Maxwell was having another rough day at work. It was the day after Angelina's birthday and though it was Boxing day, he didn't stay behind to unwrap the Christmas gifts as he complained of work overload. However, upon reaching the company, trying as hard as he may, he just couldn't concentrate on his work at all. He just found himself thinking, should he? Should he make that leap of faith?These past few days, he has been seeing different sides of Angelina. Different sides that make her all the more attractive and totally irresistible to him.It was as if she was a woman covered in many layers and as gradually each one of them is uncovered, he gets to see a glimpse of the real woman hidden deep inside. He found himself pondering whether he indeed had been too hasty in passing a judgement over her. Because he found it hard to believe that someone who could do all that she has been doing for not just him and Isabella but everyone else she comes in contact with, can truly be just preten
By the time Angelina returned home from delivering both Alicia and Jeremy's Christmas gifts, it was already late in the afternoon and so she headed straight to the kitchen to prepare a late lunch.Once everything was done, she packed some lunch for Maxwell as usual but as she called Gregory in order to come and take it to him at the office, he told her that the boss wasn't at the company and had given him the day off as well. Finding that strange as he had earlier mentioned that he had a lot of work to do at the office, she tried all his numbers but to no avail as he wasn't responding.With an uneasy feeling at the pit of her stomach, she called Isabella who has been sleeping all this while. They then took their lunch together even though the uneasiness didn't allow Angelina to eat sufficiently. After clearing the dishes, she made her way upstairs in order to freshen up.However, upon reaching the second floor, a thought suddenly came to her mind. What if he's actually in his study, d
Angelina stopped dead in her tracks. And with her hand still on the door knob, she turned her head to look at the teary-eyed Isabella who then closed the distance between them by running to her and hugging her tightly from behind. "D--don't go, M--Maa--ma! P-lease!"Overwhelmed with both the negative feelings Maxwell evoked in her and the joy of hearing Isabella calling her 'Maama' as well as speaking a full though short sentence for the very first time, Angelina broke into emotion-laden sobs as she turned around in Isabella's arms and wrapped her arms around her as well. Even though this came at the most inopportune time, she was quite happy and relieved that it had finally happened.After that incident that led to Isabella having a cardiac arrest, according to Lucy, she kept having recurrent nightmares. And sometimes during the daytime, she would just isolate herself, sitting quietly in one corner, lost in her own gloomy world. The wheels in Angelina's head had begun turning
Throughout that day, Maxwell didn't come out of his study. He remained locked inside the room, doing goodness knows what. As for Isabella, after shedding the inevitable tears that fell from her eyes after Angelina's departure, she wiped them out with a firm resolution. She wasn't going to allow her Dada to realize that Angelina's departure had greatly affected her. That's because she knows he might use that as an excuse to force Angelina to return to the mansion. And she just couldn't do that to her devastated Maama. She really didn't deserve what Maxwell did to her and forcing her to return and live under the same roof as the man who had humiliated her would be quite unfair to her. As such, lsabella masked her feelings and went about her normal activities.When it was time for dinner, Isabella warmed some leftovers which she found in the fridge, served herself and placed Maxwell's portion outside the locked door of his study. She then texted him, telling him about it before leaving
Jeremy quickly stepped forward and gently pried Alicia's hands away from Maxwell's collar while coaxing her, "No, no, no darling, that's not the right way to handle any situation. Let's calm down and talk this over like adults, okay?"Alicia opened her mouth to speak but Maxwell beat her to it. "No Logan. Let her do whatever she wants to do to vent her anger. As long as she will tell me about my wife's whereabouts after that."Alicia opened her mouth to speak once again but this time around, it was her fiance who stopped her from speaking. He gently dragged her away from Maxwell's side and made her sit down on one of the wooden boxes containing her stuff. Then in a gentle tone, he addressed her. "Please darling, just sit down here and let me handle this, okay? You're not in the right frame of mind for this."Alicia huffed before glaring at Maxwell. However, she remained sitting, wordlessly obeying her fiance. Seeing that, Jeremy heaved a sigh of relief before turning to
Jeremy tried to coax her for the umpteenth time. "It's okay sweetheart. What has happened has already happened and now all we have to do is think of a solution, okay?"Turning to Maxwell, he spoke to him in an understanding tone. "You were jealous."Maxwell abruptly looked at him. It was a statement and not a question. He just stared at Jeremy with an unreadable expression on his face without uttering a word. But Alicia wasn't so quiet. "Huh? What are you talking about? He humiliated my friend and you're talking about jealousy? What he did was pure humiliation at its peak so don't sugar-coat it!"Jeremy shook his head with a half-smile on his face. "No sweetheart. You're not a man so you won't understand how these things are. Believe me, his actions are justified and if I was in his shoes, I might have even done worse. He had once seen me deliberately flirting with Angelina just so as to rile both of them up. And when he came here and found me with a woman who had s
