ALINA'S POV —"Hey Allie, a little help here?" Vanessa called out from the kitchen. I chuckled, fiddling with the remote control of the plasma TV in the sitting room. Vanessa was the only one who ever called me that. I had been convinced that there was absolutely no way to shorten my name, but Vanessa always had other ideas. Niguez sat on the edge of the sofa, watching me in anticipation."We're your guests, Vanessa," I yelled back, with no intention of coming over. The last time we stayed together, she was absolutely helpless when it came to anything food-related, and though she had turned out to be a business guru, some things still remained the same. A voice at the back of my head told me that I might as well go over and help her a little, especially if I didn't want to feast on burnt sardines and toasted bread for dinner.There was some shuffling from the kitchen, and Vanessa showed up, with a spoon in her hand and her apron soiled with something that looked like flour. "Th
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