Coraline's POV"Can we talk after dinner, after Becca's asleep?" I say for the first time since Elijah came back from work which had been over an hour ago and we were now eating dinner. He stopped eating and raised an eyebrow, shock evident in his expression."Is it important?" He inquired, I responded with a swift nod and he swallowed before continuing his meal. This was how we lived, barely saying a word to each other and trying as hard as we could to avoid each other or maybe it was just me. I wanted to be as far away as I could from Elijah. I played with my food and soon finished eating after reminding myself that I was now eating for two.Elijah took care of the dishes while I took Becca to her room to prepare her for bed. I read her a story and soon she was knocked out and I went downstairs to find Elijah lounging on the couch, his phone in hand.He stopped what he was doing when he noticed my arrival and sat upright and crossed his legs."So what's the important thing that you
Coraline's POVMei hurriedly handed me a glass of water to drink and patted my back repeatedly until I recovered. I took in a large gulp of air and then let it out."You okay?" She asked as she continued to rub my back. "How can I be okay when you dropped that huge bomb on me while I was eating?!" I screeched. Mei's hand dropped and she crossed them over her chest, " A huge bomb, huh? Imagine how I felt last night when my husband told me during dinner?" Her eyes turned misty, " How do you think I felt when my husband told me the news? I'm your best friend but I wasn't even aware. Most times I don't even know half of the things that are going on in your life because of how secretive you are." I sighed and looked down at my food, my appetite lost, I pushed the takeout packs aside and faced Mei."Okay, I'm sorry I didn't tell but I just found out 2 days ago and Elijah is the only one I told because he's the father. I wasn't going to tell anyone else until I was out of the danger zone
Coraline's POVI quickly scanned the park for a sign of my pink jacket chestnut brown-haired daughter, my gaze fell on her a few meters away from the swings. Oh fucking hell!"Becca!" I called out, she heard my voice and turned her head to look at me but then she didn't see the rock in her path and tripped over it and hit the ground with a loud thud. "Oh my God. BECCA." I ran as fast as I could toward her but a blonde man swooped her off the ground and carried her to a bench.I got to where they were, Becca was crying her eyes out, holding her right knee where there was a slight rip and I could see blood trickling out. Crap!"T…thank y…you s…o much." My heart was beating so fast and I was out of breath. I sucked in a deep breath and rubbed my chest, Gosh, I was so out of shape. My new hero stood, towering over me, and gave me a concerned look, " Are you okay? Just take deep breaths. Don't try and talk until you're fine." He had a British accent.It took a minute for my system to cal
Coraline's POVShit, shit, shit. How was I going to get out of this mess? Elijah can not find out about Jeremy. I refuse to let him take away one of the few good things in my life."Mei. I'm meeting Mei on Friday. We're going shopping for baby items. You know I'm just so excited about our baby that I can't wait for Friday so I can buy some clothes." I rambled. Fuck, I can't believe I just tossed Mei's name out there. I needed to call her immediately after this to solidify my alibi." Didn't you go shopping last month?" He cocked an eyebrow. Crap! My palms started to sweat and I rubbed them continuously against my shorts."I did but I didn't get everything I wanted, I need a few more things. Last month, Mei was the one that really bought things." He gave me a skeptical look but didn't press on the issue. "If you say so." I quickly finished rinsing our plates, kept them to drain, and hurried out of the kitchen before he could change his mind.In my room, I called Mei, and she picked u
Coraline's POVJeremy was heaven-sent, I hadn't laughed this hard in a long time. My late husband had been the last person to make me laugh so carefree.I still couldn't believe that I was at The Pristine, I wondered how he had gotten a reservation at the restaurant on such short notice. He laughed it off when I had asked as luck but I didn't really believe that."I thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight. What about you?" Jeremy asked as he escorted me to my car.I smiled, " I did as well. I almost wished the night didn't have to end." His eyes flashed with heat, " If you don't want the night to end, it doesn't have to. We could go someplace else and continue enjoying each other's company." He wrapped a hand around my waist, pulling me closer to him.Damn, his words sounded so good that I was almost tempted to say yes. I palmed his chest and pushed him back a little, " I'm sorry but that can't happen today. I have to go pick Becca up from my friend's and then head home." His smile dropp
Coraline's POV I swiveled and stared at him with wide eyes, " What!" "I said pick up the call." I raised my hand and bopped my head from side to side, " No, there's no need for that. I said it was a wrong number." Elijah stopped mopping and rested his jaw on the butt of the mop stick, looking bored out of his mind. "If it was a wrong number, I can answer on your behalf and tell them not to disturb you ag…" I lifted both hands this time and waved them, " No, no, you don't have to do that. It's very unnecessary, the caller will soon get the hint and stop calling. See?" I said when the ringing stopped then almost immediately the phone started to ring again. Elijah's jaw clenched and he sucked in his cheeks, " Coraline, I swear to God if you make me repeat myself again. You will not like what will happen to you, so I advise you to pick up the call or you let me talk to them." A chill went through my bones and I shivered, the pace at which my heart was beating was enough for som
