Chapter 13Lorraine It was a lie—a blatant lie! I felt something so strong that I didn't want to acknowledge. Gosh, I thought those feelings were dead but I guess they had been buried in a dark corner of my heart and all it took was a single kiss to stir it up. I quickly walked away so that he wouldn't notice how I truly felt. He'd use it against me once he found out that I was trying to rile him up. The door of our bedroom flung open as I tucked myself under the duvet with Dexter sighing intermittently. "I saw Blake and Liam today at a bar. It's been a long while since I met them." My throat constricted and a deep feeling of dread, stemming from the memories of the past dropped into the pit of my stomach. "How are they?" I asked, hoping I sounded as nonchalant as I could because they never mattered to me, not after the indelible scars they caused me. Dexter turned around and smiled at me. "They are fine. Did you ask because you actually care or you just want to know?"
Chapter 14Lorraine I refused to acknowledge how much Dexter's worried expression affected me. I thought we both loathed each other? How could my pain make him feel this way? He flashed a reassuring stare at me, "How do you feel?" He didn't even wait for me to respond when he bombarded me with another question. "Is it getting any worse? Don't worry, we'll soon arrive at the hospital." "Thank you." I whispered as I willed myself to refrain from touching my ankle. The pain increased by the minute but I suppressed the yelp that nearly burst out of my lips and thought of how to continue the conversation. "How did you know that I'd sprained my ankle?" "I was about to enter the room to check on the progress of the training when I heard your scream. It really did something to me and I'd have lost my peace if I didn't help out." He responded with a little grudge. A smile formed at the corner of my lips and butterflies fluttered in the pit of my stomach, knowing that he still cared a bi
Chapter 15Lorraine Time passed between us as we kept staring at each other in silence. Stefan cleared his throat, reminding us that he was still around. "You're here, Mr Hemmingway." He chuckled nervously. "Yes, I am and what are you doing in my house?" He asked in a tone that showed how indignant and jealous he was. "Oh no," I muttered under my breath, thinking of several ways to salvage the situation. This was the last thing I wanted. Since it was a fake marriage, I didn't want anyone to know about it to avoid a scandal ensuing, but Dexter wasn't making things easier for me. He didn't have to blurt out the truth like that. "Ummm, Stefan, it isn't his house as he said. He just came to visit just like you're doing right now." I chimed, hoping that he would believe me. Stefan swung his gaze from me to Dexter and when Dexter didn't say anything else, he picked up his briefcase which I appreciated as the tension was growing by the minute and headed for the door. "I'm happy to s
Chapter 16Lorraine I regretted asking him that question immediately after the words left my mouth. "Sure," He answered with a lackadaisical tone. "You're going to give me a child, Lorraine. It's a part of the contract." He said obstinately while I raked my hand through my hair. "I can't get pregnant now." I retorted. He folded his hands with an amused expression. "Why not?" My eyes churned with tears at his emotionless question but I blinked hard to keep them from falling. "I don't think I'm ready to have a child after what happened with Eden. Right now, I'm still trying to find myself and having a child with someone I don't love... That would be very difficult." I explained. I loved him before, but I wasn't sure I didn't right now. There were several barriers between us and having a child for him would do nothing but remind me of my resentment for him. "That's well understood and I won't bug you now, but you still have a lot of time to have my child." He walked away, endi
Chapter 17Dexter I watched her leave hastily while putting on my jacket, my mind filled with several thoughts of why she had gotten sudden cold feet. Her reactions to my touch, and the way she moaned that I shouldn't stop touching her made me mad with excitement. But after asking her if she really wanted me, the desire just died off. My heart was tormented with the conclusion that I'd done something wrong and with how tight-lipped she was, I knew that I'd have to move the heavens and the earth to know what really happened. I signaled my chauffeur to drive me to work so that I could think. We had an important meeting with a big organisation who wanted to give us a huge contract and all I could think of was a woman who rejected me twice? Shaking my head vehemently, I decided that I wouldn't allow the thoughts of her to distract me. The contract I was about to bag was much more important than her. After convincing myself over and over again, I put on my laptop and prepared for the
Chapter 18Lorraine The annoying blonde haired lady barged into the training room with a scowl donned on her face. "I've always known that women with innocent faces were more deadly than the devil, but I didn't know that you'd be the one to prove it to me." Emilia fired, interrupting my training session. I willed myself to clamp my lips shut because of my unstable temper that resulted from the brief moment of foolishness I displayed earlier on at home. My mind was still reeling in shock at how I'd let him touch me so intimately. For Christ's sake, my body shouldn't be betraying me this way. I shouldn't even have a soft spot for him. "What do you want?" I snapped at her, causing her to flinch. At least, my response was doing something to bring her down from the high horse she rode on. She chuckled, tsking her tongue as she tilted her head to the side. "What is your relationship with Dexter?" She went straight to the point which I liked. But how on earth did she get the hint that
