Chapter 41

“SYBIL…”
She abruptly raised her head and stood up when she heard Ace’s voice. There he was, standing in front of him, handing over a handkerchief. But she didn’t accept it and shoved his hand instead. Sybil then marched back to the cabin. She tried closing and locking the door, but her strength couldn’t match his, so Ace won and followed her successfully inside.
“How dare you come back here after leaving me behind at the hotel?!” she snarled at him.
Sybil started throwing punches at his chest. She gave all her strength, hoping she could hurt him and get even by doing that. But her punches seemed to not affect him. Ace wouldn’t even flinch or wince. It was so unfair when she had been hurting so much and the pain she felt lingered until that very moment.
“Fuck you!” she said when she stopped her assault. There was no point continuing when it wasn’t affecting him.
“Sybil, listen to me first—”
“And why would I listen to you?” she screamed, cutting him off. “Do you think I will believe in you again after you promised to love me and come back to me no matter what happened? You dumbass! I hope you rot in hell right this instant—”
“I came back for you, didn’t I?” He crossed their distanced and grasped her arms tightly. “Can’t you see me? Can’t you feel me? Can’t you hear me? It’s me, Sybil… I’m Ace!”
She was too stunned to speak as his words kept repeating inside her head like a broken CD on a player.
“Y-you came back…” she mumbled as the realization hit her.
That was when she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. Sybil didn’t care if Ace could still breathe or not. All she wanted to do was to make sure that he was really there with her… that she wasn’t just hallucinating.
“Sybil…”
She wanted to make a protest when he slowly distanced himself from her. But her protest didn’t happen when he framed her face with his hands and claimed her lips in a fiery kiss. Oh, she could feel his love and longing with those kisses. She could feel Ace was feeling the same intense emotions she was feeling at that moment.
Chase then guided her toward her bedroom without breaking the kiss. He fell on top of the bed with her on top of him.
They kissed as though there was no tomorrow.

“MY memories came back, Sybil.”
She halted from drawing invisible hearts on his chest and sat up.
“Y-you’re not joking, are you?”
He pulled her back to bed and snuggled with her.
“They are back, but not all of them, though. There are some missing pieces in the puzzle that I’m not quite sure if I would still remember.”
“So, you finally remembered who you are and where you are from. Is that why you suddenly left me? Did you feel overwhelmed and excited to come home?
“Not really excited.” He heaved a sigh. “I was worried, actually. Don’t know how I will explain everything to you—”
“Do you think I’m dumb not to understand?” She bit his chest.
“Aww!”
“That pain is nothing compared to the pain that you caused me when you left without a word!”
If only she could carve that pain on his chest, she would do it a thousand times to get even with Ace. But then, she forgot about her revenge because she was keeping a secret from him as well. She hadn’t told him yet that she was slowly remembering her forgotten memories as well. However, those were fragments of memories from her childhood days. Perhaps it was the most memorable moment of her life.
“Sybil…” he said after a moment of silence.
“What?”
“If I ask you to come with me, would you come?”
“It depends on where you are going to take me—”
“Home.” It made her sit up again. “Why do you keep sitting up?”
“Because you are shocking the hell out of me. Why would you take me home?”
“Because I want my family to know you.”
“Y-you will introduce me to your family?”
“Yes. Why? Is there something wrong with that?” Hir forehead creased.
“I mean… would they be glad to know me? I have no family, and I have no memories about who I really am—”
Ace held her hands and kissed her knuckles afterward.
“Listen to me… It doesn’t matter because what’s important is that you are the woman I love… the one I want to marry.”
She couldn’t find the right words to say. Ace wanted to marry her?
“Tell me I am not dreaming….” She pinched her cheeks so hard she felt her fingernails digging into her skin.
“You are hurting yourself.” He pulled her hands away. “Enough of that. You are not dreaming. I assure you that everything you are hearing right now and what you are about to hear next is real.”
“Ace… I’m warning you if this is a joke—”
“I will give you the privilege to kill me right away if I’m joking.”
His voice sounded so serious. There was no way it was a joke. Sybil heaved a sigh and nodded her head afterward.
“What is the meaning of that?” he asked with furrowed brows.
“It means yes. I’m coming with you, moron.”
A smile curved on his lips. He then pulled her, making her land on top of him.
“I’m glad to hear that….” Ace claimed her lips in a quick but deep kiss. “I hate to cut our reunion short, but we really have to start packing so we can leave. My brother must be growing impatient as he waits for us in the airport,” Ace said as he left the bed.
“Whoa… you have a brother?”
“Yeah.”
“How old is he?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m just asking. I want to know who’s older.”
“He is two younger than me. I hope you don’t like younger guys—”
“I like my boys a little bit older,” she said, winking. “Yeah, I choose you.”
Ace laughed at that.
“Anyway… is your real name Ace?”
“It’s Chase. Chase Whitewood.”
“Oh. Oh?” She cocked her head to the side. “Sounds family, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, right.”

SYBIL didn’t know if it was the jetlag that caused her nausea or the Whitewoods mansion. It was so big that she bet that even though a thousand ghosts would live there, it would be hard for anyone to find one. She wondered if they were able to see each other inside the mansion.
She even found it hard to walk from the foyer up to the third floor of the mansion, where her room is located.
“Where is your room?” she asked Chase when they finally got inside.
Sybil immediately plopped down on the bed, only to spring up again to look at Chase.
“This bed is insane!” she said with eyes widened. “It’s so soft… I think this will help me sleep forever.”
“You are not allowed to die here,” he said, grinning. “Anyway, my room is just across from yours, so it won’t be hard for you to come over.”
He cupped her cheeks and brushed the tip of his nose against hers.
“Where is your family anyway?”
She hadn’t seen anyone since they arrived. Everyone that Chase introduced was butlers and servants of the house, and, oh, his dog as well. She met his brother on the plane, but he was aloof and would only talk to Chase, which made her like her man even more. He was built differently. It was as though he was built to please her.
“I’m afraid you will meet them by tomorrow. My mother and sister are out of town for a retreat while my father is on a cruise with his cousins.”
“O-oh…” She nodded her head.
He had a busy family. It seemed there was a huge chance that she would be alone in that mansion once Chase started working again.
“Don’t worry. I will defend you no matter what.”
Her forehead creased.
“Wait. What?” Why would he defend her? “Will there be a war between your family and me?”
“Well, most likely there would be.”
“Chase!’ She groaned when she felt her head throbbing. Sybil cupped her head and plopped down on the bed again. “Perhaps I should just sleep here and never wake up.”
She didn’t want war. She just wanted to live with him and love him freely, as simple as that.