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Chapter 31
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2023-07-25 18:30:59Related chapters
A year and half Chapter 32
Killian rounded the car, slid behind the wheel, and started the engine. When we pulled out of the driveway, his head snapped to me. "You okay?"I didn't want to answer. My fingers smoothened my dress as I looked out the window. In the faint glow of the dashboard light, I could still see him staring at me so I forced out a reply even if I didn't want to. "Yes, I am.""Alright then."I fell silent after his question, but I knew he could feel the speculative glances I kept throwing him because, at some point, he snapped his head towards me and let his words out with a bang. "Spare me the ambiguity, Hope. If you have something to say you can go ahead and say it."I heaved a sigh. "Vladlen and Penelope. They look really good together.""They are." He glanced at me then back at the road. "They've been that way for a long time."I was vaguely surprised that he responded. "You must be really close to them.""We've had a few consultations. That doesn't make us close.""His wife, in particular,
Last Updated : 2023-07-25A year and half Chapter 33
A hot sensation crept over me and settled between my legs. This was bad, really bad, and I couldn't do a single thing about it because this intimidatingly sexy man standing on the edge of the bed in only his body-hugging boxers had me caged underneath his dilated and dark gaze. How could I possibly be getting aroused by just looking at him?Shocked and humiliated that I could fall so blatantly, I pushed up on my elbow and tried to flee backward but he caught my left ankle and I yelped out his name when he pulled me to him, jamming his hand between my knees and flinging them apart. Then he settled himself right there, right there where I could feel his hardened erection rub against me."Killian, let me go." I struggled, my small fist pounding on his chest and I presume it didn't sit well with him because he responded to my unruliness quickly and a muscle deep inside my belly clenched with pleasure when his right hand swatted the side of my ass sharply. Good lord."Behave." He admonis
Last Updated : 2023-07-25A year and half Chapter 34
When I opened my eyes the next morning, I found Killian still draped around me, fast asleep with his arm over me, holding me close to his suffocating body heat that absorbed me.He'd spent the whole night with me. This realization was pleasing as it was also shocking because I had expected to wake up alone, but he was here, naked, breathing steady against my back.When I tried to move, a faint distressed groan erupted from deep in his throat. "Hope." He stirred, nuzzling his face in my hair as he inhaled deeply. He'd woken because I felt his eyes blinking and closing behind me like he was trying to clear his vision. I took the opportunity to turn, meeting his sleepy, heavy-lidded, blinking eyes beneath his tousled hair falling rakishly over his forehead."Good morning," I mumbled.He replied to my greeting with a hum as he moved away, unpeeling himself from me. "How long did I sleep?""I don't know," I pulled my hand over my head and stretched, working the sleep off my muscles. "I jus
Last Updated : 2023-07-25A year and half Chapter 35
I had lost sense of time as I stood there, hands shaking, heart pounding, eyes wide open. My throat felt like it was closing and my chest constricted. It was as though my world shifted off balance and everything began to tilt. I struggled to inhale but the breath lodged in my throat refused to emerge as I stared at the photo of Killian and then the accompanying headline that followed. Scandalous marriage.Those two words rang in my head, making my heart stop and pump again. A scandalous marriage. A gold digger?False pregnancy. I closed my eyes for a brief moment, wishing it would all go away, wishing this was just one big scary nightmare, but when I opened it, it remained the same. The headlines remained the same. They'd dubbed me the gold digger, they'd dragged me out for using my suspicious pregnancy as a means of trapping Killian. Did I?I didn't. I didn't trap him nor did I force him to marry me. I didn't even want any of this. I didn't want to be with Killian or get pregna
Last Updated : 2023-07-25A year and half Chapter 36
Sudden shivers slithered down my spine and I clutched the hem of my dress, watching the scene unfold in front of me."Darling," Mary spoke, reaching for his arm. "Please calm down." I'd expected her to yell alongside him, I'd expected her to lash out, to be angry, but there was something else in her eyes; pity, worry, fear. She tugged on his sleeves. "Please just—""Don't tell me to calm down!" He spat out, casting her hands off his. "Are you seeing the headlines?! The Fobster name has been brought to question. Investors, sponsors are already calling our capability to qualm. This scandal has and will adversely affect our business dealings and you expect me to be calm when millions of dollars are at stake!""Father be reasonable," Killian drawled, unaffected by his raging fury. "This isn't enough to degrade the name of the company. Sure it'll do a little damage but it can be sorted.""You still dare to run your mouth in front of me?!"He defiantly crossed his arms across his chest, hi
Last Updated : 2023-07-25A year and half Chapter 37
KillianBleeding. The minute my mother barged into the room and told me that Hope had been bleeding, my blood ran cold. "What do you mean she's bleeding?" I was breathing heavily, trying to catch my breath from nearly being strangled to death by my father who seemed as shocked as I was. "I don't fucking understand."My mother panicked in front of me, her hands red with blood, Hopes blood. "She's losing your baby Killian, we need to get her to the hospital!" "Where the hell is she?""She's in the study. Hurry!"I forgot everything else right after those words and raced out of the door but the moment I barged into the room and saw her sitting on the chair, the look of pure torture on her face as linings of blood stained her thighs and then slid down her legs, I froze. It felt like someone had cracked open my ribs and squeezed the life out of my beating heart.Hope. Blood. The baby. "Killian don't just stand there, do something!" Mother barked at me and air rushed back into my lung
