Chapter 41"Wait, Ms. Corpez—""What!?" I snatched my arm away from his grasp. My officemates, Lanie, Annalisa, and Lorna, were all stunned by my reaction to our boss standing right in front of me.He looked at me with furrowed brows and then ran his fingers through his hair, only to end up messing it up."Do you know me? Like, have you known me for a long time? It looks like… you know everything about me, don't you? I tried to remember everything, but nothing comes to mind." I clenched my jaw at his question."Is that so, Mr. Sullivaño? You don't remember anything?" He shook his head at my question, which only fueled my anger. Any moment, another memory from yesterday threatened to resurface. "Then, it's better if you never remember anything. Because you know why? Because I will never forgive you, even if you kneel before me." I said and marched out of the lobby.I think I need to unwind. If I stay in his office and see him, my chest will tighten even more. Even his question earlier
Chapter 42"Aubree, is there something wrong?""Papa," I shifted my position so Papa could sit on our long wooden bench outside our mini garden."Nothing, Papa." I just said."You're my child, I can feel it even if I don't know what's on your mind, but I know something's bothering you. You can talk to me, I'll listen." He said, stroking my shoulder."Papa…" I put my head on Papa's shoulder. Mama was inside, cooking lunch. I didn't go to the office today because I didn't want to see Ryker, even for just today."Papa—""Hmm…""What if… for example… when the time comes or the day comes when my children want to know their real father, I don't know what to do, Papa. I'm scared." I confessed."Scared of what?"l"That he might take the kids away from me, Papa. I'm scared he'll take away my rights to my children." I said."Why would he do that? Is it because they're richer than us? Is it because they're influential people? Kid, we may not have money, but we have principles and rights that we
CHAPTER 43"Bye bye mama. Take care always. We love you," Freya said to me. They didn't have school today, so they were at home."Bye baby, see you later okay. Behave yourselves at home and don't be naughty to mama and papa and of course-""Don't talk to strangers.""Right, call Lola mama or Lolo papa. Don't go with anyone you don't know, okay?" I reminded the kids. This is what I always tell them when I'm not around. It's dangerous these days, you never know who's good and who's going to do something bad, even if you know them."Yes mama, thank you ," she said and kissed my cheek again. I showered her face with kisses, making her giggle."Let's go see your twin so I can say goodbye. I might be late for the office," I said, and we walked hand-in-hand towards the bedroom. I left my things in the living room.As we opened the door, we saw Maynard still fast asleep. He had been working on a project last night, so he woke up late. I went to the side of the bed and kissed him on the forehe
Chapter 44"Hi-" he greeted us, his voice barely a whisper. His gaze flitted between me and the child. While holding the hands of my daughter, didn't react, probably wondering who she was talking to."S-Sir Ryker," I managed to say, but my voice barely whispered. My heart pounded with nervous anticipation at this unexpected encounter between the father and the daughter.He looked down at Freya, his brow furrowed. He was still holding a teddy bear in his right hand and another one in a paper bag.He looked up at me. "Y-your daughter?" I slowly nodded, and he did the same, as if he understood what I said. "You have a child." He repeated, not as a question.Should I tell him now? Should I introduce him to his real daughter? Is five years, turning six, was enough time for her to meet her father, who now stands before me?"How old is she?" My throat felt dry, and I couldn't swallow."F-five, sir…""Five years old." He bent down his knees to be level up with my daughter. "Hi! What is your
Chapter 45The morning dawned, and I already felt like I didn't want to go to the office. I was sluggish, but I had to work, especially since payday was approaching. I needed to be diligent to get my salary.I hurried into the lobby and rushed to the reception table to log in my name. I was already late, it was almost ten in the morning. I was too lazy to get up, I just stared blankly at our ceiling. My mind was filled with thoughts until I decided to just go to work because I had no reason to take leave and I wasn't sick."Is the boss here?" I asked the receptionist."Yes, he's been here since eight, Miss." She said."Really? Is he looking for me? Okay, thanks." I did nothing but run towards the elevator, and when I reached it, I pressed the up button. When it opened, I was surprised to see Ryker inside the lift, standing with his hands in his pockets. His brows were furrowed earlier, but when he saw me, his face suddenly softened. Was I right, or was I just imagining things? I don't
Chapter 46"So, you? What do you want?" Mama asked me.I sighed and rested my elbows on our table, waiting for Mama's sinigang to be cooked. It was Sunday, and we had just come from church with the kids, who were now in their room getting ready for the house.We didn't go out because the children wanted to stay home, so we decided to have bangus sinigang in miso for lunch."Am I really taking Freya, Mama?" I said. Ryker's friend's child was going to have a birthday party, and he needed someone to bring a child. Really? He shouldn't go because he doesn't have a child to bring. But apparently, the birthday family wouldn't accept his gift if he didn't go without a child."Those parents are different, huh. If you're the one who wants to bring one of your children, then you're the one who decides, if the children agree.""Freya agreed, Mama, she's easy to talk to, she immediately agreed and was even excited, but Maynard didn't want to, and I understand because he's not into those kinds of
