Love the Second Time Around

Chapter 1 He Is Back

I did not know that someone as happy-go-lucky and playful as Julius Keaton would be upset when he discovered, on our wedding night, no less, that I was not a virgin.

To be honest, I was struck by a moment of guilt then. Had I known that this would be a big deal to him, I would have gotten a discreet procedure at the hospital. It might have preserved the harmony of our marriage.

That night, Julius seemed moody as he asked me about “the guy.” He tried to mask his emotions but failed miserably. Who would blame him? After all, I was not who he perceived to be. Looking at the devastation written on his face, I could not bring myself to utter the name buried deep in my heart. Thus, I apologized meekly instead.

Maybe it was this incident that had caused irrevocable cracks in our arranged marriage. Yet, little did I know that a more dangerous crisis would befall our already rocky marriage.

I was a comic writer. In cruder terms, I had been freelancing in the industry for many years. Though I had never gotten a significant breakthrough, I earned enough to pay the bills.

However, a call from my editor, Shannon Harper, changed my life forever.

She told me that my first work, I Only Want to Be With You, had caught the eye of Galaxy Entertainment’s CEO. They were interested in buying the rights to my comic to make a movie.

to drop everything immediately and dragged myself to the VIP room on the

writer who received praise for their work would naturally

I was also perplexed at their interest.

plodded toward the designated room, trying to come up with ways to reject the offer that would not end with Shannon strangling me. After

allowed myself to ponder the issue a moment longer

to me, he seemed to be looking at the scenery beyond the window in intense concentration. However, he was so focused that he did not notice my

familiar to me. In

I

and stopped when I was a respectable distance away.

at the sound of my voice. Gradually, he turned

who he was. I could feel the blood rushing to my brain through my veins, giving me a

why wouldn’t I, when my whole world

forgotten an old friend? Let me introduce myself again, then. Hi,

my heart, and the very same one that I could not tell