Ella Smith...I kept my eyes closed and tried to ignore the presence of the people standing around me. I felt the bed sink and realized that someone was sitting behind me."Ella?" I heard Cilvia's soft voice, which was too soft for her.I felt her hand on my shoulder, and I instantly tensed up. My reaction made Cilvia withdraw her hand."Doctor Morgan is here. You need to get up so he can deal with your cuts." Cilvia commented. I didn't care to move for anyone, not even for the old man standing behind me, waiting to treat me."Ella?" Dalinda called out.I opened my eye and let out a tired sigh.I slowly pushed myself up to a sitting position, feeling my arms shake as I did.I looked towards the nightstand, where I had left my notebook and pen a few days ago.I reached for it with shaky hands and flipped the cover open. "I don't want anyone in here while I'm getting treated." I wrote down and turned the notebook to the group.They each read what I wrote down and then shared a gl
Elijah Smith...Cane, Kevin, and I waited for the man to be sent in. The man I had contacted a while back to get me Ella's bank account had shown up in the dead of the night. My first answer to the gate guard was to tell him to send the man away. He could have sent me the numbers on email. I didn't understand why he had to come here, especially now that I was done with the web.I'd hung up the phone, but it soon rang again and the gate guard told me that the man really wanted to show me more than just the numbers I needed to pay Ella for the butterfly painting I got from her.I meant it when I said that I wanted to be her first client because I knew the second Ella realized the talent she had was magnificent she would start selling like a charm.I told the guard to let the man in so I would hear him out and then send him away as soon as possible so the three of us could get down to business.A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door, and one of the men I had left to look
Ella Smith...I hugged my knees to my chest as I sat on the chair facing the window. My eyes were planted on the garden, staring at the flowers as the morning sun slowly started beaming down its ray on them, magnifying their natural beauty.I really wanted to leave the mansion and sit outside in the sun, let the morning sun warm the coldness that was spreading all over my body.My head was pounding, along with the side of my face that was still swollen. When Doctor Morgan said that it would get worse before it got better, he wasn't joking because the bruise was as purple as it could ever be.I'd tried to fall asleep. I tried to shut everything out, but the past three weeks have been horribly hard.I have done everything in my power to avoid the people living in this mansion, including Elijah.While it hasn't been easy to do so, it wasn't also impossible. I made sure to wake up super early even before the workers woke up and would make my way to the kitchen to grab myself somethi
Elijah Smith...I looked at Ella as she stepped into my study. She looked like she was ready to fight and kick my ass.To be honest, seeing her like this made me happy. It meant that she wasn't going to ignore me anymore. She wasn't going to let herself drown in her trauma. She was going to face me head-on.I missed having Ella around. I missed seeing her paint or read or hold her in my arms as we fell asleep.The mansion felt quite without her. Ella didn't have to speak or make a sound to fill a room with her presence. She always had an aura that was so graceful that it always pulled me to her.But now that she was doing everything in her power to avoid me, the mansion felt empty. I wasn't the only one who felt it. Everyone else felt it, too.Ella closed the door behind her, and she walked towards my desk. I watched as she reached for the pen left on top of my papers, and she looked for a white paper.She was going to write to me instead of signing, which in itself felt like a
I took a deep breath, preparing myself to speak the words I knew would send Ella running away."Why did you marry me in the first place?" She had asked a few seconds ago, and I knew the true answer would heart her. I knew she would hate me even more than she already does.But I promised myself that I would never lie to her again, that I would never keep anything important from her. And I was planning to implement my promise to her."At first... I wanted to marry one of the Williamson's daughters so I would get rid of his last name. I married you so I would get control of them. I married you so I could use you as the key to Williamson's Kingdom." I stopped when Ella snapped her eyes to me.Oh, the hurt in those blue eyes, they broke me apart, made me want to kick myself in the balls."I guess the jokes are on you then." She sighed.I made no comment about what she signed and carried on with my explanation, hoping she would continue to hear me out."But then..." I started, but I stopped
Ella Smith...I lay under the covers, my shoulders shaking with each silent sob that escaped my lips.So much for being strong.Everything Elijah said to me broke my heart, including the part where he confessed his undying love to me."I fell hard..." He had said, and I really wanted to believe him, because I had fallen hard for him too.I wanted to walk away from this life. But Elijah was part of this life, and walking away from him was not an option.I hate and love him all at the same time. If I could, I would just pack up my stuff and leave. But what good would leaving be if I was leaving my beating heart here as well?I heard the door of the bedroom open, and a calm footstep walked through. A few seconds later, I felt the bed dip beside me."Ella?" I heard Elijah call out before I felt his hand on my shoulder. I was covered from head to toe, so Elijah had to pull the cover off of my head and down to my shoulder."Ella?" He called out again.What part of I need to be alone di
