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046: Back to Reality (II)
"We are comforting that…."
Ethan's eyes snapped to her manicured nail before they slowly moved in the direction she was urging him to look in.
He saw a group of girls standing around the corner of the corridor, huddled together like they were going through the game plan before breaking into loud cheers and running around the field. But their ducked heads and low whispers combined with their stealing glances at Ayla only proved otherwise. His train of thoughts was interrupted by the lady in question.
"You know what they are talking about?" It wasn't a question but she still threw him a questioning glare. Without waiting for his reply, Ayla continued, "they are wondering out loud as to how the rich and dashing business savvy Claude Atkinson ended up getting married to a nerd like me."
Ethan couldn't help himself from chuckling. A low chortle left his lips while he kept his eyes glued to Ayla's twisted face. He wanted to share his ow
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The Heartless Bride 047: Back to Reality (III)
"Who dared?" A shiver ran up Ayla's spine as soon as she snapped her eyes open. She opened her mouth and closed it, repeating the process a couple of times as her mind tried to come up with words. But the shock alone had the gears in mind jammed. "W-what are you doing here?" After what seemed an eternity, she managed to force a sensible reply out of her mouth. "That's not an answer to what I asked you." "Don't have work to do today?" She shook her head, not giving away anything. As much as she despised the woman, she would not want her to get kicked out of the school. Especially, when she was in her final year of studies just like her. "You are still not answering me." "And I won't." She shook her head. "We both know it's not going to end well for her, and I don't want that." Her eyes never left his. She was trying to take a peek inside his soul. "Do you really think that
The Heartless Bride 048: Back to Reality (IV)
"I'll make sure you never do." Claude's words rang next to her ear as he continued holding her gaze with his own. The intensity with which he was staring back at her made her stomach do a flip upside down. Ayla shook her head, pushing away the feeling which was beginning to creep up her spine. She told herself internally that it was nothing much but her own mind perceiving it all wrong. "I know you won't." She shrugged it off with a small smile before bringing her focus back to her drink which was not so chilled anymore. She continued sucking the creamy liquid up the straw whilst Claude watched her with nothing but adoration in his eyes. To him, she looked like a child who had just gotten her hands on a chocolate bar. "As much as I hate to interrupt this date of yours, I think we should get moving." Ethan cleared his throat and spoke up loud and clear for the duo to hear. He cocked his head to the side where a small crowd of students
The Heartless Bride 049: Our First Date (I)
"W-what are you doing?" Even though it was obvious as a plain sunny day, Ayla couldn't help herself from questioning his actions."What does it look like?" Claude briefly glanced up to meet her confused eyes before going about tying her laces into a perfect bow. He slipped his pinky finger under the tied laces to make sure that the knot wasn't a little too tight for her to feel uncomfortable when walking.Once he was satisfied with his handiwork, he picked up his drink after dusting his hands off and pushed himself all the way up."Let's go…." He muttered out under his breath before extending his free hand towards Ayla.But instead of taking it, she raised her index finger in the air, silently asking him to allow her a moment to herself. Her actions left the two men with nothing but confusion wobbling their minds. They didn't bother to hide it, but instead of explaining herself to either of them, she went on with what she ha
The Heartless Bride 050: Our First Date (II)
"Where are we going?" Ayla was already starting to get impatient as her eyes stared out of the tinted windows, taking in a good view of her surroundings as they whizzed past tall buildings."I am not telling you, wife." Claude let out a low chuckle as he briefly glanced in her direction. He turned his attention back to the road ahead as his lips slowly curled up into a faint smile. "You definitely are not a big fan of surprises, are you?" It was more of an observation than an actual question. He could tell easily from the way her right leg was bouncing up and down throughout the ride."It's not that I am not patient otherwise. It's just that I seem to run out of it when it comes to surprises and all." Ayla pursed her lips together as she shifted in her seat slightly to have a better view of Claude. "I don't know how to explain this." She added in a low tone as memories from her past came rushing back to her, leaving behind a painful, crushing aftertaste.&nb
The Heartless Bride 051: Our First Date (III)
"Because I own this place."Her breath was knocked out of her lungs as Claude's words hung in the air. She had her eyes staring back at the man, ready to roll out of their sockets any second now. It was the soft 'ding' of the elevator arriving on their floor that pulled her back to the present."You what?" She drew her brows together, questioning the man. As far as she knew, Atkinsons' Corp never dealt in the food business."You heard me, wife." Claude brought his hand to rest at the small of her back and gave her a small push forward, guiding her to step inside the elevator along with him. "I own this place." He repeated his words from earlier before explaining himself."It's much easier to have a place ready for business meetings and gatherings. Saves me a lot of time on making sure that a reservation is scheduled for a specified day and date." He reached forward to press a button on the side panel of the elevator wall that was m
The Heartless Bride 052: Our First Date (IV)
Ayla could only shake her head at the man's words even though they managed to turn something inside her chest. He was more than a gentleman when it came to treating her right and she knew better than to take it for granted. She would always voice out her gratitude with a soft "thank you" usually, but at times like this, his words threw her mind off balance a little. Hence, she would go for the next best option: changing the topic of the conversation. "Why is it that I didn't see any staff members on our way?" She muttered out in her calm tone as soon as the duo made it inside the private room. Claude, being the gentleman he was, pulled out a chair for her, pushing it a little forward once Ayla had settled down comfortably. "Thank you." She muttered under her breath while keeping her eyes trained on the man as he moved around the black marble table and found him settling down in the chair across from her. "I like my privacy." Cl
The Heartless Bride 053: Making it to the Newspaper
The next morning, a groggy Ayla made her way down the staircase with a jump in her steps.She woke up to an empty room. Claude was nowhere to be found, and one look at the grandfather wall clock in his study made her realize that she was the one who woke up a little later than usual.It took her half an hour to take a bath and get changed into some black, cotton, skin fitted trousers which she paired with a white tee and matching high platform converse. Tying her hair up in a pony, she put on her black rimmed glasses. Giving herself one last look in the dressing table mirror, she made her way back to where her bag was lying. She only spent five minutes fixing her college bag before flinging it over her shoulders and heading downstairs."Good morning." She announced her presence with a cheerful greeting as soon as she stepped inside the dining hall.Her eyes wandered around the room for a little while before landing on the lone figu
The Heartless Bride 054: Sleep with Me (I)
The next few days were rather blissful for the newlyweds. Ayla was starting to get more and more used to having Claude around. So much so, that she insisted for him to move back to his actual bed. For some reason, the idea of him sleeping in another room didn't settle well with her any more."Why can you not use your own bed for sleeping too?" She threw another demanding question his way."I have said this before too, Ayla," he shook his head, "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable with my presence.""And how many times do I have to tell you that your presence only puts me at ease." She snapped back at her, looking up at him.She has her notes and books sprawled out before her on the dark wood table with her laptop sitting next to her—open.Claude was occupying his usual spot on the other side of his study. He sat back in his leather chair, swinging it side to side, as he kept his eyes glued to a file in hands.&
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