The music was blasting through the speakers, filling up the surroundings, too loud for anyone to be heard over the booming noise. But it didn't matter to the men who were sitting in their own private lounge, the room encased by a glass wall as it looked over the dancefloor located downstairs. All three men had their eyes trained downstairs, never letting their spouses get out of their sight.
"She looks happy." Edward's voice rang next to Claude's ear, earning himself a nod in return. "She is not the same reserved girl I met the last time you two came over." He continued when he didn't get a reply from Claude.
Taking a sip from his drink, Claude turned his attention to his brother. "She's slowly coming out of her shell. Even now she seems to be struggling a little when it comes to allowing people to get close to her, but she's coming around." Claude muttered back before turning his attention back to the dance floor where his belov
Keeping his eyes trained on the dance floor downstairs, Claude finished off his drink in one big gulp."A***h*les!" He slammed down the glass on the table, the force powerful enough to make it crack down the middle. Though he could care less about it.Before the other two men could question his acting, he stormed out of their private lounge and down to the ground floor where Ayla was. Keeping his pace up, Claude approached the trio which were now surrounded by a group of men. What made his blood boil actually was the fact that one of them was practically hovering over Ayla like a pesky little fly he was."Hey, you!" Claude spoke up loud enough to get the man's attention as his feet brought him to a stand behind Ayla's little frame. Without wasting another second, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back into his chest, protectively. "You shouldn't be in a place where you are clearly not wanted
"Now, you listen to me, you absolute piece of sh*t! She's my wife, first of all. And you don't get to talk about her in any way. So, go along and skedaddle before I show you how real men actually fight."Claude stared down at him as his grip tightened around the man's collar."Why don't you try?" The man scoffed, shoving Claude away as hard as possible.Claude was ready to retaliate when Asher spoke up, waving his hand up in the air. "Get him and his friends out, guys." He only needed to say it once, his words loud and clear. A couple of uniformed men who were on standby already, rushed forward to take matters into their own hands. Each one of them grabbed the arms of one man from the other party and began to push them away from the crowd. In a matter of seconds, the dance floor was cleared of the trouble causing men and people had resumed to focusing on their own conversations with music playing in the
It was late into the winter; the full moon was high up in the sky as it's bright, white rays shone over the darkness which engulfed the earth.Ayla was busy admiring the view before her, settled down on a recliner on the terrace. Her feet were stretched in the air, resting on the glass walls which lined the boundary. A book was sprawled open in her hands, but her eyes were lost somewhere else. Every single thought that crossed her mind was related to only one person: Claude.As if on instinct, her hand reached forward to her phone which was resting on a marble top next to the recliner. Swiping her thumb across the screen, she unlocked it to check on the notifications. There were many unread messages waiting for her reply but she could care less about them. Most of them were either from her newfound friends who were way more socializing than she could ever wish to be. Or they were from some random brands, announcing their latest d
"I am talking about the Young Master…"It took Ayla a couple of minutes to allow the old man's words to settle in her mind. Drawing in a deep breath, she took a couple of steps forward before making her way back inside."You are not joking with me right now, are you?" She muttered out, glancing over her shoulder as the old man trailed behind her."No, Young Mistress." He shook his head. "Why would I joke about something like that?" He smiled to himself as he kept following the lady who seemed a little too eager to meet his Young Master. Though it was only understandable given the time they had spent apart."When did he arrive exactly? Why didn't he call me? How is he? He is okay, no?" Uttering out a couple of questions, she walked out of the room rather hastily. She was somewhat thankful for the fact that she wasn't staying inside Claude's room or else the old butler wo
"I wish I could say the same about you…""Excuse me?" Ayla threw her a puzzled glare, thinking that she might have misheard her. As much as she wanted to, it would be wrong on her part to just assume something worse about their guest."You heard me right, woman." The lady, Selene, kept on goading her. "I have heard about you. It's really hard to keep things to yourself when you are a part of 'our' world."It didn't go unnoticed by Ayla how she was emphasizing the word 'our'. Holding back her grimace, Ayla gave her a small smile in return. "And your point is?" She crossed her arms across her chest, trying her best to glance in the man's direction who was doing nothing but sitting idly when some random woman was doing her best at humiliating his wife. The very wife he had promised to protect and cherish."My point is that you should just keep to yourself for as long as this mar
"Hey, Ethan." Ayla stepped inside the dining hall, all dressed up and ready to leave at the earliest. "How are you doing?" She walked around the table to settle down in the seat next to the man in question, deliberately ignoring everyone else. "Good, I guess. What about you though?" He beamed down at her as he began to pass her some of the dishes. "Meh!" She shrugged it off, not wanting to go into the details. She was barely able to get some sleep last time and spent most of it tossing and turning around. "I have been better." She muttered under her breath as her thoughts drifted to the reason behind her restlessness. It was the man who had promised to do right by her. But there she was, doing everything in her power to avoid even looking in his direction. "You alright? Everything okay?" He drew his brows together and looked around the table. It was only now that he was able to detect the tension
"What is wrong with that man?"All of her frustration came pouring out as soon as she made it to the confines of Ethan's car. She didn't even wait for him to settle into the driver's seat."If only I knew." Ethan let out a sigh as he turned on the ignition."What happened back there for him to be acting out like this, Ethan? You better have an explanation for me." It was one of the reasons she wanted Ethan to come pick her up. The drive would give them the perfect excuse to get to talking about the matter without making it to the headlines."I wish I knew, Ayla." Ethan shook his head as he pulled the car out of the driveway. "Boss seemed a little lost a day after we arrived at the hotel, but I thought it must be the workload getting to him. I mean, the deal wasn't an easy one to secure and it meant a lot for the company and its future.""So, you are tellin
[Two days later.]"And where might you be going?"Ayla's feet were brought to a halt at the sudden interruption by her uncalled guest, Selene. She barely glanced in her direction and chose to shrug it off. "What does it have to do with you?" She muttered before continuing with her walk down the entrance hall, dragging her suitcase along.But her words and actions weren't enough to ward off the evil that was trailing behind, closer than what Ayla would have preferred."From the looks of it, you are all prepared to leave for good. Finally." Selene didn't bother to hide how pleased she was seeing the events unfold before her."Keep on dreaming, woman. I am only going away for a couple of days." Ayla couldn't help the scoff which left her throat. Giving Selene the satisfaction of winning this round was the last thing she would want.