Elijah kept his arm around my shoulder for the rest of the ride, and I didn't have the heart to push him away.When the car finally slowed down and we arrived near the grave yard, Cane parked it, and the three of us got out of the car.Elijah's hand quickly found its way to my hand. He slid his fingers through mine and interlocked them, holding on like he never wanted to let go of me again.I looked at the many cars lined up near the graveyard and sighed.The last time I had lost a family member, I was not allowed to go to his funeral to say my final goodbye. Instead, I was forced to walk down the aisle to marry the man standing next to me.When I did get a chance to come here, I remember how I had cried at my father's grave, looking down and trying to remember the memories that made us father and daughter.But here I stood now without a single tear in my eyes.I honestly felt bad and a bit sad that my grandfather passed away. My brain tried to trick me by showing me images of the gra
Elijah stayed true to his words and stopped by the door the second he got to the room.He leaned his back against the frame of the door so he would be able to see me and still be a part of the conversation he needed to have with the men who had stepped into the room.I looked away from my husband and settled my eyes on my so-called twin sister.She looked at me with soft eyes, pretending like she was hurting at the moment.I warned myself not to get intimidated by her like I was before. I warned myself to keep my back straight and up chin up as I started walking towards her.I stood in front of her, looking up at her straight in her eyes. Damn her height advantage over me."How have you been, Ella?" She asked.I almost didn't want to give her a reply. But I wanted to keep her talking.Bring one open hand up to the middle of my chest with my thumb pointing towards, I tapped the tip to my chest a few times to sign my reply. "Fine." I signed short, making a small muscle under her right
I felt kisses all over my face.What a great way to wake up in the morning.I pealed my eyes open and glanced at my husband with a smile stretching my lips.Ah, the gorgeous smile on his face made me want to faint. I reached up and tapped my pointing finger on my lips, making Elijah chuckle.He leaned down to press his lips against mine, giving me a sweet good morning kiss."Good morning." He said after he pulled away."Good morning." I whispered in a very small voice.The smile that spread across his face was proof of how right my decision was to go through with the surgery Doctor Morgan recommended.Six months after our beautiful baby girls Violet and Rose had been born, I had decided that it was time for me to go through with the voice box treatment.As always, Elijah was super supportive, as were everyone else in the mansion.Doctor Morgan helped me with the preparations for the surgery while the doctor who would perform it flew in just for my treatment.The old doctor warned me th
I sat tense in the back seat of the car. Elijah had his arms around me as our driver drove us to the court house.Two and a half hours had passed since I helped my husband with his necktie, and the two of us left our mansion.We did eat out just like Elijah had promised we would. I was able to force myself to relax as I was sharing breakfast with my wonderful and attentive husband, but the second I realized that it was time for us to go to the court house, I started getting nervous again.Eating such a large portion of sweet pancakes and a full glass of milk might have been a big mistake because I felt like I was going to throw up.The feeling in my chest almost felt like I was on a scary ride at the amusement park that was shooting me up to the sky before I plummeted down to the ground and then back up to repeat the same process over and over again.It was a very sickening feeling, hence, the need to throw up."Just keep holding on to me, Love. I'm here for you." Elijah said, forcing
Ella Smith...I gently moved both of my hands over my belly, looking at the many flowers in the garden.I had a feeling of dread at the pit of my stomach at the thought of the events that are meant to take place on the very next day.It's been almost a month since Julia came to this mansion to speak to me, and ask to me drop the charges against Elizabeth. At that time, I had no idea what those charged against my twin sister were on the account of how distant and distraught I was for those days.Seeing my mother was extremely hard for me. And listening to her was ten times harder. When Elijah first told me that she was here and that he was having her sent away, something deep inside of me wanted to see her. Somehow, I just knew it would be the last time I would ever see my mother.I wanted to hear her out, not just to close a chapter in my life. There was a dumb hope in my chest that was telling me that my mother was here to apologize and maybe try to mend things. It was stupid
