"Addy?" Anastasia asked with a grin.Adeline’s face lit up as she grinned back. "I’m ready."With that, the two of them took Destiny to Adeline’s new house, where the fun truly began. For the next few hours, they turned the house into a magical princess paradise. There were tiaras, balloons, and sparkles everywhere. Destiny couldn’t stop giggling as her laughter filled the room as she bounced from one princess game to the next. Cake, toys, and more fun followed, creating a dream come true for little Destiny. Adeline couldn’t help but join in while smiling and laughing with her. But after hours of excitement, even the liveliest of princesses needed rest. Destiny, completely worn out, curled up on the couch and finally fell asleep along with a tired and very pregnant Adeline.Anastasia had other plans.Summer had sent Destiny’s nanny and bodyguard along to make sure she was always safe and well cared for. But Anastasia wasn’t about to let the fun end just yet. She carefully picked up the
"Go and hug your big brother," Anastasia said, her voice filled with warmth.Destiny hesitated for a moment as her tiny feet were shuffling uncertainly. But when she saw the excitement in Anastasia’s eyes, she couldn’t hold back. She threw her arms wide open with a huge smile lighting up her face and without wasting another second, she ran straight to Damien who quickly stood up from his chair with his arms ready to embrace her.As Destiny reached him, she leapt into his arms and he bent down to scoop her up while holding her close. The soft, sweet scent of baby shampoo filled his nose and in that moment, Damien was overwhelmed with emotions. His heart swelled and his eyes welled up with unexpected tears. He didn’t know why, but holding his little sister in his arms made him feel a joy he hadn’t realized he had been missing.He pulled her tightly against his neck while savouring the moment.Destiny was still holding his face gently in her small hands as she stared at him with those bi
Anastasia reminded him a while later, “We have to take her back to her parents. Don’t forget that it’s her birthday today.”Damien mumbled, “Can’t we fight her father for custody? We could raise her.”Anastasia laughed. “Oh, baby… we can’t. She will need her parents when the ‘big brother rush’ wears off.”Damien muttered, “Fine.”After a while, he asked, “Shall we take her to see Caleb? He will be very upset if he finds out we spent the whole day with Destiny and didn’t even take him to meet his little sister.”Anastasia nodded. “You are right, but he is at the old mansion. How can we take Destiny there?”Damien asked, “Why can’t we?”“Your mom and grandmother... What if they say something bad about the little girl? It’s her birthday. I don’t want to hurt her,” Anastasia said.Damien replied, “They wouldn’t dare!”After some time, they reached the Callahan mansion. The staff was shocked to see Damien carrying a little girl inside, along with Anastasia. When the old madam found out tha
The old woman swiftly manoeuvred her wheelchair toward the group while shooing away the brats. “Go away!” she barked. Then, her demeanour shifted dramatically. Grabbing Destiny’s hand, she turned syrupy sweet, her voice dripping with exaggerated affection. “Oh, my princess! Your dad is such a terrible man! How could he hide my precious grandchild from me? A girl! A girl from the Callahan family! And so beautiful just like your grandma.” She wailed dramatically, tears threatening to spill. “Oh, how I missed you!”Anastasia stood frozen completely stunned at the dramatics that the old lady displayed.Destiny, visibly uncomfortable, glanced around for help and murmured, “Big brother…”Damien leaned down and said gently, “Des Des, this is our grandma. Go on, greet her properly.”Destiny hesitated but eventually said, “Hello, Grandma.”The old woman’s tears began to flow. “That horrible man! He kept my granddaughter from me all this time! My precious granddaughter!”Feeling sorry for her, D
"Let's talk, son," Darcy said again as they stood in the quiet garden. The cool evening air surrounded them but the silence between them was heavy. He watched his son while knowing Damien wouldn’t speak first. With a sigh, he decided to start.Damien looked at him, distantly. "What is there to talk about?" he asked, his voice flat, carrying both irritation and curiosity.Darcy held his gaze. "A lot, Damien. There is a lot we need to talk about."Damien folded his arms. "Like what?"Darcy sighed with both sadness and frustration. "Like why you won’t answer my calls, my messages, my letters, like nothing. You have been ignoring me for years. Don’t I deserve to know why?"Damien stayed quiet, his face giving nothing away. Deep down, he felt a small pang of guilt, but he pushed it aside. He had avoided his father for almost ten years, keeping their paths from crossing. Facing Darcy meant facing old pain and he wasn’t ready to deal with it. He was just trying to protect his heart by hurtin
"How did it go?" Anastasia asked gently, her eyes scanning Damien's face for clues."I... I don’t know," Damien replied, his expression clouded with uncertainty."Did you talk?" she pressed, her curiosity was spilling over, though she tried to keep her tone calm."Kind of?" he said hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck.Anastasia’s excitement spilt through despite her restraint. "Damien, I’m dying of curiosity here. What happened?"Damien let out a sigh and whispered, "Actually… we started screaming at each other, getting really angry. Then… he started crying."Her eyes widened. "He cried? Did you hug him? Console him?""No...?" Damien answered slowly, his uncertainty was almost childlike.She blinked, clearly horrified. "What did you do when your father started crying?"He shrugged as though the answer was obvious. "I just stood there."Anastasia let out an exasperated groan, throwing her hands up. "Goddamn it, Damien! That is not the kind of example you should be setting for Dest
