He shook his head with a smile.
"Since you said it, I'll believe it, then. Anyway, back to where I left. So while I was working in one of my side jobs, I met Klauss Wilburn. You probably know him since he is a famous surgeon here in Estermouth City. So... we first met when I had one of his friends beaten into a pulp when he harassed me. Believe it or not but I excel in martial arts. Klauss was the one who approached me first and asked if I wanted a better-paying job. And as a person who was in desperate need of money, I accepted his offer to train in his secret organization."This made Gavin crease his forehead. He wanted to ask what this secret organization was but he stopped himself from interrupting her. Besides, she might discuss it later on."Since Klauss had always been that person who stayed by my side and made me all happy despite the unfortunate situation I and my family were in, I fell so hard for him. After years of keeping those feelings insThe next day, Gavin was the first one to wake up and did not bother disturbing Shantala's sleep since she cried quite a lot the other night. Since he was expecting the designer to arrive that day, he left a note about his quick leave before driving to the airport. While waiting, he bumped into Stacey."Sir Devon, are you returning to Vidale City?" Stacey asked."Ah, no. I am just here to fetch someone. What about you Mrs. Ranford? What brought you here?" he asked in return."I just saw off a friend of mine who is staying abroad for good." She paused for a while so Gavin bid her goodbye. However, when he took a few steps away, she added, "Is it true?"He turned on his heels and faced her again."What is?""About you marrying my sister.""Yes, it's true." He flashed a smile. "We'll send you an invitation once everything is ready."Stacey remained speechless as she watched Gavin disappear from her sight. She knew t
She faced him and scoffed at his audacity. "Even if you pay me ten times his offer, you will not be able to do it. You can only brag, Hyperion. What Gavin can offer me is something you have never given. He trusts me, he genuinely cares for me, and for Trevor... he is willing to take the risks of marrying me just to prove that no matter who I was and what I did in the past were not enough reasons to stop loving me. Those things, Hyperion... those were the things you cannot do. So suck up that money of yours and get lost!" she yelled before turning her back on him.However, just after she made a few steps away from him, Hyperion grabbed her arm and forced her to face him."I can fucking do all of those if you give me a second chance!"Shantala froze within a few seconds with wide eyes but then, a snicker escaped from her mouth before she erupted into laughter. "A second chance?" she questioned. "I have given you more than that years
After visiting Lance in the hospital, they headed back to the compound without having the trouble to deal with Hyperion. Upon their return, they resumed working on their wedding proper preparation with the help of the wedding coordinator that Gavin hired. However, the groom-to-be was still feeling unsettled since they did not manage to close the little bit of misunderstanding that happened between him and Hyperion. He wanted to talk about it with her and apologize but every time he brought up that topic, Shantala would brush it off and start talking about their wedding.Even though she was not saying anything, Gavin knew that he had to resolve it with her before it got any bigger. Before they could retire for the day after such a tiring afternoon, Gavin grabbed that chance to speak with her.Hugging her from behind and leaning his head on her shoulder, he said, "I am sorry for what happened back in the hospital."Just like always, Shantala did not say anyt
She could not really tell what he was thinking but she suspected that he was probably worrying about the presence of other men in her bridal shower. Just like before, she leaned closer to him and kissed him, this time a little bit longer, to assure him that she wouldn't be cheating on him."Is that enough?" she asked after breaking their kiss. "Or do you want a more aggressive one?"Gavin pinched her cheek and replied, "That's enough. If I asked for another round, we might end up naked."Shantala hit him lightly on the arm before bidding her goodbye and went inside the apartment of Valerie. Since they all decided not to party in one place, Valerie arranged a few clubs they would be hopping into for the entire night before going to the Evening City Garden Club to see what would happen at the groom's stag party.Upon entering, she flinched in surprise when Valerie and Rhian popped some party poppers to congratulate her. She was also astonished to se
Each of them was escorted by different men as they walked towards their assigned private room. Rhian, who was the only single lady among them, could not help but be more indulged in the presence of her escort."I might just bring you home tonight," she jested before receiving a slap on the back from Valerie."We still have our one last stop so no one's going home with anyone," she said without taking her eyes off of the man holding her hand.Entering their private room, it was more like an apartment but since Valerie did not plan to have any intimate interaction that night, she requested that half of the room would be arranged like a karaoke bar. It may seem cheap but this was one of the things that keeps the party going, at least in her own opinion. But before they could enjoy their party, Rhian huddled the girls up in a corner and brought out some stun guns she had kept from her bag."This is for y'all in case of emergency."
