Chapter Three: Four Years Later

“Mr. Hansen, when I ask to speak with Mr. Donovan, I don’t want to hear you telling me that you can help me because if you could help me, I wouldn’t be calling to talk to Mr. Donovan. Next time I call, I want to hear that you’ll transfer my call to his office or you’re going to track him down so I can talk to him.” I said before boarding my plane, “Now, if I don’t hear you say either of those things when I call after my plane lands, you’ll have to explain to Mr. Donovan why I’m taking my business elsewhere from now on.”

“I don’t give a shit if you take your business elsewhere, you conceited bitch. Mr. Donovan has business with more important people than you, Sophia O’Shea. So you can just take your business and shove it up your ass, you arrogant bitch.” Oscar Hansen yelled.

“Oscar, you better have misspoke when you said Sophia O’Shea.” I heard Wilson saying in the background.

“Who cares about that self-centered, arrogant bitch?” Oscar scoffed before hanging up on the phone.

As the flight attendant approached me, I slipped my phone into my purse, “The captain said we’re ready to take off now, Miss O’Shea.”

“Alright, let’s go home,” I replied as my assistant, Kandace, sat across from me.

“Yes, ma’am,” she replied before walking away.

My phone started vibrating as the plane began heading down the runway, and I put it on airplane mode. A few moments later, the plane phone started ringing.

“Sophia O’Shea speaking,” I answered the phone.

“Miss O’Shea, I am so sorry for how my former assistant treated you over the phone.” Wilson pleaded.

“Mr. Donovan, this isn’t the first time your assistant has behaved this way, nor the first one to behave like this. If you’ve been hiring them through an agency, perhaps you should look elsewhere for an assistant or hire a homeless veteran and handle their training yourself. I’m sure even you are tired of fixing their mistakes.” I replied.

“Yes, I am, Miss O’Shea. Unfortunately, none of my other clients have been willing to remain with Evanston.” Wilson replied in frustration, “I better go through that idiot’s call log and find out who else I need to apologize to, but I’ll be taking your advice about hiring a homeless veteran.”

“Good to hear, Mr. Donovan and I’ll need the herb company’s answer by the end of the week,” I said before hanging up.

Wilson

“You’re not really going to fire me over that O’Shea woman, are you?” Oscar asked as Michael entered my office.

Michael looked from Oscar to me before asking, “Wilson, we haven’t lost Sophia O’Shea, have we?”

“We lost Sophia O’Shea?” Shayla demanded from my doorway.

“No, thankfully, we haven’t lost her.” I told them before turning to Oscar, saying, “Now, to answer your question, Oscar, yes, I am firing you over Sophia O’Shea, and if I didn’t know that you’re a damn idiot, I’d swear that you were trying to destroy this law firm. I specifically told you not to piss off Sophia O’Shea because she is our most important client. If this firm loses her, we’d be done; even if you hadn’t cost me those clients and the idiots before, you hadn’t lost me those other clients.”

“So, I am fired?” Oscar asked.

“Get out of my building, and never darken my doorstep again, Oscar.” Shayla snapped.

Oscar ran out of my office as fast as he could, and I told Shayla, “I’m hiring a homeless veteran to replace that fucking idiot, and I’m training them myself.”

“Hopefully, Sophia will feel generous enough to let ’em stay in that apartment building she just had remodeled,” Shayla said as she picked up the receiver and handed it to me.

I put it back before saying, “I’m gonna give her time to calm down first. You know how she is; she doesn’t even have to raise her voice a single octave for you to know that she’s pissed because you can hear it loud and clear in her tone. Hopefully, she’ll be in a better mood by the time her plane lands, and I’ll finally have an answer from that herb farm.”

Sophia

Soon after my plane landed, I switched my cell phone off of airplane mode and the caller ID read out Sandra when it began ringing, "Sandra, it's been a while. How have you been?"

"I'm doing alright. My older sister and I have been working with my mom for the past few months, but business isn't what it used to be and if things don't change soon, we might have to close for good." Sandra replied, "My mom and grandma have already merged their businesses, but it seems that was only a temporary fix."

"That reminds me, I still have another eight houses I need to look at and I'll need some designers to help me fix four of them up." I smiled as I walked to my SUV and climbed in, "I was also hoping to go shopping with someone. Apparently, I need better clothes, but my sense of business fashion is lacking and from what I remember in high school, your mom has an excellent fashion sense in the business department. So, maybe the five of us should have a girls week and do some traveling, my treat."

"Sandra, are you talking to a new client?" I heard Sandra's mother asking in the background.

"Tell your mom it's her favorite client and if you guys want to take on the four houses, at least three of you will have to have a girls week with me." I chuckled.

"It's your favorite client and she says we'll have to spend the week with her if we want to take on some projects she has for us." Sandra chuckled before telling me, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't just say four because you might decide to keep more than four of them."

"Hmm, very true. I kept the two properties there in town and combined them before having that multicolored nightmare torn down." I agreed.

"She's my favorite client?" Sandra's mother asked.

"Oh my goodness, Sandra, are you talking to Sophia O’Shea on the phone?" Evelynn asked in the background.

"Sophia O’Shea? The Sophia O’Shea? As in the woman who's been all over TV, on the front of almost every business magazine that exists, went to our high school, and owns that gorgeous house on the edge of town?" another girl squealed in the background.

"Yes, Cynthia, that Sophia O’Shea." Sandra chuckled.

"She wants us to spend the week with her?" Evelynn asked.

"Yeah, at least three of us, Grandma." Sandra chuckled.

"I'm in." Cynthia shouted.

"All four of us will join you, Sophia." Evelynn added.

"Mom, I don't know." I heard Elsie protest.

"Mom, you’ve always said that you would love to teach other people how to dress better, right?" Sandra asked.

"Well, yeah-"

"Then, you have to come because Sophia is asking for your help. You heard her interview on the radio last week, and you helped her find her love of interior design." Sandra insisted.

"Sandra, can you put the phone on speaker, please?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure." Sandra replied and paused before saying, "Go ahead."

"Ladies, the girls week, fashion help, and remodeling the houses aren't the only things I wanted to ask for." I announced, "My construction company finished an apartment building six months ago and I made the mistake of not listening to my instincts when deciding on a designer. The first four studio apartments were supposed to be available for rent two months ago, but for some reason, the designers I hired can't figure out what to do with them despite the photos and samples they were given on top of instructions telling them that the apartments needed to look like the pictures by the time they were finished. They even received four contractors each to help them, but either none of them knows how to read, or they need someone to hold their hand the whole time. I just got back from firing them earlier today, but I was hoping you ladies would be willing to take the job."

"You're wanting us to do the apartment building?" Elsie asked.

"I am." I replied, "I was thinking a hundred dollars an hour to start off, but since I know you're all amazing and competent designers, I'm open to negotiating. Also, if you're interested, I'd like to become a silent partner and investor."

The phone was silent for a few seconds and I looked at the screen to see if the call had dropped, but then I heard them screaming as they cheered. Eventually, Elsie finally spoke and said, "Yes, of course. That would be wonderful."

"I'm happy to hear that and as your business partner, I'm going to see what I can do about that troublesome client of yours. My lawyer will finally get the chance to really earn some money this year." I smiled, "In the meantime, I'd like you ladies to pack what you want to bring along with you for the week, but make sure there's some extra space to bring your stuff home with you. Bye, ladies."

"Bye, Sophia." they yelled in unison before hanging up.

After that, I called Wilson and he answered on the first ring, "Miss O’Shea, the herb farm has accepted your offer, but I wanted to ask you for a favor-"

"If you're going to be hiring a homeless veteran, I have a penthouse in the area where he or she can stay." I cut him off, "I would appreciate it if you would draw up a partnership and investment contract. O'Sullivan's Interior Design, they're good people that I care about Mr. Donovan, and I want them to thrive, not be restricted."

"I heard about them and a client they had who won a lawsuit against them." Wilson replied, "I didn't realize you knew them."

"Yes, I went to school with one, the sister is a fan, and the two older women are the only two designers I'll ever work with again." I replied.

"Hmm, something about the case is fishy. I'm gonna look into it." Wilson replied.

"You read my mind, Mr. Wilson. Thank you." I smiled.

"I'm taking the case pro bono, Miss O’Shea." Wilson said.

"I believe you deserve a bonus, Mr. Donovan." I smiled before hanging up.

"Miss O’Shea, we'll be arriving at the Riverhedge house in fifteen minutes." my driver, Kelvin, announced.

"Have you heard if Merle's finally brought my SUV to the Riverhedge house yet?" I asked with some annoyance.

"I asked him before your plane landed and all he would say was that there was a surprise for you in the garage." Kelvin replied.

"Probably some sort of fuck you." I scoffed.

Fifteen minutes later we were looking at a decaying mutilated cow suspended from the roof of the garage with a dead calf hanging halfway out of her and the words "fuck you" written in blood on the wall behind her, "Kandace, call the security company to have the locks and codes changed. I need to make a call."

"Of course, Miss O’Shea." Kandace replied as Kelvin and I got out of the car to make sure Merle hadn't decided to stick around.

As we entered the garage, I was glad to notice that the smell of decay wasn't as bad as I thought it would be as I called Merle and he picked up on the second ring, "I guess you found my little surprise, Sophia."

"Merle, if you were hoping that would be enough to scare me, you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that." I said, "However, I am gonna have to fire you this time."

"Oh, come on, now. The game was just getting good, Sophia." Merle chuckled.

"I don't know what you’re upset about, Merle. Based on what I'm looking at right now, I can only assume that you weren't happy with your job, but you were too busy stealing my car and dodging my calls to tell me you quit." I replied a little tauntingly.

"You should've just given me what I wanted from the start instead of acting like a fucking bitch, Sophia." Merle snapped as I stepped into the kitchen through the garage and stopped there without saying anything.

After a few seconds, I heard Merle's voice in the cabinet across from me, "Son of a bitch."

I walked over to the cabinet and stopped next to it before knocking on the door, saying, "Game over, Merle. That was the fourth time you've violated the contract."

Merle was climbing out of the cabinet as I heard a truck racing up the driveway and then came to a sudden stop. I heard a vehicle door slam shut and footsteps running through the garage as Merle said, "Sorry about the cow and the calf, Sophia. I'll get rid of them and clean up before I leave, but I keep wondering why you always treated me like a person and not a piece of shit when I have a prison record."

"Prison record or not, you're still a person, Merle." I replied as Merle's brother, Ryan, ran into the kitchen aiming a rifle at him but lowered it when he saw us, "Leave my car in the garage here before you go into work tomorrow, Merle, and you better not be late."

"Thank you, Sophia." Merle replied.

"Remember, this is your last chance, Merle." I warned him.

"I'll make sure your car gets here tomorrow, Sophia." Ryan said.

"Thank you, Ryan." I smiled before they headed into the garage.

By the time they cleaned up Merle's mess, I couldn't tell there had ever been blood on the wall and I had my suitcase by the front door, already packed. Kelvin had already left to pick up the ladies and I was on the phone with Wilson when they pulled up, "It took some digging, but my guy found the asshole's second social media account and there's dozens of posts about how he manages to screw over the O'Sullivan's. This isn't the first time he's done something like this either. He's made a career out of doing crap like this and he's already planning to try the same crap with O’Shea Incorporated. He's planning to visit your construction branch and ask them to build a house for him tomorrow afternoon."

"Then it looks like the five of us will be seeing you in my office at the construction building in the morning, Mr. Donovan." I smiled as I opened the front door for the ladies, "I wanna leave this guy with nothing and have him crying like a little bitch before he leaves my office tomorrow afternoon."

"I had a feeling you might want to do something like that, Miss O’Shea. That's why I've taken the initiative to draw up a contract that would make Houdini shit himself and run for the nearest volcano like it'll make him filthy rich." Wilson replied as the ladies came inside, "It'll essentially ruin even the lives of even his twentieth generation descendants if he even breathes against the contract before he dies. In a nutshell, if he insists on getting your construction company to build him a house, he won't even own it, but he'll have to agree to not to do any repairs and with the understanding that the maintenance company won't always be able to get out there for weeks or even months. However, when he signs, not even the president will be able to sue you on his behalf, he can't back out of the contract without paying for it anyways, along with a substantial monthly fee to the O'Sullivan's, and he'll be agreeing to pay you whatever he tries to take from you if he does try to sue you, even if you give him the complete opposite of what he asked for, but with as arrogant this idiot is, he'll try the second the keys are in his hand, Miss O’Shea."

"That's wonderful, Mr. Donovan. You're a miracle worker, as always." I smiled as I walked over to my laptop and sent him two million dollars before saying, "Don't spend your bonus all at once, Mr. Donovan."

"Holy shit." I heard Wilson say before I hung up.

"Sorry about that, ladies. Mr. Donovan was telling me about an impending pest problem and how he was planning to take care of it, but unfortunately, we'll have to stop by the office after breakfast for a couple of hours tomorrow morning."

"Is everything alright, Sophia?" Sandra asked.

"Oh, everything's fine, and things might get a little awkward at the office since I'm planning to make a man-child cry tomorrow, but then again, you might enjoy it." I smiled, "Anyways, our flight will be leaving after we get to the airport tomorrow afternoon, but we'll have lunch before we leave."

"You're not worried about missing our flight, Sophia?" Evelynn asked.

"No, the plane won't leave without us." I replied, smiling, "Ladies, relax. The pilot works for me, and I own the plane. I didn't want to have to get one, but airlines and community airports don't always cut it. Also, this whole week is on me."

"Okay, then." Elsie replied a little uncomfortably.

"Go pick a bedroom for the night." I smiled.

Cynthia and Sandra took off running up the stairs as Evelynn and Elsie strolled behind them. I could hear Elsie, Cynthia, and Sandra praising the rooms they passed on their way upstairs while I updated our schedule for the next day in the app I had made to keep the people who worked specifically for me informed without sending out dozens of emails and text messages or making calls that might wake up children. My personal employee who had young children, received the weekends off, and if their child or children had an event, my employees knew they could request the day off, but I was still waiting for my assistant to tell me the truth. When I was interviewing her, I had asked if she was married or had children and she had told me no, but I found out otherwise later.

After ordering some pizzas, I headed upstairs to the fourth floor and found the four of them hanging out together when Cynthia asked Evelynn, "Grandma, has Sophia always been this nice?"

"Oh, calling Sophia nice is such an understatement, it's almost offensive, Cynthia." Sandra chuckled, "No, Sophia probably puts saints and angels to shame."

"You're just saying that because Sophia is your friend." Cynthia scoffed.

"You remember seeing her getting out of her car at school when you dropped me off because I missed the bus that day, right?" Sandra asked.

"Yeah, that was the- Oh, you attacked Sophia?" Cynthia shouted.

"I did. She pressed charges and sued me for destroying the jacket her surrogate father gave her. I was so ignorant back then that my dumbass offended Nathan and Sophia. I had assumed that she was trying to steal him from me when I saw them hugging, and I wouldn't listen when she explained that Mr. Tiernan was like a Dad to her, so it would be too weird for her to date him." Sandra replied ashamedly, "I attacked her before the teacher got there, but he saw me, and I didn't care. I attacked her again, and she escorted my ass up to the principal's office where I attacked her a third time, but she only ever restrained me. After mom mentioned I'd be lucky to get a job flipping burgers for the rest of my life, Sophia made sure the thing I did didn't end up on the internet."

"I know what it's like to nearly have my future ripped away from me." I admitted as I entered the room, and they all turned to look at me, "It happened so many times that I lost count."

"Wait, you?" Sandra asked in surprise as I sat in one of the chairs in the sitting area.

"Oh, yeah, but my name wasn't Sophia O’Shea back then; it was Misty Smith. My parents were both hard-core addicts and I was the hardworking ten-year-old trying to keep a roof over her family's head, but the kids at school somehow found out that my parents were opioid addicts." I explained, "Well, anytime one of the other kids at school were caught with any type of drugs, they'd say that I was their dealer whenever the cops asked, but I knew they were pinning me as the dealer because they didn't want to lose their access to drugs, they knew their dealers would kill them along with their families, and because I wouldn't give it up, if you catch my drift. I was almost charged just as many times as I was arrested, but eventually, I was able to get emancipated, and the judge was nice enough to let me change my name. I moved out here that same day to finally get the chance to have a future and I didn’t want to be the reason someone else had to struggle through life."

"I can't say I blame you, but how did you meet Nathan's Dad?" Cynthia asked.

"He was just passing by like hundreds of other people when scumbag didn't want to take no for an answer, but Tiernan was the only one that helped me and he taught me how to fight." I replied, "It's thanks to him that I was able to become as confident as I am and he finally found a way to make the money he needed to get home even though he was scared that his family hated him for not coming back when he said he would."

"They were never mad at him, but they were terrified that something happened to him and he'd never be able to get back home to them." Sandra replied.

"Sandra, I don't want you to feel bad about what happened anymore. It's okay to be proud of it because you learned from your mistakes, became a better person, and you're making something of yourself, making a future for yourself." I smiled, "I know your mom's proud of you, your grandma's proud of you, your sister's proud of you, and I'm proud of you, Sandra. What happened, happened and the way I see it, we changed each other's lives for the better that day. You’ll also have a funny high school story to share with your children if you want any, as well as your nieces and nephews, if Cynthia ever decides to have children, too."

"Speaking of children, I heard a rumor at school that you had a child, but you left him or her with a nanny and you choose to never have anything to do with them because you don't have time for kids or you don't like them." Cynthia said.

"Cynthia." Elsie shouted with mortification.

"I wish I did have children, but I haven't ever been in a relationship, and adoption agencies would probably laugh me out of the office." I smiled, "I've thought about doing IVF, but I wouldn't know where to start looking to even try. However, I have a feeling I wouldn't want to go anywhere without taking my child with me wherever I have to go."

