"I wasn't ready to settle down back then. We were barely adults at that time with no future of our own. I wanted to wait, but Claude wanted to make us permanent. That's why I said no to him when he asked me to marry him."
Ayla continued to stare down at Selene as she pursed her lips together, her mind processing Selene's words. After a good minute, her pursed lips finally broke into a smirk.
"In that case, I owe you a thank you it seems." Ayla mumbled out with a scoff. "If it wasn't for you turning him down, I would have never been able to marry him."
"Don't act like you had a choice. You might be able to fool him, but I know better." Selene refused to back down even after seeing how her words didn't affect the couple at all.
"You can think whatever you want, Selene." Ayla rolled her eyes as she took a step back, finding herself back into Claude's arms. "It only matters to me if he's the one thinking the same about me." She was only spea
"If I wasn't here with you, if we weren't together and married, would you have given her a second chance? Would you have said yes to her today?"Claude watched her lashes flutter around as she kept her gaze locked on his chest, watching it as it rose and fell with each of his breaths. He contemplated her words, thinking through his own reply. It wasn't that he didn't have an answer for her already, but he wanted to make sure it was what he would have wanted.It took him a while before he was able to come up with a reply. Drawing in a deep breath, he muttered out. "If I am being honest here, I don't know what I would have done if that was the case." Claude was speaking the truth. "As much as I would have wanted to jump at the opportunity, I couldn't have done it. I don't think I would have been able to make myself accept her and pretend that she never left me. How would I know that she wouldn't do the same to me again?"&nb
"Why, why, why?" The man from earlier chuckled out loud. "So many questions… but there's only one answer to all of them." He took another drag. "I want to crush him under my foot after striping him of everything… and stealing everyone away from him…."The man leaned back into his chair, resting against its back as a menacing smirk slowly crept up on his lips. "I am going to finish what my father started." He took another drag from his cigarette. "He was a fool to let go of the young boy. Look where it got us." His eyes darted around the dark room as he ran his free hand through his hair."If only he had the guts to finish them both back then, I wouldn't be sitting here and working my brain." He added frustratedly.His lackey raised his hand up in the air to get his attention before speaking up. "If my sources are right, Boss, the old man of the Atkinson's family is going to hand down his position as the family head tonight
"Why are we here?" Ayla spoke up as she brought her steps to a stop right next to Claude.His hand was still holding hers, his fingers wrapped around the back of her palm with no intention of letting go. It was like Ayla was complaining about it, but his actions only made her wonder about the thoughts that ran through the man's mind."Because I wanted to be here with you." He gazed down at her from the corner of his eye, a faint smile clinging to the curve of his thin lips. With a light tug at their clasped hands, he pulled her closer to himself. "I wanted to enjoy a couple of peaceful moments with you before things went down the drain back at the mansion."Ayla watched his shoulders becoming tense under the coat. She wanted nothing more than to take his worries away, every last one of them just like he had helped her family at their lowest without asking anything in return. All the man wanted from her was her companionship. That too because it
Soon after sharing a moment, the couple was forced to join the rest inside once again. Unlike before, there was an eerie silence looming over the hall. Even the bright fairy lights gleaming in the distance couldn't help in overcoming the gloominess."This is it." Ayla mumbled under her breath as she took a step forward to stand right beside Claude. His arm came to snake around her waist right away as if it was the most natural thing to do. "I hope they don't break into a war against you right away." She muttered out in a low whisper, leaning into his side for comfort."They wouldn't dare to. It's the old man's birthday. He chose just the perfect day to announce this." Claude let out a soft chuckle before pressing his lips against the top of her head. He could feel her tense muscles relaxing into his embrace, calming down his own fretting nerves.Their attention was drawn to the other side of the room where hi
"I am going to miss you." Claude mumbled again her skin as he buried his face in the crook of her neck, not wanting to let go of her."You were stuck with me for three days. I am shocked that you aren't already bored with my existence." Ayla couldn't help the laughs that escaped her lips. She was trying her best to not make fun of him, but it was really hard since Claude was behaving like a child.The duo had made it back to Los Angeles after spending another day at the old mansion which somewhat belonged to Claude now. Though he intended on keeping it under the name of his grandfather."I am just glad that it's over now even though I am going to get buried under tons of paperwork." He complained to her as he withdrew his face."It didn't go too bad." Ayla shook her head, finding his pursed lips rather amusing. "Who am I kidding! It went so much better than I was expecting." S
[One month later.] As the days passed by, Claude and Ayla only grew closer. They were doing much better now, taking one day at a time in building their relationship up. Though they didn't have a good start, both of them were willing to work for it. Neither wanted to already give up and stay stuck in a relationship that was only there for appearances sake. On a lighter note, Ayla had managed to graduate with a good GPA. She wasn't the smartest of them all, but she managed to finish college amongst the top five students of her class. Moreover, she had a stellar performance when it came to the clinicals. She was hoping her records would help her in landing into her desired field. But one could only hope for things to turn out better and for life to not mess up the plans. ---------------- "Claude?" Ayla's soft voice rang through the empty corridors as she made her way down the stairs with a sprin
Ayla could only shake her head given the situation. She knew better than to push the man into doing anything at all, but how was she supposed to hold herself back when it came to his well being."Hey, hey, hey…," Claude shifted in his place and tilted his head to the side so that he was having a better look at her. "I may be working more than necessary, but I am not overworking myself. I would never do that to myself again, or to you." His eyes turned heavy as he recalled the event.----------------Claude was leading a meeting about one of their ongoing projects, taking in the numbers which were projected in big, bold text. He was having a splitting headache which had been annoying him since he woke up that morning. Well, if someone was to call the two hour nap he had, sleeping. Instead of getting himself checked, he downed two painkillers and took the help of coffee to keep himself up.It wasn't until
[Present] "Don't think about it." Ayla could see the conflict in his eyes as they glazed over. "How could I not when I made you worry about my careless ass so much?" Claude gave her a sad smile. "It was two weeks ago, Claude. There's a reason we started coming over here in the first place." She reminded him but only saw him shaking his head helplessly. "And here I am, still working." "When did you hear me complaining about your work when you keep yourself in check?" She rolled her eyes. "And before you go about the no work on weekends rule, I do study to brush over somethings, no? You can check on your company just the same. I trust you enough that I know there won't be a repeat of last time." She gave him a small smile, but it was a genuine one. "Thanks, love." Claude leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Wh