Ethan's face is inscrutable, and Giselle can't read his expression. Is he angry? Or is he just surprised? "Giselle." he says, his voice neutral. "What brings you here?" Giselle swallows hard, trying to get her nerves under control. "I wanted to talk to you," she says, her voice shaking. "I need to explain myself." Ethan raises an eyebrow. "What is there to explain?" he asks, his tone sharp.Giselle creased her palm over her forehead, obviously not knowing where exactly to start from. "I would have been home since but got lost on my way actually." She stammers as she tries to explain.Ethan's expression is unreadable as he listens to Giselle. "Lost?" he asks, his voice still neutral. "How did you get lost? It's not that hard to find your way home." Giselle feels her face grow warm with embarrassment. "I'm not sure," she says, her voice faltering. "I just...got turned around, I guess." She looks down at her feet."Giselle," says Ethan, his voice softening. "You know you can always com
Giselle swallows hard, trying to calm her nerves. "About what?" she asks, her voice shaky. "About us," the man says, moving closer to her. "You and me, we have a lot to talk about." Giselle takes a step back, her hands shaking. "I don't know what you're talking about," she says, her voice trembling. The man smiles, and it's not a friendly smile. "You know exactly what I'm talking about," he says, his voice cold."You know that night, when we were together," he says, taking another step toward her. "That night was special, and we need to talk about it." Giselle's stomach drops, and she feels like she might be sick. "I don't know what you're talking about," she says again, her voice barely above a whisper. "You're lying," the man says, his eyes narrowing. "I know you remember. I know you can't forget." Giselle feels like she's going to faint. "I don't want to talk about it," she says, her voice pleading.So, now that Giselle has made it clear that she doesn't want to talk to the m
Giselle opens the door and sees the mailman, his face beaming with excitement. "I have something for you!" he says, his voice full of glee. He holds out a package, and Giselle takes it from him. "Thank you so much!" she says, her voice trembling with anticipation. The mailman nods and gives her a knowing smile."You're very welcome," he says. "I hope it's everything you've been waiting for."Giselle can't wait any longer. She tears open the package, her hands shaking with excitement. Inside, she finds a small wooden box, its surface intricately carved with beautiful designs. She opens the box and gasps. Inside, there's a note and a small golden key. "What does it say?" Jason asks, his eyes wide with wonder. Giselle reads the note out loud. "Congratulations! You've made it to the next step. Use the key to open the hidden door in the backyard.""A hidden door?" Jason asks, his eyes lighting up with excitement."Let's go find it!" he says, grabbing Giselle's hand and pulling her toward
It's getting late in the evening, and Giselle knows she should head back to her apartment. But before she leaves, she needs to check on Shane, who is still being watched by her neighbor. So, she says her goodbyes to Xander and Jessie, then heads out the door. No doubt, she misses her son so much. As she walks through the park, she feels a sense of peace. The sun is setting, and the sky is a beautiful shade of pink and purple. The birds are chirping, and the air is filled with the scent of flowers.Giselle walks further through the park, lost in thought about her time with Ethan and his kid, she suddenly hears footsteps behind her. At first, she thinks it's just someone else walking through the park, but then the footsteps get closer, and she begins to feel a little uneasy. She starts to walk a little faster, trying to put some distance between herself and the person behind her. But the footsteps only get louder and faster, and soon she can hear them right behind her.Giselle's heart
Ethan slowly deepens the kiss, his hand sliding up to the back of Giselle's head. Giselle loses herself in the moment, the taste of his lips and the feel of his touch sending her senses into overdrive. She forgets about the world around them, about all the people who might be watching, about everything but the feel of his body pressed against hers. The kiss lasts an eternity, and then suddenly it's over. Ethan pulls back, his eyes searching her face. "I'm so sorry," he says, his voice hoarse. "I didn't mean to—" Giselle mustered a smile, though it felt false on her lips. She looked away from Ethan, trying to conceal the sting of rejection she felt. "It's getting late," she said, her voice sounding falsely cheerful even to her own ears. "I should probably get going." Ethan looked surprised, but he didn't try to stop her as she turned and walked away. Giselle's heart sank as she made her way down the street, Ethan's rejection weighing heavily on her mind. Giselle woke up the nex
Ethan was so surprised and it made him feel good that Giselle was way better at cards than even he was, even though he was the one who suggested that they play.They had gone four rounds already and it was seemingly impossible for him to beat her even only once and it made him look like he did not know how to play at all.“You know that all your winning has only been by chance, right?” He said playfully to her, trying to make her not feel on top of the world too much even though she had been doing well.They both knew that she was doing so well, already and it was getting boring to him, even though he was still trying to get challenged to win her even if it was only once.When he had almost won once, she devised another means to winning him and it was at that point that he knew she was an expert at the game.It was not enough that she was beating him at it, but the fact that she did it with so much ease and patience even when he struggled at doing all he did made him wonder.Giselle w
