My heart is beating so fast due to how much I am exerting myself and also because of the adrenaline coursing through my body. Cara is still struggling with the door and trying to open it, whereas I am running towards all.She is not getting away, not this time.As soon as I skip the last stair, she manages to open the door and she goes straight into the busy lobby. Her blouse is ruffled and so is her hair. As she runs, she keeps looking behind to see whether I am still following her.I dash through the opened door and I follow her. I see Chad and James talking to the receptionist and I call for their attention.“It’s Cara, don’t let her get away!” I yell and I don’t think I can keep moving my legs, I am too tired. I am a great runner, but I have not been going on my routine runs since I got pregnant, I only did light exercise. I stop running and I hold onto a random man while trying to catch my breath. James and Chad are already chasing Cara, and I know that James is an excellent run
I have been officially discharged from the clinic and my bills that were really high has been waived by the hospital due to my baby being kidnapped right in their facility. Doctor Evans has not brought up the lawsuit filed by Robert yet, and I have not had the chance to talk to him about it yet. Chad, Carlos, and I are in Doctor Evans’ office, waiting for him to get the security footage. It has been roughly twenty minutes and we have been sitting in silence. Chad keeps glancing over to me, and when I look back at him, he averts his gaze.As for Robert, I have not seen him since this morning. It is raining heavily outside and the smell of dust floats in the air. I believe he is finalizing the selling of the company, there are so many steps and processes involved and he is trying his best to speed it all up so we can have the money before the deadline that Naomi gave us.The door of the office opens and Doctor Evans enters, he is not alone, a guy enters with him. The guy he entered wit
James is driving at a moderate speed and we are just minutes away from the house. I was just on the phone with Robert and he told me that he finally finalized everything and he has the money already. Chad agreed to help him to transfer the funds to Naomi as soon as he comes home. “Have you tried calling her again?” Carlos asks me. He is talking about Naomi, since I dropped the call with Robert, I called her right away but she is not picking up. This raises my anxiety to another level because I want to know what is happening with my baby.“I am trying,” I reply to him as I try to call the number again. This time she finally answers and James makes a turn, causing the car to swerve to the right. We have finally arrived.“Hello Jen,” Naomi speaks in a usual cheery tone.“How is my baby? Has he eaten, how are you taking care of him?” I shoot my concerns at her.“Your kid is fine, I have him here with me. I had to go the extra mile to keep alive and healthy but I guess it’s worth the mone
Chad is currently working with Robert to send the one billion to Naomi’s account, they are in the kitchen as instructed by Naomi. James, Carlos, and I are in the living room sitting on the couch while the ten security guards are still unconscious but on the other side of the living room.Naomi and Cara seem to be discussing something in the doorway as she sways the baby gently from side to side. Her instincts in taking care of the child somehow tell that she has taken care of a baby before. I am sweating and my heart is racing very fast, I just want my baby and for all this to be over. A small voice in my head keeps telling me that all that is happening to me right now is karma and that I deserve it. I wish I can just shut the voice up, but I can not.“It’s done,” Chad says as he and Robert walk out of the kitchen. Cara steps forward and she checks the laptop. A smile then corrupts her lips and she turns her attention to Naomi.“It’s done, the money is here,” She tells her and she lo
The steady beeping is getting more irregular and faster, the sound is also getting louder and easier to hear. I remember that Cara said something earlier, she had a weird look on her face, a coy smile. She said that we were too bothered and occupied with getting Jake back but did not stop to think that we would be bankrupt.Taking all the money we have is one thing, but blowing up the only place we have to stay that costs a fortune to build to another.“Robert, you and Jen take the baby out and head to the hospital, we will try to find the bomb. I have a feeling that it is a big one,” James tells us.“Okay, but why are guys not coming along?” I argue and James avoids looking at me, he looks at Robert instead.“Get she and the baby out,” He tells Robert, earning a nod from him.“Jen, let’s go. We have to get out of here and also get the baby to the hospital to get checked up,” Robert says to me as he leads me to the doorway.“You know I don’t get it, why are you guys staying here?” I a
“We have to go back,” I say to Robert and he frowns.“I know you want to see whether Chad and the others are okay, but we have to take Jake to the hospital,” He reminds me and I glance at the baby. He is right but I can not just pretend that I did not see that explosion, that was the house blowing up! The house that the people I care about were in!A driver honks his horn and Robert give me a look. We are standing in the middle of the road while our car is parked not so very well. Other people are out of their cars too and staring at the fire continuously rising to the sky.“Jen,” Robert speaks the same time that the car behind us honks loudly. I walk back to our car and I get in the backseat, Robert steps in also and starts the car. He resumes the drive back to the clinic and I let out a sigh.I can not even describe how distraught I feel right now.“They are fine,” Robert’s voice captures my attention as he looks at me through the rearview mirror. I nod reluctantly and he turns his
