CHAPTER 12BELLA I was almost near the door rushing to leave when I heard Gabriel ask “Where do you think you are going? We are not done yet!” His voice was a mix of tones of hurt and rage. I slowly turned to look at him. What is wrong with him? After all of that, we are definitely done! Oh my God, his eyes are all puffy and red. Was he crying? “Please come sit”, he patted the space next to him on the couch. I just wanted to get out of there. Why is he making this more painful? “Please” he repeated. I slowly made my way to the couch. He gently turned me to face him and cupped my face with his palms. He looked into my eyes and said “I am not disgusted by the sight of your scars nor will I ever hate you. If anything, I think I have fallen more in love with you! Please believe me. For the first time in my adult life, I cried tonight. I cried because when I saw your scars, I could only imagine how much pain you endured and wished I could have been there to have saved you from it and tak
CHAPTER 13BELLA Gabriel was playing around with his food and seemed to be enjoying our conversations more than eating “For a guy, you eat real slow! Eat up already, I want you to go through the stuff I got you!” I had to say to get him to force down his meal. “All done! Happy now?” he asked me, and I nodded a yes, and then he said “Let me clear this up and take it downstairs while you get the stuff out of the bags. I want to see what you got Jacob, too. Be back in a jiffy!” As soon as he left, I started to unpack excitedly. Gabriel was back quickly, and we started going through Jacob’s stuff first. He was so pleased to see that I had chosen some stuff for them to match. “Jacob is going to be so happy when he sees everything you bought him, especially the basketball. Thank you so much” I tell him as I start packing up Jacob’s stuff back into the bag. He leaned forward and gave me a peck on my lips, smiled lovingly at me, and said that there was no need for Thank Yous as this was just
CHAPTER 14GABRIEL Before going to pick up Uncle Joe, we made a quick stop at a Café. I went in to get some chocolate éclairs for my aunt Brie as they were her favourites. My Bella, Arianna, and Jacob were chatting away, and it was truly heartwarming to see the bond they shared. They came in to help carry the coffees and milkshake they asked me to get for them, and as we were heading back to the car, two people came running past us and stopped in front. One was taking photos, and the other with a notepad and pen started asking questions one after the other. “Mr Knight, what are you doing in Honeyville? Who are these people with you? Is it true that you and Miss Shaw are back together? She informed some of the sources that you proposed and will be making it known to the public soon. Is it true?” I guided everyone safely into the car, closed the doors and then turned around, lifted up my hand to motion for him to be quite and spoke with my deep, stern voice, “Firstly, Know that whoever
CHAPTER 15GABRIEL My Bella and Arianna were touching the surfaces and looking up at the high raised ceiling, with the magnificent chandeliers and just admiring everything around and comparing what they were seeing with each other. As we toured the place, Bella had long left my side and partnered up with Arianna. Uncle Joe, Jacob, and I were also awestruck by what we were seeing, but we were nowhere close to how excited my Bella and Arianna were. “This place is like something out of a fairy tale Ari, everything about it is just so magical. Can you imagine living in a place like this!? How awesome would that be!” “True Bell, I think that the previous owner was probably totally obsessed with the fairy-tale world and decided to design this place like this. Oh my God! Bell, come check out this killer view!” I was taking in all of their reactions and comments about the place. Not a single negative one came out of their mouths. After we had completed the tour, I asked the agent to allow us
CHAPTER 16GABRIEL My Bella has not been feeling well since yesterday at the Diner. Arianna had come back with her from the restroom and asked if we could leave cos she wasn’t feeling well. I wanted to get her to the doctor, but she insisted she just needed to rest. When we got back, she told us that she wanted to go put her head down for a bit and would be fine. I tried checking up on her during the night, but her door was locked, and her phone was off. If she is still not well this morning, I am going to forcefully take her to the doctor. I am just about to leave my room when Arianna rushes in with a newspaper. She looks horrified. “Gabe this is real bad! Bella is in a state!” she tells me as she shows me the front page of the paper. There’s a picture of the four of us which was taken at the Café with the caption “BILLIONAIRE KNIGHT IN HONEYVILLE VISITING FAMILY” and a short article including the answers to the questions I gave yesterday . “You do know what this means, right? This
CHAPTER 17 GABRIEL "How about we go have another one of our man to man talks while Ari takes care of Bella? I promise to answer all your questions as honestly as possible” I tell Jacob, and he just nods his head in agreement as I guide him outside. How am I going to explain everything about myself to a twelve year old. Try to keep answers short and sweet, I tell myself. “Okay bud, the answer to your first question, well, I am a successful businessman, and I’m well known all over the world. What else, bud?” Looking confused with my answer, he then asks, “Are you like a mafia lord or something? Why do you have all those people with guns protecting you?" I was surprised at first and wondered what he knew about the Mafia at his age. I brushed those thoughts away quickly and then told him that I wasn’t in the mafia, but I guess I was just as powerful or perhaps more and being successful also brings with enemies who would want to hurt me. He seemed accepting of my answers and said that h
