Elowen’s POV

Today is my mom’s 10th Death Anniversary. It’s been 10 years since I heard that horrifying news about my mom’s car accident. I still can’t accept that her death is an accident. I hate this season, It feels like it happened yesterday. My mom’s name is Vivienne Quinn Ruiz-Garcia, and my dad is Rafe Thorn Garcia. Me, Auntie Selene and Grandpa visited my mom’s grave. My dad becomes an Alcohol addict after my mom’s death. He never once visit my mom’s grave. I wonder why. My auntie Selene is the one who’s been taking care of me since my mom passed away. My Grandpa owns a fashion company called Velora Collection, It was named after my Grandma who passed away. My grandpa is the Chairman of his company and my mom is a former CEO.

When my mom was still alive, their company was the no.1 successful company in the world. My mom was a great Businesswoman and a lovable wife/mom. We were once a happy family. My dad is a bartender, of course, they met at the bar. I love how they love each other. My mom has no.1 competitor in that business, which is, Robert Lee a 45-year-old businessman, he’s older than my mom. Robert is also my no.1 prime suspect in my mom's “ACCIDENT”  because after my mom's death, his company became the no.1 fashion business in the world. Isn't it surprising that his company suddenly became no.1 after my mom passed away? However, the case was closed because the police said that “it was a car accident.”

After we visited my mom’s grave\, I decided to go to where my mom and I used to go\, which is a hotel near the ocean called Solace Bay Hotel-Resort. I went to the bar station which is on 3rd floor of the hotel\, where you can overlook the sea and the sunset. That place is so fascinating\, calming\, and refreshing. I ordered a wine called Shiraz\, my mom’s favorite wine. When I got a little tipsy\, I went down to sit and drink at our favorite spot which is the sand. We always sat here after we got dinner\, looking at the sky and feeling the breeze of the air.***** end of pov*****

*sobs* “Mom\, I miss you so much.” Elowen said while tearing up\, she drank the wine until no drops left.

Suddenly, a man saw her and walked towards her, said “Are you okay miss?” he tapped her shoulder and the man’s face seemed surprised at what he saw.

Elowen is drunk. She looked grimace at the man and said in her drunk voice “What are you doing? A- Are you a pervert? Hmmm???”

The man chuckles and says in his calm and soft voice “You looked drunk. Maybe it’s for you to stop drinking that wine”

Elowen replies irritated “What do you mean? Don’t you see? I want to be alone and I already finished this bottle of wine.”

The man laughs at her softly.

Elowen’s said “What are you laughing at? Are you a pervert?”

The man chuckles and replies “Of course not. Anyway, what are you doing here? Sitting alone?”

Elowen got up feeling dizzy and said “It’s none of your business.” She walked away and suddenly she passed out before she fell to the ground, the man caught him.

It’s morning and Elowen gets up from the hotel bed feels a headache and is shocked to see that her blouse is missing and that she’s only wearing her undertop. She can’t remember what happened last night. She only remembers that a man approached her.

She got up and looked first if the man was still there when she didn’t see the man, she felt relief. Elowen said with a relieved face “It’s such a relief, he’s not here” then, she ran towards the bathroom with a happy face, then she faced the mirror and tried hard to remember about last night but nothing came to her mind. She suddenly looked at her back and saw her blouse hanging.

Then unexpectedly a man came out of the bathtub with his hot-half naked body.

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Thankyou.

A week had passed since that happened. Elowen woke up and did what she used to do. She took a bath and walked downstairs and saw her Auntie…

“Good morning Auntie.” Elowen said in her tired voice

“You look tired, what you’ve been doing over the past days?” Selene said looking concerned about her niece.

“Well, auntie….I want to study business.” Elowen said directly to Selene.

Selene ears suddenly throbbed at Elowen’s words and stopped what she was doing

“Why do you want to study business? Didn’t you say you want to be an Artist? That’s why I enrolled you in Arts School right? You also worked in an animation studio right? What changed your mind?”  Selene said while smiling uncomfortably…..

