Chapter 101Liam POVGiving up wasn't supposed to be part of the plans. I was going to do everything I could to win her back, but I was scared even though my mind was made up. I was scared of her resenting me for the rest of her life. I was scared of her letting go of her happiness because of my selfish desire. I thought I would be able to change her mind, but now, I was ready to let her go because I truly love her. I don't want her to be pained anymore because of me.My phone rang for the fifteenth time, and I checked again to see that it was from Aliyah, but I wasn't ready to talk to her. After the call, my phone beeped and her seventeenth message popped on the screen.'Are you out of your mind, Liam? Jeff fucking left me because of you, how dare you dump me now? You better answer your call and let's meet and talk about this' I tossed my phone on the couch after I finished reading it, ignoring her text again because I had no reason to reply to it. I wasn't planning to meet her, anyw
Chapter 102Sunshine POVI arranged Mr. Jeffrey's clothes carefully in the small bag I was going to take to the hospital, and halfway done, I slumped on the bed and sighed. Thinking about everything was driving me nuts. I didn't know what hurt more. Whether it's the fact that Jeff has never looked at me despite my feelings for him, or seeing him hurt after he broke up with Aliyah. Seeing him like that hurts me."Am I not pretty enough? What does she have that I don't?" Those were the questions I've always asked myself. Confessing to him has crossed my mind severally, but the fear of getting rejected wouldn't let me do it.I stood up from the bed and went to stand in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection. I'm pretty enough to be with him. I'm taking care of his kids and doing everything I could to get his attention, just what the fuck was wrong? Why won't he look at me no matter what I do?"Nanny, we are ready," Ella's voice pulled me back to reality, and I turned to see that t
Chapter 103Marcus POVI glanced at the kids through the rearview mirror, and seeing the unsettled expression on their faces made me pull over at the side of the road."I'm not kidnapping you guys, so can you please chill?" I turned to face them, but they both flinched and it only made me feel guilty. I know I haven't been a good uncle to them, but I'm not as bad as they think I am, right? I'm sure I'm a good person.Ella blinked her eyes cutely at me, while Emily stared at me with fear in her eyes, and I couldn't help the sigh that tore through my throat."You are going to make me feel guilty with that. Can you two stop?" I tried to be as polite and calm as I could, but they glanced at each other and pouted their lips, their eyes glistened with tears."I want to go back to Daddy. I'm scared," They said at the same time as if they had practiced those lines together, and I sighed. "Come on, kids. I'm not that bad," I rolled my eyes and finally turned my gaze away. I felt bad for getti
Chapter 104Marcus POVRunning into Chloe was the last thing I expected to happen. At least not in years to come.The feelings I thought I'd have gotten rid of years ago came back the moment I saw her, and denying how fast my heart beat when I saw her was something I couldn't do. Maybe I've been deceiving myself all along saying that I never loved her. I stared at the card she gave me earlier at the florist store, unsure of what to do. I didn't know whether to call her or just let her be and leave everything behind. I had no idea what to do. I was still trying to figure out the decision to make when the door opened and Emily barged into my room."Hey! What the!" I cursed, sitting up on the bed. Since Jeff was still in the hospital and Sunshine was busy taking care of him, I decided to bring the kids to stay with me here, but it turned out that it was the worst mistake of my life. Something I should never have done."Uncle... I want to eat noodles," She pouted her lips as she held my
Chapter 105Marcus POVI stopped and slowly tightened my fingers into a fist when I saw her standing on the rooftop. She was looking as cute as always. Her brown hair just as always, was falling freely down her shoulders. She still had that sexy body that attracted men to her in the past. Why did we end things? I stopped and asked myself, but I think some things just happen naturally like that. Maybe we were never meant for each other. Maybe I never deserved her, who knows?I guess she noticed my presence and turned to face me, having a wide smile on her face, revealing her perfect dentition. Her pair of ocean-blue eyes pierced into mine as though they were staring right into my soul, her long eyelashes were moving as she batted them, her thick eyebrows were slightly raised, and her pointed nose that complimented her beauty. To me, she was the definition of perfection."Marcus... You are here?" After what happened in the past, smiling at me was the last thing I'd expect from her. I th
Chapter 106Days laterAliyah POV"You need to eat something and take your medication, baby," I tried to convince Nancy since she hadn't eaten anything good for days now, but as always, she turned her face away and it only made me even more frustrated. Liam didn't show up or call me on the phone after he broke up with me, and all effort to reach him has proven abortive. It has been hell, having Nancy crying all night while chanting his name and saying how she wants to see him. It's really frustrating."I'm not hungry," Again, she claimed even though she already lost some pounds from starving herself, and it was driving me nuts."Come on, baby. You can't say that, ok? You look sick so you need to eat so I can get you some medicines to take," I tried to convince her again as if it was going to work, but deep inside me, I knew that there was no way in hell it was ever going to work, anyway."No," She replied to me bluntly, and after trying to convince her for some more minutes and it did
