Prologue : Meeting You

Annabelle Carter's POV

It had been nearly a month that I was living with Mrs. Henderson in her beautiful mansion two blocks away from my childhood home in the university town of Princeton, New Jersey.

I met Mrs. Ophelia Henderson in the nearby park when I was a gawky and shy fifteen-year-old girl.

She was a good-natured sixty-five-year-old lady with a loving, positive, jovial, and pleasing personality. She had a jovial personality, always smiling and caring for others. Every morning we would meet. I would go for my usual jog around the park, and she would feed the ducks near the lotus pond at the far end of the park. I had become very close to her over the years, baring my soul to her. There wasn't a thing about me that she didn't know.

After my father's death in a car accident, I was a helpless seventeen-year-old orphan who would have been sent to foster care, had Mrs. Henderson not legally adopted me and made me her grandchild. When I had stopped going to the park after my dad's death, she took the initiative and sought me out and helped me. I was forever indebted to her. She had given me the love that I had always craved.

My mom had died giving birth to me. I had never seen my mom, only in pictures. My father blamed me for her death and was never home. Whenever he was, though, he never acknowledged my existence, far from loving me. My paternal grandfather whom I called Pops loved me like his own and brought me up. I loved him too as he was my only family but he had a fatal heart attack when I was ten. Our old housekeeper Maria brought me up, taking care of me.

My grandfather died leaving me at my so-called father's mercy. My father never spoke to me. He never was home. Always away at a casino or a bar spending Pops' inheritance away. Maria, although old, was a kind woman who helped me in those years. Pops had left me enough, so financially I was secure. My lawyer, Mr. Henry Campbell was a middle-aged, strict but kind gentleman who looked after my finances well.

I was not affected by my father's death as I should have been. After my father's death, when Mrs. Henderson adopted me, Maria left to stay with her sons. I left my family home and moved in with Mrs. Henderson or gran as I lovingly called her.

I continued with my senior year at school. In fact, I love my life now. Gran loved me a lot and we looked after each other, supported each other. Now my life feels complete. I had always wanted to feel loved, to be cherished ever since my Pops died and now I really was.

The garden around gran's huge mansion kept me busy. I loved gardening and helped gran's gardener, John Berkeley. He taught me about seasonal flowers and the correct methodology for nurturing them and much more.

"Anna, breakfast is ready, gran's calling you", I heard Martha call me. Martha was gran's most trusted housekeeper. She had been working for gran for the last forty-five years. After her husband's death, she shifted into the Henderson household, living with gran and taking care of her. She had a daughter who was happily married with three children.

Leaving the geranium seeds and the pot that I was planting them in, I got up and hurried towards the front porch.

My eyes bulged out at the sight of a huge black and white spotted Great Dane angrily staring at me from the edge of the garden. I gulped in fright. It decided to chase me. Terrified, I ran for my life, before it could eat me alive, but I collided with a wall.

"Ow, just my bad luck," I muttered breathlessly. "Which dumb person lets a beast like this, loose?" I mumbled.

"I did,'' the wall spoke in a deep, seductive voice. Wait a minute, I thought, when did walls start speaking? I peeked through my long lashes to find that the wall was actually a muscular chest belonging to an extremely attractive, sexy, and gorgeous man resembling nothing less than a Greek God. My eyes traveled up to his bulging muscular arms clad in a light blue denim shirt. His tanned throat was exposed through the top few open buttons of his shirt. His pink full kissable lips, sharp nose, and jawline, and curly soft brown hair all making him drool-worthy actually. The moment I looked into his stunning electric blue eyes, I was drowned.

"You have some drool, wipe before it drips,'' he whispered into my ear causing an electric shock running through me at his nearness.

"Duke, down boy", he ordered his beast, who meekly followed his order and sat down beside him.

My hands automatically went up to my lips at his comment. His chuckle made me realize with embarrassment what he meant. I felt frustrated with myself and huffed and stormed past him inside the house to see Martha.

Martha was serving breakfast, gran was sitting at the head of the table waiting for me. I went straight to my room, cleaned myself, changed into a lavender floral sundress, white strappy sandals, brushed and tied my waist-length thick wavy brown hair into a ponytail, and left my room.

"Sorry gran, you didn't have to wait for me, I would have joined you mid-way,'' I said as I kissed her cheek and joined her at the breakfast table.

The door suddenly flew open and in walked the Greek God followed by his beast. I rolled my eyes. I didn't want to deal with him again. He smirked at me and so did his beast. What a perfect pair I thought sarcastically! Who cares! I looked away.