"Sir, welcome back. Dinner is ready. Should I serve you now, or you'll freshen up, first?" Auntie Garcia asked. She had been in the kitchen when she heard him walk in. The woman's appearance was motherly, and she wore a white dress that was below her knees. The dress looked like the sort that maids often wore.
She had a smile line across her lips. Although, she was middle-aged, when she smiled, all the signs of age disappeared, leaving only a pleasant woman who was clearly very cheerful. Over the years, she had been taking care of Ethan. Even though she had children of her own, she never spent much time with them. She spent much of her time raising Ethan since he was born upto this moment.
He was like a son to her. After his mother's death, Garcia took the place of his mother.
"Thank you, Garcia. I'll freshen up first and then have dinner later," he responded, before he turned around to head upstairs.
"Um, sir," she called out.
"Yes, anything else you want to talk about?" he asked her.
"Miss Anderson is waiting for you in the study room," she told him.
"Didn't you tell her, I wasn't around, and I might not be back early?"
"Yes, sir. I told her, but she refused to go away. She requested to wait for you, and as your fiancee, I couldn't chase her away,"
"How long has she been here?" he asked her.
"She has been here for the last three hours, I guess,"
Ethan sighed as he frustratedly ran his fingers through his hair.
"Okay, I'll go see her," he simply said before aping up the stairs.
Chloe Anderson was his childhood friend. They grew up together, in the same neighborhood. Because of the good relationship between the two families, Ethan and Chloe were forced to commit to marry. Ethan had no feelings for her, except that he only saw as her his younger sister. Chloe, on the other hand, adored Ethan so much. Everyone could see that she had feelings for him.
Ethan aped up the stairs and only stopped at the entrance of the study room. The door to the study room was wide open. Chloe sat in an armchair, busy playing with her phone. She didn't notice Ethan come in. Ethan stared at the woman, and for a long time. He sighed. Ever since their parents forced them to be together, the woman had been pestering his life. He kept avoiding her, giving any excuse that he could come up with, just to stay away from her.
He never loved her. The only feelings he had for her, was the feeling between a brother and a sister. But, he couldn't tell her that, because, he could see clearly that she had feelings for him. And for that, he couldn't hurt her feelings.
"Hey, Ethan, you're back. Where have you been? I've been calling you but you weren't picking up?" she asked him when she noticed him standing at the door step.
She stood up and walked closer to him and embraced him. She missed him so much. Ethan, on the other hand, didn't hug her back. He didn't want to disappoint her, but he also didn't want to keep on lying to her and to himself. He thought he could make it work, with her. But, it just didn't work out.
Chloe didn't give much thought to his behavior. She knew, he never loved her. But, she was willing to give him time, because she loved him. Her father was rich, she was beautiful. She had everything in a woman, a man yearned for. Men would kill to have her. So, eventually, he would fall in love with her. That was what she believed.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned forward to give him a kiss on his lips. Ethan turned his head to the side before the kiss fell on his lips. He literally dodged the kiss.
"I know, you don't love me, but can't you just pretend even for a day? I really don't understand you anymore. What is it that you want me to do, so you can love me back? My dad is rich, I'm beautiful and there are so many men out there who would do anything to have me, but I chose you. What else do you want? Or am I not beautiful enough in your eyes? Or is there someone else in your heart?" she spoke bitterly, her eyes watery, tears threatening to escape through her eyes.
Ethan's mind went blank. Is there someone else in your heart? This question kept ringing in his head. He didn't know the answer. His mind went back to the incident that happened earlier today. The little woman he met, how she hugged him. And....and the string of beads she gave to him. His hand in his pocket, he held the rosary firmly as the memories started to flash through his mind. Was he starting to fall in love with her?
Clearing his head of the thoughts, he spoke again,
"I'm sorry Chloe, but I just can't pretend to love you when I don't. I only see you as my younger sister. There can never be anything between us," he made things clear to her .
"Like you said, you're beautiful, and men would do anything to have you. Why don't you try any other man out there, and maybe you will find your perfect match. I really don't love you," he told her the bitter truth.
"What are you saying, Ethan? I love you so much, and I don't want to be away from you," she said, in between sobs.
"Okay, fine, I will give you space and time to think clearly. You don't love me now, I'm sure you'll love me eventually. You just need time and space, I'm willing to give it to you," she tried to convince him. But, Ethan wasn't giving into her.
"There is nothing to think about, Chloe. Find someone else," he simply said and removed her hand which was holding him.
"No, Ethan! I don't want other men, it's you I want! Please, don't chase me out of your life." These words drained all her strength.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Chloe picked up her bag, ran out of the room, down the stairs and out of the mansion. At the door step, she met Devin.
