~Avery~ Ella's face turned a light shade of red under my scrutinizing gaze. What do they really think of me? Of course my words about her family was very correct infact. They all had a criminal record well except for her or maybe she hadn't been caught in the act yet.Lucy's gaze was fierce, her eyes almost drilled a hole on my face. I didn't have the time to exchange words with them now. Or more like, I didn't want to exchange words with Lucy. She had been a good mother-in-law when I was still married to Scott. Unfortunately, I had no idea why she had changed so much.“Excuse me?! Do you have any idea of what you just said? You dared to insult my family?” I rolled my eyes at her pointless question. Yes! I insulted her family because she did the same to mine. “Ella.. I've never interfered in your affairs with Scott..but you have a lot of problems with me.. don't you ever get tired? I know I'm awesome and an amazing fellow..but you just have to lessen your excitement whenever you se
~Ella~ The breakfast table was empty when I got down a few minutes ago. This was obviously because Scott was still at the hospital and Ken left for school earlier. I was still on my casual home wear. A pair of ash jogger pants and a black tank top. I had just finished my yoga practice for the day. This morning couldn't be any more blissful than it already was now. I settled on one of the white couch in the broad living room with a coffee mug on my left hand, it's been a while since I had some time alone to myself and I wasn't about to trade it for anything. I mentally noted to visit Scott at the hospital in the next one hour. Raising the mug to my lips, the warm liquid seeped slowly into my mouth. My throat bobbled as I swallowed relishing the after taste with a smack of my lips. “Hmm..perfect” Few minutes into this perfect pin drop silence that enveloped the whole building, I heard the sound of a car pulling in disrupting the peace I was slowly getting used to. My brows fu
~Ella~The vague whispers around me made me open my eyes slowly, adjusting to the light. I felt Something trickling slowly down my face in small balls. I could make out that it was a liquid substance. I saw Scott's face relax a little, and a few of the cops appeared gigantic before me. I immediately noticed that I was partly on the floor. My upper half rested on Scott's opened arms.What happened? I touched my head trying to figure out what had happened to me. Why was I on the floor? And why were there police officers around?“Ella..are you okay? You passed out” My gaze fell on the lady across the room and my eyes rounded in realization. I suddenly recalled the scene that transpired before I lost consciousness. And for once, I wasn't interested in whatever Scott had to say. My eyes carefully roamed the interrogation room until it settled on the lady who exposed me to everyone.Why wasn't Scott scolding me? He should be mad at me and not the other way around. My heart thumped wildly
~Avery~ My eyes dimmed in frustration. What a perfect timing for my sisters to arrive at my house. All they've been doing in the last five minutes was to wriggle their brows and tease me at every chance they could get. How can I possibly explain it to them that I wasn't in my right state of mind then? “There's nothing going on between us..we are just friends” Stella jokingly mimicked my words. I hate to admit it but she sounded so much like me. That was one of her very great talent and Tina, the youngest one joined in Stella's teasing too. “Will you both stop making me uncomfortable? And why are you here in the first place?” My two hands rested on my hips while my brows raised waiting for a reply to the question I threw at them. My cheeks were burning in embarrassment and they making me feel even worse. “What do you mean big sis? We are siblings after all. So what is wrong if we stop by to say hello to you? It wasn't our fault that we caught you- My left palm pressed ag
~Avery~ If anyone had told me earlier today that I'd be meeting with my ex-husband at a restaurant, I'd have tried as much as possible to avoid this from happening. I stared down at his hand holding me back from leaving, he noticed my lingering gaze on his hold and quickly released his grip on me. “What do you really want from me Scott? Don't you have better things to do other than to follow me around like a stray dog?!” My voice was unexpectedly loud and harsh garnering attention from the others in the restaurant. “I swear this was just a coincidence Avery..I just need five minutes of your time and after that, you can decide if you really want me to stop showing up in front of you” Deal! I screamed in my head. This was the perfect chance to get rid of him, I raised my two hands a little nodding my head with a sarcastic on my lips. “Good! Let's get this over with..” Few minutes later… “Ma'am what would you like to have?” I shook my head with a polite smile at the waitress
~Avery~After I got back from the restaurant, I didn't spill anything to Stephen even after he asked me countless times about it over dinner. I couldn't have told him if I really wanted to since Allison was present with us too.My daughter was a smarty pants and she would likely put a thing or two together to figure out what she really wanted to know. I just didn't want Allison to figure out that Stephen wasn't her father. if she finds out, she'd try to do something so drastic just to find out who her real dad was.Stephen has always been a father figure to Allison, sometimes I really envied their bond and also wish that this perfect family we portray could last well enough till Allison is able to understand what was really going on around her. But I doubt that might be the case since Scott is always on my tail trying to brainwash me with some cooked up stories of his. When I noticed that Allison was already fast asleep, I slowly detached from her and drew the pink Barbie duvet ove
