"Lucien!" Eleana called out in surprise, making the person look at her with a mysterious smile. He got up from his seat with a smile before making his way towards her. The man was around six feet two inches tall with a well-built physique which was hidden under his black business suit. He had a fair complexion, a pair of beautiful blue eyes and a head full of dirty blonde hair. He was a typical handsome French guy next door. Eleana couldn't believe her eyes as she didn't expect to meet him so soon here in Vancouver. "Hello, Ma Belle! Surprised to see me?" He greeted her and then asked in his usual flirtatious voice making Eleana chuckle. "Of course, I am very surprised. You didn't tell me you were coming here." She said the first part in a happy tone but her last sentence was accusing. Eleana opened her arms and took a step forward to hug Lucien. Lucien chuckled warmly before wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her cheeks and she did the same before they broke their hug. "I mis
Eleana was giving some of her workers instructions regarding designs when the door of the room burst open revealing a handsome Lucien who smiled seeing Eleana. Eleana too smiled back at him before excusing herself from the worker she was talking to. "Hello, Ma Belle." He again greeted her with the nickname making Eleana smile at him widely."Hello to you too. What are you doing here?" She asked while picking up her phone from the table near her. She checked her phone only to find three new texts from Ayden which she chose to ignore for a while."My meeting with Mr Campbell and the board members just ended a while ago so I came looking for you. I expected to be there but you didn't come." He explained in a soft gentle voice as they started to walk through the corridor. "I was supposed to be there but an emergency came here. I already had a meeting with the board members before and talked to you too already so I left everything on Ayden knowing he will manage everything fine without m
"Everything. You. Do. Is. My. Business." He stressed every word in a loud and serious voice, making her shiver. His face held an expression which proved he meant every word he said just now. Eleana kept staring at his deep hypnotic grey eyes which bore holes into hers. The way he was looking into her eyes while holding her close to him made her experience some familiar sensations which she didn't experience for a long time. Eleana found herself getting weak at that moment, unable to say anything back to him. She hated her at that moment for becoming so weak just by some mare words and some mare touch from him. "Let me go." She said but her voice came out lower than expected, making it almost sound like a whisper. Instead of loosening his grip on her, he made it tighter making it impossible for her to fight his clutch. "What if I don't?" His words came out challenging, making Eleana glare at him. "Aren't you afraid your fiance might catch you holding your ex?" Eleana taunted while
Only two days left for Eleana's exclusive collection launch. She was really busy with the preparation for the launch. She had been avoiding meeting Ayden too and because of the launch, he didn't bother her either and gave her the space to work and prepare herself. Taking it as an advantage, Eleana made full use of it and made sure to avoid every interaction with that hateful couple. After her ugly confrontation with Natasha, she didn't feel settled. Deep down she blamed herself and tried to validate Natasha's accusations. She felt deep down, she was still weak towards Ayden and that's the main reason she still couldn't take a firm stand in front of him and ended up getting manipulated by him each time. She felt her heart take another turn whenever he was around her and she couldn't function well. But she didn't have that control over her heart. She spent so much time and effort to get over the past and move on with her pride. But it only took one Ayden Campbell to crush everything. E
Finally, the Day Eleana was anticipating for more than a year came. The day her new exclusive Design ' l' espérance ' would finally be launched. The French word l' espérance means Hope/Promise. It was a wedding gown and jewellery collection release. Eleana had worked days and nights for that collection and finally, her hard work paid off. She had arranged a fashion show for her collection to be released. When it came to her work, Eleana had a different version of herself. From her childhood, Eleana was fascinated with fashion design. Kathleen Campbell played a big role in that. As Kathleen was a fashion designer, Eleana grew up watching her work under the same roof. Under her influence, she also got interested in that field and decided to pursue it as a career when she grew up. Because of her fascination, she chose to study fashion design and also business at the same time so she could inherit and manage the business her father left for her. She wanted to make her parents proud. He wo
Ayden brought Eleana out of the building by carrying her on his shoulder. Eleana kept screaming but he didn't put her down until they reached in front of his car. He then pulled Eleana with him forcefully into the car, he shut the door before storming towards the other side of the door. He got into the driver's side before starting the car. Meanwhile, Eleana let out every single type of curse she could remember. She tried to pull open the door and escape many times but in vain. Ayden had already locked the door. He looked furious as he started the car while ignoring her completely. "Ayden Campbell, I'm warning you. Let me go. You fucking can't force me." Eleana let out an angry scream while looking at Ayden angrily. Ayden ignored her words as he started to drive like a madman towards God knew where. "Where are you taking me?" She asked as an unknown fear kept crawling inside her. She looked at him with fearful eyes. She knew he was furious and it kind of scared her because she knew w
