ZORA—"I can't really believe you did this, Jeffrey. What came over you?" Zayn asked him with so much worry in his voice."I'm so sorry, sir. I was manipulated by Madam," he answered, crying and clutching his palms as he pleads for mercy."Madam?" Felicia frowned and slapped him so bad that he almost fell back while kneeling.Not gonna lie, I never knew Felicia still had so much energy to shake the stamina of a young man with just a slap."Which Madam are you trying to set up? You want to involve my lovely wife Zora, huh?" She asked and slapped him one more time before Zayn intervened."Leave her, Mama. I believe he knows what he's saying," he said, gazing at Jeffrey in a scrutinizing way."Which Madam are you talking of?""Your wife Paige?" he answered, and Zayn gasped in shock."Okay, go on," Zayn said, taking out his phone to record."She approached me the night of the party and proposed to make me manager of one of your firms if I could eliminate Grandma," he paused, sobbing before
ZORA —"I'll get her gift when I plan for it, just as I planned for yours and our baby today," he replied, acting unbothered."It's fine. She's your grandmother, while I'm just her daughter-in-law—oops, ex-daughter-in-law," I said, sighing."That being said, no one has explained the mystery behind the heirloom ring that nearly caused Grandma high blood pressure upon noticing that it was missing."Zayn laughed faintly and swallowed hard. "It's not something we should discuss in front of Daisy, my love," he whispered with a soothing voice and placed a kiss on my cheek.He glanced at his wristwatch and gently lifted my head from his shoulder."It's almost midnight. I need to go get some fireworks for the New Year welcome frenzy," he said, slowly lifting Daisy from his body."Mommy, I'll be back," he said to her before leaving, leaving only me and Daisy in the room."Mommy, where is Daddy rushing to?" Daisy asked me with a pout on her lips, which made her look even cuter."He's out to get
ZORA—The New Year celebrations were already over, and we're on the second of January, so everyone is now back to reality, planning about life and preparing for work.I was in Daisy's room getting her things together because, to me, we would be leaving soon. After all, I've stayed enough with Zayn in such an emergency invitation. Had he talked about it perhaps two weeks before the time, we might even spend up to one month here.I was in the middle of the assignment when a thought struck my head, weakening me. It was a thought of Jason."He must really be grieving for my betrayal," I muttered, shaking my head. "Well, Jason, I hope you forgive me because I tried everything possible to get along with you, but the emotion wasn't there."I suddenly stopped and sat down, supporting my head with my hand as I thought of what to do."Call him to know if he would even respond. With that, you'd know how mad he is with you and how to tackle the situation," my instincts suggested."Yes. This will w
ZORA—"I should go spend time with my daughter too. I've accompanied you enough," Zayn said, cupping my cheeks, making me giggle shyly."Mommy, come on, let's go on a boat cruise," Zayn said, heading to fetch Daisy, who was already playing on her own as Nicholas' daughter had already left for their house, leaving only Daisy, who never gets tired of playing.I watched with so much joy as he put on her life jacket before taking her into the boat. He then wore his and entered the boat as well. He put on the seat belt and made Daisy cling to his waist, holding his waist tightly so she doesn't fall off during the cruise.When he was sure everything was in order, he turned on the engine, and they both waved at me, which I returned with smiles on my face before they took off.My gaze fixated on them until they were out of sight before I exhaled a sigh, realizing that I wasn't alone on the lawn. I tilted my head to check on Grandma, only for our eyes to collide."I can see you're enjoying you
ZORA—"So what do you think of what your mother said?" I asked Zayn, who was resting his head on my bosom.We had just returned from the lawn fun activities, and now we were resting in our bedroom while Daisy was in her room as well, sleeping. It's almost night, so we're just waiting for dinner before going to bed.The activities at Nicholas' mansion have left her so tired that she just went to bed upon arrival."She did make sense, but I don't know what to say," he answered, taking his head off my bosom to meditate."Do you mean that you don't have a say in this issue?" I asked him with a creased forehead, infuriated by his response."Not at all, dear. Don't misquote me. I'm just... I'm... I'm. Damn, in fact, come stay with me here. After all, I'm a billionaire and can take care of you and our baby without any stress," he said, sighing.I exhaled a deep breath, silent for a while, which made him worried."You're not talking?" he asked, exasperated by my silence."What should I have do
DAISY —"So, doctor, what is the result?" Blake asked as soon as he barged into the doctor's office upon the doctor's summons.However, when he saw the solemn look on my face, his body weakened instantly."Um, calm down, Mr. Blake. Please have a seat," the doctor remarked, bringing out the test results. Before she could even stretch out her hand to give them to Blake, he snatched them from her and began scanning through them."Fuck!" He exclaimed, kicking the air with his hand as he saw what was written there.He exhaled a deep sigh of frustration before swallowing the lump that formed in his throat."Calm down, Mr. Blake. None of you are to be blamed for this unfortunate situation, but..."Blake did not even wait for the doctor to finish speaking, and he rose to his feet, flinging the test result to me and heading out of the office with his gaze upcast. He wasn't happy at all.At that moment, with the expression on his face, if a fly mistakenly perched on his face, it was surely goin