"I'm so sorry for what Cynthia said to you, Sophia." Elsie groaned.

"Don't be. It's nice to have someone treating me like a regular person again." I chuckled, "Most people would be too scared to even bring something like that up to me and I'm glad that Cynthia did ask me about it."

"Well, you can be pretty intimidating, Sophia." Sandra chuckled, "You were intimidating even in high school and everyone who had a crush on you thought that you were way out of their league."

"Seriously, I had the biggest crush on Jakub." I laughed before adding, "I was too nervous to even approach him back in high school. He was not only good-looking, but he was also kind and respectful."

"Wait, really?" Sandra asked with a surprised expression before adding skeptically, "Are you talking about Automotives Jacob Richardson or Agriculture and Carpentry Jakub Murtagh?"

"I'm talking about Jakub Murtagh." I chuckled, "I heard he moved here from Louisiana and that's why he had that incredible accent. I'll admit, those jeans, boots, and stetson he wore, looked amazing on him."

"Oh my gosh, you two were so clueless in high school." Sandra giggled, "Jakub Murtagh was always hopelessly in love with you, Sophia. Nathan said you were all Jakub would talk about and anytime a dance or the fair was coming up, he'd always ask Nathan for advice about how he should ask you to go with him, but I guess he was too nervous to ever ask you. Unfortunately, he moved back to Alexandria with his family after graduation."

"Maybe I'll look him up when we go out there tomorrow." I smiled.

"Oh my gosh, you really should, Sophia. I wouldn’t be surprised if he's still in love with you after all this time." Cynthia gasped happily.

"For all we know, he could be happily married with kids by now." I chuckled.

"True, but we won't know until we get there." Evelynn smiled.

"My mom's right, you know." Elsie said before we heard the doorbell ring.

"That's probably the pizzas." I announced as I stood up and stretched.

"I'll go with you." Sandra volunteered as she slid off the bed.

"If you want to." I shrugged before leaving the room.

As we were descending the second flight of stairs, Sandra asked, "Do you ever get lonely, Sophia?"

"I used to feel lonely all the time, but I've gotten used to it, and sometimes I worry that I won't know how to get used to anything else. I always stay busy because it gives me something to do, and I honestly have thought about doing IVF since everyone around me feels that I'm too intimidating." I admitted, "Right now though, I feel like a normal person thanks to you guys, but I am a little worried about how everything will feel after this week is over and I don't really want the week to end."

"You were just hoping to be my friend back in high school, weren't you?" Sandra asked.

"Yeah, I was. I learned to accept that I'd never really have parents or siblings when my name was still Misty, but I've never given up on finally having any friends."

"But when you were trying to become my friend, I kept acting like a bitch to you and you still helped me." Sandra replied with an apologetic smile.

"Sandra, we were still kids trying to figure out life, where we fit into it, who we were, and what we wanted to do with our futures while trying to graduate high school. That's a lot to have going on, and even as adults, we're still gonna make mistakes, but the important thing is that we learn from them." I replied.

"Yeah, but you were remodeling a single-wide, going to school, working part-time, and running a business in high school." Sandra scoffed, "I don't know how you did it without getting burned out. I would've freaked out if I had all that on my shoulders now."

"Well, when I realized that I wouldn’t have time to eat, sleep, shower, or use the bathroom, I quit my part-time job and shut my phone off for a week. Thankfully, that was after school on Friday, and I just stayed home that weekend to enjoy myself." I smiled, "I felt so much better when I went to school on Monday, and I decided to start giving myself the weekends off, but I do occasionally work on the weekends. That only happens if there's an emergency."

"Don't you ever go on vacation though?" Sandra asked.

"This will be my first vacation ever." I admitted as we began descending the last flight of stairs, "I would usually spend my entire summer vacations working to catch up on the bills and keep my biological parents from finding out where I kept the money hidden. Most of the time, I'd just take the money straight to the landlord or the utility company, but I couldn't always make it there before they closed for the day."

"That sucks." Sandra scoffed.

"Yeah, but they never managed to find the money after I started hiding it in a cheap wooden box I found on the side of the road and kept it in the vent under my bed." I replied as I pointed where it sat in one of the display alcoves as we passed it.

"I was wondering about that box on my way upstairs because it looked so old and too ordinary to be displayed like that." Sandra admitted.

"Did you notice the black leather teddy bear holding a miniature envelope in the third one?" I asked.

"Yeah, and Mom started chuckling when she saw it, but she wouldn't tell me what was so freaking funny." Sandra shrugged as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Think about it, Sandra. Leather and an envelope." I smiled as I approached the front door.

I tucked two hundred dollars into the pizza boy's shirt pocket as he handed me the pizzas and then left as Sandra exclaimed, "The day we met."

"Yeah, the day we met." I chuckled as I headed into the kitchen for paper plates.

"The leather was from your jacket." Sandra said.

"Yeah, I had it made after we looked at that awful multicolored house together." I chuckled as I pulled a small stack of paper plates out of the upper cabinet, "That was the day I began to consider you my friend, Sandra, and I was hoping that you finally thought of me as your friend too."

"Yeah and I'm glad I wasn't the only one who felt that way, Sophia." Sandra replied, "I also noticed a small statue of a male figure offering a miniature leather biker jacket to a younger female figure on the ground sitting in the second alcove."

As we reached the second alcove on our way back upstairs, I stopped and told her, "It represents the day I met Tiernan and the day he gave me that jacket. I couldn't find anything that represented the day I met Nathan very well, otherwise it would be in the third alcove and the bear would've been in the fourth alcove where I wanted it."

"These things represent your life, don't they?" Sandra asked.

"Yeah, and most of them also represent my happiest memories. Starting from the statue and up to the four butterfly figurines in the sixth alcove, they were my very first Christmas presents." I smiled fondly at the memory of opening them.

"So, you like butterflies?" Sandra asked as we began ascending the stairs again.

"As well as dragons, cherry blossoms, orange blossoms, fairies, wolves, dream catchers, and pagodas." I shrugged as we finally reached the room.

"Well, that's good to know, Sophia." Evelynn chuckled before sliding off the bed with Elsie and Cynthia.

After they left the room, I looked at Sandra to see her going through her suitcase and pulling something out before closing it again as the other ladies came back into the room. The four of them climbed back onto the bed before one-by-one setting four figurines on the bed in front of them as Evelynn smiled, "You didn't think we forgot your birthday, did you?"

In front of them was a pagoda figurine, a Japanese garden figurine, a golden Japanese dragon figurine, and thriving cherry blossom and orange blossom figurines.

"Guys, they're all beautiful." I smiled, "Thank you so much."

"They fit together as a set, and there's more pieces you can get for this one. There are other scenery models like this if you want to start collecting them and you can use superglue to hold them together when you decide where you want a set to stay. You can find the company that sells these online and you can have them shipped to whichever house you plan to keep the set." Elsie explained.

"So, how big does this Japanese set get?" I asked.

"It can get pretty big." Elsie chuckled, "They all end up being pretty big once you have the full set put together."

"I have a couple of penthouses in New York City that we'll be seeing in a few days, right on top of each other and I've been thinking of trying to find a way to combine them. Based on the pictures of the bottom one, there's this random massive display case separating the kitchen area from the living room area that might be big enough for the Japan set." I smiled as I sat in one of the chairs, "With that said, I think we have the theme this time for the penthouse remodel."

"I had a feeling that was where this was going." Elsie chuckled, "It would be a dream come true to do the penthouse in a traditional Japanese-style."

"I'll make a few calls tomorrow to find out if I can combine the two penthouses and that'll bring it to four stories." I smiled, "I can't wait to see the end results, but I'll book a hotel for you and the crew while you're in New York."

"Since we'll be going to Louisiana, I'm assuming you have houses there too; any ideas for them?" Cynthia asked as we started eating.

"One of them is a Plantation house in Baton Rouge that's survived everything mother nature has thrown at it with a beautiful property and the other place used to be a warehouse near the center of New Orleans that was converted into a steampunk, industrial style house, but it has a large unlit parking lot instead of a yard." Elsie said after finishing her first bite.

"I'll keep both of them, and gut the warehouse, add to the exterior walls before turning it into an apartment building with a neutral interior. If possible, we'll put a fence around the property that's similar to the traditional New Orleans-style fencing with a two-foot-high wall at the bottom, but without the spikes and we'll put solar-powered street lights in the parking lot. We'll reinforce the building while we're at it, and give it a traditional New Orleans-style exterior." I said after Iswallowed my bite, "Waterproof flooring throughout, double-paned windows, new central air system, reinforced exterior doors for each of the apartments with double key deadbolts, security systems, new plumbing, new wiring, and solar panels to power the building on the roof. Single-bedrooms to the left, two-bedrooms at the back, and we'll put the three and four-bedroom apartments to the right side of the building. No one likes thinking their ceiling is about to come down because children are running and screaming above them."

"It'd be nice if we had an interactive digital model of the houses and we could upload all the materials you can buy so we can physically see what our clients want." Elsie scoffed before taking another bite of her pizza.

I instantly looked at her as I said, "Elsie, you're a genius."

After jumping to my feet, I rushed out of the room with my slice of pizza in my hand, and downstairs to the kitchen where my laptop was still sitting on the counter. As I finished my slice of pizza, I sent a quick email to Wilson telling him about Elsie's idea and asking him to see if anything like that existed and if it didn't, to get it patented under her name before contacting a software developer to make it. Taking my laptop with me, I headed back upstairs to the room where I received looks of confusion and told them, "Elsie had a great idea and I wanted to get Mr. Donovan to see if something like that already existed. If it doesn't, it'll be patented under her name and a software developer will make it for you to use for projects. Clients can see the end results of the project they want done and after they sign off on it, we'll take pictures of the finished project so we'll be covered if a jerk like that one guy tries to sue so they can't basically get everything done for free."

"That's a good idea." Cynthia admitted as I grabbed a second slice of pizza and quickly took a bite before the toppings could fall off.

"I wish we had something like that before we took on that asshole's remodeling project." Evelynn groaned before taking a bite of her second slice of pizza while Cynthia grabbed her third slice.

"Grandma, if we had something like that, I wouldn't have had to reach out to Sophia for help and we wouldn't have gotten the chance to have a girls week together." Sandra said after finishing the food in her mouth.

"Sandra's right and while it does suck that we got sued, I'm also glad we did. None of us have had a vacation since Cynthia's summer vacation after she graduated from high school." Elsie agreed as I took my fourth bite of pizza.

"Hmm, I guess we could call it a blessing in disguise." Evelynn finally agreed before asking Cynthia, "How many slices have you had?"

"This is my third." Cynthia replied before taking a big bite.

"Cynthia, I know you have a high metabolism, but still." Elsie scolded her with an appalled expression.

"Mom, I eat healthy most of the time and I run everyday." Cynthia protested before taking another bite of her pizza.

"The things I've seen you eat this week didn't look even remotely healthy. Like those cheese chip things you're always eating in the office." Elsie argued before taking another bite of her pizza.

"I'll end up eating at least four pieces and unless I'm mistaken, it sounds like you're talking about those keto cheese chips and those things are addictive." I admitted, "I keep several dozen bags of them on the plane along with my other favorite keto or vegan snacks and drinks. My doctor keeps chewing me out because she says I'm underweight, but she said the same thing after I did the junk food diet for a month. Ugh, that was the worst decision I have ever made and I'm not doing it again for as long as I live."

"Thank you. Today is my cheat day and I'm gonna cheat until I'm finally full." Cynthia said tauntingly before finishing her third slice of pizza and grabbing a fourth.

"What time do you go for a run?" I asked before finishing my second slice and grabbed my third one.

"I wake up at four in the morning, go for a run, eat when I get home at six, take a shower, and go back to bed." Cynthia replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"Maybe I'll join you, but I don't go back to bed after my shower and we'll be leaving for the office at seven, so you can sleep in the car if you want." I smiled before taking a bite of my pizza.

"What do you usually eat for breakfast in the morning?" Evelynn asked before finishing her slice of pizza.

"I usually keep overnight oatmeal in the refrigerator so I usually eat that, an apple or banana, and coffee." I replied, "If I don't have any overnight oatmeal in the refrigerator already, there's this amazing keto café in the city that has parfaits, pastries, muffins, and so on. Despite how it sounds, their food and coffee are absolutely heaven, even on a really tight budget."

"Do you have any overnight oatmeal in the refrigerator already?" Sandra asked before finishing her slice of pizza.

"No, I didn't think there would be any point since we were gonna be leaving in the morning and it would've gone bad before we got back to town." I replied before taking a bite.

"That's fair." Elsie said as Cynthia finished her slice of pizza.

"So, why are you planning to make a man-child cry, Sophia?" Evelynn asked.

"That's a surprise, but I think you'll enjoy it. Just to warn you now, I've been told that I can be pretty scary when I do what I call revenge business and I've even been told I come across as a cold, heartless bitch with a soul that puts the devil to shame." I replied, "However, I usually save that for the people who got after my friends or business, but the arrogant man-child doesn't realize he already has a first offense in my book."

"The guy's trying to go after your business?" Sandra asked.

"Yep and I'm going to make him wish he was never born by the time I'm done with his ass." I answered a little sadistically.

"Oh, I really hope it's that asshole who screwed us over." Evelynn sniggered before I took a bite of my pizza and chewed slowly as I smiled.

"Sophia, what do you have planned for the holidays this year?" Cynthia asked.

"I was actually wondering about that myself." Evelynn admitted.

"Well, I was hoping you guys would join me at one of the cabins for Christmas." I replied, "I have a feeling it's going to snow up there this winter and it'll be a white Christmas."

"I have a better question; what are you gonna do if Jakub is single?" Sandra asked.

"Well, I would have to find him first before I can even begin to think about that." I replied with an uncertain smile.

"Nathan gave me his number earlier." Sandra replied as she gave me a smug smile.

"Well, something tells me we're gonna find out tomorrow after we land." I replied as I started feeling nervous.

Sandra quickly sent a text message before saying, "I guess we will."

"Alright, ladies, we need to get some sleep since we're gonna have to get up early tomorrow." I announced before grabbing the empty pizza boxes.

Elsie grabbed one and we put our plates in it before she followed me out. After we threw the pizza boxes in the trash, we headed back upstairs where I collected the Japan scene figurines and then headed to my bedroom as I finished my fourth slice of pizza. I washed my hands before changing into a pair of bicycle shorts and sports bra then climbed into bed. After setting my alarm clock to get up at four in the morning, I laid down and soon went to sleep.

I woke up the next morning and after using the bathroom then brushing my hair, I headed downstairs for a glass of water to find Elsie sitting at the bar, crying. Evelynn, Sandra, and Cynthia were trying to comfort her, but it didn't appear to be working.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"We've just lost everything because of that piece of shit." Cynthia shouted, "His scumbag lawyer just had the house and the office seized, but apparently we were robbed too last night. The piece of shit just called, yelling at mom for taking everything out of the house and the office before we vacated the premises last night."

I grabbed my phone off the charger to call Donovan and he answered on the first ring, sounding out of breath as he said, "I hired the moving company last night to remove their stuff and take it to your house. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have told you, but it was last and I didn't know if you were asleep."

Before I could say anything, we heard someone beeping their horn outside and I opened the curtains to see two moving trucks sitting outside the gate, "Mr. Donovan, you're irreplaceable and I'd hug you if you were here right now."

I hurried to the garage and hit the buttons to open the gate as well as the garage as he said, "Well, don't thank me yet because it was your money that paid for it and a couple of dogs to make sure the house isn't broken into while no one was home, Miss O’Shea. They should be there very soon."

"Mr. Donovan, I hope you'll join us at the cabin for the holiday season." I smiled as the first truck backed into the driveway and up to the garage.

"I'll see what I can do." Wilson chuckled, "I read your email on my way to the office and the software developer said it'll take some time, but he'll have it ready for you in at least six months and that you've made his dream come true. He'll have a working sample ready for you in four hours."

"Thank you, Mr. Donovan." I chuckled.

"Why don't you ever call me by my first name, Miss O’Shea?" Wilson asked.

"Why do you always call me Miss O’Shea?" I asked as the driver climbed out of the cab.

"Touche. Bye, Miss O’Shea." Wilson chuckled before hanging up.

"You weren't robbed, ladies." I announced.

"That scumbag said everything was gone, Sophia." Evelynn said.

"Yeah, but your possessions were moved, not stolen, Evelynn." I smiled back at her.

Sandra hurried over and looked out the door as the movers began unloading some of the boxes revealing the side of an ornate dresser, "Mom, I can see your dresser in the back of the moving truck."

"My dresser?" Elsie squeaked as Sandra and I moved out of the way for the movers.

"Just take the heavy bedroom furniture upstairs, we'll move the rest ourselves later." I told the driver.

"Yes, ma'am. Unfortunately, we couldn't fit the office desks in the trucks and we had to leave them behind." the driver replied before they took the boxes to the hallway and stacked them against the wall.

We hurried to the front door and put on our shoes before we began helping them unload the truck. When we were done unloading the first truck, we noticed a third truck had arrived as they left. The second one backed into the driveway and I gave them similar instructions, to put the heavy office furniture in the empty den. As we unloaded the last of the boxes in the second truck, an animal rescue van pulled into the driveway and the driver approached us after unloading two Rottweilers, "Major and Sergeant only get along with each other, they're very protective of their territory, and they're very well trained."

"That's wonderful to hear. Thank you." I smiled as she handed me a clipboard and the dogs started sniffing the five of us like their lives depended on it.