A little while later, Valerie managed to snap back to her senses when one of the other escorts held her wrist to bring them outside for safety. But instead of letting herself be taken away, she rushed to the table where the telephone was and dialled the hotel's reception desk."I want to speak with your supervisor right now. Tell him or her to meet us here on the VIP floor," she said with gritted teeth before slamming the telephone down. She turned on her heels and walked towards Shantala so they could all leave the premises."What the hell just happened there?" Rhian asked with a worrisome look plastered all over her face."It seemed like someone had been keeping an eye on us ever since this afternoon. I'm afraid we have to cut the party short before any of us gets in trouble," Shantala replied.Before she could lead them out of the building, the supervisor showed up clearly confused because of the presence of several police officers ca
Upon entering, the flickering lights and blast of music greeted them. Since they used the door behind the stage, they stumbled upon a few strippers waiting for their cue to come out. Seeing their boss, they were quite taken aback since they were not informed of her sudden appearance that night."Shhh..." Rhian hushed them. "Pretend like I am not here.""Bring the girls out!" one guy yelled from the other side, signalling the girls from backstage to finally go out.But then, Valerie and Rhian stopped Shantala from showing up first. They strictly instructed her to stay still for a few minutes before she went on the stage and got all their attention. Besides, they planned to make her the lady of the night."But won't that negate our purpose of just secretly sneaking in?" Shantala wondered.Rhian shook her head. "Let's just have some, okay? Since our party has been cut short."Shantala just gave her a sly look because she c
Since she was already busted without even doing anything in particular, she decided to drop the act. Though she was relieved to see that back in the main hall, Gavin was just sitting with Chiavelli and was not around any other woman. And he knew all along that it was her who was behind the mask. It seemed like she was just overthinking a while back."I'm sorry for crashing the party," she immediately said."Nah, everyone is having fun so there is nothing to worry about." He looked into her eyes with a grin. "So, what are you trying to do?""W-Well, we were just curious about how things were going at your party so we decided to come. We were supposed to simply look at what was going on and not expect something like this to happen. And..." She paused and asked herself if it was worth mentioning to Gavin about what happened a while back with that Justin guy. However, it also crossed her mind that if she were to tell him about that incident, it might
Hyperion and Stacey were currently in his office while tension lurked around them. Even the mafia boss' secretary could feel the ominous aura trapped inside the office so he never dared go in. The couple had just finished arguing about what happened with the meeting with Mr. Devon."Are you really being serious about this? Have you not even considered my feelings? I already let the fact that you fucked my sister slide but taking her son to take care of him... no!" Stacey asked for the nth time. She just could not sit still and wait for her sister to take away what she already had. She would never let her take her husband away. NEVER. Even if Shantala had already given birth to the son of her husband, it was still not enough for Stacey to let go of her love. Hyperion, who was already tired of this argument, chose to remain quiet. He just knew that if he said another word, they would be shouting at each other again.Just then, a knock was heard on the
"Hi! I am Tricia Miller, the substitute nurse sent by Sir Helios," the guest greeted. Linda was unsure of what to do so before letting her in, she went back inside to consult the nurse and Shantala. "What's the matter?" Lily asked. "A young woman came and said that she is the temporary substitute nurse," Linda replied. Lily stood from her seat since she had been expecting the nurse Helios mentioned before. She went to the door and escorted Tricia inside, however, when the guest and her patient saw each other, she noticed the change in Shantala's expression. "Replica A1?" she muttered, wondering why she would suddenly appear again after some time. Tricia smiled and replied, "That used to be my name but my real name is Tricia. And I will be your nurse for the upcoming days." Shantala actually doubted her since they were not on good terms during
It was almost midnight and Hyperion had just gotten back from the company after dealing with the trouble that one of his employees brewed. Though, it was not fully resolved so he had to return anytime soon. It exhausted him but still, it did not stop him from heading to the Devon's residence to check on Shantala.It's already been almost a week since he last visited and he wanted to see how she was doing. Upon arriving at the house, he stopped in his tracks when he saw the kitchen lights on. Curious about whoever was in there, he took careful steps in order not to alert the person inside. Though, he was quite sure that it was no burglar or anything of that sort since he had the entire house under surveillance.When he stood by the entrance, he immediately recognized Shantala even though her back was facing him. She was wearing a white dress shirt which was obviously not hers but Gavin's since it was oversized, falling right to the middle of her thighs, covering her
