ALINA'S POV — There's nothing as unsettling as waking up on an early Monday morning with a terrible feeling in your gut. Trent drove us home on Sunday evening and Vanessa went back to Spain. She told me to call her whenever I needed anything, even if it was just to talk. She even joked and said that she was only one airplane away. I wish I could say that the terrible feeling that settled in my stomach was as a result of her leaving again and I was going to miss her terribly especially since she was always too busy with work and digital space didn't work too well with her. The only tik we had to reconnect and catch up on our liges was when she came back to America, which git sparse by the years. But today, it was something else. Trent was already giving me a strange look over breakfast and I couldn't meet his eyes. He would ask me what was up, and I would have ti lie because I didn't know myself. Curse my stupid gut feelings. I probably just woke up on the worng s
Gomez's povI checked my watch for the fourth time already today. It was not that I suddenly became interested in the time, and no, I was definitely not becoming time conscious. It was just that the school didn't seem to want to close so that I could take him home and continue with my plan. "Don't worry sir, they'll all be out soon," the driver said. I glanced his way, wondering why he would talk to me at all. Deciding that he was just as idle as I was, I ignored him and took out my phone. The wait was getting more annoying by the second. 'Why don't I just buy this school and then close it down so they'll come out, " I thought. The thought was very appealing. I looked out the window, trying to see if the school itself was appealing. It was not too bad. First test, passed. ' Next, how much could it be worth,' I thought, finding this game far more interesting than the few ones I had on my phone. 'A couple of millions at most, definitely not up to ten,' I reasoned. 'Definitely afforda
Gomez POV"I'm afraid that will not be possible," I said. She gave me a look, so I explained, "We don't have the best of relationships, and I have not seen him in years. He might not actually recognize me.""I'm sorry," then she said, "but that means that you can't take him away from here. For all I know, you might be lying.""I'm not lying," I said."Leave now before I call the police," she said.The thought of this little woman calling the police on me was hilarious. I had to make it so; if not, it would be annoying. I had ignored it the first time she said it, but now she was saying it again. What could they possibly do to me?"Are you even in a position of authority here?" I asked her, deciding that it was high time I talked to somebody qualified enough. What was the point if everything she said did not hold any ground later on?"I am in authority enough to speak with you," she said."Where is the principal?" I asked. "Take me to him."She seemed visibly annoyed that I would dismi
GOMEZ POV—Before the principal came in, I texted Priscilla really quick. “You have five minutes to provide the birth certificate of this kid so make it quick or kiss your job goodbye.”Did I care how she did it? No.But I would certainly care if I found out that I had employed somebody very incompetent.“Consider it done in three,” she replied almost immediately. I smirked. Now that was someone who knew all about the levels in Washington. “Why are you still here?” the principal growled, looking at me.The police men followed behind, calmly accessing the situation. “To get my son, ” I replied nonchalantly. “Get the boy,” the principal turned to the teacher like he was already tried of the matter. “And we'll see if he'll admit to you being his father.”“Yes do that, and we'll see if I can't prove it,” I jerked my in the teacher's direction. “Go on, you heard me.”She gared at me and disappeared. Minutes later, she came back with Niguez behind her. The kid looked tensed like he k
ALINA POV—I re-read the text over and over again. It's just a bad nightmare, I muttered to myself, pinching my arm hard and hoping to wake up.However the stabbing pain that shot through my neurones convinced me otherwise. Fucking annoyance — I warned you.Fucking annoyance — if you want to pick up your son, type this link and follow the address you see there. Fucking annoyance — it you leave this message on read, the I would assume that you no longer care about him and I won't hesitate to break it to him in the most tear-jerking way possible. So yeah, I found a creative way to save Gomes' number. But even that didn't come halfway through it express the level of hatred I felt for him now.I read the message again, trying to convince myself that this was a joke. Another one of his twisted jokes. “Breath in...” I muttered softly to myself. “Now open your eyes and realise that you were imagining the whole thing,”That might have happened once or twice in movies but I was not so lu
ALINA pov No no no... Goddammit! I refused to believe it, but there was the fucking reality, staring back at me with a mocking smile. Gomes was with my son! I didn't even have the luxury to phantom how the hell that had happened.A part of me wanted to scream at the teacher in front of me. She did a fucking Stella job acting all confused and flustered. I brushed past her and slammed into my car, stepping on the accelerator. For as long as Gomes was with my son, he could do literally anything. And I wasn't about to give him that leverage. I was already on the road when I whipped out the phone and searched for his number. I tapped on the fucking link and the address revealed itself. My fingers hovered around Trent's number. I should probably call him... Right?They would always time to do that, I decided, making a beeline for the address. Or maybe it was just my inner self that didn't want Trent to know about Gomes, about the mess I had made of myself in the university. It wa