Chapter 47“Baby, help me Ryker! They ganged up on me.” Oh, if you hadn’t started it, they wouldn’t have ganged up on you. You’re alone, I have a lot of amazons, even if I don’t tell them to help me, they’ll help me on their own.“Sir, she’s the one who started it, sir, we were just defending our Aubree,” Lorna said to the man who just arrived, looking at us with his hands on his hips. When our eyes met, I saw how worried he was as he approached me. I gasped in surprise, and he immediately carried me, so I couldn’t complain. I felt like I was in a daze at that moment.“Omg, Ryker, how about me?” Ryker turned to Miss Caterpillar, I mean Grachia? Garcia? Diraschia? I don’t know her real name since she arrived.Ryker glared at her sharply.“I’ve known your plan from the start, go home while I can still control myself,” he said and immediately went inside his office carrying me. I heard Miss Caterpillar shouting outside before the door closed.I was so embarrassed because of what this man
Chapter 48"Aren't you really coming, son?" I asked Maynard, who was reading a book. He loves reading encyclopedias. He almost finished reading the entire volume I bought for them.Since childhood, I haven't trained them to use gadgets, and it's funny that they haven't been influenced by other kids who are into technology.He turned to me and smiled, "No, Mama, just enjoy the birthday party with Freya. I'll just stay here at home and watch over Lola Mama and Lolo Papa while I read." He said, making me smile.I stroked his uppercut hair with my fingers. I was already dressed in a simple white blouse and black pants and white sneakers, and Mama offered to dress baby Freya, so I just waited for them here in the living room. I wasn't in a hurry, and the birthday celebration in an exclusive subdivision in Tagaytay would start later this afternoon.I think we'll still make it. "Okay, after you’re done or when you feel a little tired, you have to rest first, okay? Especially our eyes.""Yes,
“Ryker!” Why does it hurt? Why does it hurt a little every time she says my name? Is it because I'm right, that I've known her for a long time and I still don't know her? Is that what love is like? “Wh-why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me you don't remember? Why? Why didn't you fight for me back then? We could have been happy now. You gave up so quickly on what we had. Because if it were me? I could fight for you even if you forced me to love someone else.” While the person in front of me was telling me who I was in her life, my heart suddenly became happy because my dream was right, that I had someone I loved before. But I don't want to force myself to remember my whole identity because I'm content with what Aubree just said, I'm sure of her that we have a past. That she loves me and I love her, I only ask the Lord for one thing, that I would be able to remember. I also found out that baby Freya is my daughter, that's why… my heart beat differently when I saw her and
I just stared at my secretary. I didn't know what kind of magic she used to make me focus on her. If she looked at me, I would avoid her. There's just one thing I don't understand, every time I see her, I see anger in her eyes and disappointment for reasons I don't know, and if I force myself, my head would ache, and if I try to remember, I would just find myself unconscious. When I see her getting angry at me, it's like she's known me for a long time and I've known her for a long time too, but no matter how hard I try, it always ends up with a headache. However, since she appeared to me, I did everything to get closer to her, even though I felt like if her stare could kill, I would have been resting for a long time. Maybe one of the happiest days that happened to me was when we had a business trip to Cebu, because that's when my friend Shanna thought, and if I only knew that just eating beans in halo-halo was the reason why I got close to her, I would rather just always eat bean
I promised Aubree that I would marry her after graduation, but I didn't know how to do it, especially since I had a friend who was waiting for her. I was on my way home when I suddenly fell to the cement because of Sebastian's sudden punch. “You idiot, I told you there was something going on between you two.” He pointed at me furiously. I wiped my bloody mouth with the back of my hand and gave him a smirk. “I like her, since the beginning, man, I'm sorry.” “Sorry! Just sorry? Damn it, man, there are plenty of other girls out there, why her? I told you that I liked her. I fucking told you that I would tell her after our graduation, man, but what did you do? Damn it.” "I don't know either, I'm sorry. I only know one thing, I loved her, man, I loved her from the start. If you can't tell her how you feel then it's fair, maybe it's just fate that found a way," He shook his head, still looking at me angrily. “I'll still take her from you. She's coming with me. She's coming with me, m
