CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHTI was stuck under something. That was my first thought and probably what woke me up. I felt a hand on my forehead and let out a scream, rushing to save myself, falling down in that rush.“What’s going on?” A frantic voice asked.I finally opened my eyes, the groggy memories of the previous day rushing back in and saw Brent kneeling on the bed, his face a mask of terror and was that a book in his hand? “I'm sorry.” I apologized, realizing I'd scared Brent and it had been his hand that had felt like something had fallen on me.He stared at me and I could see that he was trying not to laugh and seeing the humor in that situation, I gave up and scoffed. “Laugh all you want. I can see through you.”He melted on the bed, his body racking with loud laughter and I shook my head and climbed the bed back.He stopped laughing and moved closer to me, ignoring the distance I'd intentionally kept by putting myself as far away from him as I could. “I want to check your temperatu
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINEI didn't even mind her tone when she snapped. “What favour did they ask?”I stared at her, serious and all smile forgotten. “Why would the twins believe you're sad?”“What?”“The twins told me they think you were sick because you've been sad for a long time and they wanted me to be their daddy. In those very words.” I confirmed when doubt started rising in her eyes.She shook her head. “I don't know why they would think that I'm sad.” She gasped as if remembering something. “Maybe because I've not been speaking with Carlie of recent. They've been asking me of her recently.”I noticed she had only focused on the first statement but I let it go, for now. I furrowed my brows. “Carlie? The one that stole your designs? What does that have to do with the kids thinking you're sad.” PRISCILLA'S POVI debated what to tell him and opted for an half truth. I shrugged. “We used to talk like three times every week and suddenly we stopped talking. I don't know what goes through
I took a deep breath and sat in front of the kids. They'd already finished breakfast and I'd informed them I wanted to tell them something.Aiden frowned. “Is this about what Avery said yesterday. I'm the one that told her to say that.”Brent glanced at me sharply and I shook my head. Since they were twins, I knew go expect the fact that they were always trying to cover up for each other.I nodded. “Yes. It's about yesterday and you two are not on trouble so there's no need to lie. Um, this is not really because of what you said but I should have told you before so you wouldn't have to have thought that way.”Brent tapped me so I knew I was rambling. The kids confused and worried expression didn't help either so I just blurted it out. “Brent is your daddy. A while ago, mummy and daddy stayed together but since mummy left, daddy did not know about you so I did not tell you.”And there was silence. I turned to Brent, my heart starting to beat even faster than it was. Why weren't they sa
BRENT'S POVI understood her fear of facing my parents, after all, a lot had gone wrong in the past and more could happen yet I was certain I wanted the kids at the office, if that would mean bringing some sort of nomalcy to our lives. I knew it was an opportunity for me to get to spend more time with her as well so it was more or less, a win win situation for me. The only obstacle was how to face my parents. As we played with the kids, all I could think of was how to break the news to my parents without creating more problems for Priscilla. The kids giggled happily as we played hide and seek and they kept finding me easily, because I let them. Priscilla was watching us with a distinct, content look in her eyes and somewhere in her body, I knew she felt relieved to have some help with the twins. “That was so much fun.” The twins said after I decided it was time to end the game. It was getting late and I needed them to sleep so I could spend more time with their mother. “Yes, I know
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
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?
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
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 POVI drove to the house as fast as I could so I'd be able to get back to my family as fast as possible. When I caught Pamela lurking in my house the last time, I was pretty much surprised to find her there. I'd never expected that the intruder would be a lady, talk more of a lady with excess plastic surgery. The bullet didn't lodge in her body but only caused a grazing over her skin. She begged that I let her go and when I asked why she was in my house in the first place, she couldn't come up with a cogent reason so I had her locked away in my basement which doubled as a torture room. All my houses both in and outside the country have a basement like that and Claire's boyfriend was trapped in one of those. When I got to the house, it was empty like I'd expected and got a minute, I imagined what it would be like if my complete family was here. The laughter of my kids, the giggles from my wife, the sound of pots scraping in the kitchen, the loud noise of the Television. It
SYLVESTER’S POV“Sylvester, please stop pacing around. You're making me feel lightheaded with your movements. I know you're angry but please sit.” Donna said to me and I sucked in my breath for the hundredth time. I slammed my hands on the table, causing some of the things on it to spill over. “Now you're just going to start creating a mess.” She sighed and picked up the fallen items. “Would you believe she did that to me? She's my woman yet she had them throw me out.” I rambled again and Donna sighed almost in frustration. “You knew she never liked you from the start, she only agreed to be with you for selfish reasons. None of this is your fault.” She tried to placate me but I was too angry, too bitter to care. “It's all his fault.” I suddenly muttered after coming to the realization of it. “What?” Donna's eyes exposed her confusion. “He's the one making her do this. She loves me, she'd never do that to me if he wasn't in the picture. I have to find a way to get rid of him.” I
