POPPY:
Oh, god. Boyfriend? Fucking boyfriend? Soon-to-be husband?Seriously, Poppy? That was the best thing you could come up with?Why not? My dear ex-husband seemed to believe in my words. Now. If only Sebastian Holding would be kind and go with the flow. That would be much appreciated."Poppy, that is only a lie, right? I understand I am a jerk for saying everything I said five years ago. But I already regretted it. Please tell me the truth that this man is not your boyfriend. That you two are not going to marry each other. I had been looking for you for quite some time and now that I found you, I promise I won’t be wasting this opportunity again."Nolan’s eyes were pleading with me.Since when did he learn how to beg? Back when he was my husband, he was always cold and rarely showed his feelings. It was always me who was always telling him that I love him. That he meant a lot to me. But now.Was this really the Nolan I knew before? "It's... it's true! Bastian is my new boyfriend and in fact, we are getting married three months from now." To Sebastian's shock, I pulled him inside my house. Poor Sebastian.He was stunned and no words could come out from his mouth. Using that opportunity, I added, "No need to be shy, darling. I know you've been secretly planning everything."Please, play along, I said. I no longer wanted to see Nolan again. Sebastian suddenly tried to release my hold on him. "I'm not your boyfriend nor are we two going to wed. You are not the woman I am marrying."I gritted my teeth as I allowed him to let him go. Hope resurfaced on Nolan's face. "Poppy. Please forgive—""Don't listen to Bastian. He's only saying that because we argued earlier. But we are good now." Stepping forward, I patted Sebastian’s expensive suit. "Come, darling. I know you are in a bad mood right now. Why don't you eat inside? I had food prepared there. That would surely chase away your bad mood."Without waiting for anything, I grabbed his hand and pulled him inside then shut the door in front of Nolan's shocked face.Outside, Nolan was knocking on the door, pleading with me for us to talk.Talk? That was the last thing I wanted to do right now. I was no longer the same Poppy who was madly in love with him. The smile vanished from my eyes when I noticed Sebastian watching me.I gulped and jumped away, giving him and him enough space in between.“Boyfriend? Soon=to-be-husband? Do you know what you were talking about? If the press would hear it, I am done.”I heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Look. I am sorry for what I said there. Earlier. It was just…I was desperate to chase him away.”“Do you know you are wasting my time?”I glared at him. “You are not the only one whose time is wasted. I may be poor, but I also have a lot of things to do. However, I still remember that I did something to your wedding as you said. Do you want to talk about that? We will talk inside. Here."I turned my back and went to the living room. I felt Sebastian’s presence tailing me. “Follow me, Mr. Holding.”Seriously, Poppy? Letting a stranger inside your house? What if this man was a lunatic?I can fight him off. Besides, my neighbors will be worried if I did not step outside my house for a few hours. "Are you not scared I would do something to you?"Glancing over my shoulder, I answered, "I promise you that before you can do that, you are dead. I know some moves, Mr. Holding."It was true. When I was still single and met Nolan, I enrolled myself in some judo classes because of my work in a grocery store. My shift was always night and I usually go there late and some assholes would sexually harass me. But after learning to defend me, they already know how to distance themselves from me. Breaking a few of their fingers would do the job better. Sebastian raised some eyebrows. "I'm scared," he muttered mockingly. "Then, inviting me means you prefer talking to me than your boyfriend?"Besides, he looked like nothing of a serial killer. And if he happened to hurt me still, my fully loaded gun was waiting to be used."Ex-boyfriend. Ex-husband," I answered grinning. I patted the couch beside me. "But you don't have to concern yourself with my issues, okay? I can deal with that.""From my understanding, you cannot deal with him alone.""I can.""If you can, why do you have to lie?""Fine. Stop being nosy. I don't appreciate anyone prying into my private life. Do you want to talk? Talk and be gone. I don't want to deal with you anymore.""You know what made me come here. The pictures."Pictures I did not have any idea what was it all about. We finally settled on the couch and sat opposite each other. "And I will repeatedly tell you that I was not the person you were looking for. This might be the address. But I am not the one who ruined your wedding. I have a child to take care of. I don't have all the time to mess with someone else's life."And speaking of my child, I wonder if Kelly was okay now? Damn. I wanted to see her and see for myself. Kelly and I were usually inseparable. I'm so protective of her that I don't want her to get hurt. And now that Nolan had appeared, he would mess with our peaceful lives and insist on his presence on my daughter. Fuck it.Why did Nolan have to show now?"Regardless if it was you or not, since I already wasted my time in coming here, I want you to help me fix my relationship with Olivia."My mouth gaped open. "Are you seriously saying that? Why would I help you to begin with, huh? I'm already busy with my life crying out loud!""You help me," he ordered as