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042: San Francisco (IX)
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"I don't want an apology from you, Claude. I want to know what you see. What could possibly make you feel so terrified in your sleep? Because from the looks of it, I can tell it wasn't the first time…."
Claude saw her looking back at him intently. She was waiting for him to start talking, but he didn't know where to even begin. He knew that one day he would have to share things with her, things that he never mentioned before anyone else. He just didn't expect it to be this sooner.
He drew in a sharp breath before turning his eyes away from her.
"Would you mind if we finish our food and our conversation in the garden at the back?" He briefly looked up at her and saw her reply in the form of a nod. A faint smile slowly made its way on his face as he picked up their plates and started walking out of the kitchen.
Ayla followed him out, holding their coffee mugs. Her eyes were strained over his back. She could make out his taut muscles
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"He wasn't alone when they kidnapped him. The only heir to his business empire was alongside him…."Claude's words sounded alien to her ears along with his voice.Ayla tried and tried to make sense of them, but her brain only came up empty every time. It wasn't the complexity which irked her mind, but the truth lingering behind them. She refused to accept them."W-what do you mean?" She finally found the courage to question the man who was focused on finishing his food."You heard me, Ayla." Claude could see the shock behind her words. "You heard me just fine." He didn't want himself to repeat those words."You were with him?" She spoke up only to see him bobbing his head up and down in agreement."How?" She questioned him, her eyes never leaving his face."I was supposed to inherit everything he has worked for, it was only normal for me to learn the ropes too starting early. He took me along on th
The Heartless Bride 044: San Francisco (XI)
"It's alright, wife." He let out a small chuckle. "You can use me as a chair for as long as you want." He pressed his lips to the top of her head, chuckling to himself. "I don't mind at all…." His words only added more to her embarrassment as she felt her face heating up in response. Instead of letting her go, Claude shifted her small frame slightly in his lap so that she could easily rest her folded legs on him without straining them. "Do you have any other questions that you'd want to ask?" He spoke up after what seemed like an eternity to both of them. "We have already moved past the hard part." "Your siblings…" Ayla struggled to phrase her question, but Claude got the gist of it. "They know about it all, but not so much about my nightmares. I don't want them to worry about me when they have their own lives to deal with. And before you ask me, no, my mother has no clue about it either." He cleared his throat before continuing.&nbs
The Heartless Bride 045: Back to Reality (I)
Flying back to their home city wasn't an issue since Claude had the company's jet on standby. But it sure was tiring as hell for both of them. Especially after Claude showed her around the city and made sure she had a good time for the rest of the day. The couple only left San Francisco after midnight after bidding their goodbyes to the rest.It wouldn't be wrong to say that the both of them wanted nothing more than to sleep into the day instead of going about their own days as soon as the sun was out and about in the morning.But they both knew better than to let their bodies make decisions for them. They had their own things scheduled for the day which were a little too important than catching up on some sleep. Hence, they both made the difficult decision of leaving the comforts of their own beds.----------------"What is wrong with people today?" Ayla let her eyes roam around the entrance of her college as she c
The Heartless Bride 046: Back to Reality (II)
"We are comforting that…."Ethan's eyes snapped to her manicured nail before they slowly moved in the direction she was urging him to look in.He saw a group of girls standing around the corner of the corridor, huddled together like they were going through the game plan before breaking into loud cheers and running around the field. But their ducked heads and low whispers combined with their stealing glances at Ayla only proved otherwise. His train of thoughts was interrupted by the lady in question."You know what they are talking about?" It wasn't a question but she still threw him a questioning glare. Without waiting for his reply, Ayla continued, "they are wondering out loud as to how the rich and dashing business savvy Claude Atkinson ended up getting married to a nerd like me."Ethan couldn't help himself from chuckling. A low chortle left his lips while he kept his eyes glued to Ayla's twisted face. He wanted to share his ow
