JACKSON'S POVI wasn't able to get a wink of sleep all through the night. After she shut the door on my face in anger, I went into my room and locked Monica out. When I noticed that everywhere was quiet and they must've been asleep, I went outside, got coffee, went into my home office and set to work on my desktop. I needed to work on reviving my company and helping Vera no matter how much she tried to push me away. It's my fault that Monica found out about the contract papers. Why didn't I change my safe box's keywords after she left?"Well, I probably thought there would be no use since she wouldn't be coming back! Goddamn!" I cursed as I punched my keyboard.I didn't know when I dozed off when it was almost dawn. I woke up when the rays of the early morning sun peeked into my face and made my eyes flutter open.I closed my computer, locked the office and the aroma of pork chops made me wander into the kitchen. My mouth watered when I saw the food set on the dining table.Tim savo
JACKSON'S POVI sat down quietly in my private jet as it flew to the Philippines. I had to take care of some business, and I could have told Vera but she's still angry with me.What would she be doing at that moment? I wondered as I looked expectantly at my phone. Should I call her and find out? I also need to tell her that I am going for a business trip to the Philippines and it's gonna take two weeks before I come back.If she should find out from Monica, I know that woman would do anything to frustrate Vera's life and she's good at cooking up lies as long as she gets what she wants.I waited for three hours so I could settle in a hotel and think carefully of what to say to her before I picked up the hotel's telephone to call her. Since she's still angry with me, I know it would be hard for her to answer my calls. And the contract between us ends in two days. I know she won't hesitate to leave and continue living her life, but I hope the money would help her with whatever she hoped
VERA'S POVHannah is such a darling, she helped me clean up the mess in my kitchen and parlor. She got me a cleaning service at her husband's agency, I had to do it since that was the only available office.I buried myself in the job, leaving my house as early as five in the morning and returning home late in the night. I would rather let others dump their shifts on me than think about him.For eight days, I didn't see Nathan, his door was shut and Hannah told me that his office was also locked. I thought that he must've realized that he's wasting his time and accepted his mistake and left.Ever since then, I haven't seen anything like lily flowers or letters in a red envelope. But it was hard to concentrate at work and sleep peacefully at night. I did well not to cry myself to sleep every night.It's his fault! He should be blamed for pretending to care while he was only trying to satisfy himself! What does he take me for? Whatever he thinks he is, I will surely get over him and live
JACKSON'S POVI can do it, I kept reminding myself. If I was able to do it in the past and a few days after she left, I can still do it and I won't have anything to do with any woman again.It wasn't going to be easy to talk Tim out of mentioning her, but I will also try my best. I just have to make sure he doesn't see her ever again and he will surely get over her.I focused on going back to my old self. Start each morning by getting Tim ready for school, preparing for work as well, dropping him off on my way to work and spending my non-work days with him in the plantation.As expected, Tim stopped mentioning her as always after a few weeks had passed. I was able to survive those days. Monica never left, but she didn't exist to us. We totally ignored her and she is too busy hanging out with her friends to notice.I woke up to a brand new day, week and month one morning to take Tim and his pet for a walk. We were ready to leave when the front door was pushed open.The face I saw shock
VERA'S POV"Terminate the pregnancy? Vera, are you alright?" Hannah asked, blocking my door."Hannah, you and I know what happened to the last pregnancy I kept. What did I get after suffering for nine months and delivering in pain? I don't want to go through that again!" I blinked back my tears.I went back inside and sat down. I know that Jackson has won her heart, and there's no way she was going to give me a go ahead to abort the pregnancy, so I didn't tell her about it, but she found out.If she had come five seconds later, I would have been at the hospital by now going through the abortion process. I might invite someone to sign for me and do it before she knows what's happening.Right now, I don't have a say because she came right on time and blocked my way. She insisted that I keep the pregnancy while she knows that I vowed never to make that terrible mistake again."I think Jack is different," she said sweetly and sat down beside me."You don't know him, all of them are the sa
JACKSON'S POVI had thought that Vera wouldn't come back to my house when she left this morning after spending some seconds convincing Tim that she would come back.I felt happy when I opened the door and saw her standing at the entrance. She looked adorable in a green gown. Her furry jacket on her arm.I took it from her and gave her enough space to enter inside. I couldn't get my eyes off her hips and long legs. I stood watching her as if I was in a trance."Hey, baby!" She kissed Tim's little fingers.I can't believe I felt jealous of my own son. I remembered to close the door. I folded my hands and kept watching them."Are you going to leave again?" Tim asked sadly."I… I… Tim…" her voice broke off. She hugged him passionately.For someone who wants to abort a child, I still wonder why she would do that sort of thing while she loves children and they always get attached to her."Let's get going!" She said, and walked around me to enter my car."Alright," I opened the door for them
