillian chuckled, his gaze softening as he watched her. “I will get you the coffee then.”Before he could reach for his wallet, she was already ahead of him while placing the order and turning to him with a grin. “It’s on me.”He raised an eyebrow, taken aback. Cillian Facci was a man who had always prided himself on taking care of his own bills and had never let a woman pay for him. He opened his mouth to protest, but she was already off to get their drinks.When she returned with the drinks and a tray of food, she asked, “Are you hungry? I am! What do you suggest?”Cillian pointed toward a combo meal that had been his go-to in his college days. She picked up two of them, and they sat at an empty table with the warm food in front of them. What is this alternate reality? he thought.As they dug into their meals, Abella took a bite of
“I’m a first-year medical student at NYU,” Abella answered, a proud smile playing on her lips. “I love my life there.”Cillian muttered under his breath, barely loud enough for her to hear, “So young and untainted.”Her eyes narrowed. “What was that?”“Nothing,” he said smoothly, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.She crossed her arms. “And what about you? Oh wait, let me guess a fancy lawyer fighting high-stakes battles for the immoral capitalists of the world?”Cillian let out a laugh at her sass. “I guess you are not entirely wrong.”Just then, his phone buzzed with a message. He glanced down at Carina.It will take me a bit longer. Wait for me. Don’t leave.He swore under his breath. That woman had some nerve while giving him orders.Shaking his head, he turned back to Abella, his gaze appraising. “Would you like to grab a coffee?”She arched a brow. “Aren’t you a little too old to be asking me for coffee?”His lips twitched in amusement. “How old do you think I am?”She t
“Abella, you can explore the campus while I meet Scottie,” Estelle said as they arrived at Oxford University. Her cousin was running late for a conference, leaving little time for their meeting. Wanting to see her first before heading to the hotel, Estelle decided to make the most of their brief window.“Oh, I like the idea,” Abella replied enthusiastically, already intrigued by the historical grandeur of the university.While Estelle went to meet her cousin, Abella took her time admiring the beauty of the Oxford campus. She had always loved the elegance of its architecture. Its ancient stone buildings stand proudly, ivy creeping along their walls, and students walk with books tucked under their arms. It was just like the movies that she had watched. Finding a quiet spot outside the Oxford Law School, she settled onto a wooden bench and pulled out a thick medical book. It was a contradiction, she knew, reading about anatomy in the heart of a law faculty but it didn’t bother her. She
Charlotte took a deep breath and met his gaze. “I’m sorry for not telling you about Cillian Facci. I wanted to, but the timing was never right.”When she met him, she forgot about everything. All she could recall was her. Sebastian studied her for a moment before shaking his head with a small understanding smile. “We never really had the time, did we? I don’t blame you.”Relieved, she reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Thank you for understanding.”He tilted his head slightly. “So… your parents know about me?”She nodded.“Will they like me?” he asked. His tone was light but she caught the hint of nervousness in his voice.A laugh bubbled out of her. “Maybe, maybe not. But does it really matter?”“A little,” he admitted. “I would rather not be the guy your family wants to strangle.”Charlotte smiled, understanding his worry. “My family is complicated. I was raised by two sets of parents.” She paused, then explained, “My birth parents are easier. My mom is probably over the moon t
After finishing their meal, Sebastian and Charlotte decided to take a short walk together in the beautiful garden of the hotel. They had spent the last two days doing nothing but enjoying each other’s company, and now the fresh air felt nice.As they strolled, Charlotte noticed Sebastian repeatedly declining an incoming call.“Who keeps calling?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.Sebastian sighed, a small and helpless smile on his lips. “It’s my dad.”Charlotte frowned. “It might be something important.”He shook his head. “Trust me, it’s not.” He hesitated for a moment before adding, “Earlier today, he asked me about my plans, and I told him I was going out with you. Now he won’t stop calling and texting, trying to find out if we got back together. He is more excited than a kid on Christmas morning.”He does not know what to do about his father who seemed to be more interested in his relationship with Charlotte. His dad had been given his long lectures over the texts on how to win a wom
"Be careful," Anne said over the phone."Mom, I'll be fine," Abella reassured her. "Thank you for letting me go.""This is for Estelle. I want her to be happy," Anne said gently. "If you need anything, let me know."Abella and Estelle were going on a trip to Europe. Their first stop was London, where Estelle wanted to visit her cousin, who was studying at Oxford. They planned to stay in London for a few days before continuing their journey across Europe. It was a long plan and she was going to spend her semester break by travelling with her best friend. "Have a safe journey, girls!" Anne added. "Call me when you land in London."Although they could have traveled by private jet, Abella and Estelle wanted an independent adventure just like any other young women. However, Anne insisted on booking them first-class seats, ensuring their comfort and safety.Now settled on the flight, Estelle and Abella took their seats, with Abella sitting directly behind Estelle.Just as they were getting