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…
The drive back to the hotel where they had been staying together was a very quiet one, but they kept stealing glances at each other."I want to prepare lunch for you." Axel said as he pulled up to his garage. "What do you want to eat?""Whatever your majesty wants to prepare." Reese said."Come here." He said as he cupped her face and drew her in, crashing his lips on hers."After eating lunch, I would eat you." He said, and she chuckled softly.His phone suddenly beeped, and he picked it up to look at who had sent him a text. It was an image sent from an unknown number, and he wondered who it was and what was sent. He downloaded the image, and his heart dropped to his stomach. The pictures were nudes. Nudes that had Reese’s face on them."What’s wrong?" Reese asked when she saw the sudden change in his expression.He handed the phone to her to see for herself, and her heart almost jumped out of her mouth when she sighted it."I swear this is not me." She quickly defended herself."Thi
"Honey. Come and take a look at what I am looking at here." Axel's mother said, holding her phone and looking shocked.She had gotten an email showing Reese's covered nude photo, along with a shocking text. Axel's father came out from the bathroom, and the phone was handed over to him. He was shocked to see Reese, and the text read: "This is Reese, as I'm certain you all know. She has had an abortion in the past and is currently pregnant."They were both shocked to hear that and looked at each other in surprise. Axel's father was clearly furious and looked like he could throw things around. He checked his email and also saw the same message. They both wondered who it could be and why they were sending the message.While they were thinking of what to do, they heard a knock on their door, and Axel's mother went to open the door, and lo and behold, it was Reese's parents.~They sat down, and they were discussing Reese's photo. They had also gotten the same email from each other."Reese
The scent of tropical flowers hung heavy in the air, carried on the gentle breeze that drifted through the lush foliage of the Kula botanical garden in Maui, Hawaii. The sun was shining high overhead, casting a warm, golden light on the vibrant greenery. The sound of chirping birds and the rustling leaves of the lush green trees surrounded the beautiful garden, creating an idyllic atmosphere for a wedding ceremony. And the setting couldn’t have been more beautiful. The guests sat on chairs adorned with flowers. The only guests in attendance were Reese’s parents, Axel’s parents, Lucy, Harry, Zayn, Luke, and Ethan. When Reese told her parents that she was going to have her wedding in Hawaii, she had expected them to say they wouldn’t be able to attend or even ask her to postpone the wedding due to the unfortunate incident that happened with Beatrice. But the reverse was the case. They agreed to the wedding without hesitation.Lucy invited her boyfriend—Harry—for the wedding because she
When the day Beatrice and Jasper were to be arraigned in court came, Reese was strong enough to go and testify against her sister. Reese was standing in front of the mirror, looking at herself after getting dressed for the court hearing. She was dressed in a black suit set.Sighing, she turned to look at Axel, who had been supportive after the incident happened. "How are you feeling?" Axel asked."I don't know," Reese replied, and Axel held her hand as they walked out of the house together, entered the car, and went to court. She entered the court and caught sight of her sister. Her heart ached as she looked at her, wondering how someone she had known all her life could now seem like a complete stranger. She thought she knew everything about her sister, but now she realizes there are depths to her personality that she had never even suspected.As soon as Reese's eyes locked onto her sister's, her sister's gaze quickly averted, prompting Reese to ponder the possibility of whether her
Luckily, no vital organ was hit when Reese and Axel was shot, so they survived without complications. Axel woke up after getting to the hospital, but Reese was in a coma. Although, they were assured that her vital signs were okay and she would wake up soon. The news of Reese and Axel was carried by the reporters, and different channels were trying to cover the story. The following day, Axel sat down in his bed in his ward and watched the news, hearing how they wanted an interview. Axel sighed and changed the channel. It was another reporter reporting the news of the predicament that happened. He wonders why everything about him has to be in the public eye and sighs."It was shocking that one of the most anticipated weddings of the year got canceled, Mr. Axel and Miss Reese's wedding got canceled with not much information on the reason it got canceled and the..." Axel got tired and turned the television off. He knew watching the news right now would do nothing but worsen the state he w