That was just the beginning of Maxwell's misery because try as hard as they may, finding Angelina proved to be abortive. All their sleepless nights, hard work, commitment and doggedness were in vain as gradually, the days slipped into weeks and still, there wasn't even the slightest clue on Angelina's whereabouts.Even tracking her phone number was futile because the last place it was traced to was Maxwell's mansion, on the same fateful day that she disappeared. And when Mr. Smith failed to get any lead on her whereabouts, Maxwell hired five more private investigators located in different parts of the country and tasked them all to find his missing wife. Not just that, he hired two more in the United States of America, just in case she might have already returned back home. After about two weeks of fruitless search, a frantic Maxwell became sorely tempted to report the matter to the police but Alicia, who knows Angelina like the back of her hand, stopped him. According to her, since
It was late in the night and as they have been doing every single night for the past month and a half, the two ladies kept chatting back and forth between each other. And these ladies are none other than Isabella and her dearest Maama; Angelina!Right from the first night she left the mansion, Angelina had been communicating with Isabella via the new number that the latter had gotten for her which no one else except the two of them knows about. They chose to be having their daily chats at around ten pm in the night because that's the perfect, secretive time since Lucy is fast asleep and Maxwell had already done his nightly routine of checking up on Isabella and returned to the west wing.Tonight, Angelina had a worried look on her face as she typed a message to Isabella which read, 'But Bella, don't you think we've taken this too far? Let us not punish so many people for the mistake of just one. I'm really worried about Alicia and Jeremy. I heard that she has been missing her lec
Six months later… In the just concluded bakery section of the state of the art buildings of Isabella Gallagher Memorial Foundation, a heavily pregnant Angelina waddled around, inspecting the ultramodern baking equipments. Even though Lucy had volunteered to be the caretaker of the London-based foundation center, from time to time, Angelina goes there to inspect things, especially when a new project has been completed or when some newly- bought equipments have arrived. That's not because she didn't trust Lucy's capability of handling things superbly. No, far from it. She knows she's quite capable and just goes there to make sure things are running smoothly. After all, the foundation is her pet project and her lifelong dream and she loves it just like her own baby! So far, apart from the basic infrastructures that had already been established in both the American and London-based foundation centers, a culinary school, sewing and knitting center, sports arena, arts school for painting
Over the moon with joy, Maxwell hastily slipped the ring unto her finger and as he got up to seal it with a kiss, Angelina's hand suddenly appeared in front of his lips and pushed them away from hers. "Not so fast, lover boy! We have a score to settle first."Maxwell's eyes instantly widened in trepidation. What score do they have to settle? He thought they have already crossed that bridge earlier. He thought she had already forgiven him! But before he could voice out his fears, Angelina's melodic voice reached his ears. "You came here, wowed me with your mind-blowing confession, went ahead to steal my breath away by telling me I'm the one for you, your peace of mind, your bane of existence, your home, your soulmate and so many other mind-blowing things before going down on one knee and proposing to me. You did all that, without even giving me any chance to state my own feelings. Oh I forgot, I don't suppose to have any feelings. After all, 'you know I don't share your feel
Maxwell couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. And he knows for sure that he isn't dreaming so could this mean…He looked towards Ethan who was standing behind Angelina for confirmation and just as he nodded his head to confirm that indeed she has regained her memories, Angelina's voice rent the air once again. "Pfft! Can you believe this, bro? I thought that your friend would be a little more excited about seeing me but it seems…"Angelina never got to finish saying what she intended to as she suddenly felt her body engulfed in a very tight hug against a warm, tall, hard and familiar body. In a flash, her own hands automatically wrapped themselves around the tall, imposing figure. At the same time, her eyes fluttered close on their own accord. Their joined bodies reverberated as in unison, both she and Maxwell released very huge, deeply felt sighs of relief. Home, at last! At long, long last they are finally where they rightfully belonged; in the most blissful home ev