ZAYN—"Babe, what about your friend Daisy? I haven't seen you talking to her or mentioning her lately. Are you still in touch with her?" He asked, running his fingers through my hair as I rested my head on his chest, feeling the softness of his beard.We both were lying on the bed, taking advantage of that prime time of the early hours of the morning. Unlike usual, we didn't have sex today because we had enough last night—in fact, almost throughout yesterday was sex that we accomplished."Of course I do. But you stole my attention throughout this period that I couldn't even think of calling her," she replied, sighing and giving me an unserious deadpan look.I chuckled and responded, "As it should be. I deserve all the attention.""While I don't deserve yours, right?" She asked with a tone of jealousy, leaving me curious. Hadn't I been giving her my attention since our reunion?"What is that supposed to mean? Had I not been here with you throughout this week, I didn't even visited my o
Blake —My hand landed on something soft, and my subconscious guided them to form a gentle circle, as if cradling a delicate object. The sensation brought me a strange sense of satisfaction, and I pinched them.The softness made me wake up to see what it really was, and then I saw her—a lady lying close to me.“Ah…” I gasped in shock, taken aback as I noticed it was her breasts that I was touching all this while. Apparently, she was naked because she only covered her body with the duvet, but some parts of her cleavage were showing.I was startled upon realizing that I was in a hotel room with a naked lady.I slowly raised the duvet to observe myself, to confirm if my instincts were right, but unfortunately, it is what it is—I was naked as well."What is going on here? How did I get here?" I asked, shaking her and waking her up from sleep.I could only remember going to the bar to drink in order to forget my problems, especially the issue of childlessness in my marriage, but finding my
Jason —Two years laterI was in my penthouse in South Carolina, sipping my wine and admiring the beautiful city view when my fiancée Clara called my name from inside."Babe, your phone is ringing," she said, rushing over to hand it to me."Who's calling?" I asked curiously, not expecting any calls that day as I had decided to take a break from work."It's an unsaved number, but Truecaller says it's Zora," she replied, handing me the phone.I felt disappointed at the mention of that name. I thought I had blocked her, so how was she able to reach me?I hesitated to answer the call, but Clara had made the effort to bring me the phone, so I reluctantly accepted it to avoid devaluing her efforts or raising suspicions of infidelity."Speak," I said as soon as I accepted the call."Um, good morning, Jason. I'm really sorry for everything. I just hope you can find a place in your heart to forgive me, even though it may be difficult," a weak, feminine voice cried from the other end of the line
ZORA—"Hello, Zayn," I said as soon as I answered the call. My voice was so cold that it was enough to let him know I was not happy with him."Hello, baby. What happened? Is there a problem?" He asked inquisitively, trying to soften my mood as he knew he had upset me."Are you pretending not to know what you did? Okay, setting that aside, why didn't you pick up my calls?"He gasped and asked, "When? Oh, that must have been when I was in a meeting with some of our collaborators.""I'm really sorry," he added, sighing."It's okay. Actually, I wanted to ask about your close friend Blake. Have you been in touch with him recently?""Of course, I just spoke with him this morning. Is there an issue? Is he okay?" His concerned tone indicated he was starting to worry."Well, Daisy and I have been unable to reach him. He's unreachable while Daisy is undergoing the artificial insemination procedure. We're concerned that something may have happened to him, but since you said you spoke with him th
ZORA—I was at the office when I lied to Daisy on the call, telling her that I was off to work. Thankfully, there was nothing else to do in the office, as the board of directors had canceled the meeting that was supposed to happen in a few minutes.I went home, picked up my daughter, and drove to the hospital where Daisy is doing the artificial insemination.Upon our arrival at the hospital, she was already in the operating room, so we had to sit in the waiting room and pray for her safe operation."Mommy, where is Aunty Daisy? I thought you told me we were coming here to see her?" Daisy asked with a worried look on her face."Of course, darling. We're here for her, and she's here. She's just inside the operating room, so we have to wait for her," I explained calmly, caressing her hair with a smile on my lips."But what happened to her? Is she sick? I don't want her to be sick because she promised me to give birth to a girl I could go to school with.""Absolutely. That's the main reas