Chapter 107Aliyah POV"Mommy, is Daddy going to be fine?" Nancy asked for the umpteenth time as she held his hand, and I nodded my head even though I wasn't so sure of it. What the hell happened to him? Why is he so sick? For the umpteenth time, I asked myself but couldn't come up with anything, so I had to wait till I found out what happened to him."Daddy is going to be fine, sweetheart," I squatted down to her level and assured her, but she looked a bit hesitant before she nodded her head, and I sighed.Somehow, it felt like this was actually my fault. Maybe he wouldn't have fallen sick if I wasn't so harsh on him. I blamed myself for it."I'm going to see the doctor. I'll be back," His Mom said to me, and Nancy quickly stood up."I'll go with you, Granny," Nancy said, and she nodded. They went out of the ward together, leaving me with him.Sitting on the chair beside the bed, I watched him close his eyes. Although the doctor said that he was out of danger and was just sleeping, b
Chapter 108Aliyah POVI placed my palm on his forehead after I removed the damp towel from it, and I was glad that his temperature had come down, unlike earlier when it was so high.I carefully dropped the bowl on the ground and pulled the duvet to cover him, but he held my hand, stopping me from doing it, and I was forced to look at him for the first time since I'd been avoiding his gaze since he woke up."I'm fine. I will take care of it," It's crazy how he was still able to claim he was fine even after all the pain he had been through. How he was still trying to hide the obvious. Is he trying to act like he is strong or what?"It's fine," I muttered and pulled the duvet to cover him."Are you ok? Are you hungry? Do you need me to get you something to eat?" He must have felt weird by the way I suddenly started to treat him, but everything I was doing was genuine. I feel bad for him for being in this situation. "Hmm. I'm fine," He replied to me blankly, and I slowly nodded.I sat o
Chapter 116Two weeks laterAliyah POVI stared at my reflection in the mirror and smiled. It was finally the day I'd been waiting for these last few weeks. My wedding day. I was finally going to get married to Liam, and I didn't have any regret neither am I regretting the decision I made weeks ago. We were having a big wedding at the villa."Mommy, we should start going already. We can't keep Daddy waiting," Nancy whined, and I rolled my eyes. Does she only care about her Dad? I was soon done with everything, so I left with Nancy and the make-up artist who came to dress me up. My driver drove us to the villa in the decorated car.My heart pounded hard against my chest, my hands were sweaty as he drove us to the villa. Although I was excited about this day, I was still nervous.As if Nancy read my nervousness, she held my hand and smiled at me.The drive to the villa was brief and we were soon there. The parking lot was filled with different expensive and beautiful cars which only me
Chapter 115Liam POVSpending all my time with my family now is all the happiness I need, and I'm glad that I'm getting all of it.Recounting the last few weeks of my life, I couldn't deny the fact that they were one of the happiest days of my life in these past few years. Coming back to them was a hard decision, but I'm glad I made and stood by it. I'm glad that I never gave up, and even when I did, I'm glad fate brought us together again, but too bad that we may not spend enough time together this time."It's OK, Liam. Just cherish the rest of the days you have with them and take the sweet memories to your grave and live by them in the hereafter," I said to myself, but if only it was easy, wouldn't I be grateful to my maker?The door opened and Aliyah walked inside. She smiled and came to hug me from behind, and my heart skipped. I love the way she makes me feel."Let's stay like this. Just for a moment," She whispered, resting her head on my back, and I smiled. My heart hammered ha
Chapter 114Liam POVMy heart beat rapidly against my chest, and as I kissed her, I wished this moment last forever. How much I've missed this moment so much, just how much I've been wanting to do this again, and now that I have her in my arms, my lips on hers, my tongue exploring her mouth and fighting for dominance, then all I wanted at the moment was for this to never end.I pulled away from her when we were breathless. I held her face in my palms, those sexy eyes piercing into mine and it felt like she was seeing right through me. Something I loved. Is she really mine? Will nothing ever come in between us again? I asked myself, but recalling that death would soon come knocking at the door and I would eventually have to give in to it, I scoffed silently. Can't I be given another chance? Why the heck does this have to happen to me now that I finally have her by my side? I asked myself, but my thoughts were disrupted when she leaned forward and pecked my lips, her eyes piercing into
