Return To Love's Embrace

Three days after the divorce, Sharon Howe met her ex-husband, Tristan Fuller, again-in bed.

It never occurred to Sharon that such a ridiculous thing would happen to her. It felt like a scene straight out of a movie!

In the dim lounge, a man that reeked of alcohol was pinning her down on top of a soft bed with her hands above her head.

Their faces were mere inches away from each other, the man's scorching hot breath spraying on her neck, causing her to shudder.

Though the lounge was dimly lit, Sharon could vaguely make out Tristan's perfect features.

But he obviously wasn't in the right state of mind; his breath was hot and heavy, his voice extremely hoarse.

"Tristan, what the hell is wrong with you?" Sharon asked, wide-eyed like a frightened rabbit.

"Help me-" Tristan said.

"Fuck off!" Sharon gritted her teeth and hissed at him.

She was about to kick Tristan in the groin, but the man reacted faster than her. He used his knees to pin down her legs while simultaneously climbing on top of her.

"Let go of me, you asshole! Agh-!"

Before she could get another curse out, her lips were sealed with a kiss. The man kissed her almost desperately, as though doing so was the only way he'd survive.

All of a sudden, Sharon felt a pair of hands grabbing at her dress.

The next moment, her clothes were ripped off, exposing her bare skin to the cool air.

But the coldness only lasted for a second. Because soon, his burning hot body was pressed against hers. And the temperature in the lounge rose rapidly.

The atmosphere became thick with passion and romance...

Two hours later, everything went quiet.

Grimacing, Sharon grabbed the clothes that were strewn on the floor and struggled to sit up. She was in so much pain that every movement made her wince. As she put her clothes back on, she turned her head and glanced at the man still in bed, shrouded in darkness.

Tristan's manic aura was gone now that his desires had been satiated.

He had fallen asleep right away, his breathing steady.

Sharon stared at the sleeping man, gnashing her teeth in hatred.

Four years ago, before they got married, Tristan had gotten into a nasty car accident and had fallen into a coma as a result. All the experts in the medical field said that the chance he'd wake up was extremely small.

Santino Fuller felt sorry for his grandson, and he was worried that no one would take care of Tristan, so he decided to choose a wife for him.

The Fuller family was the most powerful one in Slecbury.

Prior to the car accident, countless women would've fallen in line to marry Tristan.

But now that he was a vegetable, he was as good as dead.

No woman in their right mind would dare to even come close to Tristan, let alone marry him. Even if Tristan managed to survive, whoever married him would be doomed to a sexless, joyless marriage. If he died, then his wife would become an undesirable widow.

It just so happened that at the time Santino was looking for a wife for Tristan, Sharon's father, Ryland Holt, was encountering a financial crisis at the company. He needed an investor pronto, or else the company he had worked so hard to establish would go bankrupt.

So, when Santino came to visit, Ryland agreed to the marriage without hesitation.

Santino then used his connections to get the marriage registered.

Despite not having a say in her marriage, Sharon didn't mind so much.

After all, taking care of a vegetable wasn't that hard.

Sharon tended to Tristan for four whole years without complaints.

But five days ago, everything changed.

She was wiping down Tristan's body as usual and massaging his limbs when she suddenly noticed something-Tristan's fingers had twitched!

Sharon felt both shocked and pleasantly surprised, thinking that her less-than-happy life was finally coming to an end.

Alas, the universe had other plans...

After Tristan woke up, the lawyer of the Fuller Group served her divorce papers.

Sharon was shell-shocked. Even if he didn't love her, he should've at least appreciated the fact that she had worked tirelessly to take care of him for four whole years and had given up on her own happiness to be his wife.

But instead of thanking her, he divorced her the moment he woke up.

Did he have no conscience?

As if the divorce wasn't painful enough, he even forced her to sleep with him now!

Did he think she was a cheap woman?!

As Sharon glared at the sleeping Tristan, her eyes turned bloodshot with anger. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't calm down. In the end, she couldn't stop herself from leaning over and biting down hard on Tristan's cheek.

