CHAPTER SIXTEENPRISCILLA'S POVI was setting the table when the timer I'd set for the pizza started ringing. I rushed to the kitchen and turned off the oven, a little tired from all the running around I'd done that day.“Mom, is he coming today?” Avery signed to me and I signed back answer.“Yes baby.”She smiled, a huge smile, and rushed to where her brother was cleaning their playroom.I sighed and started on the dirty dishes I hadn't been able to wash before. After I'd embarrassingly broken down in front of Brent, he had sent me a text saying he was giving me time to be mad at him, and he wasn't coming back until I could bear to look at him again.Annoyingly enough, I wasn't the one that had decided on this dinner as the right time for him to come back. The kids had missed him and after giving them excuses for almost a week, I'd had to swallow whatever pride I thought I had and invite him to dinner. Even though he had hurt me and all, I couldn't sever our relationship because it w
BRENT'S POVIt felt like everything including air froze as I tried to make sense of what was happening. I looked at Priscilla, who had the poster guilty expression, and knew I hadn't imagined what had just happened. I looked at Avery, casting my mind back to all our interactions. Of course, I was knowledged enough to know that people with hearing disabilities could talk, butt she had responded to me when I talked to her giving no hint she couldn’t hear me.There was nothing else I could do about it, so I tried remembering what little I knew about sign language, but from Avery's expression, I was making a mess of it. I really should have learned sign language back in high school instead of postponing it for Mandarin and never learning it.I turned back to Priscilla asking for help with my eyes since I knew it was rude to talk in third person about a deaf person.Priscilla tapped Avery and signed something I didn't understand, but Avery did since she nodded, glanced at me with no expres
I passed him the third plate I’d washed before having the gut to talk. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about Avery. I was looking for the best time to bring it up, and the best time never came.”He paused briefly and continued rinsing the plate, keeping quiet, and I could imagine what was going through his head. We’d had so many times, I could have brought it up. His silence was making me even more nervous, so I blurted out. “Actually, I know I could have told you before you had to find out like this, I was just too nervous about it and kept on postponing it.”Brent glanced at me and turned back to the plate he was drying. “Since when?”“Since birth. She was born like that. The doctors said it’s most likely hereditary.” I replied.He picked up another plate to rinse. “I’m sorry you had to go through that all on your own. You should have called me rather than battling it alone. You had the right to do that regardless of what you’d endured from me.” He turned to me and I saw the pain in
BRENT’S POVI nodded at Evelyn as she escorted yet another person out of my office. I’d interviewed not less than twenty individuals, and I’d become even more disappointed after each one.“You’ll get back to me, right?” He asked as he left the room, and I nodded with a frustrated smile. He obviously knew I wouldn’t be getting back to him, as he’d bombed the interview. His resume had been less than impressive, but I’d wanted to interview everyone that had shown interest in the partnership opportunity. He’d known nothing about my company, didn’t even have a business plan for the business he wanted to partner with, and hadn’t been able to stay two months on a job since he’d entered the market. Did I also forget to mention he was sixty-three years? To say I was tired was a severe understatement.Evelyn came back into my office and dropped yet another file on another prospect. “Just two more to go, and you’ll be done for the day.” She comforted and I shook my head.“Why did I think this wa
BRENT’S POVI yawned and stretched my neck, feeling the stiffness that came from sitting at a table all day long, when there was a knock on my door and the next interviewee walked in. I sat straighter, both feeling and seeing the difference from the others I’d interviewed.He walked towards me and stared at me until I gathered my wits about me. “You may have your seat.” I said, gesturing to the chair that was in front of me that everyone had automatically sat on even before I’d said anything. While I wasn’t strict on that culture of being the God to the people I was interviewing, I was happy and feeling ecstatic about this person.I opened the file and went through his resume. “Sylvester, is it?” I asked and he nodded. “Yes. I’m Sylvester.”Even his voice sounded more refined. If I was being honest, I had my idea of what I wanted my business partner to look like, and this man was nicely fitting into that image. Young? He was twenty-five according to his resume. That was very nice. I
“Chloe.” I called and, hearing her voice from my office, headed there. “What are you doing here?” My voice faded off as I saw what she was holding. I grabbed the package of toy she had been opening, seeing the others that were already opened on the floor. “What is your problem?” I asked in fury.She continued staring at me wordlessly, and I dropped the package I’d collected from her. “Chloe.” “What is this? I’ve not heard from you in a few months, and now I’m seeing children’s toys in your house. Are you planning an orphanage visit?”I rolled my eyes at her sarcastic question. We had a team for things like that, and she was part of it so she definitely knew that wasn’t the case. “Why did you have to look through my things then? I’ve told you to stop it.”She crossed her arms and glared at me. “You keep on ignoring my calls. You don’t answer mom’s either. I’m worried about you and I want to know what’s going on in your life. The only way I can find that out is when I go through your t
