Ethan’s POV I called the police, and they arrived immediately and arrested Nicole. Nicole pleaded, trying to get me to feel pity towards her, but I refused to listen. Making the situation to my advantage, I moved closer to Nicole. “Tell me where Sedar is,” I said “Sedar would kill me if I said anything. Please forgive me and let me go,” Nicole said “How do I let you go when my daughter is still in Sedar’s custody?” I let out “Okay, I’ll tell you where sedar is, but please, you have to release me. You know I’m pregnant,” Nicole said, trying to manipulate me. “Just give me an address,” I said “Okay, it’s on my phone”, Nicole said, opening her phone and handing it over to me. I copied out the address and passed the phone to the officer. “Please take her away,” I said to the officer “Please, Ethan. I’m a changed person,” Nicole screamed, and I watched the officer push her into the car and zoom off. I went inside to pick up my phone and tried to call Layla, but she wasn’t pi
Ethan’s POVI had plans to inform Layla about sedar, but I was waiting for the right time. I asked Layla if I could take Aria to school and bring her back home, and she agreed.Taking Aria down to school and bringing her home became a part of me.Layla called me and informed me that Drake was getting discharged. I offered to follow her to pick him up, but Due insisted I stay with Aria. I played a few games with Aria and also watched cartoons with her.After a while, Layla arrived with Drake, and everybody was all over him. I smiled, trying not to cross my boundaries.“Welcome back, Layla,”I said, finally breaking the silence in the air.“Thank you so much”, Layla said, moving closer to me.I picked her up and swayed heraround, enjoying the sound of her l
Ethan’s POVThe waitress handed the ice cream to me, and I took them to Layla, handing over the bubble gum and mint flavour to her.“You still love to take chocolate flavour”, Layla said, and I looked at her, licking the ice cream happily.“yes, and I can see that bubble gum and mint is still your favourite combo, so I guess people don’t change”, I replied“Wow, my man is so clever”, Layla said, making my heart skip a beat.“Don’t flatter me, Layla, and it’s not a good thing to do”, I advisedI finished my ice cream and noticed Layla was just halfway through hers. The silence was deafening, and I didn’t bother to break it. I waited till Layla finished with the ice cream. After a while, Layla finished her ice cream and, looked up at me and chuckled.
Ethan’s POV I couldn’t sleep, and I decided to go downstairs for a drink. I went into the kitchen and poured myself a drink. Layla came into the kitchen without noticing me and went to pick up water from the fridge. I looked at her, attracted to the skimpy nightwear she had on. Layla jumped, running to the back of the cabinet the moment I cleared my throat. Seeing how scared Layla was, I stopped drinking and grabbed a bottle of water, leaving the room. “Are you angry?” Layla asked, and I stopped immediately. I wasn’t angry at Layla, but at myself, I didn’t know how to explain or express it. I turned towards Layla and moved closer. “I’m not angry; I want you”, I replied slowly Layla looked at me, confusion evident in her eyes. “What?” Layla asked “I said I want to eat you up and ravish you”, I replied with more confidence. Layla came out of hiding and walked towards me, looking all sexy, and I felt my anger vanish. I dropped the water on the table and moved closer, meeting he
Spending the night at Ethan’s felt nice, but I couldn’t help but worry about Aria and the others. I asked Ethan for an opportunity to drive his car, and he agreed. I changed into a comfortable dress and waited for Ethan by the vehicle. Ethan arrived some minutes later and got into the car.“Thank you for this opportunity,” I said, placing my hands around the wheels.“Don't crash my car, Layla” Ethan warned. I placed my hands on his chest.“Calm down, and I am a good driver”, I replied, returning my hands to the wheel and turning on the ignition.I drove out of the house and headed to the state prison. We arrived at the prison, and I parked the car and waited in the car. Ethan reached out to me and held my hands.“I get that it’s a lot for you, and if you change your mind. We can head bac
Layla’s POV I drove straight to Ethan’s house and waited outside while he went inside to pick up his stuff. I dialled Bridget’s line to check on Aria. “Hey Bridget, how is everything going?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant. “Everything is fine”, Bridget replied “How is everyone at home?” I let out “Everyone is fine. We just finished eating,” Bridget said “Alright, I’ll be coming home soon with Ethan” I replied “Okay, would you like me to prepare anything ahead?” Bridget asked “You can make us a meal if you are not too tired” I responded “Okay, Annabeth is here with Cho, and they are saying hi,” Bridget said “Alright, tell them I said hi,” I replied, ending the call. Ethan arrived, placed his luggage in the booth of the car and entered. I looked at him and started to laugh. “What’s funny?” Ethan asked, raising one of his eyebrows. “How is your luggage so much?” I asked “Oh, that, it’s just everything I might need,” Ethan said, smiling mischievously. “Alright, th
