CHAPTER SIXTY_ ONEHenry smiled as he held his cheek in his hands. He moved closer to Mary, held her arm firmly, and moved her away from the stairs. Before she would react, he had already started running upstairs."Henry!" She screamed, but not for once did he stop or turn around to look at her.Henry walked into his room and sat on the bed. He brought his phone out of his pocket and dialled his lawyers number. After running for twenty-seven seconds abd there was no reply, Henry dropped the phone on the bed and sighed sadly. He picked up his pillow and was about to lay his head on it when his phone began to vibrate. A weak smile formed on his face as he realised it was his lawyer who was calling him. He picked up his phone and placed it beside his ear. "Hello, good morning," he greeted casually. They were more friends than lawyer and client, since they were already friends, even before Clement was called to bar. "What's the problem this time?" Clement asked. "What's the best way
CHAPTER SIXTY_ TWO"What do you mean by that?" Maria asked Clifford. Of course, she knew Clifford too well to ever accept his fault and decide to pay for it by going to jail. He knew better than that, and Clifford would never stoop so low or ruin his reputation to the extent of sending himself to prison. "You want to go to prison for an offence as simple as" Faith was saying, then she paused. "You can go ahead and do whatever you wish. I'm sure you are old enough and know what's best for you. It wasn't a simple offence after all, you fooled a lot of people and kept a fellow human in the rehab. Meanwhile, I'll be I'm my room."Faith stood up and walked out of the room, banging the door hard behind her. Clifford and Maria kept their eyes glued on her until she left. There was an unusual silence in the room for a while, and both of them still had their eyes glued to the door. Clifford cleared his throat, and his eyes fell on his daughter. She also looked up at him, then slowly lowered
CHAPTER SIXTY_ THREE"You can't leave the house Henry, until you tell me where you are going to, by this time of the day," Mary scolded Henry. Henry sighed and placed both hands on his waist. He looks straight to the ceiling and shook his head continuously. He had just finished dressing up and was about going to the office, he couldn't wake up early enough because he didn't get enough sleep the previous night. He was already late for work, yet Mary was still delaying him."Maria_" he called her the wrong name and knew he was in for it. He bit his tongue with the side of his teeth and took ik a deep breath before correcting himself. "Mary, I am already late for work. Can you please excuse me and continue this your drama when I return from the office?" Henry asked. "I am the one who is being dramatic now right? I am the one who is being a drama doll? What is the time Henry? You are going to work by this time. I am the one who is being dramatic but you just called me Maria. You do not
CHAPTER SIXTY_ FOURMary walked back into the house, threw Henry's phone at him and said. "Your lover and her family are here to see you."She walked into her room afterwards. Henry rushed to the door, opened it and bowed in front of the Clifford's."Greetings," he greeted. He raised his head and sighted Mercy, and a drop of tears quickly escaped his left eyes. He opened the door more widely and jumped into Mercy's arms in a warm embrace. He had missed her so much, and seeing her was a relieve. "Let's go inside," he ushered them into the house and they didn't reject the offer to go inside. They all walked into the house and found somewhere comfortable to sit respectively. "How are you mom?" Henry asked, taking his sit close to Mercy. "You didn't return home to your father after all these years?" Mercy asked.Henry sighed and shook his head. "I know what we did was wrong. That's why I forgive Clifford. We all make mistakes, the costly ones and the simple ones. I also know that Ma
CHAPTER SIXTY_ FIVE"I will be right back," he said to his son and walked towards the door. "I hope I can come in?" He heard Mercy's voice, even befire opening the door completely to reveal her face. "Of course you can. You might want to meet your grand son," Henry replied. He opened the door more widely and locked it after Mercy walked in. "I am worthy to be informed properly, and also when my permission is granted, before you bring strangers into my room," Dylan nagged. Henry gulped down saliva. He walked to the bed and sat beside his son. "This is your grand ma. She's Mary's mom and has come all the way here to see you," Henry informed. "Where have she been all this while? Would she live here from now on? I thought I didn't have any grandparents?" Dylan questioned. "Dylan?" Henry called."What?" Dylan asked, folding his arms under his breast. "Don't mind him mom, he is usually this way whenever he is upset," Henry told Mercy.She smiled and sat beside the kid. "I understa
CHAPTER SIXTY_ SIX Mercy stood up to follow after them, but Henry held her hand."Let them be. Just eat up and go to bed so they don't ruin your mood. Give them time to come out of it, or else if you try to force things on, then the outcome would definitely not be nice," Henry said. Mercy found tears dropping down freely from her eyes against her wish. Henry helped her wipe the tears with the back of his palm. He cut and rolled the wheat with his fork, dipped it in his soup, and fed Mercy. A smile appeared on her face, and she picked up her fork.Henry was glad that he was able to make her smile again. Seeing her tears caused him pain. he wondered why Mary would be so cruel, even to her mother. "You are really something Henry," she complimented. "Do not forget that you married my daughter and not me," she reminded him.The both of them laughed for a while. They continued eating, chatting, and laughing. After dinner, the both of them moved to the kitchen to do the dish together whil
