Never Too Far Novel

Since coming of age, Arthur had met countless women who approached him with ulterior motives, but Sophia was different. She was refreshingly bold and blunt. She was so naive that offending him was something she never thought to be afraid of. At the same time, he wondered if she was just a really good actress, one who was simply employing a different method of getting close to him and seducing him thereafter.

If that were the case, he ought to have seen the cracks in her pretenses by now, but he did not. Was she just really well-trained, or was she being her true self?

In another villa, Mason was awake and waiting for his sister to return. She had told him that she wanted to go night sailing, but it was already well past midnight, and she had yet to return. Knowing how crazy she could get when it came to having fun, he grew exasperated and somewhat furious. She’d better not get herself into trouble, he thought grimly.

Meanwhile, over in the largest and most opulent villa, a warm glow was shining through one of the windows. Under the red covers of the luxurious bed, two figures were entangled in what could only be described as an amorous affair.

The next morning, Anastasia woke up without any prompting whatsoever. She opened her eyes and found herself in the warm embrace of the man sleeping next to her. She dared not let her gaze flicker to his shoulders, which were decorated with claw marks that served as a reminder of their heated endeavors last night.

She could not bring herself to wake her dearest husband. Hence, she quietly took in the dark hair tousled over his forehead and his young, deep-set features. A pleased smile curled on her lips as she stared at him, wanting to burn the image of his face into the back of her mind.

After watching him sleep for a while, she decided to get out of bed and put on her clothes. However, she had only just lifted a corner of the covers when a strong pair of arms pulled her backward.

“Stay in bed with me for a while longer, Mrs. Presgrave,” the man muttered, his warm breath tickling her collarbone as he nuzzled his chin into the crook of her neck. A hoarse chuckle escaped him as he added devilishly, “I was very satisfied last night.”

Anastasia had been tipsy the night before, which resulted in her present groggy state, but the moment he said this, a particular memory surfaced in her headspace and made her blush.

“I like it when you take initiative, Mrs. Presgrave,” he went on to tease, opening his eyes. Basking in the sunlight that spilled through the window, they looked like two sparkling obsidian pools.

Anastasia quickly reached out to clap a hand over his mouth, then said shyly, “Okay, stop.”

Elliot drawled lazily, “Shall I go over the details of what you did that I loved most?”

“No thank you.” She did not want to hear about it as her face had turned positively crimson.

The day after the wedding, the guests who had to get on with the busy schedules of their lives bid their farewells and left. The weight on the flushing bride’s shoulders was finally lifted by a fraction. Visibly more relaxed now, Anastasia decided that she was going to have fun today.

That afternoon, she got a call from Mason, telling her that he had to get back to work, so she bid him goodbye.

Katrina, on the other hand, had woken up in Jacob’s bed. She was like a cat that ate the canary, and she was more than pleased to have him become her new prey.

Over in Villa No. 58, Arthur decided to leave as well, and that afternoon, he gave Elliot a heads up before getting off the island.

As for Sophia, she stood on the deck of the departing yacht and watched the strip of white shore grow into a speck. She thought about how she had pinned Arthur down on the sand the last time, and the corners of her lips tipped up into a mischievous grin.

She turned around and glanced at the man whose silhouette radiated elegance, repressing the urge to laugh as she thought about how rare it must be to see him completely caught off guard like he had that night.

Among the wedding guests who left were Presgraves’ extended family, and those who stayed were the women in the family. Lorelai, in particular, did not look like she was about to leave anytime soon.

That evening, Harriet gathered all the ladies into one dining area and set the men up in another so that dinner could be a more intimate affair. Lorelai was seated next to Anastasia, and when she saw Jared, she praised heartily, “Well, aren’t you just the most adorable little boy I’ve ever seen!”

“Hello, Aunt Lorelai,” Jared greeted sweetly.

“So, what do you want to be when you grow up, Jared?” Lorelai asked, making small talk with the child.

“I wanna be as great as Daddy,” Jared answered without even thinking.

“A brilliant dream indeed.”

