Claiming Mr.CEO

CHAPTER ONE

In the evening, Hart Villa,

Crescent's silver Mercedes A-Class Hatchback car came to a screeching halt in front of his home, a magnificent white villa. It was a duplex with a modest yet stylish structure and a medium-sized swimming pool just in front. White lights were strung around the pool in the backyard. The midnight blue sky and clear blue water, as well as the white glittering lights that surrounded them, perfectly matched the lush greenery.

This house is home to a three-person family. Crescent, a twenty-one-year-old who is his family's only child, and his parents make up the family. Richard Hart, his father, and Fay Hart, his mother. The Crescent comes from a well-to-do family. His family runs one of the city's largest real estate companies.

Crescent noticed a male servant running towards him as soon as he parked his car.

"Hello, young master," the servant said, smiling as he gave a courteous bow.

Crescent only gave a polite nod in response. He didn't even have the energy to speak since he was so exhausted. He hung his coat over his hand after taking it off.

"I'll take that." The male servant offered, extending his hand.

"There's no need; it's fine." Crescent politely declined the offer as he headed to the front door, shortly followed by the servant.

The interior of the Hart Villa was designed with light brown hardwood furniture and white marble stone for the walls. The windows had a pale blue tint to them.

Crescent's gaze wandered after crossing the doorstep, searching for his mother. After his fight with Ace, he figured the first place he could go was home, because seeing his mother always makes him feel better, no matter how down he's feeling.

"You may leave." Crescent addressed the servant who had trailed him. The servant walked away with a polite nod.

It was already evening, and after the fight with Ace, the first thing Crescent did was drive straight to the Hart Villa, where he lived. His mother greeted him with a gentle smile the moment he went in.

Crescent's mother, Mr. Hart is a sweet woman who loves her family. A perfect lady who manages her household and looks after everyone in it. Her family is everything to her.

Mrs. Hart was in the middle of placing some fresh sunflowers in the living room vase. When she saw her beloved son enter, a smile spread across her face. She took small steps towards her son with her ever-kind and loving smile.

"You've arrived, darling; I've prepared your favorite dish for dinner." She said, but she noticed Crescent's worn expression. Crescent is someone who is usually bright, so she was concerned when she saw her son in a foul mood.

Crescent, on the other hand, didn't have the same level of enthusiasm as his mother at the time, since he was feeling low. He had no idea the fight with Ace would escalate to this point.

In the three years since they began dating, Crescent has never clashed with Ace. Crescent has never fought before, thus she has no idea how to deal with such situations. He has no idea how to fix things in a relationship when things don't go as planned, and in his case, he has no idea what he did wrong.

Crescent wasn't in the mood to be delighted about his mother's cooking, which he loved so much, when Mrs. Hart mentioned dinner.

"Mom, I wanna skip dinner today, I'm not feeling well." Crescent muttered, and his mother worriedly asked, "Do you have a stomachache? Would you like me to send you some medication?"

Crescent sighed, shaking his head.

"I just have a headache." Crescent replied, sighing. "I'll be okay after a nap."

After he spoke, his mother nodded as a reply.

"Mom?" Crescent, like a small child, called out to his mother.

"Yes, baby?" Mrs. Hart gave a warm smile.

"Can I have a hug?" Crescent said as he spread his arms out in front of his mother.

"Of course you can, sweetheart," Mrs. Hart smiled as she embraced Crescent. "Come here, little one," Mrs. Hart smiled as she embraced Crescent. She said.

Crescent clutched his mother firmly, attempting to hold back his tears. His heart feels heavy as if someone put a large weight on him.

"It's all right, darling. Mrs. Hart said as she lovingly stroked Crescent's back, realizing that he had a bad day today. "Bad days don't last long," Gently, she said.

They shared a few seconds of hugging before pulling apart.

"My strong boy!" Mrs. Hart smiled as she kissed Crescent on the forehead.

"You always make me feel better, mom." Crescent let out a faint laugh. Because he feels considerably lighter after hugging his mom.

"Because," Mrs. Hart took a pause before completing her sentence, "Moms are magicians," Mrs. Hart spoke in a hushed tone, practically as if she were sharing a secret.

