"What? My daughter?" Elliot asked, looking from side to side. "Yes, she claims she is a Quinn." "And that is the reason Micah is getting married to her because he thinks he would be able to climb the wealthy ladder by being with her," Isla said as the realisation of what was happening hit her. "He claims to actually love her though," Elara said. "You do not actually believe that bullshit do you?" Ronan asked. He was visibly angry. He wondered how the interaction would have gone down when his sister found out. Elara would have been too nice to even do anything to him. He must have left feeling proud of himself that he was able to ditch Elara and get with a Quinn. "What am I supposed to believe? I was with him for four years, and I believed he loved me; looking back now, maybe I was just delusional." Elara took a deep breath and shook her head. "None of this is my fault; how am I supposed to know what kind of person he is?" "Nobody is blaming you for this," Elliot said. "But Dad,
"What are you doing here?" Ezra raised his head to see Olivia-Marie walking into the office. "Did you get my message or did you not get my message?" She asked, standing in front of him and folding her hands angrily against her chest. She was ready to go to war against him if the need be. "And didn't I respond to the message?" He retorted."You did, and I did not like the response, so I came here to get the right one." "I told you that I do not want to see you in my office, yet you never listen; you have come here multiple times," he murmured, getting out of his chair. At that moment, he was regretting ever giving in to her advances. When she had been going after him in the university, he should have retained his stance and never given in to him. How was he going to escape her now? After seeing Elara, the need to escape him even grew stronger than he could explain. His roommates had been the ones who advised him that the fastest way to get over a person was by using another one. H
"I just got a call from the gate, and they say that Ezra Thatcher is here to see you." "Ezra?" Elara's head whipped as she heard his name; she had spent the entire morning looking up at the ceiling as she tried to make sense of her mother's plan."Is there? What for? Why would he come here? To see me? Why would he come here to see me?" Her eyes glanced at the clock on the wall. It was too early in the morning for him to be there. Her father and brother had only left for work about an hour ago; why would he be there?"I have no answers to the multitude of questions you have just hurled at me. All I know is that I just got a call from the gate, and they say that Ezra is here to see you, and they could not call you by themselves since they do not have your contact information," Isla explained. She was busy scrolling through social media when she got a call from the gate; she knew that she was right about the way Ezra looked at her sister that day. He was still definitely still in love
"Hi there," Elara let out and then cleared her throat. Her voice had come out a bit more high-pitched than she had thought it would. "Hi there," she tried again, trying her best not to sound as nervous as she felt. "Hi," he said, raising his hand and waving awkwardly. She was tempted to smile as that moment reminded her of the first day she invited him over and he came. He had been so afraid that her parents were going to dislike him and was nervous and did awkward things. However, he became so accustomed to her family that he was always over, and her parents asked of him regularly. "Do you want to come in?" she asked, pushing the door back so he could step in. "Well, I came here so I could come in," he said, and then let out a nervous chuckle. She closed the door as soon as he stepped out of the frame and led him to the living room. "You can have your seat," she said, hanging around like she was uncomfortable. She was uncomfortable after all; there was nothing quite comforting ab
She jumped out of his arms and stood a distance from him. "Can you give me a minute?" she asked, walking away and getting into one of the restrooms. She locked the door from inside and looked in the mirror. "What was that?" she asked herself as she stared at her body. She stayed for a few seconds trying to steady herself before walking to the kitchen and taking a jar of orange juice. "Have this instead," she said, walking in with the jar visible enough for him to see. "What is that?" he pointed at it as she walked and stopped in front of her."Orange juice," she said as she set it in front of him. "Why?""You said that you did not have that again, so I am trying to switch it for you." "It is nice to think about you," he said, and she hiccuped, letting out a strained sound from her throat. "I mean, it is time to taste grapes again; funny, I still like it." "You still like it?" "Yes," he nodded, staring at her as she stood there with a confused expression on her face. "The juice,"
"But still, it is great to see you like this," she said, trying to clear the awkward air. She cleared her throat."Yeah, it is," he said, taking a sip from his cup. He shook it a bit, allowing the shallow liquid in the cup to move around. "Were you going to reach out to me?" "What?""I mean, you got back; I was just wondering if you were planning on reaching out to me to let me know you were back." "To be honest, I did not think of it," Ezra sighed. That was one of the reasons he liked her; she was always truthful and did not care about what anyone thought. "When I got heartbroken, all I could think of was to find solace in my family; I am yet to think of everything else that might happen," she continued. She saw the displeasure in his face and she knew that she needed to appease him in some way. "I mean, I am sure we would have run into each other eventually," she added. She was not sure if it was the right thing to say or not but she still said it. "It's fine," he said, trying
