AdaStaring at his face makes me freeze a little bit—not enough to make me not know how to react because deep down, I expected this and even counted on it—but it’s still a shock. I haven’t seen him in years, too. The last time was at the hospital when he bumped into me. I know now that was on purpose. I didn’t recognize him then but we’d still been close. “Come with me and you won’t have to get hurt,” he claims in that unnatural voice of his. I realize that his hand is right over what I’m assuming is a gun in his pocket. “Why are you doing this?” I ask, stalling for time. We’re away from the entrance of the police station. I could scream but he’d either shoot me and get away, or get away. Either way, the police wouldn’t be able to catch him on time. I have to be smart about all this. “Aren’t you satisfied?” I continue. “You always took her from me for so long. She won’t even look at my face and refuses to call me her mother. Why don’t you just let me be happy?”“If you even think
MaximilianTheo managed to get out of trouble due to his close association to the government of Argentina. I don’t know what it is he does—I have a feeling it’s an important job but something off the record. He somehow managed to get the blame off his shoulders completely and got away unscathed even with police involvement. I won’t ask too many questions because that directly benefited us. Now, we can live happily, and it’s fucking sad that Theo isn’t experiencing this relief that we are right now. Though he knew about Grayson’s illness, he wasn’t expecting him to die so soon. Neither of us were. It’s honestly a terrible end to this fucked up story, and in all truth, it’s so unfair to me to celebrate when someone so close to us died. He wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread in Argentina. Theo honored this wish. I didn’t see him shed a tear once but the massive change in him is clear for everyone to see. They’ve been together for years—many years—and Grayson was his lifelong c
Ada Seven Years Later The sound of the water in the bathroom running makes me open my eyes suddenly.My vision is blurry at first but I blink a few times and sure enough, see Max standing in the bathroom, getting ready for work. It’s still dark out—he always leaves for work way too early. And because it’s Saturday, this makes even less sense. Normally, I don’t wake up, but for some reason, I did today. Rising from bed, I approach him carefully, making sure to announce my presence so he doesn’t get scared. He’s shaving his face and looks surprised when he sees me. “Morning, babe. What’s wrong? Did I wake you?”“No,” I mumble before taking the razor from him. I like doing his beard whenever I can. “I just figured I’d get up since I woke up.”“Hm,” is all he says. I finish shaving him, and then we both get washed for breakfast. Usually, he makes it, but this time, I decide to prepare it. We head downstairs together, and I ask him what he wants to eat. “Eggs? Bacon? Whatever you wan
AdaI've spent years preparing for this moment, but standing in the grand foyer of the family who destroyed mine, I wonder if I'm truly ready to play the role of the dutiful maid."This way, Miss Johnson," the housekeeper, Mrs. Danes, says to me as we continue through the house. Well, it's more of a palace, but whatever."Your work will be done on this lower part of the house," she informs me as she looks over her shoulder at me through her thin, round glasses. "You'll need a valid reason if you're found upstairs. You're expected to follow your schedule strictly, as any deviation will lead to you being asked to leave. Do you understand?""Yes, Mrs. Danes," I reply shyly, but even that is an act. I'm going to have to find a way to make it upstairs because I'll have to look into the face of Reynold Loxley, the man who killed my father and brother many years ago, ruining my life forever.She continues showing me around, telling me to do this and that, and explaining how they want things
Ada An elderly woman races past me, screaming that she needs help. Saying she can't swim. I turn my head to look at her, and hear her saying hysterically:"HE'S IN THE POOL! SAMMY'S IN THE POOL! I CAN'T SWIM! SOMEONE, HELP!"The pool isn't that far away from where I'm standing. I approach the edge of it, confused, and that's when I see it. A small figure lying at the very bottom of the pool, arms and legs flailing. I don't think twice. I dive into the pool, shoes and all, and swim to the very bottom to grab the drowning child. I'm still blowing air into the little boy's mouth when a crowd comes running toward me. He coughs, water spurting from his mouth, and I turn him on his side while patting his back. I'm trembling from head to toe, adrenaline surging through me. The older lady who was screaming for help gets on her knees next to me, crying, and shortly afterward, I hear the sound of heels clattering toward us before a blood-curdling scream fills the air. "Sammy!"The woman in
MaximilianI have to admit that I feel like shit for having fired that woman when she's the only reason why I'm breathing properly today.If Sammy had drowned in that pool, I'd rain hell down on all those fucking incompetent people. There wouldn't be a single person left standing to tell the story. I dismissed her like she was nothing, only for her to end up saving my nephew minutes later, a boy who means the world to me. I can't take the image of her soaking wet with water pooling at her feet from my mind. Her gaze was steady, and to make matters worse, she hadn't looked at me with resentment. I only saw exhaustion in them, and that made me feel small. Smaller than I ever have in my entire life. Edmund has his arms around my sister, and he's whispering comforting words to her. She's a mess. Then again, I don't blame her. I had a few meetings today, but I've since had them rescheduled. Sammy almost drowning took a toll on us, and things haven't been easy since my father's cancer dia