A steady beep sounds in my ears and it grows in speed as each second passes. I can see Chad, James, and Carlos running upstairs and I notice that I am in the mansion. The baby is in my arms and sweat drips from my forehead.“Wait!” I call out and Chad stops in his tracks.“You have to go,” He tells me and I frown. Something seems wrong, this does not feel right.“We have to get the situation under control, the bomb might go off at any moment,” He continues.“No, I don’t want to,” I say and the beeping sound has grown so loud that it aches my ears.“Jen, we have to take the baby to the hospital,” I hear Robert’s voice and he touches my shoulders sofly.“Do not touch me,” I walk away from him and I walk toward Chad. James and Carlos are out of view but Chad is waiting for me at the top of the stairs. He has a huge smile on his face and his eyes are full of life.I climb the stairs with Jake in my arms and when I reach at the top, I extend my hand to him.“Follow Robert and I so we can g
Robert’s words sounds clear for one minute and then mumbled. I don’t think the problem is him, but rather me. Did I hear what I think I heard him say? Is this a plot to get me to relax and be hopeful? I have so many doubts, but all those doubts seem small, or even tiny compared to the fact that Robert just told me that my best friend is alive.“What did you just say?” I ask him and he chuckles.“The ice cream, you’re going to spill it all over you,” He points out and my eyes go to the ice cream bowl in my hand. It is tilted in an awkward position and a few drops have already spilled on me, but I don’t care.I am still doubtful, but I am willing to flirt with what Robert is telling me. He reaches for the bowl in my hand and I give it to him. He then places it down on the table not far from the bed.“I said that Chad is alive,” He says and I can not help feeling emotional. His smile is contagious and soon I start to smile big too.“I mean, he’s a little bang-up, but he is alive and kic
My eyes widen and I immediately try to open the door of the moving car so I can jump out but all the doors are locked. Adrenaline floods every part of my body, it is like it is all happening so fast and I have no control.“What are you doing? Stop that! Do you want to get yourself killed?” Russell shouts as Usman increases the speed of the car so jumping out would seem more painful to me if I decide to do so.“Stay the hell away from me!” I reply to him aggressively when he tries to reach out to me and he raises his hands in surrender.“Okay, okay,” He says and then he settles back into his seat.“What the hell is going on?” I ask after a full minute of silence. I am much calmer right now, I was acting out of instinct when I realized that the person that was sitting next to the driver was Russell.How is that even possible? Was he not in an induced coma a few days ago? “Are you finished with trying to jump out of a speeding car just to avoid me?” Russell replies to me and I hear Usma
“Natalie is smart, I will give her that. She had all the video evidence cleared before we could get our hands on it,” Taylor explains and I at everything else in the room but her.“May I ask, who are you professionally?” I ask her, and she smiles lopsidedly.“I work with the police department in Russia, I am the police chief,” She informs me and I nod slowly. “As I was saying, Natalie made the investigation a lot more difficult for us. Her skills in covering evidence are impressive, but I believe that she got some inside help,” Taylor continues what she was explaining.“And?” I beckon her to explain more. If Natalie covered up our tracks so well, how does she know that Natalie did it? That she was the one that pulled the trigger and not me.“I know you want to know how I know that she was the one who pulled the trigger, and I am going to explain just that to you,” Taylor tells me.“Okay,” I drag the word as I wait for her to tell me what she knows.“I am Russell’s third wife and it h
What in the world is happening? Why am I even being arrested? Even if this is about Russell Marshall’s investigation, the person they should be arresting is Natalie, I was not the one that shot the man in the head.“This has to be a joke, right?” Chad laughs but when he sees that the military guys are not even smiling, he realizes that this is serious.I gave the piece of document that they handed to me, I read it quickly and it authorizes them to arrest me, but what I don’t see is the charge.“Your hands, please,” One of the military guards says a bit softly and I do as he says. I place my hands behind my head and I hear Chad scoff.“Do you want us to do something?” The guards that we have at the entrance ask me but I disagree by wagging my head. It would only make things worse, from experience, going peacefully with the authorities is always the best thing to do.“I am calling Robert, and then the lawyer. We would get this settled in no time,” Chad tries to comfort me as he makes a