Coraline's POVI've never felt so powerless and scared in my life, it felt like the air had been knocked out of my lungs and I was sinking into the abyss. I didn't have the money to pay Elijah back. I was still struggling to live day to day, sure, I had savings but they couldn't pay half of what I owed Elijah."Also, you'll have to pay interest on all these bills. So an accountant will go through all the money that was spent and the interest rate on it before I can determine the actual amount you'll be paying me." He said with a bored expression, it seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but here and that I was wasting his time.God, how was it that no one saw the evil that this man was? How was he able to conceal his demonic spirit so that everyone saw him as a saint? And why was I the only one it seemed like he was after their destruction."Eli, I made a mistake, it hasn't gotten to this. We can work this out, I'm carrying your baby." I placed my hands on my stomach, hoping that menti
Coraline's POVAll through the night, I tossed and turned, I barely slept a wink, and every time I closed my eyes, I saw myself back in Elijah was office but I wasn't participating in the kissing and dry humping, I was watching him and me. It felt like I was watching a movie, the prelude to a porno. Towards the wee hours of the morning, I finally dozed off but even then I had a very vivid dream about Elijah and all I have to say was that the man was dead gorgeous when he was wearing nothing. I dragged myself out of bed, did my routine, and went downstairs to make breakfast for Becca and I since Elijah would have left for work by now. I could hear the clanking of metal as I neared the kitchen and my heart began to race, who the hell was there? There was nothing close by that I could use as a weapon. I stopped and took in deep breaths to calm myself, Elijah's house was huge and well-secured, there were CCTV cameras everywhere and the only way anyone could enter was if they had the sl
1 year laterCoraline's POVIt was a balloon mayhem in the Warren mansion. Today was the twins' one-year birthday and it was already off to a disaster. I didn't know who had come up with the genius idea to blow up ten giant balloons and tie the hand of my son, Judah, to it. Now I had a semi-heart attack when I saw him floating in the backyard. Okay, he wasn't actually floating but his legs were no longer steady on the ground. Warren and his ridiculous friends, one whom my son had been named after had been in charge of getting the balloons ready but it seemed that had something else in mind. Something life-threatening and death-worthy, they just laughed and took pictures of him floating. They were having way too much fun with the helium pump and I was not having it."Elijah, bring my son down this instant. Get those ridiculous balloons off him before I get there." I shouted from the backdoor, immediately they swooped into action, Elijah grabbing Judah while the other guys found the sci
Elijah's POVJudah, Kia, and I were in one car, three of my men were in another car behind us, and Tyler and Gavin had stayed back. Gavin was still tracking Coraline's location, he was on the phone so he could tell us immediately if the location changed.Kia pulled up in front of a shabby bungalow on the outskirts of town, if Judah and Gavin hadn't shown up, I would never have been able to trace Coraline to this place.We got out of the car and approached the front door, every man had brought out their guns and we were ready to shout at anyone who wasn't Coraline. That had been my order, shout first, ask questions later.I tried to open the door but it was locked, I moved back a bit and then opened the door with a resounding right kick, breaking the lock.I rushed into the house, Judah and Kia following closely behind me, the living room was deserted, and I spotted Coraline's black purse on the crummy sofa which was a good sign that she was here. "There's no one in the kitchen," Juda
Elijah's POVIt had been six hours since Mrs Smith informed me about Coraline's disappearance, I had my men out searching everywhere for Jeremy. I was reviewing all the places he usually frequented when I had my men watch him and he wasn't at any of them. It took Kia who was my hacker about an hour to track Coraline's phone. It had been tossed on the road, a few blocks away from the cemetery. I had moved Mrs Smith and Becca back to my grandfather's house, I wanted Becca somewhere I could keep my eyes on her. I had a feeling Jeremy was going to come after her and Coraline would never forgive me if Jeremy could get Becca and I would never be able to forgive myself. Right now I was lost, I had no leads on where Coraline was, I had exhausted all the clues I had and they all led to dead ends.Kia and my men were in the kitchen that was now our makeshift conference room. Tyler was here as well and had no idea who Kia and the other men were, he just assumed they were my security. My grandfa
