"Good morning." I said the moment I woke up and saw him."How was your sleep?" He asked while adjusting his tie."Sweet. You're off to work already?""Yeah I've got some things to sort out."I hoped to go with him but it was fine. "Okay. Thanks for last night.""Why are you thanking me?" He actually seemed confused."I'm just happy we're cool again." I sighed in relief."It's fine. You're okay this morning?" "Pretty much, yeah." I nodded."Alright. You take care." He kissed my forehead and left."No lips?" I said after the door shut. That gesture had me overthinking in the next minute. I asked myself if he had really forgiven me like he said last night. He came back late again. I assumed it was one of those meetings that took forever. But then, there was a slight trace of alcohol in his breath when we shared a brief kiss. I decided to not question him about it cause I was avoiding a fight.But then again, I saw glitter on the back of his palm. He was at a party, I guessed. That was
"That's your final decision?" He asked calmly. His tone was so calm, it sent chills down my spine. This was definitely the calm before the storm, I was so sure of it. "Yes." I said, trying to steady my already shaky voice. He gave me a hurt-filled glance before regaining his rigid composure, "I was right from the onset. This was always going to cause a rift between us." He unlocked the door and walked past me in swift strides. "You can go," he said before leaving me standing in the middle of the room, thinking of what I had just done. I dropped on my knees again and for the lack of tears just stared into space. What was going to happen now? Was he going to leave? Was he going to not talk to me for the rest of our lives? The anxiety bit at the crevices of my mind as I sat on the ground, not having the strength to move from that spot and not bothering to go out anymore cause there was no need at this point. The day had been ruined. The night was no different. All I heard was deep, se
"I miss mommy. When is she coming back?" Damon had asked me for the umpteenth time this week. This was why I hated being at home. The questions never ended. Over and over again, they asked about Ariana and all I could do was promise them that they would see her soon while they Facetimed her with every chance they got with their grandmother. I didn't see her at work. We avoided each other, I suppose. If I kept seeing her, I would be forced to run back into the warmth of her arms. She had made her choice and I was letting her do her thing. Choosing to separate from her was not an impulsive decision, I spent a lot of time thinking about it and I figured it was best that I did not make her feel trapped. Struggling to pack up Ava's curls, my mind strayed over to how I used to see Ariana do it and I missed her even more. I shook my head vigorously. No, I was not going to let her get to me. I could do this. My phone rang, jolting me out of my thoughts, thankfully so. It was Amy. I groaned
I was laughing. I hadn't laughed so much in few weeks as I had done today. Having children were such a joy despite how stressful it could be to have them around. Damon was quite the storyteller and he explained the littlest of things with the most exaggerated expressions. Darian on the other hand was marveled by Leni. He hadn't left her side since Cheryl brought her in. Was my boy having a crush so early? He better not. Ava was standing now, with the help of the table, she was able to move around. She crawled to me in the kitchen several times and my heart melted every time I saw her toothy smile. Sonia was quite fun to speak to and she was a Christian too. I was glad cause I wanted my children to be raised right, especially now that I wouldn't be around as much as I wanted to. I took that fact with a pinch of salt whenever it came to mind. "He did that?" I asked her when she told me what Damon had done the first time he saw her. "He literally screamed 'I don't want another mommy,
The weekend the kids left was not an easy one. The loneliness left me in tears and misery. I wanted to hear all the noise in the apartment that now echoed whenever I made a sound. Why did this have to be so hard? They didn't want to leave, I saw it in the way they cried and begged to stay with me. Damien wasn't there, thankfully. It would have made it worse. He only sent a driver because he was away on a trip to wherever. I wanted him to at least let them stay with me since he was out of town but he went ahead to remind me of the terms of our contract. How harsh could he be? The contract. I read my copy again and again. He sent it after he had it stamped and recognized legally. Receiving the courier in my office was not a very pleasant experience but it came anyway and that night when I brought it home with me, I cried myself to sleep with it on my chest. We were supposed to be apart for a few months before deciding if were going to stay this way, get back together or just get a div
I wanted to tell her I loved her before I drove off. But then when I thought of my actions of recent, I decided that it would sound like a lie to her ears. I replayed our conversation in my mind every now and then. She said she would leave if I cheated and I promised I would tell her if I ever did something stupid. What that meant was that I was going to be the cause of my own undoing. If there was anything I feared, it was the thought of losing Ariana. It scared me more than the thought of losing my own life. At least if I died she would have a more peaceful life despite how heartbroken she would be. Why did this have to be so hard? ~~~ How a couple of weeks rolled into a couple of months, I would never understand. It all happened so fast. The kids had adjusted to spending two weeks in the mansion and the other two in Ariana's apartment. When they came home, I would hear them pray with her over FaceTime. Sometimes they prayed on their own before bed. I didn't stop them. They wer
