~SIERRA~“Please tell Lana to pack the kids’ bags, you can pack your bags too, we are going to Georgia,” I told her as she picked up the phone, which fell on the floor and ended the call.“Right away, Miss, should we pack for a month or...”“Just for a few days,” I said and turned to my instructor, who was waiting expectantly. “I'm sorry, but we have to cancel class today. I have to fly to Georgia for an emergency.”"Alright, I understand, Ms. Reid. Just let me know once you come back,” she said as she gathered her things."Yes, of course.” I tried to sound strong, but deep down, I just felt like crying. Nana was the one who raised me, my mother died years ago of stomach cancer. She was the reason I married Damian. My mother needed money for surgery, but my father was not willing to help. Damian was my father's lawyer. The time I went to beg for money, he was with my father, and the next day he showed up at the hospital and offered to pay for my mother's surgery only if I married him
~SIERRA~“Are you sure?”"Yes, Ms. Reid, it is a good financial move,” he said."Oh, are we doing formality again?” I joked as I sipped my glass of wine and sat on the stool."Well, I’m still your employee, and we are talking about business.” Yes, Gilbert was my lawyer and financial advisor. He also helped manage some of my restaurants while balancing his job as a lawyer and financial advisor. He told me he was living his dream life.“So what companies are you suggesting?” I asked as I placed my glass of wine on the table and focused on my laptop."Well, there are a lot of options. The Fosters need shareholders and investors, while The Winters desperately need shareholders.”“Wait, did you say The Winters?” “Yes, they are going bankrupt..”“Bankrupt?” I didn’t let him finish.“Yes, and now it’s easy to get a hold of their shares because their shareholders are selling their shares.”“Interesting,” I said as my mind thought for a second. It would be good to buy shares in Damian’s compa
~DAMIAN~“Are you serious?”"Yes, I’m serious, Cassie. I have a case, and it needs my full attention.”“So you’re indirectly saying I’m a distraction?”"Well, a little. I just need to be alone now, okay? I will catch up with you tomorrow,” I told her, ending the call. She was so annoying, every time she came over, all we did was what she wanted. She was very bossy and selfish. I will literally burn while she’s watching, and she wouldn’t even help. Well, I didn’t feel like cooking today, so I came up with an excuse of work.I poured myself whisky and stood by the glass window as I stared out into the night sky. I couldn’t help but wonder how my life would be if I were with Sierra, she was so sweet and loving. She let me do whatever I wanted. Not that Cassie is bad, I mean, she’s much hotter than Sierra, so I understood the difference. I was still distracted in my thoughts when my phone started ringing, and I realised it was the head of the financial department of my company, Ethan.“
~DAMIAN~“SIERRA?” I absentmindedly gasped as I felt my heartbeat beat faster."Sorry, I'm late,” she said as she sat across from me. I was in the head seat, and she took the second in the command seat.“Wow, she's very pretty,” Ethan whispered, but loud enough for all to hear. His eyes were on her, and shockingly, she had her eyes on him too.
~SIERRA~“You can still choose to back out, and they will refund you in full, or you can sell your shares.”“No, I love the company.”“But it's falling, I just know there's no saving it,” Gilbert insisted.“Trust me, it's perfect,” I told him.
~SIERRA~“Tell us, Mommy, or is our Daddy with the angels?“ curious Ingrid asked.“No darlings.”“Where is he? We want to see him,” Nathan insisted, and Ingrid nodded.“You will understand once you're big, for now, you don't need him, I can be both your mother and father.”“But…”“No buts, now let's eat up, it's already late,” I said, trying to avoid more questions. My kids, being obedient, quietly ate. The rest of the meal went by so quickly that I could tell my kids were bothered, but what could I do? This was for the best.When we finished eating, I took them to their bedroom and helped them brush their teeth before putting them to bed.“Lana will come read the story for you, okay?” I said this after kissing their cheeks.“Why can't Mommy read it?” Ingrid asked.“Because Mommy has to help Nana eat,” I said."Okay, Mommy, goodnight.”“Goodnight to you too, my darlings,” I said as I switched off the lights and walked out. I went to the kitchen to get Nana's food. Beatrice and Lana w
I looked around at the roses that caused the pleasant smell. I absentmindedly walked up to the roses and bent down for my nostrils to take in the scent. I remained in position for a few minutes before I brought myself to reality. “Clean this up now!” “Ms. Reid I...” “I said now!” "Alright, Ms. Reid,” my guard agreed as he started taking the vases of roses from my table. I walked carefully to the huge window without touching the roses. I looked out the window as thoughts of Damian struck my mind. He never once bought me roses in the years of our marriage. What made him buy me roses this time? Is he trying to prove a point? “Ms. Reid, should I throw the note too?” The guard's voice shook me out of my thoughts. "Yes, please,” I confirmed, and I continued staring out the window. “It’s rude to throw away gifts, if you didn't like the roses, at least you could give them out for charity.” A manly voice made me turn. “Excuse me?” It was a hot-looking man, he was in his office cloth
~DAMIAN~I didn't understand what Cassie was doing here, as after she quit, I had even tried reaching her for the last two days.“Cassie, what are you doing here?” I asked while my eyes roamed to Sierra, who was seated comfortably in her chair, she didn't look intimidated at all.“I asked you a damn question, Damian. You still what? Don't tell me you love her because that will be the funniest joke of today,” she was staring a
FLORIDA, ST. AUGUSTINE 2023~DAMIAN~Ingrid did a good job keeping Sierra out, as it has been over two hours and they haven't returned to the house yet.The sun was setting and everything was perfect; we didn't need to do much, just the colorful lights, as the house was clean already.“Bottle is here,” Nathan excitedly said as he brought the bottle of juice. The bottle was the same as the one for champagne, and since they were too young for alcohol and Sierra was in that condition, we decided to settle for juice.“They are coming,” Atlas, who had been at the window, alerted us, and I quickly stood to my feet and hid the little box."Okay, wish me luck,” I said, and they both nodded, then Atlas switched off the light so that the candles could stand out.“Let us know when she says yes,” they said in unison before they hid behind the sofa.I was nervous. I've never been this nervous, even when I was handling court cases. I never got nervous, but Sierra, God, her reaction scared me.As I
FLORIDA, ST. AUGUSTINE 2023~DAMIAN~Whoever said love was a drug was damn right because I was high on it. Watching someone sleep for over an hour and simply enjoying the view is crazy because for the past week that's all I've been doing—watching Sierra sleep. It somehow gave me peace.After Sierra was released from the hospital, we stayed a week so I could sort everything.Ethan took over the head at the Winters, Sierra, and Thomas caught up as he left the detective work since Sam was not happy with it. Sierra gave them one of her restaurants in Texas, and they moved there—living in Sierra's home while Jane and her family moved into Sierra's mansion, the one in Georgia. Beatrice and Lana took mine as I wanted to express my gratitude for helping Sierra raise my children.After sorting everything, I booked tickets to Florida for a vacation since the holidays were in a month. We were still choosing a place to settle and start a family, as Georgia and Texas held bad memories, so we were
~DAMIAN~The first days we used protection, but after a few, we just couldn't control ourselves as we would get in the moment and only think of protection afterward. I didn't need protection; Sierra was my wife, but she always brought it up.Well, I was just so happy that we were going to have a baby—that Sierra gave me another chance.I walked to her bedside, kneeled, and started apologizing.“I'm sorry, I...”“It's okay; I know you did it to protect me.”“Still I hurt you; I should have told you; I shouldn't have pushed you away like that.”“And I understand; I forgive you; I do.” She was now holding my hands. “Please get up.”“Sierra I…”“Now Damian,” she demanded, and so I was left with no choice but to get up.“I'm really sorry; I promise that was not my intention; I was just trying to protect you and our kids. Ava called me; she threatened me.” She nodded her head in understanding and then squeezed my hand in a comforting manner.“Do you want to feel her heartbeat?” she asked, a
~DAMIAN~ “I was not planning to kill you, but...” Ava said as she walked close to Sierra, the burning matchstick still in between her fingers. My hands were now in the air, pleading with her. “Please… Whatever I have done, please just... Just let Sierra go, punish...punish me.” "Oh, sweet Damian, my cousin is in love,” she mockingly said, “but this is not about you; it's about her, her mother!” she yelled. “Actually,” she calmed herself, “it's about the both of you; your father did my mother dirty and her mother did my mother dirty, and so you are both going to pay.” It was not the Ava I knew; this woman sounded crazy. “Ava…” “Kneel!” I didn't want to argue, as I knew trying to reason would not work, so I kneeled my eyes on Sierra and the matchstick between Ava's fingers. “Good,” she mockingly said and blew to the matchstick so the fire could go as it was below her finger. “Do you want to hear a little story?” She asked as if I had a choice. Then she started talking about h
~DAMIAN~“Speed up!” I yelled, and Thomas agreed with me as he asked the driver to drive faster. Each second we were wasting was ticking as Sierra's life was in danger.When Atlas returned, he told me about the people who kidnapped him and how they told him that I was his father. I knew it wasn't the right time, but I took him upstairs to his siblings and told them the truth—that I was their father and that Sierra and I were once together.I didn't tell them about the contract as I thought it might be complicated for them, and so I told them about making a horrible mistake that made Sierra walk away. They were understanding, as they didn't judge; instead, they were happy that I was their father.I was not in a better mood, so I forced them to eat and helped them get ready for bed before I left Mrs. Woods with them as Jane had to get home to her baby. Sam and Thomas stayed downstairs with the officers, who came to help check for clues, and waited in case the kidnappers called—they thou
~SIERRA~Ava explained planning Damian’s parents' deaths because, as she said, the company and everything the Winters owned belonged to her. She explained how she got Damian on a drug so he would have terrible headaches. “I haven't been giving it to him lately, so he seems to be overcoming it,” she added. Then she explained using Carl to have her revenge on Mr. Reid since Damian’s parents were out of her way now."Oh, and the second man who left my mother couldn't be found. Turns out my so-called father wasn't useless as he took him down, leaving his son and wife in the streets.”“Son?”"Yes, your brother.”“What?!”“Ow, don't tell me the detective hasn't told you that you're his sister; that's why he has been protective over you; it's because you're his little sister.”“What?!” again I asked, as this was too much. How was it possible that Detective Thomas was my brother? Okay, nothing was making sense.“The man your father was cheating with was Thomas’s father.” She said, but I shook
~SIERRA~I haven't seen Ava since forever; she said to be in New York working with patients. How was it that she was here? My eyes roamed the room, and I realized, unlike where Lily took me, this place seemed like a home as I was on a sofa. I was almost relaxed, but when I saw that both my legs and hands were tied, I panicked.“W-what's going on? Why am I here? And…”“This is not the time for questions, Sierra; trust me.” Ava cut me as she picked a glass of wine on the table and took a sip before she placed it down and then stared at me.I still didn't understand what was happening, but something was clear: Ava tied my legs and hands, which meant she was the one who caused that accident; she was the one who kidnapped me.“Ava I…”“I will shut your mouth for you if you don't shut it; it's me to talk, not you.” She calmly said, and I nodded my head. Then she stood up with the glass of wine in her hands and said, "See, years ago, Rosemarie was just an innocent girl who didn't know the w
~SIERRA~I cleaned my cheeks and then walked toward my car. My driver was standing out as he opened the door for me. “To the station,” I told him as he waited for my instruction."Yes, ma’am,” he said and then started the car.Again, I found my hand traveling down to my flat belly. I never planned for this, and now that Damian didn't want the child, I was not going to keep it. I haven't seen myself pregnant for over five years, especially with Damian's child again.Or maybe he knew that I fell pregnant and he was doing the same thing he did years ago, running away. I closed my eyes and tried to focus. No, I couldn't let this distract me; I won't let it get in my way of finally having peace.“Ms. Reid,” the driver's voice shook me out of my thoughts. I then realized we had arrived at the station. “Should I come in with you?” He asked as he opened the door for me. I shook my head and told him to wait for me there; he just worked for me; I didn't need him to mix with my problems.When I
~SIERRA~No, this was not happening; I won't let it happen again. So I banged once more and the door flew open, and Damian, who looked healthy like he was not just in a coma, opened and asked me to come in. I could tell by his facial expression that something was wrong.“Do you want anything?” He asked as I took a seat on the sofa. No, I was calm. I was not the same Sierra from years ago who burst when he started acting like this. I was a mature, respectful woman. I couldn't act on my emotions, so I asked him for a glass of water.He walked away to the kitchen, and my eyes couldn't help but roam the area; it was just the same as I left it, in Cassie's style.“Water,” Damian's voice made me turn to him. I took the glass from his hand and thanked him, then placed it on the table.“Okay,” I cleared my throat as he looked restless like he wanted me to leave. “The doctor called me and told me you left without his consent.”"Yeah, I'm feeling fine; why should he keep me there?” He sounded r