After I signed the paperwork I took the carbon copy, which contained a list as well as instructions, and returned the clipboard as she handed me the leashes before leaving. I took the dogs inside and let them explore the house while we started unloading the final moving truck filled with nothing but boxes. Merle finally showed up with my SUV and Ryan was filling behind him in his truck. Merle handed me the keys before getting into Ryan's truck and after they left, I grabbed some cash from my purse inside the house.

Sandra was about to pass me when I handed her the list, money, and keys saying, "I need you to run to the pet store and get the things on the list."

"Sophia, are you sure?" Sandra asked.

"Yeah, I trust you." I smiled and after looking at me for a second, she headed for the SUV while I looked for a dog sitter.

"Where’s Sandra going?" Evelynn asked.

"Pet store." I replied as the dog sitter I found answered the phone, "Hey, my dogs Major and Sergeant just arrived from the vet, but I'm about to leave for a week. Please tell me you're available. I just need someone to feed them and let them out to use the bathroom."

"I'm sorry, but I'm completely booked this week." a woman replied.

"Okay, thanks." I sighed and hung up as Evelynn was making a call.

"Dannie, are you still dog sitting?" Evelynn asked, "Great, I'm glad to hear that because Miss O’Shea has two dogs and she needs a sitter for a week or two, honey. Awesome, we'll see you soon, then."

After Evelynn hung up, she said, "Sometimes local businesses are a lifesaver."

"I'm glad you guys have been local this whole time." I chuckled before we started helping the movers unload again.

By the time we were done, Sandra had come back with two massive dog feeders, two massive water bowls, four extra-large dog beds, several fifty-pound bags of dog food, two leather dog harnesses with metal buckles, a dog brush, two large bottles of flea killing dog shampoo, two extra-large dog kennels, and several bags full of dog toys. After we set everything up for the dogs, we loaded up our luggage just before Dannie parked by the curb in her little sedan.

"Dannie, I'm Sophia O’Shea. Come on in, I'll introduce you to Major and Sergeant." I smiled as I shook her hand and then led her inside, hitting the button for the driveway gate as I went, "You can hang out with them if you want, they have food in their feeder and water in their bowls right now. If you plan to just feed them, let them use the bathroom, and leave, that's fine. Just don't bring any other dogs or any cats with you anytime you come over because I don't want someone else's pet getting hurt or worse. Now, they are guard dogs, but you'll be fine and they'll let you know if something's not right."

"Okay, that's fine." Dannie smiled at Major and Sergeant sniffed every inch of her they could reach before she grabbed a couple of balls, "Okay, sit."

The dogs quickly sat and Dannie threw the balls, but the dogs only watched them fly through the air before coming to a stop on the ground until I said, "Go get it, boys."

They dogs took off running like bats outta hell and grabbed the balls before bringing them back, "They're definitely well trained."

"Yes, they are." I chuckled as I scratched one of the dogs behind the ear, "I'm sorry to just leave you with them, but we only have an hour to shower and change before we have to leave. Don't worry about the wall of boxes, we'll take care of them when we get back."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Dannie smiled before the ladies and I rushed upstairs.

We quickly showered and when I got out, I threw on my nicest business attire before doing my makeup. I met the ladies downstairs where Elsie said, "Honey, by the time we come back, you're gonna have a business, a casual, and a formal wardrobe to fill your closet, but you're still doing really well considering you never had anyone to help you."

"That's why I said you had to come along, Elsie." I groaned as we were walking outside.

"The important thing is that you asked for help, sweetie." Elsie chuckled as we reached the SUV and she asked, "You do know how to drive, right?"

"Eh, I mostly watch what the other drivers are doing and copy them or wing it." I said with a straight face until Cynthia and Sandra started sniggering when Elsie looked horrified.

I couldn't help laughing when Elsie said, "Please tell me you're joking about that, Sophia."

"I'm just messing with you, Elsie. Mr. Donovan gave me a crash course last night and I really aced it. That's why that guy brought me a new one earlier this morning." I smiled brightly at her.

Sandra and Cynthia were roaring with laughter as they leaned against the SUV. Evelynn was smiling as she approached us and told Elsie, "Sophia's just messing with you and she knows how to drive, Elsie."

"Sophia O’Shea, that wasn't funny." Elsie scolded me, but I noticed she was smiling as she climbed into the back seat.

I climbed into the driver's seat before readjusting the seat and the mirrors then put on my seat belt. The ladies were getting comfortable and putting on their seat belts as I cranked it up while pressing the button for the gate to the driveway. I pulled out of the driveway as Sandra and Cynthia were taking selfies to post on social media. I turned onto the highway as my phone

started ringing and Sandra pulled it out of my purse since she was in the seat next to me then said, "Construction Office is calling you."

"There should be a phone mount in the glove compartment." I replied as she answered it then put it on speaker before handing me my phone and I put it in the visor as I said, "Sophia speaking."

"Miss O’Shea, there's a gentleman here who said he has an appointment with you." Julie, my secretary, asked.

"Okay. I'll see him when I get there." I replied as Sandra took the phone mount out of the box.

"Should I tell him how long it'll be before you arrive?" Julie asked quietly.

"No, if it's who I think it is, he might pitch a fit either way, but he'll still wait as long as it takes to see me. However, if he starts raising too much of a fuss, have security detain him." I replied as Sandra set up the phone mount and opened the arms before I put my phone in it.

The arms secured my phone in place as Julie said, "Yes, ma'am. I'll let him know you're on the way, Miss O’Shea."

"Thank you, Julie." I replied before hanging up.

"Sophia, are you sure it's not someone important?" Elsie asked from the back seat.

"If he was someone important, Julie would've mentioned his name, but if it's who I think it is, he's actually an arrogant scumbag who will wait until the office closes and do it again tomorrow. If it was my lawyer waiting, she would've mentioned him by name, but I know he's either already there or will be there soon." I replied nonchalantly as I pulled into the parking lot of the keto café and parked, "However, I'm not gonna deal with him on an empty stomach. Let's get something to eat real quick."

"There's a Professional Boutique next door, Sophia." Elsie announced excitedly, "We could place our order and see what they have while we're waiting for it to get done."

"I'll wait for our order at the café and bring it to you when it's done." Cynthia offered.

"Alright, let's get going, but I'm wearing pants, Elsie. I refuse to wear a skirt after what that asshole tried to do when I lived in the city." I replied as we walked up to the café and went inside.

When we reached the counter, the boy I usually dealt with asked, "Are you getting your usual good-day breakfast today, Miss O’Shea?"

"Yes, and these four ladies are with me. We'll also place a lunch order to be delivered to the airport and I'll pay in advance." I replied, "I'll do my usual good-day lunch as well. I'm planning to make a scumbag man-child cry this morning before I leave for Louisiana today."

"I'm looking forward to the day I get to see a scumbag crying on national TV." the boy chuckled as he put my order in.

"You and I both. We'll be going next door after we place our orders and Cynthia was kind enough to offer to bring it to us when it's done." I chuckled as I placed my hand on her shoulder.

Elsie, Evelynn, Sandra, and Cynthia all placed their orders before I paid for our breakfast. After paying, Cynthia sat at one of the tables I left with Elsie, Evelynn, and Sandra. In the Professional Boutique, Elsie stated looking at women's pant suits, I started looking at button down shirts, Sandra looked at shoes, and Evelynn looked at accessories. Once we had an outfit picked out, I went into the dressing room and tried everything on. I had chosen an off-white Victorian-style button-down shirt, Elsie had chosen a black three-piece pinstripe pantsuit with a corset vest, Sandra had chosen a black pair of pleather high heels, and Evelynn had chosen some simple, yet ornate silver butterfly jewelry. The vest was snug yet comfortable under the blazer, the pants hugged my butt perfectly while gradually flaring out a few inches above my knees, and the jewelry looked perfect without overpowering the outfit, but the heels weren't quite high enough too keep my pants from dragging on the floor. So, Sandra picked out a black pair of crushed suede platform stilettos with a thin strap that buckled across the top, along with a chunky heel, and they worked perfectly with the outfit. When I came out of the dressing room, Evelynn put my hair up in a smooth high ponytail and I fell in love with the entire outfit. So much so that I bought a second one with a white Victorian-style button down, but not a second pair of heels and wore my new outfit out of the store after paying for my things.

"Okay, you leave with Sophia and come back with a hot-as-hell businesswoman. Damn, maybe you guys should become fashion designers." Cynthia said, dumbfounded as she circled me in the boutique parking lot.

"I still feel like it's missing something." Evelynn sighed as she cocked her head at me, trying to figure it out until she suddenly shouted, "Okay, I've got it, now."

Evelynn tugged me back into the boutique and grabbed a silver ornate hair firestone diamond encrusted butterfly hair comb after lowering my ponytail and tucking it behind the black ponytail holder, "That looks absolutely perfect on you."

With a chuckle, I paid for the hair comb before following Evelynn back outside and I did a little spin for the ladies as Sandra applauded me. Cynthia handed me my coffee after I took off my blazer on the way back to the SUV and we climbed in before Cynthia asked from the back seat, "Can we eat in here, Sophia?"

"As long as you give me my food." I chuckled as I opened the lower front cup holders and put my coffee in the one closest to me. I cranked up the SUV as Cynthia handed me my two breakfast wraps in an empty cup and I set them in my top cup holder before backing out of my parking spot. Once we were back on the road, I began eating my breakfast on the way to the office where Wilson was waiting for us with the contracts. We arrived at the office fifteen minutes later and I led the ladies into the conference room where Wilson was already waiting for us.

As we entered the conference room, Wilson stood as I introduced them, "Ladies, this is my attorney, Mr. Wilson Donovan. Mr. Donovan, this is Evelynn, Elsie, Cynthia, and Sandra O'Sullivan."

Wilson shook their hands as he said, "It's a pleasure to meet the ladies I've heard so much about recently. I trust your belongings made it safely to Miss O’Shea's home."

Elsie hugged him and said, "Thank you so much for helping us, Mr. Donovan."

I could tell he was attracted to her despite his surprise at the sudden hug and he said, "Of course, anyone that's important to Miss O’Shea is important to me, Miss Elsie and please, call me Wilson."

Elsie pulled away with a chuckle before saying, "Okay and please, call me Elsie."

"Mr. Donovan, I trust you've brought the contacts?" I asked as I gestured for everyone to sit down.

"Yes, of course, Miss O’Shea. I assume that the first order of business is the partnership which, after looking at the terms of the claim when Earl Simmons sued you ladies, will allow you to take back your properties if that's what you want to do." Wilson explained as we all sat down.

"Whatever you want to do is fine with me." I told the ladies, "Either way, you'll be able to travel anywhere in the world and you'll be able to stay in whatever company owned furnished apartment you'd like. You'll also receive a company card, your pick of company vehicles, a sign-on bonus, and the company will pay for all of your passports as well as traveling fees."

"Sophia, this is too much. We can't accept all of this." Elsie replied, astonished.

"Elsie, by signing the contract, O'Sullivan's Interior Design will become the interior design branch of O’Shea Incorporated, and you'll not only be the heads of the branch, you'll automatically receive advertisementing which will bring you a lot more clients with the ability to hire the contractors you already had." I insisted, "You'll have the ability to hire assistants and more contractors to help you keep up with the increase of clients. By becoming members of O’Shea Incorporated, you'll be helping me out so much more than you could ever imagine, ladies. I've been trying to get the interior design branch up and running ever since graduation, but it's a lot harder to find competent designers than you think."

"What if we want to start selling some of the stuff we design in retail stores?" Sandra asked.

"As the heads of the interior design branch, you're free to do that, but your designs will be patented to protect against thieves, and that'll bring you, along with your branch, even more income." I smiled, "I do ask that you use some of the branch profits for charity, and if you do run into any legal trouble, even if it's for a divorce, Mr. Donovan will be at your disposal, ladies. As far as I can see, it's a win-win-win situation."

"What are the restrictions and requirements we would have after signing the contracts?" Sandra asked.

"If you were to ever decide to leave, you would have to find your replacements, charity work of your choosing once every two years to start off, follow the laws, at least girls' night once a month, take a vacation at least every four years, take care of yourselves, and don't be afraid to ask for help whenever you need it." Wilson replied as he slid the contract over to Elsie, "After you sign, you'll each receive copies of the contract."

Elsie read over the contract and Cynthia asked, "What does it say?"

Elsie looked at us as she said, "It says exactly what we just heard, but we'll also get Paid Time Off and we can work from home whenever we want to."

"Elsie, I want you guys to enjoy your lives while you're thriving and not have to worry about keeping your business going every day by trying to keep your own schedules filled with clients. As you can see, you'll receive a hundred dollars start-off hourly pay after tax, not counting your active pay, all the benefits you could ever want, and a large portion of the taxes is money going into your retirement packages, which you can access anytime you need to. You'll receive an email with a link to the app all of the employees have where you can see what your paycheck will be every two weeks, you can check how much vacation time you've accumulated, your PTO bank, your retirement account, client schedule, office schedule, and any upcoming meetings you'll have to attend will show up on your schedules. You'll be able to see everything in the app."

"This seems a little too good to be true." Evelynn replied skeptically.

"Miss Evelynn, Miss O’Shea 's biological grandparents came from several generations of greedy family members who were from old money, but none of them were business geniuses like she is and when her grandparents died, they left her with everything. Miss Elsie, I'm sure you already know this, but Miss O’Shea isn't above renting out any of her numerous homes to people who need and help them make money for their future while they're living in the home." Wilson explained, "With the money Miss O’Shea makes, she's using it to help the people who need it. Some people need surgeries or medications that insurance companies consider elective and refuse to pay for, but the money she donates to hospitals, pharmacies, and even communities, you could go as far as to say she's changing the lives of people around the world. Miss O’Shea has even changed my life dramatically and for the better since I met her, but if you think about it, the job isn't completely free since she's requiring you to help other people, as stated in the contract, ladies. That's the only catch that comes with partnering up with O’Shea Incorporated."

"How much would we have to donate or what would we need to do for charities?" Cynthia asked.

"No less than a grand each and what you do for charity is up to you. Donate food, clothes, shoes, blankets, tents, old furniture…it's up to you. You could even volunteer at soup kitchens if you want and it could be in another country if that's what you want to do. The company will still pay for your travel expenses." I replied.

"Sophia, what if we've already donated food and clothing this year?" Evelynn asked.

"Then you won't have to donate anything for two years." I smiled as I leaned back in my chair and crossed one leg over the other.

"Do we need to meet a monthly quota?" Sandra asked.

"At least one job a month. That means, if you were to start a job today and it wasn't finished by the end of the month, it'll still count towards your monthly quota. You won't have to worry about starting another until after it's done unless you're going on vacation afterward and then you don't have to worry about doing another job until after you come back to work." I explained, "Like the Riverhedge house when it was being renovated, for example. It took eight months to finish and that means you met your quota with just the Riverhedge house for those eight months."

"So, would we have to have one house each to meet the monthly quota?" Evelynn asked.

"No, you wouldn't. For example, if Cynthia wasn't ready to take on a house on her own yet, she could work with you as an apprentice in training and that one house would count as the branch's monthly quota. You don't have to worry about individual quotas, there aren't any and if all four of you have your own projects, that would mean you've exceeded your quota which would result in a triple bonus for the O'Sullivan's Interior Design employees at the end of the month." I explained as Wilson slid a packet of documents to Elsie, "Each of you will also receive everything in that packet in the email with the link to the app."

"A fourth grader could understand everything in here." Evelynn said, "It's straightforward, crystal clear, and even the diagrams are easy to understand."

"You're right." Sandra agreed as she read over Evelynn's shoulder.

"Um, Sophia, can we keep the packet?" Elsie asked.

"Of course." I replied with a smile before Evelynn grabbed a pen and signed the contract then filled in her direct deposit information.

Elsie, Sandra, and Cynthia followed suit before Evelynn slid it back to Wilson who promptly left to make copies. I shook their hands before asking, "Who would like to see Earl Simmons cry?"

"Yes, please." Evelynn replied.

"Would we still have been able to see him cry if we hadn't signed the contract?" Sandra asked.

"Yeah, but I wouldn’t have been able to introduce you guys as the company designers." I smiled as each of their phones chimed twice.

Sandra pulled out her phone and shouted, "Holy crap, Sophia. You weren't kidding when you said we'd receive signing bonuses."

I chuckled before saying, "Well, I do take care of my employees and friends, Sandra."

"I'll say." Sandra replied as I led them out of the conference room and down the hallway to my office, where I gestured for them to sit in the sitting area.

When I reached my desk, I paged my secretary as Wilson entered the office, "Julie, please send Earl Simmons in."

"Of course, Miss O’Shea." Julie replied as Wilson made himself comfortable in one of the chairs across from me.

"Miss O’Shea, weren't you talking about redecorating your office?" Wilson asked.

"It's not at the top of my to-do list right now since I'm rarely here, but I'm having the other office areas renovated and updated first. Everything looked so dated that it was nauseating to pass through, but so far only wiring, plumbing, and insulation have been replaced. The last of the drywall is scheduled to go up within the next three weeks and then I'd like my go-to designers to work their magic." I replied as I crossed one leg over the other as I checked my work emails.

"Did you have a theme in mind, Sophia?" Cynthia asked.

"I'd like for it to be timeless yet classic. Something that wouldn't be considered dated for at least twenty years." I replied as I turned to look at her, "Vinyl flooring, a medium off-white or pale vintage rose walls, off-white panel molding or wainscoting, crown molding, off-white ceiling, modern-classic lighting, antique office desks with a sconce light instead of desk lamps, more comfortable office chairs, bookcases, and comfortable window seats under those awkward windows."

"You have several floors that aren't being used so you could have them occupied and add some walls to open floors to make offices." Elsie suggested.