Chapter 19Lorraine I bobbed my head backward to contain my laughter, which I succeeded in doing. "You aren't serious, are you?" There was hardly any hint of playfulness on his face so I took it that he was serious, but the last thing I'd do is to go on a date with him. "It seems this is a bad idea so I'll just return to my office, but I won't have you loitering around during work hours." He said sternly. "I wasn't loitering." I said in my defense, contemplating on telling him about my encounter with Emilia. It concerned the both of us, so I went ahead. "Emilia suspects something." His eyes widened as he massaged his temples quickly and dropped his hand. "What exactly does she suspect?" "She thinks we are in a relationship." He said nothing else then walked away, his shoulders drooped, probably in disappointment. The day went by in a haze while I earnestly waited for dismissal time. It finally came so I greeted my colleagues goodbye and raced towards the gate. I'd passed thro
Chapter 20Dexter Why did I feel like I'd strained the already overstretched bond that was barely hanging on a thread? I knew how saucy my sister could be with paupers, but Lorraine wasn't one. She was the wife of a billionaire—my wife, yet she agreed to call herself a maid and there was nothing I could do about it. Seeing her all wrapped in Arnold's arm at the entrance that time filled me with a strange kind of feeling I feared to entertain. That moment, it took all my self-will and the reminder that we were in a formal place to stop me from landing an angry punch on his cheeks. No other man has the right to touch her apart from me. I was the only one who could make her body react to my touch even when she thought she didn't want me. I couldn't allow her to continue making a fool of herself so I returned to the sitting room to make sure that Victoria wasn't going overboard on her, and I almost regretted it because Emilia was seated on my chair with a gobsmacked expression on her
Chapter 160ONE YEAR LATER "You look so ravishing," Mrs Gonzales cupped my made up cheeks and planted a kiss on my forehead. "Thank you, aunt." I beamed with a smile as the veil was set on my head while she left the room to attend to something else. Aunty Rosa, as I fondly called her, had become a part of the family. I made her the CEO of my company as she was more than capable of being a leader, and also, I wanted to compensate her for everything she did for my mother. I was fine with being a consultant and when she was ready to retire, I'd take over. Since we moved to Colorado, my life with Dexter had been all shades of fun. The happiness I craved for after losing my mother was restored, and never did a day pass without me thanking the universe for granting me my wishes. And today, after five months of having my twins; Nyla and Brian, I was ready to walk down the aisle and experience what a beautiful wedding felt like. I stood in front of the mirror and stared at how wel
Chapter 159Melissa I peered down at Dexter's sleeping face and sighed. Doctor Luca had constantly assured me that he would be fine, but I was yet to understand why he hadn't woken up already. If Leonardo had succeeded in killing him, I'd have resurrected his dead body and murdered him myself. Actually, I low-key wished that I was the one who shot him, but it didn't matter anymore because he was dead and gone. Staring at the tubes connected to his body caused goosebumps to cover my skin. He was in the situation because of me. My mind wandered as several thoughts filtered in and out of my head. Lilly had come earlier with Mary to visit him, but even her presence couldn't stir him up. No! He couldn't remain this way forever. He had to wake up. I took one of the chairs in the ward and sat beside him, entwining our fingers while I used my free fingers to caress his face lightly. He was still the most handsome man I'd ever seen, even in unconsciousness. "Cupcake, how are you
Chapter 158Melissa Blood drained from my face as the bullet went straight to his chest, causing him to slump on the ground. Leonardo pushed Lilly away and tried to break into a sprint, but he was gunned down by the cops who opened fire on him until his body was filled with bullet holes. If Dexter wasn't lying on the ground in the pool of his own blood, I'd have been rejoicing that the source of all my troubles was dead, but the sight of him in a lifeless state snuffed out any trace of happiness within me. "Get the ambulance, please!" I roared, my heart plummeting as blood gushed out from his mouth. I held his hands, my tears forming a wet mask on my face as I caressed his head. His eyes were shut, but I refused to believe that he was dying. I sat on the ground and placed his head on top of my neck, then I tore the hem of my dress and dabbed his chest with him to reduce the rate of the blood flow. All the while I did that, my heart skipped several beats and my fingers trembl
Chapter 157Dexter"You need to come back home now, sir, Leonardo is threatening to shoot the madam." Mary, my nanny, whispered with a note of urgency as if she was being restricted from talking. At the mention of his name, my heart skipped a beat and my palms became clammy with sweat. Not because I was scared of him, but with him in our house, my wife's safety wasn't guaranteed. I'd gotten her message so there was no need for us to keep talking. I dropped the call and put inspector James on the line. As the minutes passed, my anxiety skyrocketed, threatening to hit the roof. My previously distracted mind was transcending into a state of frenzy and I couldn't do anything about it. He picked up after what seemed like eternity, and if he wasn't a noble police officer, I'd have thrown a punch at him. "Hi, Mr Hemingway. How are—" I cut through the pleasantries with clenched teeth. "I'm not fine, inspector James, Leonardo is in my house right now." "What? How is that even possible?
