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Wendy looked at Sabrina, her lips pursed tightly as her eyes welled with concern. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," she started softly. "But you need to think about what's best for Saben. He's growing up so fast, and one day, he'll be asking why his father didn't show up for him."The frustration inside Sabrina became unbearable; she shot back, "I know that,Grandma" Wendy's words were so heavy to bear that Sabrina could hardly be patient as they sank on her shoulders. “I’m doing the best I can!. I am the one raising him. Not Benedict. Me."Leila, the peacemaker, reached out to touch Sabrina's shoulder with a soft hand. "Sweetheart, I know it's hard. But maybe. maybe it's time to face him, even if it's just for Saben's sake."Sabrina shook her head. Her frustration was building. "No, Mom. I can't. Each time I let him back in, it feels like reopening old wounds. It always ends the same. He doesn't care. He never has."."Sometimes," Wendy said, her voice firm, "we hav
Sabrina took a shuddering breath. She wanted so much to believe her grandmother. She wanted so desperately to trust that she would find the strength needed to get through this. But the doubt remained, shrouded at the periphery of her mind like the dark cloud that hovered off to one side. Then there was Benedict's echo, his sudden invasion into their lives.The doorbell rang, cutting the silence. Sabrina jumped in surprise at the sudden ringing of the doorbell. Leila got up with ease, but Sabrina didn't budge. She was in a state of deep thought, trying to connect the dots of her emotions.Wendy, however, noticed that tension in Sabrina's shoulders. "You are much stronger than you give yourself credit for, Sabrina. Even when you're weak, you rise. You always do."Sabrina looked at her grandmother. Her heart was heavy, yet strangely comforted by her words. It was true. She had risen. Even when Benedict's betrayal had well and truly shattered her, and everything she'd fought for seemed to
Meanwhile, in the elegant Thompson Mansion, Teresa sat at her grand mahogany desk, lightly tapping her fingers on the surface as she went through a stack of documents. She was deep in thought about recent events with Benedict, trying to understand the growing tension between him and Sabrina. Benedict wanted to see their son again, and it stirred up feelings in Teresa that she hadn't expected. Sabrina had been gone for about five years, and Teresa always treated her as a daughter. The point remains that Benedict never loved her fully, which was the reason that made her leave him.Teresa missed Sabrina and wanted to find out about a child named Saben, whom she considered might be her grandchild. Benedict said their child was gone long before, that Saben was actually from another man.She suddenly got her phone buzzing. She got distracted from her thoughts. She looked at the screen and felt her heart beating fast when she saw an unknown number. In bold letters, it read "Private Investiga
Teresa thought of everything and went wild with her thoughts. Los Angeles is the place for fashion and luxury, and it is right that Sabrina is there. She missed Sabrina as a mother misses her child and felt a very strong urge to find out what was going on with her grandchild."I want you to keep a close watch on her, Detective," Teresa said, her voice steady and cold. "I need every piece of information you can gather. Where does Sabrina live? What school does her son Saben attend? I want to meet them in person.""Understood, Mrs. Thompson. We'll continue monitoring her and keep you informed of any new developments," the detective replied.Hanging up the phone, Teresa slumped in her chair and leaned back and stared out into the window as the sky was now spread before her. Now she only focused on that: Sabrina had gone off with a child. Even though Sabrina built the best possible life for herself, all of that aside, it meant to Teresa if Saben was really her grandchild, that she should
Teresa sat on the sofa and gazed at her phone; on its screen, a message from an investigator was staring back. Inside, everything she had: the office address of Sabrina, along with her mobile phone number. As she began rereading, her hands became slightly trembling. Mixed within her was excitement and nervousness as well as this yearning deep in to reconnect again.For a moment, she hesitated. What would Sabrina think? Would she even respond? Would she be angry that Teresa had gone to such lengths to find her? Despite the fears, Teresa knew this was something she had to do. There were too many years of silence, too many questions left unanswered. She couldn't let another day go by without trying.Deep breathing in, Teresa opened the messaging application and started typing on her device.Teresa:Sabrina,This is Teresa Thompson. I wish this text comes well to you. It will sound strange to you I think, but I want to see you. I have to say so much, and it is about time for us to see eac
