IT WAS past midnight when Jason gave up tossing and turning from side to side and threw back the covers on the perfectly comfortable king-size bed. He hated to admit it but he'd been having difficulties sleeping without Evelyn by his side. Somewhere in the mansion, a huge mechanical clock was striking every quarter hour with a musical chime but, apart from that solacing sound, the mansion was completely still as the proverbial silence after the storm. Evelyn had looked so exhausted after dinner that she must have dropped off to sleep the minute her head hit the pillows. She hadn't once mentioned the outburst between him and his father during one of the most uncomfortable dinners in the history of most uncomfortable dinners. It was almost a relief when Evelyn covered a yawn with her hand and said Goodnight. He peeked out through the bedroom curtains to see lights from the house on the other side of the street but, apart from that, all was still calm and tranquil. True s

AS JASON slowly moved his lips over hers, he waited for the protest that never came. She tasted of saltines and wonderful enchantment. But not affection. Never affection. There was too much heat. Too much longing. When she drew closer and drove her long fingers into his hair, he groaned. He broke free long enough to sweep off the contents on the table to one side, mistakenly knocking the bottle of champagne down. Not caring that the wine was spilling on the floor, he hauled her right on top of the table. Before she could catch her breath, his lips captured hers again with an even hungrier intensity. With the tip of his tongue, he explored and delved into the tender interior until she was pushing back against his lean, hard body in a helpless gasping response. He ran his hand over her back and landed on her hip. Every beat of his heart was amplified. He kissed the sensitive point behind her ear and nibbled her earlobe with his teeth. Evelyn did not stop him. In fact, sh

DORIS GAPED at her best friend, wide-eyed, and her palm lay right over her ajar mouth. She wasn't breathing. She couldn't breathe. Evelyn waved her hand at her shell-shocked friend. "Hello in there!" Even at that, Doris didn't blink an eye. She was finding it difficult to recover from the bombshell Evelyn had dumped on her. Evelyn exhaled. "Can you say something and stop gawping at me?" Doris shook her head rapidly as if she was pulling herself to reality. She grabbed a half-drunk bottle of water on the table and downed it completely. Doris panted. "Sorry. I'm still trying to process," she said breathlessly. "You're pregnant?! And you slept with Jason?!" Evelyn looked around nervously, even though they were in her private office far off from her employees. "Why don't you announce it to the entire world?" She whispered with clenched teeth. "Tone yourself down!" "Forgive me but this is too huge for me to take in." Doris looked up to the ceiling. "Oh. My. God

EVELYN DIDN'T realize how dark it had gotten outside when she was done reading the Abuela and Mamá tagged diaries. The moment she got engulfed in their sister's life story, she couldn't break free. It was like page after page of her happiness, her misery, her wins, and her losses. Evelyn couldn't believe how much her sister had concealed behind her beautiful smile. Clarissa had always made everything seem so easy in her life and directed her positive energy to solve other people's problems. Clarissa had made it her responsibility to make everyone in the family happy and comfortable. It had been her idea to go on a vacation even though it was too expensive for their budget. She worked her butt off to pay off bills, debt, and other trivial stuff. Evelyn felt terrible for all the times she had thrown tantrums when her sister hadn't been able to afford what she wanted. There was no day she didn't regret every single time she had rebelled and railed brutal words at her.

EVELYN WASN'T sure how she felt, especially ever since the confrontation she had with Jason and Brad but then again she couldn't stop herself from feeling relieved that Jason had nothing to do with her sister's death. When she had asked him if he was being completely honest with her and if he wouldn't betray her, he had promised he wasn't keeping anything else from her regarding her sister's case and it was completely safe for her to trust him. And he had kept his word. He had been doing everything he in his power to hasten the progress of the investigation. Ever since that day, he had been rather helpful... and sweet towards her. She couldn't deny the fact that they were getting quite closer than previously. They had shared their hypothesis and findings and in between the investigations they had shared "harmless kisses" —as Jason had tagged them to be. In fact, it wasn't strange to her anymore whenever Jason covers the space between them and captured her lip