“Darling, I’m he-“ The door was suddenly pushed open. Their gazes flew to the woman who just came in. The woman took in the scene before her, the position that they were in, her eyes passing over both of them before resting on Bree. The click of her heels echoed in the office as she approached them. “Darling, I said I’m here.”At the woman’s words, Bree immediately broke away from Spencer’s grip, hastily wiping her tears. Her eyes scanned the woman taking in every detail from the top of her perfectly stretched black hair to the tips of her red heels. She wore a tight pencil skirt that stopped just above the knee and a matching jacket that barely reached her waist. In her hands were two shopping bags. Finally, Spencer made a turn to the woman, his face still red with anger. “What the hell are you doing here, Emily?”Emily? Bree thought. That explains why the woman looked familiar. Emily Watson, the spoiled only daughter of the Watson family. They were close friends with the Bennet
Emily’s face was fuming red in anger as she stormed out of the office, making her way to the elevator, her heels clicking loudly as she walked.Getting to the elevator, she stood still glaring at the two female employees beside her. She hoped they weren’t hoping to get in the elevator with her. The very thought of sharing the lift with them made her blood boil. The elevator pings open. She stepped in only for them to try and squeeze in with her. “What nonsense. You do not know who I am, right?”“Wh…what?”She laughed in disbelief. “How dare you try to get in the elevator with me. Step back. I can see you don’t love your jobs anymore. Once I get Spencer to marry me, you all are done for.”Taking things into her hands, she shoved them outside just in time for the elevator to close, sealing them out. She wasn’t only angry that they were trying to get in with her, she was also angry that Spencer hadn’t yet given her the privilege to use his private elevator and so whenever she came here
“Mommy?”“Yes?”“Those aunties in there kept staring at us. I know they were gossiping about us. I could tell,” Ariel whispered to her mother as they got outside the cafe each holding a cup of coffee in their hands. “What aunties?” Bree frowned. After picking up the child from the Boston mansion, she decided to clear her mind and take the child shopping. Luckily, Ariel was in a good mood and was eager to shop with her. As they walked through the busy place, Bree wondered who it was that her daughter was talking about. She wasn’t as observant as Ariel so she didn’t notice anybody staring at them when they were purchasing coffee the other time “Those aunties who stare at us like they were going to eat us.”“I didn’t see anyone. What do they look like?”“One had black hair with cherry pins and the other was blonde. I don’t know who those Aunties are but I don’t like them at all.”Bree patted her daughter’s hair. “No worries, baby. Keep calm. You’re not going to see them again, okay? Co
“What the..” Spencer groaned as he reached for his buzzing phone on the bedside table, his head hazy as hell. Just as his eyes fell on the caller ID, he immediately sat up on the bed. “The fuck?” He wiped his eyes to see if he was seeing correctly. Cursing, he answered the call. “Mom, what happened this time?” His mom only calls him this late whenever there is a problem or whenever she wants to scold him. He wondered what it was this time and for the likes of him, he surely wasn't in the mood to answer her scolding. It was midnight for goodness sake. It had been a rough day for him and he had only managed to sleep when the call came in, breaking him from his sleep. “Nu Nu.” A female voice rang from the other line. “Not the name again. What do you want?” He pinched the space between his brows. His Mom was fond of calling him his baby name Nu Nu and honestly, he wasn't a fan of people calling him that. He stopped being a child when he was ten and even after that, his mother would n
Storming out of a five-star hotel was Bree. She made her way to the parking lot in hurried footsteps, stacks of files that she struggled to carry in her arms. Her footsteps hurried further as she glanced at her wristwatch. She was about thirty minutes late for work. She had woken up late and had to hurriedly dress Ariel up for school and drop her off first before coming back to the hotel so the child would not be late for school. Cursing her damn heels, she pressed her keys, the car lighten up in the quiet parking lot. Dumping the files that she held in the backseat of the car, she turned around to get into the car but not without looking at herself in the window of the car. Although she barely had time to dress and do her makeup, she still looked stunning. In the milky-colored two-piece suit. Her long-suit short-hand top was all the way to her thighs with a perfect design at the side. Her hair was tied in a ponytail leaving just a few strands at the edges. She would have bunned it
“How have you been?” Bree asked. “It was hard, Bree. Especially that first year. I never wanted to become a surgeon.” Back then, Nary had refused to train him to school if he didn't do the course that she wanted. He had no choice but to do her bidding. “I’m so sorry for not coming. Mother made sure to stop me from coming. Forgive me.”Bree’s eyes fell on Gaspher’s fingers that held her hands. Her eyes widened seeing the glinting band encircled in his ring finger. “Wait, Gaspher. You're married?” “I’m not.” He replied. “You’re not? Then what is that ring you're wearing?”“I’m not married, just engaged. I know you want to be part of my wedding. I'm definitely not getting married without you.”She nodded. “That better be the truth because I won't forgive you again if that's the case. You better don't get married without me.”“Yes, my queen. Does that mean you forgive me? That I'm your big brother again?”Slowly, Bree nodded. “Well, yeah. It was hard for you too. Mother even forced y
