~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.
I thought I was making up the conversation, so I pulled the phone from my ear and looked at the screen just to confirm. This man mentioned my name, so it must be true. It was clear I wasn’t imagining the conversation, but bacteria? Who would do that?“Doctor, I'm not following… this bacteria—how did you treat it, and why didn't you tell me?”“Like I said, I feared the woman might pass out; she's already pregnant and suffering from stress.”“Anastasia?”“Yes, she came for a checkup a few days ago. I knew how risky such news was, and as for bacteria, it's only found in Russia, so for it to be found in the little girl—”“Must mean someone injected it into her.” I cut him off, finishing his sentence, “I mean, did you find anything, a needle mark maybe, or—”“We did, but the needle used was very thin; it barely left a mark, but if you look at her neck, you'll see the dark spot where the needle was inserted.” He said, making me nod my head in understanding, “According to the results, it mus
I couldn't believe what James had just told me, “Alright, try to see if you can get the audio of the footage; I want to hear what was spoken.” I instructed, and he agreed; ending the call, I turned to my daughter, who was having a conversation with Juliette.“So?” Juliette asked, and I cleared my throat before I thanked her and told her she could just go, as I will be with Ivy. “That's okay, take care, okay?”“Thank you, Juliette.” I thanked her again as she bid Ivy goodbye, and after she left, Ivy asked for ice cream, but it was late, so I told her she could have that tomorrow.“Alright, Daddy, can we call Mommy now?”“Yes, of course, but we should get to our room first,” I said, and she agreed; as she stood up, I also stood, and holding her hand, we walked back to the room.Inside, I got my phone and called Anastasia; it was shocking that she hadn't tried to call to ask if we had landed or if Ivy was okay. I mean, the Ana I knew would have taken advantage of th
Vivi abruptly ended the call, and knowing Vivi well, I knew there was going to be trouble. She was someone who never took betrayal, so turning to Trey, I spoke:“You did not kill Dad; it was his time to go, and it just so happened you were the one with him, but he is gone now. Drinking, gambling, or even getting into fights won’t bring him back; it will just bring more problems. Santiago is not well; you know how death reminds him of Susanna. Everything is on Gianna now, which is not fair. Get treated and get back on your feet; help Santiago like he had helped us.” I said it in one breath, and I don’t know if he was listening, but he was quiet.“I’m leaving now; the doctor will come and treat you. Once you’re good, I want you to go back to the mansion and take it from there. I can’t do it; I’ll be going into labor soon.” Standing up, I walked toward the door and was met with Nicole, Hudson, and a man, who by his dressing code I recognized was a doctor. “He’s ready for you. Hudson; we
I didn't know where to even start, but as Nicole said, if I didn't show up, Trey might die, and I knew how stubborn Trey was, so telling Hudson who was waiting for me to explain, I turned to leave, but he, of course, stood in my way.“You've just regained your consciousness, you need rest.”“That same consciousness won't let me rest, knowing my brother is about to die.”“I'll take care of it, take a bath, have dinner, and relax, Trey will be fine, I'll—”“I'd rather go there. I hadn't seen him in a while. I need to speak to him,” I insisted, and Hudson, seeing I wasn't giving in, had no choice but to allow me to go with him.Everything moved so fast that, before I knew it, we were in the car. Matt drove us to Williams' home.“Vivi, can I call you back?” I said as I picked up my ringing phone.“I can't wait, Ana, I need you.”“Alright, what happened?” I said, rubbing my forehead.“It's Harriot. He doesn't want to leave prison, he thinks he deserves it. He said he would be pleading guil
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