Evie jerked awake and glanced at the time, yawned, then lay on her back and stared up at the ceiling.“I'm gonna tell him.” She mumbled to herself, then turned to glance at the clock by the bedside table.It read 08:15 AM.“You can do this, Evie.” She muttered to herself, getting off the bed.She checked herself in the mirror briefly before walking out of the room and down the stairs.She found her father, Felix Burns, sitting by the balcony, drinking his hot coffee as he read the newspaper and watched the gardeners earning their keep.“Hey, Dad.”Felix glanced up and smiled at her, “Hey, my little princess.”She came and pecked him on the cheeks, then sat down at the empty seat in front of him.“How'd you sleep?”She shrugged, “Fine? I guess? Where's Mom?”“She's still asleep,” Felix answered, taking a sip of his coffee. “What's up? Is something the matter?”Evie ran her tongue through her dry lips. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”Felix dropped both his cup and n
Arthur pulled the car to an abrupt halt and the garage and turned to stare at Ana, who couldn't stop herself from blushing.“You were awesome,” Arthur said and she couldn't help but smile.“Thanks,” She responded, “You too.”“Come here,” He placed a hand on her chin and pulled her closer, then kissed deeply, before pulling away, “Ana.”“Yes?”“I love you.” Ana's eyes widened. “What?”“I love you, Ana.” He repeated, “So much. There are thousands of things I want to do with you, take you to my favorite places, meet my aunt and his husband. Everything. I want to do them with you. I don't want us to keep hiding ourselves. Let's tell your father.”“What? No!” Ana disagreed fiercely, “He'll only break us apart! You know it!”“But…”“No, Arthur, I don't want him knowing.”“Then will all of this be short-term? Will we be short-term? Don't you want to be with me forever?”“Of course I want that... but telling him about us will only make our staying together ephemeral.” Ana stated, “I don't wa
Arthur drove the car down the nearly empty road back to Smith Residence and Ana couldn't stop staring at him with an annoyed expression.“Will you stop staring at me?” He asked, turning to stare at her.“Why can't we go on a date?” Ana asked, pouting her lips. “We haven't gone a date since our first one. I want us to go on a date.”“Ana, we can't.”“Why?”“Because the other staff are beginning to talk,” Arthur replied, returning his eyes to the road.“About what?”“About us. They're beginning to get suspicious.” He tried to reason with her, “I can't risk that.”“Okay, just this last one, please.” She pleaded, giving him the puppy eyes. “Hmm? Please?”Arthur sighed, knowing that he couldn't keep saying no. “Alright, fine.”“Yay!” Ana exclaimed joyously, clapping her hands together. “Where are we going?”Arthur thought for a second, “I know of a place.”He drove the car along the road and then changed directions, driving the car along the narrow, bushy path, completely unaware of the ca
Ethan didn't move.His breath was slow and ragged.His heart was pounding extremely fast against his chest, and he could hardly breathe.The doorbell rang again, and he jumped out of his skin.Is that Connor Perkins at the door?Is that him?He wanted to move his body but he couldn't.The gruesome, traumatizing memory began to flood his mind, and he shut his eyes, fighting the tears.The doorbell rang again, and Lincoln came out from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist.He came to an abrupt halt, shocked, upon seeing the way Ethan was standing in the middle of the room.He quickly ran to him and cupped his face, then lifted it up so that he could meet his eyes.Lincoln's eyes widened when he saw the slow tears that were dripping from Ethan's eyes, and he got worried.“Hey, what's wrong?”“He's here,” Ethan muttered, fear and horror written all over his face.“Who?” Lincoln asked in confusion, “Who's here?”“C-co-” Ethan inhaled heavily, then exhaled shakily, “Connor. He's h
The two men, dressed in dark and brown suits, rose to their feet and extended their hands towards Lincoln and Rahim.Rahim and Lincoln shook their hands.“Well, I gotta say, Mr Smith, we were impressed.” One of the men said with a nice smile.“I'm glad you were.” Lincoln returned the smile as he withdrew his hand.“You'll be hearing from us by the end of the week.” The other said, clutching his suitcase tightly by his side. “Take care then.”And then with that, the two men turned and walked out of the cafe.“Phew!” Rahim heaved a deep sigh of relief, relaxing back in his chair. “Well, that went well.”“Yeah, I suppose it is,” Lincoln responded with a smile. “It's not as if this is my first time doing this, is it?”“So, what are we gonna do?” Rahim asked.“What do you mean?” Lincoln queried, loosening his tie.“We still have a few hours before the chopper arrives.” Rahim stated, “Aren't you supposed to meet with him and say goodbye?”“Well, he'll be here in a few minutes,” Lincoln smil
Evie groaned in frustration as she glanced at the time on her phone screen.Their flight back to LA is an hour, and she's already dressed and packed, but there's no Hailey.She had just disappeared last night during their dinner in a fancy restaurant when she caught sight of a cute-looking guy from across the restaurant, and she hasn't returned till now.If anything, she had to admit that their trip to New York was refreshing.She indeed needed a change of scenery and had come to the conclusion after sober reflection that she doesn't want to get married to Lincoln anymore.The engagement was a mistake from the start.She had only agreed to it just to prove that she was capable of doing something, and maybe inheriting her father's company since Ethan hadn't expressed any interest.But who would have expected that she'd fall for her fiancé's assistant?All she wanted to do now was go back home and inform her father about her decision, then find ways to get to Rahim.But to do that, she