~JIMENA~
“I can walk on my own,” I said, pushing the nurse who tried to help me; I just couldn't stand the thought of doing all this for nothing.“I'm sorry, Mrs. Rogers, I'm just doing my job.”“I didn't ask for this.”“I know Mr. Rogers insisted; he wants to make sure you won’t harm yourself or the baby.”“Harm myself? Do I look crazy to you?”“No, Mrs.”“Just… give me a moment alone, please; I want to put my thoughts together,” I said and faked tears, as I knew crying always worked.“Alright, Mrs.,” she said and moved a distance from me. She had brought me outside for fresh air. I couldn't believe William traveled back to LA, leaving me in this condition, not even a text knowing I was carrying his child—it was not the truth, but he didn't know that.I ran my hands into my hair as I tried to think of what to do; the plan I had involved him being here, but now that he disappointed me by not showing up God, I have to think fast before I lose~ANASTASIA~I was in the kitchen making a sandwich as I spoke with Carmen on the phone.She was telling me about her daughter; she was just as beautiful as in the photos. She went to see her but didn't dare to approach her and tell her the truth, but she was positive she told me she was going to see her again today, and this time she was going to tell her the truth.Carmen then, after I asked about the family—especially Dad—asked if I told Hudson about the kiss. I explained to her that William already told him about it, and he started behaving so weird—acting like I cheated on him.Well, I regret telling Carmen that as she gave me a lecture about how I owed Hudson the explanation, how everything I had to do I had to think of how it was going to affect Hudson first; according to her, I'm supposed to consult with him first as he was now my husband.I didn't want to argue, so I just kept agreeing.“And I think you should give that young man a chance; he loves you, he found my daughter be
I wish I could say I didn't want to talk to William, that I had nothing to say to him, but I had a lot; I wanted to set it straight that the kiss was a mistake and call him out for mentioning it to Hudson—making sure he understood that we were never going to get back together and that his little plan failed as Hudson understood it was a mistake.Nodding my head, I turned to Ivy and asked her to get me my phone in the bedroom even though I knew I left the phone in the kitchen—I wanted to buy us some time.Ivy listened as she walked in and headed to my bedroom. I walked in while William followed me behind. I mean, this was like his home too, so I didn't need to invite him in.“Before you start, I want to make it clear to you that the kiss was a mistake. I didn't mean to kiss you back and trust me, your confession meant nothing.” I said, and he nodded his head, “I asked you to keep it between us; why did you mention it to Hudson?”“I told him before you asked me to keep
I was honestly confused; yes, I loved William, but not enough to be with him. Even now that he was confessing to loving me, it didn't change the fact that I wanted nothing to do with him. The fact that he cheated on me multiple times, that he treated me like trash, that he sent me to jail and didn't give a shit about my whereabouts.So clearing my throat, I thanked him for telling me.He mentioned Julliete telling him I also looked drugged. Yes, it was four years ago, but I still remember someone whispering in my ear that the handsome man wanted to speak to me. The man was William, and since I had seen him on Gianna's phone and was the reason I went there, I just saw it as destiny as I walked up to him.It happened so fast that I was walking with him to a hotel room, and the next morning we woke up naked—trending on social media. Well, that's when his grandfather suggested the marriage thing, and since I wanted to piss Dad off, I accepted that even when he later changed
~JIMENA~I was pacing around in the stupid hospital gown; gosh, I was a celebrity. If any of my fans saw me like this, I would kiss bye-bye to my career because not only did the gown make me look crazy, but my tangled hair went extra as I looked like a psychic patient.I still couldn't believe that lady. I mean, what made her think I would work with her to break Hudson and Anastasia up? I'm not stupid; I knew if that happened, then William would go running to her. She told me she planned to kill Anastasia, but I was not a monster; I couldn't kill anyone. Sure, I mentioned doing anything to get Ana out of my way, but murder was not one of them.I asked her to leave, and she left her contact number with me, telling me to call if I changed my mind, and that I would play a big role in the plan.“If only the stupid doctor had diagnosed me with cancer as I asked.” I said out loud before I turned to Mom, who was seated on the chair sucking a lollipop, unbothered, “You won't be sucking that l
Mom had now removed the lollipop from her mouth, smiling as she whispered I was doing the right thing; well, the smile faded when she heard me mention the name.“I'm giving you ten minutes; if you don't get here, I will release the photos,” I said, and without waiting for his response, I ended the call and sent him my address.“What was that?”“What was what?”“Don’t play smart with me; I asked you to call William, not that little doctor.”“I’m not getting a divorce, Mom; I have another plan,” I said as I sat down on the bed after pushing the stretcher from my sight, I asked for a comfortable bed, and they provided it; that’s how much power William held in this State, and I was not willing to let that go.“Harriot will do nothing, or what do you think? We can survive on a thousand every week?”“You should get a job, Mom; stop depending on me for your survival.”“I’m retired; I worked on grooming you to be the best.”“Yeah, sure, at deceiving man.”
~VIVIENNE~Ever since Harriot and I had that argument about him wanting a surrogate, things have been crazy. Yes, I was the problem, but why did he think I would be comfortable with having another woman carry my child—our baby?He made it worse when he told me his parents were asking for grandchildren, in as much as I wanted a child. I knew it wouldn't receive the same love as Hudson’s children because, to Mom, Harriot was a man after her wealth, so for him to say his family wanted an heir and suggested that we find a surrogate hurt me. After all, what if Mom decides to disregard the child—it was already bad that he would be the father but another woman carrying it would be something else.I was so upset with him that I left that night and went to Mom. I knew she was not the best person, and usually, I would go to Hudson, but he was married now, and with what Ana was going through, I knew she needed him more than me. That's why I risked going back to Mom.I wasn
~ANASTASIA~ I was still waiting for William to answer my questions—why he took my daughter to the hospital, why she was injected, and why he didn't tell me. Because clearly if Ivy hadn't mentioned it, he could have kept it from me. He asked me to sit and then told me it was just stress-related, that it wasn't actually a needle, that Ivy was just exaggerating. Well, I knew my daughter well, and if she said a needle, then it was a needle, but I didn't have the time to argue with him since he said he took her just for a regular checkup and that taking her there after five days is just for a checkup. I let it go but made a mental note to go to the hospital and speak to the doctor because something in me told me he was hiding something and I had to find out. Ivy returned just in time, saying she was tired of looking at the wall. I didn't ask her to look at the wall; I just told her to go to the bedroom. I didn't punish h
~HUDSON~I was standing by the window watching as my guards escorted Maddison out. I called her here. I thought we could agree. I even had my lawyer draw up a contract for us where I would be present in the child's life as the father but not her husband, just like Ana suggested, but what did she do? Tear up the contract demanding that I divorce Ana and marry her. She didn't even care that Ana was pregnant too. She said her baby was the first child, and if I couldn't marry both of them, then I should leave Ana.Something was wrong with her, as not only was she breaching the contract but now threatening to go on that show with Mom. Yes, after Ana told me the call was important, I got on the phone, and that's when Juliette told me that my mom had announced she was going live on Sunday and that she had something important to share. I didn't need to guess as I knew she was going to expose me, so the next morning I came here with Ivy as she had to start school—I dropped
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