This shadow, the shadow of the betrayal Clara, the lover of Benedict, had waited for, just begun to glow in Sabrina's life. All these years she was there but always on the sidelines watching with her eagle eye. Benedict's attentions waxed and waned toward Sabrina after all these years, and what drove Clara now was jealousy mixed with a desperate refusal to let go of what she thought hers. If Clara could not have Benedict then she could ruin Sabrina's life. Clara sat in her plush apartment, tapping the long, polished fingernails of her hand against the champagne flute.A wicked grin crept across her face as she opened up her laptop and scrolled through photos and whispers of Sabrina's success. Sabrina Ultra, the brand, was now the epitome of elegance and resilience, of strength and creativity. That was the thing Clara had hated about it. I will let the world see what is really behind that faultless mask,' Clara thought wickedly to herself, her eyes blazing with wickedness. She approache
A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts, and Penelope entered, her face set with determination. “The PR team is ready to draft a response. Also, the legal team is preparing to send a cease-and-desist to Clara.” Sabrina nodded. “Good. Let’s make it clear that I’m not going to let this slide.” As Penelope left to tidy up the loose ends, Sabrina's phone buzzed with a message. It was from an unknown number: "Enjoy your moment in the spotlight, Sabrina. It won't last long."Her hands gripped the phone tightly, her pulse racing. Clara wasn't finished yet—but neither was she. The next evening, she stormed into an exclusive restaurant where she knew Clara was dining. Heads turned as she crossed the room, exuding the aura of grandeur. Clara looked up to pretend surprise."Ah, if it isn't the woman of the hour," Clara said mockingly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Cut the drama," Sabrina snapped. "I know it was you who dished out that trash to the press.". Clara leaned back in her c
"Sabrina," Benedict said, his voice softening. "Please. I deserve to know the truth.If he is my son…I want to be part of his life." Sabrina's eyes welled with tears as she finally gazed at him, her guard breaking down. "Why now, Benedict? Why you care after all these years? You have made it obvious that you don't want the family thing with me long ago." His face contorted with regret."I was a fool, Sabrina. I didn't know what I had until it was gone. And if Saben is my son, I need to make things right—for him, and for you." Silence hung between them as Sabrina wrestled with her emotions. Finally, she took a deep breath, her voice trembling. "Yes," she admitted, her words barely above a whisper."Saben is your son." He just gasped. There was a mixture of shock and relief on his face as he ran his fingers through his hair, gasping hard as he tried to draw in her words. "My son." Benedict said almost to himself. Sabrina wiped at a tear on her cheek. Her voice was steady, but the storm i
For an instant, the room held its breath. No one breathed. Even the fire paused in its flicker, as if respecting her silent declaration of war against the life she did not desire.Then Nathaniel moved back as if she had slapped him."Eliana," Nathaniel growled, "you don't have to—"“But I do,” she cut in. “You both keep looking at me like I’m going to fall apart. Like I’m not capable of making hard choices.”She blinked fiercely, her throat tightening. "But I've made hard choices since the day your dad enter into our lives. Since the day I learned your dad planning to kill me and he included my brother Saben. And then you came along with your deals and your sweet lies, and I let myself think—I for a split second believed—maybe I could have something normal."Nathaniel opened his lips, but nothing came out.Damian stood stock still, as if someone had winded him.Eliana let go of the back of the frayed armchair as if she were the sole thing holding her together."Do you think I want thi
The room was dim, the wan gray light creeping through holes in the drapes. Eliana stood with arms crossed against her chest at the window, observing as the sky changed — black to blue, as if the world breathed in.She didn't catch the door's opening.Didn't catch the steps.But sensed him.Nathaniel."You should be sleeping," he whispered, his eyes closing as he closed the door.She didn't glance around. "So should you."A silence.Then his arrival at her."I couldn't sleep," he admitted.Her whisper a secret shared. "Neither could I."He stood behind her. Close enough to reach out and touch. Close enough to inhale the scent of her.But he didn't.Because he knew better.For if he'd have touched her back at the time, Nathaniel wasn't sure he ever would have let her go."Do you remember Nathaniel," Eliana gasped, "the first time we met?"Nathaniel smiled faintly. "It was your birthday that time ,You got mad at me easily?"Eliana smiled bitterly. "You were arrogant.""You were fire.""I
Dmitri’s smile stretched slow and serpentine across his face, eyes glinting like a blade catching light. “Good. Very good.”Nathaniel was on his feet in an instant. “You’re playing with fire, Eliana.”She stood tall, despite the quake in her chest. “Then let me burn.”Damian whistled low. "Remind me never to mess with you."Dmitri clapped once, the sound echoing through the warehouse like a shot. "Now we're getting somewhere. I like her. Too bad she's saddled with idiots."Nathaniel's glare could've softened steel. "If she gets hurt—""You'll do what? Growl at me?" Dmitri teased. "Relax, Harper. I'm not asking her to smuggle plutonium. Yet." He winked at Eliana.She didn't flinch. "What's the delivery?"Dmitri pulled out a weathered manila envelope from a locked drawer beneath the bar. “Coordinates. Names. A package.” He tossed it on the table. “You’ll take it to an old contact of mine. Neutral ground. He’ll trade it for something that might just help all of us survive William Harper.
