WRITER'S POVVera thought she has seen everything that Jack has, especially after looking him up on the internet and researching his net worth, and seeing his private jet worth billions of dollars until she stood gaping at two expensive yachts.Her eyes flew surprisingly to his face when he cleared her doubts by saying that they belong to him and he wants her to enter it all first because they are brand new."Jack…" she trailed off.He threw his arm possessively over her shoulder and nibbled on her earlobe. "Come on, stop making me feel like I shouldn't have bought it. I just wanted to own everything that was a dream to me when I was a kid," "That's not what I… Holy heavens Jack! So why were you so worried about the company going bankrupt while you have so much that the fall of the company wouldn't affect your status?!" She bursted out.He walked close to one of the yachts, and placed a hand on the body. The lights, in and out were fully alive that one would mistake the night for day
VERA'S POVWhen a warm liquid fell on my shoulder, I looked up at his face and saw that he was trying hard to blink his tears back. If there's anything I learnt from my father when I was younger, it would be that when a man sheds a tear because someone broke his heart, then the person has lost the best thing that would ever happen to her. Whatever made Jack feel this way, all I know is that he has manned it up for sometime now and I feel special that he told me exactly how he felt and didn't bother to hide a thing from me."It wasn't your fault, Jack. I told you before, right? You were sick and marriage is for better or worse! I know that if she was the one in your shoes, you would stay with her and help her become the person she was!" I rebuffed angrily. What am I even saying? Monica and Jack made the same vow that my parents made to themselves at the altar and that's why their marriage ended almost the same way.Didn't my mother and father promise to stay in sickness and in healt
JACKSON'S POV"Merry Christmas, Mom!" Tim joyously flew into Vera's arms immediately as we opened the door."Oh, sweetheart! I wish you the best, and nothing but the best! Come here, I'm going to bake, fry and cook just whatever you want. Mention anything at all, honey!" Vera pecked him."What about me, Tim? I can't believe you didn't notice me just now!" I complained."No, dad. I… I… was just overwhelmed… Okay, happy Christmas!" He stuttered and ran to hug me."It's okay, dear. I understand, and I love you. I will be upstairs," I wanted to excuse myself, but Vera caught my arm."We all are going into the kitchen to cook. You will fry anything that needs to be fried. Move it!" She smiled fauxly."What? You are joking, right?" I grumbled.She knows how much I hate frying! The last time I stayed with her in the kitchen, she made me cut the onions to punish me. I know what she would do this time when she mentioned frying.She dragged me to the kitchen and I sat down on a stool as she bro
WRITER'S POVVera lunged forward and gripped the collar of Monica's shirt. "What did I do to you to deserve that? Just tell me what I have done to deserve such ill treatment from you, Monica!" She yelled, hurling her around."You did many things wrong! Get your hands off of me because you know no damn thing about my life!" Monica jerked her hands off of her clothes.Jack caught her when she angrily moved forward to grab Monica again. She threw punches at his chest so he would leave her alone, but he held her in place."Why did you do that?" He asked, looking intently at Monica."Why did I do what? Is it wrong for me to give her flowers and cards?" Monica snapped at him."It's not just about today, Monica. What about the other times you dumped these red envelopes at her doorstep and even invaded her house to mess it up!?" He questioned harshly."Other times? I don't understand, have I ever given her something like this before?" Monica lifted the envelope and lily flowers confusedly to
JACKSON'S POVI really wanted to believe that she's telling the truth, but I can't be deceived by her again. She looked confused the first time Vera said something about the red envelope and lily flower, but she had also said that she was the one and there's nothing anyone could do about it.Looking into her eyes, there was a hint of innocence in them. I looked away sharply and checked my wristwatch as if the time was of any importance to me."Don't take me for a fool, Monica. People change, and you changed when I was bedridden. I don't know you anymore." I said sadly, and went to sit down."Too bad, because you changed too. Just know that someone gave me that envelope on Christmas Eve and I was gonna trash it, but I decided to dump it on her since it's of no importance to me." She said, wiped her face, then turned and left the hospital.I looked down at my hands and thought of what I had done. Vera is suffering now because of me. Oh, God, please, don't let anything happen to her or
JACKSON'S POVI thought about what Monica said and decided to confront her so she would explain who gave her the envelope since she said someone gifted her with it on Christmas Eve.I was pissed off by everything that happened that I didn't speak coolly to her. I blame myself for everything that happened. If I hadn't chosen to let Monica have the privilege of coming in and out of my house as she liked, Vera wouldn't be so mad at me now.As I drove into my compound, I remembered that I had left Tim alone since morning and I haven't heard from Mrs Briggs. What if he couldn't reach her or Max?I parked in front of the gate, jumped down and took long strides towards the front door. I didn't find anyone inside when I entered the living room.I was about calling Max when Mrs Briggs call came in. I picked up immediately and she told me that Tim was with her, but Monica had picked him up an hour ago."What?! Shit! Why didn't you call me before letting her take him?!" I yelled at her."I'm so
