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 rock.Remember Olivia Green stopped their wedding? That was enough to make his mood sour. “Are you good? Let’s go.”“I-I can’t.”His expression turned sour. "I. Give. You. Enough. Time."This man was seriously giving me a slight heart attack. I wondered how his employees survived working with him. Were they still good now? Their stress tolerance was amazing.Being in the same room with Sebastian Holding was already causing me a lot of headaches."That time is not enough."You asked for it in exchange for a million dollars, Poppy. This man had already paid you. The least you could do is honor your agreement. Help him reconcile with Olivia Green. Help the two marry. Happy ending for Mr. Holding. “Why is that? I already give you ample time to call your friend,” he said in a stern voice. It looked like he was scolding me like a child. “You are seriously wasting my time, woman.”I folded my arms in front of my chest.Can I punch him even for a brief moment? Standing on my ground, I explained, “I won’t go unless my friend comes here and get my child. If not, I will not go with you. My baby is my top priority. If you consider yourself human, you would understand why I am doing this. However, if you cannot understand my situation, I also understand it because you don’t have a child yourself. You cannot empathize with me.”“You think as if you know me a lot.”Will, that was true, but based on my observation, he was the kind of man who would make anyone cry. This kind of man was dangerous, especially to my heart. He scoffed. “You talk too much, woman. Such a waste of time. Fine. I will give you another minute–”“I don’t need a minute, but an hour at least. Christy has some things to do.”She said she had to finish cooking some orders from the customers. Sebastian looked at me in disappointment. “You are lucky I have some use of you. If not, I will be tossing you aside. Make sure you are worth a million dollars.”I forced a sweet smile on him. “I am more than worth it, Mr. Holding. I promise you.”Be glad I need your money. If not, I will be asking my neighbors to teach you a lesson for being an asshole, I muttered in my mind."Try me."We were still in the middle of our conversation when someone interrupted. “M-Mommy? Excuse me?” Sebastian and I both looked in the direction of the voice and saw it was Kelly who was peeking at the door. “C-can I talk to Daddy now?”I did not want to break Kelly’s heart but correcting her now was the best thing to do. I groaned. “Love, you see…” I looked at Sebastian. I was glad he was not saying anything. He never corrected Kelly’s statement that he was not her father. It was as if he was considering my child’s feelings.Before I could finish my statement, Kelly came running toward us and stopped in front of Sebastian.“Are you, my Daddy?” she asked, her eyes blinking in amazement. “Love. I’m sorry, but…he is not your daddy.”Kelly’s face fell. For a moment, but she was back with her bubbly attitude. “Oh, I thought he is my daddy. He looked like he came from abroad, Mommy. What’s your work?” she asked.My eyes darted at Sebastian. I was expecting he would not answer, but he opened his mouth and gave a curt response. “I own a major share in a company. I am also a CEO.”“CEO?” Kelly looked at me. “What’s that, Mommy?”“Ahm…Come here, love. Let’s not bombard Mr. Holding with questions now, okay? You see, he is a very busy man.”“I think Uncle Holding does not mind, Mommy. Am I right, Uncle?”Uncle?“Love.”Sebastian nodded. The CEO of a company wanted to be called an uncle? Is this man for real? “Uncle… Can you be my Daddy, instead? I like her for you, Mommy. He's handsome and rich. You two are an item.”My cheeks flashed red at Kelly’s statement, and I just wanted the ground to swallow me whole. Oh, my goodness. Why is this child putting me in an embarrassing situation? Sebastian raised his brows again. “An item? Where did you hear that?”“From Aunt Christy.”I made a mental note to remind my best friend to be careful with her words especially if she was with Kelly. Sometimes, that woman forgot herself, especially in the middle of ‘pleasure’. Kelly tugged my hand, forcing me back to the present. “Love. Mr. Holding is Mommy’s friend and he could never be your Daddy. You see, he will get married to another woman a couple of months from now.” That was my job and I will make sure I will do the job well. Sebastian Holding will marry Olivia Green.“Is that so, Mommy?”“Yes. I’m sorry, love. Mr. Holding is taken already.”“What do you mean by taken, Mommy?”My eyes shifted to Mr. Holding. Funny how he was not saying I already wasted a lot of his time by talking to my daughter.“It means he is in a relationship, and he will have a wife sooner or later.”Why did something sting in my chest? Kelly’s face fell. “Can you break up with her and choose Mommy instead? You see, Mommy has been lonely for quite some time now. I see her silently crying at night. I don’t want to see Mommy crying anymore.”I laughed nervously while watching Sebastian’s reaction. “S-sorry about that. You don’t have to take her words seriously. She’s just a child.”“I am not a child, Mommy.”“You are, love. Please go to your room and get your bag. Aunt Christy will be here in a minute. You will be playing with her.”Kelly pouted. "I don't want to go. I want to stay here with Uncle Holding. Mommy? Will you please tell Aunty I don't want to go?""I'm sorry, love but I already told her you will be going with her.""Why?""Because Mr. Holding and I will be going somewhere."Her eyes lit up and held my hand. "Can I go with you?""I'm sorry, but this trip is not for kids."Seeing Olivia Green would only break her heart even more now that she already had a liking for Sebastian. Right on time, someone knocked on the door. Standing, my gaze went to the door. "It must be your Aunt Christy. Go to your room now and I will call you when you two will be going to your aunt's house.""Goodbye, Uncle Holding," Kelly said and waved her hand. As usual, the man did not return my daughter's wave. However, I was still thankful he did not say anything ill to my daughter. "Go to your room now."Kelly rushed to her room. "I'll open the door.""I will be coming with you.""You don't have—"My words died when he stood and sauntered towards the door. "I will wait outside. Don't waste any more of my time. You're wearing my patience thin, woman."Sebastian opened the door. "Poppyseed?" It was Nolan, holding a bouquet of flowers. Why did he return here again? "Who is that man?"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
