THE NEXT MORNING, Celene was already getting ready for her first day of work at their own company. However, just like she and her parents had agreed to, she would work as a regular employee rather than a superior. Therefore, she opted for a simple outfit: black loose trousers and a white half-sleeve top. As for her hair, she just let it down and didn’t put on much makeup and jewelry.After finishing her preparations, she grabbed her bag and made her way downstairs, where her mother was sitting on the couch.“Mom, I’m leaving,” she said, and Isabelle stood up to fix her hair a bit.“Take care, okay? I know your task wasn’t easy, but your father and I believed in your ability to accomplish it.” her mother said, smiling proudly at her, “But if the situation becomes overwhelming, do not hesitate to inform us immediately, and we’ll do something about it.”“Don’t worry, Mom. After everything that I’ve been through, I don’t think there’s anything I can’t handle now,” Celene’s reassuring word
“UHMMM...” A woman with glasses approached Celene hesitantly, “Are you alright? I’ll show you to your workstation. You’ll be taking over for Alice, who recently left the company.”“I see, I’m okay… Thank you,” Celene’s lips curved into a grateful smile as she realized there was at least one kind person in this office. The woman led her to an empty cubicle, and she sat down on the chair, feeling uncertain about what tasks she was supposed to do today since no one had briefed her yet. “Sorry, may I know what’s your name?”“I’m Criselda, how about you?”“I’m Celene,” She flashed another smile and they both reached out to shake hands since their desk was right next to each other, “Do you know what work I should—”Just as she was about to finish her sentence, a blonde woman placed some papers on her desk, causing both Celene and Criselda to turn their attention towards her.“Take these and organize them by category. Once you’re finished, send the files over to me for review.” She demanded
FOR A MOMENT, there was a silence that filled the car... Celene couldn’t help but wonder why he would ask such a question with such intensity. Did it truly matter to him? She quickly brushed aside the thought and focused on the glimmer of nervousness in his eyes. It seemed as though he was beginning to regret his betrayal. Maybe he hadn’t anticipated that she would move on so quickly, and his ego was bruised as a result.“Haven’t I introduced you to each other yesterday?” she finally spoke, breaking the silence and yanking her hand back because he was still holding it. “I never cheated on you, so don’t ever think we’re the same, that was insulting.”“Before we started dating, you know I had unrequited love, right? Well, that person was him. After we broke up, we reconnected, and he was the one who consoled me during my lowest moments. He stayed by my side constantly because your focus was always on Agnes.”Despite not needing to, Celene couldn’t help but explain herself, her stomach t
“UGHH!” Celene let out a groan as she woke up, feeling drowsy and disoriented. She tried to open her eyes, but the bright sun shining through the curtain made it nearly impossible. Suddenly, she felt a strong arm encircling her waist, causing her eyes snapped open in surprise.Her heart began beating faster, and slowly, she turned her head, only to see Noah lying beside her, naked. In an instant, everything from the previous day came rushing back into her mind, causing her cheeks to turned crimson.flashback/“Coffee or tea?” Noah offered as Celene settled on the couch. However, she didn’t respond immediately because her focus was on her phone. She held onto it tightly, her gaze glued to the screen after receiving a message from Jarred apologizing to her.She let out a frustrated sigh and flinched when Noah gently grabbed her chin from behind and pulled her face up to look at him.“I asked you if you wanted coffee or tea,” he arched an eyebrow and peeked through the screen of her phon
“MHHM~” Celene couldn’t contain her pleasure and let out a moan as Noah’s lips caressed every part of her neck, leaving a trail of kisses down to her collar bone until her body gave into his desire. “That tickles.”“This is getting dangerous, are you not going to stop me?” Noah asked, stopping for a moment to look into her eyes. His voice was filled with desire, and there was something more in his eyes–fear. Fear that he might lose control if she doesn’t push him away soon and stop his actions.“Come on, Lin. Stop me.” He begged almost desperately, but Celene couldn’t bring herself to deny him. Not when his kiss and touch provided a strange kind of comfort that made her thoughts fade away completely from her mind.She was aware that she might regret her actions later, but in that moment, she didn’t care at all. So, she acted without hesitation and grabbed his shoulders, forcefully pushing him back onto the couch. With confidence, she sat up and positioned herself on his lap, causing h
“W-WAIT, Noah.” Celene pressed the back of her hand against her lips, trying to hide the fact that she couldn’t stop moaning. She hadn’t expected it to feel this incredible without him filling her up inside of her. He was simply rubbing his shaft against her core, but the tingling sensation made her toes curled with pleasure, and she couldn’t help but make noise. “What’s wrong? Do you feel uncomfortable with this position?” he asked as he continued to move back and forth between her legs, then showered her legs with kisses while still holding them tightly together. “No, it’s just—nghh, it’s weird.” she uttered between moans and Noah reached out to take her hand, removing it from covering her flushed face. He smiled, feeling relieved that he was able to satisfy her without having to go all the way inside of her. “As much as I wanted to fill you up, I don’t have any condom and if we do it raw, there was a risk of me accidentally shooting my load inside because I was inexperienced.” he