"Hmm, we could add transom windows to the walls between the offices, have glass walls and doors at the office entrances to let the sunlight into the corridors. That way, you wouldn't have to use the lights in the corridors until it starts getting dark outside and if you put in light sensors instead of switches for the overhead lights, you'll save on the energy bills." Sandra offered.

"I like that idea, we'll do that instead." I smiled, " If we're able to make the offices big enough, we could add small sitting areas in them. Replacing the desktops with three-sixty laptops will allow them to enjoy their sitting areas and window seats. Or instead of solid walls, we could put up frosted glass walls and have frames made to keep the glass in place so we can really take advantage of the sunlight during the day."

"That's true. If the frames are sturdy and hollow, it can help conceal the wiring for the sconce lights unless you're gonna scrap that part." Cynthia offered.

"No, we'll actually need more of them and quite a few custom ones for the sitting areas. We'll need fewer overhead LED lights since we could put large pendant lights over the desks, but the sconce lights will still have their own switches." I replied as I started picturing the end results.

"Do you have some paper, a pencil, color pencils, and a ruler?" Sandra asked.

I opened my desk drawer and dug out the items Sandra asked for, along with a large eraser. As Sandra walked back to the couch with the supplies, there was a knock on my office door before it opened and Julie entered as I turned on the voice recorder next to my keyboard, saying, "Earl Simmons."

"It's Mr. Simmons, you stupid bitch." Earl Simmons snapped as he shoved past Julie and nearly knocked her down.

"Earl Simmons, I suggest you change your attitude toward my secretary before I have you removed and permanently banned from the premises." I said in a harsh tone as Sandra put her earbuds in her ears, "Now, sit down or get out of my office."

Earl Simmons's face turned white when he looked at me and he quietly sat down in the empty seat across from me as he said, "Sorry."

"Hmm. Now, what can I do for you, Earl." I asked as I leaned back in my chair while Julie passed a tablet to Elsie before leaving.

"I'd like for your company to build a house for me." Earl replied as he handed me a list on a piece of notebook paper, "Three stories with a game room basement and an attic. Ten bedrooms, ten and half bathrooms, a den, a home office, a kitchen with an island, stainless steel appliances, white marble slab tiles throughout, large walk-in showers in every bathroom, floating concrete sinks, toilets with bidet attachments, gray walls, metal banisters with glass under the railings, spacious hallways, catwalks, central air systems, and reinforced floor-to-ceiling windows in all the rooms. I don't want the upper levels to come over the eat-in kitchen and living room. I want there to be reinforced floor-to-ceiling windows in there as well, reinforced front door, and sliding glass doors that lead onto a back patio to a massive in-ground infinity pool."

"Okay, how many acres of land do we have to work with, Earl?" I asked as Elsie worked quickly on the tablet.

"The property is a total of twenty square acres, Miss O’Shea." Earl responded before asking, "What is your first name, Miss O’Shea?"

"Okay, and how many square feet were you wanting the house to be?" I asked, ignoring his question about my first name.

"Four hundred thousand square feet and I want it to be one of those smart houses." Earl replied before asking again, "What is your first name, Miss O’Shea?"

"That's a lot of house for one person, Earl, and a house that size comes with a pretty big electric bill." I said, ignoring his question again.

"I'll manage and you can just make the house solar powered." Earl replied and asked for a third time, "What is your first name, Miss O’Shea?"

"What kind of furniture would you like in the house, Earl? Any particular type, color, or material?" I asked.

"Black leather, high-tech security system, dark gray exterior paint, black shingles, and the biggest LED lighting on the market in each room. I want it to be state-of-the-art and luxurious. Four car garage, long circular driveway, black metal fence around the property, and I want the gate at the end of the driveway to open at the push of a button." Earl replied irritably before demanding, "What is your first name, Miss O’Shea?"

"Okay, Earl, my assistant here has some paperwork for you to sign and in a couple of seconds, you should receive an email requesting the payment for the construction as well as interior decorating of your home. I'll answer any professional questions you have after you've signed and the payment has finally gone through." I replied as I handed him a pen before turning to my computer.

I could hear the pen scratching against the paper as he signed his name wherever Wilson pointed and a few seconds later, I received an email letting me know that the payment went through before Earl snapped at me, "Send a copy of the paperwork to my lawyer and tell me your damn name, bitch."

Wilson was already scanning the documents and they were already showing up on my screen as p*f files as I asked Earl, "What is your email address and your lawyer's email address, Earl?"

As Earl quickly rattled off the email addresses, I typed them in and hit send, but I waited for fifteen minutes, pretending the email was sending when Earl yelled, "What's taking so damn long, bitch?"

"Calm down, Earl. The email needs a little time to finish sending because the files attached contain a rather large amount of data." I said with an arrogant winning smirk.

"What did you do?" Earl demanded.

"I didn't do anything, but you gave me ownership of the property. Don't worry, you'll still get to live in the house you asked for, along with everything you wanted, but I have to tell you, the rent will be an astronomical amount. Look on the bright side, you won't have to worry about repairs, maintaining the home or property, you'll be very safe there, and since you're the only person who'll be living there, you won't have to worry about anyone damaging the house."

"Then what the hell did I just pay you for?" Earl roared.

"You paid for the construction, interior design, security deposit, first month's rent, and last month's rent." I replied with a condescending tone, "The rent will be four million dollars a month, not counting your water bill every month and since you'll be renting, you can't make any changes to house or property."

"Forget it. Cancel the contract, give me back my fucking money, and I'll be seeing you in court, bitch." Earl yelled just before his phone rang, but he sent it to voicemail as I stood up after writing an email to him, along with his lawyer, that Earl demanded the contract be terminated.

"Very well, Earl." I replied as Wilson placed the forms to terminate the contract in front of Earl who, once again, signed without reading before he threw the pen on the desk as his phone started ringing for the third time.

Wilson scanned the doctuments and I hit the send button after attaching the file as Earl answered the phone and yelled, "What the fuck do you want Jordan?"

I pressed the button calling security as we could all hear Jordan's voice yelling through the phone, "About damn time you answered the phone. Earl, I'm on my way, but tell me you did not cancel that contract with O’Shea Incorporated."

"Of course I terminated the damn contract. This bitch tried to take the property from me and every penny I have. I'm suing the fucking bitch, Harrison." Earl yelled as security quietly entered the room.

"Didn't you read any of the contracts you fucking idiot?" Jordan yelled.

"Who cares, you're Jordan Harrison, you can kick this bitch's ass in court." Earl scoffed.

"Not when her lawyer is fucking Shayla Williams or that bastard Wilson Donovan. I'm almost there, Earl." Jordan Harrison yelled as I took off my shoes and walked around to Earl's side of my desk.

"What the hell are you talking about, Jordan?" Earl yelled, but his phone chimed, signaling the call had ended.

"Earl, I'd like you to meet some close friends of mine." I smirked then gestured to my entourage, "Evelynn, Elsie, Cynthia, and Sandra O'Sullivan. Last but not least, my lawyer, Mr. Wilson Donovan. Now, I'm sure you were wondering why I'm doing this to you, but something

tells me that you've just now figured it out, and I know you're pissed, probably realizing just how badly you fucked up when you went after my friends. However, I want you to take a look at the security guards standing by the door behind you. Now, you're probably assuming they're here to protect me, but that couldn't be further from the truth because my gut tells me that, if you're not gonna try to come after me, you'll go after one of my friends. Now, before you decide which one you're gonna try to hurt, just know that I won't hesitate to hurt you very, very badly if you even try to make a move towards my friends, and not even your dick will move again. You played your game with the wrong person today and you just lost everything except your identity to me, but if you ever come near one of us, contact us, or wrongfully sue someone again, you won't even own that anymore, Earl. I'm sure you were thinking about naming your first son after yourself, but I doubt your lawyer would disagree when I say that I don't recommend you do that unless you plan to destroy his future before he's even a year old."

Just then, a familiar man walked into my office and he stopped dead in his tracks as Earl collapsed into the chair behind him before burying his head in his hands.

"So, you're that Jordan Harrison. You were always a piece of work in high school and even more so after college." Cynthia scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Cynthia and Sandra O'Sullivan." Jordan sneered before turning to me.

He was about to say something, but Wilson spoke first, "Jordan, I suggest you think twice before you even think about speaking to my clients again. Shayla still has that restraining order against you, which means everyone in this room except for you and your client, are extensions of her. So, I suggest you take your client and leave the O’Shea Incorporated property now, before I contact the police."

"I just lost everything." Earl sobbed as Jordan hauled him to his feet and out the door with security following close behind them.

"I told you to stay away from O’Shea and Donovan, but you just wouldn't listen." Jordan yelled at him as I put my shoes back on.

When we got outside, we saw Jordan putting Earl in the front passenger seat of his car before leaving and the ladies climbed into the SUV with me while Wilson climbed into his own car. Two hours later, the ladies and I were getting on the plane as our luggage was being loaded before leaving from Riverhedge, Illinois to Alexandria , Louisiana. Before our flight was ready to take off, Evelynn asked, "Does our girls' week only have to last for seven days or can we travel for more than that?"

"Well, you have months in your PTO bank, quite a bit of vacation time, and a ton of bonus money on the way." I shrugged, "So, if you wanted you could travel for months before you run out of money and I don't really have to do anything as far as O’Shea Incorporated goes, but I mainly do it because I usually don't have anyone to spend time with. We can travel for as long as you like until you're ready to go home and just because you can work from home doesn't mean you have to do it from home. We'll have to go back from time to time because our pilot has kids and he gets the weekends off to spend time with his family. He could bring his family with him if he wanted to, but I don't know why he doesn't."

"Actually, Miss O’Shea, I have brought them with me this time. I hope that won't be a problem." our pilot admitted as he boarded the plane.

"Ugh, it's about time you bring them with us and your wife, Kandace, is coming too, right?" I smiled.

He gaped at me for a moment before asking, "You already knew that she was my wife, Miss O’Shea?"

"Of course, that's why she never works on the days you've requested to have off, George." I chuckled as Kandace herded their four children onto the plane.

When Kandace looked at me, she said, "I'm sorry that I've been lying to you about being married and having a family. The agency told me I shouldn't say anything because employers don't want women with responsibilities outside of the workplace, Miss O’Shea."

"I'm just surprised you didn't realize I knew when you and George would all have the same days off; even when you didn't request it off." I said disappointedly, "You never asked me why your apps showed two PTO banks, vacation accumulations, or retirement funds, guys. That should've tipped you off, too, but none of you asked me why your pictures were on the military wall in the break room."

"Wait, you knew we were in the military?" George asked, astonished.

"Of course I knew you were in the Air Force, George. I knew Kandace was in the Marine Corps before I hired her as my secretary. I can usually tell when someone was in the military at first sight because of the way you guys carry yourselves." I chuckled, "If you think I'm not aware that you know Tiernan O'Connor, then the two of you have really been understanding me, George. That's really just disappointing."

"Okay, if you know us as well as you say, has Aunt Flow visited me yet?" Kandace asked.

"No, but your oven is usually accepting deposits around this time, and it's not today. So, Aunt Flow is either running late or she's not coming for several weeks." I replied, "You might wanna take a test after we land in Louisiana, Kandace."

"You know my cycle?" Kandace asked.

"I had to become more observant when I was a kid, but I became hyper-observant after what I went through the day I met Tiernan." I replied.

"Well, I'm not surprised." Evelynn said, "I was the same way after I went through the same ordeal."

"Your ordeal?" Kandace asked in confusion as George went into the cockpit.

"It's not something I like to talk about, but it's not something we should talk about in front of the kiddos." I replied with a comforting smile.

Still confused, Kandace sat down in one of the empty seats as my phone started ringing and I noticed it was Wilson before I answered, "Mr. Donovan, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Miss O’Shea, I’m sorry, but I only just found out about this today." Wilson replied.

"What happened, Mr. Donovan?" I asked concerned as I cocked my head.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry. It's nothing like that, Miss O’Shea. No one's died and you're still the fourth wealthiest person in the world. It's just that someone in the mail room fucked up and neglected to bring me over a years worth of mail." Wilson replied.

I took a few deep breaths as I pinched the bridge of my nose before coolly saying, "Mr. Wilson Donovan, the next time you call me like that, it better be because someone died."

"I-I am so sorry, Miss O’Shea. I-I promise you, I didn't mean to upset you." Wilson stammered.

"What happened?" I demanded through gritted teeth.

Wilson sounded even more nervous as he said, "Well, um, it turns out you have eight other properties and two cruise ships. Two are in China, two in Japan, two in England, two are in Texas, and the cruise ships are docked in Louisiana."

"You called me like that because of eight houses you weren't informed about until today?" I demanded, "If you ever call me like that over something like that again, my next call will be too Miss Williams, do I make myself clear, Mr. Donovan?"

"Crystal clear, Miss O’Shea." Wilson replied before I hung up on him and tossed my phone into my purse.

"Sophia, I don't think I've ever seen you that pissed off before." Sandra said.

I shook my head and the plane fell silent as I tried my best to calm down.

"I've never seen Miss O’Shea that mad before." Kandace murmured.

Only one person knew what I was like when I was furious and they stayed as far away from me as possible after that, but it took a lot to get me to that point. However, I wasn't furious or pissed off, I was just mad at Wilson, but I still needed to calm down. After the plane was in the air, I went into the lavatory and to a few more deep breaths before I finally managed to calm down.

When I came out of the bathroom, I told Sandra, "I'm sorry, I want mad at you and I shouldn't have treated you that way."

"Sophia, it's okay. I could see your face turn white as a ghost from here and I was just worried you got some really bad news or something, but I hope everything is okay." Sandra replied.

"Yeah, but with the way Mr. Donovan was talking, I thought someone had died, and come to find out, it was all because he just found out about some properties my grandparents owned overseas because some idiot in the mail room didn't bring him some mail for over a year." I scoffed.

"Are you going too call that Miss Williams woman about him after we land in Alexandria ?" Elsie asked.

"No, I'm going to call Mr. Donovan in Alexandria and apologize for going off on him the way I did." I replied before going to my seat.

Wilson

I felt like a piece of shit after Sophia hung up on me, but I was also pissed that the damn mailroom had neglected to bring my mail for over a year and I somehow didn't notice it. After a few moments, I went to Shayla's office and asked, "Do you have a key to the damn mailroom?"

"Yeah, I do, why?" Shayla asked as she leaned back in her chair.

"I just found a shit-ton of mail from them that arrived a year ago and I want to know if those assholes have any more of my mail that they haven't brought me yet." I snapped and then sighed before adding, "I thought Sophia O’Shea was going to be pissed when I told her, but I guess I made her think someone had died and was pissed when I said that I was calling about the houses overseas. I thought she was going to fire me right then and there, but thankfully she just chewed me out before hanging up on me. She said that if I ever did that again, you would be her next call."

"Why didn't you ever act like an asshole to her before you lost all of your clients, Wilson?" Shayla smirked.

"Trust me, I've thought about it, but there's just something about her that makes it impossible for me to be an asshole to her and she's just so damn likable that I can't ever get mad at her. Everything in me wants to protect her from all the bad shit and I probably couldn't get mad at her even if she were being a major bitch." I scoffed.

"Actually, there might be another reason for that." Shayla replied as she opened one of her desk drawers and pulled out a sheet of paper before handing it to me.

I eyed Shayla for a second before reading the paper; a paternity test with my name and Sophia's, but my heart sank when I read the results. I looked up at Shayla and asked, "How the hell did you manage to do this, Shayla?"

"Sophia O’Shea, formerly Misty Anne Smith, was arrested quite a few times before she became emancipated at sixteen years old and one of the police officers jumped the gun. Some kids at her old school told police that she was dealing drugs and the cop that jumped the gun after she was brought out, fingerprinted her. He was about to enter her DNA swab in the database when their captain said she hadn't been charged, but the cop didn't care, he was convinced she was the dealer. So, after the captain escorted her to an interrogation room, he entered her DNA and mugshot anyway. The captain fired him after she found out and they've been praying she doesn't find out this whole time." Shayla replied before pulling out a photograph and placing it on her desk, "I got your DNA sample from bloody tissue and sent it to a lab after that pregnant woman showed up claiming you were the father. You're the father of her baby, but you are Sophia O’Shea's father."

I recognized the woman in the photo and said, "That's Karen Dempsey."

"No, that's Karen Smith. Her maiden name is Kelly." Shayla replied.

I started thinking about what I had been doing almost twenty-two years ago and as I began putting the pieces together, I felt like a real scumbag, "I went to a college party to find a client's kid before I went home and after I got the kid in a cab, her mother approached me. Anyway, I wasn't thinking with the head on my shoulders by the end of the night and I went

home early in the morning. My biological daughter is not only my last client, she's become the most important client in this firm."

"Are you going to tell her the truth?" Shayla asked.

"How the hell would I even do that, Shayla?" I asked plopping down on the sofa across from her desk, "I mean hell, she won't even call me Wilson as if I'm her friend or anything."

"Wilson, Sophia is one of the wealthiest people in the world. Money can only keep people quiet for so long before they start talking and it would be better if she found out from you instead of someone else or from some tabloid Kandace brings her or of the blue. You need to tell her and I'll take care of the mail room, Wilson." Shayla said.

My heart sank and I looked at Shayla before jumping to my feet. I nearly ran back to my office and practically dived for my phone as it started ringing, "Wilson Donovan."

"Mr. Donovan, I wanted to apologize for going off on you like that earlier. I'm sorry." Sophia's voice said over the phone.

"Miss O’Shea, there's something I need to tell you and I literally just found this out a couple of minutes ago." I replied.

Sophia

Thankfully, I was sitting on my bed in my hotel room when I dropped my phone after hearing Wilson's words and since I had the call on speaker, I didn't miss his next words, "Miss O’Shea, there was an incident a few weeks ago and I had a paternity test done, but two results came back instead of just one. Miss O’Shea, the second result is saying that I'm your biological father."