"I love you, mom", Crescent took both of his mother's hands in his and kissed them.

"I love you even more." Mrs. Hart emphasized. "And always remember, no matter what happens, I'll always be there for you,"

"Mmhm." Crescent smiled slightly before recalling his fight with Ace. His brow furrowed once again.

Crescent said, "Mom, I'll be heading to my room to rest then."

"Okay." Mrs. Hart said as she let Crescent go, but her worried look was visible in her eyes.

Mrs. Hart wanted to be able to speak more to her son because Crescent's expression clearly indicated that something awful had happened. Mrs. Hart is worried about her son, Crescent, but she also understands that there are moments when she should step back and give him some space, since there are times when people must make decisions on their own.

Mrs. Hart chose to let her son be despite her strong desire to be a listener to his problems. She stood there silently watching Crescent head towards his room, hoping that his bad day would end here and that the next day, her son would smile brightly again.

Crescent went straight to his room, locked the door, and exhaled exhaustedly as he sat back down in his bed for a bit. Today was, indeed, a stressful day.

In Crescent's room,

Crescent was reflecting on the events of the last few hours. He simply cannot live without Ace. He considered it carefully, but breaking up with Ace appeared to be a difficult task. It's close to impossible.

For a brief moment, Crescent closed his eyes.

Teenagers Ace and Crescent were in Ace's personal library. They were the only ones in the vast room, which was crammed with massive wooden shelves stacked with various books. They appeared to be having their own private conversation.

"Dance?" Crescent questioned. He was sitting on the ground, resting against a bookshelf. He was reading Romeo and Juliet, a love story by William Shakespeare.

"Didn't you say you wanted to?" Ace questioned him.

With a French adventure book in his hand, Ace sat right just in front of Crescent.

"Yes," Crescent agreed, "but two boys waltzing together will make the steps confusing."

Ace sighed, closing his book, tossing it aside and stood up, reaching out to Crescent with his hand.

Crescent was caught off guard at first, but he soon put his book down and stood up, placed his hand in Ace's.

As they danced, Ace smirked as he wrapped his arm around Crescent's waist and whirled him around.

"It's not so confusing anymore, is it?" Ace asked as he swung Crescent around and drew him in closer.

Crescent flushed as he neared Ace.

"We don't have music," Crescent murmured, as they continued to dance.

"Does it make a difference?" Ace asked. He spun Crescent

Crescent smiled, "By the way, what book were you reading?" Crescent asked Ace, who was waltzing and moving his feet.

"It's a novel written in French. It's called Le Comte de Monte-Cristo," Ace said, his voice tinged with a French accent.

"You know French?" Crescent questioned, surprised. He tried to imitate Ace's movements.

Ace answered, "Just a little."

Crescent enthusiastically urged, "Try saying a little something."

Ace paused as he moved in close to Crescent's ear and spoke the French words, "Je t'aime. (I Love You)".

As Crescent felt Ace's hot breath trickle into his ear, a tingle ran down his spine.

"What does that mean? "Crescent questioned.

Ace just gave a mischievous smile as he answered, "Not telling."

After recalling a childhood memory of Ace and his first dance, Crescent finally opened his eyes. Crescent's eyes welled up as he remembered how much they used to love each other, and it didn't take long for what they had between themselves to be shattered. Crescent sighed audibly. He's upset with Ace for not believing in him, but is it really worth it to end their relationship? Crescent finally got up from his bed.

"No." He mumbled to himself. He just can't end the relationship after a simple fight. They need to talk and Crescent needs to know exactly what he did. He has to clarify himself. He wanted to try one last time.

As he prepared to talk with Ace one more time, he muttered to himself. They desperately needed to have a decent conversation, but they both were unable to do so owing to a lack of patience.

Crescent put on his coat, got ready, and drove straight to Ace's apartment.

As he got out of his car and headed to the exclusive luxury building, he sighed and took deep breaths. Even though he was still in the elevator, he was fidgeting. When he stood in front of Ace's door again, he felt his body become cold.

He debated whether he should go inside and speak with Ace or simply return. He paused for a moment, questioning if he could swallow his ego and save his relationship. So, with a heavy sigh of exhaustion, he rang the doorbell, but no one answered. Nonetheless, he attempted one last time to prove his innocence.

