Dulce smiled to herself to get the weight that was leveled right up to her chest. The very path to start turning her dreams into reality had started or was about to start. After taking a good look at all that had ensued so far, she could beat her chest and say proudly that she had made the best decision of her life by moving away from home. That was the first half of the decision. The second half of it was her having to adopt the dreams of her mother, who she never got the opportunity to meet. What she always did when she missed her mother so much, she would go to a mirror and take a look at herself. Since her father had some time ago made mention of the fact that she looked exactly like her mother, all she needed was to take one more look at herself to see her mother. The picture she had seen was also a good proof that the both of them, and they were a perfect match. Some time ago when her supposed best friend, Gazelle, visited her for the first time and took a look at the pictur
FIVE YEARS LATER. In the business suite of an airplane that was on course in the air, Dulce was seated, having both eyes staring far into the clouds. This was a ritual she always tried to do. Multiple inspirations always came from the simple glance she stole at those clouds. Exactly one year ago, her business company launched a new design for a gown that broke the internet. They had named it clouds. The relative peace with which they moved was so pleasing to anyone that could just fix their gaze on it, even if it was just for a while. Five years had passed already since she left her home. And right now, she was on board headed to the same place that she had disappeared from. The sweet thing was that this time around, she was not going there as the girl that had no ground to start on in the family. No. Five long years had passed already. And right now, she is not the twenty-one-year-old lady that ran her father's business from the back without any appreciation from anyone for th
Aspen Mckinney was now twenty-eight years of age. He had added five more years to his age. Time had passed too. In the past, the younger version of him only kept a small tuft of hair on his jaw. But right now, the older version already looked more handsome than he was with a line of well-carved beards running down both cheeks to meet at the jaw. Those caramel eyes of his seemed to have blossomed even better. His hair was ever-black and striking in rhythm with his fair and smooth skin type. His height seemed to have increased too. Yeah. It was always said the height increment was bound to cease the very moment the individual struck the twenty years mark. But that was not exactly true. One was meant to stop growing that much around then. However, one was bound to keep adding little cubits till growth ceased completely. It was a sigmoid curve. The early stage marked the last phase where people didn't grow much as little children. Then, the last phase of rapid growth followed before
It had not been up to three hours since Dulce alighted from the airplane. After a tumultuous time spent in the air, they were now subjected to another moment of wait. They had been waiting for a while now. The supposed driver that was meant to take them home was not yet anywhere close to the airport— at least, not within the range of the vision of eyes. Dulce was trying so hard not to get irritated by such illicit behavior. Why would someone dare to keep her waiting for more than two hours and slowly approach the three-hour mark?Oleta and Zigfrid did not care so much in the past hours. But now, they were already frowning. Even though the kids both clutched cups of ice cream, it still was not enough to suffice for the frustration that was slowly growing in their hearts. If the adults could get that frustration on their faces, how much more? To crown it all, Dulce was yet to let anyone recognize her. No one knew it was her. Her face cap and sunglasses did a good job of masking
A few more days had passed already. And the appointed date was fast approaching. He had concluded work and was on his way back when stopped at a boutique. Aspen wanted one major thing when it related to his business. And that was, simply out in a nutshell, expansion. He wanted to keep expanding. That was everything to him. He believed in growth. And he had always fought for a way to grow. One of his favorite quotes stated that to live was to learn and the day one would stop learning, one would stop living. Yeah. It did not imply an actual death. However, living and just merely existing had a thin line but a huge difference between them. From the time his father handed over the company till now, he had expanded it many times. And here again, he wanted to expand more. He wanted Mckinney industrials to venture into the art of manufacturing fabric and other materials that are in high demand for the production of every wearable clothing. As a wise and forth-sighted entrepreneurial
From where he stood, Aspen was struck with memories he thought he had buried away five years ago. No! He had not buried them. Every single moment that had passed through the years, he remembered the one person that had ignited his passion and left him to burn in it. His legs were transfixed. "Yo… bu.." He tried to say words. But they barely crept beyond the borders of his lips. What the hell was he saying? No way this was happening. Five years ago, he had entertained the idea that the beauty he had beheld at morningstar bar could be the one that ended up in his hotel room. But there was no ground for it. Now, before his eyes was a perfect replica of him as a younger boy. There was no way this would be a mere coincidence. Dulce was the woman she had seen at the bar! Dulce for a while felt her heart pound heavily. But why? Without wasting any amount of time, she attacked the anxiety that wanted to take over her. Yes. She knew the man. The business card of the man she ende
His head was ringing different sounds, the world spun on its heels, taking Aspen with him. Did he just hear her right, or were his ears on a different frequency? Aspen was transfixed for more than five minutes, his gaze darting through the three of them. Zigfrid was living proof that the claim was true. The caramel eyes. He had never seen a child who was a spitting image of his father or mother. He didn't need a soothsayer to tell him that what Dulce had said was true. As Aspen looked at all three of them, landing his gaze first on Zigfrid, Zigfrid held the hand of his mother tightly on impulse while also trying to hide behind his mother's leg. “Am I … scaring him?” Aspen thought. A thought that now provoked something else as he stared at the boy alone. The realization of what Dulce had truly done started to register, he was finally catching up. "Of course, you're scaring him. They don't know”. A voice whispered in his ear. The same voice now made him realize something as he l
Aspen fumed and puffed, but he couldn't deny the pain that came with this anger. The confusion was real.He had never wanted to get to his destination so badly like the way he did right now.The car pulled up to his mansion. He didn't even wait for the car to pull to a stop before levitating out of the car to the house. “Shit! Shit!!” Aspen shouted to the empty space within. He paced to and fro in his empty house, not minding that his workers and house servants were shocked to see him in such a mood. Aspen realized too late that he had been seen. He walked as fast as he could be straight to his drawing room. Even at that, he met someone dusting. “Leave.” He said, placing his hands on his mouth. The maid didn't seem to hear what he said, and that got him even more worked up. "I said leave! Goddamn it!” He yelled at her, causing fright to move up her bones in quick succession. The poor girl was skimping away, as fast as her legs could take her. What am I going to do? Aspen cont