Raina's body language was tense, and fidgety as she lowered her gaze. She was nervous to make eye contact, "I truly don't know what you are talking about" She denied again as she stretched her hand over the bistro table to give him his medical report. "It's obvious that you are lying," Gerold chortles softly and collects the medical report. The servers served two cups of cappuccino for each of them, and about five cannoli ( a tube-shaped pastry filled with sweetened ricotta cheese) in a cannoli shell. The sweet aroma filled the air.Raina scratched her neck nervously as she wasn't planning to stay any minute longer. With the whole setting, she doesn't think she would want to easily shove him off with an excuse of going to meet Jude even though he knows that she wants to leave. She watched him monitor the servers until they were far from them. Gerold suspiciously glanced around their spot. He exhaled in relief and relaxed when he was satisfied that no one was lingering around. "Our
"Jude…Jude…Jude…" Raina called in small whispers and negligibly pushed Gerold from the way. She scurried out of the coffee shop with a heart beating out of rhyme, but only to watch Jude zoom his car in a high momentum out of the coffee shop car park. She squatted on that spot in extreme disappointment as she felt a sense of guilt knowing that she had played a role in making him feel hurt. Apparently, Jude had been anxiously waiting outside the Estate's gate even before it clocked the one-hour time Raina had mentioned to him. He intended to not delay her, but after patiently waiting for an hour and about forty minutes later, he felt dehydrated. He cursed himself for not holding his usual bottle of water, and his senses ricocheted to the coffee shop he usually sees out of a blur whenever he drives to pick Raina up. It was just a minute's ride, and his choice was to pack his coffee together and come back to wait, but because he still didn't want Raina to feel distressed about his prese
"Please," Jude breathes. Without any more utterance, he put on his location and flung his phone on the other front seat. Jacob shuddered at the thought that Jude was in the middle of danger because his friend had never for once sounded so desperate. He rang an alarm to all his houseguards, and they assisted in tracking Jude's location. Jacob continues to shiver tremendously with the fear that something bad has happened to his friend. He tiptoed at the front and gestured for the guards to surround Jude's car. They did as Jacob had instructed them, and slowly opened the door of the driver seat to meet an erratic breathing, and extremely weak Jude who had his eyes open half-lidded. "What happened..ed to you, man?" Jacob faltered his words in nervousness. "Just drive me to your home," Jude says in a low breath. "You don't need to go to the hospital or something?" Jacob asks and slightly tugs his finger backward for the guards to move away. "I never told you that." Jude feigned a smi
THE NEXT MORNING "Jude, Jude" Jacob yelled and shook his arm. He had been waking him repeatedly for the past two hours, but Jude would only reassure him that he was awake and still go back to sleep. "We have an exam this morning for goodness sake! What will happen to us being the future of the nation? Get your fucking ass up!" Jacob grumbled as he couldn't bear his friend's sluggishness anymore. They were already late and were only reassured to still be able to write the exam because no one would question them for their lateness to the exam hall. Jude's eyes fluttered open, and he groaned as the sunlight hit his face. He rolled on the bed twice and slowly sat up, his head pounding, and his stomach churning. The previous day alcohol had taken its toll on him, and he felt like he was moving through molasses. His mouth was dry, and he could taste the remnants of beer on his tongue. His whole body ached, and he felt exhausted. He wondered if he'd ever be able to drag himself out of bed
Jude's fierce eyes narrowed as the white in them became red with an effort to keep his anger in check. There was a faint tremor as his jaw clenched tightly. The overall effect of Micah's insults on him shows how much he was barely containing his fury, ready to explode at any moment.Micah's heart was in turmoil of fear, but she was still trying to keep up with her pride. "Tell me the lie in what I said" she urges. "If you ever speak of her like that again…" Jude's tone was cold, controlled in anger, and a hint of danger underneath. "If you say such a thing again…" he repeated, "I will make you pay. You think I don't know that you and your fucker were the ones behind those pictures? You should keep yourself, and words away from me" he speaks slowly and deliberately, enunciating each word carefully.As Micah heard Jude's words, she felt a chill run down her spine. The fury in his voice was unmistakable, and she could feel the tension in the air around them. She wished she dared to deny
"Are you..sure about..this?" Gerold stuttered in disbelief as he stood on his feet. He had caught the flu about a day ago but his health suddenly felt improved at Raina's acceptance to be his contracted wife. Gerold had foreseen her to call a few days ago because of how confident he was about no other easier solution to the crisis on ground. Not like he totally wished for her unhappiness. He had begun to have some silly heartbeats for her, and couldn't wait to make her joyful too. He felt that was the right decision as his nephew, Jude would surely get over the news of their marriage easily, and move on. Throughout the last week, Gerold had almost given up on Raina when she didn't call him. He had made the detailed contract a long time ago when he first wanted to marry her a few months ago and had remade it with the new conditions and terms. He felt dire for being the one behind the rim of her sadness but he was knowledgeable about the hardship she would face regarding her pregnancy
"Uh…uhm.." Raina stutters "It's fine if you don't want to" She inches backward and looks away. "If that is what you want, so it is" Gerold affirmed with a smile.Raina smiled sadly as she recalled when Jude told her to think about the country they would go to for their vacation after his exam. He had told her that he would skip prom and had also out of jealousy asked about who her date was during her prom. Raina only smiled and said she wasn't able to attend as a regular student. She had practiced dancing choreography to entertain the students for money instead. Jude then promised to make his own prom night to be the best night for her. He had said they would send it together but it all seems impossible now. Raina jerked when she felt Gerold stretch his hand across the coffee table in an attempt to tap her. Apparently, within that time she had drowned in a deep trance, he had ordered two cups of Espresso and he was saying something. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?..." Raina trail
Raina's father was speechless as he felt trapped in his daughter's dramatic life. All in one, his greediness for money was first regarded. "You should have married Gerold in the first place, but you never listened. You have a lot of explaining to do," He grumbled and snatched his leg out of Raina's hold. He exhaled heavily and out of frustration, he trudged out of her room. "I might have listened to you if I knew that it was a contract marriage. I might have listened to you if only I knew that it would be this difficult to love someone my heart desires" Raina whispered and wept bitterly.Raina's father watched a delighted Jude from a corner. He shakes his head one more time before sauntering to meet him. Jude looked back and his expression fell in disappointment when he didn't see Raina. "She doesn't want to see you.." her father looked away. "What took you this long to visit her in the first place? Even if she sees you, there is nothing like you guys coming back together from her e