BRENT’S POVI finally felt free. After that confession to her, it felt like my soul had been set free, her smile lightened up the room and we went to check up on the kids when they'd woken up. They were both excited to see their mother and I could see the joy and relief in her face as she hugged them both. In the past, I used to think people often did too much by acting like their kids were some sort of lifelines but after this incident, I realized why people held on to their kids like life. I couldn't imagine losing my two kids in a night, my life would totally be over.“Daddy, we miss you at the house.” Aiden suddenly spoke, drawing me back into their conversation. I smiled and ruffled his hair, they'd been taken out of the ER into a VIP room same as Priscilla because I made the request so they'd be comfortable. “I miss you both too.” I responded and Avery smiled deeply. My little girl. She'd been so startled to not have found their mother when she woke up that it took several mi
PRISCILLA’S POV“I don't care what you think about me, all I know is that we belong together. You're mine, Priscilla, you're mine!” His words did not only sound threatening, the words sounded real especially with the fury blazin hot in his eyes. I was getting scared to my bones that he'd pull a crazy stunt as he kept approaching the bed with a glare in his eyes. I could see the hurt, anger and criticism in his eyes but none of our fears could stop him. “Get away from me, Sylvester. Don't you dare come close to me.” I tried to put up a bold front but couldn't. My voice was trembling while my hands started to shake constantly. “You belong to me, I own you!” He muttered bluntly, still strutting towards me. I had a feeling he would do something crazy so I screamed. “Help!!! This man is trying to kill me! Somebody please help me!!” I screamed with everything in me and he rushed to put his hands over my mouth, leaving me to struggle and gasp for breath under his tight hold. Luckily eno
PRISCILLA’S POVIt's been several hours since Brent left me and the kids in the hospital. Sylvester has been smothering my face with all sorts of boring talks about his business trips and how heartbreaking it was for him to hear the news of the incident. He barely gave me a chance to speak and all through the entire time, all I did was nod and pretend like I was listening to him when all I wanted was to be away from him. “I can't do this for much longer.” I thought to myself. “I also have an upcoming trip to Singapore but I'm not sure I'll want to leave you all alone in this condition. Will you come with me?” He asked and I rolled my eyes, despite the intense pain I was feeling in my head. A part of me wanted to snort and ask if he was just being sarcastic but I resisted the urge to do that. “I'm literally tied to a bed, I can't come with you.” I responded curtly, hoping he'd catch the drift but typical Sylvester, he didn't blink an eye. “Brent would've sure as hell picked up on
BRENT'S POVTo be honest, I wasn't expecting her to pick me over Sylvester. He came in here and was acting all lovey dovey either. I couldn't beat watching them but the torture reminded me of how much I needed to be with her as soon as possible. She finally returned her eyes to the doctor, while avoiding contact with either of us.“Can't you just speak with all of us? I don't want to have to choose.” Her voice was low and uneasy. I could tell she's uncomfortable and I hated that I was contributing to her uneasiness.“I mean, it's fine if you want to have them listen in. I just want you to be comfortable.” The doctor remarked and Sylvester turned to her.“I think you should choose, baby. I should be the one with you right , not a random person.” He said. I didn't miss his snide comment and despite wanting nothing more than to punch him in his face, I had to respect Priscilla too.“I…I don't want to choose.” She said, more like a whisper. Her eyes held fright and uneasiness.I noticed S
SYLVESTER’S POVI just stepped out of the shower when I started getting calls from one of my undercover guards. The one I sent close to Priscilla's pov, only with the mission of keeping her and the kids safe. It may sound strange but I could be quite overprotective of people I love and Priscilla was top on that list. I just couldn't let any harm get to her. I dabbed my head with the towel and picked up the phone to answer one of his calls. “What's going on?” I asked, expecting a full rundown of her daily activities but he sounded out of breath as he tried to speak. “Sir, there's a fire at her house. She's trapped inside the fire with the kids. I'm not sure she can make it out alive.” He rushed and fear gripped my heart. “Well, do something about it fast.” I yelled and rushed to my closet to pick an outfit. “There's nothing we can do. Half of the neighborhood is outside the door and we've tried all we can to break in but the door is locked from inside and won't budge under pressu
BRENT’S POVThe day slowly wound down to an unnerving evening for me. The production at the new facility cost a lot more money, time and human labor than we bargained for so all hands had to be on deck to work through it. I've managed to stuff my face with enough work that I barely had time to think about Priscilla. I was either in a meeting or leaving one, I also had to work in the factory when we got understaffed. “You know we can just hire someone to do what you're doing.” Evelyn said to me while I programmed one of the machines. I ignored her comment and returned to working, pouring my heart’s content into it. By the time we finished for the day, my muscles ached so badly that I knew I needed to take several days off. I made sure to be the last person to leave, well, I tried to be the last to leave but Evelyn insisted I had to go before her. “You know you don't need to do all these, Brent. You can just leave.” She insisted while I continued working until I could no longer bear
PRISCILLA’S POVAs I drove the kids back home, I couldn't get the thought of how messy things might get if they found out about the situation between Brent and I. All through the ride, I only listened to their talks absentmindedly while trying to figure out a way to get things together before they got out of hand. We got home and I hurriedly got the kids ready for dinner, they wanted an early dinner and I was glad they did too. “Aiden, get it together so I can brush your hair already.” I groaned in frustration while preparing them for the evening. “Mum, what are we having for dinner?” He asked, fiddling with his pajamas while Avery stared at her coloring book. “Potatoes and chicken.” I answered and Avery’s eyes turned to me in delight. She hugged me without saying anything and I hugged her back. I finished with them and went into the kitchen to start making the meal. They insisted on being in the kitchen with me and when I refused, Aiden broke down in tears while Avery sulked re