Last Updated : 2023-07-25A year and half Chapter 38
HopeKillian was reading something in a magazine when eating and my traitorous eyes continued to steal glances at him, willfully taking note of the look of disgust plastered on his face. It had been a few days since the incident happened and I felt a lot better. Well, except for the dizzy spells here and there, but the doctor assured me that it would wear off soon.It was a very big eye-opener for both Killian and me; realizing we could lose what we had at any moment.Over these past days of the incident, he'd been particularly vigilant to my needs, asshole standpoint aside, he oddly cared for me; from making sure I ate on time, to placing me on bed parole, to even offering me a belly massage when I complained of abdominal cramps.It was selfish of me but at some point, I had wished this would last. I'd wished I could get more, more than just his genuine care for his baby. I think it hurt most knowing that he'd never feel that way about me. He had made it clear on several accounts th
Last Updated : 2023-07-25A year and half Chapter 39
Killian Waking up completely wrapped around Hope while she slept in one of my hoodies did something to my insides that I didn't understand. It had been at least three hours since I jerked off in the bathroom and left home and I thought that maybe forcing my focus back into work would help me rid myself of these thoughts and clear my head, but it remained the same. Everything— this ache in my chest, the need for closure, wanting to touch her, to tell her how beautiful her morning face looked, to tell her the fuzzy feeling she stirred in my stomach every time she mumbled cutely in her sleep—"Mr. Fobster?"Cleo's labored breaths jolted me out of my dazed state and I immediately looked up from the screen of my laptop which I had been staring blindly at for the past five minutes."What?"A trickle of sweat slipped from her caked face as she dropped the cup of guacamole blended smoothie I'd made her walk five blocks to get. "Your smoothie."I leaned forward and eyed the green substance s
Last Updated : 2023-07-25
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A year and half Epilogue
HOPEA month later. Giving birth was the easy part— the heart-stopping contractions. Sweating like a donkey and trying to push while being spread out like some farm exhibit with strangers gawking between my knees. The yelling, the bleeding. Having my vagina stitched—it didn't seem terrifying at all.Know what was?Having to deal with all this baby weight that came after.I cursed my misfortune, turning to look at myself sideways in the mirror. After my pregnancy with Ryan, my body has yet to regain its original shape and for me, that was pretty devastating. "What's taking so long?" Killian asked, as usual, walking into my room unannounced but I was too annoyed to care if he saw me standing in my underwear or not. "What's wrong?" He strolled with lith grace towards me, and I found it ironic how he got to look this perfect while I carried all the scars and weight that came with birth. "The dress I picked out didn't fit. I feel humongous." "Hope." He sighed and stared at me through
A year and half Chapter 69
KillianI sleepwalked through the all process of wiping the blood away from my hands and strapping into a blue overall. My brain didn't recollect any information, except the one where I was being ushered into a room with doctors hovering around the elevated bed like wild animals. I carefully stepped inside, My heart wrenching painfully in my chest as my eyes landed on Hope. She was laying with a thick pink blanket draped over her parted legs. Her pale face was strained with tears, her hair flying wildly across her face. She was sweating, eyes closed tight with the pain."Hope, you need to push," the doctor demanded, but she shook her head, groaning in pain. "I can't," she breathed, keeping her eyes closed as her legs quivered. "I can't. It hurts.""Hope..." My voice broke as I moved closer to her, calling her desperately and I wasn't sure if she had heard me but then her bloodshot eyes pushed open and the moment they met mine, my chest felt tight; like I was being suffocated. "Ki
A year and half Chapter 68
Killian My heart wasn't made of stone. It was just like everyone else's, and right now, it hammered against my ribs so painfully I was sure I'd die. But I didn't stop.I squeezed the stirring wheel as I sped down the freeway, trying to exhaust myself, trying not to think. I was running—away from my life, away from my thoughts, away from Hope.The look on her face when I'd zoomed off taunted me. Hearing the pain in her voice as she begged me to stay wounded my heart. It felt like someone had cracked open my ribs and gripped my beating heart in their hands only to nearly squeeze the life out of it. The guilt ate me alive. I shouldn't have left her that way, but despite the pain, I did it because I was hurting, because I was scared that if I stayed, I'd only be caging her. I couldn't do that. I couldn't hurt her any more than I already had. So I wanted to go. I wanted to go back to my life where she meant nothing to me.But how could I ever do that when she'd taken up all the space t
A year and half Chapter 67