Tristan, who was fast asleep, groaned in pain.

Sharon didn't let go until the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.

Nearly choking on the blood, she coughed and pulled away from Tristan, only to see a huge, bleeding bite mark on his cheek.

Still, Tristan didn't wake up.

Sharon watched in a daze as the blood trickled down from his cheek and onto the pillow, staining the white sheets scarlet red. At this scene, Sharon shuddered and snapped back to her senses in an instant.

Damn it.

What on earth did she just do?

Tristan would kill her when he woke up!

Sharon didn't dare to wait until then. Wiping the blood from her mouth, she grabbed the rest of her things and limped out the door, enduring the sharp pain in her crotch area.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Hello? Anybody in there?"

Tristan awoke to the sound of someone knocking on the door.

The second he opened his eyes, he felt a stinging sensation on his cheek. Frowning, he reached out and gingerly touched the sore spot, only to feel something wet and sticky-it was blood!

His expression darkened, rage brewing in his eyes.

Recalling what had happened before he fell asleep, Tristan sat up expressionlessly.

He had just woken up from a coma, and his body hadn't fully recovered yet. However, he had been taken good care of in the past four years. Aside from losing some weight, he still had a good figure. He got up, turned on the lights, and looked around, but there was no sign of the woman he had had sex with.

Did she run away?

The man's eyes flashed viciously at the thought.

"Knock! Knock!" The incessant banging on the door pulled Tristan back to his senses.

He grabbed a robe and slipped it on before finally opening the door.

Tristan was considered conventionally handsome, with his thick brows, sharp eyes, prominent nose, and charming lips. It was as though God took great care chiseling his fine features, and as though good looks wasn't enough, he also gave Tristan a domineering and noble aura.

But his handsome face was marred by the bite mark on his cheek.

Outside the door, after persistently knocking on the door for quite a while, Shawn Lambert had half a mind to barge in when the door suddenly swung open. A disheveled-looking Tristan appeared before his eyes. Just as he was about to question why Tristan had been lingering in the lounge for so long, his gaze landed on the red, swollen, and bloodied bite mark on Tristan's face.

Stunned, Shawn blurted, "Tristan- Did you bite yourself in your sleep?"

Tristan was rendered speechless.

But he didn't have to say anything. The look he gave Shawn spoke volumes.

Being stared at as though he was an idiot, Shawn also realized that he had said something stupid.

No one could bite themselves on the face.

He smiled awkwardly and subconsciously took a peek into the lounge.

When he saw the messy bed, he couldn't help but frown. Through the crack of the door, an indescribable smell wafted into his nose.

Shawn's brows shot up in shock.

He was no stranger to sex, so he was familiar with this "scent".

Shawn was stunned. "Tristan, you just woke up a few days ago! You haven't fully recovered yet! I don't care how horny you are, you can't just-"

Tristan's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Shut the fuck up!" His voice was cold as ice, sending a shiver down Shawn's spine.

Shawn obediently clamped his mouth shut.

But he couldn't help but sneak another look at the messy bed. This scene, coupled with Tristan's disheveled look-obviously, something interesting had happened on it.

Shawn and Tristan had practically grown up together and had been friends since they were little.

Once word got out that Tristan had finally woken up from a four-year coma, his friends rushed to the hospital to see him. Shawn even organized a party later on to celebrate.

Everyone got drunk at the party.

The atmosphere was great, and Tristan didn't hold back on the drinks. When the party ended, Shawn saw everyone off one by one. Tristan, on the other hand, rested in the lounge. But he started to feel extreme discomfort soon, as though an uncontrollable desire had set his whole body on fire.

Blinded by desire, he had sex with the first woman he got his hands on.

Tristan glanced at the bloodstains on the bed and pursed his lips.

"Shawn," he said in a low voice.

"Yeah?"

"Find out who spiked my drink."

Shawn wasn't an idiot; he immediately understood what Tristan meant. His face changed slightly, but he wasted no time and said, "I'll look into it right now."