Rain hit the hospital's glass windows, each drop reminding her that time was escaping her. Disinfectant and cold wind were the scents as Eliana stood stock-still in the hallway, her trembling hands clasped around the railing.Nathaniel Harper towered above her, his blue eyes veiled in desperation."You don't understand, Eliana. My dad—he's dead." His words were a growl, the words cutting through the air like the fine tooth of a blade.Eliana's swallow was concrete in her throat. "What do you mean?"Nathaniel sucked a rough breath into his chest, standing on the muscles in the back of his neck. "Vincent. My second. He's hunting me. Hunting you." His jaw hardened. "My father wants me to hurt. And he'll start with you."A chill ran through Eliana's body. As she thought about her answer, her ears picked up a voice that conquered the tension in the room.“I’d love to see him try Damian.”Damian Wolfe.Eliana had just time to see him leaning against the doorframe of the hospital room. His
The stillness of the hospital corridor had seemed so alien from the tempest of thoughts racing through Eliana's head. She sat with her elbows on her knees and fists clenched firmly together along the edge of a waiting-room chair.All this happened too suddenly yesterday.Damian Wolfe rested in his bed at the hospital, injured but recovering. Nathaniel Harper had defied his father and stood by her. And William Harper—cruel, killing, harsh—still existed, patiently waiting.She gasped sharply, trying to calm down.And then, in the midst of familiar quiet that was habitual, a voice interrupted."So… who's it going to be?"Eliana turned her head to look up at Sabrina Auburn looming over her, arms crossed, the wicked glint in her icy eyes.Eliana frowned. "What am I saying?"Sabrina chuckled, tilting her head to one side. "Come on, Eliana. I'm not dim. Two handsome, seriously sexy males hovering around you like wolves, ready to tear each other apart into shreds? It's practically a bloody mov
William spat out a bitter laugh. "Luck had nothing to do with it."The doctor hesitated. "You need rest. Pushing yourself—"William's glare cut him off. "I don't have time for rest."The physician huffed but nodded and left the room.William beside him, he placed a call on his phone.A mechanical voice answered. "Yes?"Harper in steel tones. "I want them all killed."There was a man in a suit beside him, tension in his shoulders. His voice even, controlled. "Understood. But. Your son, sir, is Nathaniel."William's fists were fists. Searing pain lightninged across his side, but he didn't care. He'd been shot once. He'd bled before. That wasn't paining him.Betrayal was.His own blood betrayed him.His own son.William's lips twisted into a sneer-grimace. "Not anymore."The man staggered. "Sir—"William's tone was icy. "I do not care how much it costs. I want them dead. All of them."There was silence. Then finally, a gentle, "Understood."The door closed with a crash.William took a sh
Nathaniel Harper stood in the dark of the hospital room, his fists clenched.The doctor had closed them into this small space, forcing them to confront each other in the intimate light of the bedside lamp.Years of their past hanging between them like a gauntlet.Damian spoke the first word softly."Trust you?" His voice was harsh, from pain and anger. "After all your family's done?"Nathaniel didn't blink. "I did not choose my name."Damian snorted with a bitter laugh. "No, but you damn well profited for years on it."Nathaniel's breath came harshly. "And now I'm suffering for defying it."Damian's glacial stare cut through him, searching for deceit.He was seeking to uncover a coward.A traitor.But what he did uncover instead?A man who'd lost everything.Nathaniel's voice lowered, a rough tone edging in. "William won't quit. You know that."Damian's jaw was locked. "Yeah. I know."Nathaniel paused, then moved closer. "Then let me help."Damian laughed. "Help? The last time I trust
There was an awe stricken silence that swept over the room.Sabrina's breathing, too, had ceased. "What?"Eliana's mouth was dry. "He planted the bomb at the convention. And when that didn't work, he tried to kill me. If not for Nathaniel and Damian." she broke off her voice,".I would not be alive."Benedict's expression turned cold. "That abomination."Saben wasn't swallowing it, however. He was cold with anger. "And we're doing this on his word? He's a Harper. His father attempted to kill you. And now we're going to accept his word that he defected from his father?"Nathaniel's voice cut across him, hard but controlled. "I'm not my father."Saben snarled, advancing as if to hit him. "You carry his name, don't you?"Before this was allowed to go further, a third individual appeared in the room.Tap of cane on marble floors.Wendy Taylor.Leslie Auburn, Sabrina's mother, behind her. The two women who managed the families entered the room, their white faces contorted with horror and a
His own son—his own blood and flesh—had betrayed him.The treachery blazed hotter than the fires receding in the horizon."Shut up, Nathaniel," William snarled, striking his fist into the metal belly of the airplane.Seated across from him was one of his most dependable men, Marcus Steele, wiping blood from his mangled lip. "Sir, we should rethink. The Thompson family is not going away. They have money, they have connections—William's glare was toxic. "I don't care what they've got." Dead, deadly tone. "Eliana Thompson stole everything from us. And now my own son has the decency to be standing with her?"He spun on his pilot. "Faster. We have to get out of the city before the authorities surround it."Marcus hesitated before continuing. "Sir… Nathaniel can still be of some use. Maybe we could—"William pulled Marcus by the collar, dragging him towards him, inches from Marcus's face, his breath smelling of rage. "Nathaniel is dead to me. Hear me? DEAD."Marcus gulped hard, wide-eyed,