~ANASTASIA~I was very shocked hearing Mrs. Grant say that. I then agreed to go to a cooking lesson with her as I wanted to hear what she knew and why she did what she did—putting me in the same room with William.I couldn't even concentrate. I really wanted to hear Mrs. Grant out, so as soon as it was lunch, I informed Sebastian I had something important to attend to. Of course, he tried to stop me, but I used William. I told him how I didn't have a partner, and he fell for it as he let me go.Outside, I didn't even need to tell my driver where I was going, as he told me Mrs. Grant had informed him already.In the car I kept my mind busy by thinking of Hudson's situation; I didn't understand why he didn't want his child when even the devil rushed and took me to the hospital to get me tested when he heard I was pregnant. I could read William, so when the doctor told him I was not pregnant, I could tell what he was feeling. I wasn't sure at that time, but now thinking of it, William lo
I was so upset. I remember Hudson speaking to me about announcing the pregnancy as his. I asked him to wait; I was still thinking about it. I know Vivi told me it was a great idea; that that way I could get rid of William, but there was no getting rid of William. We had Ivy, and no matter what, we would still be connected.I calmed myself, as I didn't want to cause a scene, but I knew if I stood there any longer and pretended everything was okay, I would be lying to myself, and all I wanted was to confront Hudson about it, so I gave Mrs. Grant her phone back and told her I had to go. She tried to stop me, but I didn't listen, and not wanting to cause a scene, she let me go.I was already outside about to enter the car when my phone started ringing; I quickly reached for my handbag and picked it up.“Santiago?”“I saw the news; I'm so proud of you.”“What news?” I asked, entering the car.“The pregnancy, you don't know how much you saved our family’s name. Finally, you are doing someth
Years back I would immediately cry; whenever Carol said something bad to me, I would cry—cry to William, who never did a thing about it. Well, I thank God for my experience because now I know how to defend myself; calming myself, I cleared my throat and asked her what she was talking about.“It is not a joke.”“I know it's not; that's why I'm confused. What do you mean by my baby is my ex-husbands’? Did Hudson say that?”“Hudson is a fool, but I'm not. There's no way you got pregnant when you rarely spend time—”“When I was in Sedona, I met Hudson.”“W-what?”“How sure are you that we were not having an affair? How sure are you that we didn't sleep together, Mrs. Frost, or do you have cameras installed in his apartments?”“No, it's impossible.”“Hudson and I are expecting our first child. Yes, Maddison is pregnant too, but I'm his legal wife, and the public will support me.” I really didn't want to do this with her, but if I had to defend myself, this was the only way.“No, that baby
~ANONYMOUS~I took off my coat and gave it to the guard waiting by the door before I stepped in. I went straight to where everyone was, and reaching there, I found that they were seated, already discussing ideas, so I walked to the head seat and joined them.I remained silent as I listened to their ideas, but none were impressive, so I asked them to keep quiet.“How far are we with the girl?”“She's ready to step into the world,” one of them answered.“And she knows what we want?”“She wants the same.”“But you know only one can get it right?”“Yes, we use her; after she gets what we want, we take it from her.”“By holding something against her while she's still on our side.”“And do you have anything?”“Not yet, but we will soon. If we don't find any, we will create our own.”“Good, an update on Ms. Lancaster?”“Still in Los Angeles, she hasn't fallen for Mr. Frost, but her love for Mr. Rogers is dying.”“Why do you say so?”“She doesn't look at him the same way, and with the way she
