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Picture-perfect family
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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An undeserved second chance Threat
The drive to the cemetery where Craig was to be buried, seemed to take forever, with Ryan seated stiffly in the backseat and Angela seated beside him, rubbing his shoulders in support and sympathy. He still couldn’t believe it, although he supposed that there really wasn’t any reason to be so surprised. After all, the doctors had told him that this was what would most likely happen in the end and that Craig was highly unlikely to come out of the coma. Ryan had held out so much hope though, but still, Craig had died. The twins now had no one but him, and would never know either of their biological parents. Even though he had had this whole while, and even the two weeks since Craig had died, to come to terms with the loss, it felt so unbelievable and unfair. “I hope those bastards rot in jail for the rest of their miserable lives.” He ground out through clenched teeth, gripping Angela’s hand hard when she took his hand to comfort him so that she winced. “I’m sorry.” He apologized imme
An undeserved second chance Deaf ears
The rest of the funeral passed in a jiffy. As usual, the paparazzi tried to get Ryan to talk, but he ignored them the same way he did whenever they tried to get him to say something of recent. Craig’s father, Noah, had invited him and Angela to have something to eat at their family house, and Ryan took him up on the offer, so now, they were at the house, sitting in tense silence with Noah, and Anna in their study. Angela was also there, and for once, Ryan was grateful for her presence, as he felt very uncomfortable being alone with Anna and Noah. The two of them were staring daggers at him, as though he had killed their favorite puppy, which he supposed he had done in a way by not informing them of their grandkids' existence on time.“Uh … you’ve got a really nice place here, Mr. Noah. I like it all … the house, the lush lawns, everything.” Angela said into the thick silence, fidgeting a little and wishing that they would just go home, but she had to be there for Ryan.“Thank you, Ang
An undeserved second chance Christmas present
“So, I was going to tell you that I quit my job, but I haven’t found the time to do that yet,” Sandra told Becca as they walked down the aisle at the supermarket, putting stuff in their respective trolleys. Alex was strapped to her chest with a baby carrier, and he was sleeping peacefully with his small mouth open, despite the chaos and noise that was in the supermarket. Christmas was near, and so the place was packed full, as everyone was in a rush to buy things in preparation for the festive period. “Excuse me?” Becca said, totally surprised, as that was the last thing that she had been expecting Sandra to say. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but anyway, you know I’ve not been so fine recently.” “Wow. That’s no excuse, but okay. Have you told Dan?” “No. I’ll tell him today.” “Why did you quit though? I thought you loved the job. I know for a fact that I enjoy having you there a lot. I’m going to miss you so much. Please tell me that you’re joking, Sandra.” Becca begged, but
An undeserved second chance Common ground
The silence in Becca’s living room was so thick and oppressive that it felt like it could cut butter. Dan sat in one of the armchairs, his face impassive, but his body itself was another story entirely. He was holding himself very rigidly and was clearly trying to control his disapproval and not say something that would startle his already skittish sister. Sandra sat beside Becca on the sofa, looking very defensive, as she waited for her brother to say something, while Becca pretended to be so engrossed in the peek-a-boo session that she was having with Alex, who was in a crib in front of her. Luckily enough, her Alex was very easy to entertain, and the rapturous laughter that he let out now and then served to dilute the tension a little.“Did you hear what I said, Dan? I said that I’m going to leave the first week of January. I already told you I was leaving not too long ag…”“Okay.”“O … okay?” Sandra asked unsurely, sure that her ears were deceiving her.“What were you expecting me
An undeserved second chance Visitor
Toby, Becca’s younger brother arrived at her house in the evening the following day. He took one look at her and whopped in equal parts of surprise and excitement, staring at her large, round stomach with wide eyes as he got out of the taxi to meet her where she was standing in her driveway to welcome him.“What? You’ve never seen a pregnant woman before? Are you not going to grab your luggage, or do you want the taxi driver to have it as a Christmas present?” Becca asked him playfully, although she couldn’t exactly say that she blamed him for his surprise. After all, she saw herself in the mirror every day and was only getting used to the big, tired-looking woman that she saw every day. It was all going to be so worth it in the end, though.“Ah, right!” Toby said and went back to pick up his small luggage, before coming back to hug her gently, taking care to avoid her stomach. Becca rolled her eyes and hugged him back tightly. She had missed him so much, and the last time that she ha
An undeserved second chance A slip of the tongue
Becca and Toby arrived at Dan’s house at exactly ten minutes past eight. Dan opened the door to let them in, looking like a million bucks. From the looks of him, he had just freshly showered and smelled so good that Becca fought the urge to lean into him. She was keenly aware of her brother, who was looking between her and Dan, though, so she smiled at Dan and tried her best to act normal. “Hey, you. What’s up? Why are you dressed up? Oh, this is my brother Toby, whom I told you was coming to spend Christmas and New Year holidays with me. Toby, this is Dan, Sandra’s brother.” Becca introduced them. They both shook hands. “Nice to meet you, Toby. Becca here can hardly stop talking about you.” “It’s nice to meet you too, Dan. My sister says that you’re a doctor.” Toby said to Dan. Becca rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Her brother was very passionate about becoming a doctor someday. It was a good thing that Ryan had made provision to help him through med school, if he ever got in, whi
An undeserved second chance The start of something new
The snow began to fall on Christmas eve, lightly at first, and then more seriously later on, just as Sandra had predicted. By the time it was morning, everywhere was white with snow, and so beautiful that it was breathtaking. Becca got up late, feeling particularly sluggish this morning, despite the fact that she had gone to bed quite early. Her lower back was hurting more than usual, and she kept reaching behind her unconsciously to rub at it.By the time she took her bath and padded to the living room, Toby had already prepared breakfast and was sipping a cup of hot coffee while talking to what she assumed will be one of his friends on the phone. He hung up some minutes after she came to sit down opposite him.“Good morning, big sis. You look like crap.” He told her matter of factly.“Gee, thanks Toby for your kind words. You sure know how to raise a woman’s self-esteem a million notches. However, you're right, but I guess I not only look like crap. I feel like it too.”“Well, I jus
An undeserved second chance Accusations
“Uh … what the hell is that, Becca?” Dan asked incredulously, staring at Becca as though she had somehow, managed to grow two heads right in front of him.“I believe that you can clearly see what it is, Dan, or have you suddenly become blind?” Becca asked jokingly, laughing a little and enjoying his reaction far more than she had thought that she would.“It’s a freaking motorcycle … a machine … a beast … a beauty … oh, my God!”“Stop drooling, Dan. Drooling doesn’t look good on you. Don’t worry, it’s all yours.” She finished, raising an eyebrow at him, but suddenly, she realized that he was not pleased, at least not in the way she had thought that he would be.“It’s a freaking sports bike. A brand new sports bike. How on earth and when did you have this delivered that we didn’t notice?” Dan exclaimed, in equal parts of wonder and dismay, as he moved around the bike, and inspected every inch of it. He seemed to like it but was clearly not happy that she got it for him.“Well, I have my
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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