"You told him to leave?" Isla gasped, unable to understand what her sister was saying. "He looked as if he was about to confess and it would be messy if I let him do that." "Why would it be messy? You are single and so is he." "Isla, how can you suggest something like that? I had just broken up with my boyfriend and he was engaged until yesterday. If we get together, do you know what kind of news would get around about us?" "Who cares what others would say?" Isla said frustrated at her sister. "This man must be head over heels for you; how can someone hold onto love in their hearts for eight years?" "Up until yesterday he was engaged and then suddenly he is showing up at my house, telling me he is not engaged anymore and wanting to confess feelings to me.""I know it sounds bad but at least he is not married already." "It's as bad as him being married already," she murmured, taking the bag of chips from her sister and pooping a few pieces into her mouth. "What is so bad about i
"Are you seriously going to support our daughter and allow her to act so foolishly?" Sarah asked. She was lying on the bed with her back to him. Carlos thought that something was wrong when he got inside the house and she was nowhere in sight. There was no food on the table and the television was not running. He wondered if she had begun to take the night shift again since the house was dark and quiet as if not a single soul was in it. "I thought you began the night shift again," Carlos said, turning on the light. She stayed in the same position she had been since she got back from her shift. She could not bring herself to act as if the situation her daughter was in was the normal thing. There was nothing normal about it one bit. "I told you that I can do that again," she murmured, wondering why her husband was acting as if it were okay. "Are you going to allow your daughter to impersonate and defraud someone like this?" she asked, going back to the topic. "Why isn't there anything
Noelle stood up from where she had been sitting all evening. It was almost midnight, and she did not see the need to still be out that long. She knew it was going to be difficult for her to see Ronan tonight, and she had forced herself to come to terms with it. She could go to the mansion to see him first thing the next morning before she met with Celeste. Over time, she became more comfortable with Ronan and his family. The Quinn family accepted her, which made her a bit delusional that she was from a well-to-do family. As much as she tried to ignore the feeling in her heart, she still thought that he would leave her in a heartbeat if he found a better fit for himself.She stopped behind him and poked his shoulders lightly. He looked back at her and smiled. "A moment," he whispered before turning back to the crowd in front of him. He wrapped up with them quickly, and they all understood after seeing her stand there. Their relationship was no longer a secret to the public, and after R
Elara's eyes fluttered open as she began to adjust to reality. She had been so scared about being kidnapped, but she tried her best to act brave all through. She looked around the hospital room as far as her eyes could carry her, and they landed on her mother by her side. She thought that the nightmare would never end, but she was glad that it did. She saw her mom's body rise and fall gently, and she wanted to try not to wake her up.The kidnappers were not as bad as everyone thought, but then she could not trust them, seeing how badly they dragged her there. She had refused any meal they had given her and only relied on water because she was somehow convinced they could not poison the water.As she tried to take the covers off, her mother stirred and sat up, scanning the entire room. "Elara?" she murmured as she stood up and stood beside her bed. "You are awake," she said, hugging her daughter gently.Clara had been so worried that she had gone out three times in the night to ask why
"At least we finally found her. I am so happy about that," Noelle said as she brought a cup of water for Ronan, who was sitting in the living room. It had been a crazy week for all of them, and they had not really had time to be together. Ronan had made his way to the hospital, and after he made sure that Elara was fine, he came straight to see Noelle. "I am glad too," he said, taking the glass from her hand with his fingertips slightly brushing against the back of her hand. She jerked away as if she had been scalded with something burning hot. He shifted the glass from one hand to the other and held her hand before she could sit down."What was that reaction?" he asked with his eyebrows going to the top of his head."What reaction? Nothing," she murmured as she tried to control the swirling of butterflies that had taken over her stomach from the contact. She cleared her throat and tried to avoid his eyes, but he noticed that something was off."Did I do something wrong? Are you mad
