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115. Listen carefully
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Love me, baby 116. The search
RYAN BURKEI practically flew down the road incessantly without the certainty that I'll find her well. The damn phone rings so many times that I can't keep count. It rings eight times and goes to voicemail again."Hello, you've reached Doctor Foster, please leave your message after the beep."I insist on calling again, the echoing sound as the phone rings is deafening."Come on, Morgana!" I speak nervously. "Come on, pick up!""Hello, you've reached Doctor Foster, please leave your message after the beep."I slam both hands on the steering wheel in frustration.I pray in my heart that she's just too tired to hear the phone ringing. In fact, the adrenaline pumping through me, boiling like lava, begs to all the gods that she's just asleep in our room.I press down on the accelerator with a tight heart, thoughts that she might be in danger consume me entirely. I fear it might already be too late to reach her. Ronan's car is following me, I know it's him because I saw my mom getting into
Love me, baby 117. Like mother And daughter
MORGANA FOSTER"Missed me?" Alessandra's unmistakable voice cuts through the entire shed, invading my ears.A new flood of emotions fills my soul as I spot her profile appearing in the corner of my eye until she's fully in front of me.How did I let myself be fooled by that silly story of her becoming a nurse to take care of her mother?"What happened?" Alessandra sneers with a disdainful expression on her face. "Cat got your tongue?""I think she's a bit surprised that you're my daughter," Winnie declares.Alessandra walks over to Winnie's side and leans on the counter. I hadn't noticed before, but there's a short resemblance between the two. I feel completely different now. Foolish for never noticing anything strange about them.I swallow hard as I watch the two of them. I can't believe this is true. Part of me wants to completely deny that I could be so blind."What are we going to do with her?" Alessandra says, turning to her mother."I don't know," Winnie replies with a satisfied
Love me, baby 118. LOST
MORGANA FOSTER"You're really dumb, Mr. Burke!" Alessandra says, pressing the gun barrel against my head.I swallow hard, feeling the pressure and weight of the metal barrel on my head. My eyes automatically widen as if the whole world stops spinning when I hear the gun being cocked."Let's negotiate," Ryan says calmly, looking at the men with him, who step back a bit. "What do you want?""We've already said," Winnie replies this time. "16 million dollars in my account. By noon... And maybe I'll release this one here."She says, pulling my head back, which tilts backward. The taste of iron fills my mouth. Maybe this is it. A fight over money."Even if I wanted to, that's a lot of money," he replies."See? Mrs. Burke," Alessandra says with a laugh. "He doesn't think you're worth it.""In the end, all the Burke's are the same. Why are you so stubborn?" Winnie says, turning to face me. "Maybe he'll take us seriously if we shoot her. What do you think?"My breath remains irregular, my hea
Love me, baby 119. CURRENT DAYS
Four months later, Rookgaard, California. Burke's grandparents' house."The trial is in a week," Sorya says. "Do you want to go?"The dining table, once filled with laughter and the clinking of glasses and utensils, is now immersed in complete silence. I look around to make sure I'm not alone in my silence. I swallow the bitter ache of the hours of terror I suffered at the hands of the two women."I don't feel like seeing them again," I mutter, feeling a lump forming in my throat. "Just the thought of sharing the same space with them fills me with anger.""And you don't have to go if you don't want to!" Elena says, laying her hand on mine, giving me a warm smile. Her cheeks are rosy, and her belly is huge. The baby will be born soon.I give her a weak smile and mumble a quiet thank you to her. At first, I never thought I'd feel comfortable beside my 'rival,' but now that she's engaged to James, her presence is no longer a threat to me.
Love me, baby EPILOGUE
MORGANA FOSTERI hurried down the hallway with my heart beating fast and my breath catching. If she found me, I was done for. I ducked under the table, covering my body with the curtain, trying not to make any noise."Gotcha!" The little blonde head ran towards me, stumbling in front of me. The bright blue eyes, as clear as Ryan's, stared at me with a toothless, gleaming smile."Oh, Alanis," I replied, patting the little one's head, "you found me, huh?"Alanis laughed, a childish, joy-filled laugh that filled the room. She pointed to the makeshift hiding spot under the table."'I found you, Auntie, but you're terrible at this!'" she exclaimed, her eyes still filled with amusement.I rolled my eyes affectionately, knowing my hiding attempt was useless. "'You're too smart, Alanis. I can't escape you, it seems.'"The little one got up and sat beside me, playing with her fingers as she looked at me. "'You look sad, Morgana. Why?'"I smiled, trying to disguise my feelings in front of her i
Love me, baby PROLOGUE
January 2014MORGANA FOSTERA girl walked out of the room, and there was no smile on her face. This meant there was still a small chance of salvation for me and my father. That I could leave here married and "happy."What a bad joke!With two jobs and accumulated college tuition, plus my father undergoing chemotherapy, I was exhausted. Not only were the college expenses piling up, but the hospital bill was also growing larger, and my father's health had significantly worsened in recent months. That's why, and only why, I decided to show up for this interview for a sham marriage.Yes, this is at least stupid. Who still needs something like this in the 21st century?He could be a man too shy to find a wife. He could be a very busy executive who didn’t want to bother with finding a real wife. Or simply an ugly man. A million things crossed my mind while I waited for my name to be called and prayed that the other girl hadn't done so much better than I would now.The mere idea of a sham mar
Love me, baby 1 - THREE YEARS LATER
THREE YEARS LATERMORGANA FOSTERThat morning, everything seemed quiet when I arrived at the mansion. After two years, I returned, feeling a shiver run through my body as I stared at the massive door.I took a deep breath a few times before pushing the handle, wondering if this was really a good decision. I inherited this house from Grandpa Burke when I married his grandson in that crazy contract, but I didn’t want to stay here. Since I was living at college and kept minimal contact with my paper husband, I never felt the urge to live within these white walls.I wore my ring only at family gatherings and parties where I had to accompany him to maintain the appearance of a happy and stable couple.I never considered the possibility of living with him, and he never sought me out for that either. We even tried to make the fake marriage seem real in the first year so that his family would leave him alone, which was when I stayed in the downtown apartment for the first few months. It didn’t
Love me, baby 2 - SHE CAME BACK
RYAN BURKEIt was late afternoon, and there were few clouds in the sky. I left the office shortly before 4:00 PM. Morgana would be arriving at "our house" sometime between today and tomorrow; she had been avoiding me for a few months. I hadn't reached out to her during that time, not because I liked her, but because I needed to maintain the farce she and my grandfather had put me in.I never wanted this damn marriage, but I felt some empathy for her situation when she explained her father's health condition.I had been deceived from the beginning of all this. So, we came to a consensus; I wouldn't interfere with her life, and she wouldn't interfere with mine. We would remain in this marriage agreement while her father needed medical treatment, and I would maintain my relationship with Elena. The marriage with Morgana had always been nominal. Honestly, I never paid much attention to her; my affections always belonged to the blonde with blue eyes who dominated me.Since her father passed
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