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Contemplation
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
An undeserved second chance Letting go
Alex and Emma bantered light-heartedly for a while, as they were wont to do, with Emma bringing up reasons why she thought that summer camp would be awful, and Alex countering them one after the other. In the end, she grudgingly accepted that it was going to be okay – just okay, though. At that moment, there was a slight knock on the door, and in came Dan, looking like a million bucks, but he no longer set Becca’s heart racing like he once did. He sent a smoldering gaze Becca’s way, which she pretended she did not see and which didn’t last long, because it was shortened by Emma and Alex who ran over to Dan and planted themselves on each of his legs, leaving him no choice but to look down at them.“Hey, little Tigers.” He acknowledged them, ruffling their hair and trying his best to answer the numerous questions which they shot at him one after the other in quick succession. He patiently answered the questions one by one, after which he bribed them each with candies, which he always se
An undeserved second chance Out of sight
“What do you mean you don’t want to go to summer camp anymore? It’s starting next week and it’s all you’ve been raving about for so many days now.” Ryan asked his daughter, eyebrows raised.“I know. I just don’t want to go anymore.” Taylor repeated, stubbornly, looking like she was on the verge of tears.“Awww, come on, honey. What is the matter?” He asked her, wiping his hands and coming over to stand beside her on the high stool on which she sat in the kitchen.“Annie and I fought, and all our friends supported her. All of them are not talking to me.” Taylor confided in him, a tear or two slipping out of the corner of her eye. Ryan placed his hand on her shoulder, and she hugged him around the waist and had a good cry, while he just stood there and held her. When she was done, she wiped her eyes and smiled at him a little shakily.“So you don’t want to go because of them?” Ryan asked.“Yes, they’re my friends, or they used to be, but now, they’re not talking to me anymore, and I eve
An undeserved second chance An unlikely encounter
The summer camp was bustling with activity. Kids of different ages moved up and down, getting their luggage and doing stuff, while Taylor stood alone in the corner, the handle of her luggage firmly gripped in her hands as she surveyed her surroundings. There was not a single familiar face there, although she was sure that her former best friend was somewhere in the camp. The sudden urge to cry and go meet someone in charge to tell them that she wanted to go back home came over her, but she resisted the urge. She was a big girl, after all, and she was going to make a lot of friends here. Raising her head, she joined the throng of milling kids and set about doing what she had to do.That first day, she didn’t make any friends, but at least some of the girls in her room talked with her. Two days later, she spied her former best friend with a group of some of their friends from school and some other new kids during lunch. Totally feeling alone and friendless, especially as the girl she us
An undeserved second chance Summoning courage
For some time now, Becca had become increasingly troubled about the fact that she was keeping the knowledge of Ryan’s child away from him. She didn’t know the reason why she felt this way, considering the fact that in the beginning, she didn’t give a rat’s ass about whether he deserved to know about his child or not. Maybe it was because Emma was away, for the first time in her almost seven years on earth and Becca had all the time on her hands and little to do with it, that she felt this way. Maybe it was the increasingly uncomfortable feeling that she had about lying to her friends, who were practically now her and Emma’s family all these years. Maybe it was because Emma was growing very rapidly, and Becca did not want to continue spinning lies upon lies. After all, it stood to reason that the child would want to see her father’s pictures and stuff like that sooner or later. What was Becca going to tell her when she asked for stuff like that? After all, this was the digital age, an
An undeserved second chance Confession time
At first, Becca thought that Dan didn’t hear her clearly, because he was still looking at her with the same vulnerable expression that had been on his face when she delivered her news. So she repeated herself in a shaky voice, looking at him to make sure he heard her this time around. “Huh?” He said at last after a minute had passed. The expression on his face now gave way to a very confused look. He smiled a little, as though he was not sure if she was toying with him or not, the look of confusion increasing when he saw how deadly serious she was.“Emma’s father is not dead. We’re just divorced. I told you he was dead because…” Becca began.“Emma’s father…”“Yes, my ex-husband.”“He’s not dead…” Dan asked.“No, he’s not. I only said that becau…”“The one that was supposed to have died in a ghastly motor accident?” Dan asked again. He wasn’t letting her finish her sentences, and the confused look had finally left his face. A look that Becca had never thought she would see Dan direct
An undeserved second chance Back in the past
For some moments, Becca and Dan simply stared at each other, neither of them saying anything. Becca fought the urge to drop her gaze. Already, she could see what she thought was judgment in Dan’s eyes and in the way he was staring at her as if she was a different person from the woman he had known for the past eight years. She had nothing to be ashamed of though and so she raised her chin defiantly and waited for him to say something first. “I didn’t know anything about the man before the divorce, but Sandra was always watching the news about him because she loved the gossip channels and he was trending then. No wonder I thought you looked familiar when I first saw you…” He trailed off and looked away, but not before she spotted the troubled look in his eyes. “You thought I looked familiar?” “When I newly met you, yes, but I couldn’t place where I had seen you. But then, you changed your appearance immediately. I’m guessing it was because of what happened you did that.” “Yes, it wa