~Ella~ Scott came back home late and drunk last night. I called few of his close buddies to inquire what must could have made him so drunk that he could barely walk on his own. It was a lot of hard work trying to get him up the stairs with him constantly staggering back and fro but fortunately, I was so relieved that I could be of assistance. The only thing that could make him so mad was if only he ran into Avery again. Curse that woman! “Mummy, the glass is full!” Ken's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, I stared down at the overflowing glass of water and carefully placed the glass jug down on the dining table. “Oh..” What a mess I have made, I took my napkin off my laps and dabbed it on the brown dining table gently. Footsteps descending down the stairs made me look up towards the stairs. It was Scott and he was all dressed up for work. He looked a lot better than last night except the faint dark circles under his eye bag. “Scott..you're up. I was so worried about you las
Avery~I frowned staring down at my phone's blank screen after the call had been disconnected at the other end. It was from my assistant, she called to inform me that an angry man just popped up at my company demanding to see me.For the sick twist, this angry man happened to be Scott. I inhaled in a deep greedy amount of air down my lungs. It was a good thing I decided to stay at home today. But what could he possibly want? No matter how hard he had tried to talk to me for the past few days, he never showed up at my company or else he knew about my engagement tomorrow.I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize when Allison crawled on her fours next to the large swing chair situated at the balcony and also where I was seated. “Boo!!” My heart almost leaped out of my chest the moment she yelled. I touched my chest trying to control the fast beat my heart was making. I heard her little giggles and let out a deep sigh.“Ally..you almost got me” I placed my phone aside on the
~Avery~There was no reason why I shouldn’t be mad at Scott right now. One way or another all my problems and troubles had everything to do with him. If he had kept that self proclaimed bitch of his in check, I'd have been free from the dangers lurking around.I returned my attention back to Ray who was now gradually closing up the space between us. It felt like I was having a bad dream and I might wake up soon. There was no way I'd have thought that I'll be in the same room with this notorious killer. Wherever Ray was, Ethan was sure to be present there but surprisingly, he was nowhere to be found here. “Look, I don’t care about who or what you are. I just want my daughter. She has nothing to do with Ella and I affair. She’s an innocent and sweet child” Ray looked me in the eye and gave a loud snort. He walked past me slightly brushing his shoulder past me. The small collision was strong enough to make me take a step backwards. My head faced the ground in despair.“Brother did you
~Avery~The drive to the address the unknown man sent to me was a six minutes drive from my office. I peered out of the glass staring at the old and abandoned looking building. I guess this was the place. The grass shrubs looked totally unattended to giving it an eery looking vibe.I desperately wanted to know the bastard who was brave enough to lay a finger on my daughter. The second I get to meet him, I'll grace him with a tight slap. The only enemy I could think of right now was Scott. I hated Scott for what he did or what I thought he did but I knew he couldn’t do such a thing especially when he already found out that Allison was his daughter.Inhaling a deep breath, I unfastened my seatbelt and attempted to push the door open when my phone buzzed loudly. I picked it out of my purse and scrolled through the new text message.‘Leave your phone and purse in the car. You have three minutes to get in’My anger only surged. There was a very high chance that I might not make it out ali
~Stephen~I haven’t put in so much thought when it came to Avery’s foster sister Stella, but now that she was before me I was finally able to see certain similarities that they both shared. Or I was only imagining things right now, Her backview could be mistaken for Avery with the way she was dressed. Now that I recall, I don't remember Avery and Stella having the same things in common.They were two poles apart. Even the same cologne? Maybe I was missing something here. We never go along with each other’s words for reasons best known to us. She made that annoying eye roll at me the moment our eyes met.“I’m so elated to see you too” Her mocking response caused my brows to arch. She looked completely different from her former self. It felt like she was trying to be someone else, Avery perhaps.“Are you suddenly broke that you now have to piffer your sister’s perfume?”I saw her brows furrow before she started making her way to me in large steps. For a second I was left in a trance wa
