Ilaria Veda Rynoa is a mother of one beautiful baby girl, and an owner of a small coffee shop in America's countryside. Her life has been nothing but peaceful in the past two years, sipping tea, reading a book, and running a small business. She loves it, even if she keeps ignoring the gnawing feeling of yearning in her heart. Multi-millionaire CEO Ajax Ferrer's life is going nowhere but downhill in the past two years. He had been traveling the world and wasting all his money in searching for his secretary of five years. He regrets how he never told her he loves her, and he wants to build a family with her. He made mistakes and he's suffering from it. He's ready to lose everything just to be with her. Will they ever cross roads again? Or will their yearning for each other just be gone, like putting out a fire?
Chapter 1 Prologue
Content Advisory: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains explicit sexual activity and disturbing imagery. Reader discretion is advised.
Warning: The following chapter contains scenes that some readers may find disturbing and/or may not be suitable for younger audiences, including graphic depictions of rape and sexual assault (sexual intercourse). Reader discretion is advised.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
2021 (c) Bella Zhang
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Sipping her chamomile tea, Veda gazed at the picturesque view of the sun setting in front, from her bungalow's veranda, as she calmly sat on her comfy hammock. Ah, this was life, she thought.
She could feel the warm breeze of the countryside air, as she watched the hues of the sky dim. Ever since she resigned, everything went nowhere but uphill. Sure, there was this one big dip to rock bottom but she rose back up nonetheless. That mishap will forever haunt Veda, but she will be sure to ignore it until she can, not only for her-but also for her walking ray of sunshine.
"Mommy," called out a small, cutesy voice behind her. Veda whipped her head to her front door, where a small princess toddled about, scratching her one eye with one hand and hugging her favorite teddy bear on the other. Quickly, Veda placed her teacup on the veranda's thick railing and went to aid her awakened daughter.
"Avery, darling," Veda cooed and lifted young Avery in her arms, embracing her as they returned to the hammock. Avery wrapped her tiny hands around Veda and leaned her head to her chest, as she watched the sun set with her mother.
Together, they looked off in the far horizon, appreciating the mesmerizing view. Everything was so perfect, Veda had her pieces back together already-until he returned. He, who ruined everything.