They lay together on the bed and Giselle is trying to warm Ethan up with the way she rubs her legs with him, and they both go quiet as if lost in the thoughts of what to do next.“Why did you want me to babysit you? Do you need so much care?” Giselle asked him, not being the type to keep quiet and not say anything for so long.He smiled and answered her as sweetly and softly as he could, ”Because I always want to have you around me, Giselle.” With that, he pulled her closer and tighter and she enjoyed it so well that she could not even argue or fight it with him.“Me too” she said softly, not seeing any need to hide how she was feeling from him and used her free hand to take away the rest of the cards off of the bed to the floor as she looked her fingers in his.It was turning to one intense moment and the atmosphere had changed to one that was filled with genuine love, sincerity and a fragrance they both knew they could not get elsewhere.Now she knew what it meant to have someone w
“Giselle, is there something you are not telling me?” Ethan said sweetly but very authoritative as he wanted to know all that was happening to the woman he loves. Giselle was torn apart thinking about what she should or should not tell him so as to avoid trouble of any sort, even though she was still sure that he would not give her trouble. “Actually, something happened today and I did not want to tell you, so knowing that you knew about it already feared me.” “Why? What happened today? Is everything alright?” “Everything sure is fine. I hope it is at least. I was expecting Jason to let you know what happened but he did not say anything either so I did not feel like it anymore.” “Oh! That must have been so terrible because it sounds like it is but all the same, I expected Jason to have said something to me if it was that bad.” “Maybe he did not just want you worried like this or maybe he just left it for me to do, unknowing to him that this is one of the last things I want to do
Soon after concluding on their next plan, Athena left together with Theo.The moment they left the room, the masked man raised his hands and removed the black mask on his face, revealing a very familiar and unexpected face. Griffin.The men also did the same thing and removed their masks.Griffin placed the mask down and tap his right index on the table in contemplation. "But Boss... what if this plan does not work?" his assistant asked in doubt and the rhythmic tapping stopped before Griffin replied."If it does not work, then we move ahead with plan B, if she can not belong to me, she cannot belong to anybody else. But the plan should work out, I have planned everything meticulously."His assistant nodded and asked again."Since you already have everything planned, why are you still hiding your face from Athena and Theo? Since they've become your accomplice, shouldn't you show them who you are?" Griffin chuckled at that question and peered at his assistant. "If this plan fails a
"Can you give me one last chance? I am sure Ethan still loves me, he was just hooked by that slut." Athena pleaded and the masked man kept quiet for some seconds, then he nodded. "If you still can't make him come to you, we will have to kill him." the man said and she nodded. She would not miss this chance. ... As Ethan had said, they did not meet Lucy when they got home the next morning. It was like she was never there, all traces of her just disappeared. Giselle quickly went to the kids room to check up on them, Jason was already dressed and when she entered Jamie's room, she found that he was still sleeping. She stormed over instantly, preparing to reprimand him. "Get your lazy bum up right now." When she got to him, she noticed that his face was red and pale. Startled, she quickly felt his temperature and knew that he had a fever. It made her anxious. Jason entered the room that moment. "Quick, tell Ethan to call the doctor, Jamie is running a fever." she said and Jas
Giselle ran with her hands covering her mouth.Her muffled cries echoed through the silent hallway and soon, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her."Giselle, please wait, there is a misunderstanding." Ethan shouted behind her but she did not stop to listen.Ethan had already added one piece to another and concluded that Athena was the one behind all this mess, if only Giselle could listen to his explanation.He had already guessed that the smell he had perceived earlier was an aphrodisiac because he could feel his whole body was burning.But because he was running, it reduced the effects of the drug.Giselle quickly entered the elevator before Ethan could reach and left.The anxious Ethan quickly took the steps but when he got to the lower floor, he could only watch as Giselle left."Do you think she would listen to you?" Ethan suddenly heard a mocking voice behind him and when he turned to look, he saw that it was Theo.Ethan stormed over to his side and grabbed him by his coll
