I hate you

"Diana, darling, don't worry. He will be here any moment." An elderly man in his late fifties tried to calm down his worried wife who was walking back to forth in the living room of the big mansion. She was full of worry.

"Where is he? Why didn't he reach yet?" The elderly woman who was also in her late fifties asked him in a worried and impatient tone. 

"Stop worrying so much, dear. She will be fine." He again tried to calm her down by putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Richard, you are not understanding. She is burning with fever and crying for him continuously. If she doesn't stop crying now, her health will worsen more. She is only two and a half years old and you know about her medical conditions already!" She exclaimed in worry and slumped down on the sofa.

"Diana, Richard is right. Don't worry. He will be here at any moment. I called him sometimes back. He started from the airport and will be reaching here any moment and she will be fine." A lady in her late twenties assured the elderly woman, Diana, in a sweet voice while taking a seat beside her. She kept her assuring hands on her shoulders too.

"I hope so, Olivia," Diana whispered in a tired tone.

Richard just nodded after her words and after that, they patiently waited for the person's arrival, only who can save them from their current state.

Suddenly they heard a loud screeching halt of the car and soon loud footsteps of someone running hurriedly toward them was heard. They quickly stood up from their places.

"Where.. where is she?" A voice asked in a panic tone while looking at everyone in front of him in pure worry and... Fear.

"Aaron... Aaron.. you came... Aaron.. she.." Diana couldn't stop her tears anymore and started crying loudly in front of her son, Aaron, Aaron Knight.

"Mom. Calm down and tell me where is she?" He asked impatiently. He was like a ticking bomb. "Where is she? I asked WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?" Aaron asked loudly and impatiently.

The house was way too big for Aaron to waste his time finding his daughter in this huge mansion. So he needed his parents' help but they weren't helping at all. And it started to piss him off. He is freaking worried about his precious daughter! Don't they get this simple thing?

"Aaron, calm down. That's not how you should talk to your mother. And she is in your room with your brother." Olivia said while putting her hand on his shoulder in a gesture of calming him down. But Aaron was quick to shrug her hand off his shoulder and made his way toward his room without responding to her. His parents followed after him quietly and quickly.

Olivia looked at Aaron's retreating y with longings and hurt in her eyes, also there was one more feeling that she hid skillfully inside her olive-green eyes. It's always been like this. 

Aaron Knight, the love of her life. One of the most successful, rich and powerful businessmen in New York. Good looks, intelligence, smartness, intimidating aura, he was born with all that. Women have always been his worshippers, literally. But he never cared. The same happened with Olivia.

Olivia has feelings for Aaron since she was a kid as her mother was friend with his mother. But Aaron never acknowledged her feelings nor appreciated them. No matter how hard she tried, it was always fruitless. But she never gave up on her feelings even now when Aaron is a father of a two and a half years old daughter.

She sighed loudly at herself. She quickly composed her inner feelings and expressions and followed them to Aaron's room where his sick daughter was.

***

"PAPA!" A small voice cried out as soon as Aaron stepped into his room. 

"Rhea! My baby!" Aaron also exclaimed in worry, love, guilt and scooped his dear daughter in his safe embrace.

She was burning in fever.

"Papa. You came!" Rhea, Aaron's beloved daughter hugged him tight and started to cry. 

All the others were looking at the bond of father and daughter with adoration while standing beside the bed.

"Yes, baby. I came. I came to my daughter, for you. Did it ever happen that Rhea wanted her Papa and Papa never came?" Aaron cooed at his sick daughter to calm her down.

"Rhea never wants her Papa to go away but you do." She complained in a cute tone while crying still but she had started to calm down slowly. 

She was wearing a cute frown on her angelic face which was red now because of her temperature and there was a small cute pout on her lips too, just like SHE used to do every time SHE was angry with him.

He immediately shook HER thoughts out of his mind. What the hell just happened? Why was he thinking about HER? He vowed to not think about HER ever again. SHE had done enough damage in his life, he won't let HER thoughts or any kind of connection regarding HER ruin his daughter's life too.

Rhea is his daughter. She may have got the attitude and personality from THAT woman but she got his looks. That was enough for Aaron. As time goes Aaron was sure to change all those personalities that Rhea got from THAT woman and raise her with his upbringings.

"No baby. I didn't go away from you. I will never go away from you." He kissed her forehead with a lot of love and teary eyes.

"No! You will one day! Just like Mommy did." Saying that the little girl again started to cry. 

Aaron closed his eyes and fisted his hand. No matter how much he tries, Rhea always talks about her mother. As if no one else matters to her.

Rhea loves her mother a lot even though she never met her in her life, only saw her in the pictures. Rhea is always curious to know everything about her mother from the time she understood what the word mother is and he also tried to answer all her questions regarding her mother except the things she doesn't need to know at this age.

Even though everyone suggested he should hide her mother's identity from her but he never did so. 

Because in his opinion, now it doesn't matter how much that woman wronged him and his daughter as she is no more in the world. She is DEAD.

Yes, dead. She is no more. That's made everything easier for him. As she is not alive so he doesn't have to worry about her coming back and mess with his and his daughter's life again. 

