So they ate their meals, talked, and laughed together. After finishing the main dishes, Rosalind offered the desserts to Jane, but the little girl shook her head.
“I’m too full, Mom.” She rubbed her rounder belly because she ate so much. “I can’t eat more.” Then she lay on the grass and closed her eyes. She soon snored.
Rosalind and Gabriel exchanged glances again and smiled to see how carefree their little girl was. She was glad they would adopt Jane. To see a seven-year-old girl choose them as her parents was overwhelming, as they were new people to her. But then, it might be fate as they could love Jane instantly, although she wasn’t any blood related to Gabriel or Rosalind.
Touching Jane’s cheek tenderly, Rosalind glanced at Gabriel. “Maybe it’s better you carry her inside, love? She will rest
When they arrived at Lydia’s house, Rosalind got out of the car and opened the back door to help Jane. The little one tiptoed and hugged Rosalind.The mother-to-be bent her body and hugged the little one. She caressed Jane’s hair and looked deep into her eyes. “Sweety, I will count the days until you will be with us again. Let’s hope it’ll come soon.”Jane said nothing as tears already fell from her eyes. She could only nod and hug the older woman. Gabriel was already at the door. He pressed the bell button and waited for Lydia to come.After a while, Lydia opened the door. She smiled as she saw Gabriel, but it faded soon when she glanced at Rosalind and Jane. “Oh, you’re here.” Then she yelled at Jane, “Say thank you to Daddy Gabriel!”“Yes, Mommy.” The little one hugge
As soon as Gabriel and Rosalind left Lydia’s house, Gabriel drove to his apartment. Once he was in his apartment, he contacted his lawyer immediately.“John, it’s Gabriel. I need you to send an agreement letter to Lydia Robinson tomorrow morning that she’ll release all her rights as Jane’s mother. Please also state that Lydia won’t meet Jane nor me again in the future.”“Right, I’ll create a draft soon. Has she agreed to that?”“Yes, she agreed to that. For her agreement, I’ll give her a half million dollars.” Gabriel also added, “Oh, by the way, I turn the speaker on so Rosalind can hear our conversation too.”The lawyer whistled as he heard the amount of money. “A half million for the mother’s right, huh?”
Rosalind nodded. Holding Jane’s hand, she walked to the car. She took Jane’s luggage from the little girl’s hand. After giving the luggage to Luca, Rosalind entered the car with Jane. Luca placed the luggage in the baggage, then went back to the car and waited for Gabriel before they could return to the WLS. Gabriel approached Lydia and nodded. “Everything is done. I hope you won’t contact Jane or me again.” He took a deep breath. “Thank you for the past. You were a part of my life back then. I’m leaving now.”Lydia said nothing. She could only stare at Gabriel’s back until he entered the car. After a while, the car left the area. She clenched her fist and shook her head. A smile spread across her face. “It’s not over yet. You will be mine soon, love.”The first day Jane stayed with Gabriel and Rosalind was exciting. They were busy preparing the little girl’s room. Gabriel wanted to hire an interior designer, but Rosalind and Jane refused it because they wanted to decorate the room by
Rosalind rushed to check from aisle to aisle. When she finally saw Jane stare at a small table, she let out a relieved sigh. “Sweety, next time you must tell Mom first if you want to wander to the shop, okay?”“Yes, Mom.” Jane nodded. “I’m sorry because too excited to see many things in the shop. I forgot it was a huge shop.”Rosalind smiled and shook her head. “It’s okay. I was excited too when we first came. Now, let’s go home, sweetheart.”They walked hand in hand to the car. Luca saw them from his seat. He immediately got out of the car and opened the backdoor for Rosalind and Jane. But then, unexpectedly, a guy grabbed Rosalind from behind and covered a cloth to her face. Jane who saw what happened screamed, “Stay away from my mom! Help! Help! Somebody help!”Luca ran to reach Rosalind and the guy. “What are you doing? Release her!”“Stay away. Otherwise, you will meet your Creator today.” The guy picked a knife and drew the knife in Luca’s direction. “Easy, man. We can talk abo
Gabriel took a deep breath because a lump formed in his throat. It was shocking to hear about the accident, knowing how Rosalind might be hurt, but then it was Luca who got wounded instead of Rosalind.But what Jane said was even more devastating because he realized how deep Lydia already harmed the little girl with her evil words. He knew he had to bring Jane to a psychologist to have therapy.That’s when the sign ‘Operation’ didn’t shine anymore. A few nurses pushed a bed. A doctor approached Gabriel and Jane.“Mr. Luca Russo’s family?” the doctor asked.Gabriel shook his head. “No, but I’m his employer. How is he?”“Mr. Russo’s condition will need at least two to four weeks to recover. Luckily, the knife