An undeserved second chance Rounding off
I met Ryan six years after Peter and I started dating, while I was still working as a clerk in the company. At first, I did not even know who the hell he was because I first met him at the restaurant where I was working. I know, it sounds stupid because the man is filthy rich, and I work in his company, but that restaurant was the last place that I would have expected to find someone like him. It was a middle-class restaurant, not the type that rich people frequented at all. I still remember that night crystal clear.” Becca paused a little, her eyes taking on a dreamy look that told Dan all that he needed to know. She was clearly still in love with the man.“He was so handsome and well-built. I noticed him the second he walked in because it was kind of a dull night, so there weren’t many customers in the restaurant. He was dressed simply, and he was alone, so he looked every inch the average but insanely hot adult male. I was the one who waited on him. You probably don’t want to hear t
An undeserved second chance Goodbyes
Throughout the rest of the camp, Emma and Taylor were practically inseparable, so much so that Alex got a bit jealous at the fact that Emma did not mind that he was not tagging along with her, but Emma did not care the slightest bit. She loved her new friend, Taylor, with whom she talked about everything and nothing, and whom she spent most of her time with, carrying out camp activities, or just having fun and playing around. Taylor told Emma all about her dad and how much she loved him, and Emma told her all about her mother, Dan, and Sandra.“You know, my mom and Dan obviously like each other. I don’t know why they don’t just get married.” Emma confided as both girls sat on Taylor’s bed, snacking on some expensive biscuits that Taylor’s dad had packed for her. According to Taylor, the man was super rich but didn’t like to show it.“Oh, you’d like it if they got married?” Taylor asked in surprise.“Of course, I would. I would have a dad then. I don’t know my real dad, you know. He di
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An undeserved second chance Promises
It felt as though large bags of cement were holding down Ryan’s eyelids, and try as he might, he could not force them open. He could hear his daughters’ voices as they talked over themselves about something that he did not have the energy to follow. Then he heard Becca’s low voice asking them to keep it down so as not to wake daddy.“But daddy won’t wake up. He never does. I want him to wake up.” Taylor said, banging on the table and chanting ‘wake up, daddy’ several times. Within seconds, Emma took up the chanting too, while Becca tried in vain to get them to quieten.“Your dad is unconscious, but we have to hope that he will wake up soon. If you don’t behave yourselves, I won’t let you come visit him again. The doctors think that he might be able to hear you. He wouldn’t like it if you both were being stubborn and disturbing him, would he?” Becca asked.“No. I just miss him so much. I’m glad that those bad men are gone.” Emma’s voice said, and then Ryan felt a small hand patting his
An undeserved second chance A broken heart
Becca watched in horror as Sam and Ryan collapsed to the ground, almost as though in slow motion. They fell gracefully, as though they were doing a dance, and then both remained unmoving. By the time all this happened, Ben had gotten to the car and opened the door to the backseat in which the children were, the remaining cash from the ten thousand that Ryan brought firmly clutched in his hand. He opened the car door, produced a knife from seemingly nowhere, and although it took great effort because of his busted shoulder, he managed to cut off the ropes binding them and told them to make a run for it. Then as the shots rang out, he somehow managed to get himself into the driver's seat and drove recklessly away from the scene. The children ran towards Becca, crying and shivering, and after hugging them all briefly, she ordered them not to move from where they were. Ryan’s head of security was combing the bushes, trying to find a sign of any other person there, after he called for help
An undeserved second chance Confusion
“He’s clean.” The man who was watching Ryan and who had searched him said at last after he was satisfied that there was nothing incriminating on him.“Where’s the other car?”“Travis is bringing it.”“Good. He'll leave with this one.” The man said. Ryan’s heart sank further. There was yet another of them, making them four, and those were the ones he knew about. Ryan wondered which of them was Sandra’s ex-husband.“I’ve fulfilled my own end of the bargain. Release my children.” Ryan said.“The man in the car will take them back to town, where they’ll easily be found.” The man who had been giving commands told him, staring at him in a way that made him extremely uncomfortable. Ryan had already dubbed him ‘commander’ in his mind.They stood there waiting for the person called Travis to bring the car that they were waiting for. Ryan was on edge the whole time, wondering if at any moment now, all hell was going to break loose. If only the children were already out of there. The Travis guy
An undeserved second chance The meeting
