A feeling of helplessness washed over Ruhi as she walked out of the event room. She headed to the bathroom as large tears pooled in her eyes when she thought about Rafael with some other woman.
"Mira!" She tried to avoid whoever it was, but her coworker called her again and followed her.
"There you are. We are heading to the memorial hallway, wanna join?" Sarah asked her while the others were going downstairs to the hallway. It was a place filled with large portraits of Francesca in her ballerina costume. Antonio had bought the hotel after her death and had the hallway dedicated to her.
Ruhi decided it was better to go with her coworkers than crying in the bathroom and coming out with bloodshot eyes and ruined makeup.
"What's the matter? You okay?"
"Oh yeah, totally. That crab dip was super spicy, made me tear up." She carefully wiped the tiny droplets at the corner of her eyes with her finger and followed Sarah.
"But
"Rafael! What the hell are you doing?" Ruhi threw punches at his back as he carried her out of the room."Taking you home, of course.""Put me down! Everyone is watching us.""And why do I care? You are my wife." Rafaelignored the onlookers' eyes as he walked down the hallway to the elevator."I care, you asshole! I don't want to be known as your stupid wife."He slung her down once he walked into the elevator and pushed her against the wall panel."Why? So you can flirt with wankers like Wade?" He growled next to her ear, anger flashing in his warm brown eyes."That's none of your business. You brought thatlong-logged Czech modelwith you. So you shouldn't even be talking."He caught her off-guard by pulling her close andpinning her against his muscled chest whileclaiming her lips hungrily. Ruhi bit him on the lower lip and pushed him away without giving a chance to her treacherousbody to mel
Both the dogs came out running as Rafael dropped Ruhi to her feet and locked the front door."What the hell, guys? She left you. Aren't feeling even a tiny bit mad at her?" He asked his dogs, but they ignored him and rubbed their noses against Ruhi's knees."Aww, I missed you guys. You are soo soft but you never sit next to me." She said to Chunky Monkey and hugged him. "So now you come to me? After I left the house... you are just like an asshole I know." The dog licked her ear and woofed at Rafael."Enough you two. Off you go! She's mine." He picked Ruhi off the floor and pulled her close."No, I'm not!" She turned and hurried to the door, but he caged her between his arms. His breath fanning her cheekbrought prickles all over her skin, and her body ached with need.She wondered if people were hornier at this stage of their pregnancy or because it had been a while.Her body put up a tough fight against her willpower, with t
It was a foggy morning when Rafael woke up at the crack of the dawn to work out as usual. He felt tiredlike he barely slept for an hour. A delicious tingle ran down his body when he realized he indeed slept only for a couple of hours. It wasn't an ordinary morning when he always woke up alone in his bed.Ruhi had thrown the blanket on the floor and wrapped her legs around his. He felt her warm breath on his face and her lips on his forehead.His head was resting on her ample cleavage while her hands were around him in a protective hug."My baby!" He smiled at her peacefully sleeping face and untangled her arms around him.Feeling the loss of warmth, she cuddled closer and rested her head on his shoulder. He was soon slipping into a blissful daze because ofher nearness."Damn!" Giving up on the idea to go down to the gym, heput his arm around her, pulling her to his chest.He felt strangely at peace watching her sleep. Reachin
"It's freaking noon already!" She babbled on and ignored his words, for she knew she would want to cuddle with him and fall into a sweet slumber. The cozy blanket and his naked torso were too much to handle."Ruhi...!" He shook her hard when she won't stop talking."Please don't go. I don't want to live here without you." He couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth without his control. He was begging her to stay, something he never imagined, even in his scariest nightmares. Begging and looking vulnerable were unthinkable for him."Oh, my God, Rafael!" Ruhi pulled at her hair with both her hands, looking scared."Is my begging so scary to you?""What?" She looked clueless, and it relieved him that she didn't even hear what he said."What happened now?"She regretted not going to the gynecologist yet and getting checked up in case there were going to be any complications. She was so lost in the heat and passion that she forgot
"Who would want to listen to my conversations?" Ruhi repeated it a second time, now more to herself, wondering if that unknown infiltrator heard her talk to Lisa about her pregnancy.There were many nights she spent wide awake, yearning for the feel of Rafael's body next to her. The thought of someone hearing on her private times when she imagined him touching her while she moaned his name, made her feelembarrassed and pissed at the same time.The chief security officer was in the room within minutes and took care of the bug while talking to someone on the phone. More men arrived with devices that could detect radio frequencies."How long has this plant been here?" Rafael caressed Ruhi'scheek and placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her down."It's been a while. It was there when we had sex for the first time.""Samepot?""Yes. I was decorating your dad's living room for over two days before I s