He turned to leave, but stopped in his tracks halfway.

"By the way, Tristan, the boss of Holt Group is waiting outside. He heard that you were having dinner here and came to talk to you about his daughter."

Shawn cracked a grin and joked, "If I didn't know any better, I would've thought he was your father-in-law!"

Shawn winked at Tristan and teased, "Seems like this man can't wait to get you to marry his daughter now that you're awake."

Tristan frowned. "Who?"

"Ryland Holt, from the Holt Group. Well, do you want to see him?"

Tristan mulled over the man's name, but it didn't ring any bells. "I don't know him."

"Okay, I'll just ask him to leave." Shawn didn't take the whole thing too seriously.

After all, since the moment Tristan woke up, many people had wanted to get close to him for various selfish reasons.

Shawn went on his way.

After closing the door, Tristan turned back to survey the mess in the lounge. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. The white sheets were stained with blood. Tristan frowned and was about to walk towards the bed when he stepped on something hard.

He lifted his foot and bent down to pick it up.

It was an emerald pendant.

The stone was a beautiful, lustrous green. The pendant was on a dainty gold chain. One could tell at a glance that it was a woman's jewelry piece.

No one else had entered the lounge as far as Tristan knew.

Therefore, the pendant likely belonged to the woman he had slept with.

Tristan idly touched his cheek.

The wound stung a little.

Was that woman a beast? Why on earth did she bite him?

Frowning, he tried to recall the events of the night, but his memory was a bit foggy. He seemed to vaguely recall someone calling his name...

Did that woman know him?

When Shawn came back, Tristan suddenly said, "Shawn."

"Yeah?"

Tristan stood up slowly, slipped the pendant into his pocket, and said in a low voice, "Find out who broke into the lounge earlier and bring her to me."

"On it!"

Slecbury was a sleepless city.

It was already eleven o'clock in the evening, but the restaurant was still bustling with people.

Sharon was an absolute mess. Afraid of being noticed, she decided against taking the elevator and took the stairs instead.

She snuck out of the hotel through the back door.

She tried to walk as inconspicuously as possible, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that all the passers-by were staring at her.

The feelings of embarrassment and humiliation overwhelmed her. She felt as though she was walking on the street buck naked. She hurriedly rushed to the nearest clothing store to buy a fresh set of clothing and then took a taxi home.

In the taxi.

Sharon sat quietly in the back seat.

"Miss, where are you headed?" the driver asked briskly.

"Luxe Garden."

The Fuller family had been generous in terms of alimony, giving her a handsome sum and a high-end apartment in the city center.

The taxi pulled away and headed downtown.

In their four years of marriage, she and Tristan had never had sex.

But three days after their divorce, such a ridiculous thing happened.

Tristan had made love to her for two whole hours...

It seemed that he had really recovered from his coma.

Just recalling the events of the night put Sharon in a terrible mood. She leaned back in the seat and cursed Tristan endlessly in her heart.

Fortunately, it wasn't rush hour, so the taxi zipped through the city with ease.

Soon, they pulled to a stop in front of Luxe Garden.

After paying for her fare, Sharon went up to her apartment on the top floor. It was already furnished when the Fuller family gave it to her, filled with luxurious furniture and tasteful accessories.

"Ding-"

The elevator had reached her floor.

She walked out, but she didn't enter the apartment immediately.

She rubbed her eyes, clapped her cheeks lightly, and tidied up her clothes. Finally, she put on a big smile and unlocked the biometrics lock with her fingerprint.

"Babies, I'm home!"

"Mommy!"

In a flash, two small figures rushed over and threw themselves into her arms.

Sharon's expression softened.

The kids pressed their chubby faces against her legs and their nice scents filled her nostrils.

Sharon couldn't help but breathe in and revel in their comforting scents. She squatted down and hugged the two kids tightly. In a doting tone, she scolded them, "You two disobedient boys! Why aren't you in bed yet?"

"We were waiting for you!" Sharon's best friend, Rena Sutton, yawned and walked over leisurely. "What could I do? They insisted on waiting for you and refused to go to sleep."