“Oh, universe. Why are you never good to me? What have I done to deserve this,” Bree complained, her head thrown backward, her fingers in between her teeth as she paced around the hotel room. “For the love of God, why can't this child stop giving me heart attacks?” Not like she has had one before but from the look of things, she would be having a heart attack soon. Her heart was beating so fast and her ears were as red as ripe tomatoes. Different scenarios playing in her head.Hours earlier, Ariel had left the room to go play with her newfound friend on the second floor. She wasn't worried because Ariel had a new friend or anything, she was apprehensive because the friend was no other person than Spencer. For the past four days since they returned from Gaspher’s condo, there hasn't been a single day that Ariel didn't meet with him pinning that he was her new playmate. For the love of God, she couldn't afford to let Spencer discover her secret else it was over for her. Over, like capi
“Mommy, where are we going?” Ariel asked as they got into Bree’s car the next day. It was the weekend and as always, Bree was taking her daughter out to have fun. It has been their usual practice ever since Ariel turned one. “Well, you'll see when we get there.”“Have I been there before?”Bree shook her head. She turned on the accelerator and drove out of the hotel.“So how come you’ve been there without me? Did Mommy take other kids there? I can't believe this.”“Oh no no,” Bree laughed. “I took no one there. I went there when I was still little. It's a beautiful place so don't worry, hmm.”“Ahh,” the child nodded. “Mommy better don't take anyone there without me. Arie would be angry.”“Yes, my princess. You're the only one I'm taking, hmm.”She turned on the music and for the rest of the car ride, Ariel sang her favorite song, bouncing lightly, her play phone as her mic. Bree couldn't help but join her. Somehow, she envisioned Ariel as a teenager singing in her car while she dropp
Netherlands for honeymoon was a dream come true for Bree. The whole wedding, in fact, had been a fairytale come to life. Oops, did someone forget to say that a good four months has passed? It was hard to believe that just four months ago, their relationship had been haywire. But after the reconciliation and their rekindled love, Bree and Spencer insisted on having their wedding immediately. Their wedding had been a whirlwind of emotions. Laugher, tears of joy, excitement. And now, as they strolled hand in hand through the city of Amsterdam where they came for their honeymoon, Bree felt like the luckiest woman alive.Unlike other couples on their honeymoon, they decided to bring their little bundle of joy with them. They couldn’t imagine themselves having fun on their honeymoon alone without their daughter. And so, even though Ariel had wanted them to go alone, they’d taken her with them like a third wheel and they had every intention of bringing her with them wherever they went. Arr
Spencer didn't wait another second before he dashed out of the room, closing the door slowly behind him. He took a deep breath, combed his fingers through his hair, and began to take slow steps to the living room. Once he got there, he looked around for Bree and when he didn’t find her in the living room, he made his way to the kitchen, taking slow and silent steps. Bree sprang up from the island table where she’d been sitting immediately she saw him step into the kitchen. She pushed her hair backward and stared at him awkwardly. “Hmm, do you want something?”She looked around the kitchen.“I don’t.”“Why are you here then? We shouldn’t leave Ariel’s side. She’s going to be upset.” She intended to walk past him and go to the child’s room but he stepped before her, blocking her path, his hands dipped in his pocket. “She’s not going to get angry. She gave me a go-ahead.”“She asked you to leave?” She gazed at Spencer in disbelief. He nodded. “She did. Gave us time to talk, right?”Br
“Enough, Ariel,” she repeated, her chest heaving in anger. “Who’s even feeding you all these thoughts? You have to tell me this instant.”When Ariel refused to say anything, she slammed a hand on the bedside table and leaned in. “Speak to me, Ariel, I’m talking to you.” She let out a sigh and squeezed her eyes shut to calm her nerves. She wasn’t usually this angry, especially at Ariel. But the whole situation and the events of the weeks had her burned out already. Plus Spencer was in the same roof as her and just the thought was enough to have her heaving in anger, not at him, but at herself, at her heart for still fluttering at the sight of him. When she opened her eyes again, the previous anger was gone and she now stared at the child softly. “Forgive Mommy for yelling, okay? I just want to speak to you. Remember what Mommy said about communication?”Ariel let out a low, ‘en.’“Good girl. Mommy won’t yell anymore so all you have to do is to tell Mommy who told you that a child has
