**Olivia POV I spent several days thinking about the strange incident with Bethany. I didn’t like her attitude towards me or the fact that she thought she could disrespect me in my own house. I heard from Ellis how well things were going with Carl at work so I wanted to give Bethany another chance.But still, I realized I had to get Bethany under control or else she would get worse and there would be no other solution than making her leave. There was no other way around it. This could not continue. I knew that I didn’t deserve all of those rude comments from her. It was mid afternoon when I stepped into the living room to find Bethany there. I felt the tension immediately. Bethany was sitting on the sofa, thumbing through a magazine, I could tell she knew I was there but she didn’t bother to even look my way as I walked towards her. While I walked, Bethany continued avoiding my gaze. She didn't make eye contact with me whatsoever and I even felt as if she were trying to turn away fro
**OliviaPOVI begged Ellis over and over to get Carl and Bethany out of the Peterson mansion before they could cause any more problems. I put my hands together and pleaded as we were alone in our room. “Please, make Bethany and Carl leave, Ellis. Before anymore problems arise.” I reached for Ellis and rubbed his back.Ellis moved slightly away from me. I felt disappointed as he shook his head at me. “No, Olivia. I won’t make Carl leave. I finally am getting a connection with Carl.” Ellis pointed out the obvious fact.“I know, baby. That’s great. But can’t we just get rid of Bethany?” I asked in a hopeful voice.Ellis nodded, but his face twisted around as if he looked concerned about my idea. “We could. But I think that would cause a problem as well, Olivia. I think Carl would leave with Bethany if we were to kick her out. I don’t want my son to leave.”I groaned loudly in frustration. I stomped my foot loudly as the anger grew inside me. “How much longer will he need to stay here, El
**Olivia POVI couldn’t believe what he was saying.“But this could cost us a bad reputation, Ellis. People are talking about all of us. This will not look good on any of us. Do you want that?” I asked in a bold tone.“I don’t care what people think or say. People will talk no matter what. Ignore it. I will not force my son to leave. Do you understand me?” Ellis said in a rude tone.“But,” I started to say.“End of the discussion, Olivia. Now, I am going to bed. Goodnight.” Ellis ripped his clothes off and I watched him climb into bed. “Ellis, I am your wife and Bethany is constantly disrespecting me in my own house, yet you act like you don't even care about my feelings.”“I do care about your feelings, Olivia. I know it is difficult. But, I’m just asking you to give me a little more time with Carl. It’s not an ideal situation but throwing her out would also mean tossing out my grandchild. What kind of man would I be to do that?”I heaved a heavy sigh… I couldn't argue any more. No m
**Olivia POVI felt more than a little conflicted the next morning when I woke up to find that Ellis had already gone to work without saying goodbye again. I was disappointed. When I agreed to marry Ellis, I never imagined having to deal with Bethany at all. And now, with her carrying Carl’s baby it looked like we would be forever stuck together. I knew that if I wasn’t going to leave then I would have to find some way to make peace with Carl, Bethany and the entire situation. I did think about calling my mother and letting her know everything that was going on, but I never liked to worry her about problems she couldn’t help me solve. I stretched and got ready to go through the daily routine of getting the boys off to school and having breakfast by myself.After that I decided to visit with Grandpa Herman and see how he was doing. It wasn’t until I was halfway through venting about Bethany and Carl that I realized why I wanted to see him.“Olivia, I understand that this is a diffi
**Ellis POVI came home late as usual and walked through the quietness of the mansion towards our bedroom. It had been a long and hard week, especially coming home every night to the tension that was building up between Olivia and Bethany. I had given serious thought to what she said during the day and I figured that it wouldn’t be too much to ask Carl and Bethany to move out of the mansion and into their own place. They might even like it better once they were out on their own.When I got to our room, I turned on the light and it took a moment for my vision to get used to the brightness. Once I had my vision back, I looked towards the bed to see that it was empty. Suddenly, I was very aware of the eerie silence. I walked around the room. Searching for a sign of where she might have gone. Then I bolted from our room and went to see if I’d somehow missed her in the living room or the kitchen. But there was no sign of Olivia. It felt as if she vanished into thin air. Like maybe Oli
**Olivia POVI woke up with a sneeze, turning over on a dusty old mattress. My head was pounding as I wiped my eyes, I noticed something white and flaky on my fingers, like a powder. It was plaster dust. I smelled the must and dust where I was. It was a little too dark to see, so I reached out with my hand. My fingers brushed against a soft fabric as I moved, it was a blanket. It seemed to be one of those big blankets I’d seen people put over old furniture. I waited for my eyes to adjust to my dim surroundings wondering where I was. The last thing I remembered was confronting Carl and Bethany and then blacking out. As my eyes adjusted I realized that I was in an attic. It was the only place old furniture like that was kept. I wiped more plaster dust off of my face so that I could see better. It was still very dim, but I could see in the low light coming from a small window. What time was it?I got up and carefully looked for a light switch but couldn’t find any. My hand brushed ov
**Olivia POVAlone in the attic I couldn’t stop crying. The tears started before, still at full flow from my eyes. Suddenly, the tears came to their end. Stopping as quickly as they had started. More my usual self, I got to my feet and took another look around the attic. Getting a feel for the space, things were less dizzying. The panic I felt before, especially for my baby, eased a little. It wouldn’t do any good for me to be stressed. After some slow, deep breaths I’d learned in class while pregnant with Ken, things got more clear. The situation was bad, Bethany and Carl were obviously in it together. But there were others in my family that would do anything to help me. I just had to find a way of getting to them. A fact that raised my hopes. “I’m okay,” I said, rubbing my belly, “it’s going to be okay.” My baby kicked, in reply, and I was determined to keep my promise. Hunger came, and I went to the tray. Nibbling on some of the food to keep the worst of the hunger away, I tho
**Olivia POVI felt a thrilling chill run over my body and the baby moved in response, celebrating in my womb. The door was open and we were close to freedom. I rubbed my belly, calming her down. I would need all my focus for the next part. Carl and Bethany could have been back at any time, and I had to be gone before then if there was going to be any chance of getting back to the boys and Ellis tonight. I cracked the door open slowly and I listened to the deafening silence. All was dark but I could just make out the staircase below the door. There was no light from below, so I had to try to get down blind. A little at a time, always sure to hold something, down I climbed. Getting one foot down on the stairs and then the other. Holding the sides of the steps in a death-grip, I finally reached solid ground. The floorboards down below creaking like the ones up above. There was another door at the base of the steps and my heart sank to think that I might have to work to pick another l