"What do you mean empty?" She tilted her head at him. "It's empty, as there's nothing in there– nada. There's not even carpet in the room anymore," he said slowly with his eyes staying on hers. "No," she said, shaking her head. "Benjamin slept there last night," she carried on but Ron just gave her a sympathetic look. She jumped up, but fall back down as a pain shot through her ankle. "Hey, sit back down," Ron pleaded as he rubbed her back. "I want to look; it has to be there!" "It's not," Ron replied, clasping her hand. "I may be a twat at times, but there's no way I would miss a whole bedroom set." She turned and looked at him. "Where the hell is it and who put this up?" she asked, pointing at the computer. "There's more," Ron whispered. "What?" she asked and he sighed. "This was a bad idea," he said under his breath, pulling at his hair. "I was on a dating site the other night putting up a fake profile for Keira." Pandora gave him a displeased look, but he chuckled lightl
She shook her head. "As long as you know there will be no pillow fights in our underwear, we're all good." "Can't we just pretend there will be?" Pandora chuckled and rolled her eyes as he picked her up. "Now show me the room." "You sure you want to see it?" he asked her, stopping outside the spare room. "Yeah." Ron kept a hold of her as he opened the door. Just as he said, the room was empty; not only was there no carpet but the wall hangings were also gone. "We should call that police guy you know," Ron commented as she nodded in agreement. Ron helped her back downstairs and she send Milton a text asking him to drop by. Not even an hour later, Milton was walking through her door. "Hello," he greeted as he eyed up Ron. "Milton, this is a friend of mine, Ron. Ron, this is Milton, he's the detective I told you about." "How are you?" Ron asked confidently. "I'll show you the room." Pandora pulled her eyebrows down in disbelief as Ron swaggered out of her living room. "He's not
"But just... he was slowly destroying it. He has taken years from me. I can't look back on good memories anymore because I see now what I failed to see then. I can't even make new ones." She rubbed her tummy as Jack and Micheal started to move around. "This is meant to be a happy time for me. A good time, but I have spent so much time feeling tired, sad, and so goddamn alone. I'm scared shitless of how I am going to cope on my own with two babies. On top of all that, what he's doing to me is cruel beyond words.""It is, but mark my words, he will slip up, and I will arrest him. It may take time, but you have my word. As for this house, I know that you worked hard on it, and spent a lot of time building this up, but it's just a house. You can make a new home anywhere you decide to live. Maybe you should consider selling it." Milton leaned over and hugged her. "As soon as I've got this prick dealt with, you'll need another cop to deal with, because my ass is already in over the line w
Benjamin pushed her hair out of her face as he whispered for her to calm down. "I think I should have something that will remove the dye, paint, or whatever it is. There is a shower here," he told her as he wiped her tears. "Maybe someone was playing a joke, and you got the wrong bottle?" he suggested like he was trying to figure out how it had happened. "Who would play a joke where someone turns blue?" she asked silently and her mind came up with one answer. "Fucking Derrik!" she hissed. ‘How the hell did he do it?’ The only thing she used that morning was body wash and moisturizer. As she didn't turn blue on Saturday, that only left Sunday that Derrik somehow had gotten into her house. The only people that were noted to have been going into her home were security and they were checked out by the police! "Come on, we should get this washed off," Benjamin whispered, but he sounded as if he was holding back his anger. "I need to call in to work," she sobbed as he helped her to sta
DERRIK POV:[WARNING: CRUDE CONTENT UP AHEAD. PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.]Just as I post Pandora’s household items on Craiglist, my cell started to ring. I looked at it and saw Mason’s name. The man was always breathing down my throat about something or the other. "Yo," I said upon answering. "Derrik, you've been gone for three hours!" he yelled at me. "I had some trouble with the truck. I'm on my way back now," I told him smoothly. "Just get back here," he huffed. He knew I was bullshitting him, but he wouldn't lay me off. Macky had him wrapped around her little finger, and as long as she thought I was working hard, I was fine. I quickly logged on to a few porn sites before I cleaned my dish. I knew I wouldn't get away with leaving a dirty dish in the sink. She was too much of a neat freak not to wash up after using something. I needed to take everything I could from her before she figured out that I was doing all of this. I walked out of the house still hungry, so I headed
DERRIK POV:[WARNING: CRUDE CONTENT UP AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.]It was early when I arrived back at Pandora's and I frowned seeing the car was still there. "Maybe falling down the stairs hurt her badly and she's just lying there," my mind said, giving me hope. Quietly, I walked into the house and I jumped seeing a guy in his boxers and t-shirt looking at me. "Hey there, Pandora is still sleeping. She had a bad night," he said. My eyes seemed to move from his face to his arms as I took in the tattoos. I knew this was the guy I spoke to with the kickass motorcycle. I knew she was a whore, but this guy was a lowlife. Maybe I should inform the children's service social workers of the kind of people she was hanging out with. Once they saw this prick, they would take her bastard child away. "Do I know you? You look familiar…" he asked, giving me a strange look, more than likely because I was standing here, grinning at him. "Nah, tell her Daniel dropped by," I said before turning