Then, the little boy turned to look at his mother and said, “After that, I’ll marry someone as beautiful as Mommy.”

Anastasia sputtered at his childish humor and said, “I suppose I should be relieved that you’ve already got that part of your life all worked out.”

Lorelai laughed and pointed out, “Children have such a wonderful naivety about them, don’t you think?”

Having listened to all this, Harriet beamed and encouraged lovingly, “I’m looking forward to seeing you all grown up, Jared.”

“By the way, Mrs. Presgrave, I’ve heard that you have a knack for jewelry design, and I was wondering if you could help me take a look at a few of my sketches,” Lorelai said enthusiastically as she gave Anastasia an expectant look.

“Of course! You can bring me those sketches anytime,” Anastasia agreed with a smile.

“Really? Thank you so much, Mrs. Presgrave!” Lorelai nodded earnestly, then continued, “I’m designing the jewelry for a friend of mine as a gift. With your feedback, I’m sure the gift will be perfect for her!”

Anastasia asked curiously, “Did you ever go to design school?”

“No, I’m just doing this as a hobby, which is rare for me. I picked it up and I fell in love with it, but I didn’t, like, receive professional instruction or anything like that. I guess that’s what sets you and me apart, huh?” Lorelai replied modestly.

Laughing, Anastasia said, “Well, I’d rather you keep this up as a hobby. It can be cabng if you turn a hobby into full-fledged work.”

Lorelai chuckled as well. “Yeah, I guess you have a point.”

At that moment, someone at the dining table caught sight of the piano sitting in the corner and started pushing Lorelai to perform a tune. The girl very obligingly walked over to the grand-looking instrument and took her seat, then started playing a song with the sort of quiet grace that lulled everyone into a trance. While the melody carried on, someone said in a low voice, “Lorelai sure is talented. She could be a maestro if she wanted!”

“I’m sure she’ll marry well someday,” another person added.

Upon hearing this, Kendra smiled and said, “That’s very sweet of you to say, but Lorelai is just an ordinary girl.”

Most of the guests had left three days after the wedding. After that, Anastasia and Elliot returned to the Presgrave Residence alongside Harriet.

Jared was due to go back to school soon, and Elliot had plenty of work piled up for him at the company. In stark contrast, Anastasia had a lot of free time on her hands, and she had seen the press release about their wedding. However, the exclusivity of the event meant that the media did not have much information to proceed with, and the journalists dared not use it as clickbait either.

Meanwhile, Arthur had stopped living in bars and bought himself a villa close to Elliot’s as a temporary dwelling place. Initially, Sophia wanted to go back to visit her parents, but Arthur refused to let her do so. As such, she ended up following him wherever he went.

That day, two world-class etiquette instructors dropped by the villa to specifically teach and guide Sophia on the ways of upper-class societies. Thus, beginning the first steps of molding her into a lady of nobility.

Sophia was admittedly frustrated by this. She wondered why Arthur was splurging on unnecessary things because she thought it would be better for everyone if she remained as carefree as she had always been, unbridled by the stuffy rules of fine society.

Nevertheless, the instructors were dedicated to their jobs, and they carried out the lessons according to a strict plan. Sophia ended up spending two hours each day learning how to stand, walk and sit properly. At the end of each lesson, she was exhausted and found herself questioning her own sanity.

While she was having these lessons, Arthur would be upstairs doing heaven-knows-what. Occasionally, fortune tellers would drop by the house, and she wondered if the young master truly believed in such things, or if he was helplessly superstitious because he certainly did not appear to her as such.

Presently, in the living room of the second floor, a medium had apparently thrown a seance to communicate with Arthur’s grandfather’s spirit in order to pinpoint the location the old man best preferred to be laid to rest.

After sending off the medium, Arthur decided that he would go to the location and scope things out for himself.

Meanwhile, Sophia had just said goodbye to her instructors. She was rubbing her aching shoulder while walking up the stairs when she suddenly heard Arthur calling out to her, “Sophia, please come over here.”

She did as she was told and presented herself before him, then asked, “Is there something you need help with, Young Master Weiss?”

“A shoulder rub,” he answered curtly as he cast her a sideways glance.

