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
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
~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
***“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
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
~ANASTASIA~‘What? You think he's serious? Really, with all those earrings? Come on, Ana, you're better than this.’‘He's not you.’‘Exactly. I'm better; trust me, once he gets what he wants, he will leave you in the dust.’“Ana?!” Hudson's voice shook me out of my thoughts. I don't know why I was replaying my conversation with William in my head. He told me Hudson was not husband material, and that he had earrings. He made it sound like there were a lot. Hudson had one earring on his left ear. I didn't ask why he had it, but it looked good on him, too good that it would make other women want him, and William thinks he won't hesitate to cheat.‘I only cheated with Jimena, which I'm sure you understand, but Hudson, you are going to regret it, Anastasia; you should separate now that it's still early. Save yourself from the embarrassment, at least do it for our daughter!’I walked to the sink and fetched water into a glass.“I know you're worried about Ivy, but she is back home; she will
I swallowed hard, fighting to stay calm. Maybe it was a slip of the tongue because there was no way he was asking me such a question in that tone.“Did you know that Juliette is Mrs Grant's daughter?” I asked, changing the topic.“I asked you a question, Anastasia. Did you or did you not sleep with William?”“Okay, I'm not doing this,” I said, standing up, and he stood up too.“Doing what? It's a simple question with a yes or no answer.”“Which is not important. We have something more important to worry about. Our reputation, remember?”“I do not care about reputation right now. Tell me, did you sleep with William?”“You're being childish, I mean are we even supposed to have this conversation?”“Yes, we are… A man who happens to be my wife’s ex-husband tells me something amazing happened between him and my wife. He also says there's hope and that I should prepare for a divorce. Am I just supposed to ignore that?”“I'm hungry, do you want to do takeout? I heard you love pizza.”“Seriou
~WILLIAM~I was reading through the report as I waited outside the bathroom door for my daughter who was taking hours.Jimena didn't want me to leave her side, she looked so scared. I didn't want to leave her alone, but Ivy didn't like the smell of disinfectant, so I left and promised to return in an hour.I left Jimena? It was shocking, as never have I ever left her side, not especially when she was in a situation like this, but my daughter came first. That's why I didn't think twice about it.I couldn't be far though—Jimena was expecting my child, so I got a room at a nearby hotel. Ivy insisted she wanted to take a shower. She didn't come with clothes, so I asked a friend to take care of that while I waited for her. I wanted to help her, but she insisted she was a big lady and couldn't be bathed.“Is the lady here?” she asked from the bathroom and I told her almost even when I didn't know how far off she was, if it was not that she didn’t work for me, I would have fired her already.
~ANASTASIA~Last time I saw William was two years ago, yes, two years at a family dinner when Trey proposed to Nicole. From there we've only spoken through phone calls.Life has been chill and peaceful for a while now, and there has been no single drama; it almost felt like a dream — like I was dead and had gone to heaven.Okay, who do I start with, Vivi? Yes, Vivi and Harriot worked it out, and as we speak they are in Africa on a tour. Hudson and I were there last year after the tragedy, and let's just say it filled my cup as I managed to forget and found myself again.Carmen was back in Seattle, doing just fine; we speak at least once a day. Santiago, well, I don't know how it happened, but he was now with Julliete, yes, Julliete. I didn't know he had a thing for her, but well, they were together, and I must be honest, she was much better than Gianna.The day I was in the hospital, I told him about Alexander being his father. I mean, Gianna mentioned he chose me over her, so I felt
…It's been a few months since the whole drama; Hudson was the hero; he saved my babies, and I was grateful but not happy if I'm being truthful.Everything fell back into place, well for everyone, as they were all trying to move on; Mom and the priest got together.It turned out he never wanted to be a priest in the first place, that he was forced.Well, Nicole was with Trey, he still hasn't forgiven me. He always said that, and I didn't honestly want his forgiveness; I was just happy he was making my sister happy, even when I failed his sister.Life was – well, I had air in my lungs; that's all I can say now.I focused on my company and my children, of course.I got up very early and got to work. I didn't even have breaks; I always returned home late, sometimes even slept there. I would just take an hour to go and spend time with my children before heading back to either my lonely home or to the company – I've been resting in my penthouse lately.I was driving from Ana's home; it was
The beeping sound of machines forced me out of unconsciousness. Now the pain wasn't much, and I knew I was treated.I didn't really lose consciousness earlier; I was still very much aware of everything. I just didn't have the energy to respond, but after what I've heard, I was in a good mood. Ana was worried for me; she even almost went into the operating room with me. She still cared about me. She still loved me. I knew it!I don't even know why I doubted myself for a second. Man, she loved me; she can't just wake up and unlove me after all the sacrifices. I didn't even want to talk about Jimena at this point; even hearing her name irritated me. She broke my marriage. She broke my family.I felt someone caress my hand, and I knew those soft hands well. It was Ana. I will never forget how soft her hands felt. Yes, years back I pretended like I didn't care, but deep down I loved it.I felt my lips stretch into a smile as I opened my eyes. Of course, I was going to pretend to be in pain