Pandora yawned as she walked out of her house, feeling tired. She got in her car and looked at her cell. There was a huge part of her that wanted to call Benjamin and find out how he was, how Maisey was, but she couldn't seem to make the call. She managed to get him to the hospital quickly and dropped him off at the emergency room. After he got out of the car, she felt the overwhelming need to go with him. Instead, she allowed him to just go, and she drove around the car park. After she had found a space, she walked into the hospital and saw Benjamin sitting with his mom and a man who must have been his dad. There was another doctor who looked upset and frantic as he spoke to Benjamin and his family. As Pandora looked to the side of the doctor, she saw a woman who looked a lot like Milton's wife, Alexis. She quickly summarized that they must be the doctor and nurse who were treating Maisey. With one last look at Benjamin, who started to sob as he hugged the doctor, Pandora walked
His right hand took hold of her other hand and he grasped her wrist. "Come with me," he said and she frowned, dropping her hand from his hair. "Benjamin," she quickly shut up as he glared down at her. "Your heart is racing, and don't even get me started on your breathing." She slowly stood but felt a wave of dizziness come over her. Benjamin's arm wrapped around her and he pulls her closer to him. "I'm waiting to get seen… you should be with Maisey," she told him. He seemed to swallow and looked unsure. Suddenly, a cold feeling rippled over her, and she covered her mouth. "I'm going to be—" Before she could finish her warning, she dropped down to her knees and vomited all over the floor. "Sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll clean this up," she muttered as she felt Benjamin's hand run up and down her back. "We have paid staff that will clean it up," Benjamin whispered to her. "Come on," he said firmly. A few seconds later, he seemed to get tired of waiting and picked her up.Benjamin gent
"Looks like you are going to have a baby," Emily said, showing her the test. "Or maybe two. Knowing you and Benjamin, it will be twins again," she laughed. "Hush," Pandora gritted out and glared at her. "Hey, you never know, it could be three this time," she smiled. Pandora snorted and slapped her arm. "No, thank you! Now, not a word about this to him. I want to surprise him!" Emily nodded. "Just glad I know someone that's having a baby who will be around this one's age," Emily rubbed her tummy as she spoke. "Maybe you'll have a boy and I'll have a girl and they'll get married," Pandora joked. Emily’s eyes lit up and Pandora knew her joke backfired when she got a big smile on her face. "That would be so awesome," she said. Pandora heard Benjamin yell her name and Emily winked at Pandora. "I better get back to work. Text me when you tell him!" "I will," Pandora replied and she opened the door and ducked out. "Give me three minutes, and then you'll be free to get out of here wi
"It was just some homeless man. I really don't know why they even followed up on it. But I was blamed, and then put in jail. JAIL! When I got out, I was a laughingstock. No one wanted to know me. No one, not even the people I had made great. They all left me to rot. My daddy left with all the money he had and started over in another country. I had nothing. I have nothing and it's all your fault." At that point, she stood and charged at Pandora again, but Pandora easily deflected her arms, grabbed her, and held her down as Raegan hissed and growled at Pandora. "Oh shit!" she heard Milton say and he moved quickly to her, restraining Raegan. "I told you to stay away from this place," he said. "This is all your fault. You and that bitch took my life. I was meant to be Mrs. Parks—it was my life!" she yelled and Milton sighed. "Handcuff her. We have to drop her off at the hospital again," he sighed to the female officer as Pandora watched her place handcuffs on Raegan. Pandora stood, a
Their imperfections, and the fact that they didn't want to be perfect, or have a perfect marriage made them able to cope when one of them made a mistake. Thankfully, Pandora was very kind, and since it was Benjamin that normally screwed up, that made him lucky. Benjamin glanced at Pandora who was hugging his mother, and he noticed she had a warm glow around her. He had always seen it, but it had become more evident to him since they renewed their wedding vows. Benjamin wanted—needed—to marry her again, not because they were both drunk the first time, but because he needed her to know that he meant it all and that he wanted her to be his wife. Pandora looked stunning in the wedding dress that Maisey had made her, but he thought she could have worn a trash bag and still shone like a star. She was so happy and cheerful that he made it his vow to make her that happy at least once a day. He hated to let her dance with anyone else at their reception, but it did give her a chance to hold
