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
JACKSON'S POVI know that it's a useless thing to do, but I went to the plantation to make an inquiry regarding Monica and Timothy.Monica never liked coming to the plantation, so nothing would have made her come there. I sat down on top of a fallen tree and watched the laborers do their job. I have asked everyone of them if they saw her or my son, but they all said the same thing that no one else apart from the people I am seeing came to the farm.I remembered coming here with Vera and Tim and how I had been thinking of bringing her here with two more sons in the future. The future has been cut short and I don't see any reason why I should keep living. Why is it always like this for me? Whenever I thought I was going to be happy, something creeps up my sleeve and bites my neck and I would find it hard to laugh again.Look at these people working in this hot sun and laughing loudly, cracking dirty jokes and playing, at the same time working hard to meet the deadline and get their f
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