I didn't say anything as I let the words Wilson just said to me sink in and when they did, I picked up the phone asking, "What's the name of the cop who put me in the system?"

"I can do some digging and find out, but it'll take me some time." Wilson replied.

"I'd like Miss Williams to do it. We need to talk and it's not a conversation I want to have face-to-face, not over the phone." I replied, "You can meet me here in Louisiana, North Carolina, or New York City."

"I can be in Louisiana in around fifteen hours or so." Wilson replied.

"What time will the plane land, then?" I asked with a sigh.

"I'll be driving out there." Wilson replied.

"I guess it's a good thing all flights are being grounded for the three days and we'll be here until we can fly again. I'll see you in thirty-two hours." I replied.

"Okay, I'll be there." Wilson replied before I hung up and set an alarm to meet with Wilson in thirty-two hours.

I flopped back on the bed and let out a sigh before getting up again. After grabbing a black pair of bicycle shorts, a black thong, and a black sports bra, I headed into the bathroom to take a shower before going to bed. Unfortunately, I was having a hard time getting to sleep after laying in bed for several minutes, but after a while, I gave up and started thinking of ways to make things easier on my employees. The break room needed to be remodeled, but I knew that wasn't going to make things easier for employees during summer vacations while their kids were out of school, and then it hit me, daycare. After adding it to my to-do list, I started writing a list of things I wanted or needed to do in order to make the daycare happen, but I wanted it to be a surprise for the employees.

I didn't realize I had fallen asleep until I heard banging on my door and I dragged myself out of bed to use the bathroom before I heard Sandra yelling through the door, "Sophia, open the door."

"Let me use the bathroom first, Sandra." I groaned as I trudged into the bathroom.

After I washed my hands, I turned the door handle and lazily pulled it open as I started making my way back to the bed, but I was wide awake when Sandra asked, "Why did you lie about your Dad or at least tell me that your Dad is your lawyer?"

I turned back to Sandra and saw she was holding a tabloid. After taking it from her, I scanned the referred page and said, "Well, at least he told himself last night instead of letting me find out through the tabloids."

"What do you mean?" Sandra asked confusedly.

"I called Mr. Donovan last night to apologize, and he told me that he's my biological father right after he found out." I replied, handing the tabloid back, "I have a feeling Miss Williams knew before he did and told him before he told me. It's still creepy, but at least now I know why the man I thought was my father always had this really creepy, lustful look on his face whenever he would look at me. The guy was a pedophile and thankfully, I was never his kid."

My phone started ringing on the nightstand, and I walked over to check the caller ID, it was the radio station I had done an interview with. When I answered the phone, the radio station host asked, "Miss O’Shea, do you have a few minutes for an interview?"

"I'm actually on vacation with some close friends right now, but my assistant will contact you after I get back. Have a good day, and be safe." I replied before hanging up.

Elsie appeared in the doorway and saw the tabloid in Sandra's hand before scolding her, "Sandra, I thought I told you not to bug Sophia with the garage in that tabloid."

"I know, Mom, but I really wanted to know if it was true or not." Sandra replied as she turned to Elsie.

"At least now I know where my gray eyes came from since my mother and stepfather both had blue eyes." I shrugged as I went back to the bed and flopped onto it, "I knew something was weird, and anytime I asked Karen about it, she'd just say my gray eyes were from some recessive gray eye recessive genes, but middle school biology told me that was a load of crap. Karen still stuck to her lies though, but the truth was that she fucked my biological father because she wasn't getting all of Steve's attention and decided to have sex with the first guy who would screw her."

My phone started ringing on the bed next to me, and I answered it without looking at the caller ID, "Sophia O’Shea."

"Miss O’Shea, I’m just calling to make sure you're okay since Wilson just took off last night after asking me to find out the name of the cop who put you in the system." Shayla replied, sounding stressed.

"Yeah, I'm fine, and I asked him to come meet me to talk, so he's on his way here." I sighed, "I don't even know what to call him now."

"Maybe you should ask him about that when he gets there and maybe ease up on him, but Wilson is very proud of you, Miss O’Shea." Shayla chuckled.

"Miss Williams, I haven't even been holding him to the same standards that I've had for myself since I was ten years old." I replied as I stared up at the ceiling.

"I see. Well, I've found the name of the cop who put you in the system even though you were never charged for anything." Shayla replied.

"Good, I'm suing that piece of shit when I get back." I replied as I sat up on the bed.

"It seems Wilson thought you might feel that way, Miss O’Shea." Shayla replied as I slipped off the bed.

"Since we now know that Mr. Donovan is my biological father, what happens now? Also, shouldn't the results of the paternity test be confidential information?" I asked as I started pacing the room, passing the foot of the bed.

"Well, Wilson didn't have any family members when he started working here, and the firm does allow employees to represent family members, but not in criminal cases." Shayla replied.

"What would happen if I did end up with a criminal case?" I asked as I put in one of my wireless earbuds and turned it on as I turned on the bluetooth mode on my phone.

"I would take your case at Wilson's rate." Shayla replied as the earbuds connected to my phone and I put the second one in as I walked into the bathroom.

"I noticed he doesn't seem as busy anymore." I said as I put my hair up in a high ponytail when a notification popped up on my phone letting me know I would be meeting up to talk with Wilson in twenty-four hours.

"Yeah, his previous assistants caused him to lose most of his clients, but fortunately, you brought him the O'Sullivan account, which brought him up to two clients." Shayla replied, and I froze as I was brushing out my ponytail.

"So, until yesterday, I was his only client?" I asked before continuing to brush my ponytail.

"Yeah, but it works out because now he has the time to meet up with you in Louisiana. I just need to know if you would consider this a personal meeting on paper or a business meeting." Shayla asked as I changed into a white sports bra and a black pair of bicycle shorts with pockets.

"On paper, I'd consider it a business meeting, but don't tell Mr. Donovan that I'm taking it easy on him today." I said as I started putting on my socks and shoes.

"I have a feeling that would only worry him at this point, Miss O’Shea." Shayla chuckled before adding, "I am curious about why you're always so formal with us; especially with Wilson."

"I'm a strong believer in the golden rule: treat others the way you want to be treated." I replied as I approached the door of my hotel room.

Shayla chuckled before saying, "You're formal with us because we're formal with you."

"That's right. Honestly, all the formality has been getting on my nerves." I replied as I started making my way too the elevator to go downstairs and found the ladies waiting for the elevator to arrive in their workout clothes.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that was how we were making you feel." Shayla replied as I slipped my phone into my pocket.

"Oh, don't feel bad. You couldn't have known because I hadn't told you guys and that's why I was never impatient whenever either one of you called me Miss O’Shea." I replied with a shrugged, "I just figured you guys weren't comfortable with calling me by my first name and I decided that I would just try to get used to it."

Suddenly, a woman wearing a hotel uniform approached us and said, "I'm sorry, ladies, but the elevator is out of order."

"Since when?" Cynthia asked.

"Since, late last night, ma'am." the woman snapped before slapping a sign on the elevator door and stormed away ranting, "Stupid, ugly, rude bitch."

I looked at the ladies with raised eyebrows and when they looked at me, I knew we were on the same page before we went back to our rooms as Shayla asked, "Who was that talking about bitches just now?"

"Shayla, do you have access to my files?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course I do." Shayla replied with confusion.

"Can you find out who owns the Supreme Sanctuary Hotels and their sister hotels?" I asked.

"I don't need access to your file to know that you’re the owner of those hotels, Miss O’Shea." Shayla replied.

"Shayla." I said in a sing-song tone, turning to go back to the stairs.

"I meant Sophia. I'm sorry." Shayla replied.

"It's fine. I know it'll take some getting used to, but please try, Shayla. There's more than enough people who call me Miss O’Shea as it is." I smiled as I reached the door to the stairs and shoved it open.

I began jogging down the stairs from the tenth floor to lobby as Shayla said, "I'll try my best, Sophia."

"All I ask is that you try, but I promise I'll try to be patient about it." I smiled as I reached the stairs leading to the eighth floor.

"I'll send you the number for the hotel manager, but I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, Sophia." Shayla replied before hanging up.

I took out my ear buds as I continued jogging down the stairs until I reached the lobby door and pushed the door open, heading to the front desk, "I'd like to speak to the manager of this hotel, now, please."

The woman behind the counter didn't even look up as she said, "The manager isn't here today, lady."

A second woman came out of the back with the woman who called Cynthia a bitch and the second woman froze when she saw me as I was taking out my phone. I hit the call button next to Kevin's, the hotel manager's number before putting it on speaker and he picked up on the second ring, "Miss O’Shea, it's nice to hear from you. I heard you were going to be staying at the Supreme Sanctuary hotel while you're visiting Alexandria and I hope that you're enjoying your stay."

"Not particularly, Kevin." I replied as the woman sitting behind the desk finally looked up at me, "I suggest you get here within the next thirty minutes."

"M-Miss O’Shea, I'm scheduled off today." Kevin replied.

"Then, you have two of the ladies here to thank for ruining your day off, Kevin. You're about to be two employees short; the one who has just been fired for calling my friend, who is also one of your guests, a stupid, ugly, rude bitch along with another lady who seems to require further training or needs to find a new place of employment since she has a bored, nonchalant attitude toward guests whenever they ask to speak to the hotel manager." I scolded him, "I suggest you call someone to repair the elevator as soon as possible on your way here, Kevin and schedule regular maintenance to attempt to keep it from breaking down again."

"Uh, well, it actually needs to be replaced, Miss O’Shea." Kevin replied nervously.

"Kevin, you've had my number from the start. Which means, if the hotel needs money for things like this, you should've called or texted me. Not wait until I tell you to get it fixed." I said firmly before raising my voice, "What the hell do you think would've happened if the elevator collapsed and killed someone, Kevin?"

"W-Well, I know you're a busy woman, and I didn't want to bother you." Kevin stammered.

"Bother me? Let me tell you what bothers me, Kevin; the fact that you've run this hotel into the ground." I replied harshly.

I hung up before he could respond, and my phone rang, showing Tiernan’s name on the caller ID before I put in my earbuds, then answered, "Tiernan, how are you doing?"

"Sophia, I'm sorry to bother you, but I was hoping that you could do me a huge favor." Tiernan replied uncomfortably as I put my phone back in my pocket.

"Yeah, what's going on?" I asked as I started pacing the lobby.

"Well, I know it's kind of a big favor to ask, but I have some friends from the service who just graduated from hotel school and they keep getting turned away as soon as the hiring managers hear they're veterans who have seen action overseas." Tiernan replied.

"Where do they live?" I asked.

"Well, they live out in Duson, Louisiana." Tiernan replied nervously.

"Good, send them over to the Supreme Sanctuary Hotel in Alexandria." I replied.

"Um, Sophia, they were turned away from that Supreme Sanctuary Hotel." Tiernan replied as Kevin entered the building.

"Trust me, they won't be turned away this time." I replied coldly as I glared at Kevin, who turned pale.

"Alright, I'll let them know you're waiting for them." Tiernan replied, "I'll talk to you later, Sophia."

After Tiernan hung up, I stared at Kevin as I removed my earbuds and put them in my pocket before I asked, "Do you care to explain why you chose not to hire the military veterans you interviewed, Kevin?"

"Uh, w-well, um, they-"

"Kevin, show me the hiring system now." I cut him off angrily.

"O-Of course, M-Miss O’Shea." Kevin whimpered before quickly leading me to an office behind the desk.

He logged into the computer, clicked on the icon, and walked me through the steps using John Doe as an example before showing me how to remove someone from the system. I already knew that the system would make me the manager until I appointed a new hotel manager, and after I closed out the window, Kevin left the room. So, I sat down and logged in with my information before finding the pictures of the two women, Lindsey and Adrianna, then firing them both. After that, I fired Kevin before I heard the woman who brushed me off say, "Kevin, the system just booted me out, and I can't get back in."

"Here, you can use- What the hell!" Kevin shouted before storming into the office, "Did you fire me?"

"Yeah, I also fired Lindsey and Adrianna. Three of you aren't allowed to be behind the desk, and you need to leave." I replied without looking up.

"You can't do that!" Kevin yelled at me before I heard the sliding glass doors open, "You haven't even told me why you're firing me!"

"Yes, I can, and I fired you because you refused to hire military veterans just because they saw action while they were deployed, Kevin!" I yelled as I glared at him, "You broke the Employment Equality law which means you committed a crime using my hotel, you neglected to inform me that the elevator needed to be replaced and you just have it repaired before letting guests use it! You could've killed countless people like that! Not just inside the elevator, but anyone standing in the elevator alcoves, and Lindsey waited until five people on the tenth floor alone were trying to use the elevator this morning before putting up a sign letting guests know it was out of order! My friends and I used the elevator last night! Then, Lindsey decides to call a close friend of mine a stupid, ugly, rude bitch just because she asked her a question and when I asked to speak with the hotel manager Adrianna brushes me off saying you're not here today! Now, all three of you better get the hell out of my hotel, leave your work phones at the front desk, and be glad I only fired you today before I call the police, Kevin!"

"I would suggest waiting for a few hours or more before -"

"Actually, write down your information, and I'll take it in there for you, gentlemen." I heard Wilson cut off Lily, the girl who recognized me, as Kevin ambled out of the office, dumbfounded.

"Sir, you -"

"Young lady, I'm her attorney, and I doubt you want to be in the same room with a pissed off CEO. Since Miss O’Shea wants to hire these gentlemen, it wouldn't be a good idea to make her wait too long for their information." Wilson cut Lily off again.

"Good point, go ahead." Lily replied nervously.

"Write a list of names of anyone else who has been mistreating guests." Wilson said as I started looking for someone to replace the elevator and the number for the building inspector.

"Should we just come back another time?" I heard a man ask at the front desk.

"No, you're fine. Miss O’Shea is just passionate about helping veterans, the law, and not endangering the people her company is responsible for while they're in her care." Wilson replied.

"Who graduated hotel school with the highest grades?" I shouted.

"Just write down your grades and rank." Wilson said, and a few moments later, he walked in a small stack of papers and then placed them on the desk next to me, saying, "You're scaring people out there."

"Not now, Wilson." I replied through gritted teeth, "I'm trying not to go after Kevin and kill him for nearly murdering people. I need you to call the fire department on my behalf and ask them to pry open the elevator doors to make sure those women didn't neglect to see if anyone was down there."

"If they did?" Wilson asked as he pulled out his phone.

"I'm gonna need a sparring partner either way, and Tiernan is in Riverhedge." I replied through gritted teeth.

"I can ask one of the new-hires if they'll spat with you." Wilson replied before putting his phone to his ear.

"Whoever it is better be ready to try to kick my ass." I muttered as I began entering the men into the system.

"Hey, this is Wilson Donovan, I'm calling on behalf of my client - No, not all. She doesn't want to sue anyone. Yeah, she just wanted someone to come pry open the elevator doors in her hotel, The Supreme Sanctuary Hotel." Wilson replied, "You heard me right, yes. Well, there were some neglectful idiots who worked here, but she fired them, and she's worried no one actually checked to see if anyone was trapped inside before they shut the elevator down. That's wonderful news. I'll let her know, thank you."

"I'm assuming they're on the way." I muttered as I began entering the second guy, who had the highest score, into the system as the new hotel manager.

"Yes, Miss O’Shea." Wilson replied.

"Sophia, Wilson. Call me Sophia, and I'll call you Wilson until I'm ready to call you my father unless you prefer that I don't, but please stop calling me Miss O’Shea." I muttered through gritted teeth before calling the manager of the Supreme Sanctuary Hotel in Baton Rouge, Millie.

She answered on the second ring, "This is Millie Austin."

"Millie, this is Sophia O’Shea and let me start off by saying I apologize for coming across as a bitch, but I need you to come to the hotel in Alexandria to train my new manager. Don't cut meetings with guests short, but I need you here as soon as possible." I replied.

"Oh, okay, but what hairbrush to that greedy creep, Kevin? Isn't he the manager?" Millie asked in her southern accent.

"No, and he better hope I never see him again." I replied coolly.

"Alright. Well, I just finished with my last meeting of the day so I'll be there in a few hours, Miss O’Shea." Millie replied.

"Thank you and be safe, Millie." I replied before hanging up the phone and tossing it on the desk.

"How bad was it, Sophia?" Wilson asked.

"He let guests use the elevator knowing it needed to be replaced and he never contacted me to ask for the money to do it. That Lindsey woman called Cynthia a stupid, ugly, rude bitch because she asked her a question about the elevator and that Adrianna chick just brushed me off saying he wasn't here today when I asked to speak to the hotel manager." I shouted, "Wilson, the ladies and I used the damn elevator yesterday not knowing we could've been fucking killed. If all five of us had died there wouldn't have been anyone to take over the company and I don't have anyone else I could leave everything to."

We heard the sliding glass doors open and Lily poked her head into the office, "The fire department is here, Miss O’Shea."

I got up and followed her out of the office with Wilson right behind me. Once we emerged from the office area, I noticed a familiar face among the firemen, Jakub Murtagh and I shook their hands saying, "I'm Sophia O’Shea, I own the hotel and forgive me if I come across as a bitch, but you already have an idea why since you're all here. I just need to know if anyone is stuck inside and if there are, obviously, we're getting them out today."

"Yes, ma'am." Jakub replied before moving toward the elevator and began prying the doors open.

"What are you going to do if someone's trapped in there?" another fireman asked me.

"Thanks for reminding me." Wilson said before turning to the new-hires, "You guys might have to restrain her if that's the case and I'm warning you now, she's strong."