Ada "To start, I'd like to thank you once again for your bravery," Mr. Manney begins dramatically. "You saved my son's life, and for that, I'm indebted to you for life, Miss Johnson. Please, if there's anything I can do for you, let me know right away."After he says this, I don't quite know what to say to him. A visit from them is the last thing I ever thought would happen. I'm glad I didn't give them a fake address when I applied for the job the same way I gave them a fake name, otherwise, I would've been in some trouble now, I think, and would've ended up losing all credibility. It would be easier to focus on Mr. Manney if his brother-in-law weren't looking at me like I'm a piece of shit standing in his way. His eyes are studying me deeply. Whenever I glance at him, I find him staring at me with an expression that's somewhat dehumanizing. He's so arrogant. So conceited. "I'd...if I could get my job back, I'd be much obliged," I tell him as humbly as I can."Why, of course," he c
MaximilianAs I watch my sister rise from the table and head tired the maid who saved Sammy’s life, I have to admit that I feel anger stirring in my gut. If someone were to ask me, I wouldn’t be able to explain why it is that I feel this way about her. Whenever I catch a glimpse of her face, I get annoyed. It’s not that I’m not grateful that my nephew’s life was spared; it’s something else entirely. Something that runs deeper than logic and simple explanations. Beside me, Edmund snickers, and as I turn my head to stare at him. He’s shaking his head as he watches me over the rim of his coffee cup and says, “Still bothered by the maid? Seriously, Max. What are you, twelve? You’re treating her like she’s your new rival at the school’s playground.”His words worsen my irritation, and I sneer at him. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”“Or is it that you’re annoyed that you find her so striking?” he muses. “There’s nothing striking about her,” I retort dryly while pickin
Ada Seven Years Later The sound of the water in the bathroom running makes me open my eyes suddenly.My vision is blurry at first but I blink a few times and sure enough, see Max standing in the bathroom, getting ready for work. It’s still dark out—he always leaves for work way too early. And because it’s Saturday, this makes even less sense. Normally, I don’t wake up, but for some reason, I did today. Rising from bed, I approach him carefully, making sure to announce my presence so he doesn’t get scared. He’s shaving his face and looks surprised when he sees me. “Morning, babe. What’s wrong? Did I wake you?”“No,” I mumble before taking the razor from him. I like doing his beard whenever I can. “I just figured I’d get up since I woke up.”“Hm,” is all he says. I finish shaving him, and then we both get washed for breakfast. Usually, he makes it, but this time, I decide to prepare it. We head downstairs together, and I ask him what he wants to eat. “Eggs? Bacon? Whatever you wan
MaximilianTheo managed to get out of trouble due to his close association to the government of Argentina. I don’t know what it is he does—I have a feeling it’s an important job but something off the record. He somehow managed to get the blame off his shoulders completely and got away unscathed even with police involvement. I won’t ask too many questions because that directly benefited us. Now, we can live happily, and it’s fucking sad that Theo isn’t experiencing this relief that we are right now. Though he knew about Grayson’s illness, he wasn’t expecting him to die so soon. Neither of us were. It’s honestly a terrible end to this fucked up story, and in all truth, it’s so unfair to me to celebrate when someone so close to us died. He wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread in Argentina. Theo honored this wish. I didn’t see him shed a tear once but the massive change in him is clear for everyone to see. They’ve been together for years—many years—and Grayson was his lifelong c
AdaStaring at his face makes me freeze a little bit—not enough to make me not know how to react because deep down, I expected this and even counted on it—but it’s still a shock. I haven’t seen him in years, too. The last time was at the hospital when he bumped into me. I know now that was on purpose. I didn’t recognize him then but we’d still been close. “Come with me and you won’t have to get hurt,” he claims in that unnatural voice of his. I realize that his hand is right over what I’m assuming is a gun in his pocket. “Why are you doing this?” I ask, stalling for time. We’re away from the entrance of the police station. I could scream but he’d either shoot me and get away, or get away. Either way, the police wouldn’t be able to catch him on time. I have to be smart about all this. “Aren’t you satisfied?” I continue. “You always took her from me for so long. She won’t even look at my face and refuses to call me her mother. Why don’t you just let me be happy?”“If you even think