Ethan was in his office going through some files when a message came in on his private number. The only people that has access to his private number is his Family, Giselle, the two boys and Fred, his assitant. So, when the phone vibrated to notify him that there was a new message, he instantly picked it up and saw that there was a message from Giselle. "I am so sorry for everything that I have done that made you angry, I have wronged you in many ways and to apologize for it, I have planned a surprise for you, that was what I went to do this evening with Lucy. Come to the Dela Cruz Hotel at 10pm, room 106, I will be waiting for you. Love, Giselle." Ethan smiled after reading the message, he had given her a cold shoulder this morning, she must be feeling guilty, so she had quickly organize a surprise to make up to him. Ethan was surprised that Giselle could be this romantic, he was not expecting it but he was eager to see what she had in plan for him. Ethan decided to call his ch
Theo stared at Athena and took one step back to check if he had entered the right room.When he confirmed that it was indeed the room that strange man had instructed him to go to, he furrowed his brows.He pushed Athena aside and entered the room, he did not bother about the woman that was cursing loudly behind him but he sat down comfortably and stared at her."So, what were you saying?" he asked and Athena scowled."What are you doing here?" Athena asked, hoping that he was not the one that man had sent.She could not imagine herself working for someone like him, she even found him irritating."I am here because someone asked to come, what do you think?"Athena sighed helplessly, knowing already that he was the one she had been waiting for.The bastard had even wasted her time and kept her waiting, if she had known that it was him, she would not have waited at all."Who sent you?" Athena asked again and Theo shrugged. "I don't know, that man just promised me to help me get back to
The next day, Ethan went to work and the kids went to school, leaving just Giselle at home.Ethan already opened the mall for her and she had decided to check it out today.She was very bored staying alone at home and Tasha was not back yet. She entered the car Ethan had arranged for her and the same midde-aged driver was the one that drove her, it seems he was her exclusive driver."Uncle, take me to the newly bulit mall." Giselle requested politely."You don't have to call me Uncle Milady, my name is Leo." the man replied awkwardly and Giselle smiled.She would not disrespect an elder because he was her driver, she was not even used to others serving her. That was why she preferred doing things herself, she had even thought of getting a driver's license but did not, because she knew that the man was only surviving with the pay from the job.As the car drifted in the streets, Giselle looked at the scenery outside and enjoyed the fresh air and scent of flowers. Then, She suddenly sa
Ethan was very angry at the way Giselle had behaved earlier.He had went out of his way to take her out, just to cheer her up even when he was very busy but she just wasted all his efforts.He was furious but more disappointed, he knew something was bothering her so bad and he had guessed that it was about Athena. He was disappointed because she was keeping her worries from him, he wanted her to be dependent on him.He would do all the work and her own was just to tell him what was wrong but she did not, she just kept everything to herself.He then started to regret his decision of leaving her by herself , he did not know what was bothering her and leaving her alone was never an option."You are so foolish Ethan, you walked away when she needed you the most." he cursed at himself and instructed the driver to take a detour, back to their home.He quickly got down the moment they got home and rushed to Giselle's room.He would not mind if she yells at him or scolds him but he would not
"Why are you calling me?" Giselle asked with an edge to the tone of her voice. Athena laughed loudly and spoke up. "Ethan did not tell you right? You are just a replacement, a surrogate and you would pack your things because I am back to take what belongs to me." Giselle laughed humorlessly and replied to her jeer with another of her own. "You already betrayed his love and his trust when you decided to discard him and elope with another man, you do not have a say at all, your era is over. You can't just abandon him and then come back again expecting him to continue waiting for you, it does not work like that." Athena kept quiet for a while and then said, "It is just a fight and a misunderstanding between us husband and wife, you are the outsider in this issue and you will continue to be. You are not married to him but I got married to him, he did not agree to the divorce in the first place because he loves me a lot." Her words jabbed at Giselle's heart painfully and Giselle went
When Ethan came back that night, he met her in his room. She was smiling blissfully and it made him wonder what happened but he was okay, as long as she was happy. Giselle raised her head and when she saw Ethan, she stood up and went over to collect his coat for him and folded it. Ethan removed his tie and then his shirt and turned to her. "What is making you so happy?" he asked while holding her waist. "How was your day?" she asked instead of replying to him and he raised his eyebrows. "Hectic?" "Go and freshen up, I will reheat your dinner and serve you, we will talk after we've talked." "Are the kids asleep?" Ethan asked casually but he noticed how the smile on Giselle's face deepened at the mention of the kids and he started thinking. "Yes, they went to sleep after dinner." Giselle replied and walked out. When Ethan finished showering and went downstairs, Giselle had already served the dish, so he just sat tp eat and she watched him. "You've had dinner already?" he aske