~HUDSON~After hearing Williams' voice, Anastasia ended the call which left me feeling uncertain as I ran a hand through my hair.I didn't want to overthink it, Anastasia admitted to not wanting William to know of the baby so it was alright, if William was there she was going to tell him the baby was mine and she would do anything to get away from him, she was Anastasia, she wouldn't cheat on me even if the man was who she loved.“Shit.” I cursed under my breath and then dialed a contact.“Mr. Frost?”“I asked the reporter not to publish anything without my permission; I was going to ask Anastasia for permission first.”“I understand, but you know how untrusted reporters are; a little gossip like that looks like clicks and paid pages; they can't just take your word for it,” Juliette said, and she was right; I shouldn't have mentioned that in my interview, but the interview was a few weeks ago. Why did they wait until now?“It doesn't matter; I know that the reporter wouldn't mention a
~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:
~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
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
I wish I could say Carmen had an explanation for this, but she didn't. Instead, she looked down, avoiding me, and that was enough to give me an answer… I really couldn't deal with this right now, and just as I was about to say my goodbye because with how this turned out, she didn't deserve to be here, she had to leave even if I had to kick her out myself, well, that's when someone knocked, and I asked them to come in.“It’s your phone, Mrs. Frost.” It was the servant who took my handbag earlier; I had forgotten that my phone was in the bag, so looking at Carmen one last time, I walked out, taking my phone from the servant.“Santiago?”“Hi, Ana. Are you with Hudson? Is… it true?”“W-what's true? Can you calm down?”“He… Susanna…”“Yes, what about her?”“Her death… it wasn't natural; someone caused it.”“What?!” Okay, what was this?“Hudson just called.”“Hudson? But how…?” I stopped myself as I thought for a second, how did Hudson know about Susanna? “How does Hudson know about Susanna
I couldn't even imagine what she was feeling; it was painful, and the thought made me wish I could erase her memory so she could start afresh like she said because I will not be able to count the times I wanted to start over.When Mom passed…I even traveled, but of course, I never succeeded, and don't get me started on when I was married to William; if it weren't that I loved him, I could have started over long back.I wouldn't be here now.I would be in Africa; it's the most affordable and quiet continent, or… England, for a good education for my daughter.Yes, I booked tickets for both continents. I even spoke to apartment owners. Well, like I said, if I didn't blindly love William because I would make up my mind, Vivi would be there waiting, but as soon as William walks in and I see his thin lips and muscles, everything would go hazy, and I would forget to go to the airport.Well, I was stupidly in love back then, and no, I wasn't blaming myself or William; everything happens for
The maid looked confused like I had just said something that was not making sense.“She’s only been gone for a few hours; the police would advise us to wait.”“It doesn’t matter; this family has been in danger lately; we can’t risk another life now; call 911.”“Alright, Mrs.” She finally walked to the telephone while I stood still for a second as I wondered why she didn’t look worried. I mean, didn’t Gianna know, Carmen? Because Margot was the head, she was like family, and despite the betrayal, she still did a lot for this family. Sure, she was paid to do it, but nobody paid her to love us like her children, so she was still very important to the family.After calming down, I finally looked up. Well, my hate for stairs came with the pregnancy. I sighed and was going to give it a try when one of the servants came from the stairs, struggling with a big suitcase.“Wait, whose bag is that?” I asked as looking at it, I could tell someone packed to leave, not for vacation.“Mrs. Lancaster.