Ethan and Robert had just finished having an early dinner together and were on their way to the airport when the former received a call. Upon checking the caller id on the screen, a frown materialized on his face. But that notwithstanding, he swiped and answered the call. "What's up Dr. I-know-it-all? Have you perhaps forgotten your stethoscope with me? Or is it your brain?"From the other end, Dr. Nick sighed. "Look, Mr. Marlowe, I haven't called you for another round of bickering. We need to talk. Urgently. Where are you now? Since you're answering your calls I can tell that you haven't boarded the plane yet, so where can I meet you?"It was Ethan's turn to frown as he instantly became alert. "What's the matter? What happened? How is Angie? Don't tell me anything happened to her! M.J would kill you if anything happens to even a single hair on her head!"Dr. Nick huffed. "Relax, dude. Jolie is perfectly fine. Well, I guess she'll be if only you keep quiet, listen t
Dr. Nick clamped his eyes shut as out of nowhere, sudden pain, sadness and gloom overcame him. How could he have been so blinded? How could he have let his feelings cloud his rational thinking? He had fallen for a woman who is way beyond his reach! He knew right from the onset that she belonged to someone else, that she was someone else's wife but he still let his guard down such that his hidden and long-suppressed feelings for her gradually resurfaced!And now, she is pregnant. What cruel game is this that fate is playing with them all? Here he is, deeply and passionately in love with his childhood buddy but he can neither express it nor even think of acting on it because she's carrying the baby of another man. Another man whom she has absolutely no memories of at all– the man she believes is nobody but a complete stranger to her! God! What kind of mess is this?!What is he supposed to do now? How is he going to break the news of her pregnancy to her when she doesn't even remember h
Angelina grinned widely at him. "Of course! You're my best friend so of course you can't just like me! And you know the feeling is mutual too, right? You're the bestest best friend in the whole wide world and so I love you too!"Once again, Dr. Nick gave her that strange, intense look and cleared his throat. "Erm…Jolie, I have something that I want to tell…"Just then, the shrill sound of his phone interrupted him and as he looked down at the caller id, his entire demeanor instantly changed. Without answering the call, he abruptly got up from his seat while saying to Angelina, "Shit! I completely forgot that I'm supposed to meet someone by two pm today and it's already a quarter to two now."Perplexed at his reaction to the call, Angelina, who had also seen the caller id before he silenced the phone, frowned up at him in confusion. "Who is this Mr. Blondie whose mere call has gotten you so worked up like this? You don't even behave this way when the hospital medical
Maxwell stood in front of the large painting of Angelina and himself in his exquisitely furnished living room, slowly tracing the outline of his wife's gorgeous face with misty eyes and a forlorn and wistful expression on his face.All of a sudden, he felt a hand on his shoulder and even before her gentle, soothing voice rent the air, he knew it was his mother. "You know that staring at her picture will not magically conjure her up, right? Why are you doing this to yourself, son? When will you stop punishing yourself? It's been almost two months now since we left Croatia. Since you left your wife with a complete stranger! All you do is keep sending money, stuffs and either Ethan or Robert to go check on her while you remain here torturing yourself with depressing thoughts. Just take a look at yourself. You haven't just lost a lot of weight but also look so haggard! Arnold told me that once I'm not here, you don't eat at all and hardly sleep at night. And now you're standing here
When Dr. Nick had given Angelina the two gadgets that Maxwell sent over for her, she had only accepted the laptop and refused to accept the phone, claiming that she had no use for it since she had no one to communicate with.Even though that's what she claimed, the real reason is because she doesn't want any reminder of her past life at the moment, the past life that she has no memories of as at present. She knows that once she has a phone, someone connected to her forgotten past might call her and that will inevitably push back those depressing thoughts which she had shoved away to the forefront and hence, make her sad and gloomy. And that's the last thing she wanted at the moment. All she wants is to pretend as if all is well, to live in the moment, to be happy and keep having great fun with her best friend. Therefore, she surely doesn't want a phone as of now! If her memories return in the future, then she'd surely require a phone. But as of now, she had no need for it!When Dr. Ni
Dr. Nick didn't get a chance to return to his office until much later in the evening when he had rounded up all he had to do for the meantime. And after having one look at his tired face, Angelina abruptly got up, took the lunch basket in her left hand before holding Dr. Nick's hand with the right one. "You're coming home with me right this second, Dr. Lifesaver!"However, instead of letting her to pull him along with her like she intended to, Dr. Nick stayed put in his place while shaking his head and saying, "No Jolie. I can't leave now. I just performed surgeries on two of my patients and I have to be there when they eventually come to. I need to assess them and…" "Oh no, Dr. Lifesaver, you have already done your part. There are other doctors who can do whatever needs to be done. Besides, you look so tired and dead on your feet and as far as I know, you can only save lives when you yourself are alive and well! So like I said earlier, you are coming home with me now