VERA'S POVI couldn't stop crying no matter how much Jack tried to console me. My heart was heavy and unforgiving towards whoever that has been haunting me like that.That thought brought my mind back to Nathan. I haven't seen him since the day I told him that he's the one that has been sending those letters and flowers to me.Now I don't know if my assumptions were right or wrong. I'm not crying because I am scared, I already made preparations to leave Downtown, but there's Jackson.I don't know how I was able to live all those years that I haven't met him, but I will definitely wet my pillow every night if I stay far away from him.I took the milk he gave to me, swallowed it in one gulp and told him that I wanted to be left alone.Tim has always been a good and understanding kid, he ran into his room immediately after he came down from the car. He woke up in the car when I was sobbing on the drive to the mansion.He looked worried, but I know that he would only ask his father what h
JACKSON'S POVWhen I left my mansion last night, I was confused. I didn't know what I should be doing or saying to Vera. I am angry at myself because I know that I love her so much already and living without her would be the worst that could ever happen to me.I should be mad at her for coming into my life, turning it upside down, changing who I am and wanting to leave me craving and missing her everyday, but no, I feel like commiting suicide.It's late when I opened the gate and headed to the plantation. I walked there, fearlessly and eager to run away from what I would have done.I can make her stay. Yes, if I was determined last night, I would have done what my mind told me to do and made her swear never to step an inch away from me.If she hadn't taught me how to hold back or suppress my feelings, we would be lying naked in bed now, talking about how much we want to stay by each other's side.Damnit! I changed for her, I'm willing to do anything to make sure she sees me as the man
VERA'S POV If desperation was a person, it would be me as I came down from Jack's car, holding out my hands in front of me and careful not to miss a step and trip over. The fact that he had insisted on blindfolding and bringing me to God knows wherever he was taking me–claiming it was a surprise–sounded so cliche, but I couldn't stop my heart from fluttering in anticipation.It has been three months since our surreal kiss in the garden. The feeling that Monica was still alive–a. k. a. Monica had probably deceived us, or the man was trying to raise a false alarm, play with our emotions, and make money off Jack. Whatever it was–hung heavily over us. Malone's unacceptability still lingered; it hurt more to watch him become more of Kenneth than who I hoped he could become. Our fear of my capability to carry a child for nine months and birth without complications also made us restless. I sometimes find myself wallowing in self-doubt and trying to pretend I could do it since I had done i
JACKSON'S POV It was already late afternoon as I waited in my car at the park. I watched the figure walking toward my direction from the side mirror. The way he dressed and walked spoke volumes of someone who does dirty jobs for people for the money, the kind of man hired to go on deadly missions and trusted to do clean jobs without any trace back to his client.I have had my share of such men, but I work closely with only one private security company and have only used the company's cyber security and men. Though I do question their loyalty sometimes, that's what fuels my need to trust such people by risking it all or going through government agencies. And every businessman who has dangerous rivals knows which system always fails.I pressed a button beside the wheel to unlock the car doors for him to ease in. He looked around sharply before he folded himself into the passenger seat and lifted his black cap. He's dressed up in black from his cap to his shoes. With his long dark hair
WRITER'S POV Vera couldn't tell who trembled more, Hannah or herself, as she guided her into the house, and they sat on a leather-made bench in the kitchen. She had never seen her friend's house in disarray, no matter how determined her kids were at breaking, disarranging, and making a mess of things.Somehow, Hannah managed to be a good mother as she was a good wife who loved keeping everything tidy and in order. If the kids made a mess ten times, she cleaned it up twenty times without complaining about the stress but rather scolded them to be careful and not hurt themselves. What had gone wrong?When her sobs subsided, Vera heaved a sigh, and they both at the same time released each other. Their foreheads still pressed together, they looked at their hands and laughed at the realization that they were both shaking immensely. Vera's heart relaxed as their moods became lighter, her friend was still there, right behind her pain.Fifteen minutes later, they both sank into the couch in t
VERA'S POV I decided to drop by Hannah's house before heading to the hospital, but after I tried her phone too many times and she didn't answer, I had to go to the hospital first.She had never sounded so frantic before, and it chilled me to the bone that I couldn't contain the nauseous feeling as a form of reaction to my bewilderment.It was the first time Hannah and Oscar got in a fight. My favorite inspirational lovey-dovey couple fighting? It couldn't have been serious, but then, she wouldn't joke about such a thing!I called Dr Halmes office next and was certain that he was waiting for me before I made up my mind. I told Max to stay back and look after the boys, Timothy and Malone since Jack drove himself out and I didn't need a driver. My children meant more to me than my protection which Jack would have insisted upon, probably turned whiney, to make sure I allowed the driver to take me to wherever I wished to go.