CHAPTER 18BELLA I could not believe what I was seeing. My mum looked distraught, crying bucket loads of tears, and holding the newspaper article up in her hands facing the camera. She was going on about how I was a rebellious daughter who got hooked on drugs and prostitution and because they wanted to send me for help to a rehab facility, I kidnapped my younger brother and ran away from home. She went on to say that they have been searching for us all over and didn’t go to the police cos at the end of the day I was her daughter and she didn’t want me to go to prison. She then pleaded with me to come home. She said that she loves and misses Jacob and I so much and just wanted to get me help to get better. I can not believe the nerve of that woman! She didn’t mention how long ago we left home and continued playing the role of the victim and distraught mother who loved her children more than her own life. She cried and repeatedly said how much she misses us and thanked Mr Knight for ca
CHAPTER 19*WARNING – THIS CHAPTER IS NOT SUITABLE FOR READERS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 YEARS. ADULT CONTENT. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED GABRIEL I watched as my Bella took off her clothes and walked sexily into the shower, and turned on the water. She turned and looked at me with hungry eyes, and I could not put in words how I felt at that moment. She looked like a Goddess, and I could not believe that she was finally ready for me to claim her as mine. I got rid of my clothes with speed and went in to join her. I took the body wash and lathered her body and washed her gently, and she turned to me and did the same. I then picked her up, wrapped her legs around my waist, and passionately kissed her. I released her lips and moved down towards her neck, and continued leaving trails of kisses. As I picked her up higher, I moved her so that her back was up against the wall and I held her tight with one hand so that she didn’t slip and used the other to get her legs over my shoulders as I po
CHAPTER 72BELLA We all stopped what we were doing when we heard the excited voices of the children as they returned from the tour of the place, and turned our attention to them.The words, 'totally awesome', 'so cool', 'so pretty', and many more positive comments could be heard. That meant they really liked what they had seen, and that put smiles on our dials. They looked ecstatic, and I heard someone ask, “I saw all that, right? Please tell me it wasn’t a dream” and another voice answered, “You definitely saw it, Tina, we all did. Our rooms are super awesome! Did you see how much clothing and shoes there were in each of our cupboards? Even the door signs with our names on it are so cool. Like our sign is in the shape of a butterfly and says ‘Welcome to Kira’s and Tina’s room.’ We both love butterflies! I think that those aunts who asked us so many questions had something to do with it cos look around, all over are the stuff we and the others told them we liked” I know, I should not
CHAPTER 71BELLA It’s finally here! The day we had all been eagerly planning and waiting for! Last night, after Gabriel and I checked up on my baby girl and Jacob, we joined the rest of the family in the living room and chatted till late hours of the night.When we left the bakery, the plan was to have an early night so that we would be well rested for the next day, however when we got home, we were all so excited and anxious and could not sleep.We wished the hands of time could move faster. After turning off the alarm and fully awake, I could hear the shower running. Gabriel was up early.I wondered if he managed to even fall asleep. He was so nervous about today. Last night, he seemed so stressed out when we got into bed, and I got worried and asked him what was going on. He then asked me, "What if all we did at Safe Haven were just to our liking and will not be that of the children’s?" I reassured him that I was confident that they were going to love everything about the place and t
CHAPTER 70NEOBeing amongst loved ones was just what I needed to get my mind off everything that happened with Crystal. The Knight family and our friends are phenomenal beings. Throughout the evening, they kept checking up on me without making it too obvious, though. Every time I caught Mrs. Knight watching me, she had a look of concern on her face, but she quickly changed to a smiling one as soon as she realized I was looking back at her. She is truly an earth angel. Ever since the first time Gabriel had introduced me to her, I was treated as her own son. Even though Gabriel and I had our fallout, I should have maintained contact with her. She had told me that she never believed that I was guilty of any of those things I was accused of but at the time I didn’t think of those who believed in me and whom would be hurt by me taking off. I was too busy drowning in self-pity. I am just glad to have sorted all our issues out now, and we can all move forward. But before I can completely do