"Devin, I want you to be honest with me," she said. "Where did Ethan go today? I checked your flight and you arrived in LA, in the afternoon. I checked the office, but both of you weren't there, I came to the house, but Auntie Garcia told me, he hadn't returned," she narrated."What's going on? You're his right-hand man, you know everything about him, where he goes, who he's with. So, don't you dare lie to me. Where did he go!" she ordered.Before he could tell her anything, his phone rung. He stepped aside to pick up the phone."Hello Sir, I will do just that," he kept the call before he walked back to where Chloe stood."Ma'am, Mr Urkel asked me to send you home. This way, please," he requested as he gestured to her with his hand that was stretched out, directing her to walk towards the car. Chloe sighed.She knew, he wouldn't tell her anything. But, it didn't kill to try her luck, maybe he would be considerate and tell her what she wanted to kno
Late in the evening, at around 11pm almost midnight, Chloe walked in drunk. After the episode earlier, and the harsh words from the man she loved, Chloe sought refuge in a bar.On their way to the villa, Chloe ordered to be dropped off on the road, that she would find her way home, on her own. At first, Devin was adamant to leave her on her own. Because, he had been ordered by his boss and he couldn't afford to go against him.Chloe got annoyed and began to shout so loud and throwing her tantrums, attracting passersby. Seeing how stubborn she proved to be, Devin gave up and drove away, leaving her alone, in the dark.Chloe walked down the road , while still carrying her high-heeled shoes in her hands. People who passed by gave her a glance, others stopping to watch her as she aimlessly walked on the road. She looked like someone who didn't have a direction of where to go to. But, Chloe didn't care at all.After walking for a while, she came across a
Seeing how his sister cried bitterly because of a man, Jayden felt depressed. He moved closer to her before he held her into an embrace."It's okay, Chloe. I understand how you feel, I really do," he continued to stroke her back while she sobbed. "But you'll only get hurt, if you don't let him go. You're my kid sister, and I wouldn't want you hurting. Ethan doesn't deserve you. Why don't you try someone else? Ivan loves you, give him a chance,"The moment she heard his words, Chloe suddenly withdrew from his embrace, pushing him away. She glared at him, her eyes filled with nothing but anger."Jayden, do you even care about me? "she asked, in exasperation. Here she was crying out to him how much she loved Ethan, how she couldn't live without him and instead of encouraging her to fight for him, giving her a helping hand, he was telling her to let him go? And move on with someone else?"You know I care about you more than anything in this world," he told he
G&K companyThe Urkel family, known for their massive wealth had very many high end dynamic businesses established in different parts of the city. Apart from the very many businesses they had in the city, there were other businesses in other countries.There stood, in the middle of the city, a tall building, 80 storeys tall with G&K embedded on top. The area in which the building was situated was large and spacious. And, from the top floor, high density of businesses and busy traffic could be seen from above. The area was so expensive such that only the Urkel could afford, given the weight of their pocket. This large building was one of the many businesses they owned, the biggest and the headquarters to be precise. Ethan, as the ceo, was in charge of the company.A high end, dynamic, expensive navy-blue Sedan screeched to a halt in front of the building. It was a classy four door car. Jayden exited the car and walked into the building. While inside
Beverly hillsChloe sat on the sofa, like a princess as she swayed her legs from left to right while holding a glass of wine in her hand. Her eyes were bloodshot due to the hangover. Across her, sat a lady in her early 20s basically of the same age with Chloe. She was her best friend, Ann. Although, the previous night, Chloe was drunk, she could vividly recall what had happened that night.She could remember the argument she had with her brother, Jayden. She had spoken to him in a manner that she had never done before. But, one thing she was sure about, she meant every word she said to him. She would never give up on Ethan for anything in this world. But, that wasn't the issue at hand. Her main problem was Ethan.She was gradually losing him. She needed to do something and very fast before it became too late. This morning when she woke up, after she had her breakfast, she invited Ann to come over to their mansion. She needed someone to talk to, someone who
Aviana, Hayden and Joanna were getting ready to leave the hospital. After Hayden woke up, they remained in the hospital for a few days because Hayden needed to be examined to ascertain he had no other underlying health problem. After a few days, Hayden was fully recovered. He could walk, run and even eat on his own. Given that Joanna cared too much for her son, she didn't allow him to take walk outside the hospital and if she did, she had to be there to supervise. After they were done with signing of papers, and had packed their belongings, they exited the hospital. An ear-to-ear smile played on their faces. It displayed how happy they were. As they walked out, Aviana looked back and heaved a sigh of relief. The past few days had not been easy for her. Waking up every morning with the hope of finding Hayden awake only to get disappointed, wasn't easy for her. She had been worried and gloomy all through. But now, he was at their side, and they could be a happy family once aga
Aviana and Hayden sat on the sofa, making fun as they recalled their funniest childhood memories, while Joana busied herself in the kitchen. "Sis, do you recall the day when you farted in public? And when you realized people were looking at you, you covered your face with your hands to hide your embarrassment. It was hilarious," said Hayden, trying so hard not to laugh. In the end, he couldn't hold his laughter any longer. He laughed uncontrollably. Recalling that day, Aviana laughed too. It was one of her most embarrassing moments. "That day I really didn't mean to. I had stomach upset and you know it," she said trying to defend herself. As Hayden continued to laugh, Aviana got annoyed. Seeing her roll up her sleeves threateningly, Hayden was just about to stop laughing when she suddenly launched forward and started tickling him under his little armpits. "You mess with your sister, you get the tickster! The infamous killer who kills cute little kids like you
Chloe's phone's ringing, picking up, she answers, "Hello Ann." On the other side of the phone, Ann's voice is heard, speaking. "Chloe, you were right. Indeed something happened that day. On that day, Ethan was involved in an accident....." Before she could finish her statement, she was interrupted by chloe's panicked voice, "What! An accident! How! Where! But I didn't notice any injury on any part of his body! Oh Ann, I'm so stupid! How could I have judged him so quickly! How could I jump into conclusion! I f**cked up Ann! And to think that he has another woman! Ann, I really think I should apologize! I don't even know if he'll forgive me! I messed up, big time!" Ann was speechless. She didn't even allow her to finish whatever she was saying, she just jumped into conclusions. After a long pause, Ann finally spoke,"Chloe, calm down! Nothing happened to Ethan. He's fine. Yes, he was involved in an accident, but he isn't the one who got hur