Chapter 156Melissa The sun shone brightly, the atmosphere bubbly and charged, but my feelings were the direct opposite as I worked on packing the rest of my clothes. It was past one pm, and it gradually dawned on me that in less than three hours, I'd be leaving California to Mexico. Mexico was a nice country, but I wasn't sure it would be nice to me if Dexter wasn't there. What could I do about it? Nothing! The doorbell jingle, so I dropped the last pair of black shoes I'd selected as I didn't know what event I might be attending, even though I planned to stay indoors throughout my visit there. My chest tightened since I wasn't expecting any visitors, then I shook away my suspicion, reminding myself that if it was Leonardo he wouldn't be coming directly through the door. I took a peek at the peephole and found a man standing beside a bike with a box, causing me to frown. It was strange to see him because I didn't make an order and I clearly wasn't expecting anything from some
Chapter 155Melissa He came in, his expression glimmering with pure exhaustion. My eyes intently followed his sluggish movement as I tried to overcome the barrier between us so that I would welcome him properly. "You didn't tell me that you'll be coming back this late. I've been waiting." His eyes darted to his wristwatch, then he palmed his forehead with a sigh. "I'm so sorry. I lost track of time. Today was really hectic, several things had to be put in place and I wanted to oversee some of the activities by myself." He explained calmly, while I peered at him, my jaws slackened in surprise. We were supposed to be having a beef, but here he was, explaining how his entire day went even though his body screamed for rest. Strings of guilt gnawed at my chest as I fiddled with my fingers. I'd been completely selfish, and that was why I couldn't notice that my husband was slowly losing his mind because of my problems. I wasn't even making things easier for him. "Can you come over to
Chapter 154Melissa It was over a week since Leonardo managed to outsmart the cops and ran away, and I'd admit that I lost my peace of mind ever since. He could be lurking around, patiently waiting for the right time to strike and I wouldn't know. I wanted it all to end. I wanted to live happily with my family, take a long break from work and just reap all the fruits of my hard work, but all of my wishes wouldn't happen with Leonardo running freely while his daughter was behind bars. Dexter came into the room with a brown envelope in his hands. Once he heard that Leonardo had escaped, he lost his peace as he aided the cops in searching for him. He had become a shadow of his handsome self, as he was more interested in keeping Lilly and I safe. "Hi, cupcake, how was your day?" I asked as he sank on the bed and kissed my lips lightly. His hands moved to my abdomen which he caressed fondly. It was still flat as the pregnancy hadn't gotten to three months. It was a good thing becau
Chapter 153Melissa Seeing that everyone was already seated in the boardroom, including Leonardo and the rest of the staff, I stood up to address them. "I'm sure you are all wondering why I called for this impromptu meeting. It's because we have an important announcement to make, but before that, I'd like to appreciate everyone who is working tirelessly to ensure that Hills Jewelry is back to the top again." I said and they followed my speech with an ovation. I spoke to them with an air of confidence, passing glances at Leonardo who tried to hide his frown. If only he knew what I had in store for him today, he wouldn't be present at the meeting at all. But I found a way to lure him here, promising him that I was going to help him return to his former position. "You all showed me love and unwavering support, and in these few days of working together, we have been able to convince Troy Golds to partner with us. The partnership will be more beneficial to us because of their influenc
Chapter 152DexterMy heart thudded faster as I waited patiently in Doctor Luca's office for him to come with the DNA test result. I knew that Liam claimed to be Lilly's father and he had several ways of proving it, but for some unknown reasons, I hoped that a miracle would occur and the result would be in my favor. The door made a creaking sound as Doctor Luca let himself in. I searched his face for a clue, but as usual, his face gave away nothing. He sank onto his seat and said nothing for some seconds, then he inhaled and fixed his gaze on me. "The result is ready." He announced like I didn't know already. "Can I have it?" I asked curtly, getting cranky by the minute. He passed a brown envelope to me which I opened. A white paper fell out and I opened it, unwilling to drag the tension further. I scanned through the information, unable to make out what it meant until I got to the end and saw the statement of the result. My heart plummeted when I read that the probability of my