Ada I can hardly believe that I’m walking into the prison and that in a few minutes, I’m going to be face to face with my mother. I haven’t seen her in seven years—we haven’t exchanged a single word since then. Now, we’ll have a chance to talk. Half an hour, I think. Am I ready? I’m not sure. Max stays outside. This is also part of the plan. The point is that he needs to seem distracted or on the phone so that when I step out, Damson will think that he’ll have the perfect opportunity to approach me, or maybe even capture me. And that’s where Theo and Grayson come in. But for now, I’m safe inside the station, and I’m going to be talking to my mother now. I wouldn’t be here unless it was completely necessary. I’m not looking forward to talking to her at all. An officer waves me over, gives me all the rules and instructions along with warnings, and then I’m put in a room with her. We’ll be sitting right across from each other. The door is opened for me and I step inside the gra
Ada In the morning, I can hardly believe that I’m leaving this cabin. It’s all happening so quickly and honestly, it’s so surreal. I don’t have time to say goodbye to Abby because she’s asleep but I do say bye to Rebecca and Samantha. Then, when we’re alone, I tell Rebecca what happened last night and she seems so happy that she’s practically bursting at the seams. “That’s so amazing, Ada!” she exclaims. “Oh my God. I wish I was there to see it.”Words can’t describe how it felt to hold her. I imagine mothers of newborns feel the same way when they finally hold them in their arms. That new feeling—this certainty that you would do anything for that child. That’s what I felt yesterday. Seven years after her birth. “There’ll be a lot more to come,” Rebecca assures me. “Soon there will be a time when we’ll forget all about this difficult beginning, you’ll see.”I exhale and clasp my hands together. “I hope so.”But it’s time for me to go. I sit in the backseat of the car and just h
Ada “No,” Max says. “That’s a crazy plan, Ada. Are you kidding me? Do you really think that I’m going to let you put yourself in danger like this?”I sigh, exasperated. “You told me yourself that he’s toying with you and I agree. He’s watching you and isn’t an idiot—as soon as he has the chance, he’ll kill you, and then what will we have accomplished? No, Max. This is what we’re going to do.”“But Ada—”“No buts,” I claim. “This is decided.”It’s easy for me to tell why Max doesn’t like my plan—in fact, it makes all the sense in the world, to be honest. I’ll be making myself a target so that we can better follow Damson’s moves. Everything else didn’t work. Waiting for him at both apartments was a pointless plan for so many days and in the end, he managed to plant a bomb in their car. I can’t stand by and let that happen—we have to do something to stop him while we’re all still alive. What if one of them died? How would we keep fighting, then?“I don’t want you to get ahead of yours
MaximilianI run a hand down my face in frustration. Gone again. The detective stares back at us, his expression of exhaustion mirroring ours for a second before he changes it and looks optimistic again. "Our guys are working on finding him and I'm sure we will very soon. You have nothing to worry about."Theo frowns and inches forward. "I don't think that's true, detective. You said that before and my niece was never found. I don't understand why there aren't more people after this guy. He's crazy and a danger to society. A lot of people could've been hurt today!" "I assure you that we're doing all we can," he claims, but even that is something he says to everyone, I'm sure. I've heard him a million times. I look over at Theo and he stares at me at the same time. The look written all over our faces is the same—we're wasting time here and if we don't get out of here soon, we'll waste even more time. Theo extends his hand to the detective. "Thank you for your time."We head out,
Maximilian When I woke up earlier today, I thought that it would be the same day as all the others. I was wrong. Because Damson chose to make an appearance in the most unexpected of ways and because our guard was down—courtesy of spending fruitless days looking for him—he managed to succeed. A stroke of luck saved us, because we should’ve all been dead by now. But I should start at the beginning. Grayson and Theo are taking turns watching Ada’s apartment. They slip in and out, which would make it difficult for him to watch them and know when they’re in and when they’re not. He can’t be watching us 24/7, or so we thought. It seems Damson is more sneaky than I have him credit for initially. I usually buy us breakfast. It’s hard to shop all the time and anyway, nobody has the patience to cook anything. So, I get fresh bread, butter sometimes, and cheese along with all other sorts of pastry that we can eat. I’ve learned that Grayson decided not to do chemo, which means that his da
Ada Abby has surprised us once more, and we’re beyond happy. Especially Rebecca and me, who are here all the time, waiting for every moment when we’ll be a perfect family and we’ll embrace each other as we should. But deep down, I’m no longer able to celebrate as much as I want to because I’m so afraid of what Damson has in store for us. I’m sure it’s all paranoia because he hasn’t given any sign of life—for all we know, he’s hanging by the neck in a motel room somewhere now that he knows he’s lost and that we’re after him along with the police. But I doubt that. The new Damson has proven to be someone very evil with plans and backup plans and the whole lot of it. He doesn’t have any empathy, and he’s just cruel and mean. I know that our happiness is bothering him. Just the thought of him makes him want to reveal himself so he can take one of us out. Lately, I’ve been trying to feel what he feels. As twins, one would expect us to have that kind of connection. But no. I’m just