Ayden drove Eleana straight to the office. They both entered the tall sky-blue skyscraper together silently. Eleana was dressed in a white V-neck sleeveless, a-line dress. She twisted her hair in the front and then put them on a messy bun. She was looking very innocent and beautiful, completely hiding the storm she had been through yesterday. Even though Eleana was looking completely graceful, inside she was very stressed because of Ayden's behaviour towards her. He had crossed the line completely yesterday. She was getting very exhausted because of his overbearing behaviour. But one thing which was bothering her a lot was Ayden's sudden change of behaviour. Eleana must agree, she had never seen this side of Ayden once in the past. She grew up living with him yet she didn't behave so progressively about her. Ayden glanced at Eleana and frowned, he was very bothered by her silence since yesterday after he forced her to live in the penthouse with him. After she stormed inside her room,
Eleana was walking by the poolside of the resort while checking out the interior decoration. She liked the view and also the way the whole resort was designed. She smiled as she watched people around her enjoying the view while drinking. The resort was designed very luxuriously and Eleana was sure it would be very popular judging by its location. As Eleana turned around, she suddenly collided with someone making her let out an ouch. The person quickly held her by her waist making her stand steadily. She looked up while rubbing her forehead. Her eyes met with a pair of stormy grey eyes which were looking at her with concern. Eleana frowned while trying to free herself. It was Ayden's turn to frown. With an unhappy face, he let her go. "Are you alright, princess?" He asked, her voice filled with concern. Eleana felt the urge to roll her eyes but she controlled herself and nodded at him unwillingly because she was sure people were looking at them. "Let's go, I want you to meet some o
Eleana slowly walked towards the long mirror planned in the centre of the room before standing in front of it. Her sapphire-blue eyes collided with her reflection in the mirror. She looked a little nervous. Eleana tried to swallow it down while glancing from top to bottom. She was dressed in a white mermaid wedding gown with a sweetheart-illusion neckline. The silhouette of the dress stayed fitted from the chest to her knees and then flared out the rest of the length to the floor, along with the long veil adorning the top of her elegant bun. Eleana could feel her heart palpating against her chest as she stared at herself. Her make-up was done elegantly, and her hair was put in a beautiful low bun. She was wearing a small diamond necklace, which her mother bought for her, along with matching earrings."You look beautiful, baby." Eleana heard her mother's soft voice behind her, making her turn around. She smiled at her mother and Kathleen."Thank you, Mama. You two look gorgeous." Elean
Eleana slowly opened her eyes before closing them again to adjust to the light. She felt like her whole body was on fire. She couldn't move at all because of the pain she was feeling in her lower body. She frowned while looking around the unfamiliar room and bed she was in. As she tried to remember what happened, her head began to hurt, making her let out a painful groan."You are awake. Don't move, Princess." Eleana heard Ayden's worried voice, making her turn around to face her. She visibly winched when she noticed his awful state. He looked absolutely awful with those dark circles and eye bags."What happened?" Eleana tried to get up while asking. Ayden was quick to react. He stopped her own time."Don't move." He warned her while gently pushing her down. Eleana frowned and was about to ask him more questions when her hand accidentally brushed her stomach, making her eyes widen in shock. Her stomach was flat."My baby!" Eleana exclaimed as flashbacks started to run through her head
"What rubbish are you talking about?" Giovanni gritted out while clenching his fists tightly. As he spoke, his facial expression changed, and he glanced at his father, who looked puzzled as well."You should know this better than me." Ayden chuckled while glancing at Lucien, who suddenly got up from his seat and then brought some documents out of nowhere. He then walked towards Leonardo and handed him all the files. Leonardo took the files with a nod before putting the documents in front of Antonio, who leaned forward and took one of the files before opening it."These are the proofs of what you, Luca, and Alessandro have been doing for years behind our backs." This time, Leonardo spoke up and then pulled out a remote from his pocket. He pressed a button, which made some piles of documents and photos flash on the screen one by one, making both Luca and Giovanni's eyes go wide in pure shock and terror. Antonio's face changed colour as the icy mask he had been putting on all along dropp