"Where are we going tomorrow?" Jack asked. "The zoo," Amy answered with a roll of her eyes. "We can't all be great at remembering stuff," he replied, making the rest of them roll their eyes at him. "It's on the family schedule on the fridge... Oh wait, that's right, you don't look at that because then you would need to do your homework," Beth was quick to point out. "You're just jealous that I can do it in five minutes flat and still pass," Jack boasted. "That's not always going to work, and you will no longer be doing the work moments before it's due to be turned in; do you understand me?" Pandora asked him. "But, is it more important to get it done right or promptly?" he asked, making Benjamin stifle the chuckle that was starting to bubble up, knowing he just stepped into it. "No, mister smarty pants, and you'd be wise to use those smarts to mind what you argue. Getting your work done promptly and done correctly are both important and if you keep doing it at the last minute,
"They must have been naughty, they're back to being just mine," he said with a chuckle, knowing full well that they had been fighting all day. He gave her one last kiss before walking away. "Okay, Amy, you're up first," he said, pointing in front of him as he sat down. He took them one at a time, listening to what they each had to say. As it turned out, this was just a fight about whose turn it was to pick something to watch on the television. So as a punishment, he removed their TV time for the rest of the day and the next. "I can't believe I am going to miss watching golf!" Jack tutted. "What am I going to do now?" "You could read, like Amy," Beth told him with a touch of attitude. "I am not reading one of her silly books!" he bit back. "They were Mom's books," Micheal reminded him. "And Dad said he read them, too." "Yeah, I guess, but what about tomorrow? No TV tomorrow and I planned to watch the tournament. I wish school started already." "Jack, we have plans for tomorrow–
Benjamin took his time looking at the screen. He looked over all the measurements and made sure the spine was straight. Next, he paid close attention to the beating heart and found that it, as well as the other organs, were seemingly perfect. He let out a soft breath when everything looked good, and looked up with a smile. "Mackenna," he said softly as she had her eyes tightly closed. "Come on, open your eyes and look up here at the monitor. She's fine– everything looks great," Benjamin whispered. Mackenna had four miscarriages in the past ten years, and where Benjamin couldn't prove that they were caused by the mistreatment that she received at the hands of Derrik, he stood firm in his belief that the drugs he had given her had some long-lasting effects. About eight years ago, Pandora and she ran into each other while out around town. They got talking and Mackenna accompanied Pandora to the tattoo store Benjamin frequented. The couple had planned on getting matching tattoos on the
“On the twelve counts of Identity Theft Fraud, we, the jury, find the accused, Derrik Preston, guilty on all counts.” “On the four counts of Attempted Murder, we, the jury, find the accused, Derrik Preston, guilty on all counts.”“On the three charges of Breaking and Entering, we, the jury, find the accused, Derrik Preston, guilty on all counts.” “On the five counts of Mortgage Fraud, we, the jury, find the accused, Derrik Preston, guilty on all counts.” “On the six counts of Aggravated Assault, we, the jury, find the accused, Derrik Preston, guilty on all counts.” The reading went on, covering all the different charges. Meanwhile, Miriam was wailing. Pandora closed her eyes, feeling a sense of relief, as each charge came back guilty. "Mr. Preston, you have been found guilty by a jury of your peers; you will be remanded in custody and sentenced on Friday at ten a.m.—" "No! No, not my boy! You've made the wrong choice, you stupid people! I'll end you all for doing this to my baby
Benjamin and Pandora arrived just as the court was starting up. First up was Derrik, who sat there for almost three hours, trying to paint himself as the victim. It was hard sitting there listening to him spew out how Pandora was trying hard to ruin him, and she did all that herself to set him up. Miriam was the next to take the stand and she just glared at Pandora as she was sworn in. "I would first like to ask you about your son, who is he?" Derrik's lawyer asked. "Oh, my sweet Derrik is such a good boy. He was a star football player, but she..." Miriam hissed with a nod in Pandora’s direction, "made him give up his dream. She was always bossing him around, telling him what to do, and what to wear. He wasn't allowed friends, and she even tried to stop him from talking to me. But I wouldn't allow that to happen. I would walk through hell for my son." "So, Mrs. Preston, you are saying that Mrs. Parks was controlling your son?" "Oh yes, he wasn't allowed to work because she was af
During her testimony, Pandora learned that she was also known as Brownie. As she continued through the questions she was asked, Pandora had to bite her lip to stop the sobs from coming out. She told the court how she was paid to pretend to be Pandora. It was one thing to hear how she pretended to be her, but then she told the court how Derrik had sex with her several times inside Pandora’s home. She talked about being in Pandora’s bed, and it just about broke her. For the first time since all of it had started, Pandora was grateful that she had sold her home. "We have one more witness, Your Honor," the District Attorney said and with a nod, the Bailiff walked out. "We call Hannah Song to the stand." Pandora looked over to see a girl who looked like a teenager walking in with her head down. She was sworn in but her head remained down. "Can you tell the court your age?" the District Attorney asked. "Nineteen," she answered quietly, so the Bailiff adjusted the microphone in front of