Alina—“What do you want,” I glared at him. “For us to talk. ” he replied, closing the distance between us. “In your dreams,” I scoffed. “Take the kid outside, ” he said instead, turning to the butler. “My son is not going anywhere,” If only looks could kill, I thought, staring daggers at the sorry excuse for a man in front of me. “Unless you want him to hear all about the scared good for nothing woman you were. Of how much you wanted to get rid of the pregnancy that was ruining you but at the last moment, your pretty little morals wouldn't let you. ”My eyes widened in surprise, watching in shock as the lies fell effortlessly from his lips. The lies that sounded almost true. “Or should I tell him about how much of a mistake he was? How much he terminated your dreams? Because I can do all that Alina. You can lie to yourself all you want but I'm always here to shove the hard truths back in your face if you're ready. ” Gomes folded his hands across his chest, staring down at us wi
TRENT pov“Alina? ” I called out walking into my apartment. She had suddenly disappeared during work and won't even answer my calls. I was starting to get really worried. I had already called Clarence and sworn a lot on the call warning him that he would lose his fucking job if he sent her somewhere else that was near Gomes Allen, the CEO of Star labs. I looked around and spotted her sitting on the chair in the dining, a plate of pasta in front of her. “There you are. Why did you take an early leave from work?” I took off my suit and dumped it on the sofa before walking towards her. There was no reply and I noticed the blank look in her eyes as she stated at the wall in front of her. She was shaking like she had an encounter with the ghost of her past. I stiffened, sensing the tension in the room. “Alina,” I tapped her shoulders, panicking a bit. Okay, a lot. She blinked and turned to me forcing a smile. “Sorry Trent, I didn't see you there,” she muttered, still looking shake
Epilogue | Two Years LaterNiguez sprinted down the stairs and skidded to a stop in front of Trent. "Hola, Dad," he grinned. "¿Cómo estás, hijo?" Trent leaned down, giving the kid a fist bump as they did their signature handshakes. Niguez frowned a little, finding it hard to understand Spanish. Trent grinned with a knowing smile. "Don't worry about it; you're in Colombia, so it'll come naturally."Trent had married Alina two years ago and adopted Niguez, vowing to take care of them for as long as he lived. He had amassed wealth, ensuring Alina's financial security. He still traveled to America for business but built mansions in Colombia, where they resided. At Alina's request, he started a small company in Colombia and sent her back to university to study Business, hoping she would become a CEO in a couple of years.The doorbell rang, and Niguez rushed to the door, hoping Alina was back. A tall man in a bright red suit, stood at the doorway with a small smile. — Clarence. "Hey,
—Alina pov I work in beside Trent. He give his sister Evelyn a hard stare and proceeded to enter the room, slipping into the chair opposite her. This is the first time that I met with her and for some reason, I didn't like the superior look she gave him. Did she even know who he was?He was CEO Alexander, everyone in America had heard of him. Who gave her the right to even stare directly at him?Then I reminded myself that she was his sister, and being directly related to him gave her that kind of leverage. From what I heard of her, she was a pain in the ass. And meeting her now, I didn't exactly have any reason to think any different. He promised me that this will be the last time she would come between us and I believed him. It was time we settled this matter for good.I already the basics about his sister she was beautiful and deadly with her brown hair and cunning blue eyes. I also knew that she was dangerous and mafe his life a living hell until he was forced to leave Britain
TRENT povI managed to control my emotions and look away from Alina. My eyes roamed across the hall and fell on Gomes Allen. The latter glared at me and I could see his muscles clench. Oh I was sure he could do without my presence. It made me smile a little. He should be shaking in his boots at the sight of me. His eyes narrowed on my expensive clothes that match his, my identity card as CEO Alexander in full view. That's right, enjoy the view mother fucker because I'm not hiding anymore. “Can I help you young man?” the judge looked up at me with a flicker of surprise. “I have evidence that changes everything. ” my hands tightened around the document in my hand. I had it printed out in the jet and made copies of it. Clarence was a real genius and I couldn't wait to see the look on Gomes' face when I pulled off his mask in front of everyone. I might have hidden my identity but he was the real fraud.I marched forward and stopped in front of the witness box. My eyes locked with
