Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Heartless Bride: Kabanata 101 - Kabanata 110

"If I wasn't here with you, if we weren't together and married, would you have given her a second chance? Would you have said yes to her today?" Claude watched her lashes flutter around as she kept her gaze locked on his chest, watching it as it rose and fell with each of his breaths. He contemplated her words, thinking through his own reply. It wasn't that he didn't have an answer for her already, but he wanted to make sure it was what he would have wanted.  It took him a while before he was able to come up with a reply. Drawing in a deep breath, he muttered out. "If I am being honest here, I don't know what I would have done if that was the case." Claude was speaking the truth. "As much as I would have wanted to jump at the opportunity, I couldn't have done it. I don't think I would have been able to make myself accept her and pretend that she never left me. How would I know that she wouldn't do the same to me again?" &nb

"Why are we here?" Ayla spoke up as she brought her steps to a stop right next to Claude. His hand was still holding hers, his fingers wrapped around the back of her palm with no intention of letting go. It was like Ayla was complaining about it, but his actions only made her wonder about the thoughts that ran through the man's mind. "Because I wanted to be here with you." He gazed down at her from the corner of his eye, a faint smile clinging to the curve of his thin lips. With a light tug at their clasped hands, he pulled her closer to himself. "I wanted to enjoy a couple of peaceful moments with you before things went down the drain back at the mansion." Ayla watched his shoulders becoming tense under the coat. She wanted nothing more than to take his worries away, every last one of them just like he had helped her family at their lowest without asking anything in return. All the man wanted from her was her companionship. That too because it

"I am going to miss you." Claude mumbled again her skin as he buried his face in the crook of her neck, not wanting to let go of her.  "You were stuck with me for three days. I am shocked that you aren't already bored with my existence." Ayla couldn't help the laughs that escaped her lips. She was trying her best to not make fun of him, but it was really hard since Claude was behaving like a child.  The duo had made it back to Los Angeles after spending another day at the old mansion which somewhat belonged to Claude now. Though he intended on keeping it under the name of his grandfather.  "I am just glad that it's over now even though I am going to get buried under tons of paperwork." He complained to her as he withdrew his face.  "It didn't go too bad." Ayla shook her head, finding his pursed lips rather amusing. "Who am I kidding! It went so much better than I was expecting." S

Ayla could only shake her head given the situation. She knew better than to push the man into doing anything at all, but how was she supposed to hold herself back when it came to his well being. "Hey, hey, hey…," Claude shifted in his place and tilted his head to the side so that he was having a better look at her. "I may be working more than necessary, but I am not overworking myself. I would never do that to myself again, or to you." His eyes turned heavy as he recalled the event.  ---------------- Claude was leading a meeting about one of their ongoing projects, taking in the numbers which were projected in big, bold text. He was having a splitting headache which had been annoying him since he woke up that morning. Well, if someone was to call the two hour nap he had, sleeping. Instead of getting himself checked, he downed two painkillers and took the help of coffee to keep himself up. It wasn't until

"Nobody saw me like this." Aylal finally managed to mumble out a reply in a breathy voice. "The place was as deserted as a graveyard when I came down, minus the gravestones…"  Claude hummed in response as he eyed down the beauty who was struggling in his hold. "That's a good thing then. Because otherwise I would have had to punish you for roaming around like this." He spoke slowly into her ear, his warm breaths tickling her already sensitive skin.  "Punishment?" Ayla failed to understand where he was getting at. "What do you mean by-"  The rest of her words turned into a surprise yelp as a stinging sensation rang across her backside. It took her a couple of seconds to realize what had happened when the same spot was being massaged slowly to help ease the weird sensation.  "Claude!" She threw the man a warning glare, only to get a cheeky smile in return.