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79: Soon-to-be a Daddy
Last Updated:
2025-04-02 12:04:35
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Sunshine and The Beast 80: Something is Off
Althea"Are you sure you’ll be fine here alone?"I wasn’t sure why Matthias even asked.I paused, glancing up at him as I sat at my desk, fingers loosely curled around my mug. His question seemed casual enough, but there was something from the way he asked it. A weight behind his words. A hesitance that didn’t belong to the Matthias I knew.Still, I nodded. "I’ll basically be here for the whole day. What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen?"Matthias didn’t answer immediately.His gaze lingered on me, sharp and unreadable. Like he was debating something in his head. Then, after a beat, he exhaled and nodded."Alright," he said. "Call me if you need anything."I waved him off. "I’ll be fine."He didn’t seem convinced, but he didn’t push the issue further. Instead, he gave one last glance around the apartment, as if memorizing every detail, before finally stepping out. The door clicked shut behind him, and just like that, I was alone.For a moment, I simply sat there, staring a
Last Updated : 2025-04-03Sunshine and The Beast 81: Let Me Take Care of You
AltheaThe more you deal with money, the more screwed it becomes.Lesson learned, but the class wasn’t over yet.If anything, it was just the start of a syllabus I never asked for.I woke up to the scent of something warm drifting from the kitchen—eggs, garlic, maybe a touch of rosemary. It was soft, comforting, something I hadn’t realized I missed until it filled the space around me. My feet padded across the floor, and I followed the smell like it was pulling me with invisible threads.And there he was.Matthias stood by the stove, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, spatula in one hand, coffee mug in the other. A faint stream of morning light spilled in through the windows, casting a golden hue across his face. He looked… peaceful. Out of place, almost, in the soft domesticity of my kitchen.He glanced up when he noticed me. “Morning.”I blinked, definitely not expecting a greet for him. “Are you… cooking?”He turned back to the stove like it was no big deal. “What does it look like?”
Last Updated : 2025-04-04Sunshine and The Beast 82: The Connection
MatthiasI made sure Althea was asleep before I slipped out of the bed.She’d curled into my side like she always did lately, breathing deep, her fingers unconsciously gripping the fabric of my shirt even in sleep. Maybe I could’ve stayed. Maybe I wanted to. It had become a quiet habit—sharing the night, the bed, her warmth. I didn’t know when it started to feel natural, but it had. And I didn’t mind it.But not tonight.Tonight, there was something I needed to do. Something I’d been pushing off for too long.The doctor had said she needed rest, and I wanted her to have it—wanted her to be safe, even if it meant doing the darker parts of this alone. So I moved carefully, slipping from the bed and tugging the covers back over her shoulder before leaving the room and closing the door with a soft click.The apartment was dim, quiet. I padded through the living room barefoot, the only sound the low hum of the city outside the window. I adjusted the headphones, waiting for the familiar chi
Last Updated : 2025-04-06Sunshine and The Beast 83: Is This Okay?
Althea“Is everything okay, Matt?”The question slipped out before I could stop myself. I tried to make it sound casual—nonchalant, even—but my voice betrayed me with just the faintest edge of concern.Matthias stood across the room, near the wide living room window, one hand loosely holding his phone while the other hung at his side. The morning light softened the angles of his face, casting a golden glow across the lines of his jaw, but it didn’t do much to hide the tension in his shoulders.He didn’t answer immediately. He just stared down at the screen like he was reading something important. Or pretending to.“Matt?” I called him once again.Finally, he exhaled and looked over his shoulder. “Yeah. Everything’s under control.”It was the kind of answer you gave to stop more questions. The kind meant to reassure without actually offering anything real. I set my coffee cup down on the table a little too loudly.“That’s not really what I asked,” I said, more pointedly this time.Matt
Last Updated : 2025-04-07Sunshine and The Beast 84: We Missed You
AltheaIt was weird remembering how before I felt like I can’t get used to this world, and a few months later I felt empty because I wasn’t sitting on my working desk.It was strange; how quickly the walls of my office started to feel like home again. The smell of brewed coffee lingering in the air, the faint hum of the overhead lights, the rustling sound of papers and keyboards and footsteps just outside the glass doors.It had only been a few weeks since I last stepped into this space, but it felt longer. Too long. I used to complain about deadlines and office noise, but now that I was here again… I missed it. All of it. Even the chaos.I walked into my office slowly, fingers grazing the edge of my desk like I was reacquainting myself with something lost. It was clean, perfectly arranged. Just the way I left it.“God, finally.”I turned around and found Rebecca, my assistant, standing at the doorway, arms crossed, a wide grin on her face. She looked the same, stylish as always, sharp
Last Updated : 2025-04-08Sunshine and The Beast 85: The Boy from The Past
