(Laura’s POV).“How about Uncle Lionel and Leroy? How are they connected to this? And Clara?” I looked at both my brothers who sat back on the chair with their feet raised on the table. They both sighed at the same time.Henry shrugged his shoulders and was checking on his handphone. He then smiled. Must be some woman he was chatting with. “Really, Henry? You are flirting with someone when we are in the middle of chaos?”He looked at me and nodded. His then kept his handphone in his pocket. “I’m seeing someone”“It is pretty obvious, Henry. Do we know her?” I asked and waited for him to answer but he just kept quiet as if he did not hear my question. So annoying!I then got up and sat next to Liam. I rested my head on his shoulders. My younger brother had one problem. He only knew how to express his anger but hide his sadness. A man full of secrets and hidden feelings. But, I could see his sadness in his kind eyes, “Are you alright? You look troubled”Liam nodded and gave me a half s
(Laura’s POV).I walked beside Calvin with our fingers linked with each other. He was showing me some pictures of his family that goes more than a hundred years old. Calvin was a striking resemblance of his great grandfather. It seemed that his father came from a wealthy family with high ranking status.“How about that one? She looked like a royalty” I pointed to a picture of a woman dressed in blue gown with a tiara on head. She looked foreign with tanned skin. Beautiful, no doubt.“That was my great great grandmother. And you are right. She was of a royal blood from Cantana” he said and placed his arms around my shoulders, “Let’s go. My parent should have arrived. Don’t worry. They’ll going to love you”“Don’t you think it is kind of too soon for me to meet your parents? We just got to know each other” I whispered and bit my lips while looking at him.He raised his fingers to my chin and smiled, “You are not going to chicken out are you?”“No” I rolled my eyes and sighed with a smi
(Laura’s POV).Deborah looked at me before she started laughing as if I was telling her a joke. She turned to her serious looking husband and smiled at him with an innocent face, “I have no clue what she is talking about”I sighed and looked at Calvin. I was not happy with him. I thought he was on my side, “You did not tell her? You were supposed to tell her” I whispered my words and frowned at him.“Tell me what exactly?” Deborah raised a glass of water and drank it while looking at me. She was smiling and I could sense her hiding something.“Why would anyone want to kill you, silly?” Cherry said with a laugh, “Do we look like murderers to you?”Oh, she was so annoying for me to look at. Waas she kidding me? She was there at my parent’s crime scene of their accident. I felt like choking her neck.Before I opened my mouth to say some nasty stuff, Vincent looked at me and shook his head. I frowned at him. Which side was he on?I ignored him and was a little upset that he was of no hel
(Vincent’s POV).I removed my hand covering her mouth and saw her breathing erratically with her eyes looking at me. As I took steps closer to her, she moved steps away from me. She was scared. Or perhaps, she was confused.I could understand that. I might have hurt her feelings for playing a role to be Cherry’s boyfriend. I hoped she understood it was all an act. For her.I raised my hand to touch her blushed cheeks and whispered, “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m on your side”Hearing me, she closed her eyes and I could see her breath were getting calmer. I moved closer and lowered my head to whisper closer to her ears, “I promise no more secrets, sweetheart. I’m sorry if I have hurt you”My words made her open her eyes and I could see few drops of tears falling down her cheeks. She looked at me with sadness seen in her eyes. “Vincent, what do you want from me?”I smiled and moved to pull her waist closer to me, gently. She gasped slightly and opened her mouth to speak but no words c
(Laura’s POV).He held my hand tightly and led the way to cover ourselves from being seen by both Cherry and Calvin. What I heard from their conversation was shocking. I could not breathe properly. It was too much for my mind to process it.Calvin knew all this while? Was it all a lie when he told me he loves me?I followed Vincent without asking where he was taking me. He seemed to know the way around the house. As we reached the first floor, he pulled me to hide behind a large pillar.“Someone is coming. Stay behind me” Vincent whispered and kept me close behind him in a protective mode. I would have shouted at him for treating me like a weak woman. But, at that moment, my mind was still thinking about the betrayal from Calvin.How could he do such thing to me? His love for me felt real.“It’s the Chef” Vincent whispered and moved to be away from Chef Marque’s vision.I tiptoed and looked what was ahead of him and saw Mark coming towards us. “Vincent, wave at him”“What? Are you cr
(Author’s POV).The sound of the riders following Vincent’s car were getting louder and that had made Laura nervous. She was breathing fast while holding on to the seatbelt protecting her body. Her eyes were watching the side mirror hoping that Vincent could lose them.But, they were getting faster.“Vincent, can you go faster?” Laura said with her eyes not leaving the side mirror. She opened her mouth to breathe as she was feeling nervous.“Laura, sweetheart. Calm down. We are going to be fine” Vincent said with his eyes focused on the road.“Fine? Define fine? They are getting closer, Vincent” with trembling hands, she sent a message to her brothers and Marie stating, “Code Black”Vincent then pressed a call button on his screen that flashed out “Frederik”. A dialing tone was then heard where a man answered, “Hello, boss”“We are being chased. Find an exit route to reach my jet. Prepare to leave” Vincent said in a serious tone before his assistant Frederik responded “Roger that”Th