~WILLIAM~Hudson had succeeded in keeping Ana from me, but I didn't give up. While I was searching for our babies, I also took lessons. I had to be better for her.If I wanted her back, then I had to make sure I was worthy of her. The past months have been a regret — I realized my mistakes.She was an amazing woman, the mother of my children; she deserved the world. I was a fool for chasing Jimena while she was giving me her whole. Fuck! The mistakes we make.It pained my heart to see that I was losing her. The way Hudson treated her – god, I was tired, slowly dying inside.Today was the Opulence, and I came here to support her.I was sitting in the crowd, next to celebrities, she tried to make conversation but my mind was on Ana.I was not sure if this was her revenge, but I was done. I couldn't do it anymore. She won; she won. I… fell for her.I told her I would never love her, but I was wrong because right now she was all I could think of, and they say love is like a drug, and I c
“I'm going to end this once and for all; you'll die, we’ll cry about you, and I'll replace you,” she said before forcefully dragging the woman who was earlier lying on the couch, whom I've now learned was Karen.She then forcefully removed the sack from her head and then sat her up. I saw she also had tape on her mouth but was conscious as she was shaking her head, eyes full of tears.Gianna, just like her anger, was aroused by looking at her, started slapping her, so hard, and the ‘twark’ slap sounds echoed in the room. I think she gave her like twenty slaps before she landed about two kicks and then massaged her hand.“You said I would not achieve anything; look at you now, bitch, at my mercy!” She snarled, now making me scared, as the Gia I knew wasn't like this.No wonder Vivi never liked her; it's like she knew she was this evil. Well, Vivi always asked me to stay away from her, but I never listened.“You know I was going to kill the both of you with my bare hands, but time…” She
I silently listened as Gianna narrated everything, from how she killed Susanna to seducing my brother and then drugging me and William. Yep, that was my weakness: hot men. I was young back then; I was an heiress with zero problems, so I thought I could be with only the hottest. Well, she took that as my weakness, and you know the result.“You were my ticket to wealth, and the fact that you are that woman's daughter made me want you to suffer even more. Oh, I almost forgot, Trey.” She outlined her chin and smirked before she told me Trey was like that because of her.“I'm the one who made him addicted to drugs and gambling. I started small, offering him comfort. Of course, I had to use your situation. Each time William made you look like a fool, he would beat himself about it, saying he was failing his mother…” She laughed before she told me how she first gave it to him in his coffee and then later took him to a casino in pretense to relieve stress.Now I don't remember clearly, but th
I've been asking Gianna what her motive was, but she didn't respond; she asked me to shut up, so I did as she threatened to give me more slaps.I silently watched, still not able to feel my heart; I don't know how I was alive at this point.Then after a moment, the man came back with a tray and two glasses, one of juice and another of water.“Give it to her!” Okay, I don't know why she had to scream everything; the Gianna I knew was soft. Was this perhaps her clone?The man forced the glass into my mouth, but I refused to take it. What if it was poisoned?“Take it, Ana, or I'll ask my partner to kill one of your babies; we only need one anyway.” I quickly opened my mouth and took the water. “You should have juice; we are celebrating your funeral. I'll have alcohol, of course.” She walked to the dresser, and I watched as she poured herself a drink.After pouring it into a short glass, she took it and then let out a moan before describing the taste and then saying the brand's name and a
Just like Gianna had ordered, they started kicking me in my stomach so hard that I now fell on the floor with the chair since they used a rope to trap me on it.I couldn't take the pain anymore and I started whimpering.“Good, now give her the scar.” I heard her say, and I don't know what scar she was talking about, but when I felt them push the rope on my stomach, I realized what they were trying to do.“N-no, please, no.” I hated scars!“Yes, yes, please.” Gianna mocked, “You thought you could just leave a scar on me and go free? No, bitch, you messed with the wrong girl.”I felt someone tear the dress using the knife, and I felt the blade on my skin. Okay, the way they hesitated showed me they really didn't want to do it, so I started pleading with them, but they were not listening. The blade went into my flesh with every move sending electricity through my veins, and just as I thought it was going into my stomach, Gianna raised her voice, stopping them.“Sit her up; I think she's
I would lie if I said my heart was beating faster than normal because I wasn't feeling it. It's like it had just stopped. The fact that I was still breathing and standing alive was what made me know it was still there.I could hear Gianna's voice from a distance. I didn't realize my assistant was now holding the phone for me. Of course, she asked others to give us the room.“You have three seconds to respond, or I'm dumping them in the sea. Do you know they are still alive? The doctor even said they are very healthy and that they have strong genes. I guess a Roger does that, right?” She chuckled, sounding so evil that if I didn't know her voice well, I would believe she wasn't Gianna.“Please don't… Don't hurt my babies.”“I won't if you bring yourself here. I know you know how this works. I will send you the address. No police, guards, or those maniac demons fighting for you, deal?”“Yes, yes, deal.” I quickly said, before the call cut; it only took a second for a notification to com