She then stood right behind him and began to rub his shoulders, kneading out the tense muscles as he closed his eyes and disengaged with the rest of the world.

Just as Sophia was admiring his chiseled features, she suddenly felt an alarming tickle in her nose, and before she could stop herself, she sneezed onto his face. “Ah-choo!”

She froze after the sneeze. She could not believe that she had sprayed her germs and saliva all over the features she had been admiring just seconds ago.

The air around them grew cold. Arthur’s brows furrowed as he said, “Wash my face for me.”

“I am so sorry!” she squeaked, running off into the adjoining bathroom and retrieving a moist, patterned towel. She half-knelt on the couch and began to carefully wipe his face. He kept his eyes closed the entire time, and because he had a sharp sense of smell, he could pick up the faint fragrance lingering on her.

His long lashes fluttered as he opened his eyes, and it was then that he saw Sophia wiping his face with a towel.

When she met his gaze, she flushed and said, “I am so sorry for what happened. I promise it won’t happen again.”

Arthur was speechless as well, but what made him even more incredulous was the fact that he did not mind the incident at all.

“Do not do this again,” Arthur warned.

“Yes, sir!” Sophia nodded obediently. She was so embarrassed by the incident that she wanted to crawl into a hole.

Just then, Arthur’s phone rang. A look of surprise flashed across his features when he saw the caller ID, and he hurried to answer the call. “Hello?”

“Artie, it’s me! I’m coming to visit you!” a girly voice spoke up on the other line.

When the call ended, he gave Sophia an unreadable look. She swallowed nervously and asked, “What is it?”

“A friend of mine will be staying here for a while,” he explained. A moment of thought later, he added, “From now on, you are not to misbehave in front of me, and you will act like a proper servant. Do you understand?”

Sophia was no idiot. She had a feeling that this friend of Arthur’s was someone that he secretly had a crush on, so she suggested hopefully, “You know, you’re more than welcome to give me some time off if you think I’m only going to get in your way.”

He eyed her frigidly and bit out commandingly, “You are not leaving.”

Curiosity got the better of her as she tilted her head to one side and asked in amusement, “So, is this friend of yours just an ordinary friend, or is she someone special to you?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” he replied with a raised brow.

“Well, if it’s the former, then I’d be more than willing to play the part of the loyal servant and wait on your hand and foot, but if it’s the latter, then my presence here would put us all in a sticky situation, don’t you think?” She wanted to go home desperately, so she enunciated the point of her argument, “Young Master Weiss, all I’m asking is that you give me some time off.”

the end, he gritted

a line from a romance novel? He had no right to order her to stay in such a roguish manner, she thought. She was only his maid, after all, and

retorted, “I wasn’t planning

a long

the tarmac, and an elegantly-dressed young lady

the airport and put a hand up to block out the blazing

Young Master Weiss’ bodyguards,

go then,” she said. She couldn’t wait to see

The girl leading the entourage through the front yard gave the garden a cursory glance, then marched straight through the door and

had been running around in her mind as soon as she

girl with

but when she saw Arthur coming down the stairs, she broke into

friendliness

over to take care of you.” Emily walked up to him and grabbed his arm affectionately, then tipped her head to one side as

he

still stood by the

of

that Emily was without a doubt Arthur’s

eyes gleamed diabolically at the sight of this, and she quickly said to them,

waiting on her, and upon hearing this, they immediately sensed that

enough, Emily suddenly extended a long, slender finger as she said imperiously, “You there! Help me carry these bags

a double take when she saw that Emily was pointing

sight of Sophia’s dazed expression, Emily snapped impatiently, “You’re

to act like a well-behaved servant, so she quickly answered, “Oh, of course. I’ll have these bags brought into

but when she tried to lift them, she realized they were firmly weighed down on the floor. Those two maids who came with Emily must

her arms as she watched Sophia struggle to lift the bags. “Be careful with those. I have tons of valuable stuff

way of lifting them. Panting, she said, “Miss Jennings, these bags are far too heavy for

