(Present) "I love you." Emily whimpered, holding the hands of her best friend Helenite, who had an oversized coat on with a cap on her head. Helenite gritted out in a manly tone and shrugged Emily's hand away from her shoulder. "You don't say that." "Please, don't turn your back on me." Emily bit her inner cheeks while sobbing, but she flinched when suddenly her friend turned toward her. "Then what do you want me to do, Rose?" Holding Emily's shoulders, Helen jerked her with a force that poor Emily saw stars in her vision and tried not to bring that look of horror into her eyes, "Tell me. What should I do to make this pain go away from my heart?" In the backyard of Emily's house on a winter's eve in Seattle, the duo arranged a badminton night to surprise their little sister, but it all went wrong, much to their dismay. From the corner of her eyes, Emily glanced at Cheryl sitting on a chair with popcorn in her lap and instantly looked away, noticing how her sister narrowed her ga
Bash sat in his car, staring out the window at an exclusive clubhouse where he could see people queuing in front of that evening. He has owned this place since he moved to this city and brought his business here three years ago, but the headquarters was still in Texas, close to his aunt's home, who goes for his factory visit to check on the workers. Something someone close to his heart used to do for him when he was away on business trips or for his shoots, but now, it was only him and his emptiness. Emptiness? Bash snorted coldly in his mind. He didn't have time for that anymore. He worked like a freak. Even the records he made in his acting career now no one could break them, and his business. . .he would soon buy the entire swimming board in the US. "Where are you heading?" Turning his gaze from his club, Bash asked when Julian returned after answering his call. "Just have some private matter to deal with nearby," Julian said coolly. "Do you want something me to bring for you, s
Bash couldn't just believe his eyes. His mouth fell open, and he blinked twice, wanting to confirm if it was. . .her. The girl he had forever seen in a hoodie or man's clothes was now standing in her knee-length brown dress with an overcoat. Her hair, which Bash thought was short, he could tell if she untied her messy bun, it would reach to her waist. She looked a few inches shorter, which was obvious, as she was serving as a male bartender in Sao Paulo, faking it all, but she looked. . .fuller. With her vegetable bag in his hand, Bash took a few steps toward her while thinking about how that teen girl looked more like a woman now with her noticeable changes. It would be wrong to call her a teen girl back when they met. She looked somewhere between a tomboy and a schoolboy then. His eyes accessed her from head to toe, and when he again looked at her face, he found a cut on her forehead and red liquid trickling down from the left side of her face, but she looked oblivious to that! U
"Adam?" Bash received a call from his friend/business partner, who had been handling the part of the swimming in his club. "Can you tell me if all your associates will be available now? I can wait till their shift is over, but I want them in my office before seven." Standing at the side of the road, Bash talked on his phone and gestured to Julian about how it went at the drugstore, at which Julian shrugged only. Shaking his head, he leaned on the pillar at his side and faced the street where the heiress had fled with her bike. "You are in the city, Sebastian?" Adam sounded surprised. "Julian and I talked last morning, but he didn't tell me about your arrival. Anyway, I can send the six instructors on their shifts now. The session will end in a while, so. . . are you on your way here?" "I arrived last evening." Bash said, "Send your instructors into my office at the end of their shifts. I have some paperwork to finish and checked on the manager and servers about the complaints I am g
Emily lay on her face, taking the whole bed for herself. Even her jaw was killing her to support her face on the pillow for the cut on her forehead. Even a fool knows what is good for him, but Emily. . .she was beyond that. Who rides a bike at that speed after falling from it? Those four paint buckets had weight, but still, she carried them on her back. Could she go to work on Wednesday even? Birds were chirping outside like usual for biscuits. She could hear that, even though the windows were closed and the doors too, she could still smell the burnt bacon, toast, and beans in her kitchen. "Lord, Helen! The pancake batter was in the freezer!" "It's done!" Helen's scream sounded from the other side. "Hold your horses." "Yes! It's done." Her sister hollered. "Don't mind the smell. It's a glitch!" "You heard her." Helen gushed, which made Emily shake her head, snorting. It would be a hell of a job to fix her kitchen, but she could do nothing but accept this silently. At least the gi
"Yes, I am on my way to the post office. The package will be delivered in five days or so. Would that be okay?" Stopping at the side of a busy street in São Paulo, Emily turned to the side of an alley and picked up the call from her lawyer right the moment her phone vibrated in her bag. "Good job! You made our work a lot easier. Do you know that? Oh, by the way, the next hearing is next week. Your presence here is very much needed, Ms. James, even if it is your friend's parents taking her custody. Do you want me to book a ticket for you?" "I still need Grandpa's signature, ma'am." She started walking and tried hard to keep her voice even. "He knows that I am here, but he didn't allow me in his home or even let his butler tell me where they admitted Dad this time." Emily's father raised her since she was little. He was always there for her whenever she needed him. For Emily's happiness, Mr. James could give her the whole world, and he even married a woman at his daughter's wishes.
"So bothersome!" Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Emily fixed the messy pony she tied in between the crown and the nape before coming to the club. The dark shade of makeup and her dark lens hid the softness of her square face. Her strong jaw, above-average height, and tanned skin that caused the humid temperature in Brazil were a plus, and the muscle she gained from my ritual exercise, and having her apartment close to the beach, her swimming regularly helped to bring out the look of a young countryside man she wanted. If the manager of the club she works didn't promise to pay her double, she wouldn't have agreed to come to work early in the morning for the decoration for a birthday event she did in the pool bar with the help of a few of her colleagues. Months ago, seeing the praise she received from their foreign clients for the food, wine, and decor, the boss and the manager never left a chance to take advantage of her using her weakness with extra money. Then again, she ne
Three years later, "You...how dare you do this to me? Did you forget about our agreement? Have you finally lost your mind..." Ugh! Emily groaned inwardly and repeatedly tapped her two fingers on her forehead to ease her pain. She wasn't in her mood today, feeling as if everything was falling apart, even though she didn't have the slightest idea about the reason behind it. No, she had nothing to do with this couple fighting in this mall close to her workplace, where she went to grab a bite, and everything went wrong there. Of course, Emily wouldn't, as she was someone who avoided troublesome stuff that might give her a headache, but could you possibly leave her friend behind who was getting humiliated by an obnoxious man who was looking down on her friend, enraged by how she turned his whole world upside down? "What agreement? Heh, it was the young matriarch of the family you were engaged to hire me to take you down. Well, even if she didn't pay me for it, I would still have done w