CELENE let out a sigh of relief as she collapsed onto her bed after a long day at work. Thankfully, there were no major issues, aside from Amelia’s constant glares whenever they crossed paths. Jarred also hadn’t contacted her with a new number, so the day was rather uneventful.And as the newest member of the team, she spent most of her time doing tasks like photocopying documents, setting up meetings, and getting coffee for everyone... In other words, she was an errand-runner.Despite the treatment she received, she remained silent and let them have their way with her because it was better than her having to deal with Amelia.She released a deep sigh and grabbed her phone, reading Noah’s message asking if she was home. He had offered to pick her up earlier, but she declined. It wasn’t because she was embarrassed about what happened last night, but because she didn’t want to keep imposing on him, knowing he had a lot on his plate.She typed a quick reply confirming that she was home,
“S UNIVERSITY?” Herman looked at his daughter, who had just revealed that she no longer wanted to go abroad for college despite being close to graduating.“Yes, Dad.” She nodded eagerly, determined to attend the same school as Noah. Even though they would only be schoolmates for one year before he graduated, she still wanted to study at the same university. After all, there was a good possibility that their paths would cross since she would be taking the same course as him.And so, when she graduated, she took the bar exam and passed without a hitch.“Noah!” she called as soon as she caught sight of him entering the business building. Celene then jogged toward Noah, ignoring the way he looked at her as if she had suddenly sprouted a second head. “Hi, you already knew I was going to study here, right?”“I heard from Dad, but why are you approaching me? We’re not close.” He raised an eyebrow and kept walking; his backpack slung over one shoulder. Celene frowned; it had only been two mon
“Caius, come here.” Celene said, her voice a little wary as she looked at Jarred. His appearance might have changed since he grew a beard but she knew very well, it was her ex-husband.Celene’s heart was racing as she watched Jarred approaching her with Caius by his side. She couldn’t believe that after all these years, fate had brought them together again.“Give me my son, Jarred.” She frowned, fearing that he might do something to her son. However, to her surprise, Jarred urged Caius to come closer to his mother.“Mama!” He hugged her and Celene felt a sense of relief now that her son was in her arms.“Why did you leave the school?” she asked, brushing his hair away from his forehead. He didn’t seem to be hurt and that alone was enough to calm her racing heart.“I’m sorry, Mama. I saw a cotton candy outside and I wanted some. So, I followed it and…” Caius trailed off as he stared down at the ground, knowing what he did was wrong.“He almost got hit by a motorcycle..” Jarred’s interr
5 YEARS LATER...“Mhhhn, what are you doing?” Celene murmured, her eyes still shut as she felt Noah's lips making a trail of kisses down her shoulder. Gradually, she opened her eyes and turned towards him to see his face sporting a playful expression in the early morning light, “Why are you acting like this?”“I want to have a second baby,” he said as he kissed her neck, but then, their door suddenly burst open, causing him to quickly sit up with an innocent smile as their son Caius entered the room, as he did every morning.“Good morning, Mama and Papa!”With a cheerful grin on his face, he skipped over to the bed clutching his beloved dinosaur stuffed animal. He then happily crawled in between his parents and snuggled up close, giggling with joy.“Good morning, silly boy. We told you to knock before opening the door.” Celene playfully wiggled her nose, causing their four-year-old son to burst into a fit of giggles. Meanwhile, Noah’s face fell into a pout as he once again failed to b
“MOM, DAD.” Celene's eyes brightened when her parents visited her in the hospital, “Is it fine for you to be here? You should be resting.”“I already told him that, but he refused to listen to me.” Isabelle shook her head, determined to stay strong. But as she looked into her daughter’s eyes, tears began welling up her eyes. Seeing her in person after watching the news last night gave her a sense of relief that she was still alive.“I’m sorry for worrying you.” Celene’s lips tightened as she regretted putting her parents through unnecessary worry. She could only imagine how they must have felt when they saw the news.According to Noah, there was a frenzy of media attention outside the hospital last night. Thankfully, her cousin Ash was able to handle the situation and released a brief statement confirming that Salvatore’s CEO and Noah De Laruente’s wife were safe and in recovery.“What are you saying? Don’t apologize.” With a sniffle, Isabelle reached out and carefully embraced her da
