Valerie's POVI stare at my mom in horror as she adjusts in her seat with a look of guilt. My Father is also sitting, just like always opposite me, watching her too with an angry expression.I shouldn't have come here. My mother will never change from the woman she has always been. She had kept all of these in check simply because Father could provide for all her unnecessary demands. But now that he can barely buy her designer bags, shoes and clothes, she is hell-bent on frustrating his life.This man is barely holding up and this is how she wants to help him.She stretches her hand to touch me but I stand up abruptly, making her hand drop.My anger has increased ten folds. Probably because she made me yell at Ryan for no reason.I thought he was being selfish again, just like every other time when he cares about only himself and not me. This time, I was wrong."Valerie, you should go home. It's getting late", My dad says after clearing his throat. "Ryan and I have no business togeth
Ryan's POVI am restless.I couldn't follow her because I was dumbfounded till she was out of sight. I never thought she would do a rash thing like that and I wonder where she has gone to.The more it gets darker, the more worried I become. Is she safe? Where exactly is she?The first emotion that struck my heart while she raced away was fear. Fear that she is going. Gone forever and I might never see her again.We haven't achieved our aim yet. Mother is just getting along well with me and there are more expectations from her. If Valerie goes away just like that, where do I start from? Valerie is the only one making the fear of losing my mother lessen bit by bit. Unconsciously, she has taught me what it means to accept whatever is to come; both good and bad.If we prepare for it and it comes, it won't hurt too much while the unexpected one would hurt painfully.I won't say I am looking forward to my mother's death. I am just ready to accept the reality when it comes to hit me hard.
Valerie's POVHe got away with it after his pocket knife pierced my shoulder and someone came to rescue me.He fled.He is a robber. He wanted to rob me of my belongings; my jewelry, phone, and purse but I didn't give in easily. He got mad and hurt me.Struggling with him helped too. If I hadn't done that, he would have been off with my things even before someone could appear to save me."Are you ok, ma'am?" The stranger demands from me with a smile as he helps me to a seat.He hovers above me with arms akimbo waiting for a reply. I can't find my voice. I am still shaken from what happened a few minutes ago and I can feel the blood oozing from my back.There is no need for this stranger to know. Ryan will soon be here. I didn't mean to call him but I did anyway and he should be here any minute from now.I am just worried that I am going to bleed too much before he arrives.The guy squats to my height with concern filling his expression. "Are you ok?" He asks me again and I nod.He see
Ryan's POVI was mad at Valerie but the moment she lost consciousness, my anger disappeared and I found myself shouting at John to drive faster till we got to the hospital.The doctor attended to her and it wasn't really a big deal. She was only bleeding too much.I didn't want her to spend the night there so I carried her back into the car and we left for home. Deep in thought, I feel a movement beside me and she flutters her eyes open to see me staring.She was sleeping when we left the hospital but the doctor said she is fine."What happened?" She groans, closing her eyes and opening them again.I was so scared something bad was going to happen to her. But now I am relieved. She might be a handful but I care about her because she is my wife and her safety is my responsibility."We are going home", I reply and look away. I don't know if she remembers how it all happened and the fact that we are just coming back from the hospital by this time or maybe she doesn't want to talk about
Valerie's POVA noise wakes me up. I flutter my eyes open instantly, to see the lights still on. Ryan didn't switch them off before going to sleep on the couch and I didn't do the same before sleeping off.Wondering what noise woke me up, I try to sit upright but my shoulders hurt badly. Then, I remember.I was attacked last night and I just had a dream. My desire to know who really attacked me led me to have this horrible dream.I was seeing faces but three faces were familiar. One was Fred's. The second was Brenda and the third was nameless.I have no idea where I know her from but I am sure she is someone that I know. I was seeing more of these three faces and I was so sure one of them was responsible for last night's attack.Now that I am awake, I am so sure that none of these people are responsible because the culprit seemed to be going his way before he saw a good opportunity to rob me since I was all alone on the empty street.Sighing heavily, I step down slowly from the bed,
Ryan's POVValerie's sleeping face is the first thing that meets my eyes the moment I open them. She looks peaceful and beautiful. Her full lips are attractive and it reminds me of the brief kiss we shared the other night.She doesn't look close to that iron-fist stone-hearted, the argumentative woman I know her to be. She is like a sleeping beauty goddess.My gaze shifts slowly to her exposed cleavage and I gulp and quickly look away. Suddenly, I step down from the bed so I can go take a bath before going to work.It's morning already. Even without an alarm, I usually wake up at exactly 6 am or a few minutes past 6 am so I can get ready for work.I don't bother to check the time before going into the bathroom to have a bath. After brushing my teeth, I get into the shower.As the hot water grazes down my whole body from my hair, my mind keeps going back to last night and also Valerie.I can't take my head off that exposed skin of hers and also last night when she held my hands, claim