Wow, this was something I never expected. I mean, it was Jimena; she always wanted William, so of course she would do anything to be with him, including faking a pregnancy, which is truly hard to believe. As I was a mother, I would never fake a pregnancy.After calming myself down, I asked my assistant to get the job done, getting the cleaner to clean the place. I asked her to supervise as I needed the desk scrubbed or, if possible, changed.“Send me the documents to my email; I will have a look at home,” I said before finally leaving.I could tell the employees were giving me eyes; I knew they knew, but I didn't have the time; I needed to get to the house so I could speak to Carmen about her daughter; something really needed to be done.“Hudson can take down any news reports, right?” I asked Matt as I got in, and he nodded his head, “If I ask him, he might not believe me, or better yet, he will just think I'm hallucinating.”“I can do it, Mrs. Frost; you don't have to ask him.”“News
She sounded confident, making me gasp in shock; her confidence shocked me. I mean, this was absurd; this company was mine. It didn't matter if she managed it for a month or so; I was the rightful owner, and no board member would choose who to manage as this was Adira, very different from all other companies.Hearing the knock on the door, I walked and got it.“Mrs. Frost.” It was the Director, also a board member. “I was in—”“Get security; we have a trespasser.”“I—”“Now and let others know that they won't be voting; I am back.”“Yes, Mrs. Frost, guard!” He called for a guard who I assume was patrolling.“Wait, you're not serious, are you?”“If I were you, I would use the few minutes I have to button up my shirt and leave as soon as possible because I am very sure reporters are on their way. See, we have spies here, and they probably heard of this.”“Oh, I don't care. Like you said, I'm not a Lancaster; I have no reputation to uphold.”“Even better, the media will destroy you as an
I mean, she is a cheater since she slept with Harriot too, but Daniella was new and a woman, so how did they already hit it off?I silently watched as she asked Jimena to excuse us—she even called her babe?…Well, Jimena, who looked ashamed as she couldn't even meet my eyes, rushed out, leaving Daniella and me alone.“Why are you here?” was the question she thought was important, “an hour ago you were enjoying your series looking all miserable, and now you're here all… dressed? What's this? A comedy? Are there hidden cameras I don't know about?” She started looking around, making me shake my head. “Ana, you—”“Do you know she's married?” I cut her off with a question, sure, after what William made me go through, Jimena cheating on him shouldn't be my concern; in fact, it should make me happy, but I wasn't a fan of cheaters, so this disturbed me.“Excuse me?”“Jimena and I didn't know you liked women, but to do it in my office? Now that's unacceptable.”“Wait, wait, wait, did…” She lau
I was waiting for Hudson to explain why I couldn't go, but he just swallowed his saliva, insisting that I couldn't just go. Well, I really wanted to see my company, so not listening, I told him I would be back before dinner.“Actually… I'm thinking the restaurant. Feels like I've been locked up here for years.” I added it before finally leaving.Outside I was glad to find Matt already waiting by the car.“Mrs. Frost.” He said as he held the door open for me, at least he was the only one who wasn't looking at me like I was a ghost or something.“Thank you, Matt,” I said as I got in, and after closing the door, he got in the driver's seat, and without saying a word, started the car.The ride to the company was quiet.I was wondering what was happening with Hudson, why he didn't want me to come to my company. Well, I was suspecting the part about Dad because he also asked that I not see him, but I didn't want to overthink it; it would just give me unnecessary stress.I was lost in my tho
~ANASTASIA~After the shower, I asked Juliette to leave as she was making me uncomfortable. I then realized the house decor, tulips on the coffee desk instead of the window stand, and coffee mugs on the coffee table, which made it look untidy. I quickly pulled my hair into a ponytail and started cleaning and organizing the place.It took me thirty minutes, and once that was done, I went to wash my face again and apply makeup because, with the way my face was feeling, it was like I hadn't worn makeup in weeks.After that I got in the kitchen and started preparing lunch; it was really confusing as I didn't remember when I got here or when Ivy and Hudson left for work, although Juliette insisted they left in the morning. All I remember was Dad losing consciousness and Trey asking me to get help. Speaking of Dad, I made a mental note to visit him after lunch; I was not sure if he was taken to the hospital or back home.I baked potatoes for Hudson and Ivy while I made salad; there was no s
She was my mother, the woman who gave me life. Megan asked that I hear her out, so maybe… Nah, she didn’t deserve a chance. Ending the call, I got in the car and drove back to the abandoned apartment.I found that William and Dahlia were both treated. William wanted to leave; now I didn't need him. If anything, I wanted him to be with Ivy, so I let him go while I set up my computer and tried to figure out Margot, why she would be interested in the Lancsters' downfall. Was she perhaps in love with Martinez? I mean, this can be the only explanation for this.“Put a tracker in the socket; she can't be fully trusted,” I told Dr. Luke, who nodded before doing as I asked.It was already the early hours of the next day, so I knew Daniella and Rowan were driving to D.C, and with the secret code, the president would surely let them in. Matt was still waiting for a perfect chance to get into Lancaster's mansion so he could get Margot.Well, Dr. Luke had left; it was just me and Dahlia. I could