Layla’s POVEthan had a way with the kids, and I left him to play with them. I called Bridget to the room.I decided to use the time to finish my work and called to inform them I was still on top of my game. Bridget assisted with all the work, and we finished on time.“Send me the file on the partnership,” I said to Bridget.Bridget nodded and sent all the documents associated with the partnership. I looked through it and sent it to the headquarters.“I need you to resume work from tomorrow” I stated“Work? I don’t understand,” Bridget replied“Yes, we need a representative there” I explained“Okay, I would be resuming as what?” Bridget asked“You would be resuming as the secretary&rdquo
Ethan’s POV Layla looked so happy driving my car, and I relaxed watching her enjoy it. We arrived at the station quickly, and I commended Layla for her good-driving skills. I noticed Layla was getting nervous again and came down from the car to help her. I held Layla’s hands as we walked into the station and met with some officers. I explained the purpose of the visitation, and the officer directed us into a waiting room. “Visiting time is in twenty minutes, and you can wait here”, the officer said and left. I looked at Layla, and we both burst into laughter. I didn’t remember that there would be a visiting time, and the look on Layla’s face showed that she didn’t remember either. I burst into laughter at the realisation. Layla looked at me with a straight face, and I could tell she was trying to hold it in. “What do we do for the next twenty minutes?”Layla asked staring at me “Anything you want, I’m done”, I let out with a smile. “Well, I don’t think we should leave” Layla re
Ethan's POV Layla held Aria's hand as they walked through the toys section of the mall, happily grabbing everything that caught Aria's eyes. It was good to be free again, to not be watching over our backs. It had been two months since Sedar was finally caught and even know it still felt unreal. He was such a nuisance for so long it was weird with him gone. All the drama we went through because of him. I remember Layla suggesting we go to Nicole out of desperation and frustration and to be honest I was about to give in but I knew good would come of exchanging oke devil for another. We decided to not go that far and I was grateful we didn't, unfortunately even if we wanted to it was too late. Layla got a call from a family about two weeks later that Nicole had ended her own life. The warden said she was constantly screaming to be let out and that someone should call me or Layla but they didn't because that was unreasonable. A while after she hung herself. Layla was frozen to t
Layal's POV"Okay." Annabeth's weak response came from the other side of the phone. Thank heavens maybe my little speech had knocked some sense into her."Okay? so you'll come stay here right?" "Not yet, I'll stay with a friend for a while. I want to stay with you guys but I can't risk messing up your lives even more." she sounded tired and I decided to let this matter rest for now. "Which friend?, where's Derek?", he had taken her home but he never called back so I guessed he was still with her."He left a while ago."He left?! Could he be any more of an asshole. He comes, drops a bomb like that leaves the two of us in a mess and then just drops her at home to be by herself. What was all the love talk about if this was all he could do. "He left you like this?" I was really starting to direct the anger i fel towards Derek, which obviously wouldn't end well. "It's not like that, i asked him to leave me alone. He kept apologizing when he wasn't at fault and I knew letting him see me
Layla's POV Watching Annabeth leave felt like my world came crashing down on me. I couldn't believe my eyes when Derek showed me that picture, immediately my mind clicked and made the connection it was like my brain just went into autopilot. It felt like the cinema all over again, realizing that Sedar had been so close to me again, I had been so close to death. I was thankful for Ethan who caught me before I fell, God knows him being there was what helped me calm myself down. Then Annabeth had started her meltdown, I had expected a shocked reaction but not something of that intensity, she looked like we just told her, her entire life was a lie. "Annabeth wait." When I had tried to grab her when she dashed upstairs she basically pushed me away and snatched Cho. My reaction to that was slow, what had I done wrong? I was in as much shock and disorientation she was feeling so why was I the one getting this reaction from her. To be honest I was disappointed that Ethan just stood ther
Ethan's POVI watched silent as Annabeth took a pause from her episode took a breathe and look at us, she seemed more composed but still rattled up. "I've got to leave." She said I shot off up the stairs"Why? Where are you going?" Layla called after her and follow her up.I turned to Derek, in less than a minute he'd wreak absolutely havoc on us all. This is why I didn't involve Layla in my conversation with Lucas, I didn't see her as weak, no but I also knew that certain matters are delicate so they should be handled delicately. "When did you figure it out?" "Last night. I was going to tell you guys first but..." I raised a hand to cut him off, it didn't matter if he wanted to tell us earlier or not what did matter was that we had found Sedar and he was awfully closer than we thought, this entire time."Wait, just wait." The sound of a door shutting and hurried steps called out attention. Annabeth was basically running down the steps with Cho is her arms, she was leaving with h