The two tots wore matching pajamas and looked alike.

And they both looked like mini boy versions of Sharon. Their eyes were as bright as stars, their jet black hair was as smooth as silk. Even at such a young age, they already looked so handsome.

Although they looked very much alike, it was easy to tell them apart.

Nolan Howe was the older brother. He always put his hands in his pockets, looking cool and aloof.

Louis Howe, the younger brother, always smiled brightly and spoke sweetly.

Hanging onto Sharon like a koala, Louis looked up at Rena and pouted aggrievedly. "I had to wait for Mommy. I can't sleep if she's not home!"

Upon hearing this, Nolan rolled his eyes and said, "Then who kept snoring like a piggy after lunch? He didn't wake up no matter how hard I shouted."

"Not me!"

"Yes, it's you! You're the piggy."

"Nolan!" Louis was so angry that he shouted. "Mommy, my brother is so mean!"

Sharon couldn't help but burst into giggles.

Reaching out to ruffle the older boy's soft hair, she said gently, "Nol, don't bully your brother."

The little boy knitted his eyebrows and complained, "Mom, I'm not three anymore. Can you stop calling me that? It's so childish. Call me Nolan."

Sharon chuckled and replied mischievously, "Okay, Nol."

Nolan was rendered speechless.

He puffed out his cheeks, feeling indignant.

Seeing his brother lose his cool like this, Louis couldn't help but giggle.

As Sharon looked at the two twin boys who looked just like her, the gloom in her heart was dispelled instantly.

They were her children.

To be more specific, they were her children with Tristan.

While it was true that they hadn't engaged in intimacy before tonight, not long after marrying Tristan, she started undergoing an IVF treatment.

Fortunately, the treatment was successful.

She got pregnant with triplets. The Fuller family attached great importance to their heirs, so in order to keep Sharon healthy and happy, her mother-in-law, Melany Fuller, even suspended her schooling for a year.

Melany had always thought that Sharon was too young to take care of the babies, and besides, the latter still had to return to school. So, Melany hoped that she could raise the babies after Sharon gave birth to them.

How could Sharon agree to such a ridiculous request?

But she also knew that she didn't have much of a say in this matter.

Melany was a stubborn, strong-willed woman, and once her mind was made up, no one could change it.

So, Sharon pretended to agree at first. Then she secretly bribed the doctor and midwife in the delivery room; the plan was to give birth to the babies and then hide them from the Fuller family.

But it was difficult to carry out such a plan.

On the day of her delivery, the doctor only found two babies who were suffocated in the late stage of pregnancy. It meant that Sharon could only secretly replace two children.

She had no choice but to leave the baby girl who looked like Tristan to the Fuller family.

After that, she secretly hid the other two children.

She rented an apartment near the Slecbury University and hired a nanny to take care of them. When she had recovered from giving birth, she went back to the university and visited the babies whenever she had spare time.

More than three years passed like this.

Three days ago, when the Fuller family granted her a new apartment in alimony, she moved in with the two children.

But whenever she thought about the daughter she had to give up to the Fuller family, Sharon's heart would sink.

"Mommy! Mommy!"

"What?"

Louis pointed at her neck and frowned. "What's wrong with your neck?"

Her neck?

When Sharon came to her senses, she immediately took out a powder case from her bag, opened it, and checked her neck in the mirror. Sure enough, there was a small, red mark.

Damn it!

She quickly pulled up her collar to cover up the mark while coming up with a hasty excuse. "Oh, nothing. It's just a mosquito bite."

"Mosquitoes come out in this season?" Louis asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"Yes!" Sharon said affirmatively. "Of course."

The two brothers exchanged a look and tacitly stopped asking questions.

Sharon smiled awkwardly, though in truth, she felt a headache coming on.

These two children might've inherited her looks, but they also inherited Tristan's IQ. Although they were just a little over three years old now, it was difficult to fool them.

It was unlikely that they believed her little white lie.