“Mama, where’s Brent?” Avery said to me and I sighed. Brent had insisted they call him with his name even though I’d pointed how disrespectful it was, and I always got annoyed when they used his name.“We’ll find him. We need to get our baggage first.” I signed back and we headed towards baggage claim. Even though it was a three days trip that had been cut short by one day, I’d still had to take a box as my carry on wasn’t enough for three individuals. Weary from work and the thought that I would be on a plane back to California the next day, I needed my bed desperately, but that had to wait.Brent had texted that he wanted to pick us up from the airport as he’d missed the kids and having no sufficient excuse to say no, I’d agreed.“Hey.” Brent called, waving his hands, and the twins ran to him. Our box was already with him, which I was super grateful for.I walked slowly, the weariness almost enveloping me, and heard the last of Aiden’t recap of how much fun he’d had. “Really?” He a
PRISCILLA’S POVI rubbed my shaking hands on my thigh as the models were being made up and dressed. It was finally D-Day, and all the nerves I’d been feeling prior to this day had multiplied. I looked around for Carlie, surprised when she was nowhere to be found. The backstage was milling with models and designers screaming orders and last minute fixings.I saw my team and went to them. “Is everything ready?” I asked the stylists.One of the ladies who was working on a model turned to me. “What do we do? She has gained weight since our last fitting, so the cloth looks odd on her.” she complained, eyeing the dress that did look too small for her frame.I turned to the model who looked no older than seventeen years, who was sobbing and held back the anger that was burning in me. “What happened?” I asked her.“I’m so sorry.” She turned to an older woman who was probably her agent since the show had a rule on minors not appearing alone, who was looking disgusted and the woman, noticing my
PAMELA’S POVUgh! This stinks as hell! I covered my nose as the stench of the abandoned house filled my nose and for the hundredth time, I cursed that bitch for taking my life away from me. Goodness! How did I end up here in the first place? I glanced around my environment and boy, was I irritated? That would be an understatement. There's so much to do yet the only thing I wanted was to lay in Brent's arms all day. I was contemplating leaving the house like this for a while until a big perched on my neck and buzzed in my ear, causing me to scream and fall over dome of the other dirty, nasty and smelly things. Uh uh, no, I can't leave it this way. I packed my luggage to a corner that was barely affected by the dirt in the house. After that, I proceeded to clean the house as much as I could. Everything was dirty and filled with the stench of loneliness and abandonment. The cushion had molds all over it while the center table and fan were covered in dust. I noticed a spider's web in
PRISCILLA’S POVOh God! I should've known! I found myself regretting it after listening to Aiden’s account of what happened at the park. Avery didn't say anything, probably because she felt bad for Brent but he still was the adult and should've remained in charge. I can't believe I let him take them out just once and he screwed up the entire thing. What if she had gotten into a bigger accident? What if she was being bullied? I pushed back the tears that threatened to spill because I couldn't let the kids see me crying. After applying first aid on her bruise, I ushered them upstairs but not without letting them say their goodbyes to Brent, because it would surely be a while before they get to go out with him like this again. He gave me an apologetic look after they left but that wasn't going to solve anything, in fact, it made things worse. The fact that he knew he should've been on his guards around them and failed to do so was just disappointing. I pulled him to the kitchen to pour
BRENT’S POVI huffed angrily while holding the kids' hands to the car. I finally got to get Avery to stop crying and I hated the fact that I couldn't do anything to the kid who bullied her but I was going to make sure it never happened again. Aiden suggested that we returned to their home immediately since Avery had gone quiet and the trip had become boring. I couldn't agree more and I secretly despised myself for being unable to give them a good day, all through. The ride wasn't silent, leaving us all to our thoughts. I wondered what it would be like if I had to take care of the two of them for five years on my own. Surely, I won't remain the same, my mental health would probably be in the bin. I considered Priscilla strong for being able to take care of the two of them as babies on her own whilst still dealing with the heartbreak I'd dished her unjustly. My mind drifted back to that day and refreshed it like it was just yesterday when I called her all sorts of unsavory names whil