Ethan's POVI could hear the noise increasing slowly from downstairs, I had warned Layla this would happen. I tried to ignore it at first but then they had to be shouting for me to be hearing them this clearly. I put my laptop aside, stretched my limbs and walked downstairs. I got there to find Layla, Derek and Annabeth sitting round the dinner table, Layla's eyes were already in my direction by the time I reached them. She had most likely heard me coming. The discomfort they were putting her through was very evident on her face. I was already pretty much irritated, trying to work and being disturb by meaningless quarrel was very annoying. "I warned you." I said in my head as I looked at Layla, I was definitely going to rub this in her face later."You two know you're in another man's house right? A man who's trying to get work done and who has kids upstairs." They both shut and sat frozen with their eyes fixed on me. Personally I would have just kicked them out there and then. I
Layla's POV"It's nothing really, I just felt like maybe he was right" she waved her hand dismissively."Who?" "Derek", shit what had he said again"What did he say again?" I felt my fist instinctively clench, I was starting to feel like Annabeth was actually right in this. "Again, nah he said it when he brought you over to my place. That you had issues too and I was acting like my man drama was the center of the world." She looked to the side, it was obvious she was hurt by it.That was too much, this had gotten way too much. "Give me a second." I grabbed my phone and marched upstairs."Where are you going?" "I'll be right back." I barged into the room and Ethan looked at me confused."What's gotten into you?" "I'm going to interfere. I'm calling Derek to come over right now so I can settle whatever this is that they have going on." His eyes widened in shock and he shook his head, "Don't Layla. You sure you want to be in the cross hairs of whatever it is they have going on?"
Layla's POVThe house had been on lockdown for the past two days, yes, because of Sedar and also because Ethan was an overly protective person. Did I like being locked up in here all day? No. Could I do anything about it? Also no. All that could be done was wait it out and pray it needed soon. Ethan also worked from home to keep me company and lessen the agony of my situation. I told him numerous times that he could go to work and I'd just ask Annabeth to come over but I guess he saw through that lie. I was just looking for a way to get him out of the house so I could sneak out. His maid, America brought us all of the groceries and supplies we needed so there was no way to use needing to go shopping as an excuse. It was nice to be cared for but this was pretty much the same feeling that made me move out in the first place, unfortunately this time that wasn't an option."What is on your mind?" Ethan asked, this question snapped me back into the reality, I looked around, yep still stu
Ethan's POVI watched her step into Derek's car and drive off, I didn't exactly like the idea of her being out in the open after seeing Sedar stalking us but there was no winning an argument with Layla, the best I could do was give her a curfew to be back home. I called Lucas when she left, she was right about us needing to find the leak in our whereabouts that Sedar was tracking is with. "Didn't we just get off the phone?" He said sarcastically."I'm calling about Sedar. Again." "Did he show up again?" "No, but you remember how we talked about finding out how he knew where we were. Well Layla has a theory about it, she thinks it has something to do with Annabeth. Apparently all the times Sedar has showed up unexpectedly were when she went to places she'd already told Annabeth she was going to." "Was Annabeth the only one she told? That's a pretty wild assumption." He sounded skeptical, which was reasonable. Even I thought it was a shaky suspicion."No but she's the only common p
Layla's POV "What do you want me to say. Oh hey don't date whoever that creep is. I love you. Is that it?" I just stared at him, what the heck was that? So what he loved her now?. He stared back at me like a moron and then his expression softened and I took as a sign he realized he'd just lashed out at the wrong person."I am sorry." He did his puppy dog eyes look."I'd love to say it's fine but it's nothing, you two really need to take a minute and sit down to talk." The rest of the ride was absolutely silence, he walked me to the door and kept apologizing for the way he acted but all I did was nod. "What happened between you two?" Ethan saw the look on my face when I stepped in."More like what the heck is happening between two of them" I threw my bag on the couch and fell into his arms "Who are we talking about right now?" "Derek and Annabeth." "Oh, those two. Wait, they're still at it? I thought it would be over by now. Aren't they taken it a bit too far?" Even Ethan notice