Judging from the dubious looks on their faces, the two boys didn't believe her.

Being seen through by children, Sharon felt embarrassed. She cleared her throat and slapped the butts of the two boys playfully. "Go to bed, you two. You won't grow tall if you sleep late all the time."

Nolan immediately jumped away and covered his butt, his cheeks turning bright red. "Mom, you can't do that! I'm a big boy now!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mommy couldn't help it," Sharon replied, feigning an apologetic look.

Pouting aggrievedly, the little guy kept two palms on his butt to shield himself as he ran away.

Sharon couldn't help but laugh as she watched him go.

When the two boys had gone to bed, Sharon returned to the living room.

Rena, who was sitting on the sofa, crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Sharon knowingly.

Feeling guilty, Sharon averted her gaze.

Rena instantly understood what had happened. "The 'mosquito' that bit you was actually Tristan, am I right?"

Sharon looked up, stunned.

"Why are you so surprised?" Rena snorted. "If it were any other man, you wouldn't have come home so quickly."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If it wasn't Tristan, you would've beaten him to death and then called the police. You wouldn't be able to come back until at least midnight. You'd only tolerate it if it was Tristan. So, tell me-what happened?"

Sharon was rendered speechless.

Rena was her good friend since childhood. They had been in the same class from primary school to college. Besides Sharon's sister, Rena was the only one who knew about Nolan's and Louis' existences.

She had even lived with and helped take care of the two kids over the past few years.

Because they had grown up together, Rena knew Sharon like the back of her hand.

Unable to lie to Rena's face, Sharon had to bite the bullet and tell the truth. She glossed over the details and recounted the story briefly. As soon as she finished, Rena excitedly gasped, "Oh, my God."

Confused, Sharon looked at her, only to see that Rena's eyes were as shiny as stars in the night sky.

"Tristan literally just woke up, yet he was able to last two whole hours in bed. How much longer will he last once he fully recovers? Sharon, your husband must be great in bed!"

Sharon was at first rendered speechless. Then her expression darkened. That wasn't the point!

Pouting, Sharon emphasized, "Have you forgotten that he's my ex-husband? Ex-husband! We're divorced!"

"Oh, right."

After a pause, Rena sighed and said, "Well, what's happened, happened. Don't be depressed." She put her arm around her friend's shoulder and comforted her gently, saying, "You said yourself that the lounge was so dimly lit, and Tristan was drunk. I doubt he'd remember your face. Anyway, you two were married for four whole years. One night with him isn't that bad. Besides, Tristan is a handsome man with a great bod. You didn't lose anything, right?"

Since things had come to this, Sharon had no other choice but to accept it. Rena was right; what happened, happened.

She rubbed her face and sighed, "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Meanwhile, in the kids' room, the two boys both stood in front of the computer screen, wearing earphones. They had bugged the living room and were listening to the conversation between Sharon and Rena.

Nolan took off his earphones first, his expression cold.

Louis rolled up his sleeves in anger and hissed in a low voice, "It's our bad Dad who hurt Mom!"

Tristan was their father, and this was no secret to the two boys.

Although Sharon had never mentioned Tristan to them, they were smart enough to figure it out.

Other mothers would stay with their children, but their mother wasn't even able to live with them until recently. When they asked Rena about their parents, she'd come up with a silly story to fool them. So, one dark night, the two kids secretly followed Sharon to the villa of Fuller family and figured out the truth.

It turned out that they had a father. But their father was asleep.

The two kids easily found pictures of Tristan online and memorized his face.

They had always thought that their family would be reunited when Tristan woke up, but unexpectedly, the opposite happened. Their father abandoned their mother as soon as he woke up.

"I can't believe this!" Louis crossed his pudgy arms over his chest and snorted angrily. "He's a terrible person! He abandoned Mommy and now, he hurt her! I have to teach him a lesson!"

Nolan, on the other hand, was very calm.

He looked at the indignant Louis and said loftily, "You're so small. You are no match for him."

Louis looked down at his little, chubby fists and sighed. "Then what should we do? When will I grow up?"