I was in a complete daze when I walked back into my apartment.My heart broke and it felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I didn't want to believe that Killian was gone. I didn't want to believe that he had left me again. Maybe it was all a dream, maybe if I closed my eyes or if I pinched myself hard enough he'd—"Great, you're back," Scott's voice pulled me out of my tailspin. He stepped out of my kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand and looked at me like nothing had happened; like he hadn't just sold his pride and driven the love of my life out of the door. "Now that you're here, we can talk about your flight schedule." My fist clenched by my side. When I said nothing but glared at him with all the hate and anger and fury I could muster, he released a long breath. "Come on, why are you looking at me like that." He walked toward me and stretched out his cup. "Drink this, you'll feel better."I slapped his hand along with the cup out of my face and watched as it shat
A year and half Chapter 66
My heart was palpitating. It pounded hard, so hard that I swore it would burst out of my chest. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Scott barked, charging at him again but I quickly wormed my way in between them."Scott please stop.""No." He hissed, his eyes filled with so much rage as he shoved me aside and jammed Killian against the wall. "I thought I told you I didn't want to see you anywhere near my sister?! What part of leave her the fuck alone didn't you understand!" Killian groaned. God no. He was bleeding. This was all my fault. I shouldn't have let him in. I shouldn't have asked him to stay. "Scott, I'll explain," I held his arm desperately. "Please let him go.""Stay out of this," he gruffed, flinging his arm away from mine so harshly that I stumbled backward but caught myself with the support of the counter."Let me fucking go!" Killian barked, ripping Scott's hand away from his throat and staggering back, fighting to get his air. For a moment, he looked like he woul
A year and half Chapter 65
"Kiss me," I implored, once again enslaved by my body, unashamed of my words. "Kiss me, Killian."I never really understood the power of desire until this very moment, until we were both inside my apartment, standing inches away from each other, feeding off the sensations, the overwhelming sense of need and desire. "I'm afraid to do so." My breath quickened. "Why?" "Because," he took a step closer to me, so close, I could barely breathe. But rather than kissing me, he swept my hair over one shoulder and ran his fingers over my bare neck. "There's so much I want to do to you right now, there's so much I feel." He admitted, trailing his hand down my arm. "But I'm afraid I might hurt you again."A burst of pleasure shot through me at his words. "You won't hurt me, Killian, I know you won't. So kiss me right now.""Are you sure?" he murmured, his words falling mere inches from my lips. "Because once I do, I might not be able to stop.""I trust you."That seemed to do the trick because
A year and half Chapter 64
HopeAfter dinner, Killian and I walked the beach a while in comfortable silence, watching the scanty crowd. Life here seemed so different, so surreal, carefree, easy. "Everyone here seems happy. It's amazing.""If you like it so much, we could always relocate."I snapped my head to look at him. He shrugged. "It'll be a good chance to get away from everything. There are lots of free rooms, we could maybe make one into a nursery." I released my breath in a soft sigh. "Killian, stop saying things like that."He chuckled softly. "I mean it. You're the only woman I've ever brought here, that's because you mean a lot to me.""Not even Megan?" I wanted to suck the words back in the second they slipped out because he stared at me with an emotion that choked me. "On second thought, don't answer that," I said quickly and looked away from him. "Not even her." His words sent a flutter to my belly. "Really?"He smiled. "Let's find somewhere to sit, your feet must hurt."They did. I nodded an
A year and half Chapter 63
HopeI stood in front of the large mirror on the wall and smoothened my dress over my bump. As much as I would've loved to lay down in my bed and cry my feelings away all night, I still had an evening with Killian Fobster to get through first. For some last-minute adjustments, I applied eyeliner and pinched my cheeks, satisfied with my look. I took in a deep breath and flitted back into the bedroom in search of my shoes. That was when a knock sounded on my door. It had to be Killian.My nervousness topped up a notch. I quickly kicked the pizza wrapping underneath the couch and padded barefoot towards the door, trying not to show entrepreneurial oomph.When I opened it, his dark eyes caressed me, gliding from my head to my toes before lingering back on my face. "Can I come in?"I blinked away the hotness I felt and immediately released the door handle for him to step in."You're here a little earlier than I expected, I'm not done getting ready yet," I told him, watching as he looke
A year and half Chapter 62
Killian I'd spent the better part of my morning clearing the piled-up stacks of documents on my desk. The other part consisted of planning a date that put me in a royally pissed mood because nothing was going the way I wanted it to. What the fuck was I thinking when I'd said that in the first place?I had rehearsed last night a thousand times since my conversation with my mother. What I'd say to her, how I'd make my plea. And I thought I'd figured it out but then this happened and I had only a few hours to plan the perfect date. That woman was going to be the death of me; I just knew it.I took off my glasses and tossed them on my desk. My mind was trying to narrow down a plan but nothing fit, nothing fucking fit. I scrubbed my hands over my face and I inhaled a deep breath before pressing the intercom button. "Cleo?"I waited for her to reply or at least walk into my office but when nothing happened after a minute, I pressed it again. "Cleo?"Another minute passed. Was it so impo