The Heartless Bride 047: Back to Reality (III)
"Who dared?" A shiver ran up Ayla's spine as soon as she snapped her eyes open. She opened her mouth and closed it, repeating the process a couple of times as her mind tried to come up with words. But the shock alone had the gears in mind jammed. "W-what are you doing here?" After what seemed an eternity, she managed to force a sensible reply out of her mouth. "That's not an answer to what I asked you." "Don't have work to do today?" She shook her head, not giving away anything. As much as she despised the woman, she would not want her to get kicked out of the school. Especially, when she was in her final year of studies just like her. "You are still not answering me." "And I won't." She shook her head. "We both know it's not going to end well for her, and I don't want that." Her eyes never left his. She was trying to take a peek inside his soul. "Do you really think that
The Heartless Bride 048: Back to Reality (IV)
"I'll make sure you never do." Claude's words rang next to her ear as he continued holding her gaze with his own. The intensity with which he was staring back at her made her stomach do a flip upside down. Ayla shook her head, pushing away the feeling which was beginning to creep up her spine. She told herself internally that it was nothing much but her own mind perceiving it all wrong. "I know you won't." She shrugged it off with a small smile before bringing her focus back to her drink which was not so chilled anymore. She continued sucking the creamy liquid up the straw whilst Claude watched her with nothing but adoration in his eyes. To him, she looked like a child who had just gotten her hands on a chocolate bar. "As much as I hate to interrupt this date of yours, I think we should get moving." Ethan cleared his throat and spoke up loud and clear for the duo to hear. He cocked his head to the side where a small crowd of students
The Heartless Bride 049: Our First Date (I)
"W-what are you doing?" Even though it was obvious as a plain sunny day, Ayla couldn't help herself from questioning his actions."What does it look like?" Claude briefly glanced up to meet her confused eyes before going about tying her laces into a perfect bow. He slipped his pinky finger under the tied laces to make sure that the knot wasn't a little too tight for her to feel uncomfortable when walking.Once he was satisfied with his handiwork, he picked up his drink after dusting his hands off and pushed himself all the way up."Let's go…." He muttered out under his breath before extending his free hand towards Ayla.But instead of taking it, she raised her index finger in the air, silently asking him to allow her a moment to herself. Her actions left the two men with nothing but confusion wobbling their minds. They didn't bother to hide it, but instead of explaining herself to either of them, she went on with what she ha
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"Where are we going?" Ayla was already starting to get impatient as her eyes stared out of the tinted windows, taking in a good view of her surroundings as they whizzed past tall buildings."I am not telling you, wife." Claude let out a low chuckle as he briefly glanced in her direction. He turned his attention back to the road ahead as his lips slowly curled up into a faint smile. "You definitely are not a big fan of surprises, are you?" It was more of an observation than an actual question. He could tell easily from the way her right leg was bouncing up and down throughout the ride."It's not that I am not patient otherwise. It's just that I seem to run out of it when it comes to surprises and all." Ayla pursed her lips together as she shifted in her seat slightly to have a better view of Claude. "I don't know how to explain this." She added in a low tone as memories from her past came rushing back to her, leaving behind a painful, crushing aftertaste.&nb
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"Because it looks like I interrupted something important."Her frown was the only thing which Claude could see but the helplessness which filled her eyes was enough of a giveaway for him. She was feeling guilty for interrupting their meeting. Well, it was more of a tour now. The actual meeting had already been wrapped up a while ago. It was what had Claude believing that her interruption was not going to have any repercussions. Even if there were any, he didn't care."It's fine. Don't worry." Claude rubbed his hand up and down her back to calm her down. Turning his attention to the group, he began. "Apologies for the interruption everyone, but let me introduce you all to my girlfriend." He was smart enough to not announce her name to the team. Though he wondered where Ayla was going with the secrecy."I am sure she must have a name." It was Mr. D'Souza who spoke up. There was a small smile playing acros
