Book 1: Destined Forever. Prologue

Annabelle Carter's POV

I'd been staying with Mrs. Henderson in her beautiful mansion two blocks away from my childhood home in Princeton, New Jersey, for a little over a month.

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

She was a good-natured sixty-five-year-old lady with a loving and pleasing personality. Her caring nature and kind, twinkling eyes made me open up more to her than anyone else at home. We met every morning. While I went for my usual jog around the park, she fed the ducks near the lotus pond at the far end of the park. Over the years, we bonded well, opening our souls out to one another. There wasn't a thing she didn't know about me.

Then a dreadful car accident happened that disrupted my life totally. My dad died, leaving me helpless and orphaned at seventeen. I stopped going to the park, but Mrs. Henderson took the initiative and sought me out.

She saved me from going to a foster home at that moment in my life, helping me when I needed her the most. She legally adopted me and made me her grandchild. I was forever indebted to her. She had given me the love that I had always craved. She was like the mom I never had.

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 avoided me like the Plague. Whenever he was at home, he never acknowledged my existence, far from loving me. My 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, leaving me all alone. It was only because of our housekeeper, Maria, that I could cope up. It was a dismal life since my grandfather died, leaving me at my so-called father's mercy. My father never spoke to me. He was 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, Henry Campbell, was a middle-aged, strict but kind gentleman who looked after my finances well.

My father's death did not affect me as it should have. When Mrs. Henderson adopted me, Maria left to stay with her sons and 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 loves me a lot. We look after each other and support 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 vast mansion kept me busy. I loved gardening and helped Gran's gardener, John Berkeley. He taught me about seasonal flowers and the correct way to nurture 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 stomach grumbled for food and I realized how hungry I really was.

However, my eyes widened at the sight of a huge black and white spotted Great Dane glaring at me from the edge of the garden. I gulped in fright when started chasing me. Terrified, I ran for my life before it could eat me alive, but I collided with a wall instead. Now what?

"Ow, just my bad luck," I muttered breathlessly. "Which dumb person lets a beast lose?" 

"I did," the wall spoke in a deep, seductive voice.

'Wait a minute, when did walls start speaking?' A muscular arm snaked around my waist to steady me, startling me out of my mind.

I peeked through my long lashes to find that the wall was actually a muscular chest belonging to an extremely attractive man resembling some Greek God. My eyes traveled up his sinfully ripped body encased in a light blue denim shirt. It exposed his tanned throat through the top few open buttons of his shirt. His pink, full, kissable lips, sharp jawline, and curly, soft brown hair all made him drool-worthy, actually. But the moment my eyes met his stunning electric blue eyes, I drowned in their intense depths. My heartbeats sped up at the sight of the man and I didn't know what was happening to me.

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

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

My hands automatically went up to my lips at his implication, only to realize he was messing with me. His chuckle embarrassed me and I stormed past him inside the house to see Martha.

Martha was serving breakfast while Gran was sitting at the head of the table, waiting for me. I went straight to my room, freshened up, and changed into a lavender floral sundress. Next, I brushed and tied my waist-length, thick wavy chocolate-brown hair into a ponytail, and left the room.

"Sorry Gran, you didn't have to wait for me. I would have joined you," I said as I kissed her cheek and sat down 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 cared about them? I looked away, ignoring their existence. As If I would drool at the sight of him!