"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 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

"Come here."  Claude brought his arms to rest on her sides before pulling her down to settle on his lap. He made sure that she was comfortable with her legs dangling over the armrest of his chair while he hugged her body close to his chest.   His actions took Ayla by surprise, but she didn't find herself frowning over them. Instead, her stiff muscles eased under the warmth of his body.  "I know you only mean well, but I would hate myself if my presence ends up bringing you trouble, of any kind." He brought his free hand to her face, cupping her cheek before pressing a feather light kiss on her forehead.  "But it won't. It will, in fact, put my worried mind at ease." Ayla tried to reason with him only for him to turn her down.  With a shake of his head and a deepening frown, Claude shushed her by pressing his index finger against her lips. "Things have finally started to become normal between us even though we are

"F*ck."Claude sucked in a mouthful of air through his teeth as he took the sight before him in. His eyes never wavered away from her figure. He opened his mouth a couple of times only to close it once again as his words failed it. "It's too much, isn't it?" A groan followed Ayla's complaint as she eyed herself down. It was only then that Claude came out of his trance, a loud scoff forced out of his lips. "Are you kidding me, woman?" He rolled his eyes before closing the distance between them. "It's nowhere near too much. On the contrary, actually." He huffed out a long sigh as his steps hurriedly covered the gap between them, bringing him to stand before her. "You look perfect, Ayla." He mumbled in a whisper as he brought his right palm to cup the side of her face without applying much pressure. He would hate himself if he somehow ended up ruining her makeup. She was looking a little too perfect for him to allow that to hap

Claude watched her fiddling with the fabric of her dress as her eyes roamed around the wide hall which was filled with people. He wanted to make sure that all of his attention was on her, but it was really starting to get really hard. There were many people around who were waiting to have a conversation with him, and he had to entertain his guests even though he would rather get done with the night already. Another reason for his tolerance was the event itself. If it was some other high-end ball, he would have already left after making an appearance even if he was the host. But he couldn't do the same for tonight. Tonight's event meant a lot to him; it was more like a personal cause than bringing some good PR for the company. "Hey." He leaned down and whispered next to her ear as his hold around her waist tightened ever so slightly. "You look like you are about to puke." Now that they were given some privacy, he decided to voice his thoughts out.