Meanwhile, in the police station, the police interrogate the villain who tried to kidnap Rosalind and hurt Luca. Two detectives asked him many questions for hours. Since the bad guy didn’t want to answer anything, they stopped the interrogation for fifteen minutes.After the recess, a pair of different detectives were assigned. They weren’t patient with the criminal because they still had a lot of cases to handle.One of them said, “If you keep refusing to admit what you’ve done, we will press the highest charges on you. Kidnapping attempt max charges twenty years. Wounding someone with knife max charges for ten years, but from our record, it’s not the first time you are involved with the assault. So you may face fifteen to twenty years’ charges.” The detective tapped the table with his fingers. “Thirty-five
The WLS staff asked some people to move the furniture to Jane’s room the next day. Later, Gabriel left the apartment and went to the dock where he usually visited whenever he needed time alone. He stepped into his yacht that anchored to the dock, sat on a couch, then took his phone. After dialing a number, he waited.“Mr. Da Costa, what a surprise!” the police commissioner said. “How are you?”“Well, to tell the truth, I’m not okay, sir. I need your help,” he said. “Oh, what is it? If I can help you, surely I will. Just let me know first.”“So here is the thing. Your detective told me yesterday that the one responsible for trying to kidnap my fiancee, Rosalind Miller, and stabbing my driver, Luca Russo, is someone I knew in the past, Lydia Robinson.”“Go on. I’m listening,” the commissioner said.“Recently, I made an agreement with her. She would release all her rights as a mother and let my fiance and I adopt her daughter.” He stopped for a second to take a breath. “Her daughter isn’
Warning: the chapter contained physical violence. Reader discretion is advised.The head of prison informed the guards, and the guards informed all the gangs’ leaders about Lydia’s sentence and her case. Since child abuse was one of her charges, some leaders of the gangs only grinned and smirked to hear the head of prison gave them a privilege of bullying Lydia.Rapists and child abusers were the worst offenders any prisoners could do that would earn them the worst punishment from the prison gangs, because some of them also had children at home. So, spreading information about Lydia’s charges would guarantee a worse punishment for Lydia in the prison.When Lydia entered her cell, her inmates sneered at her. “Look who’s coming!” one of them said.“
Gabriel nodded at his mother. But then he bent his head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He wiped his eyes quickly, but Anna could see a drop of tear fall from her son’s eyes. Later, Gabriel straightened his back and smiled as if he didn’t shed his tears for the woman he loved. Doctor Gianni then walked out of the VVIP room. He smiled to see the Da Costa family. First, he shook hands with Leonardo, Anna, Bianca, then he smiled at the youngsters. “Gabriel, you can go inside to see Rosalind and the baby,” the doctor said. “Both are healthy. Congratulations to your new son!”Gabriel shook hands with Doctor Gianni. “Thank you so much, Doctor. I don’t know what I have to say.”The doctor patted Gabriel’s shoulder. “Go inside. Rosalind is waiting for you.”When Gabriel entered the room, the nurse was still wiping and cleaning their baby. So, he approached Rosalind first and kissed her sweaty forehead. “Thank you, baby. You have fought so hard. I can’t imagine what you had been th
Gabriel called his mother right away while waiting for Rosalind to deliver their baby. “Mom, please come to Good Health Hospital. Rosalind’s water has been broken!”Anna was excited but also worried because it was a week faster than the doctor’s prediction. When she delivered Gabriel and Bianca, those two times were even past the due dates. Bianca delivered Jeremy and Isabella passed the due dates too, but with Antonio, the delivery was faster by only two days.Gabriel’s mother frowned as she recalled her memory about hers and Bianca’s giving birth.“Okay, I’ll come to the hospital right away. I’ll call your grandpa and Bianca too.”“Yes, Mom. I’m nervous now. Rosalind asked me to wait outside while I wanted to accompany her.”