POPPY:My heart jumped at the rage I drew on Sebastian's face. Why could I not stop myself from blurting out whatever was on my mind? This mouth will be the death of me. "N-nothing, Mr. Holding. I said break. You only misheard it.""I'm not buying it. You said something."His ears were sharp as his eyes. I must control myself around this man.“I did not, Mr. Holding. However, no matter what I say, I cannot change your mind, right?” I pouted my lips. “If I offend you at any cost, could you forgive me, Mr. Holding?” Sebastian looked at me as if he was going to puke. “Why are you giving me that weird look, woman?” he asked. “Nothing. To clear up some misunderstanding?” I blinked a couple of times and tried to act cute even if I felt sick doing this myself. Sebastian waved his hand. “Erase that look. It does not look good on you.”“If Miss Olivia pouted like this, does it look good on her?” I inquired. "Does it make your heart race?"“I do not like a woman who acted like a child. Who
POPPY:It was only a simple question, but my mind could not find the words to answer Olivia Green.Seeing the conflict on my face, Olivia covered her mouth and looked away. “Bastian, she is your woman, right? Why are you hiding it from me? All I wanted is to hear the truth from your mouth. But why could I not have it? The truth, Sebastian. The truth!” she exclaimed in frustration. Sebastian’s eyes narrowed at me. He was also disappointed.Shit.Why would my mouth refuse to cooperate at the moment? Knowing Sebastian could not get any help from me, he closed the distance between him and Olivia. “Olivia.""Do not touch me, Bastian." Olivia hugged herself and stepped backward. "I hate you for cheating on me.""That woman is only a friend. You don’t have to be jealous of her. She is nothing compared to you. You are elegant. Sophisticated. Rich. Powerful. Beautiful. You almost have everything in this world.”Ouch.Why did Sebastian have to slap me with reality? I knew I was far from this
POPPY:There was only one word that would describe Mr. Holding right now. Rude. And oh jerk. Impatient. Disrespectful. Acts mighty and high. I did not believe all wealthy people were like him. I wanted to believe that those were only for him.I looked like a fool extending my hand while wearing a smile on my face, but he never bothered to accept it even if it will only take him a few seconds to shake it. Not wasting his precious words at all, and his efforts, he entered the door when Wyatt opened it for him. His personal bodyguard was about to close it, but I stopped him, went after Mr. Holding, and sat beside the billionaire.The man raised his brows at me, moved farther away, touching the window, and I did the same.I was still embarrassed by what he did.Damn him!Angrily, I blew the strands of hair blocking my eyes while glaring at the road as we exited the infamous hills. Recognizing the car of Sebastian, the security guard saluted which Wyatt returned. I was glad that despite
POPPY:Wyatt pulled over at the side of the road. Mr. Holding was a devil incarnate. He sure was succeeding in torturing me not only with his presence but also with his smirk. I hated him. I hated him! May he rot in hell where he truly belonged. He knew I lost. That I was on the disadvantaged side. Returning the money but tripling the account? That was next to impossible for crying out loud! And Sebastian was using my financial status as his leverage. "You're a devil, Sebastian."He shrugged his shoulders. "Am I? I did not know that. Perhaps I am.""Oh, please. You know it very well, Sebastian. And I was a fool for walking right into your trap," I exclaimed. “I regretted even knowing you.”"I don't have any idea what you are talking about, Miss Poppy," he answered, acting innocent but his eyes were twinkling in mischief. "Let's cut the chase and just return the money. You want to stop our connections and unfortunately, it will only happen once you return the money. You wasted my t
POPPY:Sebastian was giving me the I-told-you-so look while I hung my head low in embarrassment. It was good that they did not know anything about me or anything else…"Order now," he insisted again.Why is he making everything difficult again? I was seriously tempted to take his offer. My intestines were already wrestling inside my stomach. "I'm not hungry. I will wait for you two."Sebastian sliced the steak using his knife and picked one slice using the fork.I licked my lips. I had only eaten steak once when Nolan brought me to a restaurant. He insisted that he would pay for everything. That was his treat so I ordered the food I was dying to eat since I was in college. Steak. But it was only once and never happened again. I did not want to believe that it was because I lacked enough money. He already earned quite a hefty sum as an engineer in a certain company. But then…when we got married, our relationship became sour as if he was getting cold feet. I tried to disregard it thi