Elijah's POV"Well, you royally fucked up," Judah said from the other side of the call. I sighed and ran my hand over my face, tell me something I already didn't know."I told you then, I reminded you constantly that getting your revenge was going to end badly. Trust me, I've been there, it never ends well for the parties involved." He continued.I kissed my teeth, "I know, dude. I never knew I was going to end up falling in love with her. Everything is so messed up, I hurt Coraline so bad that she couldn't look me in the eye." I was seated on my childhood bed in my childhood room, I looked completely out of place with the grunge band posters on the wall and the large poster of Metallica covering almost half of the wall. God, judging from the kind of music I used to listen to, I must have been such a difficult and troubled teen. How did my grandfather and Mrs Smith survive living with me?I heard Judah shuffling paper from his side of the call. It was already evening here but it was s
Coraline's POVI cried myself to sleep that night. Mrs Smith came over, she said Elijah had asked her to come and stay with us as I would need help with Becca. According to her, Elijah had shown up at his grandfather's house with a suitcase in her, looking like a puppy that had been kicked repeatedly.Janet made sure to emphasize that Elijah was sad, regretful, and wallowing in shame. I acted like I was hard of hearing and couldn't hear a word she was saying. Janet completely took over the operations of the house, she let me get the alone time that I needed and took care of Becca. She brought me food and although I had no appetite, I knew I would be punishing my babies by not eating so I forced myself to eat. Elijah called but I had handed over my phone to Janet so only she and Becca spoke to him. For two days, I was a complete shadow of myself, I barely got out of bed except to eat and pee, I realized that I was gradually falling into a depressive state and I hated Elijah for doin
Coraline's POVI raised my hand, I was not in the mood to hear his excuses because I knew Elijah, he was a sweet talker, he would always have something to say. "Stop. Stop it please, it's exactly what it looks like. I'm not stupid, neither am I blind. I can't believe I ever trust you. I can't believe I actually thought I was falling in love with you. What a big joke. Did your grandfather really say he was going to cut you out of his will or was that just a lie to get me involved with you? You know what, I don't care. I'm done." I snatched my phone from his hand, turned, and rushed out of his room as fast as I could. I entered Becca's room and slammed the door, I hurried to her wardrobe, got out a suitcase, and began to fill it with clothes, toys, and everything Becca would need for some days. I grabbed a backpack and put in some extra things. I wore the backpack and began to roll the suitcase out of the room. Elijah was waiting outside, his eyes widened when he saw the bag in my han
Coraline's POVI hadn't heard anything from my stalker in about two months and I was starting to think he had forgotten about me and had moved on. Jeremy had been away for over a month now and we were holding a welcome back party for him. He had gone back home to stay with his mother who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily it was quickly detected, she had gotten surgery and was now better. So both of our pastry chefs were out, Mei had to call in a favor from one of her culinary friends and they came with a staff and helped out for the month.I was now eight months pregnant and Elijah had officially banned me from working behind the counter as the barista so my new role was being the manager. Elijah preferred if I didn't work at all but I refused, I couldn't just leave the cafe when Mei was absent and Jeremy as well, it would have been too hard on Louise to keep the cafe running. We had hired no hands to help out in the cafe and increased our coffee stations as the cafe was
Elijah's POVFriday rolled by and we were currently seated in the courtroom listening to the lawyers use legal jargon as they went back and forth with each other. Coraline was shivering next to me but I held her hand tight and drew circles on her lap to calm her down. I had my gaze fixed on Reginald who was clad in a black robe looking regal and supreme but I knew better. He made eye contact a few times and I made to smile at him, acknowledging him. He always looked away quickly and stared at the papers on his desk.I tuned out the happenings in the court at some points as I had no idea what they were talking about and also since I knew there was no way we were going to lose. I came back to reality when Coraline began to shake my shoulders, crying. My heart sank, my first thought was Reginald had pulled a fast one on me, my second thought was to get my assistant to send out the videos of Reginald's son, and my third thought was to call Kia and get him to dispose of good old Reggie.Co
Elijah's POV"I got the information that you wanted," Tyler announced as he entered my office, he waved the file in his hand. He got to the desk and dropped in front of me."Thanks." I collected the file, opened it, and flipped through it."Why do you need it? What are you going to do with the information of the judge in charge of Coraline's case?" He sat down and crossed his legs.I lifted a shoulder and dropped it, "Nothing much, I want to run a background check on him and see if he's reliable. For what it's worth, Blossom could have bribed him to rule in their favor. "Tyler frowned, " I highly doubt that, Judge Reginald is an upright man from what I've heard. I don't believe he can be easily bribed."I snickered, oh how naive Tyler was. I picked up my phone and shot a text to Kia to investigate Judge Reginald, I needed a full background check on him and his family, I wanted eyes and ears on them every minute of the day. I also wanted to know if he had met with Blossom recently. Ki