JACKSON'S POVI could say that I barged into Hannah's house because I was knocking and I felt the door shift inside, I simply pushed it open wide and got inside before she came out to meet me.I saw the surprise in her eyes before it disappeared. I know that she would know Vera's whereabouts and that's why she flinched when she saw me."Jack…" she trailed off."I figured she would tell you. Where did she go?" I asked, managing a weary smile.I placed my hand on the counter in her kitchen, ignoring her obvious invitation to come into the living room and sit down. I leaned over the counter and shrugged when furrowed her brows inquisitively."New Orleans. I really wanted to tell you, but I gave her my word. Jack, I think Vera is confused and afraid. The best thing for you to do is give her some time to really discover what she wants and come back to get it," Hannah empathized."I didn't know that everything would get to this point. I don't even know if I can make that promise to you righ
VERA'S POVI thanked my neighbor in New Orleans for finding a place for me on request. She offered a drink at her house, but I turned her down with the excuse of unpacking while I didn't even take any of my belongings.I lay down on my bed and looked around me in a lost gaze when she finally left me alone. This house holds nothing meaningful for me, just loneliness and emptiness. Did I make a mistake by coming here? I thought I had lost my child before, but this time, I felt pain in my bone marrow. I truly lost a baby this time and it's his fault! It's Jack's fault!!If he had talked to his ex-wife and made her leave, what happened shouldn't have happened and I would still have my baby waiting for the due date of delivery.It's disheartening to leave without saying goodbye to him and Tim, but I wouldn't have been able to leave if I had waited to say goodbye to them.The only thing I care about now is taking my child back from Prince Kenneth and going far away from everyone with my so
AUTHOR'S POV “Kill her, Malone!” Ken thundered when the boy stiffened.“No!” Hannah shook her head vigorously as Malone lifted the gun to Vera’s face. “He is trying to destroy you, Malone.”“You can't pull the trigger on our mother. Can't you…” “Don't fucking tell me what to do! Our mother you say? Hey, grab a cloth and clean your mouth!” Malone's roar reverberated in Vera's ears and made Tim wash down the rest of his sentence with his saliva. She stood and watched, speechless, as she knew that they were all trapped and Ken had never played fair games.“Stop this madness, Prince Kenneth. Are you willing to turn your son into a monster like yourself? Are you ready to live proudly with yourself after doing this?” She demanded, shaking her head in disgust.“Your petty tricks won't work on me. Have you forgotten who I am? You thought it was easy for me to be locked up? I have people! And I can still buy more people with my money! There's nothing like justice because the system is rotte
VERA'S POV It started raining heavily that evening as we drove home. Jack and Nathan went to search for Malone, but he was still not found until it was too dark for us to keep waiting for them in the graveyard. By the time we were headed home, a police report had already been made in case it got out of hand. I do not know how to describe the pain that I felt. I could say that it was deafening because Hannah was speaking to me, but her voice was an added noise to my rumbling ears.From the very moment she announced Malone's disappearance, I had felt nauseous, and a persistent pain rose below my stomach, so I folded myself in the backseat, and my jaw dropped to my knees. Hannah was sitting beside me, trying to soothe me and also not wake up her sleeping child. Timothy sat quietly in Jessica's lap in the front seat, their sad eyes monitoring me through the mirror.When Max pulled the car into the driveway of my home, I had to blink countless times to focus my eyes and carefully come dow
VERA'S POV It was a cool evening when she was laid to rest. I stood numbly beside her grave, not in any way understanding how I felt about her death. She might not have been the best mother, but she was still someone who would say bless you when you sneeze beside her. How she was able to watch me suffer at the hands of her boyfriend has always made me doubt that I was her daughter, but I still didn't wish for her life to end so soon.We were good and have been trying to become friends. At least, she cared so much about Jessica even though she was more distant than ever. She hadn't shown any sign of sickness and wasn't the type of person that would commit suicide. But then, she died in a peaceful way and place. According to Jessica, she slept beside her and didn't wake up the next morning. Thanks to Jack who helped us make up. But I expected more from her. One would think she would not only ask for forgiveness but also mend her ways. She should have tried to make up for lost time and
