I moved from the bed and tried to act normal, as Hudson seemed to have noticed.“Hi?” He greeted; it sounded more like a question.“Hi,” I answered, not wanting him to notice I was hiding something. Yes, I haven't told him about the box William sent me because I knew he would have asked me to trash it or maybe send it back. I also don't know why I accepted it, but I did, I knew it was not okay to accept stuff from my ex-husband, but again, this was the father of my child—children at that, so even when deep down I knew there was nothing that he could have sent that involved Ivy, still I used that excuse to feel better about accepting it.“Santiago called—”“Oh yes, dinner, it's almost time,” I said, glancing at the clock, Hudson seemed to be coming from the gym, as he was in a vest and shorts; the shoes just confirmed my guess.“We are going, right?”“Yes, but you will have to change first.” I pointed at his shorts; I tried so hard not to look at him inappropr
The drive to the mansion was silent, Matt, his guard drove us; now here is something that has been bothering me: Hudson never liked guards or drivers; he once said that himself, but it was until recently when he said Matt would be driving me to work since I went to work a little late. He always dropped Ivy off even when his company was the one you found first.I couldn't drop her off as I wasn't allowed to drive for now, but as soon as I'm in a state to drive, it will change.And about Matt, it was beginning to seem like he was more than my driver; for starters, he looked so dangerous, like if you were to meet him at a corner, you would literally run because not only did he have a bad odor, but his eyes were red—always red—which was a weird color for me.We have finally arrived. I haven't come here since I returned. Dad and Carmen visited me, but I never returned the favor. I've missed two Sunday lunches already.Matt opened the door for me, and I thanked him before
I had to confront him; I had to hear why he would encourage Trey to cheat or have a mistress. Did it mean he was cheating on Gianna too? That he had a mistress? Is that why he had been so busy?I wasn’t checking where I was going as I was lost in thoughts until I bumped into someone who quickly apologized.“It’s okay; it was… it was my fault,” I said, looking at my back, as I didn’t want Trey or Santiago to notice I was listening to their conversation.“I’m Daniella.” The girl introduced herself; well, I already knew who she was, so I nodded, and rubbed my bump—I had to calm down, “You’re Ana, right?” She asked, and I nodded my head again, “I saw your pictures; you’re so beautiful.”“T-thank you, you too.”“Well, let me go down and greet my guests. They are hosting this dinner for me, right?” She smiled; she spoke just like Carmen and was as kind.“Yes, of course.”“I know, and I'm so nervous. I’ve always been alone; I never knew I had such a big family,
I wasn’t happy with Carmen at all; this was not right, but I understood her, even though I had a bad feeling about her daughter. I still ignored it, as I thought that was what I first thought about Carmen, but she turned out to be a sweet soul, so nodding my head, I told her Daniella was a lovely person.‘When we have a moment, I will confront her and ask her to tell Daniella the truth.’ I made a mental note.Shortly after, we joined everyone in the dining room. I truly just wanted to get over the dinner.“I will sit next to Hudson, Ana honey, sit right here,” Carmen said, and I sat next to Dad. Santiago was in the head seat while Gianna was on his right, Trey was in between Daniella and Juliette, and Hudson was on the other side, where Carmen joined him.Dad then said some words about how he was happy to see everyone, especially us his children: “I live under the same roof as Trey, but I rarely see him.” He added, making everyone nod, “And then our beautiful daughte
I stood up and followed Hudson, asking him to stop, but I was late, as when I reached the children’s dining room, he was wiping Ivy's mouth with the napkin, getting her ready.I couldn't argue as Charlie and two of the servants were here helping them eat, so instead I swallowed my saliva and greeted Charlie, who was still eating.“We are going home,” Hudson said, and I just nodded.When he was done wiping Ivy’s hands, she said her goodbye before they came toward me. They left before me as I was still a bit confused about what was going on in his head. When I finally snapped out of it, Carmen appeared.“I'm so sorry, Ana, it’s my fault.” She apologized, but I just nodded and then followed Hudson. When I reached out, I found Hudson waiting outside the car; he was holding the door for me. I really couldn't read what was going on as his facial expression was just plain. I got in and sat next to Ivy; Hudson joined, and the car started.The ride back to the apartment w
Carmen begged that she hadn't told Daniella about her real father and that she had her reasons.“I didn't just wake up and choose to throw my daughter into that orphanage; I had my reasons.” She said, reminding me of Hudson's case, I'm not sure if he had found his real mother because whenever I asked him, he just dismissed it, saying it wasn't important. But one thing his father told me was that the woman had her reasons; he asked me to ask Hudson not to judge her.Taking a deep breath, I told Carmen I would see what I could do and then ended the call.Outside, Matt was already waiting for me; after greeting him, I entered the car, and he drove me to work.“Are they necessary?” I asked Matt, pointing at the guards who were patrolling outside my company; they wore casual clothes to not raise suspicions, according to Hudson. I honestly didn't see the need for security. I mean, nothing had happened since I got back, and I didn't see their need here. Like, protect me fro