The night air was cold, and the streets deserted, which was not a surprise, considering how late, or early it was. Ryan hurried through the streets, his head down, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible as he hurried through the night with the bag in his hands, even though there was nobody around. He had been warned not to take his phone along with him, so he left it in his room, along with a note for Becca in her room, explaining what he had done. Even though everything in him pushed him to look back to see if he would notice his head of security following him, he resisted the urge to look back.The kidnappers might be watching him and the last thing he needed was to look suspicious. He trusted his people's ability to do the job. The other man had once been a private investigator before coming into Ryan’s employ, so Ryan was confident in their abilities to blend in with the shadows. Finally, he got to the place where he had been told to come and saw the car that had been provide
An undeserved second chance A walk in the night
Sleep was a long time coming for Ryan, as it had been since he got the news of his children’s kidnap got to him. Tonight, he was sleeping in his room as against the previous night, when he had spent the night comforting Becca. She was sleeping in the guest room again, with Sandra this time around. Ryan was trying his best to be strong for her, but he was getting to the end of his endurance. The thought of his sick daughter and her sister holed up somewhere with some bloody kidnappers was enough to make him go insane.He got up from his bed, pacing to and fro the wide length of his room, his mind in turmoil. The money was in the process of being sent, but since it was such a large sum, it would be days before the kidnappers would get it in the account details they sent. Were the children supposed to remain with the kidnappers till then? The thought of that sickened and scared him to no end. He was operating on autopilot, having not had more up to five hours of sleep in two days, but ea
An undeserved second chance New plans
“Ben has to go.” Sam thought to himself, as he sat with the children, watching them. It wasn’t as though they had anywhere to go, or that they could escape, considering that one of them was sick. If they even managed to escape, the chances were that they would die of starvation in the dense forest, that was if some animal did not get to them first, as he had told them. None of it mattered to him anyway, because they were going to die one way or the other. What mattered was that the millions that he was expecting became his before they died. He had thought and thought of the best way to dispose of them, and he had finally come up with a smart plan to dump them in a river some distance away from here. it would be ages before they would be found, if they were ever found, that is.One thing was sure, however, and that was the fact that he was not going to let them get back to their parents and let them know that he was the one who had kidnapped them. For all his tough talk while they were
An undeserved second chance Not to be trusted
Becca awoke with a start, immediately realizing that she was not in her own bed. The events of the previous day came rushing back to her in a jiffy. Ryan was not in the room any longer and her phone was ringing. That was the sound that had woken her up. She dived for it, hoping that it was the kidnappers who were calling. They were to send the account details in which they wanted the ransom to be paid today, and also let Becca and Ryan talk to the kids today. Becca had sent the names of the drugs that Emma was supposed to be using, to the kidnappers, but she didn’t know if they received them. It wasn’t the kidnappers who were calling though, but Trevor. “Becca? Where are you? I was at your house last night, and I’m here now. I’m just coming from your school and was told you hadn’t come in today.”“I’m at Ryan’s place.” There was a short silence, which was filled with disapproval from Trevor’s end.“What are you doing there?”“Emma, Alex, and Taylor were kidnapped yesterday.” Becca in
An undeserved second chance Feverish
Sleep was a long time coming for Becca and when it finally came, it was filled with nightmares. Never in her life had she been so frightened. Her daughter and other kids whom she saw as hers were out there somewhere in the hands of a maniac and she was here lying in a very large and comfortable in one of the guest rooms in Ryan’s house. Maybe she had been wrong in asking Ryan not to involve the police. Maybe by now, the police would have found them, or at least, would be close to doing so. She sure as hell did not trust Sam to take care of three children for as long as it took them to send him the money.She tossed and turned on the bed, her mind drawing up different scenarios, none of them good. Finally, she fell into an unrestful sleep and dreamt that for some reason, Sam had gotten pissed, and had sent Emma’s two feet, and all ten of Taylor’s fingers in the mail, with a note that said Alex’s head would follow suit. In the dream, as soon as she opened the bag containing the gruesome
An undeserved second chance Captives
“Damn! I can’t believe how far we’ve come. We’re going to be bloody millionaires before long.” Ben told Sam enthusiastically, as he wolfed down a large bowl of pasta that he had prepared himself. “Yeah, me too. I hope the account into which we’re sending the money is legit.” Sam said in turn. He was also eating a plate of pasta, but he was eating his food more slowly than Ben was.“You’ve asked me this several times, and I’ve told you several times that you have nothing to fear. I’ve done stuff like this numerous times before, just not with such a large amount, and I have the right connections. Or don’t you trust me? The only thing is that we’re going to give a commission to the person helping us, but we will still have a lot of cash when we’re done. That’s for sure.”“Okay. I trust you. Are you sure they’re not dead yet or going to die? Why aren’t they awake? It’s been hours. I’m starting to get worried. That Ryan guy seems like he might pose a problem. He would not give us the money
