TEXAS, HOUSTON 2023
~SIERRA~
I couldn’t believe him, so because I almost kissed him, he thought I wanted to sleep with him. I gestured to my guard to pay for the bill and stood up. "Please,” he begged. I only looked at him and attempted to walk away, and he stood too, and held me by my hand. But before I could ask him to let me go, one of my guards came and got between us. “Sierra, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” he apologized. "Please stay, let’s chat,” he said, but I shook my head and walked out with my other guard holding my hand while the others held him. Luckily, the bar was not filled with people as it was still early, so no dramas.
<TEXAS, HOUSTON 2023~SIERRA~Nana was right, Ava couldn't keep anything from Damian. I can't believe I trusted her. I didn't want to sound guilty, as I didn't do nothing wrong. “I don't know what you're talking about, and what gave you the right to call me this late?”“I had already done DNA on them, you will not keep them from me anymore, I will be in their lives. God, Sierra, I can't believe you did this,” he said."Wait, are you serious right now? Are you sure you haven't taken alcohol because...”
~SIERRA~I couldn't believe it. Why hasn't Lily told me that she has a crush on Damian? Nothing made sense. “Detective, are you sure? This is a serious accusation.”“I'm very sure, Ms. Reid, we have proof to back up the accusations. I suggest you talk to her and listen to her side of the story.”“I will,” I said, clearing my throat, then asked, “So what do you plan to do now that you have the suspects?”"Well, I was hoping you add anyone that you suspect or...”“I don't have anyone in mind,” I said, sidestepping him."Well, in that case, we will start with our interrogation, we will visit each of them one by one and ask a few questions,” he said, but I didn't want that to happen now, I didn't want any scandal, especially now that Damian found out about the triplets.“Detective can't that wait, at least start with it after a month, a lot is going on now, and I want to focus on one problem.”“I'm sorry, Ms. Reid, but your father's case is the one we have been wanting to solve for years.
~SIERRA~But as we reached the garden, my heart skipped a beat. I couldn't believe the sight before me. Damian was with my kids and looking at them, I could tell they loved him. Ingrid even plucked a flower and put it in his blazer pocket. I couldn't believe how happy they all looked. Atlas, who never liked talking was giggling while playing with Damians’ wristwatch. Tears welled in my eyes as I once again found myself imagining our life if Damian had accepted them when I was pregnant. Maybe Atlas could not be this slow at talking, as he looked happy with Damian. “Ms. Reid, is everything okay?” Anna shook me out of my thoughts. I caught the tear that almost escaped my eyes and sniffed before I turned to her and told her I was okay.“
~SIERRA~I wanted Damian to explain his meaning by saying they were in danger. I knew he knew about the notes, maybe because of the attack the other day at the club, but I felt like he was hiding something else since the detective said he knew Carl, so I asked him to go for coffee so we could talk, and he agreed. After telling Anna that the kids would be picked up at the same time we went to a nearby cafe, I got in my car, and he went in his and followed us.At the cafe, I got in with two of my guards—for security, I sat down. Damian was still in his car, so I ordered two cups of coffee. It took him five minutes to join me. “Wait, are we talking in front of your guards?” he asked, sitting across from me. I looked at my guards, who were standing beside me, and turned to him.“I don't see a problem, I trust them and I need security.”“That's the reason I need to be in their lives, Sierra, I can't afford to lose them, I need to be there to protect them.”“You know,” I cleared my throat,
~SIERRA~I couldn't believe it. Was the detective perhaps right about Nana being responsible for the cards? But how could that be possible? Nana raised me. Yes, when the fights between Mom and Dad got worse, I ran to live with Nana. She treated me like her own daughter, despite my father hating me. She didn't care that her son wanted nothing to do with me; instead, she embraced me and gave me everything I needed. I sat on the chair as I felt my knees go weak. Why would my grandmother betray me like this?“Ms. Reid, are you there?” the detective's voice brought me out of my thoughts I had even forgotten that I was on a call with him, I cleared my throat and tried to speak but I could not form any words, “I just thought to let you know why I
~SIERRA~But I couldn't show it to my kids, I didn't want to make them sad when they were still not over Gilbert. This might remind them of Gilbert, so I took my glass of juice and sipped on it before I turned to Nathan and told him Nana was just running late. “She will be here soon,” I said.“But it's already late, Mamma, how can she be at the hospital for the whole day?” Ingrid asked.“That's because her case is special. Oh, there she is.” Nana walked in, and no, she was not dressed in the black clothes but rather in her favorite dress.“I hear my name, does that mean I was missed?” Nana asked, standing by the door, and they all stood up and ran to her. “Okay, with this, I can tell you missed me,” she said while they held her so tight that I could see from here that she was struggling to move."Okay, loves, let Nana settle in, and your food is getting cold,” I said, and they pulled away, then came back to the table. “Sierra, how are you?” Nana came to me and kissed my cheeks. I don
~DAMIAN~After Cassie confirmed she knew about the triplets, I felt so betrayed. Even though she said she just found out a day ago she was supposed to tell me, I left the house and went to Avas’ apartment. I told her about the triplets, and she told me she had just found out about them an hour ago. Again, I felt betrayed because if she found out an hour ago, why didn't she call to tell me about them since I was her cousin? I felt like no one in my life was genuine, all of them were deceivers, and even Jane, my trusted PA, hid it from me.I was not going to spend another hour crying over betrayers. I called Jane and asked her to give me their school address, and she did. The next morning, I woke up early and went to the school, but upon arriving, I fel
~DAMIAN~I didn't need to second-guess who the person responsible for taking company funds was, I knew it was Cassie. I just didn't know the reason she did it. Adrian sent her half of the money she needed, why did she have to take money that didn't belong to her? But I had a question, a question only she could answer, and that question was: how did she get access to the company's funds?After leaving Sierra at the cafe, I drove straight home, as I needed to confront her. It took less than ten minutes to arrive at my house. “Maybe she should just go back to her apartment, I will care for her from there,” I said to myself and parked the car in the garage. I went into the house through the kitchen and called Cassie's name, but she didn't respond. “Cassie?!” I went to her room, but as I entered, she hid something under her pillow, stood up from the bed, and asked me to leave her room.“We are not together, you can't just come into my room without knocking,” she said, and I shook my head.