Nolan leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, squinting like a baby fox. "I might have a way to teach him a lesson."

"Tell me!"

Nolan grinned. "Just wait and see."

Meanwhile, in the Fuller family's villa.

Shawn drove Tristan home. As soon as Tristan arrived at the door to the living room, a little girl in a pink nightdress holding an Ultraman doll looked up and glared at him aggressively.

Tristan stopped in his tracks.

Shawn was caught off guard and almost bumped into Tristan's back. "Hey, Tristan! What gives?"

Tristan didn't say anything.

Shawn looked at him in confusion. Following his gaze, he saw a cute girl in a fluffy pink nightdress. "Oh, my Gosh! What a cute baby! Tristan, since when did this adorable little girl move into your house? And why does she look so familiar? I feel like I've seen her before..."

"Of course she looks familiar."

"What?" Shawn looked at him in confusion.

Tristan rubbed his temples. "She's my daughter!"

Shawn's smile froze.

His eyes went as wide as saucers.

His jaw went slack.

He scrutinized the little girl standing at the entrance of the living room. Observing her familiar features, he couldn't help but see her as a miniature version of Tristan. However, the little girl's face still held baby fat, and the contours of her facial features were softer compared to Tristan's. This made it hard for Shawn to recognize her at first glance.

But...

The little girl had to be around three or four years old.

Tristan had been in a coma for four years. How could he have had a kid?!

Shawn couldn't seem to wrap his head around what he just heard. He stammered in a daze, "T-Tristan, the little girl is staring at you."

"Yes, I can see that."

"Ahhh, she's coming over!"

Tristan's eyes widened slightly at the sight.

The little girl was indeed running towards Tristan.

But her strides weren't very big, and her run was more like a baby waddle. The maid behind her exclaimed, "Oh, my! Please slow down, or else you might fall!"

However, the little girl turned a deaf ear to the maid's cautions.

She stopped in front of Tristan, arms akimbo. Glaring up at him, she demanded, "Why are you home so late?"

Tristan had found out that he had a baby when he had woken up a few days ago.

He still felt like everything was a dream.

One moment, he was a bachelor, and the next, he was a married man with a daughter. He had no idea how to raise a child, let alone how to get along with one. He looked down at Lise Fuller expressionlessly, lips tightly pursed.

Anyone else would've pissed themselves if they were stared at coldly by Tristan.

But Lise was different.

She was the apple of Melany's eye, and Melany was the lady of the Fuller household. Little Lise had nothing to be afraid of.

Lise crossed her chubby arms over her chest and complained aggressively. "Do you know what time it is?

"It's midnight."

"So, tell me, mister. Why did you come back so late?"

If anyone else dared to talk to him like that in his house, Tristan would've thrown them out and fed them to the dogs.

But he couldn't seem to lose his temper when he looked into this cute little girl's doe-like eyes.

The little girl was determined to give her father a difficult time, but when she was about to say something more, she caught sight of the blood on Tristan's cheek.

The little girl was stunned, and her eyes turned watery in an instant. She rushed over and wrapped her arms around Tristan's leg anxiously. "Dad, your face is wounded... What if it becomes a big, ugly scar? I don't want you to be ugly!"

Hearing what Lise called him, Tristan was shocked.

This was the first time he had heard Lise call him "Dad" since he woke up.

He had maintained his composure even during a kidnapping in the past, even when his ribs were broken, and even in the middle of discussing billion-dollar business deals. However, in this moment, when he heard the little girl call him "Dad," a lump formed in his throat. For the first time in his life, the usually decisive Tristan felt at a loss.

He squatted down to be at eye level with the little girl and said nervously, "D-don't cry."

But as soon as he tried to comfort the little girl, she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and burst into tears, as though her father had died.

"I'm fine, really."

"But there's so much blood..."

"It doesn't hurt, I promise," Tristan said calmly. "I was bitten by a beast. I'll get my rabies vaccine tomorrow."

Overhearing this, Shawn was speechless.

A beast?