The CEO's Painted Skin

John entered the elevator heading down to the first floor of the condominium building. He went to the lobby and sat down on the sofa and called Ramon from his phone to pick him up.

Only a few people were left loitering in the lobby since it's already past sleeping time. As he was staring at the near-empty building, he realized that he was feeling empty inside as well. Seeing the hatred in Catherine's eyes was too much for him to bear, it has shaken him to the core.

What's going to happen now? The happy family that he craves so much was now impossible to attain. She no longer wants to marry him, but he's willing to wait for her forgiveness no matter how long it takes, even it takes his whole lifetime. One thing he was sure of himself, his love for Catherine never dies.

This time, he needs to be more patient with her because she's pregnant with their first child, he doesn't want anything bad to happen to their child. He was hoping that once the child is born, it can make Catherine see the reason that hatred will only destroy peoples' lives, hatred and revenge will only destroy families and relationship. Forgiveness can make people get closer together if given early, but if given too late, it might not be able to prevent two people from drifting apart from each other.

He knew he committed a grave mistake towards Catherine. The pain was all fresh now in her memory, all those negative emotions she kept inside were now spilling out in the open and began hunting him.

Dealing with her flammable outburst might become too hard for him to handle in the coming days, but he was a man of responsibilities, he will never abandon her no matter what happened to their relationship, even if the situation becomes too poisonous between them, he promised to himself he will never give up on her, that he will always be supportive and understanding of her rage and outburst, because it's all his fault, he needs to suffer too as his punishment and help carry on the burden as well.

He and Catherine will both suffer in the long run, hopefully, his son's health condition inside her womb won't be affected by the conflict brewing between them.

Thirty minutes later...

Ramon finally arrived at the Twin Tower to pick up his employer. Judging by the fallen and haggard look on John's countenance he already knew Catherine had finally awakened from her deep slumber.

"Catherine is back, Boss?" he can't stop himself from asking out of curiosity.

John nodded. "Yes, she's finally back and very angry, demanding to be freed from her captivity," he said sadly.

"That's pretty bad and the situation looks frighteningly hellish from my point of view," commented Ramon.

"Yes, it's gonna be hell, it will be hard in the coming days, I'm sure," replied John. "Let's go now, I need a drinking buddy tonight," he said.

They got out of the Mystic Bay condo tower and began traveling towards Jade Tower.

Thirty minutes later, they finally arrived home.

John and Ramon went upstairs inside the flat and starts drinking wine in the swimming pool area.

"What do you think, Ramon? Shall I get rid of this swimming pool or not?" asked John.

Ramon shook his head vigorously. "This pool got a very nice view, it would be a total waste if you will destroy it just because of one bad incident. The pool is not at fault of what transpired here, it's the people who make the mistakes that were at fault, then why destroy it?"

"Wise answer, Ramon," John agreed.

"Just continue creating wonderful memories here with your future family, Boss. The beautiful memories will soon offset that one single bad event in your life," continued Ramon.

John nodded, agreeing once again to his driver's wisdom.

"How to win Catherine over?" he asked the question aloud.

Ramon fixed his gaze on the far distance...then he began talking animatedly...

"You need good amount of patience, understanding and more importantly keep the love for her burning alive in your heart, if you start doubting your feelings and emotions, that is the moment you finally let go and that will be the end of your wonderful love story with Catherine, 'coz as of now she no longer cares for you, all she has in her heart right now is hatred, and when love starts fading away, relationship will finally come to a halt and both parties start living their separate ways," he said.

Ramon sighed and paused for a moment catching his breath and began talking again...

"Relationships started and ended every day all over the world. As the passage of time, people changed, some married couple that already had children will wake up one day only to realized that the love they had for their spouse was already gone, divorced and separation happened all the time all over the world, only true love can endure the test of times. Life and love in this world we live in is like a constant pressure cooker, we are constantly bombarded with temptation, problems, and conflicts arising from both parties and BAM! Another relationship ended, that's how things go and flow in this world we live in. It's actually hard to build a long-lasting relationship with someone that was built purely by love and trust, temptation always comes in between, but of course, it's super easy to destroy a relationship during moments of weakness with the wrong people and with the wrong timing," he said. Ramon was very clear of what he meant.

John nodded his head agreeing to everything Ramon said.

"One more thing, Boss, my advice for you is to refrain from seeing Catherine for a few days, seeing you will only make her remember that woman. Every time she sees you she will be reminded of your painful cheating, it will squeeze her heart painfully inside and the baby growing inside her womb will suffer the most. In a relationship, one fatal mistake can put an end to a loving relationship and the only way to make everything alright again is through forgiveness and by starting all over again, then allow time to work its magic by healing the old wound as days passes by," explain Ramon.

All John can do was to nod his head at his driver bodyguard who is a few years older than him, he finds Ramon's words of wisdom very enlightening and had a therapeutic effect to his tormented heart.

They drank some more wine throughout the evening. They stop drinking at 2:00 AM and retires for the night.

...

~Mystic Bay Twin Tower~

Inside Catherine's room...

A few hours earlier, when John left Catherine alone inside the room, she's been crying her hearts out the whole time. She went through that night with so much difficulty, her heart was filled with agony upon seeing again the man she truly loves with all her heart, yet he was also the same person that was causing her so much unbearable pain in her life.

How can her heart love and hate the same person at the same time?

At 3:00 AM, she finally falls asleep, with John's face hovering and occupying all the space in her mind and heart.