(Laura’s POV).I groaned feeling some pain in my head. The pain was lessen as I felt I was placed on something soft and fluffy. It also smelled good. “Hmmm..” I moaned softly and rubbed my sleepy eyes.As I opened my eyes slowly, I saw that I was in an unfamiliar looking luxurious room. The four-posted bed was large with fluffy mattress and pillows. For a moment, my body refused to get up as I stared at the decorated ceiling.I was alone in a large beautiful bedroom with Victorian themed decoration. “Where am I?”My mind was a little fuzzy. I could not remember clearly what had happened. It felt as if someone had drugged me to sleep. Was it Vincent?I slowly tried to sit up and to find the bathroom to do my morning business. The light coming from the slightly parted curtain was showing it to be daytime.Looking down to what I was wearing, I realised I was wearing a men’s shirt with nothing inside it. “Where are my clothes?” I whispered and looked around for clues on where I was.As m
(Author’s POV).He wanted to kiss her long and hard until they were out of breath and lips went numb. It was as if his life depended on it. Whispering her name, his heart felt an excitement when he felt her arms wrapped around his neck pulling his body closer to her.A deep moan escaped his mouth as his fingers grazed the back of her bare waist. Her knees buckled on his waist, giving him a hint that she was all ready for him, “You want this, Laura?”She neared her lips close to his and stopped until there were just an inch apart, “Do you truly love me, Vincent?”He nodded, “With all my heart. There is no other. You need to start trusting me, sweetheart”She ran her fingers on his bare chest as his lips were kept busy on her neck. She gasped as she felt him biting her neck which she knew would leave a mark, “Vincent”Heat rose from her stomach to her chest when she saw him removing the rest of his clothes while keeping her close to him, “Don’t be shy, Laura. You have seen all of me be
(Laura’s POV).Several years had gone by. I was happily married with Vincent keeping his wedding vow to love me and stay loyal to me as long as his heart was still beating.His wedding vow for me was what the press stated as something they never expected coming from a well known feared man would ever say to a woman. He poured his heart out to me in his vow. I recalled myself in tears, and of course with abundance of joy.The wedding was held at Tuscany with a garden theme filled with fresh flowers and nature. He kept to his words making it my dream wedding. I had to thank both my mother in laws who had helped me to prepare it. I loved them both and I was happy to have both of them to fill the void in my heart that was empty since my own mother passed away.Life was perfect and having three children with him made it more exciting.Three boys, who would have thought I could go through that at such a young age! This was not what I had planned in my life after the death of my parents.I
(Vincent’s POV).I was looking around. Mostly to find a way to exit the crowded little ice cream parlour filled with mostly people from Laura’s side. The look of her angry eyes at me after knowing I had read her diary was piercing my soul. Her beautiful blue eyes were on fire.I raised both of my hands in a surrender mode and said, “I can explain. You need to calm down. Not good for our babies that you are carrying. Your stress level needs to be managed”What the hell was I rambling about? It was not going to help me save myself from her wrath that was coming to me.“You did read my diary! How could you do such thing” She said before her face was turning red. She was blushing and for a moment I thought I was wrong. She was not angry, she was embarrassed.Then, I recalled on what I read in her diary. I was pretty embarrassing. She wroter things about me and how she adored me all those years. There was even a picture of my younger self kept in her pink shimmering diary.“I hate you!” L
(Laura’s POV).A month has passed. Time had moved so swiftly and my pregnant belly was starting to show.Vincent was true to his words, being by my side taking care of me and my constant need of attention. I blamed it on my pregnancy hormones. I was never like this, wanting him by my side most of the time.It had been a challenging process with me having nausea and sensitivity of things around me. I had even lost some weight as my body was rejecting some food, even those that I used to like to eat.“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Vincent said and lifted my chin to give me a brief kiss on my lips. We were walking towards the place where we first met. A little ice cream shop in Tuscany where I had first saved him from being hit by a motorcycle.The place where I fell in a nearby ditch, stuck for almost an hour until my brother, Henry came to the rescue. I smiled to that thought as he moved to caress my cheeks, smiling at me. “What’s so funny?”I laughed softly and pointed to the exa