SHOUTS AND GUNSHOTS echoed through the abandoned building, causing confusion and panic among Agnes and her ex-husband’s men. Celene’s heart started pounding harder, wondering if this was finally the police coming to save her.However, the noises were quickly followed by a loud explosion that shook the entire building. Dust and debris rained down on them as Celene felt herself being pulled away by one of the men.“Time to leave,” Agnes’ ex-husband shouted over the chaos, causing the gunmen to cut the rope on Celene’s feet and drag her along with him as they made their way out of the room.“No!” She yelled, her adrenaline making her struggle despite the weakness in her body. But her cries were drowned out by the chaos around her.As they emerged from the building, Celene saw that it was surrounded by a group of heavily armed police officers, there were also people from the media. She couldn’t believe her luck—she had finally been rescued.But her relief was short-lived as Agnes’ ex-husb
THE NOISE and pounding headache woke Celene up; she winced, trying to open her eyes, only to find that she was held captive; she was sitting on a wooden chair, her feet and wrists were tightly bound with ropes, digging into her skin and making it difficult for her to move.As her vision slowly cleared, she took in her surroundings and realized she was inside a large, abandoned construction building. There were a few gunmen around, some of them were playing cards, and some were talking while smoking.None of them had realized that she was already awake, and she couldn’t help but look at her belly, scared that she might miscarry if these men were to harm her. But what worried her the most was Noah; he was bleeding heavily after their car was hit earlier. Not only that but Martin was shot too before she lost consciousness earlier.The thought that something might happen to her added to her concern. However, her mind was immediately snapped back to the present when one of the gunmen appro
“W-WHAT?” Celene stumbled over her words, her eyes widening in shock as she struggled to comprehend what her mother had just said. She then gazed down at her belly, the idea of a tiny human growing inside her filling her with overwhelming joy and anticipation.“Did the scent of food make you feel sick? It was just like that for me when I was pregnant with you. Even though my favorite dish was right in front of me, I couldn’t stomach the smell.” Isabelle explained, “But just to make sure, you and Noah should visit the hospital.”“Hospital? Why?” Noah asked when he suddenly appeared as the two women exited the bathroom. His face was filled with concern as he looked at Celene, who seemed lost in thought. “Are you not feeling well? Last night you felt dizzy and now...”Noah’s sentence was cut short as he noticed the signs his wife was displaying and remembered his mother-in-law’s question about Celene’s possible pregnancy.As everything clicked into place, his heart began to race with rea
“WHAT TO DO? Our enemy’s bigger than we thought.” Celene couldn’t help but let out a sigh, finding it hard to believe that Agnes’ ex-husband was involved with the syndicate. The thought alone brought on more stress for her.“The police can handle it; I’m sure they’ll be able to find that woman regardless of who’s behind her,” Noah tried to reassure her, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that even the police wouldn’t be able to find her. It had been weeks, and yet, there was still no trace of her.“Should we just trick her to show up? I have a feeling she’s been watching my every moveShe’s just waiting to strike since I always have Martin on my side.” Celene suggested, “What if I make myself a bait so we can—”“No,” Noah frowned as he closed the book he was reading and placed it on the nightstand, his eyes focused on Celene who was leaning against the headboard of their bed with a look of concern on her face. “Let the police handle her, let’s just give them more time.”“It’s been wee
“IT’S REALLY HER,” Celene’s eyes were fixed on the screen of Noah’s laptop, her attention fully captured. Despite Agnes wearing the cafe’s uniform and a cap, her face was still easily identifiable.The security camera footage captured her adding a few drops of liquid from a small vial into the coffee while the barista was distracted, talking to the manager. As soon as she finished, the barista returned his attention to his task and placed the lid on the cup, completely unaware that Agnes had tampered with it.“That fucking bitch.” Celene clenched her jaw in frustration. She couldn’t believe how effortlessly Agnes could do such wicked deeds as if it was child’s play. She let out a deep sigh and took her phone, trying to call someone. “I’m just going to make the call.”Noah gave a small nod and followed her with his eyes as she made her way to the balcony. His hands then clenched into fists when he kept his focus on the CCTV footage again. It was baffling how that woman knew about his r
CELENE put the finishing touches on the table, making sure everything was perfect for their date at home. Snacks, drinks, and a movie were all carefully arranged. All that was left was for Noah to come down after showering.After ensuring that everything was in order, she settled onto the couch. But before she could get comfortable, the doorbell rang, causing Celene to stand and make her way to the door. She then looked at the intercom screen and noticed it was Noah’s secretary requesting entry. With a quick hum, she opened the door to let him in.“Good afternoon, Ma’am Celene.” He greeted her, and she responded warmly before inviting him into the house.“Are you here to bring Noah’s phone?” she asked.“Yes, Ma’am... Also to give him the copy of the CCTV footage at the cafe yesterday.” Celene’s finger twitched a little, and the frustration she had felt yesterday came back to her.“I see, have a seat first. Would you like a drink? Perhaps some snacks?” she asked, but the secretary poli