"I think she's currently either working alone or with her mother-in-law, but she's not innocent as your parents think. Her husband is harmless and incompetent. And yet, their business is flourishing even when they suffered a major setback following her father-in-law's death.""You think she was behind this bug thing and stealing documents?""I think so.She must have found out from your mom that you were looking to hire a new cook. Her father-in-law wanted to take my son and heir away. He had tried to harm Anna too. Adira learned the ropes from him and runs the business just like him. She's greedy and ambitious. And after her cunning mentor got murdered, she turned to Lucas de Mello."Ruhi gasped, "So she wanted Rafael dead whenwe were at the beach?""The attack at the beach was to get you killed. Lucas de Mello and Adira, both wanted you dead. I think she still does."Antonio's words were hard to digest for Ruhi. Her sister was nasty an
"Oh, no! What are you doing?" Ruhi reached for Rafael's phone to stop him from calling the doctor."It's just the stench in here. I'll be fine if we go back up and get some fresh air." She looked atRafael and Antonio who both had one eyebrow raised in suspicion about her tense behavior."Is everything all right with you, Ruhi?" Antonio asked her softly."Of-of course! Why would you think it's not? I-I'm just not, you know, not used to all this. That man's lip is cut so badly I can't not have my stomach turn.""Are you done with your course of medication?" Antonio asked her."Medication for what?" Rafael asked his dad."Ruhi was clinically diagnosed with anxiety before getting discharged from the hospital. The doctor told her parents it was because of the trauma from what happened at the beach. Her dad told me to keep an eye on her for this kind of erratic stuttering and shaky hands.""I'm completely fine." She showed them her st
Oreo came out running to her from the kitchen door, thinking she was going to take him out for a walk as she did on days when she wasn't at work. "Oreo! My cutie pie. I'll miss you a LOT! Come to FaceTime when grandma talks to me, okay?" He woofed and scampered around her car and ran back to her with another woof. "Good boy! Say bye to that lazy bum brother of yours too. He must also be sulking like Rafael." More people appeared to emerge out from the sky when she was about to open her car door. "Who are all these people?" Ruhi asked Antonio when she saw almosthalf a dozen women. "Two maids, one gardener, a cook, and a housekeeper to overlook the rest and to go get groceries." "I think only one person can do that all, dad. My place is really small, and I'd like to do my own cooking and gardening." "They won't be in your way. They all have a place there. One of the two maids will only show up
SEVEN YEARS LATER It was a quiet Sunday afternoon with some cooling summer showers pouringdown outside the window whileRafael spent a good amount of time in his study. He was lagging behind quite a bit because he spent all day at the water park yesterday and left work early even on Friday afternoon to attend his daughter's ballet performance. He got up from his seat and stretched before stepping out to see what Ruhi and his little Snookums were up to. Even though he wanted to finish all the piled up stuff, he had gone two hours without seeing them and it felt like too much on a Sunday. He walked down to the kitchen to see what all the excitement was about. Ruhi was watching something very seriously on her daughter'spink laptop while the little girl was busy whisking butter and molten chocolate. She got chocolate mousse on both her chubby cheeks while Ruhi got a good amount on her nose. "Papa! You were not supposed to come out until w
Rafael had always imagined death to start with some blinding light where all the best moments of his life wouldflash by him and then follow with an abyss of darkness. At least that's what he heard people say it would be like.The gunshots were still ringing in his ears long after the darkness, but the blinding light never came. The pain and the hopelessness sure felt like death.Among the many regrets he had, he regretted not being able to say a proper goodbye. Ruhi had never believed how unconditionally he loved her. He knew he did a poor job showing his feelings toher, except that he could prove that he would die for her, willing to do so over and over.He wanted to hear Ruhi's voice one last time before falling unconscious. His body was going numb, but a shooting painunfurled in the deepest pit of his stomach when he thought about the image of Ruhi lying on the floor.Was she conscious? He couldn't remember. Everything happened too quic
"Oh, I seriously loved what you fed me. I don't know what this is.""Well, let me fix something light so that you don't go hungry. The doctor will be on his way if you throw up again." His voice trailed off as he walked back into the kitchen.Pushing the stray locks of her hair out of her sweaty forehead, she looked at the time on her phone and groaned, her head still slightly spinning. She slept for almost ten hours last night after getting rid of her dinner and felt exhausted at barely ninein the morning.Rafael stepped into the bedroom with a bowl full of chicken soup forty minutes later, and she was in for another surprise. She wished she knew how to cook a soup withthat perfect consistency and flavor he achieved seemingly effortlessly. Watching the heavy raindrops hit the window panes persistently, she stared out at the dark sky while sipping on the warm liquid."Huh, so no sightseeing today?" She asked Rafael, who was looking at her with