these days, it seems,” Emily mocked

the living room to aid her. “A

her to the stairwell and grabbed the two bags, then easily

this. She couldn’t believe that Arthur had actually lent the maid a helping hand by carrying the bags up the stairs. It was the most bizarre thing she

up the stairs as well, and much to her surprise, he had brought the bags into the guest room instead of leaving them on

bring the bags into Emily’s designated room either, and when she got to the top of the stairs, she quickly

interjected, then grabbed his hand to inspect his palm with a pained expression. “I would have asked the bodyguards to help, you know. Look at how red your

as well, and sure enough, the skin was chaffed red. The bags had a combined weight of more than a hundred pounds,

said dismissively as he pulled away from

can you be? I cannot believe you had your master do your work for you. You’re fired! Go, get out of our sights!”

then her eyes lit up as she asked,

you a one-year advancement on your wages,” Arthur piped

for an explanation. As if she would forget about receiving wages from him! But she quickly grasped the situation and realized that this man was determined to keep her here. Going along with his act, she said, “I believe you’re the one forgetting things here, Young Master Weiss. Remember how you said you would pay me the last time and then something came up to conveniently distract you from it? Well, with all due respect, you’ll have to cough up the two hundred and forty

scoffed, rendered speechless by her

Young Master Weiss? I’ve gone without a

said contemptuously, “Artie’s fortune is far more than anything you could ever imagine, so he wouldn’t go back on his word to

back on his promise or mistreat his staff. Right, Young Master Weiss?” Then, she flashed him a meaningful smile as she added brightly, “If it helps,

was at a loss for

completely overshadowed by the maid, and she grew infuriated as she snapped, “Okay, fine, he’ll pay you what he owes you, so get back to work! I want all the clothes in these bags ironed and hung in the wardrobe, and I mean every single piece of clothing, got it? If I see

Artie, let’s leave her

Arthur finally left the room, but she couldn’t help wondering why the latter was

picked up the black lace negligée from the very top of the pile of clothes. The fabric, or rather the lack thereof, had her stumped. Miss Jennings might as well be naked in this! Who’s she going to wear this for? Arthur? Does

she proceeded to iron Emily’s questionable wardrobe, Sophia began to panic, for she became acutely aware of the fact that she had no idea how to operate a clothing iron. Her parents had raised her like a princess all her life, and

now, and she had no choice but to hunker down on these menial household tasks, which were not so much

Emily prattle on about the latest details of her undoubtedly jet-setting lifestyle. She stopped talking at some point when she realized that he seemed miles away, then asked dejectedly, “Is my presence here bothering you,

Emily to come here. Knowing the old lady, she was most likely playing matchmaker, and this was just her way of

to see me?” Emily accused, biting down on

thinking about something else, that’s all.” He had only just said this when a loud cry sounded

“Ow!”

his wake. When they reached the guest room, they saw Sophia standing by the

grab her hand and immediately saw the red streak burn on

instinctively cried out in alarm when she made contact with the hot

tightened his grip on her and led her to the bathroom, then turned on the tap to run her red, angry palm under cold water. While doing so, he chided, “You

her throat when she saw this scene. She remembered how much Arthur hated physical contact, but here he was holding the maid’s hand with an

to him and whispered in retort, “It’s not

water and drying her hand, they walked

you just fire her?” Emily assessed Sophia belittingly and added, “We can’t pay someone

insulted. Arthur, however, defended her, “It doesn’t matter. I’m used to having her around to

Sophia was surprised by how determined he was to

the car ride here, so make me a cup

usually got her coffee from a local barista or any other cafe. Right

despair in her wide doe eyes, he repressed the urge to sigh in frustration. She can’t iron, and she can’t make coffee. Is there anything she knows how to do other than talk back

a proper coffee machine here,” he lied to Emily after glaring at Sophia.