Yes, we certainly need to talk. I put Jake down from my arms and he protests that he wants to tell me secretly. James, Natalie, and Cara watch my exchange with him with smiles on their faces.“Okay, what is it?” I ask him as he gets close to my ear.“I love you,” He whispers in my ear and I can not help but smile. Some people say having kids is a nightmare, and the truth is that it is at times, but most of the time, it is the greatest joy anyone could have.“Mommy heats you right back,” I reply to him in a whisper, and he giggles before he runs onto James.I stand upright and I bid James and Jake goodbye as I join Natalie and Cara in the living room.“We have a serious hiccup in our plans,” Cara begins when we have all sat down on the couch.“I know,” I reply to her, and Natalie chuckles but I can hear the worry in her voice.“Of course you do, it is all over the news,” She tells me and I stay quiet, not knowing exactly what to say.“So what are doing?” Cara asks no one in particular
“What do you mean that he’s alive?” I ask Robert as he stands to his feet, he looks worried but that is in no way compared to how I feel right now. Gosh, does Natalie know this? I need more information.“Which news channel did you learn that from?” I fire another question at Robert, not giving him the chance to answer the first. “Here, take a look, it is all over social media, and all the big news broadcasters are airing it,” Robert says as he hands his phone to me. The last time I held it was when I found out that he was partially cheating on me.I can not say that he was actually cheating because he did not sleep with Amanda, but he did receive nudes from her and whatnot. In my book, that is cheating, but I am just going to call it partially cheating in light of what Robert and Amanda explained to me.But that is not the issue at hand right now, we have a huge freaking problem. I need to get dressed and let Natalie and Cara know what has happened.I take the phone from Robert and I
Some might say that we are moving a bit too fast, but I have known Robert for close to a year now. Still, it seems like such a limited amount of time to decide to spend your entire life with someone, but why wait any longer?Robert and I have had our fair share of storms and problems, but we have weathered everyone one of them, plus we have a great support system. Chad, James, Carlos, and Jake are sure to be there for us if we happen to begin to feel the storms of life raging again, and of course, we will.The amount of crazy that I have been through individually is insane, my entire life has been far from normal and I am starting to stop wanting normal. Besides, normal is a bit overrated. Marrying someone you have known for only almost a year is not very expected, or should I say, normal? But that is the thing, I am not normal and do not even want to be anymore.“Well?” Robert asks me as I drag my body off the unmade bed. He suggested that we should get married next week after I ment
I can not believe that this just happened, Robert proposed to me! This is amazing and I feel so good, but I also feel like this is too good and I don’t deserve it. But I am just going to sum that up as insecurity trying to present itself in the form of me not being worth it enough to get proposed to.After I said yes, I think Jake was more excited than everyone else. Chad and the others came out soon after and I have a strong feeling that they somehow knew that Robert was going to propose. Robert placed a very expensive ring on my finger and he rose from his kneeling, I placed Jake in the chair where I was sitting and Robert and I embraced. We then shared a kiss and everyone joined Jake as he clapped. As soon as the applause died, the rain ceased gradually and the sun began to shine through the dark clouds. It seemed too perfect that I literally had to pinch myself two times to make sure that I was not dreaming. Good thing I was not, because I would have been so mad at myself.We e
It is usually sunny here, but today is different, and besides, it is a Saturday. I think the weather chose the best time to be like this, I don’t have to drive Jake to school and I get to spend the entire day with him.Yesterday was so eventful, I had to explain all that happened to me in Russia to Robert, James, Carlos, and Chad about three times before they finally could grasp it all. I also had the responsibility of explaining why I have suddenly decided to trust and forgive someone that caused me so much trauma, Cara was quiet when I took my time to make them all understand that I have finally decided to bury the hatchet concerning what she did.I am not going to pretend like I don’t feel a stab of emotional pain when I look at her, but I am going to try my best to move on. I am currently sitting on the porch alone while listening to the beating of the rain on the ground and roof, it is very soothing and I have never felt so relaxed in my life. Everybody else is in the house and
I open the door of the house and I walk in as Cara follows behind me slowly and tentatively. We are out of Russia and in Cyprus, though only Cara came along. Natalie took a later flight because she wanted to come with Susan, her grandmother.It took us a couple of hours to fly from Russia to Cyprus, especially because I did not have my passport on me. Cara had to pull some strings and call in some favors at airport security, and to my pleasant surprise, it all worked out smoothly.“Are you sure that they would want to see me?” I hear Cara’s voice as we walk further into the house. Everything looks pretty much the same, but I don’t see anyone here. “Where is everyone?” I say to myself in a low tone as I continue to explore the house.Suddenly I hear heavy footsteps and I look toward the source, someone is walking down the stairs. As soon as the person's eyes meet mine, they stop in their tracks.“Whoa, am I tripping, or am I seeing Jen Davis?” Chad asks me and he continues his descent