Trent pov A day had passed. I sat in the board room with Clarence by my side. We were around a big round table where about six powerful figures sat, trying to engage me in a conversation. I was dressed in a half a million dollar red suit and black pants, the CEO look complete with cufflinks and I might have taken extra time styling my hair that morning. I checked my swizz watch for the fourth time since the meeting. I maintained a fuck off look with an expressionless gaze that could pass off for bored. Your darling CEO Alexander was back. “Shouldn't we at least have an explanation for your disappearance for almost three years?” one of the men demanded. I seemed to remember him to be one of my long term partners... Now let me check if I gave a fuck. I looked up from my phone. It was still on my chat with Alina. I had been staring at it all morning, expecting a word or two from her. I would even go with “fuck you Trent.” Her silence was worse that her an
TRENT povWe sat in the restaurant, an unmistakable tension building up in the air. I wished that she would say something instead of looking at me with her lips slightly parted in confusion as she waited for me to drop the next bomb. I couldn't believe that I was taking Clarence's advice. It just seemed to be the best thing to do at this time. I knew that I could keep the truth away from her for as long as I wanted, but bit forever. For one thing, the company needed their CEO. Clarence never failed to remind me of that fact and the investors were starting to think that I was ignoring them. Nasty bunch of people that won't let me live like every normal human. I might have shrugged it off but Gomes fucking Allen could strom into the picture any time from now and I wasn't going to let him be the one to tell her about my true identity myself. “So... What's the matter?” Alina asked, breaking the silence between us. I took a deep breath. The waiter came back with our orders and pl
Alina PovI couldn't stop thinking about Niguez's birthday. My whole world has flipped from the minute he stepped a foot into the house and he would see me in court. Like hell he would. Who did he think he was, trying to take my son away from me?I was more protective of Niguez now, and it broke me everytime he went through the school gate because I knew that Gomes could come around now and steal him away whenever he fucking wanted. Everything was staring to seem real now. I stared at the last text I got from Gomes Allen just a few minutes ago. I never replied any of his texts but just left them on read and poundered over them, wishing that could slam his face against the wall. Just once. Just this one time so that I would watch in satisfaction as the smug look was wiped off his face and he saw what if felt like to be a human for once. His new text is not as threatening as the previous ones but I feel more scared, just by scrolling my eyes through it. It said that the day of
TRENT'S POV —I glare at the documents in front of me. Working from home and having Clarence over was the worst idea I had ever came through with. I left Alina at my apartment. It was safe to say that she needed some space. Plus I badly wanted to strangle the mother fucker Gomes Allen for daring to show the fuck up at all. I went to one of my mansions instead and Clarence was here to make sure I attend to the matters in the company since he won't let me off the hook even if I'm supposed have disappeared... Hastag no where to be found. Gilbert was here too. To make sure I had my usual does of coffee and didn't resort to smoking. Ah... Bad habits. As though on cue, Gilbert walked into the room with a glass of coffee. He placed it on the table in front of me. Clarence and I looked up at the disturbance and I might have glared a little. “Anything for you mister?” Gilbert asked turning to Clarence. “I'll have what he's having,” Clarence said, passing me some paperwork. “It's not
ALINA'S POV —Nothing was happening... That's usually my cue to figure out that there is something terrible going on in the background and I just don't know all about it yet. It was hard to actually think that Gomes was smart enough to heed to my warning and stay the fuck away from us. Not that I was complaining. After I deleted his number, I made a bold job in deleting him out of my mind for the second time, no questions asked. But I can't shake off the gut feeling at the pit of my stomach that something is still seriously off. “Happy birthday baby!” I hug Niguez to my chest and scream in delight. He blew off the candle on the cake sitting on the dining and grinned, revealing a pair of sparkling white teeth. “I'm a man now!” He puffed up his little chest, grinning with pride at the intimidating four drawn on the cake. I pulled back from him with a laugh. “Where do you think you're growing so fast to huh?”“Hell yeah,” Trent slip into the room and pick up Niguez, not without
TRENT pov“Alina? ” I called out walking into my apartment. She had suddenly disappeared during work and won't even answer my calls. I was starting to get really worried. I had already called Clarence and sworn a lot on the call warning him that he would lose his fucking job if he sent her somewhere else that was near Gomes Allen, the CEO of Star labs. I looked around and spotted her sitting on the chair in the dining, a plate of pasta in front of her. “There you are. Why did you take an early leave from work?” I took off my suit and dumped it on the sofa before walking towards her. There was no reply and I noticed the blank look in her eyes as she stated at the wall in front of her. She was shaking like she had an encounter with the ghost of her past. I stiffened, sensing the tension in the room. “Alina,” I tapped her shoulders, panicking a bit. Okay, a lot. She blinked and turned to me forcing a smile. “Sorry Trent, I didn't see you there,” she muttered, still looking shake