me tea.” She was trying to gauge how important this so-called maid was to Arthur, and there was no hiding the fact that Emily hated Sophia’s guts. Hence, the former was currently thinking of ways to get

he decides to keep her, I can order her around as

bud

kitchen to make tea, which, thankfully, was something she knew how

the couch, but just as she was setting down the cups on the coffee table, Emily asked, “You’re a

unhappy when she noticed that Sophia was wearing a nice dress, not to

“I’ve only started work a month

get one ready for

that,” Arthur interjected. “Honestly,

Emily choke on her tea. She began to wonder just who Sophia was to warrant such concern from Arthur, who was famed for being stoic, and why he

to be all rainbows and butterflies now that Emily had moved in. That woman’s a jealous one, she thought grimly. Still, she would not have to suffer like this if she could find that man’s

exasperation. Of all the people she could have a

Lorelai that morning. Lorelai told Anastasia that she was desperate to design the perfect jewelry for her friend’s engagement

for help and invited her over to

through the front door and into the living room,

“Mrs. Presgrave.”

Mrs. Presgrave sounds

we met, but I didn’t want to offend you,” Lorelai

a smile. She then proceeded to appraise Lorelai’s get-up today. The latter was dressed appropriately in an outfit that included dark academia elements with just an understated, feminine appeal. She was also wearing very light make-up that accentuated her delicate

giving it a cursory look, Anastasia praised, “There’s definitely talent

humbly, laughing. “I don’t have much time

suggested several ways Lorelai could achieve it. The latter nodded delightedly and said, “You

checked the time and saw that it was already 5.30 pm. She thereafter rose to have the kitchen

the invitation, Anastasia, but I have something planned for tonight and I should go,” Lorelai explained, gathering her things

late, and Elliot will be home soon. Come on, stay for dinner,”

tonight at least. Dinner’s on me next

Anastasia walked with her out

driver’s seat, Lorelai gave her a small wave and said,

Anastasia watched as the car pulled out of the

over the

Anastasia’s clear, bright eyes as she stood outside. She did not go back into the living room. Instead, she glanced at

one of the cars and dashed through the gates. He ran up to Anastasia when

she answered with an affectionate

her hand while

too.” She reached out to ruffle his hair,

saw the kitten darting back and forth on the couch, he quickly set his bag aside and began to play with the feline. The little furball had only grown cuter since they first

sports car drove and parked on the car porch. The soft purr of

while Jared was playing with the cat. When she saw Elliot walking up to her with his silhouette outlined by the twilight glow, she set her book down and ran to meet him in

missed him dearly after not seeing him for the

opened his arms and caught her just as she threw herself into his embrace like a child. He lifted her up by the waist and twirled her once, then set her back down. “Missed

nodded, smiling as

I want a kiss too,” Jared demanded as he approached the

then kissed him on the cheek lovingly. “Did you have fun at school

bet!” Jared replied with a firm

decidedly unhappy when it saw that everyone else had received Elliot’s

be part of the family, Elliot reached out to pat its soft, furry head and asked, “You’re not angling for a kiss too,

as

ears to placate it. There was a serenity in the way the family of three and their cat hung out with each other under the evening sky. For a while,

way home when she called her mother and told her what happened with Anastasia. Upon hearing the details, Kendra said on the other

by Anastasia’s house during the late afternoon and left before dinner time just so the latter wouldn’t think she was trying to butt into her family affairs. The clever

she said, “By the way. Mom, I’ve already sent in my resume to

the plan, remember? After all, Elliot is still in his honeymoon phase with Anastasia. You ought to wait until she’s got a second kid on the

for me, that’s all,” Lorelai explained. It was like playing chess,

sure that you pace

Mom. I’ll be careful,” Lorelai promised

to see the kitten clambering onto the couch, its claws digging into the fabric as it launched itself onto the padded cushion.

amusement, “Shouldn’t you be with your darling

reward, it staked out a corner and curled up

the bedroom door opened and Elliot walked in dressed in his lounge suit. He had only just wrapped up an online conference with

loved it when he wore suits, and she couldn’t help the primal urges that seized her during moments like these. It was an almost feral instinct that made her want to leap over

seen the hidden side of him, the side that lay on the other end of the spectrum from

reading her mind, Elliot kissed the top of her head and murmured as he undid the buttons of his suit,

innocently, “And what will you do

gave her