Rosalind kept smiling to see how happy their little family was. They had been through a lot, and now they were together in peaceful harmony and happiness. What a priceless gift! She wouldn’t trade her family for anything.“What are you thinking of, baby?” Gabriel said.“Nothing, just how happy I’m to see us together.”He squeezed her hand and nodded. “Let’s have breakfast first.”“Let’s eat!” She nodded and smiled.After eating, they went to the university with Luca as their driver. They walked to the entrance to see many students who would attend the graduation day had already gathered there.
Time went by so swiftly. It was the time for Rosalind’s graduation. To her surprise, she would have a graduation day along with all students who attended the study in the university. So, she was excited to attend the graduation event.Gabriel hired the makeup artist and hairdresser to help Rosalind on her big day. At dawn, they were already busy putting makeup on her. When the makeup artist had finished with her job, it was time for the hairdresser to arrange Rosalind’s hair in an elegant bun.“Mom, you are so pretty!” Jane said. She jumped around as she was excited to see her mother in makeup.“Oh, thank you, sweety.” Then Rosalind glanced at the makeup artist. “Can you help to put on some powder and lip gloss for my daughter?”
Gabriel kissed Rosalind’s forehead and turned her body so he could spoon her. “Baby, you won’t need to worry about,” he stopped for a while, “Richard anymore.” He decided not to tell Rosalind the truth.“What happened?”“Well, I sent him to a rehabilitation center. Then he would go to jail.”Rosalind was quiet. She blew her breath and shook her head. “Richard only brought us troubles …. I’m sorry ….”“It’s not your fault.”“But he’s my brother.” She let out a long sigh.Gabriel had no choice because without telling Rosalind the truth, his wife would keep
After some reassurances from the doctor, Gabriel brought Rosalind back to the car. He nodded and smiled at the couple whose he cut the queue. “Thank you so much for letting us go first. I truly appreciate it!”“Don’t mention it. Is your wife okay? The baby?” The pregnant woman asked.“Yes, My wife and our baby are okay. She only needs a complete rest.”The woman smiled and nodded. “Thank God! We are happy for you.”Gabriel nodded and smiled at the kind woman. “Thank you so much!”Since the doctor’s assistant then called the woman’s name, she waved her hand at Gabriel and entered the examination room with her husband.
Gabriel shook his head again. “No, you just try to get away from the consequences of what you have done, not because you are truly repentant. It’s the punishment that scares you, not the hideous effect of what you have done to Rosalind and Jane. You are a hopeless case! The jail will help you to realize what you have done.”“You will send me to jail?!” Gregory’s voice pitched higher.“Yes.”“Then, go ahead!” Gregory spat to the ground. “I’m not scared!”Gabriel smirked and looked into Gregory’s eyes. “We’ll see. Once you are inside, you’ll shout to ask them to let you die.” Then, he straightened his back. “I’m the man of my word. Since I alr
Warning: this chapter contained violence and heavy cursing. Reader discretion is advised.Again, Pietro followed what Gabriel commanded and poured the water into Richard’s head and body. The man was conscious after a while.“If you don’t want to die, there’s no better time than now to confess,” Gabriel said. “Your name!” he shouted.“I-I’m … Ric—”A punch struck Richard’s cheek. “Again, one lie will get a punch. Keep lying to me and don’t blame me if you will die with no teeth and blood left.”“I’m truly Richard—”Gabriel hit Richard again. “Go on! I
Warning: this chapter contained violence and heavy cursing. Reader discretion is advised.Pietro stared at Gabriel who stood and stared at Richard with a menacing look. As he had been working with Gabriel for twenty years, he knew his boss would do harsh things to Richard. Yet, what Richard did was too much. So he could understand Gabriel’s mood. So Pietro cleared his throat. “Boss, what will you do?”Gabriel only grinned to hear that and removed his tie and opened his button shirt one by one. He even took his time to fold the shirt and tie neatly, then put them on a table. Later, he took his phone from his trouser pocket, pressed some buttons, and put the phone on the table next to his shirt and tie. Pietro gulped again. It reminded him when Gabriel was in his late twenties or early thirties. It was the time when he dealt with someone who betrayed him. “Boss, remember Mrs. Rosalind and little Jane? You don’t want to—”But Gabriel stopped Pietro’s words. “Remove his shirt.”It was a