No matter how much Rafael hated to move to a different room, Ruhi was super adamant, and hehad no other option but to leave the room. He hoped the next morning to be better and planned a day full of fun things to do. He missed the good old times where all she wanted was to eat a good meal with him at a restaurant and make him watch some kids' movies.She answered his call after deliberately missing it the first two times. He assumed she was sleeping. Sleep was the last thing on her mind. Without him by her side, she tossed and turned until the stormy predawn sky gave way to some daylight outside the huge glass windows."Wake up, sleepyhead. We have reservations for breakfast at a lakeside cafe here.""What makes you think I'm still in my bed. I ate breakfast already."Rafael's face fell when he heard that. It was barely 9 AM and Ruhi was still in bed on weekends, so he didn't expect her to be out already when on vacation."Where are you
"Do I really want to talk to her? I don't think so." Ruhi crumpled the paper with Adira's number on it."Well, we can't trust anything she says, but I think we should hear her out. Also, I need to track her location. So just talk to her for a few minutes and---""I don't want to help you kill her, Rafael."Rafael entered the number into Ruhi's phone and made the call before turning the speaker on."Ruhi... I-I'm sorry. Please, please, help me. There are some half a dozen men with guns chasing me. I feel scared. Ruhi? Are you there?""How could you lie to Gus about something like that? Don't you know he still hasn't moved on?" Ruhi asked reluctantly,confused about how she felt when talking to her sister. She never wanted to talk to her again after finding outshe wanted Gus to kill her."It was... Um, it was Alisha's idea. I just told her Raina had a sister. She came up with this idea to make a deal with him
It took a lot of courage for Ruhi to utter those four words, knowing full well Rafael wasn't going to let her go that easily. If he was a person to reason with and walk away with mutual understanding, she would have never tried so hard to run away from him. As she expected, his eyes flared, smoldering with what seemed to be fury, and his body grew rigidabove her, taut with tension."What?"He rolled onto his side and forced her to meet his gaze."You heardme. I can't live like this anymore. I want out, and I mean it."He flinched slightly at the steely resolution in her eyes. His gaze was feverishly raking her up and down, with disbelief clearly written all over his face. She was equally baffled that he hadn't seen this coming. She wondered if he was being deliberately dense."Ruhi, I know you didn't deserve the treatment you got from me." He stroked her cheek back and forth with hislong thumb. "It's not fair that I make a mistake
"A honeymoon..."Ruhi quietly pushed Rafael's hand away and put her seatbelt on. He expected her to put up a fight orrun out of the car and was shocked to see her stare out of the window in resignation.Zack approached the car but was blocked by Harry. He handed Ruhi's cellphone, laptop, and money back to Harry. Rafael told him to hold on to them as he believed Ruhi wouldn't run without those things. He also wanted to make sure she didn't call her sister and ask her to run instead."Drive!" She told him in an impatient voice when he stalled inside the car, checking his work emails quickly."Ruhi, I don't mean to force you into---""What part of my intentions isnot clear to you? Doyou really think I'd run away from you to show you I want to go on a honeymoon? What kind of logic is that?"Rafael opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it when he saw the look on her face. She was royally pissed, unlike all those ot
"Are you serious?" Ruhi couldn't believe her ears.He ignored her and focused on his phone when Zack texted and then called him."No, no weapons and none of his men. He can go back if he doesn't agree."She waited for him to finish talking on the phone while peeking into the coffee mug he left on the table."Was that dark rum or black coffee? Didyou really mean it when you said I can go?""Pack your stuff before I change my mind."She darted upthe stairs but stopped when she heard Zack enter the house with a pissed off face and announce something to Gus. When did he ever look happy? She wondered and turned back to the room but stopped dead in her tracks when she thought she heard Rafael's name.Climbing back down the spiral staircase, she walked towards the door to listen to their conversation."Just one then. Check thoroughly.""Check who?" She asked Gus, who ignored her again and went to grab some stu
"Gus, she's gone." Ruhi held her breath when she heard Zack's infuriated voice. She was surprised to hear him address his boss by his name.Gus closed the bathroom door and walked over to the bed. Unlike Zack who wanted to kill Ruhi if he saw her again, Gus was relatively calm as he picked his cellphone up from the bed. Checking his messages on the locked screen and dismissing them, he opened the 'Tracker'."I'll get Nash to check the surveillance camera. She may still be on the premises if---""She's right here." Gus cut him off whileRuhi's heartbeat skyrocketed. "You can get back to work. I'll take care of this."Leaning down a bit, he grabbed Ruhi's wrist firmly and pulled her out from under the bed. She didn't dare to meet hiseyesand stared at the door Zack exited from.Gus moved a strand of her hair from her cheek while she froze.'Crap, crap, crap! He's probably twenty years older than me and wants to either kill me k