Valerie's POVYawning and stretching, my left hand touches the space beside me and I open my eyes to see that Ryan is gone.He was here all through the night and he slept soundly. He must have gone to work.Suddenly, my stomach rumbles loudly and I groan and get up. My shoulder still hurts a lot and I guess I am this hungry because of the medicines from last night.I wear the flip-flop beside the bed and move out of the room, still yawning loudly without any care in the world.Last night, I felt like hell. But today, I feel a lot better even though the pain is very much in existence.However, I have decided not to think too deeply about what transpired last night. I figured out that thinking about it was what made me have that dream. A dream is a figment of imagination as a result of human thoughts. This is my dad's definition of a dream.There is absolutely no use thinking about it when the deed has been done already. He is just a mere robber who wanted to rob me of my possessions,
Ryan's POVFather is about to go home when I enter his office without knocking. His secretary had already told me they were going out but I really can not let this wait till some other time.I also have a lot to do back in the office which is why I decided to come here straight instead of going back to the office from my out-of-office meeting.He steps back to allow me in, his gaze firmly fixed on mine.Realizing that I haven't greeted him, I say slowly. "Good morning, Father.""Why are you here?" He demands instead of replying to my greeting and offering me a seat.I take a seat without his permission and without answering his question.A lot of questions keep popping up in my head that I haven't found answers to. Apart from the fact that I want to do this for Valerie's sake, I am doing this because of the curiosity consuming my whole existence.I want to know why. I want to know what is wrong."I asked why you are here, Ryan. I have a meeting in the next thirty minutes and I have to
THIRTY-EIGHT MONTHS LATER Valerie's POV With a frustrated groan, I give up on the dress as I watch myself in the mirror, thinking of what to do about this mess.The seamstress should be blamed for this but I am not in the mood to blame anyone at the moment. What I want and need right now is another dress that fits in and can accommodate me and my big belly.The knock on the door pulls me out of my thoughts and the seamstress comes in with another beautiful white dress, making my face light up and my worry vanish into thin air.She smiles back at me when she notices the relief on my face.My makeup is done. My hair is done. My shoe is ready. My jewelry is on. What is left is my white dress.Just then, the door opens again as noises fill the air and Kayla and Kyle stroll in pushing each other playfully. Kayla is dressed in a Floral Bow Tulle Ivory Cap-Sleeve Princess Pleated Ball Gown while Kyle is in an Ink Blue Stanford Suit makes me smile broadly.My wish and that of Ryan came
Valerie's POV His lips capture mine as his hands work on my long hair while I cling to him as close as I can because I can't get enough of him. As he kisses the life out of me, a small groan leaves my mouth and suddenly, he pulls away, making me flutter my eyes open.With a smile, he caresses my face. I concentrate on his expression trying so hard to figure out what he must be thinking.I made us come here for a good reason and I know he is a little sad about it. Today is the final judgment for Mr. Lorenzo, Anita, Brenda, and Celina. Ryan was getting prepared to go to the court when I suggested we take a day trip here. I wanted to see the mountains and more of nature and coming here was the best idea.I didn't want him to go to court to be reminded about the death of his kind Mother. I didn't want to go either because I don't want to feel any iota of sympathy for any of those criminals, especially Brenda.She must have thought she would get out of this because I am Ryan's wife. I g
Ryan's POV The denial and her expression said it all; she doesn't want the baby and it takes me back to my shell of grieving.Hearing about the news of a baby coming made me forget my sorrows for a second and reduced the pain of losing someone who means so much to me.I am not superstitious but it felt as if the baby was going to be a replacement for my dead Mother. Now, my hope has been shattered by Valerie's outburst and confidence about not being pregnant.Her parents were extremely shocked too. It proved to me that I was wrong about her joking over a serious matter like that.I didn't say a word. I just remained quiet till when it was time to discharge her and we came home.It's been days and Valerie isn't saying anything yet about the baby. If she doesn't feel the baby, then am I supposed to wait till her belly begins to protrude before bringing this issue up and resolving it once and for all?The baby is a blessing. Coming to us at this time is a blessing, why then does she ke