CHAPTER SIXTY_ SEVEN Henry pecked his son goodnight and left the room. He hoped that by morning, Dylan would be over it. He walked back to his room and slept off immediately he lay in bed. He was already too exhausted from the day's stress and needed to rest. The next morning, he woke up a bit late and, after dressing up for work, walked straight to Mary's room. He stood behind her door and knocked on it.Mary heard the knock on her door. She stood up lazily and began dragging her feet towards the door. She let out a weak hiss when she saw Henry behind the door. She stood in front of the door, obstructing him from coming in."What do you want?" Mary asked."Please, let's not do this now. Let us talk," Henry pleaded. "About what? About Maria?" Mary questioned."I wasn't going to talk about her, but then, if that is what you want, why not?" Henry asked.Mary rolled her eyes at him and opened the door more widely, making space for him to walk in. Henry walked into the room and sat on
CHAPTER SIXTY_ EIGHTThe door opened gently, forcing Mary and Dylan to turn around against their wish. They faced the door and saw Henry walking into the house with Mercy and her mom.Dylan was the first to stand up to his feet."Mom, I will be in my room," he announced and walked away into his room.Mary sighed and stood up to her feet. She didn't move an inch, she just stood there watching them as they walk towards her. They walked past her, except her grandma who stopped by her side and held her arm. "I heard it all from your mom. I know you are hurting, and I would also want yhat you be given time to get over the hurt. But don't forget that there are people waiting for you. Do not let it take forever for you to heal my love. I love you so much."Mary's eyes was already dripping wet against her wish. She lifted her hands and wiped her face, then sniffed. "I will heed to your advice mom," she promised. Her grandma hugged her, and she smiled in her grand mother's arm. She walked
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND _ FOURClifford removed his phone from his pocket and texted an unknown number. "Close your eyes for five minutes, " he told them and walked over to the door.He returned with two men, twin kids, and two lawyers. Mary stood up to her feet, screaming at the top of her voice while she rushed to the man who held twin kids by his side. She hugged him passionately and sobbed in his arms. Henry stood up with his eyes and mouth wide open. "Dad," he called out. Fredrick opened his arms wide to receive his son. Henry walked into his father's arms and hugged him warmly. "I am so sorry, dad."Henry's voice sounded as though he was going to cry. "It was my fault that we ended up this way. I should have let you choose your life and your wife.""No, father. Every disappointment is a blessing. You helped me find true love when I thought what I shared with Mary was true love.""Okay, can we do something fun and forget all of these ever happened?" Maria asked. "Not bef
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND _ THREEMaria and Henry continued walking down the stairs but got startled when they saw Clifford and Faith seated on the couch with Mercy and her mom. "What is going on here?" Henry asked. Faith rushed to Maria and hugged her tightly. She began sobbing silently while hugging her daughter. Maria softened as well and began to sob. The rest of the parents stood up to their feet to watch the unfolding drama in front of them."I am sorry, Mom. I know, I know I promised never to leave you but the pressure was too much. I didn't want to marry Fred, I didn't want to go to florida. I wanted to stay somewhere safe. I wanted a place their was love. I never told you this mom, Fred hits me. He would turn me into a punching bag in florida, and their wouldn't be a single soul I would report to. I couldn't stop myself from running away mom, he would definitely kill me if I married him."Faith hugged Maria even more tightly and patted her hair. "I love you so much, honey,"
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND _ TWOMaria ran upstairs with Henry following swiftly behind her. She began packing up her things. "Maria, please don't leave. Don't do this to us. You know you have to give us another chance, right?" Maria ignored Henry and continued packing up. He walked up to her and hugged her from behind. He tightened her hands in between his, and she tried to free herself, but of course, he was stronger than she was. "Maria, please. I would die if you ever leave me.""What will you have me do then? Tell me. What do you expect me to do?"Her voice cracked. It was pale and weak. She sounded as though she was going to cry. "You can't give up on us like this. Okay, you know what? Let's leave together," Henry suggested. "What? What about your son?" Maria asked.She wiped her face. Henry let go of her hand, and she walked up to the bed and sat on it. She sighed softly and raised her head to look at Henry, who was still standing where she left him. His hands were placed on
