CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT;A Message--Tyler Barns is known as an emotionless man. He faces almost everyone with his usual stoic demeanor and void-of-feelings face. If he’s happy, he doesn’t show it. If he's sad, he doesn’t show it. If he’s angry, he rarely shows it—and that is only when he is really, really angry that not even his fiancé, his mother, or his father knows how to quench the raging flames. And right now, he is outraged.And he was in that mood when his secretary and the other people he came here with appeared by his side. When they saw him standing still while looking at a particular spot without even being bothered by the stares of other people that are wondering who the hell is this man in a suit standing like a statue—everyone immediately sensed that something was wrong. Very wrong.His secretary called out to him with caution. She made her voice as calm as possible, eliminating the shaky tone and gasps. “Mr. Barns.”Tyler heard the call and his cold eyes swept over them,
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE;Marked In Red--Althea knocked on Emily's door before calling out for her, "Emily?"There wasn't any response but she could hear rustling sounds in her room. 'She might be changing,' Althea thought. She tucked her hands under her arms and waited patiently behind her doors.Not long afterward, the doorknob turned, and the door opened, presenting Emily yet not Emily. Her hair was disheveled, and she was also slightly pale. Her lips were dry and her eyes were sunken. Her appearance did not surprise Althea.Emily smiled, but her smile was not as bright as before. Even her dimple is refusing to show itself. "Good morning."Althea smiled. "Good morning. I'm here to see you off."Emily chuckled and held her elbows. Her gaze landed on the floor briefly before staring back at her. She smiled, and unlike the smile she showed Althea earlier, there was a hint of life in them. Althea also smiled at her. Emily opened her dry lips after licking them. "Thank you, and sorry to b
CHAPTER THIRTY;Meeting At Last--Weekend came.Althea was busy preparing to leave and telling her staff that they could have the day off. They were delighted and didn't even ask why they were closing on the weekend. To be honest, Althea was a little disappointed but, well, she can't control them. She wore her grey sailor pants and partnered them with a white turtleneck top. She gathered her long blond hair on the back of her head in a high ponytail, exposing the small scar she had on the back of her left ear. She checked her face once more before wearing her fancy purse and her white saddle shoes. She was ready to go.Satisfied with everything, she stepped down and entered her car. As she was about to turn the engine on, her phone vibrated. She fished it out and saw a familiar ID. It was Victoria.[Dear, I'm sorry, but can you both wait for me at the cafe? Something came up and I'll be late.]Althea let out a small chuckle. Victoria said she'd come too. Althea thought that it wa
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE;Who was it again?--ARC FOUR: Meetings and Continuations—It was a weekend morning but Tyler was already stressed out. His phone kept on ringing beside him and vibrating. He glanced at it and frowned when he read that it was her again. He slowed the speed of his car reached for it and immediately cut the call off. But it vibrated again."Fuck," he cursed and completely stopped on the sideway. It wasn't a big deal, it was morning and there were barely any cars running around. No one should maybe curse him for it.He briefly glanced at his wristwatch and confirmed that the time was 7:26, 5 minutes before the appointment time.He was eager and wanted to arrive before her but this thing is annoying the hell out of him. He should have turned his phone off, but he forgot to bring his other phone so his secretary could connect with him. He told her to make this day—at least the morning—empty, but his company is big and it's supporting many families. There's no way he
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO; Something She Forgot -- It's early in the morning, and Althea is embarrassed as fuck. So embarrassed that she just wanted to stand up and flee. She can't even look at the smiling yet not-smiling bastard sitting in front of her. She can feel his gaze penetrating her body. She wants to snap at him and tell him to cut it out, but she needs to deal with the embarrassing situation she made for herself. She needs to get out of the hellhole she stepped in. She said she was meeting an important person just to ditch him, but who could have thought that it was him in the first place?! Important person? Plain bull-!!! She calmed the raging flame inside her. Althea again counted backward from ten. After that, she is more or less calmed—just a little ripple on the sea. The silence between them was deafening. There were other people in the cafe, but the surroundings were oddly quiet. Not that people just go around shouting and stripping inside a cafe. It was like the w
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE; Purple -- Silence engulfed them. Both mother and son were observing Althea who was currently trying to recall the distant memories she still has about the information he gave her. And in the deepest part of her mind, there she found the lost memories. “Oh,” she muttered, glancing at them briefly before giving out a polite smile towards her spectators. “Yes, it seems like I heard rumors about that a long time ago.” Her eyes went to her drink as she tried to recall how many years it had been. “It’s been, I think… Nine years? Or was it ten?” “It’s twelve years,” Tyler interrupted her while leaning his arms on the table and slightly advancing in her direction. “Almost twelve years.” Althea raised her eyes silently and watched him, thinking of how—and why he remembered it. Is the number even precise? Who knows? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But she didn’t care, she wasn’t curious. Their eyes met. Althea opened her mouth to say, “It’s been that long. No wonder
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR;A Phone Call--Althea received a text from Melanie, one of her staff in their main branch. She said in the text message that there was a problem- one of the staff in a certain branch defrauded her customer and stole the earnings in her shop. After that, she left the shop without any of the other staff noticing. Since then, the staff has been on the run. The crime didn’t come to light until the customer raised a ruckus in the shop, saying she’ll sue whoever runs the business. Because of this, she had to drive back in a hurry. She doesn’t want to because it only delays the business deal with the Browns. Also, if they still have many unfinished discussions, surely, they have to meet again for it. Something she wants to avoid the most. There’s no way she wants to meet him again. It would be nice if it’s only his mother, Victoria, but she can choose not to meddle in it because she only offers the help of her son. Not her personally. She can choose to decline, yes,
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE; Surprise! -- "Hello, son!" His sophisticated mother entered his office, walking like she was on a red carpet whenever she received an award for being the richest woman on earth. "I came to mock you!" Tyler, who was disturbed by signing an important contract, glared at his mother with green eyes that were the same as hers. "Get out." Victoria ignored him and proceeded to sit down on the sofa near his table and crossed her legs with elegance then rested her left hand on top of her knees while her other hand removed her sunglasses, then he stared at her son with a mocking gaze and occasionally twitched lips in laughter. "So, did my dear Althea respond to your message?" Tyler didn't respond and tried his best to act as if he wasn't there, and Victoria was only delusional and talking to the wind. His head was bowed as he read the same paragraph, again and again, not a single word entering his mind. Victoria snorted and threw her expensive eyeglasses toward him.