MatthiasEven though people say the crime scene will be the strongest evidence, the reality is often not the case. There would be times where you found nothing but the wind, no trace of a scent.However, again, I didn't have many options.The police station was not helpful, the orphanage that Cyan visited—I didn't have time to go because of the many meetings and the money-crazy people who could only sue instead of thinking and working—didn't give much information, so my option was Staten Junior High.I had gone to Marcus before to ask about Reiley, but I went back to school to ask something else; to see things from a different perspective. Some things was worth it to be checked twice. At least, I hope this one did.I had never thought I would come here once again, and some of the teachers sure shared the same thought, but they welcomed me nevertheless.“Mr. Cox, come in,” said Mrs. Josephine, the new vice head principal. She smiled so brightly, probably because I just told her a few d
Last Updated : 2025-04-09Sunshine and The Beast 86: My Wife
MatthiasTristan Kennedy.One name that I didn't really care about before. One name that had lived quietly in the shadows all this time, like a ghost behind a curtain. Everyone knew who Charles Kennedy was. He wasthe filthy rich misogynist who had crazy ideas that almost tanked his own empire.Almost. Underlined that word. Because his company was also one of a kind, an evidence of miracle, some would said.Some said that Charles came to his senses before the fall, miraculously managing to steer the wheel before he succumbed to illness. Others said it was a blessing from God for bad people. The latter sounded like nonsense, if you asked me. That kind of poetic ending sounded dramatic, too clean. I never liked those versions of the story. If God was real, He didn’t run a business portfolio. And companies like K Company didn’t just bounce back from near-collapse on sheer luck.Someone had pulled the strings. And if they could do that, then they were either a genius, or a psycho. The line
Last Updated : 2025-04-10Sunshine and The Beast 87: Protecting You in My Way
AltheaThings were changing. A lot.Althea Lewis from the past didn’t like uncertain and quick changes. Well, that was me. It took time to get used to anything, so to had a drastic change all of a sudden was draining.I meant, it took me months to finally be able to get a grasp of my new world, this business thing. And I couldn’t even say that I’d masteredt it.God knew I was far from it.Yet somehow, I didn’t mind the change that happened between Matthias and I. I liked it even, if I could put it that way.It felt like he was an entire different person, yet remained the same. The same Matthias Cox, but better. He brought a kind of stillness that didn’t demand anything from me, which was something I didn’t expect from him. At least me from months ago wouldn’t.He was calm where I was tense. He knew what to do, precise, where I was scattered and needed a lot of guidance. I didn’t need to explain my silences to him—he simply understood them. Vice versa, I didn’t feel the urge to ask abo
Last Updated : 2025-04-11
Latest chapter
Sunshine and The Beast 103: New Life
AltheaThe day I moved into some apartment I rented impulsively, it had rained.Not a cinematic kind of rain; the poetic kind that makes you feel reborn or something melodramatic like that. No. It was just grey and annoying, the kind that soaked through your sweater before you realized it and turned cardboard boxes soggy at the edges.A neighbor helped me carry a few things upstairs, some guy with AirPods in and no questions asked. I didn’t even catch his name. He handed me a dripping box labeled Bedroom and disappeared before I could say thank you. The elevator doors closed and I just stood there, clutching my new keys like they might anchor me to something.This was supposed to be a new beginning. But it didn’t feel like a beginning at all. It felt like a concession.The apartment was on the twelfth floor. I picked it because of the view. Something about seeing the whole city stretch below me made me think I’d feel less trapped. But instead, the height only made the silence louder.
Sunshine and The Beast 102: Separate Ways
AltheaWhen I thought everything was okay, all the walls were tumbling down. My life, my happiness, everything.I woke up in a haze, my head pounding as if I had been hit by a hundred storms. The sharp scent of antiseptic stung my nose, and I felt the unfamiliar weight of a hospital blanket over me. My limbs were heavy, uncooperative, as if they belonged to someone else, and my chest felt tight. It took a moment for my eyes to focus, the world around me blurry and indistinct.The pain was the first thing I recognized. A dull, aching throb in my lower abdomen, deep and unrelenting. I reached for it instinctively, as if I could touch the wound and make it go away. But when my hand brushed against the skin, it felt foreign—empty. As if the very thing I was searching for was no longer there.The memories rushed back like a flood.The blood. The pain. The terror that had washed over me in the moments before I lost consciousness. The frantic urgency of Matthias’s voice, calling my name, the
Sunshine and The Beast 102: The Truth
MatthiasThe elevator groaned as it descended, like the machine itself was reluctant to take me where I was going. Each floor ticked past with a hollow ding, echoing up the shaft like a countdown I hadn’t agreed to. Somewhere in the stillness between the fifth and the fourth floor, I caught my reflection in the polished steel of the doors; drawn face, bloodshot eyes, jaw clenched so tight it ached. I looked like a man walking into something he might not walk out of.The feeling of unease settled in the pit of my stomach, growing heavier with each passing second. The soft hum of the elevator's motor seemed to mock me, as if it knew the uncertainty that lay ahead. I tried to shake off the sense of foreboding, reminding myself that I had a job to do, a mission to complete. But as the elevator finally reached the ground floor and the doors slid open with a hiss, I couldn't help but wonder if I was walking into a trap.I didn’t bother adjusting my coat when the doors opened. The hallway ou
Sunshine and The Beast 101: Meet Me