"Hey guys!" Cheryl said as she walked in while we were unpacking. "Boys say hi-" I was saying. They already ran into her arms before I could even complete my sentence. Sometimes I wondered if they loved her because she was nice or because she's Leni's mom. "You look good. The hair cut suits you." She complimented me. I grinned, "Thanks. Damien said the same thing." "Oh he's complimenting you now?" She sounded surprised but I could understand. "I was as shocked as you are." I said, biting back a smile as I remembered our little moment. "I can bet on my last penny that there's more and you're gonna tell me about it." She was already eager for me to spill. "There's nothing to tell." I denied. "Ariana you're blushing." She pointed out. "Am I?" "Yes!" "I don't know what you're talking about." I denied quickly and rushed inside before she could make me spill. Even as I went about my routine chores, I could not stop thinking about our kiss. I felt like a teenager again for just k
While they battled for a sense of clarity, plots were hatched behind their backs to ruin a lot more than their union. To bring down and take everything that had taken years of hard work to build. Claire was utterly frustrated with how things were going with this man. She had tried in a lot of ways to win him over but he kept proving to be difficult. Who would have thought that the speculated billionaire playboy would be such a responsible married man who would not want to do anything to jeopardize his union and image no matter how much she tried to seduce him. She thought she had succeeded when she managed to get into his head after her mini birthday party that night. Damien had opened up to her a little after she had 'concernedly' probed him for whatever had him in such a sour mood. Of course it was his wife. Ariana did not know the value of what she had, she had thought when singlehandedly convinced him to file for a separation, getting into his head with her words as he told her
There was something about weddings that always made Ariana fuzzy on the inside. The scent of flowers, topnotch catering, the cascading white decor or just the feel of love in the air. Love that she had experienced bountifully and was drunk with it. Looking back at the year before, she remembered how hard it was to settle back into their 1% of the 1% kind of life. In all honestly, she had missed the simplicity for the past year, ever since they had to move out from what Damien thought was a rich neighborhood but not for the wealthy which they were again. On the bright side, he had sold the old house where their journey started and all its memories - the sweet and bitter ones alike - were now things of the past that they would savor in their hearts for the rest of their lives. Her one worry had been how their relationship with their creator would be when Damien went back to his workaholic ways. Pleasantly surprised, she saw that the revelation of Christ had reverently dawned on him and
~~~~Damien~~~~~ It was a Sunday afternoon. We were back from church after the service turned into a celebration when Ariana and I went up to give our testimony - our story. Coming back home, my heart swelled with gratitude. Looking back, I never would have thought that life would take me through all that and I would come out strong. It was not until we got to our home and approached the gates that the smiles on the faces of my wife and I dropped. We had an unexpected visitor. "Congratulations." He said as we met eye to eye. "Thank you." I uttered, eyeing him surreptitiously. "Ariana." He nodded in her direction, courteously. "Aiden." She returned and breezed past us, taking the kids who were innocently excited to see him with her. "Can I come in?" He gestured towards the house and though I wanted to say no, I was in too much of a good mood to. "Come on in." I led the way into the living room, seeing as Ariana was on halfway up as the led the children to their room. "Have a
It came faster than lightning. One month passed like it had been just a week. We were back in the courtroom and even with the air condition that cooled the room, my hands were clammy with sweat as I held on Damien's hand. I was nervous, but strangely, he was so calm. Looking up at his chiseled face, I sighed, resting my head on his shoulder while he held me close. "It's going to be fine. We got this babe," He assured me in a whisper. I nodded, praying in my heart that this was the truth and that we would come out victorious.I sat up and saw Gerald and Damien's siblings walk in, some were courteous enough to say hi, which I responded to. I watched them sit on the other side while Gerald looked in our direction and sneered. Damien gave him a hard glare before looking away.The proceeding started and a different judge walked in. Instinctively, I turned to Damien and it seemed he was as surprised as I was. Gerald shifted in his seat uncomfortably.Soon, our lawyers were up, briefing t