AUTHOR'S POV“Stop right there, Malone! Don't walk out on me when I'm still talking to you!” Vera's eyes were a set of fury as she glared at her son's turned back.They had rushed together to the police station after Jack disclosed Max's news to both her and Maureen. Sensing how frantic she looked, Maureen had offered her support to go with them and try to calm her down while Jack drove them there. Having no energy to explain to people how she is Monica's twin sister and not his wife's ghost, he told her to go and not worry about them. She wished them luck and watched them drive away.They arrived at the police station early before Malone was sent to the detention cell.Jack took care of speaking to the Police Chief and getting some paperwork done with the young recruited police officer, Harry, who had helped in solving their recent incident with Vera's stalker and Ken's arrest. Afterward, he was allowed to take Malone home. While they were in the car, Vera tried to speak to the boy,
JACK'S POV I felt Vera shiver beside me and I turned my head slowly to look at her frenzied face. When I turned to Maureen again, she was already standing and blowing smoke into the air. “What do you mean? I met Monica first, she was the one I have always known. I have never even heard about you. I used to visit her Dom room and her roommate was a man, gay to be precise.” My forehead wrinkled in deep thought as I traveled through the memory lane.“We met at our school parking lot. You tried to park your white pickup truck and it crashed into my black BMW. You came about apologizing and promised insistently to fix it, but I ignored you and punctured your tires because I had a bad day.” Maureen turned to face us, backing the glass window now and her lips curved in a wistful smile.“And I said to you, ‘We are even now, so no hard feelings’ and we looked at each other and started laughing. We had both cars towed to the nearest repair shop and waited for them to be fixed over pizza and i
VERA'S POV I let Jack hold my hand as he led us into the clubhouse. I have heard about the place, popular among the local folks. I watched with disgust, hating how jealousy ate deep into my skull when a random masked lady walked up to Jack and called his name. When I came Downtown, I heard a lot of gossip about the clubs, the top hotels, and the sex workers, but nobody told me that they were rude and aggressive. Or am I just putting too much meaning into the fact that a bitch is trying to get the attention of a man that is holding his woman? She wants to rub it on my face that he knows her, period!“Jackson Taylor, I believe you still remember me. I didn't expect to see you here again.” She continued, lifting her thin mask off her face to reveal a pretty oval face.“I'm here strictly for business. Excuse me.” He gently pushed her aside and sidestepped into an enclosed booth by the far end of the rowdy room, dragging me gently behind him.“You shouldn't treat her like that. She was b
JACK'S POVIt was time to have an actual conversation. We haven't talked since the time at the garden, and we promised to always tell each other the truth about everything. When our guests left, we were alone in the kitchen, doing the dishes. Malone had gulped a cup of coffee and went upstairs while Timothy left with Hannah's family. He had become quick friends with Tasha. “I went to meet Monica's father to confirm something, and you'd be surprised by what he told me,” I answered her question half an hour later after rinsing the last plate.“I was worried. You shouldn't leave the house like that without telling me.” She said, turning to face me while leaning on the washbasin. “You haven't asked me what I found out. And you don't seem surprised.” I placed the last plate in the dish rack and cleaned my hands with a small blue towel, then hung it back on its rack.“I saw Monica last night. She has come back into our lives and I understand that you must be doing everything possible to m
VERA'S POV I didn't know when Jack left the house, I woke up to find myself alone in the bed, cuddling my pillow. I rolled out of bed when I heard voices from downstairs. I almost forgot I was in a new house, and Jack had bought me expensive cars for me to choose from, hence the blissful sex in the underground garage. I was hopping downstairs in pajamas and flip-flops when I recalled the woman I saw when I came out to get wine last night in front of the house by the carport. How could I forget Monica's taunting face as she silently challenged me to a duel? How could she lie to everyone like that and why in God's name can't she just remain dead? Why come back now? What does she want?“Good morning, dear hostess!” Hannah greeted ironically as she watched her husband and Nathan take out the trash.“She's winning the best hostess of this season, all right!” Jessica laughed, placing full plates of fried rice, chicken salad, and french fries on the dining table.“I love how that smells,”
WRITER'S POV Jack threw on his clothes and kissed Vera on the forehead before exiting their bedroom while she murmured something in her sleep behind him. If she woke up afterward, he had no idea because he didn't look back and couldn't wait to check up on the boys before he left the house. It was still early, so the living room was still a mess: empty bottles of different drinks, foils, and containers of leftovers, cartons, and wrappers of some kid’s packaged gifts brought in, and wine glasses dropped off at every corner. So much for a new home. Jack ignored all that as he opened the door and walked down the front steps, welcoming the cold that came with light drops of water splattering the carport’s canopy and wondering if Hannah and her family, or even Nathan and Jessica, had gone home last night or they're occupying the guest rooms.He had only the priest in mind. He had paid a visit to Reverend Israel, Monica's father twice since her funeral, so it wouldn't feel somehow for him