Okay, having dealt with Jimena for years, I knew better than to repeat the same mistakes, and besides, Hudson never told me she was a girlfriend. Even if she was sleeping with him, as long as he didn't address her as someone special, she had no right.“Are you there?”“What do you want, Maddison? Why are you calling me?” I sounded uninterested.“Hudson doesn't know I took your number; he's asleep, we—”“You didn't call me to tell me you're sleeping with my husband, did you?”“Are you not upset? I mean, don't you see he's playing you?” She sounded shocked.“He's not playing me, Maddison; if anyone is being played, then it's you. I'm his wife; you're just a girlfriend. That's what you even called yourself, so you're just like a mistress, you have no right to be calling me at this time.”“I'm calling because I need to speak to you.”“You've really got no shame, spend any little time you have with my husband instead of wasting it on me, that's what mistresses do. Do you even realize that
There was a baby involved, innocent blood, and I knew how crazy a woman can get when they're in love. I mean, I had my share in that craziness, so I knew, but I also knew no genuine mother would ever threaten to end their child's life; that's just ridiculous, and I was not going to be manipulated again, so clearing my throat, I told her to do whatever she thought was right for her baby.“And as for the suicide, I'm a Lancaster. I have the money, and you and I know that you can do anything with money. I can manipulate the law; politicians even use money to win an election, so a simple crime—you do know that your little story can go in the mud right before it even comes out.”“It’s your name—”“My name won't be there. Good night, Maddison, and don't ever call me.” With that, I ended the call and threw the phone on the bed.I ran my hand through my hair, not sure if what I did was right. What if she really does it? I mean, it's not my name I was worried about, but the baby. What if she e
He had now placed the apple back in the fruit bowl—half eaten, which was already making the kitchen look messy. I was going to argue, but I stopped myself, as that was another issue I had to solve; this one first.“You know if you were Jimena, I would ask how much, but you are Anastasia; money never bought you, so how many nights?” He sounded so disgusting; how could he think I would ever let him touch me again? “I'm all you ever wanted, but you must know I'm married now, so it can—”“You disgust me.”“Mhm, stop acting. It's just the two of us. I—”“Don't you dare come close to me!” I raised my voice, still sounding confident, “Listen to me, William…” I cleared my throat, ignoring his shocked expression. “I might not have gone to college, but I sure know more about the competition than you do.”“Is this a joke?” he laughed, “I'm William, you know—”“I did every work that makes you William.”“What?”“Don't act like you don't know what I'm saying. Mr. Grant only complimented you because
WASHINGTON, SEATTLE 2022~HUDSON~I was humming to the lyrics, drying my hair with the towel as I had just come out of the shower when my eyes landed on the lipstick that was on the dresser. Looking at it reminded me of her; I haven't heard from her in hours, and I don't want to lie. I missed her. I missed her presence. It's crazy because she doesn't feel the same, but I trusted time; just like Vivi always says, love takes time.I couldn't wait any longer, so I walked to the dresser and threw the towel on the bed. I picked up the lipstick before I got my phone; now I had an excuse to call her.I don't know why, for some reason, I was nervous. Sure, I was a man; I could handle rejection, but that constant feeling of being rejected weighed me down, the feeling of forcing someone to love you, even just a little.She asked me not to call her, as she said she was busy. I waited for her to at least text me, at least to tell me she had landed, but she didn't, I respected that she was settlin
Juliette knew about Maddison; she knew, and now is not the right time to tell you how she knew.I watched as Julliette closed the door. “I can ask her to leave; I can get security to throw her out.”“No, that will be… That will be rude; just… send her in.” I said, and she looked at me with a brow up, “I'm sure,” I said, as that's what that brow meant.“Alright, I will have Ms. Maddison join you shortly,” she said, and I nodded before I turned to the window and looked out, my finger trailing on my chin.I didn't get a chance to think of anything as I felt someone wrap their hands around my body, hugging me from behind. I quickly turned, removing them from my body.“Have a seat.”“I missed you.”“You know this is inappropriate, right?”“I apologize for that.”“I only have ten minutes,” I said, looking at my wristwatch.“Really, ten minutes for a woman who's carrying your child?” She questioned in a playful tone, which made me clear my throat.I watched as she took a seat across from me.
CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES 2022 ~ANASTASIA~I didn't realize that the car had parked already. I was so lost in a conversation with Vivi, forgetting that I was in front of a guard as I laughed freely. When my senses returned, I bid Vivi goodbye and promised her I would call Hudson as soon as I got time; she said he was worried.I also needed to speak to him about Maddison; Vivi telling me she was crying to Mrs. Frost touched me. She was a mother and only wanted the best for her child, even though she was not doing it the right way. The child was innocent, and I had to make sure Hudson would be with her, of course not as she wanted him but as the father of that child. At least she was doing the right thing, trying to involve the child's father, unlike me, who was hiding it from the father.After ending the call with Vivi, I fixed my makeup and made sure I was good to go. This was my first impression, and I wanted to look presentable.“Should I give you a call later, or?”“I wait here.”“U
William seemed shocked; it's like he didn't expect me to agree—maybe he wanted me to refuse and look bad in front of Sebastian; I mean, that's what he always did, so it was no surprise. “Come on, Mr. Rogers, I'm sure you can contribute to the conversation,” I said, a smile on my lips, he hesitated, and I can almost guess he almost changed his mind, but knowing him, he cleared his throat and sat.“Of course I can; what are we talking about?” he said in a challenging tone.“Well, this is Sebastian, Mr. Grant’s personal—”“We have met.” Sebastian cut me off, “Mr. Williams, one of the most successful businessmen in Seattle.” Sebastian, adjusting his glasses, said, God, I didn't realize Sebastian admired William. I mean, everyone else did; I just didn't think Sebastian was one of them—William is one of those men everyone admired; men wanted to be him and women wanted to be with him. Well, little did they know that the William they knew was very different from the William I knew.William se
Okay, I didn't understand what Jimena was doing here, and sure, it caught me by surprise, but I knew Jimena well; I couldn't let her intimidate me, so after hanging my coat, I walked to where she was.“What do you think?” She asked, showing me her toenails, which she was painting red, “William is obsessed with red; I thought to spice it up by adding these stones.” She said, sounding like we were friends, I mean, the man she was trying to impress was my ex-husband, the man she stole from me, so what made her think I would be here giving her tips on what would work? “Come on, don't tell me you're still not over him. Like, how does that even make sense? He never loved you.” She made a pitiful face before blowing on her nails, I guess to dry the polish.I didn't have her time anymore, so I told her they looked really beautiful: “Match them with red lingerie; I'm sure William will like that.” I added walking to the kitchen as I got a bottle of water.“Really?” I heard her voi
After my daughter agreed, we got in the car, and we were driven to the hospital by one of my drivers. Ivy looked so calm, and I wanted to keep it that way. I didn't know how, but I knew she had to be calm. It didn't matter if I had to give Nicole money; she couldn't be rude to my daughter.It didn't take long as we were now in the hospital's parking area. I turned to my daughter intending to ask her if she was ready, but the smile on her face told me she was, so without asking, I got out of the car and held out my hand for her.I asked if she could walk, and she said she could, then reminded me how what happened to her hours ago wasn't serious.“Son.” Mom was the first to rush to me; she hugged me, and since I was holding Ivy's hand, I only used one hand to return the hug. “I'm glad you came; I was so worried,” she said, and I nodded as I turned to Nicole, who was forcing Karen to have tea, but she refused.I knew it wouldn't be easy, as Karen already hated me. Last time she warned me
***“I can’t come now; just investigate what happened, get someone on it, and don’t leave her side. If anything happens to her, it’s on you. Get it?”“Yes, sir.”“Good, keep in touch.” With that, I ended the call and turned to Ana, who seemed to be shivering. Hudson was holding her, and I couldn’t help but blame myself for her condition.We have been waiting here for about twenty minutes now, and still no sign of a doctor. I turned to Carmen and Mrs. Grant, who both looked worried—Mrs. Grant was comforting Carmen.Carmen had been blaming me since we got here, saying I was responsible, and I didn't even try to deny it; I was. I'm the reason whatever happened to her happened. Ana hadn't said a word; she seemed too shocked to speak as her whole body was trembling, but I knew if anything happened to Ivy I wouldn't survive it, not only from her but from my guilt.How could I let Ivy walk out when she was clearly upset?I took a deep breath and was going to knock on the door when it suddenl
~WILLIAM~I was pacing around, running my hands into my hair as I thought of all the possible consequences.I didn't know whether I should go out there and confront Hudson or just remain here and be calm like Anastasia asked. I mean, going out there would make her upset because after last night’s kiss—even though she slapped me, it showed me there was hope, so I wanted to be on her good side.I was going to sit on the bed and just give it time when a thought struck my mind. Hudson said he was going to take a shower; what if Anastasia decided to join him? I couldn't allow that, so I made my way to the door, but before I could reach it, my phone started ringing, and since I was expecting a call from James, I reached into my pocket, and surprisingly, it was my sister, Nicole.I didn't understand how she was calling me when I blocked her and was going to press the ignore button when I realized the call was coming from my social media company account; I picked up as I thought it was urgent
