~SIERRA~They say one shall never forget their first love, and Damian happened to be mine. I know I've lived the past five years forgetting him, but here I am, ready to kiss him, or will I? I brought myself back to my senses as I opened my eyes, which I didn't realize were closed, then pulled away. No, I couldn't let him do this; I was here for my children, not myself.I don't care if he did it to protect me; he still hurt me, and a normal person would have spoken to me about it. Yes, he saved my life, and that is the only reason I'm giving him a chance with my children.There was silence for a moment. I could feel the tension growing between us. “About Cassie,” I tried to clear the tension.“Hmm...” he hummed and moved backward. I looked up so I could see his face, and I saw a hint of hurt in his eyes. Well, I've never imagined this day—a day where I would reject Damian and he would be hurt. It was always vice versa; Damian was the one to reject me, and I was the one hurt.“Do you kn
~SIERRA~With his facial expression, I could tell he was still surprised, but I could also see the guilt in his eyes. He opened his mouth but ended up mumbling words that didn't make sense. “They've been suspicious of your similarities with Nathan; I'm sure they will be so happy to know that you're their father,” I said, trying to make it seem less awkward. Damian didn't respond with words but a nod. I was about to add more when suddenly the detective joined us and asked if I could speak to him privately. Of course, I decided to go with him without second thoughts; it might be about Carl.“I'm sorry for interrupting,” he apologized as we reached his office, but I shook my head to show that it was okay and then asked about Carl. If the chief changed his mind, I knew it was risky, but I was willing to take the risk. His text said he was coming here for me, but I didn't trust it. I also didn't want him to come here because my children were here, and again, I didn't want them to get invol
~CASSIE~I left Sierra scrolling through the voice notes. I had no idea what they were about. I just told her what Lily told me. I was surprised that she didn't notice how anxious I was. I thought she would notice the earpiece, but she didn't. I mean, how could she when I covered it with my hair? Well, I was glad I did what Lily asked me to. Now it was time for me to leave the country. She promised to help, and even though I didn't completely trust her, I hoped she wouldn't play me.When I reached back to the van, I started talking to Lily. “You said you would have everything ready for me to leave the country, right?”“Of course. You did a good job, and I am going to help you, but first, we need to celebrate,” she said, and I agreed. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I was afraid of Lily; she scared me. I mean, how did she manage to fool Damian and Sierra when she was behind everything? And Carl, who was a Mafia member—how did she get to him? However she did it, Lily was dangerous,
~CASSIE~I didn't want to die. Sure, I killed someone, but I didn't want to kill that doctor. Lily forced me to. I knew if I didn't kill him, she could have killed me, so no, I was not as evil as her, and I didn't deserve death, so I took in a shaky breath before I nodded. Maybe he could save me.Maybe I'll live.“I have a plan,” he said, and my eyes widened to show that I was listening to him. “I'll give you a drug that will make you seem like you're dead, then talk to one of the doctors to declare you dead. That way, you can have enough time to plan your escape,” he said, and I nodded. “And there's an effect; the temporal drug can cause your death, but that's the best I can do.” Again, I nodded without responding; this was better than real death.“Thank you,” I said, and he nodded.“Just pretend like you don't know anything so she can be less suspicious,” he said, and I again nodded. I didn't fully trust him; what if he was faking it? What if this was part of Lily's plan to kill me?
~CASSIE~After an hour, we reached Damian's home, and the guards instructed me to get out of the car. “We will wait for you here; just go and get what the boss sent you to, then come back,” the one who was driving said, and I nodded even knowing it was a lie as they planned to leave me here, I got out of the car and looked back at the car which stopped, it has been driving behind us and was the same car I saw at Lily's house. The guard who was assisting me got out of it and asked me to get it.“We are going to drive away now; remember to keep it cool; everything will be over tomorrow,” he said and gave me the car keys. We were a distance from Damian's, which I knew was for safety reasons. "We will call the boss trusted doctors in the morning but don't worry, I'll talk to one of them who will declare you dead but secretly help you,” he said, and I nodded, ignoring the unsettling feeling. Everyone was going to think that I was dead; just the thought of that made me so uncomfortable.“Th
~SIERRA~No, nothing was making sense now. I walked to the bed and sat down, as I felt like I was losing my mind. “What?!”“It's a long story. I know you think I'm dead, but I'm not, and I need your help,” she said, and I bit my inner cheeks as I thought I was dreaming. “I will explain everything to you.”“No, when did we become friends?”“Listen, I have nowhere to go; Damian probably hates me, and I can't even think of Ava, as I know she hates me too.”“Well, maybe you didn't hear, but Damian has been arrested for your death, which I now see is unjust because you are very much alive.”“I know I heard it, please. I need your help, Sierra; my life depends on it. I will explain everything, why I faked my death, and...”“Oh, so you faked your death?” I sarcastically asked."Sierra, please, trust me; I want to help Damian.”"Well, he doesn't need your help because, fortunately, your body was poisoned and you were not home all day, so Damian is kind of saved.”“I know that, but trust me, t
~SIERRA~“Lily is behind everything.” She said, and I confusedly looked at her. “She's been the one sending you those notes.” I was still confused. What did she mean by that? Sure, Lily betrayed me, but that was because Damian forced her, and no matter how she has been behaving lately, Lily was still the reason I succeeded. When Damian divorced me, she was there for me; she helped me book a ticket to Texas. I even remember her offering me a place to stay when Damian left me in the hospital. Lily was a good person, and I knew there was no way she would ever do such a thing to hurt me.“Cassie, do you know what you’re saying?” I asked as there was no way Lily was behind this; she even lost Lucas all because of the mysterious Carl, so how was it that she was behind the notes? “And besides, we do know who’s behind the notes; we are just trying to get to him.”“Don't try,” she said, and I shook my head in confusion; this was not the Cassie I knew. “Carl is dangerous, and Lily is working w
~SIERRA~I looked at Cassie, who was on her knees, her hands joined together in a begging position. “Sam?” I stood up from my seat as she walked in.“What's going on here? Please don't tell me you set Mr. Winters up because I won't believe you.” Sam was in shock; her eyes were on Cassie, who was still on her knees. Luckily, Beatrice had already closed the door as she left. “It's not what it looks like; I can explain, Sam.”“Explain what? There's nothing to explain here; you set up Mr. Winters; oh my god, was this your way to take revenge?”“Sam…”“She didn't set him up; I did.” Cassie took the blame.“What?” Sam turned to her and said, "It's obvious the two of you set him up, oh my god.”“No,” Cassie stood up, “Sierra has nothing to do with this; I'm here because I need her help.”“It doesn't matter; she still knows you're alive and kept it from the police.”“Police?” Cassie panicked. The mention of the police scared her. I mean, she should as if she killed someone, right?"Cassie, s
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