When You're Gone (Colette) novel Chapter 1

Colette sat on the couch alone in the empty villa. She waited and waited until the villa doors finally flung open.

James Zeller marched in. He visibly paused when he noticed her presence. His expression immediately fell.

"Sophie is running a fever today. Why did you keep spamming me with calls?"

Colette rose from the couch, still keeping her head low without a word. James stood there in silence. Moments later, Colette finally whispered, "I needed to reach you."

"What was the matter? You look fine and dandy. What could have happened to you?"

James refused to accept her explanation. Instead, his demeanor grew colder. "Didn't I tell you Sophie was unwell? I had to spend all day by her side. Why did you have to do this to me on purpose? Colette Anderson, I warned you not to have romantic feelings for me. I'm like an uncle to you; we can never be together!

"You need to move out if you keep doing this to me!"

After dressing her down, James stormed into his bedroom and slammed the door shut.

Colette stood in the same spot, watching as he made his way upstairs. She whispered, "Uncle James, I'm sorry. But there won't be a next time because I'm dead."

James missed her whisper, but she did not mind. She settled down on the couch and couldn't help thinking of the past.

James was not her uncle; he was a friend of her dad. She loved hanging around James from a young age, and she treated him like an older brother. Every time, he had to patiently correct her, "Hey, I'm more like an uncle than a brother to you!"

When Colette was eight years old, she lost her parents in a car accident. It was at that time she finally regarded James as her uncle. James took her in to live with him. He raised her with utmost care like growing a delicate rose, and he poured all his love into her.

At first, when Colette felt anxious and lost sleep over her new living arrangements, James would patiently put her to sleep while working late into the night. As she was weak and frail, she had to take a lot of medicine.

The Zellers were unhappy at James' decision to raise the sickly Colette, and they requested that he send her away.

Refusing to send Colette away, James decided to leave his family and start a business of his own. His tense relationship with his family finally relaxed after the SQ Group that he founded rivaled the scale of Zeller Group's operations.