Valerie's POV With her beautiful black hair around her shoulder, she smiles down at me, making a cold spine run down my spine.She is dead, isn't she?Then why am I seeing her and why is she smiling at me?Did I do something wrong to her and she is smiling instead of reprimanding me?Am I dead? Why am I seeing a dead woman?Ryan and I were at the graveyard where she was buried. She is dead but I can't seem to remember the last thing that happened before I got here.Is she alive? Is she hiding somewhere just to be safe from that monster she calls a husband?No, I shake my head involuntarily. This can't be. I saw her cold feet and a pale body. She was extremely cold all over and heavy. She is indeed dead.With a low gasp, I try to twirl around so I can flee from the dead but my legs are stuck on the ground. I look down at my feet and they are buried deep in the ground.I almost let out a yelp in fright but she stretches an arm at me, still smiling brightly. "My child."My child?Despit
Ryan's POV Ignoring the emptiness I suddenly felt when her body was lowered feet down the ground, I glanced away to stop myself from breaking down but it was impossible because the action alone hit me hard.She is gone. Never to be seen again.I want to break down now but I can not. I am a man. I have a wife who is looking up to me. The way Valerie reacted to her death was shocking and I have to control myself so she doesn't end up crying again.But I can't hold it back.How can I when this woman meant so much to me? Is it the pain of losing her when I least expected it? Or the pain of thinking about the people who killed her?Maybe if it had been a natural death, I wouldn't be in so much anguish. Maybe if it weren't planned by the people I know, I wouldn't be hurt this way.Why her? Why Mother?Everybody loved her. She was a great woman. She was wealthy but no one knew she was because her husband was handling everything except, of course, her supermarket which is now closed down.Lo
Valerie's POV Moodiness and lack of appetite are now Ryan's favorite pastime. He barely spoke a word to me last night after we left the police station without seeing the Commissioner who had already left before we got there.We couldn't see the suspects either and we had to sleep in a hotel nearby.I was able to catch some sleep but Ryan could barely sleep a wink. I feel his pain and I hope he gets over this soonest.He almost left me still sleeping in our hotel room this morning so he could come to the police station without me. The running sound of the shower woke me up and I jumped down from the bed.I ended up not taking a shower because he was in a rush to come here.Now that we are here, we are still yet to see Mr. Lewis and I wonder what exactly is going on. I had to excuse myself to come to get us some coffee as breakfast before he comes.As soon as I pay the cafe man, I hold the two cups of coffee in my hand and turn round to take the door out when I bump into a hard wall,
Ryan's POV HE IS NOT YOUR FATHER, RYAN! I LIED.These were her first words to me. If only I was there before the last moment, I would have heard her say them to me herself instead of writing them down.I wanted so desperately to hear the whole truth from her but I wanted to give it time. I wanted it to be the right time to ask so she wouldn't give me an excuse not to talk about it but now she is gone.I will never hear her talk to me again.I REGRET LYING TO YOU, SON. IT WAS NOT IN MY INTENTION TO DO THAT BECAUSE I THOUGHT HE WAS WORTH IT. APPARENTLY, HE ISN'T WORTH IT.I THOUGHT I COULD CHANGE HIM. I THOUGHT I WAS DOING A GREAT JOB CHANGING HIM FROM THE MAN HE USED TO BE BUT NOW THAT IT IS TOO LATE, I REALIZE HOW MUCH DAMAGE I HAVE CAUSED TO YOU AND MYSELF.YOUR BIOLOGICAL FATHER DIED A MONTH BEFORE YOU CAME TO THE WORLD. DAVIS STOOD BESIDE ME AND HE WAS LIKE A FATHER FIGURE. I NEVER KNEW HE HAD ULTERIOR MOTIVES.I REGRET HAVING YOU USE HIS SURNAME INSTEAD OF DARCEL'S NAME. I REGRET
Valerie's POV The sight of her cold feet almost sends me spiraling to the floor as I let out a loud gasp with my hands flying to my mouth.She is no longer the woman I came here to visit yesterday. She is pale white and gone.This is when it suddenly dawns on me.When I heard Celina telling Ryan over the phone that his Mother was dead, I almost laughed out loud because I wasn't shocked like Ryan was. It felt like a joke.How could she be dead? We saw her yesterday, she was getting better than ever before, then how could she be dead today?The added information about the attack on the hospital is enough to make me believe as well as the sight before me.She didn't die a natural death. She didn't die due to complications from the surgery. She didn't die as a result of the fake cancer diagnosis. She was killed.I begin to go down slowly as I continue to watch her from where I stand. The sight of her feet is doing unimaginable things to my reasoning.She shouldn't be dead. That bastard
Ryan's POVShe is gulping down the whole content of the wine and looking away to make me think she wasn't staring at me peeling off the baggy shirt and trouser she gave to me on behalf of her dad.All of a sudden, I feel like taunting her a little about it. This is definitely not the first time she is seeing me naked, so why is she uncomfortable with it?Well, maybe it's because it's the second time. We have had sex only once and that was the first time she saw my nudity and also the first time I saw the beauty beneath her clothes.I know this is definitely not the right time for this but I can't help it. Coming here was the right decision and I feel more than relieved to have gotten help from Mr. Lewis."Hey", she shoots to her feet abruptly as I approach her and she begins to walk to the door, hiding her face from looking down at my naked body.Laugh erupts from my stomach, not at her action but at the fact that the door is locked and the keys are with me.There is no escape route.