But now that his daughter brings her topic in every conversation, he started to regret his decision of telling her about her mother.

"No baby! I will never leave you like your mother. I will never." He assured her in a strong and assured tone and hugged her more tightly.

"Mommy also wouldn't have left me. You failed to protect her and that's why she met the accident!" Rhea suddenly shouted at him accusingly and pushed him away from her.

Her mood swings a lot, just like her mother's but it was not what worried Aaron. 

Aaron looked at her two and a half years old daughter in shock. Who told his daughter that? He turned to his family and glared at them, especially at his younger brother who is close to Rhea a lot and was more close to Rhea's mother. 

Adrian.

Adrian and SHE used to be close in the past. Not in the wrong way though. Nobody could question their pure relationship. It was more like a brother and sister relationship. She always used to adore Adrian like her own younger brother. 

Aaron was ten years old when Adrian was born. Adrian has always been the tough kid. He never shared a good bond with his family. For some reason, he was angry at them for a particular time. Until she came. She changed everything. She made Adrian understand the importance of family and Adrian started to behave more cordially toward his family.

But it all changed when she died. Adrian started to blame him for her death. He would have left the house long back if it wasn't for Rhea. And Aaron was sure that it was he who fed Rhea with all that crap. Adrian never believed anything he said against her and that's how they started to drift away again, just like before.

That's the kind of effect she had on the people around her. And he was also under that effect once but he recovered from it in the hardest way possible. 

But now it wasn't the time to knock sense into Adrian's head. He has to take care of his sick daughter. He picked her up and left the room to take her to the hospital after giving one last glare to his brother who wasn't afraid to glare back.

'Athaliah Williams, you died but the damage you made before dying is enough for me to hate you for my lifetime.' Aaron thought in his mind.

*** 

"Mommy!" A voice cried out the moment Athaliah opened the door of her apartment and entered it.

"Oh my! Ryan! My baby." She exclaimed and quickly threw the keys and her purse on the floor and ran toward her son who had started to cry badly after seeing her.

She quickly picked him up and hugged him tightly. He buried his face on his mother's safe and comfortable chest. The child didn't see his mother from yesterday night and now it was half-past nine of night. So, of course, he missed her. He is obsessed with her. Just like HIM.

She suddenly realized what she was thinking and it automatically angered her and the anger was toward herself. Her hold tightened around his son's small frame. 

Ryan is her son. He got his looks from her. Nobody can figure who was his father because he doesn't look like his father a bit. But his attitude and personality are an exact copy of that man and that is what worries Athaliah the most. 

Even though Ryan knows what a father is, he never asked his mother why he didn't have one. He even never wanted to see his picture. That made everything easier for her and she also didn't bother to clarify. 

It's not that she didn't try anything though. She tried to talk with her precious son about the topic of his father, to know about his perspective about his father, just to know if he wanted a father if he wanted to meet him if he had any questions regarding his father. But he has always been one smart kid, he always noticed his mother's discomfort every time she talked about his father. So after several attempts of trying to get his perspective, what he answered that one time still surprises her every time she remembers it.

---

"I have you, mommy. I don't need anyone in this world apart from you. I will never need anyone." 

---

He was just like his father. He always used to stay in his comfort zone. He created a boundary around him and nobody had the permission to cross it until he said so. He never liked to meet new people or had many people around him. But she got the permission easily. He had invited her cordially inside his boundaries but what went wrong? Why did he change so much suddenly?

She again shook her head to clear it off his thoughts. 

What's happening to her? Why was she thinking so much about that man suddenly? It doesn't matter now that what changed him so much that time. She is never going to forgive him after what he did with her and her son.

She quickly concentrated back on her son again.

"Why are you crying, my baby?" She cooed at her son lovingly.

"I don't feel good mommy." He cried softly.

She frowned in worry and immediately checked his forehead to see if he had a temperature. 

He didn't... So why wasn't he feeling good?

"What happened, baby? Tell mommy where does it hurt?" She asked in a worried tone. 

"I am not hurt, mommy. I just don't feel good." He hugged her more tightly to seek some more comfort out of her warm embrace.

She was also not feeling good since morning. There was this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach which was making her uncomfortable and restless. She doesn't know how to explain this feeling. 

She doesn't know if this feeling was hinting at something. She doesn't know if it was hinting some danger toward her or her son or her family or HIM. But it was not a good feeling. 

She couldn't do anything to clear her doubts either. Because she not only pretended to be dead, she also never tried to keep an eye on her family or HIM. Even though HE and her family are always on TV and in the magazine. She tried everything so that nothing from her past life ever crossed her path. She never watched the news or read the newspaper. She never asked Elena about them. She did nothing.

But at this moment she knew something was definitely wrong. 

She closed her eyes tightly and took deep breaths to calm her nerves down. When she was stable enough, she looked at her son who was already looking at her. She gave him a full-blown smile which immediately lightened up his mood and all the signs of sadness left him. He smiled back instantly forgetting everything. 

She chuckled at her son's antics.

Yes, he is really obsessed with her.