"Send that woman away." I ordered the new gate guard before I hung up the phone.I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. Ella never told me to do anything to her mother, so I wasn't sure how to approach this yet. Should I have Julia meet the same fate as her favorite daughter, or should I have her forced away from the city?With how deep in the ground the Williamson's name was, it wouldn't be that hard to deal with the very last Williamson left in this town.I heard a knock on my door, and I instantly knew it was Ella, on the accounts of how my door was open and Ella would knock to get my attention, while the rest would just call out to get my attention.I looked up and watched as she slowly walked in. I noticed her bump seemed slightly bigger than last week. She's growing every single day.I offered her my hand, which she took the second she was near me. "Who was that?" She signed once she settled on my lap. "You heard me?" I asked, to which she nodded her head. "Both
I stopped the car in front of the widely opened front door. The sky was starting to light up as it was close, or maybe even past five in the morning. I didn't even bother to cut the engine before I pushed the door open and stumbled out of the driver's seat.I ran to the front door and rushed into the hall.I had to stop at how metallic the air smelled. Bodies laid in front of me, some being moved by our men.Kevin was the first one who caught my eyes."What the heck happened here?" I yelled at him. "Elijah..." He called out, ready to explain why there were bodies in and out of the house. But I stopped him, understanding that I couldn't care less about the dead people."Where is my wife?" I quickly asked. In the split second Kevin remained silent, unimaginable thoughts started invading my mind. In that small second, it felt like my life had flashed before my eyes.Kevin sighed."She's in the hall to the dining room. She refused to leave. She's been there for a few hours now." Kevin
Elijah Smith...It was a blood bath.Starting from the point we discovered one of our men dead in the surveillance room, up to the point we fought our way out of the mansion, we were bathing with blood.My shoulder was killing me. I caught the bullet when we first came across the men in the surveillance room, and it was making fighting for our life ten tines harder than it needed to be.The entire Viper mansion was ringing with gun shots. I was concerned for Cane and Connor, as they were the closest to Elliot.Once we killed our way out of the mansion and back into the nasty exit, they stopped following us, which was why we had to get to the car fast so we would be able to return to the mansion to help the twins and the Vipers.All Victor wanted us to do was get his daughter out of the mansion in case he wanted to burn it down, his words, not mine.And we did just that. After taking the girl to our car, we left her there with the getaway driver and the man who was following us before
Ella Smith...Pain exploded on my shoulder. I instinctively dropped to the ground and reached out for my left shoulder.The bullet had grazed me, but it still forced tears to my eyes.I heard Detective Kevin cuss before he shot towards the direction the bullet came from.His gun only had two rounds left, and the second it stopped firing, he stood up to cover me with his body.More shots were fired, and I was afraid the detective might have taken them for me. But one looked over my shoulder, and I saw that the shots fired were coming from the stairs, and Dalinda was the one who had the gun in her hands this time."Get out of there." She called out as Milton rushed past her to help Detective Kevin and I to move to the stairs."Miles." The detective called out before he started running back to the sitting room.The split second we were all distracted, Elizabeth shot at us again.All of us dropped to the floor. Blood spilled down the stairs, and my eyes widened as I looked up to se
Elijah Smith...Cane decided to stay in the surveillance room to keep an eye on everyone, especially Connor and Elliot.I left two men with him and left the surveillance room with Dante and one other man, and we decided to go to the rotting rooms to find Victor's daughter. I shot him a text to let him know that our group was the closest to his daughter and that we were about to help her out, that was so he would be able to focuse on the real task at hand."You really believe this marriage will work?" I whispered to Dante as we started making our way through the halls."It better work. You two are expecting a kid now." Dante replied, forcing me to roll my eyes. "You know damn well whose marriage I'm talking about." I hissed at him."Trust me, Elijah. It will work." Dante finally replied before we came to a stop at a cornor.I looked down at my phone when a low buzz came from it and saw that there was a text from Cane."Two armed men coming your way." Was what Cane sent me.I showe
I didn't want to take my time to think about what I was going to do. I didn't want my hesitation to cost the kid his life.I quickly dropped my eyes to my phone."Miles is goig to the stirs." I wrote down with utmost speed, making spelling errors I couldn't care to check. It didn't matter if my spelling was wrong in the text. All that mattered was that the detective understood what I was trying to say.I looked at the box showing that sitting room. A small light came from the corner, and I could tell that it was the light from the detectives phone. I could see panic on his face when the light gave away his expression.He quickly sent me a text."Stop him." I didn't hesitate for another second.I looked up at the monitor to see where little Miles was. The second I saw that he was getting closer to the hall turning to the stairs, I rushed to the door. Shoving my phone back into my pants, I fumbled with the locks and pulled the door open before I ran to the door of the room.I rushed