if I was his employee. “How many times will I tell you that it has nothing to do with me?”"A million dollars for helping me. Or anything you want. How is that?"My eyes widened. "Just who are you?"How could he give that sum as quickly as that?"I'm the CEO of Holdings Company."Holdings Company? The one who was the top company in the technology industry? I once attempted to apply at that company but their qualifications were so high that I did not pass even the standard. And now the CEO slash billionaire wanted my help?That was why he was familiar. I had seen him once in one of the company's brochures. Sebastian Holding.He smirked when he realized I finally recognized him. "Now you understand I am capable of paying you. Name your price." He leaned on the chair and crossed his legs. "Now, would you help me or not?"I narrowed my eyes. A million dollars was a huge amount. It can supply Kelly's educational needs. But something was fishy here.I must be careful with my words. "Why did Olivia call off the wedding? Women typically forgive someone, especially someone they loved. And calling off the wedding just because of one picture without even verifying if it was you or not is something to question. Tell me, Mr. Holding. Did you cheat on her?"He glared at me and I did the same.Did he think my knees would go weak all because of his stare? Well, news flash, he needs to do better than that.I was exposed to more shocking and way more difficult problems in life. Encountered a lot of scarier men. No one fazed me anymore. Especially this handsome god in front of me."Do I look like one? Cheater to you?"I stared at him from his face to his foot. "Yes. You look like one to me."A man with a look to boast. A man with a good financial standing. Maybe I had low trust or stopped trusting men anymore that I found myself saying, "Yes, you are, Mr. Holding. You look like the perfect cheater to me."His eyes turned into slits. "It wasn't me. You won't believe it but it was not really me. In court, someone will be innocent unless proved that he wasn't one."“Impossible. Your fiancee believed it was you. She knew you more than me. We are practically strangers, Mr. Holding.”“You don’t want to help me?” He stood. “Fine with me. You are lucky I give you my spare time despite my busy schedule.”I bit the inside of my cheeks. A million dollars was waving in front of me.Actually, I was becoming desperate. There were a lot of bills to pay and Mr. Holding was the only one who could help me pay all my debts in a snap. “What will I do?”He smirked. “Simple. You are a woman. You know what to do for Olivia to say yes to marry me again.”“By Olivia, are you pertaining to Olivia Green?” I asked, without even thinking.“Who else? She is my supposed-to-be fiancee.”I sucked in a breath. Olivia Green was a famous actress and well-known businesswoman in the retail industry.“Is that the reason why you wanted to be with her? Because it is good for your image?”Sebastian’s jaw clenched. “Regardless of what I do or my what my feelings for that woman are out of your concern. Let’s cut to the chase, woman. You are seriously wasting my time. Are you in or out? Will you help me or not?”POPPY: I hated Sebastian’s guts. He reminded me of people who looked down on me because I was raising my daughter alone in this world. He reminded me of those assholes who pointed their dirty fingers at me while saying I will not succeed in raising my poor child alone. “I am waiting, woman. I’ll be giving you a minute to think. After that, you will never waste my time anymore.” He looked at his expensive watch where I could only see at an online store which billionaire’s could only afford.It was not definitely designed to brag. I crossed my legs.“You are desperate, Mr. Holding. You barely even know me.”“Poppy Brooks. You are twenty-nine years old. You are living with your five-year-old daughter named Kelly Brooks in this rented house. Your neighborhood is protective of you and would willingly kill anyone who dared to harm you or your daughter. Your ex-husband was Nolan Wood. You lost contact with your family.”Fuck.That was comprehensive information about me. It was amazing ho
POPPY:As I continued staring at Sebastian Holding, something was telling me he did not even love Olivia Green. Whenever he spoke of her, there was no warmth or any feelings in his eyes. It remained unchanged. Distant. Cold. Menacing.I felt sorry for that woman. It was plain that he was using her for whatever reason he had. Sometimes, rich people would agree to contract marriage for the benefit of both families. I wondered if Miss Olivia Green loved this man? That’s no longer your concern. Whether they both loved each other or not, you are out of that, Poppy. You need money more than this man. And you will get it. As long as Mr. Holding would willingly pay me, everything was good. I did not care whether he truly loved Miss Olivia or not.I would always be after the money he would pay in my bank account. Imagine the bills I could pay and the investment I could have with that amount. "I want to be honest with you, Mr. Holding. I am only after your money."He was not at least offend