MatthiasAlthea's condition was getting worse, to the point she had to get into an operation room.Time did not make everything calmer; instead, every second scraped across my nerves like the edge of a dull blade. Each tick of the wall clock sounded louder than the last, a metronome counting down to something I couldn’t name. The longer I sat there, the more I felt like I was unraveling by degrees, breath by breath.I sat stiffly in the dimly lit waiting area just past the ICU doors, one foot tapping without rhythm against the waxed linoleum floor. That smell—the sour tang of antiseptic—clung to everything: the walls, the plastic seats, and the inside of my throat. It mixed with the faint scent of coffee long gone cold and something metallic, like the memory of blood. The air was cool, but my jacket stuck to me anyway, and every breath I took felt borrowed.I tried to distract myself by flipping through a magazine left on the table, but the words blurred together and the pictures seem
Sunshine and The Beast Folded Page: Her Parents (II)
[Folded Page]Flashback, Part IIThe phone rang just past three in the morning.The burner, tucked beneath a drawer in the dresser, buzzed once—twice—its low hum slicing through the silence like a blade. Jess hadn’t been asleep. Not really. His body had settled, eyes closed for just minutes, but his mind had remained wired, straining through the dark for sounds that didn’t belong.His hand moved automatically, fingers closing around the phone, the sickening feeling of dread blooming in his stomach before his brain could even process why. Something was wrong. He knew it.The moment he answered, his voice was rough, hoarse from a mix of exhaustion and a deep, gnawing fear.“Reiley?” The word came out more as a prayer than a question, but it was too late. His heart was already sinking.The voice on the other end wasn’t hers. It was too calm. Too controlled.“Jessen,” the woman said. Her tone was efficient, practiced — not one ounce of emotion, not one crack of humanity breaking through.
Sunshine and The Beast Folded Page: Her Parents
[Folded Page]FlashbackThe rain battered the windows of the small house like fists of fury, the storm outside a violent mirror of the one raging within. Wind shrieked through the trees like lost souls, and every thunderclap seemed to rattle the very bones of the house.Reiley Alden paced the length of the living room, her bare feet soundless against the worn, splintered hardwood. She moved like a caged thing, restless, hunted. In the cradle tucked tightly into the corner — the safest corner she could find — baby Althea slept fitfully, her tiny face scrunched in some fretful dream only infants understood. The occasional twitch of her small hands made Reiley’s heart ache in a way that almost brought her to her knees.The storm outside was nothing compared to the one brewing inside her chest. She longed for it to pass, for the world to somehow become kind again — but some part of her, the part that had survived too much already, knew it never would.She paused by the fireplace, the flic
Sunshine and The Beast 100: Emergency
MatthiasA panic attack slammed into me like a freight train the moment they wheeled her through the emergency room doors.Althea lay so still on the gurney, her skin almost translucent under the harsh fluorescent lights, her breathing shallow and uneven, as if each breath cost her more than she could give. Her head lolled slightly to one side, and the sight of it—of her, usually so vibrant and stubbornly full of life, now fragile and terrifyingly still—carved something brutal and cold through my chest, a feeling I couldn't shake even as I stumbled forward.I tried to follow—I needed to follow—but a nurse stepped into my path, palm up, firm but not unkind. "Sir, you have to wait here. We'll update you as soon as we can," she said, her voice kind but leaving no room for argument."No—" I rasped, the sound of it cracking out of me, unfamiliar and raw. "I’m sorry," she said again, softer this time, her eyes flickering with sympathy. "Please. Let us help her."Helplessness crashed over
Sunshine and The Beast 99: Warm Hug, Closer Danger
AltheaThe world tilted when I tried to sit up, but I was okay. My stomach did a little dance, and I bit my lip, blinking against the wave of nausea that swept over me. The old couch moaned as I settled back into its cushions, pulling the cozy blanket even tighter around my shoulders, as if it could hold me together."Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Then, Matthias's voice broke through the quiet, low and urgent.I shook my head firmly, even though the motion made the room spin again. "I'm doing well, Matt," I said, though I could see he was worried. "It's just a feeling of nausea. It's just the usual stuff that happens during pregnancy."Matthias remained seated near the window, but the tension in his body was almost tangible. His arms were crossed, his broad shoulders stiff beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. Golden shafts of fading afternoon light slanted across the room, casting long shadows that made everything feel both too still and too fragile."You've bee
Sunshine and The Beast 98: Destructive Plan
Folded PageThe room was pretty dark, with only a desk lamp lighting up a bit, making everything look a bit dull and sickly. The curtains were drawn tight, shutting out the world, as if even the night outside didn't deserve to witness what was about to go down.He was sitting still, and you could barely see him because he was so dark. The only sign of his anger was the soft, regular tapping of his finger against the armrest.On the desk, a small bottle of medicine sat upright — harmless at first glance, and pretty ordinary.But it wasn't a typical situation.Not to him.Not to her.And definitely not to Matthias Cox.He took a slow, thoughtful breath as he leaned forward, his hand hovering over the bottle before finally picking it up. The glass felt cold against his skin, but he welcomed the chill. It helped him think. It reminded him why he had waited so long for this.Althea; The ideal crack in Matthias's armor.He was turning the bottle slowly between his fingers, studying it like
