The next day was a Saturday and so the kids were home. After lunch, as both Angelina and Nanna got busy in the kitchen washing all the utensils they used, Maxwell and Nanna's two grandkids; Paolo and Lisa, occupied themselves playing in the living room.After playing hide and seek for a while, Lisa got bored of it and pouted, "I'm tired of hiding and seeking! I want a pony ride!"Nanna, who had just walked out of the kitchen alongside Angelina, quickly intervened before Maxwell is lured by the playful, hyperactive kids and forced to do something he's not used to. "Sorry Lisa, but no pony rides for you. Have you forgotten that Paolo strained your Papa's back while giving him a pony ride the other day? You don't want someone else to get hurt, do you?"Just as Lisa slowly shook her head, they all saw Maxwell bending down on all fours before he turned to smile at Lisa. He then opened his mouth to speak but before he could get a word out, Nanna hastily protested, "Oh no you
The following day, even though Maxwell woke up feeling much better, he didn't repeat the mistake of giving in to the kids' demands once again. Infact when Paolo looked at him while they were all having breakfast at the dining table and excitedly chirped, "Uncle Max, yesterday's pony ride was so boring! It was a bit fun at the beginning but then I eventually got bored. I just kept on going just because of you. I didn't want to hurt your feelings since you seemed so eager to do it. Anyway, I know what we can do today that is really fun! How about we do the pony rides outside on the gravels? It will be just like real horse-riding in the open fields! I love ponies and since I don't have one, that will be the best replacement."Maxwell nearly spilled out the food in his mouth due to both shock and horror. Pony rides on the gravel? He wants him to go on all fours, with both hands and two knees galloping around on the bare fields with gravel, stones, grass and goodness knows what else
Much later, they sat down to enjoy a very sumptuous picnic while Angelina animatedly rattled on about the fun she was having. After the underwater scooter ride, they had undergone more series of fun beach activities that Angelina chose which include playing frisbee, water bucket relay, building sandcastles and last but definitely not the least, racing one another both on the beach and while swimming inside the water, both of which Maxwell deliberately let Angelina win just so as to make her feel happy.As she kept on babbling on and on about the fun she had, Maxwell arched his perfect eyebrow at her and queried, "You call that fun? How about I show you what real fun and adrenaline rush is truly like? Are you up to it?" "Is that a challenge? If yes, bring it on, frogman!" "Then get ready to jump in pure delight, like the frog you are, frogwoman!"**************Angelina frowned when she saw the set up of the activity Maxwell chose for them. "What's this? Why does i
About two weeks after their return from Spain, Angelina was in the garden with Honey perched on the concrete chair beside her when Elliot, one of the burly security guards came to her, bearing a large bouquet of flowers and a dessert box in his hands. Like she usually does to all their workers, she didn't wait for him to greet her as she cheerily greeted him first. "Good morning Eli! For you to have left your post, this morning must be a very special one indeed!" Elliot removed his dark glasses and bowed his head respectfully. He's the no-nonsense chief security guard and a man of very few words. All that matters to him is his duty. "Good morning Angelina ma'am. This is a special delivery for Sir."The smile on Angelina's face instantly vanished. Special delivery for Sir? Flowers and desserts? For Maxwell? Her husband?Just as that thought came to her mind, another tiny voice in her mind reminded her, 'Contract husband. Remember, he's just your contract husband Angie!'
For the first time in all of her life, Angelina was at a loss of words. She didn't know what to say or do as she didn't want to say the wrong thing and blow up the whole thing. This is the very first time that he's opening up to her about his past and she's afraid that if she crossed her limit by saying the wrong thing, he might clamp his mouth shut once again. And she had so many questions that she was dying to ask but she didn't know if he would even answer her or just tell her to mind her own business. Afterall, theirs was a marriage in name only.But Angelina will always be Angelina. So biting the bullet, she queried, "Where is she now? How come she never visits? Or calls?"From where she's standing, Angelina could vividly see Maxwell stiffening as soon as she asked those questions. Thinking that she must have crossed her limit just as she had feared that she might, Angelina sighed. She turned to face the door and slowly made her way towards it. She had just placed her right
Trigger Warning: The chapter you're about to read contains talks that might be considered a trigger to some people. There will be no explicit description at all, just few vague narrations of the abuse the male lead went through. So please be warned. Thank you. "He married her when I was four and a half and from the first day that she came into our lives, she started…touching me."Angelina gasped out loud while her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in horror. Touching him? A four year old?! Never, never in her most wildest imaginations had she thought that was what he meant when he described Janette as a devil. She had heard of pedophiles but she had always thought that they existed only in make-believe stories and not in reality. Never in reality! "At first, it was just with her hands, then with time, she used her mouth as well. She always threatened me with a knife, pledging to slit my throat and that of my Nanna's if I dared to tell anyone. And I never did because I
Maxwell's low tone broke into her thoughts. "Fortunately, I was finally able to get rid of her about two years after I started M.J Tech. At that time, I had built a small bungalow for myself and thinking that my business had started blooming, she brought Isabella to me, claiming that she couldn't continue living with an imbecile. That was what ticked me off. I loved Isabella ever since she was born and so that name she called her with just because she couldn't speak hurt me a lot. So I took in Isabella, hired Lucy and placed a very tight security which kept Janette out of my life for a very long time. She kept trying though, and I must admit, keeping her at bay was one of the hardest things I have ever done." "I suffered beyond imagination. The withdrawal syndrome…it was something else. But with courage, determination and will power, I passed through the phase by immersing myself completely in my work, taking care of Isabella, therapy sessions and doing some… strategies of
Maxwell sharply turned to look at her. Although he wasn't really sure about his mother's case, what Angelina said made sense. A lot of sense infact. He had hastily passed judgement on Angelina and up till now, he's still regretting that. The woman he had written off as a two-timing, deceptive, phony and scheming she-devil had actually turned out to be the sweetest, kindest, funniest and most pure-hearted angel he had ever come across. So yes, what she just said made a great deal of sense indeed! Hasty judgements mostly lead to regrets.Angelina's melodic voice stole into his thoughts. "I'm still confused about one thing though. You mentioned earlier that you banned both of your parents from interfering with your life. But in your story, it was your father who…erm, sent you away."Maxwell scoffed. "Yeah, when the love of his life came back into his life, the duke thought that he could have it all. I guess he thought that her return into his life automatically meant that ev
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