POPPY:“Mommy, I’m bored,” Kelly muttered while licking her lollipop. She kicked her feet continuously and it hit the feet of the chairs in front of her. She was back at the house the next morning. It was Saturday. No school. We can have all the time in the world for our bonding.As always, Christy had done a great job of taking care of my child.After cleaning the kitchen, I walked towards Kelly and hugged her back. "Do you want to go to the park, love? The other children are playing there."Kelly faced me, frowning. Her cute little lips pouted. I was thankful she resembled me instead of my good-for-nothing ex-husband. There were no traces of Nolan on her physical looks. The only thing she got from her father was liking tomatoes and could even eat them raw, something I could not do. And speaking of that bastard, he never called me again. Good for me. If he continues making my life chaotic like what he did six years ago, I will make sure I will be asking John to give him the best
POPPY:My mouth gaped open wide upon hearing my daughter.Daddy?My head spun and got dizzy as I stared at my baby hugging Sebastian. She wrapped her little hand around the man while sniffing at him."You smell so good, Daddy!"Sebastian cocked his eyebrows and looked at me. His eyes ordered me to remove Kelly away from him.But…I could not move.How could I do it?For the first time, I saw my baby smiling from ear to ear. How could I extinguish the fire from her eyes and dampen the mood? How could I hurt her feelings right now?Mr. Holding continued looking at my baby. He glanced at his back and his bodyguard automatically stepped forward.No! No one will embarrass my child. I would kill anyone who dared to. Clearing my throat, I went to my baby and carefully untangled her away from Mr. Holding. "L-love? Come to Mommy."Kelly shook her head continuously and held Mr. Holding tightly. My heart tightened at seeing her hug Sebastian like he was indeed her father. I forgot these were t
POPPY:After making a few calls and calling Christy, I was back in the living room. The woman said she will be coming here to fetch my daughter.I did not know what to do if I did not know her. She was always to the rescue. With my heart at ease, I returned to where Mr. Holding was waiting for me. Sebastian was folding his arms and upon seeing me, his sharp eyes looked sharper than ever. His eyes looked bored. "I thought I would be sleeping here," Sebastian greeted me, his voice full of sarcasm. "This house is only for me and my daughter, Mr. Holding.""That's sarcasm."I know. I'm not dumb.I faked a surprise look. "Oh, really? I did not know it was."If this was the kind of employer I had right now, I would be peeing my pants. His piercing eyes could cut the hardest metal in the world.Maybe he did not love Olivia Green. If he did, he won’t be giving me a death glare right now. They said love could transform the hardest steel including Sebastian, but this man, he was hard as a r
POPPY:My heart skipped a beat. Nolan. This bastard. What was he doing here? I thought he had already given up on pursuing me after lying to him.“Poppyseed?” Nolan called again. The pain was evident in his eyes. Fuck.Of all the days, he had come here while Kelly was inside the house? What if the two met? It may be a sin or unfair on Nolan’s side, but I did not want the two to see each other. I was not prepared for that. My breathing rate accelerated.Damn you, Nolan! How dare you make me feel fear. No! You won’t be taking Kelly away from me!Fear crawled over my body, prickling my skin. Inhale. Exhale. You still have your child, Poppy. This bastard cannot take Kelly away from you. I will ask the best lawyer that could defend me if Nolan continues to insist on taking my child away. I glanced over my shoulder. Kelly was nowhere to be seen. Good. I did not want to see her good-for-nothing father. I was free to say whatever I wanted to this bastard. “Did you forget? I told you
POPPY:The car was thick with silence and it was suffocating for me. Both men were not even saying anything as if they both agreed that talking was already a waste of their time.To make it less awkward, I pretended to check my phone every now and then, waiting for Christy’s message.When I left Kelly to her, I was already appeased that nothing would happen to my daughter. It’s just that… I always missed the feeling of being around her.“I don’t want you casually holding me whenever you please. It makes my skin crawl.”Staring at the rearview mirror and meeting Sebastian’s gaze, my brows furrowed in confusion. What was he talking about again?“I beg your pardon, Mr. Holding?”"I don't waste my time explaining what I just said. I thought you were not dumb," he snapped. I folded my arms in front of my chest. "Well, if touching you offends you so much, I want to offer my apologies, Mr. Holding."If Sebastian was silent and rarely talked, the more was his bodyguard. He was always observa
POPPY:Oh, no. Sebastian's going to kill me.His patience was already to the highest limit and everything was because of me. His edge of irritation returned. "Y-yes, Mr. Holding?" I asked, acting innocent. "Does it look like a joke to you? When will you take this seriously? If you don't want to do this job, return my half million this instant!" he demanded.I bit my lower lip. Even if I could, I won't, despite not having plans on how to spend it. But I had an initial plan of saving it for Kelly's education. “Chill. I will go with you. I will do it. I will focus on my job, okay?”My eyes lingered on Rowan Carter. He had a big butt, I could not help but notice. See you next time, Rowan Carter. The next time I meet him, I will ask for his picture. I had a feeling this would never be the last time our paths would cross. I was certain this would not be the last time that we would be seeing each other.“You better be, woman. I am starting to get tired of you.”“Where is Olivia Green