Edward lowered his head and took out a booth of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket. He knocked on the booth skillfully and procured a stick to bring to his mouth before lighting it up. He took a deep drag, then only raised his head to look at Vivian. He cracked into a smile and said, “I’m sorry, Vivian.”Vivian’s hands that were placed on the table were clenched tightly into fists. Still, this action of hers did not stop her body from shaking profusely. Her jaw was tightly clenched such t
The man’s lips cracked into a faint smile as he answered, “I’m feeling much better.”The video clip came to a complete halt at his point. The screen was paused on the man’s gentle smile. Vivian stood over there with her entire body frozen into a stone statue, leaving only tears pouring from her eyes akin to a collapsed dam. As she looked up at Edward, she spoke in a raspy voice, “Are you going to use him to coerce me again?”The cigarette burned to its end between Edward’s fingers, yet he beha
Her gaze chilled Edward’s heart. He looked at her in a daze and clenched his teeth a moment later. He leaned forward and carried her from the bed while saying, “Viv, let’s go home.”Vivian did not speak or resist. She lay there quietly for him to carry. Then, she closed her eyes slowly. Edward did not send her to the villa. Instead, he took her back to the condo that he lived in on the usual days. He carried her to the second floor and placed her on the bed in the bedroom. She remained silent
Feelings? Had there ever been any kind of feelings between him and Vivian? Edward smirked mockingly and said in a nonchalant tone, “Shut up. You can either drink obediently or you can leave as well.”Jake laughed and shut his mouth obediently. There was a saying that went ‘you get drunk easily if you drink in anger’. Moreover, Edward had not eaten anything at all throughout the day, so he had only consumed a little more than a half bottle when he became tipsy. However, he was still a fine gentl
Jake was pinning Edward down strenuously at all times, and he shielded them with the car. He waited until the car left before he loosened his grip on Edward and said anxiously, “Edward, are you alright?”Edward’s arm was grazed by a bullet, but he had completely sobered up from his inebriation. He answered coldly, “I’m fine.”Jake acknowledged that with an ‘oh’. He could not refrain from hissing in pain and drawing in cold breath right after that. Edward turned around to look at him upon heari
Vivian didn't stay to watch. She turned away and vanished into the bedroom.Dr. Wright arrived promptly. The first person he raced to check on immediately was Edward, but the latter held up a hand and stopped him. “Inspect Jake first,” he said calmly.The agony of his wound was so overwhelming that it had utterly contorted the man’s features. Dr. Wright rushed forward and began inspecting it, ending his examination with a “thank God!” on Jake’s behalf. The bullet had burst through Jake’s shoulde
Vivian closed her eyes tiredly and kept mum.As he let out a self-deprecating laugh, he released his hold and, enduring the pangs it caused, inched away from her to the other side of the bed and retreated to sleep.The shooting was an assassination attempt on Edward’s life, and the hunted was definitely not going to let the perpetrators get away. Still, days of intensive investigations uncovered nigh nothing. At most, he found out that the car where the gunshot came from belonged to a nondescrip
Time passed unnoticed when Edward finally gave up and lifted his head away from her, linking his gaze of scorned hatred with her quiet one. In unexercised fury, he hurled a punch at the armrest right where Vivian’s head was leaning on, then he leaped up and announced his exit by slamming the door.After that, Edward didn't bother visiting Vivian for days until one afternoon when he suddenly appeared and ordered her to pack for a long trip with him.“We’re going south, so pack some thinner clothe
Did you know, Vee?I’ve thought of this more than once. If only our beginning from that night wasn’t so unbearable, how wonderful would it be?… The light from the setting sun spilled towards her from the side, casting a glow on the piece of paper, illuminating the words on it, and giving them a slight shimmer. Just like last year, when she emerged from the ultrasound room in the maternity hospital, weak after a mere two steps, she had to lean against the corridor. She covered her mouth with
Vivian arrived home a little late. She parked the car at the side of the road first, then collected her subscribed newspapers and magazines from the mailbox at her gate. She flipped through the mail as she walked in. To her surprise, she found a letter. It was an envelope made from kraft paper with her name on it.It was a rare handwritten letter with the faint print of a bamboo tree, drawn with Chinese calligraphy ink. The bamboo was tall, straight, and fierce just like the script on the lette
“It’s been three months now, why isn’t the little one moving? When will the baby quicken?” he asked her, “Can it hear me? Will it remember my voice?”He even asked, “Who do you think it’ll look like, Vee? Will it be a girl or a boy?”She knew very well that he was harboring evil intentions, but she gave into him and crumbled anyway. She sobbed and screamed, “Kill me, Sean Jackson. Kill me. I will never give birth to this child even if I die! Never!”He soothed her, “Alright. Don’t give birth
His lower jaw tightened. The lines on his face stiffened icily like the cold edges of a knife. In reality, he had given up long ago. His heart was as dead as ash. However, refusing to accept this, he grasped at everything, hoping to find a straw that could save a life, not to save himself but to save his child’s life. That was how well he knew her. He knew that once she escaped, she would never spare his child. Did he hate her? Yes. He hated how he couldn’t shoot her dead. Love triumphed over ha
“Then, what should we do?” his aide asked.A hero’s end was, inevitably, death. He wasn’t afraid of death, but he was simply plagued with remaining grievances. After a bout of silence, Edward calmly said, “Do something for me. Once that’s done, just slip away. There are no lives in your hands and you aren’t in the cops’ database. No one will notice you.”This aide had received a great debt of gratitude from Edward once, so he was solely loyal to him. He became distressed when he heard this, so
“You deserve it for all of the crimes you’ve committed!” Vivian screamed, losing control. Her emotions felt strangely steady after that scream. She threw the gun away as her sparkling, dark eyes were filled with renewed determination. She stared at him and spoke, enunciating every word, “Sean Jackson and those brothers of yours, you’ve all got your justice. Beaten to death, right? Arrested, was it? But when you willfully hurt others and view their lives as nothing more than weeds, you should hav
She hadn’t slept the entire night, and she was extremely high-strung. However, she was feeling slightly fatigued. Perhaps because of the comforting glow from the brightening day outside, she lay down on the bed with her clothes on after a bout of hesitation. She had only intended on taking a nap but unexpectedly fell into a deep sleep.Vivian suddenly woke up, startled. She had lost track of how long she had been asleep. She found a figure standing in front of her bed when she awoke and was gre
Vivian was taken aback by his question. “You haven’t caught him?” she exclaimed in astonishment. She thought that they had already apprehended Edward based on the expression on Jake’s face.“Our men have surrounded the condominium,” he answered simply, “He and Wade seized a hostage and hid inside the study. Both sides were caught in a deadlock for a while, but when they burst the study door open, they only found Wade and that hostage inside.”Vivian trembled uncontrollably as she listened to h
The wedding day was drawing to a close. Vivian stayed at the condominium until the day before the wedding. Then, she moved to Edward’s villa by the lake to wait for the wedding ceremony. Edward drove her there himself, feeling reluctant before he left. He turned around and looked at her, then softly said, “Wait for me. I’ll come for you tomorrow, first thing in the morning.”Vivian didn’t respond and simply stood at the doorway, quietly watching him.For some reason, the sight of her like this