“I heard about Daniella, your stepsister,” she said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “I don't trust her. I'm here to make sure she's good to work with before I quit,” she said, and that's when I saw the Vivi I knew, always so protective, but no, she's the one who needed me the most, so I shook my head. “You can't quit; you're my partner.” “I'm just your employee, Ana; I'm not trying to take advantage of our friendship.” “You took care of this company while I was gone.” “Because it's my job.” “You didn't have to, but you did.” “Like I said, you were paying me for my services.” “It doesn't matter. I don't know what I did or where I went wrong, but I promise you, I will talk to Hudson, and your husband's name will be cleared.” “You still believe he's innocent?” She asked a weird question, as this was the man she loved, the man she married; the man she left everything for, how could she not believe him? “Yes… yes, I do, and you should too; Harriot is not like that.” “H
WASHINGTON, SEATTLE 2012H U D S O NTurning my apartment doorknob, I walked in and found Rowan, Matt, and Gabriella seated, waiting for me. Well, at least everyone was seated as Matt was by the window.“You have to help him.” Rowan said as soon as he saw me, “He’s losing it.”“You know we don’t do this, right?”“I love her, and she knows what I do; if we don’t help her, the FBI will take her; she’s all I have.”“She's a spy?… Fine, what's her name?” I asked as I placed the file on the table.“Dahlia, I promise she’s good at hacking, can kill in a hundred styles, and—”“Bring her in tomorrow; now we have a new target,” I said, and Rowan quickly reached for the envelope I had placed on the table. “The Vice President wants that woman dead.”“Excellent, I’ll take her.” Gabby grabbed the envelope from Rowan, but Matt grabbed it from her.“I haven’t seen blood in a while; I will take this one.” He said, licking his lips, of course, Gabby tried to grab the envelope from him, saying she took
~ANASTASIA~It's been days; I don't know if it's been a week, weeks, or a month; it wasn't honestly important.“Oh yes, finally this girl has been fooling them for a long time now,” I excitedly said and stuffed more popcorn into my mouth. “Let's see how she will get out of this one,” I said, and yes, I was talking to myself.I continued watching for a few more minutes before I heard Hudson's voice.“Are you sure you don't want bacon?” He asked for the hundredth time now.“I'm good, but if you will be so kind, I would like five more cupcakes.”“One.”“Thank you, alright, you two have a good day,” I said as Ivy kissed both my cheeks before taking her backpack. Hudson also bid me goodbye by kissing my forehead, then he asked if I needed help washing my hair.“I can do it if you don't want a hairstylist to do it.”“I'm good, but if you're worried about me, get me more snacks on your way back, okay?”“Okay, Dahlia is here, you're safe, and you can
Those imaginations worked as I went forty minutes without cursing or causing an accident.When I reached the city, I drove straight to the ranch, as he owned a ranch here and liked staying there at times when he was grieving or maybe getting away from the First Lady.Of course, security was tight; most of them knew me, but they still had to confirm my presence and search me. After that was cleared, I was led in, and of course, I found him in the stables, feeding horses.“My dear old friend,” he said, then took me in his arms, clapping my back.Now even with this happening, this man was like a father to me, considering I was seventeen when I met him. He is the reason I and my family were still alive and living well; otherwise, we would be in the streets or worse, dead.“Mr. President.”“I was just telling Daisy you were coming to see us, isn't that right, Ana?” He turned to the white horse, and yes, you heard it right. The white horse's name was Ana; he named
I was trying to make sense of everything when Gabriella asked a stupid question. I mean, she knew I knew the president was in Fall City; why the hell did she ask me that stupid question?“Get to the point, Gabriella,” Rowan said knowing I didn't have the patience.“I think what Gabriella is trying to say is that the president is in Fall City, you found Maddison in Fall City, with the footage and the call history, it’s obvious the president is in it,” Matt explained, and again I already figured that out, although his explanation made it make sense.“So the president didn't, or let's say doesn't, want you and Mrs. Frost to be together,” Dahlia added.“Correct, but for him to go to these lengths, creating a whole new identity must be deeper than just wanting you back as his fixer,” Rowan said, making me nod and say that I wanted the reason.“None of us for sure know the reason, only him.” Gabriella answered, and I turned to her and then patted her back, saying she w