"Please, Ace, open the door. I need to speak with you." He called, but no one responded. Ace didn't even bother to open the door.

"All I want to do is communicate, Ace!" Crescent yelled again, but the door remained shut.

"Ace, I swear I'll walk out of your life if you don't open the door this time." Crescent took a hasty decision, and that was the end of it. After all, the door did not open in the end.

"Is this your way of responding?" He added as he began walking away, thinking it was dumb of him to even try to talk to Ace in the hopes of salvaging their relationship, but Ace's ego seemed to take priority over their love. Crescent was disappointed, since he had high expectations for the one he loved, but it had all simply disappeared. Ace had plainly expressed his rejection by refusing to answer the door, so he had decided to give up.

Crescent, on the other hand, had no idea that the house was vacant.

****************************

An hour ago at Ace's apartment,

Ace was sitting on the sofa, leaning back in his seat and reminiscing over the events of the previous few hours. He poured himself a glass and drank it quickly. He picked up the glass the next time but placed it back down and began drinking straight out of the bottle. Because of the booze, his mouth tasted bitter, and his head had become heavy. He didn't know how to divert his attention away from himself. In fact, he can't believe Crescent has ended their relationship.

When Ace realized his bottle was empty, he threw it away, causing it to shatter. He took out his phone and dialed his best friend's number, Regan's.

"Hello?" Regan picked up

"He left me." Ace replied in a drunken tone to what Regan said from the other side, but without greeting.

Hearing his best friend, Regan asked again.

"What are you saying? Are you okay?"

Ace laughed at the question and replied,

"No, I'm not."

Regan sighed.

"Stay where you are, I'm coming."

Regan dashed over to his best friend to find out what was going on because the last thing he remembered was his best friend, Ace, informing him that he was about to propose to Crescent. Regan thought this was a ridiculous idea at first, because Ace had previously been a player who had never been serious in any of his relationships, but after meeting Crescent, Regan felt that Ace might want to commit this time. Regan was protective of his best friend, but his best friend was hurt just when he believed he could lower his guard in front of Crescent.

Regan drove to Ace's location. He arrived to see his best friend in a terrible situation. Things were smashed and shattered all over the place, and Ace's hands were badly injured. As he approached Ace, who was sitting silently, Regan sighed. He hadn't seen Ace like that in a long time. Ace has bipolar disorder, which he developed as a teenager as a result of a traumatic event in the past. Regan was always on watch. When Ace began dating Crescent, though, Regan saw optimism that Ace might improve. However, given Ace's current situation, Regan couldn't help but blame Crescent for hurting Ace.

"That's enough!" Regan said, stopping his friend from drinking more.

"Let's go to our usual bar." Ace laughed a little

"You are already drunk enough." Regan sighed.

"Just for today. Please?" Ace asked, and Regan sighed in defeat and answered

"Only for today."

The next morning,

Ace rushes to Crescent's house the next morning after finally waking up from his hangover the night before. He wished to converse with Crescent in a reasonable manner. Ace was accompanied by Regan. "Crescent hurriedly left for overseas. I don't know what went wrong, but last night he was being stubborn about leaving the country and continuing his higher education," Crescent's mother answered, surprising them.

"He WHAT?!" Ace asked in a high tone and Regan cleared his throat as a hint that Ace should not raise his voice.

"Did you guys talk about anything?" Regan asked Mrs. Hart calmly.

"We tried to explain but he didn't listen. He even made the flight arrangements on his own. Do you guys know anything?" Mrs. Hart responded with a question to which neither of them had a response.

Ace was silent as he walked to the car after leaving Crescent's house, and Regan followed right after.

"I'll have someone find Crescent's whereabouts," Regan muttered as he noticed Ace in a daze. He opened the door of the car to sit but he took a pause when he heard Ace.

"No need, if he wants to keep away from me, there's no need for me to go after him." Ace answered, his face flushed with rage. Crescent had been accused of betraying Ace, and Ace had hoped that he would at least try to defend himself, but by leaving without notice, Crescent proved that he had really betrayed Ace.

One misunderstanding

Two lives

Once entwined in love, now entwined in hatred.