PRISCILLA’S POVIn my car, I thought of the things I'd say to Sylvester. I mean, it's been a while and I surely hadn't expected to run into him at a mall. I wanted to go home badly but I couldn't because my conscience won't stop hammering it to me that I owe him something for clearing my bills. I glanced around the road, in search of a Cafe that could do well for a lunch meeting and glanced at my phone to check the time. After a while of scanning the area, I finally found one and signaled to Sylvester to take the route I was taking. Five minutes after leaving the mall, we both stepped out of our cars with smiles on our faces. I took the time to scrutinize Sylvester facial features and just like always, he looked like he just stepped out of his closet. He held the door open for me as we walked into the restaurant and my eyes instantly went to a table in the corner of the restaurant. For some reason, I found myself considering what would happen if Brent or his friends found me with a
BRENT’S POVThe kids requested that I give them a tour of the company and I did that, just that it was a bit hard moving around with the staff staring at them like we were on a show. “Maybe I should've given a memo about having my kids over today.”I whispered to myself after one of the cleaners almost poured water on Avery because she didn't expect a kid to be at the company. “Dad, this place is so huge. How did you build it?” Aiden, the ever curious one asked and I smiled. His question took me down the memory lane, how I used to do everything else except having interest in the family business until dad had to force me to get a marriage, a product of which was the children walking around me. “Well, to be honest, I didn't build all of these. Yes, I own it now and I work here everyday but I didn't start any of this.” I started explaining to him and his sister when we got to an empty conference room. “This company was built by my father and mother, your grandparents, they toiled to m
PRISCILLA’S POVI sighed for the umpteenth time after Brent's call. I wished I'd gone with the kids, that way it'll be easier for me to be in charge of their activities but now that Brent was in charge, he might get really soft and let them out of their routine. It's still early in the morning and I made a resolution to rest until I was fully recuperated. Before I released the kids to Brent, a part of me knew he was going to let them do something out of schedule so I'd braced my mind, waiting for his call and just as predicted, I got the call. The kids sounded really happy with him and I didn't want them to miss out on the experience of having a father for the rest of their childhood life, not when they already missed five years of being with him. I used the free period I got to clean the house and make some changes. Although I couldn't stop thinking about them all the time. My mind drifted back to work for a minute and I made a mental note to go over the recent designs once more b
BRENT'S POV The happiness and excitement on his face was contagious that a smile spread on my face as well. I carried him up in arms and noticed Avery was not in the house and my brows furrowed in confusion. “Where's Avery?” I asked, looking around but as he started to speak, I caught a glimpse of her standing by the large portrait in my living room and staring at it so keenly. She stood there, lost from the rest of the world, staring at the piece of art work as though she wanted to know what the artist was thinking while making it. I smiled inwardly at her curiosity and for the first time since I got the portrait, it felt like it had actually done what it was meant to do. “Avery, darling, over here.” My voice startled her for the first few seconds but she came running towards me and pulled me, well maybe my legs into a hug. I laughed loudly, feeling like I'd won everything in life. I dropped Aiden and carried her in my hands instead while holding Aiden with my free hand. “Are yo
BRENT'S POV After I left Priscilla's house, I had conflicting thoughts on how to reach my parents but while driving, I decided it would be better to just call them, that way I can't see their reaction or physical outburst so when I got home, I headed to my room and found my bath prepared already. I soaked myself in the water, reliving the events of today but my thoughts most welled on Priscilla and the kids. I was more excited than I'd have imagined about finally revealing my true identity to them and the fact that they were coming to my work place made my night better. After bathing, I put on a robe and dialled my father's phone number. The call rang for about a minute before he finally answered and when he did, he sounded like he was falling asleep already. “Good evening dad. Sorry to have woken you up so late.” I started off politely in order to ease whatever subtle tension might rise later. “Glad you know it's late and you shouldn't be calling at a time like this, what is it?
Priscilla's POVDespite Brent's constant reassurance that the kids will be safe with him, I just wasn't ready to take any risk with him or his parents but the kids seemed too excited about going to his work place and I can't refuse their request, not when he's present and I have no excuse to give for not letting them go. So after assuring me for the umpteenth time that the kids will be fine and arrangements will be made with his parents, I decided to give it a shot and let them go. “Thank you for letting me help you out, Priscilla. I know it's a bit hard for you right now and that's why you always have me, we're in this together.” He held my hands which was something he'd been doing a lot, especially today. My eyes darted to our intertwined hands, reminding me of the past but I quickly shrugged it off and focused on him. “The kids are yours as much as they're mine and I have every responsibility to cater for the as much as you do so don't wear yourself out trying to act the role of