A couple minutes later, Jakub got the doors open and two other firemen held the doors open as Jakub looked inside, but I became increasingly worried when I didn't see the inside of the elevator. When Jakub looked up and sighed, I asked, "Which floor?"

"It's stuck on the sixth floor, Sophia." Jakub replied and I took off for the stairs.

Wilson, the firemen, and the new-hires were right behind me when Wilson asked, "Should I draw up the paperwork?"

"That goes without saying at this point and call the police." I snapped.

When we reached the sixth floor, one of the firemen asked Jakub, "How do you know Sophia O’Shea?"

"We went to high school together and I had a major crush on her." Jakub admitted.

"Yeah, well I still have a crush on you Jakub Murtagh." I shouted as I reached the door to the sixth floor and yanked it open before running through.

"You wanna have dinner sometime? Or are you married?" Jakub asked.

"Yes, and still single." I replied as I ran to the elevator alcove and let the firefighters pass to the doors.

Jakub pried the doors open and my stomach sank when we saw eight people on the floor who had been trapped inside as he said, "Let's secure the elevator and get these people out. Call an ambulance, Andrew."

Seeing red, I turned and started toward the door to the stairs, but someone caught me around the waist before I yelled, "I'm gonna make those fuckers wish they were never born."

"Do not let go of her." Wilson yelled.

"They fucking killed those people dammit." I yelled.

"Sophia! Sophia, look at me!" Jakub yelled as he made me look at him, "They were just unconscious. The people in the elevator were just unconscious, they're okay."

The police and paramedics arrived a few minutes later to handle the scene. Lily and I gave the police our statements in the lobby before they left, but they made sure to me not to leave town after collecting the work phones the three former employees left on the front desk before leaving.

A month later, Lindsey, Adrianna, and Kevin were sentenced to twenty-five years in prison with fifteen years probation. The elevator was replaced, work on the warehouse in New Orleans was well underway, and I was on my fourth date with Jakub Murtagh.

"So, what made you want to come back to Louisiana?" I asked as we were having lunch.

"Well, my Dad was diagnosed with stage four bone cancer, and he wanted to be around family when he died, but I wasn't planning on staying for as long as I have. I guess I just kinda settled here like dust because I didn't see any point in going back to Riverhedge." Jakub admitted, "As far as I knew at the time, the girl of my dreams didn't know I even existed, but I guess you did notice me and had a crush on me too."

"Oh yeah, I noticed you, but I didn't know you noticed me too and had a crush on me." I chuckled.

"So, I gotta ask, where do you see yourself in ten years?" Jakub asked.

"Well, hopefully married with at least two kids, but I don't know as far as location goes." I smiled.

"Same here, but preferably here in Louisiana." Jakub replied with a smile of his own.

"I don't know. I mean it's beautiful here, but I travel a lot for work and I'd like to help as many people as possible. Like, no more homeless veterans, people having to choose between life-saving surgery or keeping their homes because insurance companies consider it elective, getting rid of prescription narcotics, or going hungry so they can afford medications they need to stay healthy or alive." I replied.

"Sophia, that's a pretty big dream." Jakub chuckled.

"Well, my biological mother and stepfather were both hard-core opioid addicts until the day they died. If I can reduce the chances of another kid growing up the way I did, I'll do it. I mean, you've probably seen people who are addicted to opioids." I replied.

"Yeah, I have, and even kids too." Jakub replied, "It sucks when we find a kid who overdosed and we weren't able to get to them in time, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna try to make it my responsibility."

"It became my responsibility when I inherited Smith Pharmaceuticals when my grandparents died." I replied.

"I heard they became O’Shea Pharmaceuticals over three years ago and turned to all-natural pain management alternatives. Doctors have started prescribing it here, and former opioid users swear by it for their pain relief." Jakub said, "But that's beside the point, Sophia. The world's problems aren't your problems."

"Have you ever been homeless before, nearly raped, beaten to a pulp just for being alive, profiled because your parents are addicts or because of your figure, and had someone try to rob you because people keep accusing you of being a drug dealer? Have you been booked without being charge for a crime because the cop is so sure you're a criminal because everyone at school keeps pointing their fingers at you, saying you're their dealer, even though they know you're not and all because they don't want to lose their access to whatever gets them high, because you wouldn't fuck them, or because they're scared their dealer will kill them along with their families?" I scoffed.

"No, I haven’t actually." Jakub replied.

"I didn't think so. Well, I have, and I'll be damned if I'm just gonna sit by when I have the ability as well as the money to help people." I said before throwing my napkin down and standing up.

"Why the hell should it be you who has to save the damn world, Sophia?" Jakub snapped as I started walking away.

I turned back to him, saying, "Why shouldn't it be me? Why shouldn't I help people who need it? What gives you the right to tell me that I shouldn't help people? Why wouldn't I help other people who are going through the same crap I've gone through, Jakub? Can you give me a legitimate answer to any of those questions?"

"Because I want to be the damn hero for once. I want to be the person people recognize whenever I'm walking down the damn street, I want to be filthy rich, and I deserve it more than you do." Jakub roared as he got in my face.

I just scoffed at him, walked out of the restaurant, and went back to the hotel. When I reached the tenth floor, Evelynn, Elsie, Cynthia, and Sandra were all waiting out in the hallway to hear how my date with Jakub had gone, but they could tell it didn't go well when they saw I wasn't smiling.

They followed me into my room, where Sandra asked, "What happened?"

"He just wants to be a rich hero." I scoffed as I threw my clutch onto the bed and flopped back on it before kicking my shoes off, "I wasted my time and lost my virginity to an arrogant fucking douchebag."

"Did you use protection?" Elsie asked.

"Yeah, and I started my period the week after." I replied nonchalantly, "I feel like such an idiot too."

"Unfortunately, we all go through it." Evelynn replied with an apologetic smile.

"Why don't we just go to New York City after we go see the finished Plantation house tomorrow?" Sandra asked with a sigh as she plopped down on the bed next to me.

"Riggs is flying in tomorrow and George is flying home with his family." I replied.

"Okay, let's go stay at the finished Plantation house and leave the day after tomorrow." Sandra suggested, "Let's just get the hell away from that scumbag douche and never see him again. Maybe we'll all be lucky and get to see some really hot guys on the way there."

"You know what, yeah. Let's check out tonight and get the hell outta here. Maybe we should go shopping while we're at it." I replied as I sat up and slid off the bed.

"Hell yeah!" Cynthia yelled and ran out of the room as I started throwing my things into my suitcases.

Sandra raced out of the room and came back with a luggage cart a few minutes later before we piled our suitcases on it then took the elevator down to the lobby. We walked out of the hotel and threw our bags in the back of the SUV before hopping in. As I drove out of the parking lot, Cynthia, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, turned the radio on to a country station after finding the address for the Baton Rouge house and we just enjoyed ourselves. We stopped wherever looked like a good place to go shopping or get a snack until we reached the gates of my Baton Rouge mansion, almost ten hours later.

I waited for the gate to open enough for us to get through after hitting the button for the gate opener and hit the button again to close it after we had gotten through. After I pulled up to the porch, we got out and climbed up the steps to the screen door of the porch. After it shut with a slap, I unlocked the front door and the ladies followed me inside, where it looked antique yet modern while still being tasteful.

We checked out the first floor before going upstairs to check out the rest of the house and as usual with the O'Sullivan ladies, I was impressed by everything I saw. Once we finished exploring the house, we went back out to the SUV to gather our things and brought them inside, but just as we stepped back inside, Wilson called me, "Wilson, how's it going?"

"Sophia, I found two other Rottweilers that Major and Sergeant got along with. The four of them have been peacefully spending time together, but Admiral and Colonel are on their way to you in Alexandria right now. The driver is bringing along everything they need; harnesses, leashes, feeders, you name it." Wilson replied.

"We're at the house in Baton Rouge, Wilson. Things didn't work out with Jakub like I had hoped. He just wanted to be the rich hero and I guess he was going to use me to achieve that." I replied as I carried my things upstairs to the master bedroom.

"I'm sorry. I really hoped my instincts were wrong about him, but are you okay?" Wilson sighed as I started up the second flight of stairs.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I mean it sucks because he was my first boyfriend and all, but unfortunately we have to deal with the bad ones to get to the good ones." I shrugged, "Just have the driver beep the horn or call me when they get here."

"Alright, Sophia." Wilson replied before hanging up.

When I got back to my room, I sat down on the bench at the foot of the king-size bed and put the bags down by my feet before going through everything in the bags. As I was looking through everything, I decided to put on a pair of my new dark-wash low-rise denim shorts and a white sports bra before putting everything away.

Afterwards, we all spent time together until the dogs arrived, watched TV, sun bathed, ate dinner, and then went outside to enjoy the cool night. The following morning, we explored the property with Admiral and Colonel until lunchtime. After lunch, we decided to go to the beach with the dogs and swim. So, I put on a black bikini, some denim low-rise shorts, sunglasses, a pair of flip-flops, and a baseball cap.

Not long after we arrived at the beach, we noticed Jakub hanging out with Nathan and another guy. After saying hello to Nathan, I walked away without even acknowledging Jakub's presence and as I walked away, I could hear Nathan asking him, "Did something happen between you and Sophia?"

"Yeah, Sophia's a greedy, self-centered, arrogant whore." Jakub scoffed, but a couple seconds later, yelled, "What the fuck, Wesley?"

"You need to find better friends for yourself, Nate." I heard an unfamiliar guy's voice scolding Nathan.

I just kept walking, but after a few more steps, I looked back over my shoulder and saw the third guy looking at me. After a while, he joined the five of us and as we were talking, I noticed Sandra giving me suggestive looks alongside Cynthia, but I ignored them. I went for a walk with Wesley after a while and talked until we reached a pier where he pulled me against his hard muscular body before kissing me. The chemistry I felt from that one kiss was enough to leave me breathless and my bikini bottoms wet, but I wanted more. Wesley didn't hold back as he gave me what my body was craving as I held my shorts in my hand and he stretched me in a way I didn't think was possible after he slid my bikini to the side. It was hard to keep quiet, but I somehow managed as I buried my face in the crook of his neck and bit his shoulder without even realizing it as I raked my nails down his back. However, he didn't stop and neither did the incredible sensations that, once again, had me wanting to cry out his name.

I didn't realize that I had bitten and scratched him harder the second time I found myself drowning in the sensations he had caused, but I was out of breath as I asked him, "What was that?"

"That's what the Big O feels like." Wesley chuckled as I noticed the bite marks on his neck before he told me, "I don't think I've ever had one that good before, Sophia."

"Yeah, well I still have a crush on you Jakub Murtagh." I shouted as I reached the door to the sixth floor and yanked it open before running through.

"You wanna have dinner sometime? Or are you married?" Jakub asked.

"Yes, and still single." I replied as I ran to the elevator alcove and let the firefighters pass to the doors.

Jakub pried the doors open and my stomach sank when we saw eight people on the floor who had been trapped inside as he said, "Let's secure the elevator and get these people out. Call an ambulance, Andrew."

Seeing red, I turned and started toward the door to the stairs, but someone caught me around the waist before I yelled, "I'm gonna make those fuckers wish they were never born."

"Do not let go of her." Wilson yelled.

"They fucking killed those people dammit." I yelled.

"Sophia! Sophia, look at me!" Jakub yelled as he made me look at him, "They were just unconscious. The people in the elevator were just unconscious, they're okay."

The police and paramedics arrived a few minutes later to handle the scene. Lily and I gave the police our statements in the lobby before they left, but they made sure to me not to leave town after collecting the work phones the three former employees left on the front desk before leaving.

A month later, Lindsey, Adrianna, and Kevin were sentenced to twenty-five years in prison with fifteen years probation. The elevator was replaced, work on the warehouse in New Orleans was well underway, and I was on my fourth date with Jakub Murtagh.

"So, what made you want to come back to Louisiana?" I asked as we were having lunch.

"Well, my Dad was diagnosed with stage four bone cancer, and he wanted to be around family when he died, but I wasn't planning on staying for as long as I have. I guess I just kinda settled here like dust because I didn't see any point in going back to Riverhedge." Jakub admitted, "As far as I knew at the time, the girl of my dreams didn't know I even existed, but I guess you did notice me and had a crush on me too."

"Oh yeah, I noticed you, but I didn't know you noticed me too and had a crush on me." I chuckled.

"So, I gotta ask, where do you see yourself in ten years?" Jakub asked.

"Well, hopefully married with at least two kids, but I don't know as far as location goes." I smiled.

"Same here, but preferably here in Louisiana." Jakub replied with a smile of his own.

"I don't know. I mean it's beautiful here, but I travel a lot for work and I'd like to help as many people as possible. Like, no more homeless veterans, people having to choose between life-saving surgery or keeping their homes because insurance companies consider it elective, getting rid of prescription narcotics, or going hungry so they can afford medications they need to stay healthy or alive." I replied.

"Sophia, that's a pretty big dream." Jakub chuckled.

"Well, my biological mother and stepfather were both hard-core opioid addicts until the day they died. If I can reduce the chances of another kid growing up the way I did, I'll do it. I mean, you've probably seen people who are addicted to opioids." I replied.

"Yeah, I have, and even kids too." Jakub replied, "It sucks when we find a kid who overdosed and we weren't able to get to them in time, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna try to make it my responsibility."

"It became my responsibility when I inherited Smith Pharmaceuticals when my grandparents died." I replied.

"I heard they became O’Shea Pharmaceuticals over three years ago and turned to all-natural pain management alternatives. Doctors have started prescribing it here, and former opioid users swear by it for their pain relief." Jakub said, "But that's beside the point, Sophia. The world's problems aren't your problems."

"Have you ever been homeless before, nearly raped, beaten to a pulp just for being alive, profiled because your parents are addicts or because of your figure, and had someone try to rob you because people keep accusing you of being a drug dealer? Have you been booked without being charge for a crime because the cop is so sure you're a criminal because everyone at school keeps pointing their fingers at you, saying you're their dealer, even though they know you're not and all because they don't want to lose their access to whatever gets them high, because you wouldn't fuck them, or because they're scared their dealer will kill them along with their families?" I scoffed.

"No, I haven’t actually." Jakub replied.

"I didn't think so. Well, I have, and I'll be damned if I'm just gonna sit by when I have the ability as well as the money to help people." I said before throwing my napkin down and standing up.

"Why the hell should it be you who has to save the damn world, Sophia?" Jakub snapped as I started walking away.

I turned back to him, saying, "Why shouldn't it be me? Why shouldn't I help people who need it? What gives you the right to tell me that I shouldn't help people? Why wouldn't I help other people who are going through the same crap I've gone through, Jakub? Can you give me a legitimate answer to any of those questions?"

"Because I want to be the damn hero for once. I want to be the person people recognize whenever I'm walking down the damn street, I want to be filthy rich, and I deserve it more than you do." Jakub roared as he got in my face.

I just scoffed at him, walked out of the restaurant, and went back to the hotel. When I reached the tenth floor, Evelynn, Elsie, Cynthia, and Sandra were all waiting out in the hallway to hear how my date with Jakub had gone, but they could tell it didn't go well when they saw I wasn't smiling.

They followed me into my room, where Sandra asked, "What happened?"

"He just wants to be a rich hero." I scoffed as I threw my clutch onto the bed and flopped back on it before kicking my shoes off, "I wasted my time and lost my virginity to an arrogant fucking douchebag."

"Did you use protection?" Elsie asked.

"Yeah, and I started my period the week after." I replied nonchalantly, "I feel like such an idiot too."

"Unfortunately, we all go through it." Evelynn replied with an apologetic smile.

"Why don't we just go to New York City after we go see the finished Plantation house tomorrow?" Sandra asked with a sigh as she plopped down on the bed next to me.

"Riggs is flying in tomorrow and George is flying home with his family." I replied.

"Okay, let's go stay at the finished Plantation house and leave the day after tomorrow." Sandra suggested, "Let's just get the hell away from that scumbag douche and never see him again. Maybe we'll all be lucky and get to see some really hot guys on the way there."

"You know what, yeah. Let's check out tonight and get the hell outta here. Maybe we should go shopping while we're at it." I replied as I sat up and slid off the bed.

"Hell yeah!" Cynthia yelled and ran out of the room as I started throwing my things into my suitcases.

Sandra raced out of the room and came back with a luggage cart a few minutes later before we piled our suitcases on it then took the elevator down to the lobby. We walked out of the hotel and threw our bags in the back of the SUV before hopping in. As I drove out of the parking lot, Cynthia, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, turned the radio on to a country station after finding the address for the Baton Rouge house and we just enjoyed ourselves. We stopped wherever looked like a good place to go shopping or get a snack until we reached the gates of my Baton Rouge mansion, almost ten hours later.

I waited for the gate to open enough for us to get through after hitting the button for the gate opener and hit the button again to close it after we had gotten through. After I pulled up to the porch, we got out and climbed up the steps to the screen door of the porch. After it shut with a slap, I unlocked the front door and the ladies followed me inside, where it looked antique yet modern while still being tasteful.

We checked out the first floor before going upstairs to check out the rest of the house and as usual with the O'Sullivan ladies, I was impressed by everything I saw. Once we finished exploring the house, we went back out to the SUV to gather our things and brought them inside, but just as we stepped back inside, Wilson called me, "Wilson, how's it going?"

"Sophia, I found two other Rottweilers that Major and Sergeant got along with. The four of them have been peacefully spending time together, but Admiral and Colonel are on their way to you in Alexandria right now. The driver is bringing along everything they need; harnesses, leashes, feeders, you name it." Wilson replied.

"We're at the house in Baton Rouge, Wilson. Things didn't work out with Jakub like I had hoped. He just wanted to be the rich hero and I guess he was going to use me to achieve that." I replied as I carried my things upstairs to the master bedroom.