"What!" The three of them asked in unison. The rest of the family members were also shocked as they stared at Antonio in shock. The only people who were calm in the whole room were Eleana, Ayden, Lucien, and Leo. Eleana glanced at the man who sat quietly beside Antonio without much expression on his face."You guys heard me," Antonio responded coldly."How could you say that?" Giovanni couldn't contain his anger as she raised her voice at Antonio."Dad, are you out of your mind? This marriage is important for us. for our business. Everything's already done. The deals are signed. How can you just call off the marriage?" Luca roared at his father. He couldn't believe his impulsiveness. This old bastard was out of his mind."I see you two have already learned to raise your voice at me." Antonio chuckled while turning to look at Ayden. They exchanged a look before Ayden nodded and then pulled out a remote out of nowhere. He then pressed the remote, making the big black monitor light up. E
Finally, the most anticipated day arrived. It was Andres and Idalia's wedding day. The ceremony was supposed to take place in the afternoon. Even though the whole villa was busy preparing for the wedding, the members of the family were quiet, except for the younger ones. For the past two days, the wedding preparation has been going on, yet there has been no wedding vibe at all. Ayden and Lucien had been really busy for the two days, and Eleana hadn't gotten a glimpse of Ayden since the day she informed him about the things she found out from Eirene. After that, he disappeared again with Leonardo and Lucien, leaving her puzzled. The only thing he informed her was that he had a few surprises for her, which she would get on the wedding day. He just recommended that she relax and enjoy herself. Eleana was really suspicious about his behaviour. He suddenly turned oddly secretive after he rescued Lucien, and after that, he had been spending a lot of time with Leonardo. Eleana had suspicions
After successfully putting ointments on her bruise and treating her, Eleana put away the first-aid box. A long silence filled the room as Eleana looked at her sister, who was biting her lips while looking down. "Are you feeling better now?" She finally asked, breaking the silence. Eirene looked up at her before slowly nodding her head. "Do you want to talk about it?" Eleana asked gently, giving her space and time. She didn't want to force or pressure her to talk. She wanted to comfort her first so that she could talk about it on her own. At first, Eirene didn't respond. But after a minute, she reached out her hand before grabbing Eleana's hand. "Who did this to you?" Eleana asked while holding Eirene's hand. She could see her visibly shaking after hearing the question. "Eirene. I need to know who did this to you. You don't need to be scared. I'm here to protect you. Ayden's also here. No one can hurt you or us. I promise I will make them all pay. Each and every single person who da
The next day, regardless of all the chaos that had taken place previously, the whole Santoro Villa began to prepare for the upcoming wedding. The wedding was supposed to take place within the next two days. Even though there was wedding preparation going on around, the people of the villa were quite calm. Eleana couldn't feel the wedding vibe at all. Eleana was more concerned about the plan Ayden was working on. He didn't tell her everything in detail. Just some vague answers left her confused. However, Ayden had requested that she trust him and sit back. He didn't want to drag her into the plan and stress her out because of her pregnancy. She's already in a crucial state.Even though Eleana wanted to engage herself, she had no choice but to obey him this time. She had already neglected her baby, and it almost harmed her. She couldn't let this happen again. She couldn't help but sigh as she walked through the corridor to go downstairs to find Eirene. The plan Ayden was working on alon
After storming out of Antonio's office, Eleana directly made her way toward her bedroom. She was shaking because of anger. How could he just say something like this? Eleana wanted to leave this house as soon as possible. She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, but none of it worked."Eleana." She heard Ayden's voice calling her, which made her turn around instantly. Ayden heaved a sigh after seeing her state."Are you okay?" Ayden asked in a soft voice while walking towards her. Eleana looked at him before inhaling and exhaling deeply."How could he just demand something like that? How could he?" Eleana sounded bitter and emotional as she let out the question. Ayden reached her and then pulled her into a hug, making her wrap her arms around him slowly."It's alright. Please don't cry because of this." He pleaded while rubbing her back soothingly. Eleana let her tears flow while closing her eyes."I just can't help it, Ayden. I feel so disappointed and angry." Eleana mumbled i
Eleana's eyes slowly travelled towards Lucien, who stood behind Ayden while looking lost in his thoughts. Eleana's eyes went wide in shock when she realized she had almost forgotten about his presence. He had a white bandage covering his forehead and arms."Lucien!" Eleana called out his name, grabbing his attention. She slowly separated herself from Ayden before rushing towards him. Lucien looked at her before passing her a weak smile. His whole body was covered with bruises here and there. Eleana's heart sank deeper as she noticed his state."How did this happen?" She cried out while rushing into his arms. Lucien carefully hugged her while wincing in pain when she accidentally brushed his injured arm."I'm so sorry, Lucien." Eleana cried while hugging him. Lucien chuckled before separating her from him."It's alright, Belle. I'm fine." He replied with a wide smile while trying to show her how strong he was. It only made Eleana's heart hurt more."You need to sit first. Come with me.