“Ahm Auntie… Grandpa says that the CEO position is still open and he said that I should take the position…”  She said looking confused about her auntie's actions.

Her auntie replied in her softly mad voice “Dad huh? You know, you should never listen to your grandpa, you should only listen to what makes you happy. Business is not for you. You should not take business classes.”

Selene walked toward the front door, stopped, and said “Don’t bring up this thing again.” Selene slammed the door and left.

Elowen was left confused by what her aunt said, she was surprised to see her Aunt’s anger, It was the first time.

“Maybe she’s tired.” Elowen said in her calm voice.

*ping* *ping* *ping*  Elowen glances at her phone and sees a new message from her friend\, Ember.

Ember Gray: Hale! Where the hell are you? We’re already here, you’re the only one who’s not here!

Elowen look confused and thought ‘What the hell is she talking about’ suddenly her eyes widened and remembered that she has a team building today.

Elowen Hale: Oh my gosh! I totally forgot, I’m so sorry! Could you please wait for me for another 30 minutes? I’ll be there as fast as I can!

She grabs her jacket, her bag, and her car keys and checks her phone feeling guilty.

Ember Gray: You bitch! Do it faster.  You’re the team leader and you’re late.

Elowen is in her car, driving quickly and carefully, glancing at the clock on the dashboard with a look of worry.

Elowen muttering to her self  “Of all days to forget, Elowen….Why today?”

Her phone buzzed with a new message from Ember, and Elowen glances at it briefly when she was at a red light.

[Phone Message From Ember]:“They’re asking if you’re almost here. Hurry\, but drive safe!”

Elowen taking to herself “Come on, come on, green light………Let’s go!!

As the light changes, she accelerates, weaving through light traffic with purpose but staying careful, and her face a mix of concentration and worry.

Elowen nervously chuckling to herself “If I make it in 10 minutes, I owe everyone coffee. Seriously.”

She pulls up to the event location, parks quickly, and sighs of relief, grabbing her phone to send a quick message to her friend.

Elowen’s texting “I’m here! Running in now!”

She jumps out of the care, straightening her jacket as she hurries towards the entrance, her expression shifting to an apologetic smile.

Elowen rushes into the building, slightly out of breath. She spots her team gathered near the entrance, and they all turn to look at her as she walks up, trying to act casual but a bit embarrassed.

Ember smiled teasingly, and said,” Well, look here’s our team leader!”  she whispered to Elowen and said, “Thought you’d decided to skip a team-building day.”

Elowen whispered and said, “I forgot we have team-building today” chuckled and turned around and said, ”I’m so sorry, guys! I totally lost track of time. Traffic didn’t help either!”

Supervisor looked, raising her eyebrow, and said in her irritated voice, “Glad you made it, Elowen.”

Elowen smirked with her supervisor and said “Thanks for waiting ma’am, didn’t know that you missed me.”

The team chuckles silently, and Elowen feels more relaxed and happy that they’re not upset. She joins the group, relieved to be there and determined to make the most of the day.

The team heads toward the activity area, with Elowen quietly falling in step beside Ember.

Ember whispered, giving her a playful nudge “You’re lucky, otherwise, we might’ve started without you with an angry supervisor.” Chuckles

Elowen whispered back, laughing softly “Guess I owe you an extra-large coffee, huh?”

They both chuckle silently, and they start doing the activity.

Night has come after their team building, the team already went into their rooms and Elowen wonders to the sea.

“I love this feeling of the breeze” she said looking at the sky, then suddenly she remembered the man he saw at the hotel.

She stood up from lying down and slowly walked towards her room when she saw a familiar face.

“I think I saw that man before, but when?” She whispered to herself

A man suddenly walked towards her

Elowen was shocked to see and said “No freaking way…. Is that---?”

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For the next chapter, we’ll get a flashback from chapter 1.

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