The court proceedings had begun. Damien had gone all out to get the best lawyer he could find for this case. There was no backing down on his part and the media was ready to feast on this frenzy with its juicy details. I followed each and every headline, every blog post and read through comments back to back. I had people messaging me to ask if the news was true but I decided to keep mute until it was all done and over with.As I sat in that courtroom, silently watching as they battled for justice, I could not help but feel a sense of trepidation in spite of how I was supposed to hold on to hope and faith that things were going to turn in our favor.The sneer on the judge's face when the plaintiff spoke was worse when Damien got into the box for questioning. Gerald was relaxed and even had a cocky stance as he watched with a smirk anytime my eyes trailed over to him. I smelled a rat. I would not put it past him to have bribed the judge."This case is hereby adjourned until the 20th o
"She's what?!!!" I dropped my phone in reflex when I heard him yell from the balcony. Quickly, I got on my feet and rushed to meet him over the phone looking like he had seen a ghost. "What happened?" I asked as he limply dropped the phone. It took him a while to respond to me. "My mom is dead." "What?!" I screamed, clasping my palms over my mouth. "What happened to her?" I managed to ask as the tears started to stream down my face. "Aleena says she was found dead in her room. I smell foul play." He frowned deeply. In the next instant, he rushed out of the room and I followed him closely. "Carina?" She looked up from the boys who seemed to have fallen in love with her personality ever since she began living with us. "I need you to check the CCTV footage thoroughly. I think Gerald killed my mom." "Jeez!" She exclaimed, getting up to head to the room where the computers were while I ushered the children upstairs so they would not have to hear any of this. I came back down a
She looked different. Very different from the last time I saw her over seven years ago. "Damien," she walked over and hugged me, I limply returned it. "It's so nice to see you. Thank you for gracing my invitation, I thought you wouldn't even respond to me." She said, more excited to see me than I was to see her. I nodded slowly, "Well, here I am.""You're not going to ask how I'm doing. You're still mad at me?" She gasped."I'm not mad at you, just suspicious that you would reach out to me for the first time in years and now of all times." I said honestly."I heard everything that happened and I'm so sorry." "How did you hear?" I asked."Your mother.""You're still in contact with her." That was a statement."I saw her at an event a couple of weeks ago when I came back to LA.""Hmmm."Aleena sighed sadly and her face stiff with lots of plastic surgery hardly moved. "She's very unhappy Damien," "Serves her right." I muttered."Gerald treats her like trash.""She deserves it." I said
"You got a cake?" I asked, swabbing a piece of icing with my index finger as he set the white colored buttercream cake with cherry toppings on the kitchen island."Oooh yummy." I moaned, savoring the taste. "What's the occasion?" I asked, going into his arms as he pulled me close. "Kiss me first," he placed me on the island and placed his lips on mine before I could respond. "It's a peace offering." He finally answered my question when he let me go. "Peace offering? What did you do?" I asked, squinting my eyes in suspicion as he looked away in guilt, muttering something under his breath. "Babe, speak up." I said, tapping on his strong arms that held me in place in case I wanted to walk out. He definitely had done something that would really upset me. "I invited Claire over," He managed to say after a while of probing.I was shocked. "You did what? I thought you were just going to speak to her and that's it?""I want to see her when she works.""So she's going to stay here?" Now I
"You had one job, both of you! And all you can say is that they were good to you?!" She sighed in exasperation. "Dad, they were good to us. Why would we want to do that to them?" "You let Gerald win!" "At least now you're not caught up in their mess. It's now a family issue." "You made me lose out on a lot of money." "Aren't you wealthy enough? You framed my husband and put him in jail just for me to destroy someone who has never done any wrong to you!" She screamed in annoyance. "Shut up!" He said and coughed loudly. Cheryl wished he would just die already. "I regret having you as my daughter," he said to spite her. "Trust me, I wish I had died as a baby." She said and hung up. "That was so brave of you." Leon said, hugging her from behind. "I wish I had done this earlier." She sighed. For too long, she had hidden in the fear of losing her father's support but now she had learnt to be content with her husband's earnings. "We need to do something to help Damien and Ariana." S
I dabbed the blending foam over my cheeks one more time, staring at the finished look in the mirror with as satisfied smile on my face. I was still good at this makeup thing despite doing without it after so long. Damien went out of his way to stock up on my makeup products. I was so shocked that he got the shades right. It was such a pleasant surprise. Things were coming together. With the help of someone in church, through Pastor Anderson, he was able to secure a remote job in a tech startup that paid quite a sum. We had carved out a home office for him in what used to be our guest room and whenever he was in there, he was not to be disturbed. I shut my eyes as I sprayed the setting spray over my face, completing the look and waiting for it to marinate as I set up the tripod and camera I was going to use for my video. "Oh my goodness Mama Mia," Damien came in just then and I blushed as he showered me with compliments. "You are delectably gorgeous. The most beautiful woman to wa