“Addy, where are you?” Anastasia asked her best friend who had left early in the morning without informing her.“I went to the doctor’s,” Adeline replied.Anastasia asked, “I always go with you. Why didn’t you tell me?”Adeline explained, “Austin wanted to come with me. You see, we always ditch him and since this might be my last doctor visit, I thought I would take him with me.” She added, “After the doctor’s visit, we went for some ice cream.”Suddenly, Adeline’s voice grew tense. “Dear god.”“What happened?” Anastasia asked, panicked. “Are you okay?”“I’m fine, but someone else isn’t going to be,” Adeline said, hanging up the call. Her eyes caught sight of Ronan walking toward her. He was probably in a meeting with a client but as soon as he saw her, he changed direction and began walking toward her.Adeline looked at Austin, who was still on the call. Dear Lord, Austin was going to beat up Ronan. She looked back and forth between Austin and Ronan, the latter now just a few feet aw
Ronan sighed deeply. “I wanted to meet you in Paris. I wanted to surprise you when you signed your first big commercial advertisement. You were so nervous about it for a whole month. When you told me you were going to sign it, I thought I would pop by to surprise you. I came, but then… I saw Anna with you.”She narrowed her eyes. “So, all these years we never met because of Anastasia?”He lowered his head. “I hated her…”Adeline’s expression hardened. “When we met, why didn’t you confess?” she pressed.“I thought you would hate me,” he said quietly. “The dynamics had been twisted with Regina and Anastasia. You live and breathe Anastasia, and I’m always just in Regina’s shadow. We were like mortal enemies.”Adeline’s face twisted with disgust. “What a stupid piece of shit you are. Why would I hate you for them?”She glared at him while speaking, “Ronan, you wasted ten years of our lives with your unreasonable hate for my best friend. You chose Regina over me. I don’t want to feel bad
Damien was in his office, reviewing a contract, when the door swung open with force. His mother, Carolyn, stormed in, her face tight with frustration. Without a word, she threw a file onto his desk. The papers spilled out before him. Damien leaned back in his chair and exhaled slowly, glancing up at her with extra patience. “What now, Mother?”His life was a mess, and he had no time to get involved in his mother's shenanigans. Carolyn crossed her arms, her voice sharp with accusation. “Look at this mess, Damien! How are we supposed to clean it up? The media is calling Scarlet Heart jinxed! Do you realise what this means? This was probably the last year we would be hosting the contest, and now, thanks to this disaster, the beautiful legacy of our ancestors has been ruined!”Damien flipped through the file absently, already aware of the media storm surrounding the contest. “Mother, it’s not in our hands,” he said evenly. Actually, every event comes with good or bad media attention. Al
Claire sat at the head of the grand mahogany desk as her manicured fingers tapped rhythmically against the polished surface. There was a sharp glint in her eyes that was far colder.She glanced at Lisa, who stood near the door, her posture as hesitant as ever. “There is a meeting with our new partners at eleven,” Claire announced. She leaned back, crossing one leg over the other, a sly smirk playing at her lips. “There may be resistance from Callahan Industries and their allies. But it’s pathetic, really. Damien and his supporters are too few. They’ll be nothing more than an annoyance. I can easily crush them by reinforcing my alliances.”Claire reached for the crystal glass of wine beside her, swirling the deep red liquid before taking a slow sip. Her voice dropped to a murmur. “All I need to do is play the part of the grieving, pitiful wife one whose daughters are missing and she is broken by her own tragedy. People love a helpless woman. They eat it up.” She set the glass down and
Claire was on the phone when she snapped, her voice sharp with frustration. “Where the hell are you?”Her assistant, Lance, responded carefully, “Madam, I was handling Miss Scuderi’s case. I went to appease her as you instructed, but she didn’t take it well. She threw whatever was on the table at me. I’m at the hospital now, getting treated for a head injury.”Claire’s expression darkened. “What did you just say?”“A head injury. Courtesy of Miss Scuderi,” Lance repeated, his voice filled with pain. “The police have tightened her restrictions. She is now in a stricter cell, and she isn’t allowed to meet anyone without being chained.”Claire inhaled slowly, forcing herself to stay composed. Eleanor was only making things worse for herself. And yet, as her mother, Claire couldn’t help but be concerned. But there was nothing she could do. Especially not without jeopardizing everything she had built.She had spent nearly thirty years plotting to take over the Spencer empire. She wouldn’t
