Adele~ The clanking of metals ringing around my window jolted me from my sleep. My eyes flew open. For a second, I lay still, disoriented by the sudden jolt and early morning light streaming through the half-open curtains. It was morning so soon? I didn't even know when I fell asleep, thinking about Ryan's blatant arrogance. Sitting up, I stretched and yawned. It was another day to resume work. I swung my legs down the side of the bed and strutted toward the window, pulling the curtains apart to let in the morning sun. The cool breeze from the beach swept into the room and kissed my skin âgood morningâ, making my heart full with a quiet kind of joy, the kind that wraps around your chest like a soft blanket. I closed my eyes for a second, letting the warmth envelop me for a while. From my window, I could see the workers had resumed working on the resort. Some lifting metal poles, some painting, and others doing major repairs along the edges of the building. A few of them had a
Ryan ~âI was right,â Ryan said to Roman. âAdele was used by someone as a front to buy that resort, and it could only be my enemy.âRoman, standing by the open window of Ryan's office, leaned on the window frame, his sharp eyes scanning the skyline before turning back to Ryan. âYou think itâs your biggest rival, Solomon?ââWho else has the motive and the money?â Ryanâs voice was tight, controlled, but his fingers curled into fists on the edge of his desk. âSolomon doesnât make random investments. He knew what he was doing. He used her to hit me where it hurts.ââI suspected that too,â Roman said quietly. âAdele's too naive and innocent to think of such a fresh start on her own⊠but Solomon, we can't close the curtains on him yet. It could be someone else.â Ryan scoffed, âA fresh start? With a fifty-million resort? She doesnât have the resources, she doesn't even have the brains. Someone gave her that money. Someone powerful. And conveniently, just when Iâm about to close a big deal,
I didn't speak. A person couldn't be this shameless and manipulative. If I opened my mouth, with how much anger was pumping as blood through my veins, I could put a broken rod through this man's chest. But I stayed my hands and my voice. Perhaps, he took my silence for cowardice. Or nostalgia. Or weakness. Ryan always mistook composure for consent. Or maybe he didn't. It was me who changed. He stepped forward, hands reaching for mine. I didn't pull back. I let him believe he was winning. Let him believe he owned me. âI can forgive the fact that you went to an auction with another man, but you have to tell me who he was.â His words slithered into my ears like poison.Forgive me? For what, moving on? For existing without his permission?I looked at our hands, his fingers wrapped around mine like a shackle, and for a moment, I saw the past⊠the suffocation, the gaslighting, the pretty lies wrapped in diamond promises. But that version of me no longer existed.Still, I didnât pull aw
For the next few weeks, my team and I were working on the resort, revamping it so that by the end of the day, I'd be too tired to lift a finger, let alone think about anyone before sleep would claim me. But tonight, it was different. My day didn't go uneventful. Someone came to disrupt my day, but it wasn't the person I was secretly expecting, but the monster who thought I owed him the air I breathed. Lying on the bed, my mind couldn't stop replaying the moment his shadow darkened the entrance of the resort. I had barely turned around, concluding with an interior decor of the color and design I wanted for the lobby, when his voice cut through the noise.âAdele.âJust one word, but it coiled around my spine like ice. I hadnât heard from Ryan in monthsâŠexcept for that time in the auction house. I hadnât wanted to see him. Not until I was ready for revenge. But there he was, in the flesh, wearing that smug smirk like he owned the ground I walked on.I didnât let my face crack, not in
I snickered, âThat sounds weird coming from you.â The two girls giggled. Glancing around the dusty lobby. âFirst, we clean. ThenâŠâ she turned towards Mark. âManagerâŠ?âMark stepped forward, grabbing the folder once more from the desk. âThere's a lot to do. I'll suggest we make changes.â He paused, as if searching for the right words. âNot just in structure, but in the way we work. No more running this place like itâs the 90s. If weâre going to compete with the giants, we need to evolve. Digitize. Modernize. Make this place feel like a secret paradise⊠something no five-star chain can replicate. At the same time, maintain a bit of originality.ââLike, you want the resort to be both modern and traditional?â Sarah inquired. Mark nodded. âExactly. We donât need to copy what everyone else is doing. People donât come to a place like this to feel like theyâre in another corporate hotel. They come for peace, authenticity, and warmth. We keep the charmâthe old garden trails, the handmade de
Her voice cracked at the end, and she stopped pacing, turning back to face me with wide, helpless eyes. âWhat if we fail again? What if this place ends up in ruins because we stayed? You'll lose every dimeâââFifty million.â Emily said softly. All eyes turned to her. âShe's going to lose fifty million because of us.âThe silence that followed was suffocating.Sarah blinked. âWait⊠what?!âEmilyâs gaze was fixed on me now, her expression a mixture of awe and horror. âShe got this place back for fifty million.âThey drew in sharp breaths and Mark yelled. âAre you out of your mind?!â His jaw clenched. âThey ripped you off! This place, since the beginning till now, has never been worth half that much! Even in its prime, it wasnât worth fifty million!âHis voice echoed off the hollow lobby walls, almost stirring the dust in the stale air.âThis is not good.â Sarah facepalmed and resumed pacing with one hand on her waist and the other on her forehead, looking like her world has fallen apart