RYKER MATT SULLIVAÑO POV 02“Who was that, bro?” I asked again, wanting to be sure. I hoped it wasn’t true.“Aubree Lynn, and I think she likes me too. I heard it from one of her classmates. Of course, I don't want to rush things just because I found out she likes me, I'll court her after we graduate from college, what do you think, bro?” I didn't know what to say. Out of all the students, why her? Why my crush?The moment he said he liked Aubree, I realized something, I had already fallen for Aubree Lynn, for a long time, but I just used my anger and teasing to make her annoyed with me. But damn, he's my friend, how can I tell him to like someone else?I carried that thought with me all the way home and to bed, it hurt even more when I saw them together and happy. Were they a couple? Fuck! Was I too late?Because of my friend's confession, it felt like our friendship changed just because of a girl we both liked. I liked her too.Every time she was grumpy, it was like a joy for me, wh
EPILOGUERYKER MATT SULLIVAÑO POV 01(Mature Content)“Stop it, man, you're getting hurt.” Sebastian tried to stop me.“Damn, bro, I can't, they started it. Just one more, then I'll stop. Damn, bro, that bald guy even called his buddy.” I smirked because it was so ridiculous.Whoever started the fight was the one who was acting tough, but now they wouldn't fight fair. They even called in another guy.“Alright, after this we're going home, or my mom will get mad.” My friend said, we've been buddies since high school. We were the only ones left from our group. Alberto and Albert had gone home, we didn't expect to be ambushed by these idiots.There were only three of them, two were already fighting, and I thought the bald guy was scared so he ran away. Turns out he went to find backup. Crazy.These were our schoolmates from high school, and they still had a grudge against us. They were the ones with the grudge, but they were the ones who were angry. Time seemed to be running backward, l
CHAPTER 65I jolted awake from a bad dream. I immediately stood up and grabbed some water, calming myself down before drinking. I peeked at my husband and son, and thankfully they were both fine, which gave me some relief.What did that dream mean? Why was it so painful?It was still early morning. Mom and Freya were still asleep on the sofa, and thankfully it was wide enough for them to fit. I told Mom to go home for a while, but she refused. The Sullivaño couple had been here all day, but because Ryker’s mother was sensitive, they stayed at the hotel again. Freya didn’t want to go with them because she was shy and wanted to be the first one her brother saw when he woke up. She also didn’t go to school until her twin was back, and thankfully her teacher agreed.After calming myself down, I checked on Maynard, who was still asleep. He was the same as his dad. He didn’t have an IV anymore because it had been removed, but Ryker still had some tubes attached to him. He had hit his head h
CHAPTER 64“Hey man, I thought we were going to an engagement party? Why are you here? For crying out loud, wake up.” Edziel’s voice roused me from my daze.“I’m awake, you even had lechon cooked for me, five of them, no payment yet. That’s almost a million.” Douglas said."What? That’s the price of your lechon? I won’t buy it, man.” Carlos said."Dude, just to wake you up, you never know, you might suddenly sit up to pay.”"Ahh…" Ten men nodded in unison. They were really crazy.“Hello, Aubree, sorry we came by because we heard the news. We were going to come last night but the guard outside said not to because you needed rest.” Lance said, so I nodded.I must have fallen asleep while sitting on the small plastic chair, holding hands with Ryker.I peeked at my son in the other bed where Mom was. They were both still asleep, neither of them had woken up since yesterday. I missed their voices so much.“We brought some fruits and food, eat something.” Ignacio suggested. Ryker’s friends
CHAPTER 63“No… no… please let me in… please… please. I want to go in… I want to see my husband and son.” I begged the nurses who were stopping me from entering the emergency room."Ma’am, you can’t go in ma’am. They’re being treated–”"No… you don’t understand. They need me, please.. please." I was almost on my knees begging them. “Please… I want to see them… Maynard! Ryker! I’m here… I’m here.”“Daughter! Aubree, my daughter. Oh God." I immediately turned to the voice and saw my parents running towards me with Donna and Caloy."Aubree?"“Aubree… ““Mama. Papa. Maynard and Ryker are – they’re inside, Ma, pa, the nurses won’t let me in, I want to see them." I was almost going crazy outside the emergency room.My dad hugged me tightly. “Be strong, my dear, be strong. God is merciful, He’s merciful, He won’t let anything bad happen to them."“But pa… maybe.. they need me. They’ve been inside for hours. No one has come out yet. I… maybe if I go in… they’ll wake up, we’ll go home.. pa… pa
CHAPTER 62(Mature content)“You’re blooming today, Inday, you’re happy today? Let me guess.” Shit! Did Lanie find out about Ryker and me…?“W-what?”“Because our salary will be higher this month, ahh yes,” she said, squealing, making me laugh. I thought it was something else.Well, why am I so nervous? Ryker is my real husband, even though we’re not married yet. We already have two kids, so I don’t care what other people say. It’s not like Ryker and I are hiding what my role is in his life.He actually wanted to introduce me to all his employees and friends, but I told him to wait until he remembers me so I wouldn’t hear any rumors about me taking advantage of our relationship because he forgot about me. We’re not hiding, I know some people know, they’re just gossipy, so I don’t care, as long as Ryker and I are happy.He’s been busy with work lately, so sometimes he’s not in the office, but when he’s here, we both don’t get any work done because we’re busy with something else. Making