"How dare you show up in this place!" Mr. Devon roared. "Up until now, can't that fucking tiny brain of yours realize that the cause of my son's death is you? Or do you just have no shame at all that you still chose to stay even though you ruined his life?!"The stinging pain on her cheek did not really matter to Shantala because it was not any more hurtful than losing her husband. The accusation that her father-in-law made against her did not affect her as well because she knew who was really at fault.Despite having the chance of getting another slap from him, Shantala still looked back at him with no sign of fear. She could see how enraged he was but, for sure, it was not because he lost Gavin but because he lost the chance of marrying him off to Phoebe Romalia.She scoffed. "Instead of pointing your finger at me, why don't you reflect on the actions you did? Didn't you threaten him to divorce me that was why he returned here? Didn't you want him to mar
Back in Vidale City, Mr. Devon was currently playing golf with his business partners. It was his usual hobby whenever things were going quite well. In the middle of their conversation, he received a call from one of the bodyguards staying in his son's residence."Sir, I just spoke with the attorney. Both Sir Gavin and Miss Kierra signed the divorce papers," he reported."That's great, that's great," Mr. Devon responded with a smile before ending the call. "We should celebrate.""For what occasion?" one of his business partners asked.They knew that Mr. Devon rarely held any sort of party so it made them curious as to why he would initiate a celebration."For a new beginning."Thus, in no time, the mansion of Mr. Devon was filled with people from different elite families. He was a bit disappointed, though, since Mr. Romalia was not there to celebrate the beginning of their soon-to-be prosperous business. "Hey, Dad," Amelia c
Mr. Romalia was quite puzzled. The successful separation of the couple should be something that his daughter should be happy about. However, she looked rather exhausted and no hint of happiness was on her. Plus, he noticed a bruise on her cheek."What happened? Shouldn't we celebrate such great news?""Gavin is rushed to the hospital. It... It seemed like his condition worsened because of my negligence. I just realized that Kierra is the only fitting woman to be his wife. I'm giving up."Upon hearing her reply, Hyperion immediately stood."Mr. Romalia, I apologize but let us discuss this matter further some other time. I will contact you as soon as possible." Even before Mr. Romalia could respond, Hyperion immediately ran out of the mansion and got into his car. At full speed, he rushed to the hospital. He very well knows that he promised himself that he should stay away from Shantala until her relationship with Gavin was legally severed
Gavin could only look away while Shantala left the living room. Staring up at the ceiling, he tried his hardest not to let a single tear escape from his eyes.A little while later, Phoebe came in together with his attorney. The first thing that the Romalia heiress looked at was the divorce documents. Upon seeing the signature of Shantala, she was over the moon that she immediately pounced on Gavin."We are getting married!" she exclaimed.The attorney cleared his throat to notify the young heiress that he was still there. He gathered the papers and put them back in his case before returning his gaze to Gavin."I will take care of the rest and make sure that Ms. Kierra will get her alimony as soon as possible." After saying that, the attorney left rolling his eyes to the side upon meeting the gaze of Phoebe.The young heiress was about to charge toward him but she calmed herself with the thought of acting as the perfect wife and partner fr
This was where Shantala got confused. She was sure that the dead person in that room was her mother but how come her death was not reported? And how come the police confirmed that she was that person instead?"How did you do that?" she asked. "You know, the thing wherein the police saw that the body was you?""Chiavelli actually paid the officers who investigated the scene. Thus, they ended up confirming that I was indeed that person. But as for the body..." Valerie looked away as she pursed her lips.She waited for her, not wanting to rush her or anything.After a minute, Valerie added, "It was someone else's body with the same face as mine. It may sound absurd but a few hours before the engagement party, she suddenly came out of nowhere and told me to help her. She was beaten up and clearly, she was so scared. What was even weirder about that incident was that she introduced herself as Replica A0."Shantala's eyes widened as she remembe
Since Shantala got into an agreement with the attorney, she let him go to the house first. She will, later on, be going back home to make it look like she has gone somewhere else. She simply feared that if she and the attorney went together, Gavin would become suspicious. Wanting to take her time, she was about to go to the grocery store only to bump into Valerie and Chiavelli.And now that she saw the person who claimed herself to be the original Tricia Vexmore, the questions she had on the day her trial turned into chaos came rushing back to her. Only weeks had passed ever since that day but Shantala felt like it was already years ago due to the consecutive stressful events she had gone through. And instead of greeting her, she just stood there staring at her with wide eyes.Thus, Valerie took the initiative to start their conversation. Besides, this might be the last time they will see each other. Chiavelli also left for them to have some privacy."It's