VERA'S POVI felt guilty watching Monica narrate the series of unfortunate events that had made her make a hasty decision in fear of the unknown and leaving her beloved ones.As Hannah drove us out of the compound which could have been hers to govern. All that Jack lost when he was in coma, he recovered all of it back for her and promised even more, but fate played a card on them.That card fate played on them was that they expected the head to stay up when they flipped it over, but it bounced back and they were greeted by the tail. Their dreams shattered and that brought me inbetween.I wouldn't have believed Monica, I wanted to cut her off at first and tell her to stop lying so much just for Jack's attention, but I could see how pale and sad she was.Jack kept his promise. He built that palace, added her favorite place where they would spend time together and bought practically everything she would have loved to have.He's that kind of man. He went extra miles to protect the people
VERA'S POV"Vera, can you please stop running? You are not too strong for that!" Jack's voice was all I heard as he kept telling me to stop. I didn't pause for a second to think, feel or wait. If he's close by and chose to follow right behind me, I didn't know that but his voice told me that he's not so far away from me.The weather is cool, late evening air swooshed my hair back after setting it free as I ran towards the road. All I have to do now is to get myself into a cab and go back to my apartment. I would have done just that if his strong hands hadn't grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into his arms. "You know what that woman did to me and you let her come into your house! What were you all expecting? That I hug her and sing praises to her for burning my dreams?!" I sobbed silently.He didn't say anything. He stopped a cab and helped me get in, then he sat beside me and offered me his shoulder so I could cry all I wanted. And I did.When the driver pulled over in front of m
JACKSON'S POVI hesitated before closing Vera's door, then I entered Nathan's sitting room so I would have him look out for her. "You don't have to worry about her, that's why I came back, right?" Nathan assured me immediately I stepped into his room.He exited to the kitchen and came out seconds later with a cup of iced tea. I knew that was what he was going to do, and I needed it so I didn't stop him.I took the cup and drained the tea in one take before giving it back to him. He watched me skeptically."Is anything the matter?" He asked suspiciously."I'm going out of my mind trying to figure out what's going on in my life recently. Just one moment of happiness, then millions of problems surface!" I found it hard to open up to him."Hey man, it's one of those days when it seems the world is collapsing on our shoulders and everything bright turns dark. But you and I know it is just for a limited time," he said encouragingly."I don't think you understand. This one lingers on and I
VERA'S POVI was having lunch with Nathan on a Friday afternoon when Hannah came to my house and broke the news of Monica's deáth. We had to rush to Jack's house to be with them. She was right after all. It was such a horrible feeling to watch your own deáth come near.Monica endured a lot and sacrificed so much for the people she loved. She would be remembered by every heart that knows her.My heart bled for her, and my tears were uncontrollable for the people she left behind. She meant to make it easy for them to get over her absence, but she actually made it hard for everyone to do that.She's a hero of love. She dîed the most peaceful way and was laid to rest in the church where her father said she asked him to bury her.Those who knew about her illness and those who didn't know where present to show their last respect. If there were anyone that stayed back that day in the whole of Downtown, then no one noticed, I definitely didn't know.When the needful was done. Timothy clung
JACKSON'S POVWhen I woke up and found out that Vera and Timothy weren't in the house, I knew that she must've came up with an idea on how to make me open up to her.What she doesn't understand is that I am trying to help her and the only way to do that effectively without any further hindrance is to keep her safe and out of harm's way.She doesn't have to know what is going on because she would want to go out with me and that would put her in trouble again. It is not easy for me to do it my own way without giving her the quality attention that she deserves!I just don't want to get her in trouble while facing George Kenneth. She needs to be unaware of the battle for me to be able to think carefully and defeat the man without problems.When I called the office and she picked up, I knew at once that she was really serious about starting her work again. It's not like I don't want her by my side always, it is because Ken's men might be out there looking for her since she's the only bait
VERA'S POVI was dumbfounded as I listened to Jack explain the reason why he insisted I stayed home and how he avoided starting up a conversation with me just so I won't complicate things.I sighed and asked after listening to all he had to say, "Did the hard drive Monica gave to you contain the evidence of Ken's crîmés?""Yes, it is enough to send him to jail and if the judge does well, I expect to see him spend the rest of his useless life behind closed doors!" He clenched his jaw angrily."She's a hero. I must tell my grandchildren about her and everything she did." I shook my head sadly."Grandchildren? You should be talking about your current two sons, Timothy and Malone, and maybe the extra five more kids coming," he jested"Five what? Am I supposed to be a hen, lay all the eggs at once and hatch them? You must be crãzy, I tell you!" I laughed sarcastically."Why don't we start the process now!" "What process?" I asked with a frown."The baby making process. We need to start now
WRITER'S POVJackson took one last glance at Vera's face before he finally ran his tongue over one of her firm nipples. He smiled inwardly at the way she twitched her body as if she was being electrocuted.Vera sucked in a breath when his tongue touched her nipple. That single moment of glory sent sparks through her body and made her bite her finger in an attempt to stop herself from screaming out.As if he derived joy from teasing her like that, he repeated that same thing before he pinched her nipples with both hands at the same time. He didn't miss the plea in her eyes when he looked into them."Jack…""I'm gonna whip your ãss if you talk again." He cut her words off.She nodded, swallowed hard and clenched her teeth. Her hands tried to grasp something, just anything that would help her stop vibrating like a buzzing phone.When his fingers traveled slowly to her p*ssy, her breath caught in her throat as she tried not to make a noise. Her fingers flew up to grasp his hair.As he ins
JACKSON'S POVWhen I stepped out of my car and headed towards the hospital's passage, Nathan walked up to me and asked me first about Vera. He looked really worried and I can't blame him for being so affected by the investigator's sudden attack. He blocked my path to get answers to his questions before stepping aside as if he's a soldier on patrol."Why didn't she come with you since you said she's fine?" He asked again when I told him that she's safe."I locked her up in the safest place in the world," I replied, walking towards the waiting area."You are good for her because she's a very stubborn woman, I was wondering what would make Vera not come here before you!" Nathan heaved wearily and tapped my shoulder in a friendly way."Feels good to know that someone has accepted defeat. Where's the investigator now?" "Don't be too proud and ridiculous about it. Let's go, I will take you to him. The doctor said that he needs blood and we couldn't tell his family, especially his wife.""
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