In two days, Gaspher confirmed that Ariel was fit to get discharged. It came as a huge joy to Bree as she was delighted that the issue wasn’t more than that and that her daughter was fine now. It was a confirmation that there was no other child stronger than Ariel. She was able to recover even more quickly than other children and wasn’t that a flex?This evening, they were finally leaving the hospital for home and Ariel couldn’t be more happy that she was finally leaving the place that smelled like drugs twenty-four-seven. She was hyperactive for her discharge, gathering her belongings herself and singing to the little mermaid movie song that played in the room. She gathered her clothes and sanitary in the bag and zipped it afterward. “I’m done, Mommy,” she announced, her teeth on full display as she smiled. Bree rose from the couch and walked to the child, examining the room for anything forgotten. Ariel hadn’t let her father have their belongings as she wanted to do it herself. Nod
Iris scratched the back of her neck and with her head lowered, she muttered. “Emily died! Even before she could be taken to the hospital.”“What?” Bree’s legs lost their balance and she almost fell backward if it wasn’t for her good reflex and her hold on the wall. “What did you just say?”“You heard it. Emily didn’t survive the fall. The police weren’t able to set up a preventive measure before she fell. It was tragic that I couldn’t even look at her body.”Her hands flew to her mouth as she gazed at Iris with wide eyes, her hands trembling while she tried to process the words in her head. She’d thought of the possibility of Emily unable to survive the fall but it still came as a shock to her. Who would have thought that Emily would die so soon after her obsession with them? Who would have thought that she would die so easily? Only if she’d repented and lived her life as she should, getting over her obsession with Spencer and Ariel, maybe she would’ve still been alive with them. It
“Well, I agree with being stupid. Way fucking stupid for ever letting you go.”With tense shoulders, Bree walked around the kitchen while she prepared the food instead of Spencer. She carefully picked up the shopping board and skillfully continued slicing the vegetables and meat, reshaping the shapeless vegetables that he’d sliced. Afterward, she grabbed a pan, placed it on the stove, and poured oil on it before pouring the vegetables, the fresh scent of fried vegetables and meat immediately filling the air. Turning around, she stretched her hand to the top counter, stretching her foot to get to it. When she was still unable to reach the counter, she groaned, her eyes searching for the small stool that she usually used in the kitchen. But as her eyes fell on it and as she was about to move to the other side of the kitchen to pick it up, Spencer showed up behind her, her back to his chest as he stretched his hand to the counter. “What you want?” Cold shivers ran down her spine at t
Spencer’s eyes grew wide as he stared at the words on the paper that Ariel wrote, his head shattering at the words of his daughter. God, he was a fucking failure, he cursed in his heart. He didn’t deserve to be the child’s father. All she needed was protection, love, and care and all he did was the opposite. He even tried to separate her from her mother, the person that she loved the most in her life. Fuck! He deserved nothing good.How could his daughter blame herself for something that wasn’t her fault, something that she knew nothing about? He found his feet stepping forward as his eyes fell on Bree who had her head lowered as tears streamed down her cheek. He dropped the book in the closet and brought his attention to Bree. “It’s fine, don’t blame yourself, okay?” The mother and daughter were fond of blaming themselves for situations that had nothing to do with them. They found themselves overthinking almost all the time.It was a strong feature that they shared. “I didn’t kn…kno
The early hours of the next day soon rolled in revealing Bree helping Ariel back to her bed after helping her wash up. “Do you feel alright, dear?” The child let out a yawn and lay on the bed, pulling the blanket to her chest. “I’m sleepy again.”“What? You didn’t sleep at night?”“I forced Daddy to read to me after you fell asleep,” the child confessed, letting out a mischievous grin. “He had no choice but to do my bidding.”“Ariel? You’re sick. You shouldn’t stay up late. How could you force him to do that?”“Daddy looked so helpless,” her tiny laughter filled the air around them. Bree sighed as she watched her daughter speak about Spencer and how she’d made him so helpless the previous night. Well, Spencer had insisted on staying with them in the hospital despite her protest and he’d only left when they woke up after Ariel pointed out how disheveled he looked. He needed to freshen up.Last night, he’d slept while sitting beside Ariel’s bed and she’d taken the spot on the couch. It
“No, Ariel, it’s Daddy, okay? And…and…” Why the fuck was he stuttering now. The whole shit was already driving him nuts at the moment. “I mean, I’m sorry for what I did to your Mommy, okay? I was out of my mind. Daddy admits to be wrong.” Ariel still didn’t spare him a glance. She looked around the whole room, staring at everywhere but him. “Ariel, please speak to Daddy,” he pleaded. If she so pleases, he didn’t mind dropping to his knees right then and pleading for forgiveness.“What? It’s Mommy that you should be apologizing to.”“I did and…and she didn’t forgive me. Will you at least forgive Daddy? I’ll make it up to you, I promise. I’ll never think of taking your Mommy away from you ever.”“You tried to separate us.”“It was really juvenile of me. Why don’t we do it this way.” He gently took one of the child’s palms and brought it to his chest, gazing lovingly at her. “Why don’t you punish me instead? Give me a punishment, anyone.”“Punishment?”He bobbed his head up and down. “