“Daddy?” Ashton called out as Damien entered the house, exhausted from another long day searching for his wife.“What is it, Maxey?” Damien asked, kneeling to his son’s level.Ashton frowned. “Grandma is stuffing Bro with so much food. She treats him like a pet like he is her dog or something. She won’t let him out of her sight. It’s unbearable to watch.”Concern flashed across Damien’s face as he rushed to the dining room, where Fiona was insistently trying to feed Asher another plate of food. The boy looked pale, clearly struggling to eat more. Damien hurried over as he gently took the plate from Fiona’s hands.“Fiona, if you keep feeding Asher like this, he will fall sick,” he warned very softly. “If he gets sick, he will end up in the hospital like Regina. Do you want that?”Fiona blinked in confusion, trying to process his words. After a moment, she quickly set the plate aside. Instead, she turned her attention to Ashton, now running her fingers through his hair and fussing over
Eleanor clutched the prison phone tightly, her voice sharp with desperation. "You have to get me out of here!" she shouted. Her disgrace was all over the media as she was caught naked while attempting to assault a man, high on drugs. Her politician father was struggling to contain the fallout, his career hanging by a thread. With nowhere else to turn, she called Claire, her biological mother."Can you be patient?" Claire's voice was cold. "I warned you not to do anything stupid. I told you I would help you get Ronan, but look at you now. Stay put for a few days. My PR team is handling it. You'll be fine, just keep quiet.""I don’t want to be here!" Eleanor screamed. "The Arnello family is trying to kill me! That bitch is everywhere, I see her all the time! Why won’t you come and get me? I know you can. Take me out of here, or I’ll die!"Claire sighed, rubbing her temples. "I can’t deal with more problems, Nora. Just sit tight and be quiet. I have two other headaches. one’s missing, an
“Did you find anything about Anna?” Damien asked, his voice tight with frustration.It had been an entire day since Anastasia had disappeared, and there was still no news about her or the baby. It was as if the world had swallowed her whole.Meanwhile, Regina’s condition remained critical. She was still in a coma, and Claire had fired yet another shot. This time, she turned her attention to Abel. With the so-called evidence she had gathered, she was dangerously close to gaining control over both her daughter and granddaughter.“You have lost your goddamn mind if you think I would ever harm my wife and kids,” Abel said, his voice laced with fury.Claire stood before him, her expression filled with misplaced triumph. “You are the reason my Regina is suffering. I need my daughter and granddaughter.”Turning to the officers, she commanded, “Arrest him! You have enough evidence to charge him with domestic violence.”The police hesitated for a moment, but the proof was airtight. They had no
Damien asked, shocked, “What happened to Harold?”Jack replied, “He suffered a stroke. His condition is serious.”“Is Claire there?” Damien asked urgently.“Not yet, but the butler is. Claire has been informed and will be arriving soon,” Jack explained.Damien’s tone turned sharp. “Jack, get Harold out of the house as soon as possible. Don’t let Claire catch wind of it. Until she arrives, the butler has the authority to assist you. Once she’s there, she’ll take control. Warn the butler that this is all part of Claire’s grand plan. To eliminate Harold and seize everything. She is already plotting against Regina and Anna.”“Understood, sir. I will take care of it,” Jack assured him.When Damien ended the call, he turned to find Asher who was standing nearby and observing him quietly.Before Damien could talk to his eldest son, Darcy entered the room, followed closely by Summer who was carrying a sleeping Destiny. Despite the late hour, the couple had arrived, uncalled but concerned.Dam
While Ronan, Adeline, and Abel were at the hospital, Damien found himself pacing back and forth in the living room. He had been trying to contact Anastasia, but now her phone was switched off. She had been keeping him updated on the situation but with no recent word, his worry began to grow.“Dad, Rio is crying,” Maxey said softly, tugging at Damien’s sleeve.Damien turned quickly, his thoughts momentarily interrupted. “Oh…” he muttered, glancing toward the baby.As he turned, he noticed Asher holding Rio in his arms, while gently rocking him. To Damien’s surprise, Asher was singing the lullaby that Anastasia usually sang to soothe the baby. His voice was sweet and homely and before long, Rio’s cries quieted as he drifted off to sleep.Damien smiled faintly at the sight, feeling both pride and heartache.“Dad, when will Mom come home?” Asher asked, his voice filled with worry. “Is everything okay?”Damien ruffled his son’s hair, trying to reassure him. “Everything’s okay, kiddo,” he s
Anna made sure all the exits around the hospital were blocked. She was determined to stop anyone from escaping, especially since she was certain the kidnapper hadn’t left and the missing baby was still inside the building.She didn’t waste any time and searched every corner of the hospital. She checked rooms, hallways, and storage areas, leaving nothing untouched. The guards were also running around, doing their best to find the child, but no one seemed to have any luck.As Anna moved through the hospital, she noticed a nurse heading toward the terrace, holding a cigarette packet. The nurse tried to open the door but found it locked.“That’s strange,” the nurse muttered. “Why is the terrace door locked? It’s never locked.”Anna’s instincts kicked in. Something felt off. She walked up to the door and tried opening it herself, but it wouldn’t budge. The lock was solid and the door wouldn’t move. Without hesitation, she decided to break it open.She hurried downstairs to find something h