Elara's eyes fluttered open as she began to adjust to reality. She had been so scared about being kidnapped, but she tried her best to act brave all through. She looked around the hospital room as far as her eyes could carry her, and they landed on her mother by her side. She thought that the nightmare would never end, but she was glad that it did. She saw her mom's body rise and fall gently, and she wanted to try not to wake her up.The kidnappers were not as bad as everyone thought, but then she could not trust them, seeing how badly they dragged her there. She had refused any meal they had given her and only relied on water because she was somehow convinced they could not poison the water.As she tried to take the covers off, her mother stirred and sat up, scanning the entire room. "Elara?" she murmured as she stood up and stood beside her bed. "You are awake," she said, hugging her daughter gently.Clara had been so worried that she had gone out three times in the night to ask why
Micah had somehow convinced his mom to surrender. He had spoken a great deal, but he was not sure what it was that he said that broke her. He was glad that the madness was over. It was not like he wished to be put in jail for the rest of his life, but maybe this was the universe's way of punishing him for never being content.They sat in front of the police officer; no matter the questions that the man threw their way, they did not seem to budge or say anything. "We have nothing to say," Micah finally said after he saw the sour expression on the man. "We did it, and we were just greedy." He could not let his mom take all the fall for the kidnapping. At least they were the ones who turned themselves in, so it shouldn't be as bad as they think it is.The officer looked up at them and nodded before standing up to leave them there. If they were not saying anything and they had confessed to the crime, then it meant that all they had to do was go to court and get this over with.MEANWHILEZ
Clara, Elliot, and Isla rushed to the hospital to see Elara. After Ezra had made a fuss at the hospital and demanded an emergency checkup, he called her family to inform them about what had happened. He told Elliot that he could not go into details over the phone and it would be better for them if they came over at once so they could see Elara.By the time they got there, Elara was still taking some tests, so they had to wait, and during this time, Ezra took the time to explain the situation to them."I am never ever going to allow those evil people to see the outside world till they die," Elliot announced, extremely angry. Nobody there thought that the right thing to do was to calm this man down; they were all so angry that humans would think of doing something as horrible as this to a fellow human and that they would do it so proudly.Clara kept on sobbing, and when she was asked what the issue was, she assured them that all was well and she was just happy that nothing bad had happe
"What?" The man looked genuinely concerned that he had missed an opportunity to make so much money."Micah and Cora, the woman who paid you, have come in and confessed, so you do not have to worry about trying to take a deal to save yourself." The man looked fidgety as he realised that if Cora had come in to confess, then there was really no escape for him anymore. He should not have pretended to be too tough, but he was sure that if he had taken the money, he would have been hunted down, and the money would have been returned to Ezra."I see?" the man said in a singsong voice. "But you are yet to find the woman, aren't you?" The man asked, as even Cora did not know where they had hidden Elara. She told them to do everything at their own discretion, as she did not want to be tied to something as terrible as that."What do you mean?""Cora paid us alright to kidnap her but she had no idea where she is and even worse, my partner and I have a plan that if one of us does not show up after
Ronan and Ezra got to the station and saw the man who had helped with the kidnapping of Elara. The policemen said that the man had refused to speak and that they caught him when he was out buying supplies. They asked that they be allowed to see the man, as they could maybe find a way to force him to confess. The police officers agreed because they knew that it was useless for them to disagree, as they would still find a way to have their way. Ronan and Ezra made a plan, hoping that they could both stick to it and that way get him to say something incriminating."I respect a man who works hard for his money," Ronan said as they sat down. The gruff and big man looked up. Ronan could see the realisation on his face before he cleared his throat and tried to act like he did not recognise the two men in front of him. "I am Ronan Quinn; it's nice to meet you." Ronan took out a card from his card holder and slid it across the table to him.The man looked down at the card without touching it.
"Mom?""Wait, I am thinking of what we can do to escape this; this is good for us. You've been free, and now we can leave if we can just find a way." Micah stood in a corner as he watched his mom pace around the room with her hand stroking her chin. He did not need her to speak for him to know that her mind was going in every direction possible. He bit his lower lip as he thought of how he would dissuade her and convince her to accept her fate."They don't know that we are connected to those men; maybe if the men do not confess..." she trailed off as she knew the possibility of that was very low. She was sure that the wealthy family would do all they could to coax the truth from them. "This is all your fault," Cora stopped and put her eyes on her son.Mixah shuddered at the thought of what had happened; he did not like it at all. How could she try to blame him for decisions she made without him? He was locked up in jail and did not know anything about what she was planning, so how was