Jasper just stood there as he watched them exchange words. The only thing he was interested in was the money Axel was willing to give him. He helped Beatrice kidnap Lucy and Reese just because of the money she promised to give him. Now, he’s getting a better offer, and he suddenly doesn’t care about the money Beatrice promised to give him anymore. He needed to act fast before Axel withdraws his offer. "How did you even say you were willing to give me?" Jasper asked. "You requested five million dollars. I would give you that. Axel said. A smirk touched his lips as he turned to look at Beatrice. "Let them go."Beatrice drew her brows together. "Are you crazy? I didn’t go through all this just to let them go.""But I am going to let them go." He told her. "There’s money involved. And I started all this because of the money. you promised to give me in the first place. Now, I am getting a better offer. I am a businessman, so I would go with what pays me more.""So you joined her in doin
Jasper, who was determined to convince her by all means. The moment she answered positively, he would take the bag, hold her hand, and walk away with her as fast as possible before she changed her mind. Beatrice seemed like a determined type of girl, and she could go to any extent to get what she wanted.He didn't know how he came across such a woman and just wished it was someone with a simple mind, not a complicated mind. Reese was making him tired and losing hope that he would win this game. He wasn't ready to lose that shot; he had already started to imagine what it would be like to have such money and be able to do or get whatever you wanted."We could just take this money and leave. This shouldn't be a hard task.” Jasper said, looking at her with a calm and hopeful face."Yeah. We can all settle this amicably without hurting anyone, and we'll go back to our daily lives like nothing happened." Axel said, gesturing with his hands for her to calm down.Beatrice scoffed. "You both a
"Mr. Axel, you'll need to calm down. We are going to try our best to save your fiancee and her best friend. All we need from you is your cooperation by staying put. If you do not stop, it's very possible that you could affect our strategy." The cop said this over the phone, assuring their safety.Axel was restless and decided to rush down to the location that Reese had dropped. He couldn't just sit down and wait for the police to do the job; he wanted to see Reese himself to see how she was doing. Then he went out and started driving towards the place, and he thought of what he could actually do, the strategy he could use that would leave him with regret.Then a thought sprang up in his head. He was going to search for the numbers Jasper had used in blackmailing him. He searched and almost thought he had lost it until he saw the number and then dialed it immediately."Hello." He answered the call."Let them go now." Axel said with a confident tone."Why should I let them go?" He asked
Reese confirmed it was Lucy's number, but didn't understand what was going on. Why was a man talking on the phone?"Hello, who are you? I would like to speak with Lucy." She said, trying to ignore every negative thought that ran through her mind."You really are clueless, aren't you?" He chuckled and sniffed."What do you mean by that? Who are you? What did you do to my friend?" Reese asked, feeling frightened. She had been avoiding all these negative occurrences, and that was why she didn't want to get married yet in the first place. Axel had encouraged her to allow them to go on with the wedding, but things got worse. She had thought that the man had decided to leave them alone or that he couldn't get anything on them since they were laying low. But hearing the man's voice sent shivers down her spine, and she felt cold suddenly."If you want your friend alive, you have to get her in a few minutes. I do not care if you are about to start your wedding or not. All I know is that if you
Reese was really scared and didn't know what to do while she was waiting for Axel. She could see the man approaching them, and Reese became more frightened as she didn't know if that was going to be her last day on earth. She tried calling Axel again, but his phone wasn't reachable. She had given him the address of the inn and decided to take Lucy with her to the inn to feel protected until Axel came to save them. Reese was inside the inn, her hands kept on shaking, and slowly Lucy started getting sober; she raised her head to see how worried Reese was."What’s going on?" she asked, sitting up sluggishly. Reese's phone started ringing, and she couldn’t answer Lucy. She picked up her phone immediately, and it was Axel calling her.She picks up the call immediately, feeling anxious and happy at the same time. Babe," she said immediately after picking up the call."I’m outside the inn," Axel said."Okay, I’m here with Lucy, and she doesn’t look sober enough." Reese replied"I will come i
Three weeks later, Reese's best friend Lucy flew to New York for Reese’s wedding. She had called her earlier to inform her of her arrival. Reese went to the airport to pick her up, and her face broke into a smile when her eyes landed on Lucy, who was walking out of the airport. Lucy took her glass off when she saw her best friend and smiled. They hugged instantly."Wow! It’s so nice seeing you again, and babe, you look wonderful," Lucy said when they broke the hug. Reese chuckled at her kind words."I’m thrilled to see you too, and thank you." Reese said, and they went over to enter the car that was waiting for them. As soon as they entered the car, the chauffeur ignited the engines, driving them to the hotel premises."How is the preparation going? I know you must be feeling super nervous right now," Lucy asked excitedly, and Reese chuckled slightly, moving the string of hair blocking her sight."Nothing much is planned; I just want to have this done and dusted," Reese said, and her h