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND _ ONEMaria was about to answer the question when a slight knock was heard on the door. Henry excused himself and walked towards the door, while Maria continued towards the dining. She went on her knees in front of Mary, and folded her clapped her hands together in front of her face. "What are you doing here?" Mercy asked again coldly. "My parents were going to sell me off and send me to florida. I needed somewhere to hide pending the time they would change their mind." "And you think that this is the best place to hide? Is this the best way to behave when your sister is rotting behind bars? Why are you so inconsiderate Maria? Or you want your parents to come here and gundown everyone because of you? I guess that is the only time you would learn."Maria shook her head continously, as her mom spoke. Mercy didn't bother to look down at her. She kept a straight face, and kept her gaze fixed on the food she was about to eat. "Mom, please. I do not want to mar
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED Maria was stool staring at the little girl with her eyes and mouth wide open. She was still wondering if she was still in hallucinations or not."Ma'am? I know I have asked this before, and you didn't respond. Are you sure you are fine?" "Yea, of course I am fine. Please repeat what you just said earlier. ""Your parents are here, Ma'am, " she repeated innocently. "You mean, you mean Mary's mom and grandma, right? I mean our parents and the kid, right?" Maria asked. "They didn't come with any kid. Henry called them Mr and Mrs Clifford. They said they wanted to be sure that he wasn't hiding Maria here." "Shit!" Maria exclaimed. She pulled the girl by the hand and walked straight to the kitchen with the girl following steady behind her. They got into the kitchen, and Maria locked the door. "What did you say to them?" Maria asked, resting over the girl whose nack was rested on the wall of the kitchen. "I didn't talk to them. I pretended to be dumb and asked s
CHAPTER NINETY _ NINETime flew by real quick and the camp days were finally over. Henry and Maria had prepared a banquet for the family. She hadn't figured out yet where to stay, and she hoped on convincing her biological mom, and grandma to let her stay even if it meant moving to their room with them. She wouldn't want to bother Dylan in his room, and Mary's room would be a no go area. Of course, they wouldn't want her to stay in Henry's room, so the best thing was to either move into theirs. Or she could even manage with the housekeeper, afterall she's human..The both of them were busy setting the dinning and exchanging kisses when they heard a soft knock on the door. The housekeeper walked over to the door to help get the door, while the two rushed the work to quickly finish it before the three would walk in. They already concluded that it was grandma, Mercy, and Dylan. The two laughed immediately they were done, and Henry hugged Maria. "You know they shouldn't see us this wa
CHAPTER NINETY _ EIGHT Henry lay in bed thinking about Mary. He once loved her and still did, although not romantically anymore. He wished there was something he could do about her, but there was absolutely nothing. She was guilty of the case charged, and although Maria hadn't pressed charges yet, she would as soon as Faith succeeded in convincing her. Henry was so worried for Mary's safety. It was so early in the morning, and Henry hadn't had any sleep yet. The wall clock that hung on the wall facing him read the time to his face. And it displayed 5am.Henry sighed, as he remembered Mercy, Dylan and granny. The three were in Dylan's school camp. He felt bad for the kid, none of his parents could attend the camp with him. Henry would have gone but Dylan insisted he shouldn't attend the camp without Mary. He didn't want to create a scene in the school by going there against the kid's wish, so he decided to just stay back at home. He heard the door bell ring and jerked from the bed
CHAPTER NINETY _ SEVEN The day was a very stressful and yet very successful one. Everything the Clifford's planned on achieving for that fay they did before dusk. Everyone was exhausted and just retired to their rooms to sleep. Maria lay in bed with her eyes closed as thoughts flew freely in and out of her mind. Tears rolled down her left eyes, dropping on the sheets. She heard a light knock on the door and wiped her face immediately. "Come in," she managed to say and sat up in bed. She was too tired to stand to her feet and thanked her stars she didn't lock the door yet. She saw her mom walk into her room with a sad smile on her face. She sat on the bed beside Maria and held her jaw up. Maria understood that her mom was only trying to make her happy. She didn't like that all her life revolved around a man who was married to her own sister and wished that she could help. This was her best way of helping Maria move on from Henry, but she didn't want to. She couldn't forget the l
CHAPTER NINETY _ SIXA FEW WEEKS LATERMaria stood behind the door of her parents' room. She could hear them talk in whispers and laugh. Soon, their tone increased, and she realized they were talking to someone or some people on the phone."We should just fix the wedding, and they would come together, get married. It is not like they have a choice after all. "That was Faith's voice. She knew the meeting they held was about she and Fred, and she also knew it was Fred's parents on the other end of the call. "Maybe you would just come over to the house so we would plan the wedding properly," Clifford's voice sounded. She felt betrayed that her dad was part of the plan. Why would he? She thought he was on her side and would help her achieve whatever she wanted. Why would he switch sides all of a sudden? She sighed sadly and returned to her room. She sat in bed and banged the door against the wall. She was breathing heavily and fuming at the same time. She stood up.from the bed and wa