Al Haqiqah.
Arabic meaning The Truth or Reality.
It seemed like an eternity before Adrienne faced Justin again. During the two days that they spent apart, she tried to act normally. He’d call her at least three times a day. She didn’t want him to think that something was up. Because knowing him, he just might fly back to New York earlier than scheduled and he only got two days to spend with his family.
Monday evening, he appeared on her doorstep.
“Hi,” she greeted him, pasting a smile on her face.
He stared at her for a while. And without a word, he pulled her to him and crushed his lips to hers.
“Justin,” she whispered against his lips.
“I missed you,” he said, lifting her off her feet and carrying her to the bedroom.
When he put her down on her feet, she stared up at him. She could see fatigue in his eyes. “I missed you, too.”
He smiled
Dit is die moeite werd om aan te hou.Afrikaans: Worth Keeping. Worth fighting for.The next few days were a total bliss. Justin was almost back to his usual, jolly self. They didn’t talk about his marriage arrangement anymore and Adrienne trusted what he said. That his choice was her and he will fight for them.They stayed together every day. After work, she returned to his apartment. She only came back to her own place to check her voicemail and to get some clothes. Every night they slept with each other, as if they lived together.One night, they sat together in Justin’s chaise lounge on his balcony, staring at the Manhattan view. Adrienne leaned her back against Justin’s chest as she sat between his legs. She rested her head against his shoulder.”Do you love me?” Adrienne whispered softly.“With all my heart, honey,” Justin said and hugged her to him tightly.“Seriousl
Pyeonghaeng Segye.Korean for Parallel WorldThe next Friday afternoon, when Adrienne got back from work, she found Justin sitting on his balcony. He had his back to her. He seemed lost in his thoughts. He was taking deep breaths and she realized that he was silently crying.As she watched him, she saw his pain. The pain that he refused to let her see. And her heart broke just a little bit more for him. She realized more than ever how selfish she had been. Justin had to make the tough choice because she refused to let him go. Because she had given him a choice. She fought for him. She could have made it easier for him, but she held on to her claim on him. He chose her. But it became evident that he wasn’t going to be the same man she loved. His happiness would never be complete.Tears rolled down her cheeks. She wiped them and then she went and knelt in front of him. She took his hands in hers.His face was tear-stricken, his ey
MurkaIndonesian for FuryAdrienne went to Yuan’s house. She told him that she let Justin go.“You must be out of your freaking mind!” Yuan said crossly.“I have to do this, Yuan,” she said sadly. “I love him.”“Then why the hell did you let him go?!”“I don’t want his mother to fall into deep depression! I don’t want her to get hurt. I don’t want to ruin his perfect family. I never had that! And I wanted it for him. I don’t want him to feel guilty if something happened to his Mom or his Dad. He will never be happy with me this way.”“Do you think he will be happy without you?”Adrienne sighed. She knows Justin felt devastated with her decision to let him go, too. But he had to fix things with his parents. And the only way she could do that is if she gave him up.“Maybe someday, Yuan,” she said
XiāoshīMandarin for, To Vanish“Are you all right?” Jin Starck asked Adrienne.She nodded slowly.Her hand went to her cheek, rubbing it to ease a little of the sting caused by her mother’s palm. Jill and Yuan now stood behind her, trying to give whatever comfort they could provide at that moment, both were throwing daggers at Kim and her mother with their eyes.Jin turned to look at her mother, her father and her sister. He stood in front of Adrienne, as if to shield her against her own family.The charming, mischievous and seemingly innocent aura that he usually possessed seemed to have evaporated instantly. Instead, her family faced a cold, murderous and scary man that even froze her mother in her place.Jin pointed a finger to her mother and said, “You touch her again, and you will find yourself with a sorry-ass lawsuit! And I will file a complaint with the state medical board to make sure yo
XemethistosGreek, meaning Sober“The prodigal son returns.” Jordan Gibson was peering from the top of the staircase, looking down as his older cousin walked inside the house.Justin looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. His cousin had a smirk on his face and it almost took all of his strength not to climb the twenty-step staircase and break his nose. He was usually not a violent person. But he just spent the entire flight from New York to Chicago pushing his alcohol tolerance to its limit. Patience did not rank high on his virtue list right now. “Fuck off, Jord!” he muttered instead.Jordan received a gentle punch on the shoulder from his other cousin, Gian. They watched as Justin walked straight to his father’s study on the ground floor of the twelve-bedroom mansion.Just before Justin opened the door, Gian called out to him.“Hey J!”Justin turned back to Gian. He
StjåletNorwegian for Stolen.Adrienne walked beside Jin Starck into the lavish mansion he called his home. Yuan and Jill trailed behind them.“You still live with your parents?” Adrienne asked.“In this house, yes,” he replied. “But I have apartments of my own. This is a ten-bedroom house. It gets a little lonely for Mom sometimes so I make it a point to spend time here to keep her company. She doesn’t work for our hotels. She spends a lot of time in her study. Writing.”Jin was greeted by their butler in French. He gave instructions to take Yuan and Jill to one of the waiting rooms and serve them refreshments.Then he turned to Adrienne. “Follow me.”They ascended the stairs to the second level of the house. Adrienne couldn’t help admiring how elegant and luxurious the house appeared. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that somebody related to h
Novo življenjeSlovenian for New Life.Over the next days, Adrienne spent most of her time in the Starck mansion, getting to know her mother. It was like they both couldn’t get enough of talking to each other. As gently as she could, she told her how difficult it was, growing up with Marina Miller, the woman she thought was her Mom, who provided little comfort and constant negative comparisons to her stepsister.Yuan and Jill enjoyed Paris just as much. Jin took them around anywhere they wanted whenever Adrienne desired some alone time with her mother.“Do you have a boyfriend, Adrienne?” Her mother asked.Adrienne sighed. She was reminded again of the broken pieces of her heart. She hadn’t heard from Justin since the last time he told her she’d be going to Italy in forty days. She reckons he was still working on convincing his parents to let him go. She had no idea how he’s going to do it, but deep
Two days later, Yuan and Jill had to say goodbye to Adrienne. As much as they loved their week in Paris, they had to go back to reality. They still had jobs that required them to go back to New York.Adrienne decided to do what’s right. She sent Jada her resignation letter. She figured, she’d spent years working her ass off because she didn’t want to be a failure in her mother’s eyes. But she was never really her mother. She’s her stepmother. And her real mother would prefer she stayed in Paris, if not for good, then for a while longer.Although he partied like a kid at night time, Jin actually wore the Starck heir coat pretty well. He made a lot of progress managing their business. Little by little, her stepfather trusted him to take the reins of their empire.A week after Yuan and Jill left, Adrienne’s mother told her she would meet her at a coffee shop in one of their hotels and she will introduce her to some of her friends