CHAPTER 69BELLA We all were even happier after hearing Alex and Arianna’s good news. I silently wished that joyous moments like those could last forever. Aside from the recent drama with Crystal, it's been so amazing having everyone together. If only Aunt Brie, Amber, and Pearl wouldn’t have to leave, but they had their commitments in Honeyville. During their time here, they have helped to bring us all so much closer together and have helped me a lot after being discharged from the hospital. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Erica ask who would like to help her out at the bakery to prepare treats for the Welcome Party. Everyone volunteered, Yes, even the guys! They said that they would help with the packaging and other odd jobs we may need them for. Gabriel and I told them that we would go check up on my baby girl and Jacob first and then meet them at the bakery. Thereafter, everyone decided to go home and freshen up and dress more comfortably and return to the bakery at a s
CHAPTER 68ARIANNA My blabber mouth just had to let the cat out of the bag! That’s so not how I wanted everyone to find out about my relationship with Alex, but at least we got positive reactions. Gabriel totally freaked me out at first, though. My brother had always been on my case to stop messing around and commit to a stable relationship. But I was worried about how he would react when he found out that it was Alex I had decided to commit to. I shamelessly flirted with Alex every chance I got for years. He entertained it and flirted right back. We were very similar in not wanting to commit to any relationship at the time. But as time went by, I guess we both realized that there was more to the playful flirting, but we had too much pride to confess it to each other. I noticed that Alex started getting all jealous whenever he found out that I had been out on dates. He had been my brother’s right hand for many years. Being protective over me was part of the job at first, but it soon
CHAPTER 67BELLA We got our fur babies all comfortable in bed baskets and packed up into the vehicle, we then headed off to Safe Haven. After we were screened at the gates, we were allowed in, and saying that I was impressed from the time we entered the place would be an understatement! Gabriel sure went all out. From the security gates, the beautiful gardens and children’s outdoor entertainment facilities, it was clearly visible that a very large sum of money was spent to get it looking the way it did and we had yet to see the inside of the place. Gabriel handed over our fur babies to the carers, who fell in love with them immediately and rushed off to get them all comfortable and settled in. As we entered, the house was filled with so much laughter and joy. Our group of women could be heard amongst the voices of the Safe Haven staff, and everyone sounded so happy and excited. Mrs Knight was on a roll. She had everyone on their toes, rearranging stuff and making sure everything was
CHAPTER 66BELLA Gabriel went with Neo to sort out some paperwork with the doctor. Erica and I remained in the waiting room. I phoned Arianna to check up on my baby girl and Jacob and she told me not to worry, they were both fine and that the house hold staff would be watching over them as all the women were going over to Safe Haven. I am glad they were still going. Then again, Mrs Knight would never put something as important as Safe Haven on hold because of Crystal. After my call to Arianna, I noticed that Erica was lost in deep thought. I gave her a side hug and asked if she was okay. She turned to face me and spoke in a sad tone, “Bell, I know it’s a terrible thing to say right now and will probably make me seem like a cold hearted and selfish person, but I can’t help it, I am glad that Crystal didn’t make it!” I gave her a full hug and told her that I fully understood how she felt, and she had valid reasons to feel all that she was feeling. “Do you think that Neo and I would eve
CHAPTER 65BELLA Even though we got home rather late from the Café, everyone had waited up for us as they were so worried and curious about what had happened at the station house. We didn’t go into too much detail but gave them the gist of it all. Mr Knight said that there was no way they would allow Neo to suffer any consequences because of his sisters wrong doings. He instructed Gabriel to do whatever he could from his side, and he would also see what he could do from his end. Mrs Knight too said sternly, “I don’t care what you both do, but you better protect that boy! He has suffered more than enough because of that ungrateful wretch!” After much discussion till late into the night, we had all decided that we women would head out to Safe Haven the following morning to inspect the place and make sure it was all prepared and ready for the children to move in . The place already got the thumbs up from Building, Health & Safety, and Child welfare Inspectors. Also, all the registration
CHAPTER 64ERICA Most of my childhood and right up to early adulthood memories were not so pleasant, and I wished I could totally wipe them out of my mind. My mum and dad were like oil and water and fought all the time. I used to wonder how they ended up married. They never shared that tale. Long story short, when they finally decided to divorce, I thought it was the best thing ever! One would say that I was crazy to have been happy that my parents were splitting up, but trust me, they were HELL together! Having witnessed what they went through, I had lost faith in relationships. I needed to get away from my parents, and as soon as I could, I moved out of Honeyville and headed for the city, and started to rebuild my life. My mum and I kept in contact, but my dad distanced himself from me. He seemed to have divorced his daughter, too! I was so angry at first, but I decided that I was never going to force anyone to love me and especially not my so-called father! Once I settled in the c