"I'm sorry. I really hoped my instincts were wrong about him, but are you okay?" Wilson sighed as I started up the second flight of stairs.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I mean it sucks because he was my first boyfriend and all, but unfortunately we have to deal with the bad ones to get to the good ones." I shrugged, "Just have the driver beep the horn or call me when they get here."

"Alright, Sophia." Wilson replied before hanging up.

When I got back to my room, I sat down on the bench at the foot of the king-size bed and put the bags down by my feet before going through everything in the bags. As I was looking through everything, I decided to put on a pair of my new dark-wash low-rise denim shorts and a white sports bra before putting everything away.

Afterwards, we all spent time together until the dogs arrived, watched TV, sun bathed, ate dinner, and then went outside to enjoy the cool night. The following morning, we explored the property with Admiral and Colonel until lunchtime. After lunch, we decided to go to the beach with the dogs and swim. So, I put on a black bikini, some denim low-rise shorts, sunglasses, a pair of flip-flops, and a baseball cap.

Not long after we arrived at the beach, we noticed Jakub hanging out with Nathan and another guy. After saying hello to Nathan, I walked away without even acknowledging Jakub's presence and as I walked away, I could hear Nathan asking him, "Did something happen between you and Sophia?"

"Yeah, Sophia's a greedy, self-centered, arrogant whore." Jakub scoffed, but a couple seconds later, yelled, "What the fuck, Wesley?"

"You need to find better friends for yourself, Nate." I heard an unfamiliar guy's voice scolding Nathan.

I just kept walking, but after a few more steps, I looked back over my shoulder and saw the third guy looking at me. After a while, he joined the five of us and as we were talking, I noticed Sandra giving me suggestive looks alongside Cynthia, but I ignored them. I went for a walk with Wesley after a while and talked until we reached a pier where he pulled me against his hard muscular body before kissing me. The chemistry I felt from that one kiss was enough to leave me breathless and my bikini bottoms wet, but I wanted more. Wesley didn't hold back as he gave me what my body was craving as I held my shorts in my hand and he stretched me in a way I didn't think was possible after he slid my bikini to the side. It was hard to keep quiet, but I somehow managed as I buried my face in the crook of his neck and bit his shoulder without even realizing it as I raked my nails down his back. However, he didn't stop and neither did the incredible sensations that, once again, had me wanting to cry out his name.

I didn't realize that I had bitten and scratched him harder the second time I found myself drowning in the sensations he had caused, but I was out of breath as I asked him, "What was that?"

"That's what the Big O feels like." Wesley chuckled as I noticed the bite marks on his neck before he told me, "I don't think I've ever had one that good before, Sophia."

Then I realized what we forgot to do and I said, "We didn't use anything and you're Nathan’s brother."

"So what if that punk's my brother." Wesley asked.

"You're Tiernan’s son and he's the only father figure-"

Wesley cut me off with a kiss before saying, "My Dad might love you like a daughter, but he wouldn't get mad if you were in a relationship with me."

I was stunned as Wesley wrote something on the inside of my wrist before kissing me on the forehead and walking away. When I got back to the girls after putting my shorts back on, I saw the guys had already left and Sandra gave me a confused look as she asked, "Is everything okay? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, but I will say this, Jakub has absolutely nothing on Wesley and I mean nothing. I still can't believe that something did happen though." I replied as we started getting our stuff together and left.

When we got home, I programmed Wesley's number in my phone before taking a shower and going to bed. The ladies and I spent the next two weeks traveling to the other houses before we returned to Riverhedge, but not long after we got home, I had to leave again for Chicago. While I was there, I realized that my period was late, but I decided to wait a few more days before taking a pregnancy test or going to the doctor.

A couple of weeks later, my period still hadn't come and I'd been feeling sick. So, I went to the pharmacy and bought a pregnancy test. Ten minutes after I got back to my hotel room, I was staring at two pink lines as I called Wesley, but it was a woman who answered the phone halfway through the third ring, "Wesley O'Connor's phone. This is his girlfriend speaking."

"Oh, sorry. I think I put the number in wrong." I replied.

Before she hung up, I heard Wesley talking in the background, "Samantha, what the fuck are you doing in my apartment? Who were you talking to on my fucking phone, you psycho?"

"Baby, don't be like that." Samantha, the woman who answered the phone, replied in a pouty baby voice.

"Give me my phone and get the fuck out of my apartment." Wesley yelled before I heard a thump and the call dropped.

My calls wouldn't even go to voicemail any time I tried to call Wesley's number after that, and a month after that Samantha chick answered his phone, I made a doctors appointment for the next day since I was already showing more than what Elsie said I should be. While waiting for my doctor to come into the room, I looked through some pregnancy pamphlets until she came in asking, "How are you doing today?"

I lifted up my shirt saying, "I had unprotected sex three months ago, but a friend of mine said I should get checked out because I'm showing a lot more than I should be at twelve weeks pregnant."

"Are you sure it wasn't twenty weeks ago?" she asked.

"The jerk I lost my virginity to two weeks beforehand, wore a condom which was intact after the fact and I started my period the week after. I had sex with a different guy a week after my period ended and he's the first guy I ever fuck without using a condom. So, yeah, I know for a fact I wasn't pregnant twenty weeks ago." I replied angrily as she pulled a disposable sheet out of a cabinet.

"Okay, we'll go ahead and do an ultrasound to see what's going on. Go ahead and take your pants and panties off then cover up with this." she replied a little nervously as she handed me the disposable sheet and left the room.

Since I was only wearing a circle skirt with a stretchy waistband, I rolled it down along with my panties before sitting on the table again and she came back a couple minutes later with the machine. When she saw me, she said, "I need you to at least take your panties off so we can do the ultrasound."

I stood up and took my panties off before dropping them onto my purse, asking, "Can we get this over with already?"

"Well, let me just get this set up and we can take a look at your baby." my doctor replied as I climbed back up on the table.

After she got the machine set up, she put a plastic cover on a long slender plastic appendage looking tool before adding some kind of gel, saying, "This might be a little uncomfortable, but I need you to scoot closer to the edge of the table then lay back and this part has to go inside."

I let out a deep breath before saying, "Alright, let's do what we've gotta do."

After laying back and scooting my butt closer to the edge of the table, she used one hand to help me maneuver my feet into the stirrups before I felt the cold gel and I concentrated on the images that appeared on the black and white screen. After some maneuvering of the plastic tool, she said, "Holy crap."

"What is it? What's going on?" I asked, looking from her to the screen.

"Do you see those four dark areas on the screen?" she asked as she pointed at each one.

"That's not normal?" I asked.

"No, it's normal. Those four dark spots are your babies, but the part that's rare is that dark line going down the middle of the screen." she replied as she pointed it out, "You have two uteri, Miss O’Shea. You're pregnant with two sets of twins. My guess is that they're in sync and you had two eggs present at the same time. Or you were about to start your second period the next day as the second egg became present and they were both fertilized."

"Holy crap." I sighed as she removed the device.

"You'll need to have some sutures put in place in order to prevent premature labor and you'll need to have a c-section to deliver your babies safely otherwise, the chances of the five of you surviving a natural delivery are slim to none." she replied as she removed the plastic sleeve and threw it in the biological waste bin before handing me two sonogram pictures, "Whenever you're ready, head to the check-out desk to schedule your next appointment."

I nodded and she left the room before I looked down at the pictures in my hand. After a few minutes, I put my panties back on and made my way to the check-out desk. Once my appointment was set, I headed home and the ladies arrived soon after, excited to hear the news, but I just handed Evelynn the pictures.

Looking over one shoulder, Sandra asked, "What are those five black things?"

"Well, I know what these four are, but I'm not sure about the long narrow line down the middle." Elsie said as she pointed out everything she was referring to.

"The black line shows I have two uteri and they're either in sync or I was going to start my second period the next day." I groaned.

"So, what are the four dark spots and the twelve W?" Cynthia asked.

"Two pairs of twins." I replied, "One pair on the left and a second pair on the right. Apparently, I also have to get sutures somewhat to prevent going into premature labor and a c-section to deliver them safely. The twelve W means I'm twelve weeks pregnant."

"Have you found a way to tell Wesley that you're pregnant yet?" Evelynn asked just before someone started knocking on the front door and I dragged myself to my feet.

After grabbing one of the sonogram pictures Evelynn was holding out to me, I went to answer the font and found Tiernan who asked, "Is it true?"

"Is what true, Tiernan?" I asked as I stepped aside, gesturing for him to come inside.

"Holy crap, you're pregnant." Tiernan said before I handed him the sonogram picture.

"Come in and close the door already." I replied as I started making my way back to the living room.

"Did you cheat on Jakub with Wesley even though you were making wedding plans?" Tiernan asked as he entered the living room.

I started laughing, but after a moment I calmed down before saying, "Not a freaking chance, Tiernan. You taught me better than that and you know that I would've told you if I ever got engaged."

"I had a feeling that was the case." Tiernan scoffed as I sent him a copy of my conversation with Jakub from that night, a habit I'd started and was glad I hadn't broken, before pressing the play button.

"So, what made you want to come back to Louisiana?" I asked.

"Well, my Dad was diagnosed with stage four bone cancer and he wanted to be around family when he died, but I wasn't planning on staying for as long as I have. I guess I just kinda settled here like dust because I didn't see any point in going back to Riverhedge." Jakub admitted, "As far as I knew at the time, the girl of my dreams didn't know I even existed, but I guess you did notice me and had a crush on me too."

"Oh yeah I noticed you, but I didn't know you noticed me too and had a crush on me." I chuckled.

"So, I gotta ask, where do you see yourself in ten years?" Jakub asked.

"Well, hopefully married with at least two kids, but I don't know as far as location goes." I smiled.

"Same here, but preferably here in Louisiana." Jakub replied.

"I don't know. I mean it's beautiful here, but I travel a lot for work and I'd like to help as many people as possible. Like, no more homeless veterans, people having to choose between life-saving surgery or keeping their homes because insurance companies consider it elective, getting rid of prescription narcotics, or going hungry so they can afford medications they need to stay healthy or alive." I replied.

"Sophia, that's a pretty big dream." Jakub chuckled.

"Well, my biological mother and stepfather were both hard-core opioid addicts until the day they died. If I can reduce the chances of another kid growing up the way I did, I'll do it. I mean, you've probably seen people who are addicted to opioids." I replied.

"Yeah, I have, and I've even seen kids on it, too." Jakub replied, "It sucks when we find a kid who overdosed and we weren't able to get to them in time, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna try to make it my responsibility."

"It became my responsibility when I inherited Smith Pharmaceuticals when my grandparents died." I replied.

"I heard they became O’Shea Pharmaceuticals over three years ago and turned to all-natural pain management alternatives. Doctors have started prescribing it here, and former opioid users swear by it for their pain relief." Jakub said, "But that's beside the point, Sophia. The world's problems aren't your problems."

"Have you ever been homeless before, nearly raped, beaten to a pulp just for being alive, profiled because your parents are addicts or because of your figure, and had someone try to rob you because people keep accusing you of being a drug dealer? Have you been booked without being charge for a crime because the cop is so sure you're a criminal because everyone at school keeps pointing their fingers at you, saying you're their dealer, even though they know you're not and all because they don't want to lose their access to whatever gets them high, because you wouldn't fuck them, or because they're scared their dealer will kill them along with their families?" I scoffed.

"No, I haven’t actually." Jakub replied.

"I didn't think so. Well, I have, and I'll be damned if I'm just gonna sit by when I have the ability as well as the money to help people." I said.

"Why the hell should it be you who has to save the damn world, Sophia?" Jakub snapped.

I asked him, "Why shouldn't it be me? Why shouldn't I help people who need it? What gives you the right to tell me that I shouldn't help people? Why wouldn't I help other people who are going through the same crap I've gone through, Jakub? Can you give me a legitimate answer to any of those questions?"

"Because I want to be the damn hero for once. I want to be the person people recognize whenever I'm walking down the damn street, I want to be filthy rich, and I deserve it more than you do." Jakub roared.

"That was the whole conversation we had on our last date and when he texted me the next day…" I trailed off before sending Tiernan a screenshot of the text messages, "Well, I'd say it's pretty self explanatory. So, needless to say, I don't want Jakub knowing that I'm pregnant, and if he decided to claim my babies are his, the timelines wouldn't match up anyway."

"That lying little bastard." Tiernan growled as he read the text messages and started pacing, but then he froze before asking, "Wait, if Jakub isn't the father, then that means you and Wesley did a lot more than making out."

"If Jakub were the father, I'd be fourteen weeks, not twelve." I replied.

"I'm not complaining, but I used to think it would be you and Nathan." Tiernan chuckled.

"No, and to be honest, I did freak out a little after the fact with Wesley. That is until Wesley told me that you wouldn't have a problem with him and I being together." I admitted.

"He's right, but why did you freak out?" Tiernan asked.

"You're the only father figure I've ever had, and I was afraid of screwing that up." I replied as I crossed my legs.

"Hell, I've honestly been hoping that you would become a member of the family ever since I got to know you." Tiernan chuckled before hugging me.

I hugged him back just as someone knocked on the front door, and Elsie went to answer with Sandra right behind her as Tiernan released me. Sandra stood rigidly in the entryway, but she relaxed after we heard the door open.

"Elsie, how are you doing?" I heard Wilson asking before Sandra suddenly went rigid again.

"I'm doing great, Wilson. Oh, it's you, Jakub." Elsie replied as Cynthia grabbed a pillow and put it in front of my stomach before sitting on the floor in front of me, looking relaxed as though nothing had happened.

"Hell, no. I don't want anything to do with that piece of shit; get him the fuck out of my house." I yelled as the dogs ran into the foyer, snarling as Wilson came into the living room.

"Oh shit!" we all heard Jakub yell as the dogs went after him until he dove over the fence, and they didn’t come back inside until after Jakub disappeared down the street.

When they came back inside, they laid on the floor around Cynthia and me before Wilson said, "He told me the two of you got back together."

"Wilson, call me the next time you plan to bring someone over to my house." I snapped.

"Okay, you're in a bad mood today." Wilson replied.

"Fuck you." I snapped before throwing the pillow at his face, but I missed.

He chuckled until he noticed my stomach, and his smile disappeared as he asked, "That Jakub bastard isn't the father, is he?"

"No, but I have a feeling he would try to claim he was the father if he knew I was pregnant." I scoffed as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"No, he couldn't be the father with as far along as -"

"I'm twelve weeks pregnant, Wilson." I cut him off as Evelynn showed him the picture, "I'd probably be even bigger than this if he were the father. Two uteri and four babies."

"You're having quadruplets?" Wilson asked, looking at the sonogram picture.

"No, I'm actually having two sets of twins." I replied as Tiernan was making a call.

"Wesley, I'm at Sophia's house. Get your ass over here right now and tell that piece of shit, Jakub, that if he tries to come over here, it's his funeral." Tiernan growled and hung up.

"Wilson, there's something you should hear." I said before reaching for my phone to press the play button for the recording.

"Actually, how about we wait until Wesley gets here." Tiernan suggested darkly.

"If this is going to be as bad as I think it will be, good idea." Wilson agreed before sitting down in one of the oversized recliners, "Damn, this house not only looks nice, the furniture is pretty damn comfortable."

"You can thank Evelynn for that. I just asked for the furniture color and type." I said as Sandra passed the pillow I threw at Wilson to Cynthia who passed it to me.

After a few minutes, I started to doze off while the others were talking and right after I laid my head on the arm of the couch, someone started knocking on the front door. The dogs started growling and two of them followed Wilson to the door while the other two jumped up on the couch. They both stood over me, snarling as Wilson opened the door and the two dogs standing over me jumped over the back of the couch.

I heard Jakub and Wesley swear, but after a few seconds, Wesley asked, "Those dogs really don't like Jakub, do they?"

"Actually, you could probably go as far as to say they hate him." Wolfson said with interest, "Huh, Sophia might have to call them back. Oh, nope, they're coming back now."

"Animals and babies are great judges of character, but I think you'll be thankful for the dogs by the time you leave, Wesley." Tiernan said as Wilson led Wesley into the living room after he closed the door, and the dogs settled around me just as my bladder kicked in.

I groaned as I stood up, and Wesley froze when he saw my stomach, but I told the others, "I'll let you explain it to him while I'm in the bathroom."

I headed to the half bathroom and while I was doing my business, I heard Wesley asking, "How far along is she?"

"Twelve weeks, but that's what happens when a woman is pregnant with four babies." Elsie replied.

"What's this?" Wesley asked, "What are these four spots supposed to be?"

"That's a sonogram picture, and those four spots are babies. They’re the size of plums right now and this line is the space between her uteri, meaning she has more than one uterus. Two to be exact." Elsie replied.

"Twelve W, that's today's date, and Sophia's name. So, the twelve W stands for twelve weeks, but Jakub said he broke up with her the next week after they had sex because she said that she wanted to fuck one of the other firemen." Wesley said.

"Wesley, if he was the father, why would she be twelve weeks pregnant instead of fourteen or eleven weeks?" Tiernan asked, "What were you doing twelve weeks ago?"

After a few seconds, Wesley said, "I was with Sophia twelve weeks ago. Which means I'm the father of these babies."

"Wesley, there's something you need to listen to and it's probably gonna really piss you off." Tiernan said as I finished up and washed my hands until I heard Wesley yell, "I'm gonna fucking kill that son of a bitch."

"Now, you know why Sophia and even the dogs reacted the way they did when Jakub showed up earlier, Wilson." Tiernan said as I dried my hands.

"That bastard said he'd never been here before when I passed your message along." Wesley shouted as I walked back into the living room.

"I'm gonna go take a nap, but do you think I should put in a dog door Tiernan?" I asked.