Carmen wiped her tears while staring at her daughter's photo. She told me her name was Daniella, or Dani for short.Hudson was explaining the details about her life; “She works at a restaurant, never went to college, has no kids, and has no friends. She rents an apartment in town and doesn’t have a boyfriend.” Everything Hudson said sounded so sad; Daniella's life seemed lonely. No boyfriend or friends? I mean, he didn't need to add that she had no family, as that was obvious.“This is my fault.”“Carmen…”“I abandoned her; it's because of me that she doesn't go to college, that she's this lonely.”“None of it is your fault, Carmen.” I said as I rubbed her back in a comforting way, “You made a mistake; no one is perfect.” I said, and it seemed to make her better as she wiped her tears even though more kept coming—at least she was trying.Hudson was truly helpful as he explained how kind the daughter was; if I hadn't followed the details from the reports, I would think he knew her as a
Carmen and I were now in the living room; Ivy asked for William, and I showed her to William's room, so she went to him. “Should I get you coffee? Tea?”“No, we already had breakfast. We arrived last night; Mrs. Grant gave us a guest room.”“Oh, with Ivy?” I was just curious about how Ivy didn't insist on coming to me.“Yes, she was asleep when we arrived. Now tell me about you. How are you?”“I'm fine; it's not the first time. I'm used to it. Comes with being a heiress, your life is everyone's business.”“I know…” she looked around before she whispered, “Mrs. Frost was at the house; she was very upset.”“She called me.”“I'm so sorry, Ana. I know this is not what you pictured your married life to be.”“It's okay, I'm on it. How's Dad? How's everyone?” I just wanted to focus on spending a day with my daughter and Carmen.“They are all worried about you. Santiago is stressed; you know this is all on him.”“I know, I actually don't know if I sho
~ANASTASIA~I turned as the voices disturbed me; I kept turning and turning, trying to ignore the voices for a moment. I thought it was a dream, but when I heard Hudson’s voice, I quickly sat up—Hudson had never appeared in my dreams before, so it wasn’t a dream.“You’re not coming in. I told you she’s not here.” Okay, that was Williams' voice. I don’t know if Hudson was really here; I mean, he could have called me; he could have texted to ask if it was okay for him to come, so getting out of bed, I walked toward the door, picking the robe that was on the couch; and putting it on, I exited the room.“She’s my wife. I have every right to be here.” I could see William standing at the door, clearly stopping someone from entering, and with Hudson’s voice, there was no doubt it was him.“What’s going on here, Hudson? What are you—what are you doing here?” I asked, shocked, as I fixed the robe.“I came to see you; you’re my wife, remember?” He sounded awkward as he kept looking at William.
But like I mentioned earlier, I was a man who had gone through a lot, so this was not as scary as it sounded, although meeting my real mother was a scenario I never pictured. She never wanted me, but I still wanted to see her. I wanted to ask her why she gave me up, and why she risked my life.Taking a deep breath, I walked in; everyone seemed to have left, and from here, I could see a man, to be precise, a priest, by the end of the room; he was facing the other side, so he didn't see me.Swallowing my saliva, I walked up to the front, and reaching there, I again swallowed my saliva before I called his name.“My son,” he answered without looking at me, he thought I was just some random church member, “we had closed for the day,” he said confirming my thoughts. “Do you need prayers? I…” his jaw dropped as he turned and faced me, he didn't say anything for a moment and I remained silent as well.We stood there without saying anything to each other for a moment before he pointed for me t
~HUDSON~I won't lie. I was impressed; I never thought Maddison was this cunning, but for her to think I would give in because she threatened to take me to jail? I mean, sure, she said she was going to lie that I forced her to sign the contract, and the public would obviously believe her, but I was a man. With what I've gone through, prison didn't scare me, not even a bit.“Leave.” I said, and she looked shocked like she expected me to shiver hearing prison, “Now. Before I change my mind.” I said in a warning tone, and she said I was making a mistake.“You have seventy-two hours to decide; this is only because you're too handsome, and I want you in our child's life. Don't take it for granted.” She said before she turned and left, I waited for her to close the door before I yelled; I didn't want her to think her little threats were getting to me.But shit, Mom and Maddison were now working together. What if they tried to harm Anastasia or Ivy? I knew what my mom was capable of, and for
~ANASTASIA~I still couldn't believe William was here on his knees begging for my forgiveness. I felt disgusted and, at the same time, confused that I almost left when he held me back by my leg, begging that I hear him out.“William?”“Please, Ana, please.”“The baby is not yours,” I said, looking away from him as he was still on his knees, he looked like he meant it, and I didn't want to pity him. “It's Hudsons’.”“W-what?” I slowly looked back at him and saw a smile on his lips; William never smiled, so I was shocked. “There is really a baby,” he sounded unsure, he then raised his hand and almost touched my belly, but I quickly moved away.“I'm saying it's not your baby. Why are you here, William?” I asked, looking to the other side as I calmed myself.“I know it's mine; you can't get pregnant; your marriage is not even a month old, and besides, you can't let any man touch you; you—”“You think I still love you?” I slowly turned and faced him; the smile had now widened. “News flash: