~SIERRA~Gilbert shook his head, and with his facial expression, I could tell he assumed I was with Damian. “I can’t believe you. How could you do this to me?”“Excuse me?”“I’ve been here for you all these years. I made sure you and your children were okay. I made sure you were living a comfortable life, a life that bastard denied you.”“Okay stop! I’m grateful for all you’ve done, for being there for me, but don’t forget that I worked hard for everything I have now,” I said–I was not going to allow a man to make me think less of myself; I did it with Damian, not with anyone else.“It’s because of my restaurant that you were able to build more,” he said, sounding as if I was ungrateful.“A restaurant you sold me—a restaurant that was going bankrupt—or did you forget how you told me that no one was willing to pay for it at a fair price?” I raised my brow and walked toward him. “And now you make it seem like you did me a huge favor when it’s quite the opposite; if anything, I did you a
~SIERRA~With the detectives' words, I remembered what Lily said: that Damian might be behind everything, but how could he? Why would he do that, or did he have anything to do with my father's deal? Maybe he was part of it, or maybe he was the one who made him sign it in the first place. Oh, what can I expect from Damian? He was obviously behind it.“We plan to take him for questioning tomorrow,” the detective said, and it shook me out of my thoughts.
~SIERRA~I left the room and headed straight to the guest room, the one Gilbert slept in. I checked the cupboard and saw that all his clothes were not there anymore. Lana was telling the truth, he had left. “Which time did he leave the house?” I asked Lana, as I wanted to see the possibility of making it to the airport in time.“I'm afraid it's very early, by now his plane could have landed in Houston,” she answered, and I nodded. How would I tell the kids that Gilbert left without telling them goodbye? “Please take my phone from the kid's room to my bedroom and prepare me a warm bath,” I instructed, and she nodded before she left. I stayed in Gilbert's room and looked around, hoping to find something, and I did. A note on the table—it had my name on it, so I assumed he had written it for me. I took it and opened it, then read it in my heart.‘Good morning, Sierra, I've decided to fly back to Texas to think. You are right, the marriage was an agreement. I apologize for falling in lov
~SIERRA~I still couldn't believe it. Damian and Carl were friends, but if they were friends, why did he send me threatening messages, or was Damian asking him to do that, and why didn't he tell Damian that I had triplets instead of a daughter?“Are you okay? Oh, silly question. What do you plan to do now?” She asked, and I shook my head as I didn't know where to start. “Don't worry, I still plan on getting information from Cassie and Damian. I will add Carl to the list,” Lily said, and I nodded.“Why didn't I know about Carl? I do remember James, but Carl, why hasn't he come to the house once?” I asked myself out loud, but Lily answered.“Because Carl was not like James, I don't know what games he's playing, but I'm sure Damian is behind it,” she said, and I shook my head.“If Damian was behind it, then he could know I have triplets and not a daughter.”“Oh Sierra I know Damian better than anyone, and trust me when I say he's behind it because he is,” Lily said, and I nodded—arguing
~SIERRA~“Lana, take Nathan to the room,” I ordered Lana, who nodded and led Nathan away—-Nathan was not stubborn, in fact among my children he was the most mature and understanding one. I turned to Ethan, who had a questionable face. “He's not,” I said."Well, even a fool can tell he's Damians' child, their resemblance, does—does he know?” “Of course not. Can we go, or should I go back in?”“After you,” he said, and I walked out. He followed behind me, my heart was beating fast, with Ethan knowing, it wouldn't be long for it to reach Damian's ears, and then what? Damian would surely start fighting for custody. My driver was already ready to take us. “Can we just go with my car?”“I told you, it's not safe for me to go without guards, they will be in the car, and no one will even notice them. If you feel uncomfortable, you can use your car, and then we can meet there,” I told him. Although I wasn't willing to let him ride alone, I needed to convince him or even ask him to keep it to
~SIERRA~Lily ran to Cassie, maybe it was to try to calm her down while Ethan tried to hold my hand. I don't know what made him think this mere embarrassment would make me uncomfortable, because this just showed how desperate Cassie was."Oh, did you hear that? I also heard she is his ex-wife.”“Do you think they want to get back together?”“Whatever was between them is over now, she must understand.” I heard them whisper as if I were not just near them. I couldn't listen to their comments anymore, this was childish."Oh, are you sure you want to mess with her? I would take that back if I were you,” Ethan turned and said to one of the gossipers. The lady listening to Ethan looked at me before she shouted.“Ms. Reid!” She sounded as if she couldn't believe I was there. “She's one of the most popular businesswomen in Texas,” she said, and just like magic, everyone stopped talking and looked at me. Well, that was just for a minute, as again, they started talking, but not about stealing C
~CASSIE~Since Sierra returned, Damian has changed, he doesn’t touch me or even want to be near me anymore. Even after finding out I was pregnant, he just suggested we care for the child, not jump or celebrate like I imagined him to. I mean, a child is what he had forced me to have for the past years, and now here he was, feeling like it came at the wrong time, not feeling there was once he actually said it as he wanted to win Sierra back.Well, I was not just going to sit and watch him win her back, in fact, I made it my mission for him to fall back for me, if not me, then at least the baby, so I took it upon myself and invited people for the engagement party, even when there was no real engagement. I managed to convince Damian that this was ne
~CASSIE~It was the next morning. I usually wake up late, but today since I was meeting that mysterious caller, I couldn’t miss that for anything in the world. I went straight to the shower and took a bath. After the bath, I dressed up and prepared myself for the day. I had an appointment with the doctor too, and I wanted to go there early as the caller told me we would meet during lunchtime.After getting ready, I walked down, not expecting to find anyone, but I found Ava and Damian. “Ava, I didn’t know you were coming this early,” I said, and walked to them. Ava has never really liked me since years ago when I broke her lovely cousin’s heart. I walked to Damian and almost kissed his lips, but he turned, so my lips landed on h
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