"I'd feel better if you weren't here by yourself, Sophia." Tiernan replied.

"I'll stay with Sophia. It wouldn’t be a good idea for me to go home anyway since fucking Jakub moved in." Wesley said.

"Whatever, pick one of the guest bedrooms." I mumbled as I headed toward the stairs, "If you decide to leave, lock up behind yourselves."

"I'll walk you upstairs." Wesley said.

"I'm fine." I groaned as I climbed the first step.

"No, you're exhausted and pregnant or not, you shouldn't be going up the stairs while you're exhausted." Wesley said as he placed a hand on my back and guided me up the stairs.

When we got to the top of the first flight, Wesley asked, "Which room is yours?"

I pointed up and said, "The fourth floor, Wesley."

"If you're already showing this much at this point, you won't be able to go up to the fourth floor for very long." Wesley said as we continued climbing up the stairs.

"I already know that, and I'll look for something smaller after I wake up, but you should also spend as much time with the dogs as you can so they can get to know you. Otherwise, you might end up being trapped in your room until I wake up if you decide to sleep on the fourth floor." I replied as I paused to rest for a minute.

"How about you go ahead and stay on the second floor? I'll bring your stuff downstairs and put it away for you." Wesley suggested, and we heard the ladies laughing from the living room.

"They're laughing because you don't know what you would be in for if you were to do that, Wesley." I explained as I sat down on the steps before saying, "Go ahead and take a look for yourself."

Wesley gave me a strange look as he headed upstairs the rest of the way and came back after a few minutes with a stunned expression before asking me, "How much stuff do you need, Sophia?"

"Hey, at least it's only my bedroom closet and not the other closets, too." I protested, getting to my feet as Cynthia and Sandra appeared at the bottom of the second flight of stairs.

"Here we go." Wesley said as he picked me up and yelped, holding onto him for dear life, "Calm down, Sophia. I've got you."

Wesley began climbing up the stairs again as Sandra and Cynthia followed us to the bedroom before Cynthia said, "We'll help you get the clothes Sophia can comfortably wear for at least a couple more weeks and we'll carry everything down while Sophia takes a nap."

"That works for me." Wesley replied.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, buddy." Sandra chuckled as we started going up the third flight of stairs, but Wesley waited until we reached the bed before putting me down and on the bed no less.

The dogs jumped up onto the bed and laid down around me, but made sure to leave me room to lay down. When I started to slip out of the bed to go to the bathroom, Wesley told me, "No, you need to get some sleep, Sophia."

"Kiss my ass, I'm going to the bathroom, warden." I grumbled as I headed for my target.

"You just used the bathroom downstairs, Sophia." Wesley replied.

"Wesley, she's carrying four babies in her oven and it's only gonna get worse the more they grow. Enjoy the fact that she can get up on the bed by herself at this point because as the babies grow, her stomach will grow, and they’ll get heavier." Cynthia said with a chuckle, "That's gonna make things like getting on the bed, taking a bath, showering, and getting off the toilet very difficult which means you'll have to get up with her throughout the night."

After I got back from the bathroom, I climbed back onto the foot of the bed, and sat down. Cynthia and Sandra were nice to humor me by asking what I wanted to take downstairs with me, but I knew they were already aware of what I would want to take downstairs. When I woke up from my nap, Major barked before jumping down from the bed and I went to the bathroom after I slipped off the bed.

After I came out, I headed for the stairs and started making my way down but after descending two flights of stairs, I had to use the bathroom again. So, I headed into the nearest bedroom and into the bathroom, but after I finished relieving myself, I realized that I didn't have any toilet paper.

"Colonel, get toilet paper." I said and watched him take off like a rocket.

"Hey, put that toilet paper back, man." I heard Wesley scold him, but Colonel just huffed before I heard him running back to me, "Hey, I said put that- Willson said you guys were very well trained."

"They are." I said when Wesley appeared in the doorway as Colonel put the toilet paper in my hand, "Colonel was just doing what I told him to do."

"Oh, sorry." Wesley replied a little nervously, "I'm sorry, I should go and let you have your privacy."

"Wesley, I know we had our clothes on when we had sex, but privacy practically went out the window since we did it out on the beach." I chuckled as I finished up and pulled my skirt up after pulling up my thong.

"Yeah, uh, it's that- Well, I, um-" Wesley stumbled over his words as I washed my hands and I watched him in the mirror.

I approached him after drying my hands and skimmed my fingers over his muscular, tanned abs as I asked, "Do I make you nervous, Wesley?"

When I leaned closer to him, I could feel tell what he was really feeling and I started skimming my fingertips along the top of his waistband before whispering, "There's something I've been wanting to try after reading about it in a book, but I never got the chance and I'd like to try it with you if you're okay with it."

Wesley swallowed and nodded before I began slowly pulling his waistband down. As I lowered his waistband, I got down on my knees and looked him in the eyes the whole time, even as I wrapped my hand around his length before taking it into my mouth. Wesley let out a hiss, but he didn't look away as I slowly started bobbing my head back and forth.

"Shit, baby." Wesley hissed as I slipped my hand inside my panties and found my little nub before I started massaging it.

Seconds after he noticed, Wesley picked me up and carried me into his room before laying me down on the bed. I slid my skirt and panties off as he kicked his pants off the rest of the way after closing the door. At first, I thought he was going to bury himself inside me, but he lifted my legs over his shoulders before settling between my legs and I gasped when he got started.

Wesley

Four Months Later

Where I woke up, the sun was streaming into the bedroom, and I didn't have to look to know that Sophia, my wife, was using me as a pillow. It was normal for me to wake up like that after Sophia's belly got bigger and she would normally have a pillow under it whenever we went to bed, but we both soon discovered that there was something else she loved almost as much as she loved people. I had remembered when Cynthia had told me that the babies would get heavier as they grew and one day, while Sophia was cleaning the dogs' water bowls, she leaned forward with her head on her arms. So, I came up behind her and got her to lean back against before I lifted her belly, but it felt so rewarding when she let out that moan of relief.

After that, whenever I noticed she was hurting, I'd walk up behind her and before lifting our babies, I'd say, "It's my turn to do some heavy lifting."

A couple of weeks after I found out Sophia was pregnant, we moved to her house in Texas since it was a single story even though it was massive and her friends showed up a couple weeks later with my parents. He had kicked Nathan and Jakub out of the house who had insisted on believing Nathan’s story about Sophia despite hearing the recording. So, neither Nathan nor Jakub were aware that Sophia was pregnant and two weeks after everyone arrived, we managed to find an even better obstetrician than she had in Riverhedge.

At the same time, little-by-little the house was being renovated while a five-foot-tall wall was being built around the property with five-foot-tall wrought-iron fencing on top and ten-foot-tall wrought-iron gates at the front which Sophia would call her touch of Old New Orleans. She wasn't crazy about New Orleans because of the humidity, but she loved the fencing and the architecture. Sophia liked a lot of things, but neutral interior designs were her favorite and she loved adding rustic or antique touches wherever she could without making the house look like a museum, but everything served a purpose in the house instead of sitting in a corner collecting dust as a decoration.

I also learned that, even though she could come across as cold or aloof, she cared deeply about the people around her and was protective of the people she cared about. That was why she always worked hard to accomplish whatever new goal she had for herself, but she had a hard time managing to relax since we were living in the same country as Jakub which constantly had us worrying about the boys. So, we all agreed to move to her house in England as soon as the boys were two years old before we began having everything from the houses in the United States shipped to England, Japan, and China since her houses there didn't have any furniture. Once everything had been removed, Wilson helped her put each of the houses on the market except for the one in Texas and the New York City penthouse since it was her favorite one.

Since the house in England had actually been castle ruins her grandparents had been planning to rebuild before they died, Sophia had started the rebuild the moment she found out about it and had decided to have it rebuilt as a two hundred thousand square foot castle with a total of ten construction crews working on it at the same time. Due to that being the case, a quarter of the castle was already finished and the individual emails she received on a weekly basis let her know that the construction workers were enjoying the opportunity to build the castle for her because she took great care of her employees.

They received free meals of their choosing, their families were able to live with them in the houses that she was renting for them, and they were always able to see or do something new on their days off. The construction workers didn't mind having to pay the utility bills, in fact, that was the only way they could feel comfortable with being there on her dime since they were also making sixty dollars an hour on top of everything else. Even the other ten groups of construction workers who were building the twenty-foot-high walls, with plans to put up a twenty-foot-tall wrought-iron gate later, enjoyed being there.

Sophia's houses sold fast, and since she didn't have to worry about the bills that came with them anymore, she had more money going into the bank than ever despite the fact that she was expanding O’Shea Incorporated to England. Her construction crew there had already started working on building a new office that looked like it had been there as long as a lot of the other historical buildings since she loved the architecture of them so much, but the inside was going to look just like the interior of the building in the United States. Students who were going to college for architecture would often visit the construction sites of the office and the castle, but we were hoping to have everything done by the time the boys were two.

I knew it was pretty upsetting for the women that the boys couldn't have the nurseries they wanted to give them, but we all knew there wasn't any point since we would be moving two years after they were born. We'd gotten a paternity test done as soon as Sophia felt safe enough to do it and it proved that the boys were my sons.

A couple of days before Sophia reached her three month mark, Nathan had asked me to meet up with him and I had told Sophia about it before I agreed to meet up. So, Sophia asked me to take at least one of the dogs with me, saying she had a bad feeling about the meeting and I not only agreed, I changed the meet up location to a diner across from the police station after I had already arrived. I even left out the fact that it was across the street from the police station and that the police would be waiting to arrest them since they had been funneling money from the government for weeks.

When he arrived, he said, "I know Sophia's pregnant, Wesley and I know that she’s telling you the baby is your's, but she's lying to you. Jakub is the father of her baby and he just wants to be a part of their lives."

I chuckled before saying, "You know that's really funny actually because we just had a paternity test done a couple of weeks ago and it confirmed that I'm the father. I was even in the room when the doctor drew the DNA material they needed to do it and we even ran it against Jakub's DNA, he's not a match."

"Then she probably fucking bribed them to fix the damn test-"

"No, Nathan. We had a judge with us the whole time at the military base where we had it done. The military wanted to do it because Jakub has been funneling their money and since Sophia has been helping military veterans find careers after they get out, they wanted to know if he's been taking advantage of Sophia. They even ran tests on the recording of their last encounter and confirmed that it was legit. Everyone is looking for Jakub; the FBI, CIA, NSA, FDA, NCIS, Secret Service, and who knows what else."

"You're so full of shit, Wesley. Jakub said that none of the shit we've been doing is illegal and we're making a lot of money doing it." Nathan scoffed.

I nodded before saying, "He's gonna get you killed, Nathan and you won't have anyone else to blame but yourself. If you don't believe me, take Jakub to the Army base, tell them your name, and ask them for training. They'll make it realistic for you the moment you ask them."

"Fine, whatever." Nathan snapped before leaving.

As I got in my truck, I noticed Nathan reach Jakub just before they were surrounded by the SWAT team that was waiting for them and they were quickly arrested before military personnel showed up to take them away. When I got home, I told Sophia and Dad that they had been arrested. It didn't do much as far as making Sophia feel safer, and we were still immigrating to England after the boys turned two, but she was able to sleep a little easier at night.

At thirty-two weeks, Sophia was more than ready for the babies to be born and even though her c-section wasn't for another two weeks, I took her to the hospital. A triage nurse noticed us when we walked into the emergency room and she threw down the clipboard she was holding as she ran, saying she was going to get a wheelchair for Sophia. Another triage nurse came to us and I held up her belly as she sat in my lap while answering their questions. When the first triage nurse came back, she had a gurney and I laid Sophia down on her side before helping her place two pillows under her belly. After the second triage nurse finished asking her questions, I said, "There's one more thing and it's gonna be very important information to have during the c-section."

"What's that?" the second triage nurse asked.

I held out my hands for the clipboard and pen. After she handed them over, I wrote in the section that was labeled other important information: two uteri, babies one and two are on the left; babies three and four are on the right.

After reading what I wrote, the triage nurse asked, "When was she scheduled to have her c-section?"

"In another two weeks." I replied.

The nurse looked at me dumbfounded as she asked, "Even though she's as tiny as she is, her doctor wants her to wait until she's thirty-four weeks?"

"Yeah, he did." I replied.

"Considering the situation, she's overdue already." the triage nurse shouted.

"Do you know if they're gonna be okay?" I asked as she led me through the door to the back and down a series of corridors.

"He better hope so or he's gonna lose more than his medical license and possibly even more than that." the nurse replied as a group of doctors in baby pink scrubs passed us.

"I've never seen pink scrubs before." I said walking backwards.

"You don't typically see them unless you're here to have a baby. They work in the pediatrics department and I have a feeling they're heading to a meeting to decide the best way to perform your wife's c-section." the nurse replied.

I ran after them shouting, "Hey, guys. I just need to talk to you for a quick second."

The pediatric doctors stopped and one of them said, "Sir, we have an overdue mother that desperately needs a c-section and we don't have a lot of time."

"I know, but there's something you need to know before you do my wife's c-section. She has two uteri and two of my sons have been growing in the second one." I panted when I reached them, "I don't know if you've already been to see Sophia, but with as exhausted and as worried as she is, she might not have remembered to tell you about that if you have."

"We've only seen her file so far, and we were already worried that she's expecting multiples as tiny as she is, but exactly how many babies are we talking about here?" one of the doctors asked.

"Four boys. Two on the left and two on the right." I replied and they each gave a groan.

"Why didn't you guys come in any sooner?" one of the other doctors demanded.

"This our first pregnancy, but when she started having trouble breathing, we asked her doctor if we should go ahead and have the c-section, he said we should wait until she was thirty-four weeks. So, he scheduled her c-section for two weeks from now." I replied.

"We don't have any scheduled c-sections for the next two months, but do us a favor, if you're ever expecting multiples again and you feel like you should take her to have the c-section, do it. Now, she and your babies' lives are at risk, but we'll do everything we can to make sure six are going home." the first doctor I spoke to said.

I nodded and they continued in the direction they had been going before I stopped them. After that, I followed the triage nurse to Sophia's room as I called Wilson, "Wesley, how's Sophia doing?"

"Hopefully everyone will be fine after the boys are delivered. We're suing that piece of shit doctor that told us to wait until she was thirty-four weeks." I growled.

"Why? What's going on?" Wilson asked.

"Their lives are at risk because he told us to wait when she started having trouble breathing after she reached thirty weeks and we asked if we should do the c-section early." I snapped and then nodded when the nurse gestured into a room.

"We'll need to have Shayla take the case because I'll be suing him as well and he's not even gonna have his damn name by the time we're through with the son of a bitch." Wilson said darkly, "I missed twenty-one years with Sophia as my daughter, but it sounds to me like he's trying to kill her and my grandsons with his negligence."

"What's going on, Wilson?" I heard Shayla in the background.

"The damn doctor that was supposed to be helping Sophia and the babies has been putting their lives in danger. We're suing his ass." Wilson growled before telling me, "Go, be with Sophia and keep me updated until I can get there."

"That goes without saying." I replied before hanging up and going into the room.

When I walked into the room, Sophia was removing the blanket as she was asking the nurse with her, "I think I might’ve wet myself."

I moved the blanket away, but my heart sank when I saw blood on her legs and the bed as the nurse walked over, "It's okay, baby. It's normal with four babies pressing against your bladder. Just get some rest."

"Okay." Sophia sighed as she was already drifting off.

I motioned for the nurse to follow me out of the room and once we were in the hall, I said, "I need you to run as fast as you can and let the pediatric doctors know what's going on. Something tells me we're out of time and I need them to just wing it in the O.R. Tell them to do whatever they can and we don't care how much money it'll be, but don't freak her out. Run, now."

She nodded and took off running like a bat outta hell. A couple minutes later, the pediatric doctors came running back with her and I lifted the blanket to show them the blood before one of them calmly woke her up saying, "Miss O’Shea, we're gonna take you back to the O.R. and you'll get to meet your sons very soon."

"I want my husband in the room with me." Sophia murmured.

"He'll be right next to you the whole time, Miss O’Shea." he replied before lifting the railings and removing the breaks as she went back to sleep.

Before leaving, another nurse came into the room and put in a new IV port to give her blood. I followed then until a nurse led me into a different room, where he had me put on a blue surgical cap and gown before taking me into the O.R. After the nurse gave me a chair to sit in, the dungeons got started as I held Sophia's hand and I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard our first sons cry, but an even bigger sigh of relief when a nurse said, "Mom and babies' stats are improving already. Mom's respiration has dramatically improved as well."

"Good, that's what I like to hear. Baby boy number two is finally here." the surgeon replied.

Sophia took a deep breath and looked at me before asking, "Are the babies okay?"

Baby number two let out a loud cry and the surgeon said, "There you go, buddy. You'll see your brother and parents in a few seconds. Let's get your other brothers out now."

A nurse brought over the first baby and gave him to me as Sophia said, "Hey there, Logan. It's nice to finally meet you, baby."

Logan, my younger brother who died overseas while fighting for our country and Sophia not only remembered him, she named our first son after him. I kissed her forehead and I moved Logan closer so she could kiss him. Another nurse brought our second son to me and Sophia said, "I'm sure your Dad would've loved it if you could meet your great-grandfather, Thomas."

Just then we heard a third cry before the surgeon said, "We have baby boy number three."

"That'll be Freddy." Sophie chuckled as our third son let out a wail that would impress a howler monkey as he was passed to a nurse to be cleaned up.

"And baby boy number four." the surgeon said as a fourth wail like Freddy's filled the room.

"Something tells me George and Freddy are gonna cause a lot of mischief together as they get older." Sophia smiled at me as I tried to stave off the tears in my eyes.