JACKSON’S POVI rose to retrieve my phone from my pocket, partially relieved as I suddenly felt gawky in front of a lad. He is finding it hard to adapt and I wished that he would understand how much he was hurting his mother by acting in that manner. As I swiped my thumb across my phone's screen and saw the text that came in, I turned to look at Vera. There was no point reminding her that I still had to leave the house and not follow our plan for the day, so I told her that we would talk when I came back. Even though I had made up my mind to walk through the door and not stay for breakfast, her sickly face made my legs stay rooted to the floor.“You don't look well.” I reluctantly brushed strands of her hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear.“I'm going to be fine.” She turned away from me and went to the kitchen counter where canned juices waited.To say that she was going to be fine meant that she wasn't well, so I walked up to her and was about to get her to see the reason
VERA'S POV If I know Jack as much as I think I do the palms of my hands, then I know that he would be distracted and his train of thoughts would be shifted toward finding out if truly there is a Monica out there or not. How could he let himself be easily swayed by a mere random text from a stranger who, I might say, is supposedly looking for ways to fill his pocket after everything we have been through? How did I let myself think that it was over? Just when I thought that we had reached the pinnacle of happiness, a single text message from a strange number that kept calling his phone while we were screaming for release turned our world upside down again! Shattering every hope that I built in my dreams while in his arms! So much for a happy ending! “Yes, this is unbelievable! You're so unbelievable, Jack!” I climbed out of bed and hurriedly threw my robe on. The absurdity of the whole thing gave me a headache. Last night, my heart had flopped in pleasure, and this morning, in pa
WRITER'S POV Vera spent many nights brooding over her son. She didn't know how to make up for all the years wasted, but she wanted him to feel how much she loved him.He had accepted her and hugged her first but it was hard for him to start calling her Mummy.She felt the butterflies in her tummy come alive the first time he called her mummy following Timothy.She shared his room with him, and the first night he said he wanted to share Timothy's room instead was the night she finally went to spend the night with Jack, who seemed to have been suddenly forgotten by her."We'll have to rearrange the room for the boys if he's willing to share with Timothy." Jack offered happily after she told him."Thanks for everything, Jack. You made everything possible." She melted into his protective arms."I promise you that this profound happiness will never depart from your dazzling face again." He vowed, making her look into his eyes so he would see what he felt as he slid a ring into her finger
VERA'S POVJack agreed to stay in the hospital and complete his treatment until the doctor confirmed that he was healthy enough and good to go home.Natalie Bells was under detention in the police cell. Harry reported that she cried always and begged for forgiveness and freedom because she doesn't want to end up behind bars.Kenneth was awaiting trial and he's detained until the first hearing in court which I believe will send him to prison and he won't see the light of day ever again in his miserable life.The cops promised us that everything is under control and I shouldn't be afraid of moving and going about doing anything that I needed to do and my business.Jack wouldn't hear of me going back to stay in his mansion with Timothy. Even when his mother and sister offered to stay with us, he insisted that some policemen be sent to guard the building and also take us wherever we wanted to go.I understood his fears and I also felt safer being guarded even though it didn't seem neces
JACKSON'S POVThe first person I asked the nurse in my room about when I woke up and she helped me swallow some pàin kîllérs was Vera. When she told me that she hasn't checked up on me ever since the incident that happened at the parking lot, I instantly thought that she's very angry with me and won't ever want to see me again.When my mind got to how fast she reacts and acts up against me whenever I'm harsh towards her, especially her rash decisions and quick to get far away from me, I told the nurse that I wanted to see her."Your stubbornness is the next level. I already told you that she went to see Mr. Nathan and I know that she will come to you if she learns that you are awake." She shook her head."Are you taking these things off or should I help you do your job now? I'm not going to try to run this time, I just want to talk to her before she…" I stopped and blew out a breath."Okay, fine! Thank God the cops are right out there because I won't hesitate to have you tied to this