DAISY—"Really? I can't believe Paige came to your house. But I thought she was in prison. How did she escape?" I asked Zora in astonishment after she told me about her recent encounter with Paige."Honestly, dear. I couldn't imagine what might have happened if I did not show up at home by that time. The fact that I saw her carrying Daisy and that she was sitting comfortably on her thighs makes me want to throw up, gosh." I could hear her voice as she sighed. She was traumatized by the experience."Calm down, Zora. The most important thing is that you were able to save your daughter from her, and I hope you have taught her not to embrace strangers at all unless you approved her to do so.""Of course I did a long time ago. That was why I was stunned. I think Paige was using a sort of voodoo on my household. First, it was Zayn, and now my daughter." She said this with a pathetic voice."Oh, dear, don't think those things. What matters now is that your daughter is fine, okay?" I said, tr
ZORA—"When you do, come back to drive this lady out of my house."Amanda's facial expression changed instantly. She gave me a worried look, but she dared not question my authority."Come on, Zora, why are you causing a scene? Your daughter Daisy likes me, and that's why she was comfortable with me. You should let her go up when she wants to," Paige said with a disdainful tone, rising to her feet to leave and avoid embarrassment."I'd rather punch a rock than leave my daughter with a demon like you," I remarked, hissing with irritation on my face.Thankfully, Daisy and Amanda were already halfway upstairs, so they couldn't hear us exchanging words. Nevertheless, I would still scold Daisy later for feeling too comfortable with someone she barely knows to the point of snubbing me when I called her to embrace me."Well, thanks to the universe, you saw with your own eyes that I did not force your daughter to be with me. She was enchanted by my beauty just like her father was.""Beauty att
ZORA —"Well, I don't have an answer for that right now," he replied, releasing me and turning away, heading to the room to avoid further questions, unwilling to reveal what he was keeping to himself.I let out a deep sigh, gazing at him for a few seconds, and I shook my head with a faint smile on my lips. "Now it all makes sense," I blurted out, but he only winced in response.After washing my face, I went to his kitchen to prepare a meal for both of us and one for him to keep in the refrigerator. Surprisingly, he kept checking on me in the kitchen, assisting with cutting vegetables and other tasks to speed up the food preparation, something he had never done before.Usually, when he was at home, he would either be reading or watching football.Once the meal was ready, we sat down to eat, and Zayn was delighted, expressing his wish for me to cook for him every day.After we finished eating, he offered to drive me home, which I accepted, as it would also give him a chance to see Daisy
ZORA —"Could you tell me why you mostly felt absent-minded yesterday?" Zayn asked, hugging me from behind and sniffing my neck as we lay on the bed.It was early morning, and we were already in his mansion, specifically in his bedroom, which I couldn't explain how we ended up there. His sweet words were always irresistible.I was scrolling through my contact list trying to call the lady I hired to babysit my daughter yesterday when he asked the question, so I couldn't answer.I needed space to think over the question so I wouldn't say something I'd regret later. Therefore, I pressed the call button, and fortunately, Clara answered on the first beep."Is there a problem with Daisy? I hope the babysitter can take proper care of her," Zayn said with a worried look."Yeah. Daisy is fine. I was just checking up on her," I said to him after speaking with Clara."Oh, you don't have to worry so much about her. After all, she has her phone and could dial any of our numbers if she faces troubl
ZORA—It was about six o'clock in the evening when Zayn and I met at a grand five-star hotel in Southampton City.During the afternoon, we discussed, and he pleaded for me to come alone with a promise not to initiate sex.I had told him about my plan of coming with Daisy because I've been troubled about sleeping with him when we're not yet legally together."You look elegantly beautiful, dear. This dress fits perfectly on you," he commented as he welcomed me to the hotel."Really? Thank you. I wore it to look good for you," I replied, smiling as we walked inside the building while holding hands like couples.Zayn went to the receptionist and collected a room key. Not going to lie, this instilled fear in me.The restaurant is somewhat a combination of a hotel and a restaurant because it has some potential rooms for booking and other necessities required in a hotel.I wanted to question the need for the key, but I maintained my composure, deciding to refuse or raise an alarm when he took
ZORA —"Zora, I don't like your sudden decision to go back to Zayn, but..." Daisy exhaled a sigh and continued, "Who am I to question your decision?" she added with a solemn expression.It happened that she was on furlough today, so I asked her to accompany me shopping. I wanted to buy some new dresses for the dinner tonight—I wanted to look unique and different to Zayn and not wear one of the outfits he's used to."No worries, Daisy, I'm being careful with him. After all, we haven't officially reunited because the divorce documents have to be disqualified," I replied, patting her shoulder with a chuckle."It's fine. I'm only looking out for your best interest," she shrugged off, sighing."Yes, dear. So tell me about the latest update. Are you going to proceed with the artificial insemination procedure we discussed?" I asked her, wanting to change the topic.She had told me earlier about the recent issues she had been having with her husband regarding their childlessness, which I sugg