"Beatrice!" Reese exclaimed, her voice echoing across the room. "What are you doing here?""I guess you aren’t pleased to see me." Beatrice leapt to her feet and started walking towards her. "But I am pleased to see you.""Of course, I am happy to see you." She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around her sister. "I am just surprised."They stayed in that position for a few seconds. As they broke away from their hug, Beatrice's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "So, how have you been, sister?" she asked. "I am fine. What are you doing in London?" She asked curiously. "I came on a business trip." Beatrice trudged to the couch and sat on it. "I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I hadn't seen you before leaving. I missed you."She rolled her eyes, knowing fully well that her sister didn’t miss her. She and Beatrice had never been particularly close, so her sister's sudden appearance was a little suspicious. "Well, it's good to see you," she said, trying to keep her tone
Yesterday, when Axel made the decision that he wanted Reese to be his wife—he wanted to make her his—he decided to act on it and make it happen as soon as possible. Normally, when people make decisions like this, they think about them for a while before acting on them. But his case was different; there was nothing to think about. He knew what he wanted. And it was her.After Reese fell asleep last night, he gave a call to Lucy and told her about his plan. He couldn’t do it alone; he needed to involve her best friend. They went out that night to look for a ring, and they planned how the proposal was going to be executed.Axel sponsored Lucy’s flight to Pais, and he asked Reese to go ahead and represent him in the meeting with the Chinese clients because he wanted to get everything set up before she arrived. Luckily, he was able to do that with the help of Lucy."Axel… Lucy… What’s happening?" Reese asked, darting her gaze between the two of them as she approached them. A smile touc
Opening his eyes the following day, the first image Axel’s eyes caught was Reese. She was staring at him with her beautiful brown eyes that he wanted to see forever. "Good morning, handsome." She greeted. "How was your night?""With you by my side? It was fantastic." He spoke with a sleepy voice, and she chuckled. His morning voice was so beautiful that it caused heat to rush to the pit of her stomach. "Come here." He wrapped his arm around her waist, and she snuggled onto him. "You are beautiful." He complimented her as he stroked her hair, unable to shift his gaze away from her face. "And I want to spend the rest of my life with you."She also wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, but she couldn’t help but think about her secret. She didn’t know how he would react if he knew that he was engaged to the daughter of Mr. McBride—the founder of New Age Beauty, Perfect Touch’s competition. Was he going to leave her or forgive her for keeping such a secret from him? There wa
Mrs. Griffin didn’t lie when she told Axel that it was an emergency. When Axel arrived home, he was shocked to see that his father was currently hospitalized. He had suffered a heart attack, but he was recovering well. He was sitting by his father’s bedside, grateful that the medical staff was able to act fast and keep him alive. He loved his father, and the thought of losing him was unbearable."I am so glad you survived, Dad." He voiced out his thoughts. "I am also glad I survived." His dad said. "So I had to suffer a heart attack before you could come here to visit.""That’s not it," he said, scratching the back of his neck. The past few weeks had not been easy for him either. He didn’t let his parents know about the accident because he didn’t want them to worry too much. "You know that's the truth." Mr. Griffin tried to lift his body, but Axel quickly held him down. "You should rest, Dad." He quickly said."Don’t worry." Mr. Griffin reached for Axel’s hand and slowly lifted i
Convincing Reese to meet with his parents wasn’t difficult. He made her understand that they were trying to set him up with someone else and that she needed to be introduced to them as his fiancée. Reese, not wanting to have her man taken away from her, agreed instantly. She flew to New York the following day, not only to be introduced to Axel’s parents but also to go see her mom as she had promised. Knowing her mom, she knew she was going to ask to see her man, and she couldn’t keep lying to her. Perhaps it was high time she introduced Axel to her parents. But that would mean telling Axel the truth about her identity. She was going to do that, but not after their dinner with his parents tonight. Reese was dressed in a black evening dress, while Axel was dressed in a white shirt and beige trousers. His arms wrapped around her waist, they made their way to the dining area, where his parents were already seated by the dining table waiting for them. "Ready?" Axel asked her just befo
"What are you doing here?" She asked, perplexed. "Beatrice, what are you doing here?"A scowl flashed on Beatrice’s face. "I should be asking you that question, Reese. What are you doing here?""I came to—" Reese started, but Axel interrupted."Who are you?" He asked Beatrice. "Oh, Beatrice." They suddenly heard Mr. Griffin say it, and they all turned to see him approaching them. "I didn’t know you were coming here today. How are you?""I am fine." Beatrice flashed a smile at him. "Mrs. Griffin invited us to dinner. My parents are on their way.""Dinner?" Mr. Griffin raised a brow, confused, as he wondered why his wife would invite the McBride’s for dinner when she knew they were having dinner with Axel and his supposed fiancée. "I wasn’t aware of that.""She probably forgot to tell you." Beatrice said, a smile curling on her face. "Where is she? I should go and say hello to her.""At the dining area," he told her. "Alright." She muttered, then flicked her gaze at Reese and gave he
The dinner went very smoothly, and they went as far as picking a date for their wedding. They were both ready, and there was no need to waste any more time.After Reese and Axel left the Griffin’s mansion, an awkward silence started growing between them, and they both knew why. They needed to talk a lot of things out. When they entered their hotel room, Axel didn’t waste time asking her all the things he wanted to ask. He shot a question at her the second they entered their hotel room. "Why did you keep that away from me?" He asked as he slipped inside and shut the door. "Keep what away?" She quickly asked, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Don’t play dumb about it, Reese. You know what I am talking about.""I needed a job and got the opportunity to work at your company. I couldn’t say no." She said as she freed her feet from her shoes. His brows drew together as he inched closer to her. "That doesn’t answer my question. Why didn’t you tell me?""Because..." she scratch
The following day, Reese and Jasper met at a park. He wanted them to meet at a restaurant and have dinner together, but she insisted on meeting up with him at a park and during the day. He was already at the venue—sitting on a bench—when she got there. She had only one mission for going there, and that was to tell him to fuck off and never show up in her life again. “Reese McBride.” Jasper called, a smile curling on his lips as she approached him. She maintained a straight expression. She had no reason to smile back at him. Sitting beside him on the bench, she went straight to the point. “Why did you ask to meet with me?”“Reese.” He called, his eyes fixed on her. “I miss you. I miss us. I miss what we used to have.”She raised a brow. “And what did we use to have?”“We used to have a beautiful relationship.” He said.“Until you cheated on me with Rebecca. Because—“ she made the air quote gesture. “I don’t know how to satisfy a man.”“Rebecca was a mistake.” He muttered. “Jasper…