“Why are you calling me?” I asked as soon as I picked, as this was the third time—I missed the other two.“He told me you knew.”“Knew what?”“The secret—why… why the hell didn't you tell me, I wanted to marry her?” He sounded drunk, like why would he be drinking this time when he was supposed to be mourning? Yes, I could judge, as when my dad passed, I never sat and cried or maybe went and drank my life out. I immediately matured as I started searching for ways to provide for my family, so instead of drinking, he could be there helping Santiago arrange everything—it was his damn father for God’s sake.“I don't know what you're talking about.”“Of course you do, and I—” I ended the call before walking into my apartment; I didn't have time to deal with drunkards.“Found anything?” I asked as I removed my coat.“Wait till you hear what Rowan found,” Gabriella said as she came toward me and handed me a packet of warm chips and a drink, I took it but placed it on the table as this wasn't
~HUDSON~After Maddison narrated everything to us, how the attorney who represented her offered her a fresh start, she didn't accept it at first, but when he told her that he who was supposed to help her would work against her, that he would make sure she spent the rest of her life locked up even when he knew she was innocent, well, she was left with no choice but to accept the deal.Everything else happened in the blink of an eye after she signed the agreement. Next, she woke up in a hotel room with a new identity—her look was completely changed, including her fingerprints.She told us how she had two phones, one to connect with them and another for her fake normal life.Unfortunately, she didn't know who they were, as she only received instructions through the phone from meeting one of them, who was covered. Then, going forward, her first task was to seduce me. Now, that was the first night I bumped into her in that club, so initially, we were supposed to have a one-night stand if h
Vivi told me how Hudson saved them as their home and properties were almost taken, how Hudson started providing for them, and they were confused at first as he was just seventeen, but they needed the money, so no one questioned him. He saved them, well, until a few years ago when Mom died; she found Hudson in the hospital.He first acted like it was just a coincidence until she showed up unannounced at his apartment, and there she witnessed Hudson watching someone get killed and doing nothing, instead, he was the one giving the order. She confronted him, and that's when he told her it was what he did.Vivi explained how Hudson didn't tell her everything, as she figured it all out by herself by putting one and one together. She spent a week just investigating him until she arrived at a point where Hudson and the man who was a vice president at that time worked together.She found out how he took care of people who didn't want to vote for him, how Hudson even ordered the d
~ANASTASIA~Opening my eyes and realizing it was early morning, I got up and walked straight to the bathroom. I don't know how I got on the bed or if I imagined William was here; it was honestly not important.After the shower, I walked into the closet where I threw on the first pajamas my eyes landed on, ready, and tying my hair into a messy ponytail, I walked out and headed straight for my computer. I searched through the CDs, and when I found Dad's favorite, I inserted it before moving to the music.I kept dancing, repeating the song, until someone opened the door without knocking.“Want to join me?” It was Vivi; she didn't respond. She shook her head and asked if I was okay, which was honestly a weird question. I mean, did I look sick to her? I was here moving my body.“I need to talk to you about your mom.” She said, and I didn't want to listen at first, but she insisted, saying it was important. Wanting to get over it, I sat on the floor after pausing the m
I let the shoes fall to the floor as I tried to defend myself by trying to remove Hudson's hand from my neck, but his grip was tighter, and all my efforts were in vain. I didn't understand why he was still holding onto me when he could just easily move me from his way.Okay, I'm not weak, especially not after how I've spent the last month in a gym, but Hudson, it's like he was trained to do this.I didn't want to beg him to free me as that would be so low of me, so I tried all means, but nothing moved him. It's like he wasn't there anymore, and I swear if it weren't for those breath-hold training sessions, I would be cold by now.Well, I was now losing it, and just as I thought I was going to fall, a voice sounded, which made him free me.It was Vivi.I struggled and coughed, trying to catch my breath, while Vivi came to me and tried to help.“I hate him, but doing this won't solve it. I called him here.”“You also asked him to insult me?”“Of course
She asked me to sit with her so she could show me a video of her graduating from high school. I understood what was happening to her, so without giving her trouble, I agreed as I removed my shoes and sat next to her on the floor.“I have Cheetos; do you want?” she asked as she pulled out a basket full of snacks, “I also have popcorn and Snickers; it's a long movie; better not watch on an empty stomach.” She said, raising an eyebrow. She was looking at me while I didn't exactly look into her eyes. I still tried to read her face, and trust me, she looked normal, which was weird.I hesitated, and then when I saw she was getting tired of waiting for my reply, I nodded, agreeing, saying I wanted Cheetos.“I love chips,” I said, taking it from the basket.“I know you do; Ivy loves it too. That's one thing you two have in common: both have the same taste for food.” Her voice now scared me because there was no crack, and she was aware that Ivy was our daughter.“I'm sorry for your loss, Ana.