Venice, Italy, at 7 PM From the first time she woke up from fainting until a week later, Claire was asked to stay in the hospital. Two days ago, the bandages on her eyes were allowed to be opened, but it turned out that Claire had an infection that caused her eyes to hurt when exposed to light, so the doctor closed her eyes again for an undetermined amount of time, maybe in the next week or two. Every day Michael accompanied her. They are still in Italy and have not returned to Manhattan because Claire is still not allowed to travel long distances with her condition still not fully recovered. Until now, Claire still didn't dare to ask about their accident that night. The memory of seeing Michael bleeding and moaning with his eyes closed still terrifies her. Almost every night, she dreams about this terrible incident. And that dream always ends with the same thing; she saw Michael smile and walk away from her as if he had gone far away from her. Every time she woke up from that dre
Venice, Italy, at 8 PMMikael Alexandre William bowed his head before his parents. His mother, Josephine, cried hysterically in John's arms after he told her everything he had planned.Throughout his life, Mikael had never felt this guilty before his parents. It felt like a burst of rage had burned through his heart—drowning him in guilt.“I know you probably won't like my plan. However, this is the only thing I can do to protect Michael's fiancé.” Mikael said in a calm voice. He clenched his fists tightly when he saw Josephine staring at him fiercely—hatefully.“What are you doing, Mikael? Are you playing with Claire on purpose?” John hissed sharply.Mikael exhaled slowly, "why am I playing with her if you've been playing with us all this time?"“What are you talking about? Claire and Michael are engaged. She should know how her fiancé is condition.”"Now she's engaged to me." Cut Mikael decisively. His eyes flashed sharply, showing that he was serious with his statement.“Dear,” Jos
Venice, Italy, at 1 AMClaire took a breath in uneasiness. Her heart was beating fast with anxiety. There was a fear that took over her heart—making her lose confidence.In all the time she had known Michael, she had never felt this restless. Because so far, Michael has always maintained her trust. There was never any drama of infidelity or betrayal in their relationship because she and Michael are loyal people.But tonight, Michael is with a woman.Michael disappeared as soon as she woke up, then she called Nancy and asked her to look for Michael. However, Nancy said that Michael left two hours ago—which means he's been gone since she was asleep. Claire asks Nancy to call Michael because she doesn't have a cell phone, but she hears a woman's voice as soon as she talks to Michael.Michael was with a woman at 1 p.m.“Miss, do you want something to eat? Maybe you can't sleep because you haven't had dinner yet.” Nancy touched his shoulder.Claire shook her head slowly, “I don't want to e
Mikael almost swore when he saw Claire nod her head after hearing his question.Shit. Claire Thompson is a 27-year-old adult woman who is still a virgin.This fact hit Mikael hard—made him forget the desire that exploded in his heart after he came home from his penthouse without finishing his sex with Linda—just like their last meeting.Mikael lost control of himself when he saw Claire sitting on the bed.He imagined Claire when he kissed Linda—he even imagined Claire when Linda did a blow job to him. Then when he came home, he found Claire sitting alone. His desire just peaked so that he lost his mind kissing Claire unconsciously. Even his hands moved along her body, touching her neck, shoulders, and feeling the softness of her skin.However, upon discovering that Claire was a virgin, he was at a loss for words. Speechless.“Michael? Where are you?"Claire's voice pulled Michael from his reverie. He rubbed his face, then exhaled slowly. "I am here. You don't need to be afraid.” He sp
Claire opened her eyes slowly. She frowned for a moment but finally managed to keep her eyes open.It was late enough when Michael called a doctor to their mansion to help her remove the bandages. According to the doctor's instructions, the lights in her room had been deliberately turned off. And it worked! She managed to open her eyes even though sometimes they still felt a little sore."How do you feel? Does your eye hurt?” A blonde-haired female doctor asked while dripping a liquid into her eye."It still hurts, but it's much better than this afternoon when my eyes hit the light," she said.“Would it be fine if she slept without the bandages? She often had nightmares and cried herself to sleep. I'm worried her eyes will hurt again.” Josephine said worriedly.Claire turned her head to look for her whereabouts. Her eyes heated up when she saw Josephine and John William—her adoptive parents standing not far from her. "Mom," she muttered, holding out her hand."Oh, dear." Josephine wal
Manhattan, USA, 19 years agoMikael snorted in annoyance when he saw Claire running in his mansion's garden because she chased dragonflies and butterflies. That 8-year-old girl has a rather silly hobby: catching butterflies and dragonflies to be kept as pets.“Get away from me, Claire!” Mikael pushed the little girl away from him."Come catch butterflies with me!" Take Claire while grabbing his hand—taking him to run around like two useless, stupid kids."I don't want to!" Mikael pushed Claire once more.In the past, when Claire first came to this house—right after Mikael broke her hand after falling from a horse, Claire was a little afraid of him. She would never force Mikael to do silly things to play with her. However, after nearly a year of knowing him, Claire finally became a fearless girl. She wasn't even afraid at all, even though Mikael threatened to carry her on Robert's back and asked that horse to drop her into the lake."Come on! Come play with me! Why have you only been p
Venice, Italy, 3 AM After landing in Venice, Mikael drives his car at high speed and hears the news that Claire has been kidnapped. He still remembers his mother's panicked voice when he called her a few minutes ago, and he also remembers how crazy he was when he asked Lionel to track Claire's location through the CCTV in his house. “We found her,” Lionel's voice through the invisible earpiece he was using broke the silence in Mikael's car. “Send the location to my car,” Mikael replied quickly. In just seconds, Lionel immediately sent the location that Mikael requested. The car license plate number, type, and color of the car that Claire was riding in immediately appeared on his car's screen. "How many people are around there?" Mikael asked how many troops he had. "Three cars of shooting agents are heading to the location," Lionel responded quickly. Mikael reached out to turn the wheel—take the fastest route he could take to get to Claire quickly. The car horns from the opposit
Venice, Italy, 4 AM"She passed out from the shock of what happened," Kennedy released Claire's wrist after applying ointment to her bruises."How about her eyes? Is she okay?” Mikael stared intently at Claire, trying to ensure that tonight's incident didn't affect Claire's sensitive corneas.“I'm not an ophthalmologist, but it doesn't seem like her eyes have any problems. Her eyes were bloodshot because she was still sensitive to light.” Kennedy—his personal doctor, explained calmly."Okay," Mikael crossed his arms and walked out of Claire's room with Kennedy.As soon as he left the room, he was immediately greeted by Nancy and Josephine, who looked worried.Mikael took a deep breath.Honestly, he was too lazy to talk to anyone when his emotions weren't stable. However, seeing how worried his mother was as he walked out of the car carrying Claire toward the plane, he had no choice but to explain Claire's current state."She is fine." Mikael spoke briefly.Kennedy was already sitting