Scott~ Hating Stephen was one thing but accepting to meet up with him was another thing entirely, we never liked each other and I was very certain that it would remain that way for as long as possible. It was best if we talked things out right now and also set some boundaries.I couldn’t get over the fact that Avery had agreed to marry the joker himself. I looked around the open air cafe in search of him. I saw him sitting a few distance away from the few people around. He was deeply engrossed in his phone or he was just trying to make me feel small by pretending to not see me.Ridiculous!I took my time to walk up to the table he reserved. I suddenly had the urge to walk up to that table and flip it over. No one gets to steal my woman away from me.I pulled out one of the chairs, dragging it on the ground purposely to make my presence known even though he knew that I was around.Unbuttoning my suit, I took a seat and picked up one of the menus lying on the table. I brought it over
~Avery~“Are you sure you want this big sis?” I stopped on my tracks and turned to Tina who has been trying to talk me out of my decision to marry Stephen this weekend.She wasn't the only one who wasn't satisfied by my decision. Stella was also against this marriage and so was a part in my heart.But I can't help it. Scott's persistence was already getting out of hands and this was the only solution I could think of.“What do you mean by that? I'm old enough to make decisions right? Look Tina. You're too young to understand what is really going on. You should be happy for me Sis-“No!” Tina said in a firm tone. Her thin brows furrowed deeply “I'm not going to be present at your wedding. Stephen is a good guy but Scott is great and the best for you. Have you even allowed him explain himself -I raised a finger to stop her from speaking. I could feel my face tighten up as I took a step forward.“Have you been meeting up with Scott behind my back?” “You’re making a mistake Avery!”.T
~Scott~For more than five years I've been known as the infidel husband who couldn't keep his lower part in check. Everyone saw me as the villain most especially Avery who still thought that I really cheated on her with Ella.But the truth was that Ella was my older brother's widow and also my ex-girlfriend. We dated for two years during highschool before she broke up with me. A week after our split up, she hooked up with greg.My brother Gregory was known for his careless lifestyle and unfortunately for him, he was murdered. Perhaps he knew something or saw something that he shouldn't have seen or heard. I've tried my very best to know who the killer was but it led to a dead end. If the killer was still alive, Ella and her baby would never be safe. Whoever killed Gregory was coming for Ella and her unborn baby as per her words and I couldn't sit back and watch my sister-in-law and her baby die just like my brother. And till date, I have never witnessed an attack on either Ella or
~Ella~I couldn't remember how long I've been staring at the clock since Scott suddenly left home this morning. My mind has been racing trying to guess what the matter might be.His phone was out of reach too. I tossed my phone back to the bed in frustration. The least he could have done was to inform me about his whereabouts.“He has been ignoring me ever since that Avery returned back to the country!” Our marriage wasn't an ideal one but the whole world saw it as one. And I'm not going to sit down and watch Avery ruin the relationship that I've been trying to build for the last five years.I was still pondering on my wandering thoughts when the door flew open startling me out of my skin. I turned on my heels in surprise ready to vent on whoever that it was. But I was damn speechless to see Scott standing before the corridor with a dark gaze.“Scott…”It was almost impossible for Scott to show up at my room despite the fact that we've been living together for some years now. That w
~Avery~My head fell on the steering wheel processing everything that happened in that basement minutes ago. Scott knows about Allison and I've got this strange feeling that he'll be more persistent than he was before.So this was the truth Scott had kept away from me all these years. I was finally able to connect the few dots together. I broke down into tears. I allowed the salty water flow down freely. Everything I had always pictured about Scott was wrong. He was still the same person I loved in the past.“You could have said something to me” I choked out amidst tears.I lost count of how long I've been in that position bawling my lungs and eyes out until a knock fell on the windshield. Jerking up, I wiped my tears away with the back of my palm before I raised my head up. The figure was a bit blurry but I was able to make out Stephen's figure.It was already dark outside, Stephen's worried face only made me anxious and uncertain about the future. Wiping every single tear stain so
~Avery~ My brain shut down completely as his lips lingered on mine. He must have noticed my frozen state which made him pull away. I was too shocked to speak or blink. A part of me wanted this to last longer. That selfish part in me craved his touch desperately. “I'm not sorry about that. You've always been mine from the beginning” I sucked in a deep breath. My cheeks burned in embarrassment as his eyes fell back on mine. This was wrong, I couldn't afford to make the same mistake again by trusting Scott. The world already knew me as Stephen's soon to be bride. I couldn't put his reputation on the line like that, Stephen was one of the closest people to me. Without him, I wouldn't have made it this far. “I've already started a life with Stephen and I'll only advice you to focus on your life with Ella and your son because few weeks from now, Stephen and I will be getting married” I saw his expression changed from a pitiful gaze to a very annoyed look. He stood up from the chair