(Author’s POV).At the same time, seated in a rented car, Marie was looking out of the window not wanting to start any conversation with the man who was seated next to her. He was driving with his focus on the road.At times she knew, he was taking few glances at her, hoping that she would start the conversation.After a few minutes, the silence was getting weird.“Are you happy with him?” Henry wished he could take that questions back. His words slipped his tongue as they waited in the car being stuck in traffic.“It is none of your concern. Please focus on your driving” Marie said while pretending to look outside the window. There was nothing else to see except for the cars on the road stuck with them in the traffic.“Do you love him? Why.. him?” Henry exhaled his breath and gripped the sterring wheel hard while controlling his anger, “I don’t get it, Marie. At one point, you did not believe in marriage. Now, you are engaged with a man I know you are definitely not in love with”Hi
(Laura’s POV).I came out from the cold waters while pulling Vincent’s unconscious body with me. He was heavy and I struggled to pull him further.I needed to check on his breathing so I placed my ear next to Vincent’s mouth and nose. I smiled after feeling some air from his mouth warming my cheeks. “Vincent? Wake up” I said while caressing his cheeks.He did not respond to me calling him several times. I then placed my finger to check on his pulse. It was getting weaker. That made me panic for a moment.I felt his body getting cold and that frightened me further, “Vincent, please. Wake up”There was no response.I then whispered to his ears while placing my hand on his cheeks, “I know you can hear me. Please don’t leave me alone in this cold place. Please don’t leave us alone. I want our baby to grow up with a father. The father that I love very much”I then cried and rested my head on his shoulders as I let out my sadness and tiredness on his body. I was tired. I did not sleep well
(Author’s POV).Out from the busy current of Rivera river, Cherry managed to hold on to a large tree trunk and held on it with her trembling hands. She was panting out of air and was choking out water stuck in her throat.After a few minutes, she took one deep breath before climbing on the tree to get out from the cold waters. She knew if Vincent had arrived, it would mean he would have by then blocked her way out from Rivera. There would be no way out using the normal route.It was time for her to execute her contingency plan.But first, Cherry needed to locate an acquaintance who she knew could get her new identification card and passport to escape from the country. She knew Vincent was not going to make it easy for her. She knew she needed him to think that she was dead.Smiling to that thought, she was ready to fight him.As Cherry reached the shore, she walked slowly towards what looked like houses built near the river. They were local folks living in Rivera. A signage was seen
(Vincent’s POV).I was running fast leaving the rest behind. The woods were thick with many trees blocking my way.I heard her. And I knew that voice was her pleading for help. She was in trouble.Jumping over branches of trees and pushing aside any obstacle that was blocking my way, I felt no pain. All I had in mind was to save my Laura. I hope I was not going to be too late for that.I wanted to call her name and assured her everything was going to be fine. I was closeby and I knew all this drama would end soon. But, calling her name would alert the attacker. I needed to be careful.I knew who it was. The crazy woman who was obsessed with me, Cherry, was to be blamed for all that had happened to Laura. I was going to end it. Tonight, it would be over.Cherry would be placed behind bars.Standing behind a tree, I then saw her. My Laura.She was looking weak and shaken.Laura was standing too close to the edge of the cliff while Cherry was pointing a gun at her. They were arguing and
(Laura’s POV).I took steps slowly back as I saw Cherry coming closer to me. There was blood on her clothes which I thought most likely may not be hers. She looked fine, or was she pretending to look fine?I did not know her well. A deceiving woman who seemed to fight for what she believed in. And I knew all that she believed in was her being the daughter of Lucas Knight and my half-sister.“Do you realised we kind of look alike?” she said with a smile showing her perfectly shaped teeth. It was kind of scary with her eyes looking at me as if I was an object of her admiration.“We have the same eyes. Different colour though. And your hair, look” she touched her hair with one hand, “It is the same colour as mine. Do you think people would believe we are actually related?”Was she kidding me? I knew Cherry made herself look like me. She was obsessed to be me.I opened my mouth to say something but she cut me off with her words, “Laura. You want to know the truth?” Cherry smiled and sang
(Vincent’s POV).I got up from a short nap that I took without even realising it. Pieces of papers were scattered on the chair I was seated on. A large map of Rivera was spread on the table where I had marked on the potential places that Laura could be at.Something was not right. I felt a pain inside my chest. Was it Laura? Was she in trouble?I got up from my chair and walked to the drinking cabinet in my room to get a drink. A strong one I hoped to find.I hoped I could find Laura soon. Calvin and Cherry had already arrived in Rivera and I knew it would not be long until they move Laura again. I needed to be fast.My men were following Cherry and two hours ago I was informed that they had lost track of Cherry who went into the dark woods of Rivera. One thing for sure, both Cherry and Calvin were still in town. I would make sure they will never leave Rivera until I found my Laura.I rubbed my temple and walked to the bathroom to do my business. Taking a glance at the mirror in the