(Thomas)I knew that when Lydia came back, she would want to spend a lot of time with the kids. I know we talked about going on more dates and the whole “getting to know each other better” bit, but Lydia was spending multiple days away from Mabel and Miles.Even though they talked on the phone every day, it was just not the same. Hence, I knew she would like to spend time with them as much as possible so I prepared an outing for all of us keeping that in mind.The city was a great place where kids and adults alike could go and participate in fun activities and bond together.When the kids saw the entrance to the Jumpoline Park, their eyes went wide and they shrieked in unison.“Daddy, look at that!” Mabel pointed out to me. My heart warmed when she called me her dad. I was still not used to it and when Lydia heard it, her eyes went wide and she turned to look at the kids with pride shining in her eyes.“It’s so many colors,” Miles whispered in awe.I looked at what they pointed out to
(Lydia)I looked at Thomas open-mouthed.To be honest, I was expecting a reaction completely opposite to the one I had gotten. His eyes were shining with a protectiveness that had been missing from him all this time.My lips trembled with an unspoken emotion and I wanted to throw my arms around him to pull him closer but we were outside, and the kids were just a few feet away.Thomas Lombardi’s future wife.Those words went round and round in my head until I was flushed from head to toe.Why did I love him saying that?All the stress of what I had found out melted away from my body, replaced by a warm feeling that only Thomas had given me. I felt like twirling my hair in my hands and batting my lashes with the smoldering look he was giving me.For the moment, I merely breathed out and stared at him, my entire focus was arrested by him as he continued to talk.“I don’t care who it is, your co-workers, your management team, or any random person on the sidewalk. If they’re messing with y
(Ruby)Talking with Mama made me realize that wasting time would not make the problem go away.The more I ignored Jack, the more the distance between us would grow. And I didn’t want that to happen.Just the thought of losing Jack was enough to make me get up from the bed and get ready to go see him.This bridge that had been created between us through Margaret’s keen planning was not going to be an obstacle to our love. I wouldn’t let it be.However, the more distance I passed, the more I became aware of the fact that it had been days since we last talked. The last time Jack called, Adam had picked it up before I could stop him.Well, I would just have to clear up that misunderstanding later on.Speaking of Adam, there were messages from him in my notifications but I left them all unread. I had asked him to go see listings with me but I was purposefully procrastinating because I wanted to go see those listings with Jack, as I had originally planned.I took a deep breath as I stood in
(Lydia)“Mama?” I questioned as I opened the glass back door and walked inside, Thomas following me close behind, “What happened? Who was it?”Thomas immediately went to check into the front door to look for any signs of forced entry. The vase by the entrance was broken, however, everything else remained unharmed.“My kids!” I gasped and ran past Mama to go check in on them. Once I was satisfied that they were still soundly sleeping after a day filled with various activities, I rechecked their window locks and made my way back to Mama.I held her by the shoulders and asked, “What happened? Are you okay, Mama?”She was trembling and my heart hurt at the scared look on her face. I knew that scared look, I had seen it often during my childhood when my father went and let his anger out on her. She would get this same dazed look on her face that used to come back to me in my nightmares.My heart thudded inside of my chest as I took her by her shoulders and shook her lightly, “Mama, who did
(Thomas)I hated seeing Lydia like this. All I wanted for her was to remain happy and feel safe and protected in my presence.Today, it felt like I failed in doing so.Everything was going so perfectly. I had Lydia so close to me that I couldn’t tell which breath was hers and which was mine. It was like we were one, and then reality crashed in.I had only ever seen Lydia this panicked when our children had gotten kidnapped and I had vowed to myself then that I would never let that expression come over her face ever again.I immediately ran to check the perimeters but it felt like whoever was in the house had vanished into thin air.However, I followed my intuition and remained outside to check if anything was out of place.It was.The pot was crooked and I immediately knew the source of the break-in.Lydia was still in my arms as I leaned against the kitchen counter. One cursory glance over the house was enough for me to know that nothing of consequence had been taken. The only damage
(Lydia)I knew I was having a nightmare. However surreal it was, I was still scared for my life.At first, I was merely running through a mud road with huge, tall trees on either side of me. It was dark and I couldn’t see much but I knew something was on the hunt for me.I had not caught a single glance of the burglar, yet when I looked back, there he was, a figure in all-black running towards me at full speed.“No,” I choked out as I felt him getting close to me, “Nooo,” I said loudly as I became breathless the more I ran.The nightmare was so vivid that I knew I would remember it even after I woke up. As I kept running, I realized my surroundings were changing.The forest turned into an abandoned building and I was running down a dilapidated hallway as heavy footfalls sounded behind me. I turned back to look at how much distance there was between me and the dark figure, only to find out that it was my own father running after me, a knife wielded in his hand.Tears slipped down my ch
(Thomas)The past fifteen minutes had been one of those moments which I would not wish upon anyone. The more I tried to wake Lydia up it felt like the deeper she went into her nightmare.When she finally woke up, she immediately wanted to get up and do something about the burglar just like I knew she would. That was why I had already told Jack what needed to be done and I also called my private investigator to get me all the footage he could, from door cameras to the ones in cars.I wanted to get my hands on as much information as I could. When Lydia talked about her father and how much he also hurt her, I could not help but flinch as a deep hatred bubbled inside of me.Locking that scum up wasn’t enough punishment for what he had done to my children. He deserved a fate worse than that but I knew he would get his dues in this lifetime.Still, even as Lydia talked about the burglar and her father there was something else there. Something that she wasn’t telling me.I could easily tell
(Lydia)When I came back home for the weekend, I didn’t realize that I would be packing up everyone’s things to go live in the mansion. I had told Ruby to pack her and Mama’s things up while I did my own and my children’s.I was taking no chances of putting anyone else in harm’s way. After gathering myself together, I followed Thomas to the front of the house where he was talking to someone on the phone.I asked him to make sure the house was searched thoroughly to make sure there were no hidden cameras anywhere. The sense of unease followed me as I went back and forth from my own room to the children’s, making sure all the essentials were packed up.It still felt like I had eyes on me and whenever I thought about what had happened too much, that feeling increased tenfold.I flinched when someone touched me on my arm.“Chill, it’s just me,” Ruby said, looking at me like I had lost my mind. “Are you okay?” she said after seeing that my reaction wasn’t an overreaction. I had truly gotte