Chapter 113Two weeks onAliyah POVHow time flies? It has been one week since Liam got discharged, and I've been by his side since then even though he never liked the idea and kept pushing me away. I know I deserve it, anyway. I thought I was doing everything for my daughter, but over the last weeks since I've spent most of my time with him, I've come to realize how much of a changed man he is. I've come to realize that although I lost feelings for him in the past, a part of me still has a twinge of feelings for him. A part of me wanted to work things out and stick around with this man for the rest of my life, and that is what I've decided on."Why are you smiling, Mommy?" Nancy's voice pulled me out of trance, and that was when I realized that I was smiling."Me? Nothing much. Just thought of something," I smiled again, and then she leaned forward and smiled too."Mommy, is it about Daddy?" How she was able to guess so fast was amazing, and the wide smile on her face when I nodded m
Chapter 112Marcus POVTears brimmed in my eyes as I stared at her. I couldn't deny the fact that I've missed her so much. I mean, I was just seeing her again after several years. I thought I hated her, but seeing the tears in her eyes and how vulnerable she looked, I didn't know what I felt anymore. I didn't know if this was still hatred or if this was me missing her all this while."Mom has been through a lot. She has tried to reach out to you severally but you cut her off completely. You didn't want to see her...""And why the fuck should I see her? Do I have any reason to?" I turned to face Jeff who was already on his feet. "Are you blaming me now for being like this when it's obvious whose fault this is? Are you saying that this was all my fault when it's clearly not?" I scoffed unbelievably. I didn't want to shed a drop of tears in front of her, but I couldn't hold it back anymore."Does she deserve to be called a mother when all she ever did was hurt me?""Marcus! Mind the way
Chapter 111Marcus POV"You should tell her how sorry you are and get back together. You are still in love with her, so don't hold back," Jeff tried to sound as much convincing as he could. He has been on with this for the last few days, trying to convince me to get back together with Chloe, but there's no way I was ever going to agree to that. She won't ever forgive me for treating her like that in the past, so what was the point of trying?"Ugh! Are you going to keep being like this?" I whined frustratingly."I shouldn't have told you about it in the first place," I further complained, and he scoffed."You are crazy, Marcus. You know I was never going to give up trying. Just give this a chance before it's too late.. ""It's already too late, Jeff. I told you what happened between us. I ditched this lady for no reason...""You were not mature then. You were scared of taking responsibility for your relationship, and now you are mature enough to handle things. Why don't you at least tr
Chapter 110Sunshine POVMy heart pounded hard against my chest as I stood in front of the door. My hands were sweaty, and beads of sweat formed on my forehead. Am I ready for this? I asked myself to be sure of what I was about to do, but at this point, I needed to get this off my chest and be fine. I would continue to suffer in silence if I were to keep hiding this."Let's go for this," I whispered, reaching for the doorknob, but I removed my hand immediately and stepped away from the door. What if I get rejected? What if he ends up throwing me out of his house? Where will I go from here? For an abandoned orphan without a family who has been living years of her life in a rough phase before I got a chance to be here, I didn't want to leave this place because that would mean that I would have to go back to the street which may not be favorable for me again like it was before."It's fine even if you get rejected, Sunshine. You are not a coward, so you should go for what you want," I sai
Chapter 109Liam POV How did we get here? I asked myself the same question I've been asking for the last six days that I've been here. How did I suddenly get diagnosed with brain glioma? I never felt like something was off with me, so how the fuck did I end up like this after getting drunk just once.That day, I was so frustrated and I thought maybe having a few glasses of alcohol at the bar would help clear my head, but that seemed to be the biggest mistake I ever made in my life because I've been regretting it. Who knows, maybe this would've been avoided if I hadn't gotten drunk. At least, that's what I thought, but have I stopped to think about when this has been there? 'You have just eighteen months to live' I scoffed as the Doctor's words replayed in my head, and I slowly tightened my fingers around the window frame while staring out of it.The sound of the footsteps in the room pulled my attention, and as the familiar perfume filled the air, I didn't need to look to confirm th
Chapter 108Aliyah POVI placed my palm on his forehead after I removed the damp towel from it, and I was glad that his temperature had come down, unlike earlier when it was so high.I carefully dropped the bowl on the ground and pulled the duvet to cover him, but he held my hand, stopping me from doing it, and I was forced to look at him for the first time since I'd been avoiding his gaze since he woke up."I'm fine. I will take care of it," It's crazy how he was still able to claim he was fine even after all the pain he had been through. How he was still trying to hide the obvious. Is he trying to act like he is strong or what?"It's fine," I muttered and pulled the duvet to cover him."Are you ok? Are you hungry? Do you need me to get you something to eat?" He must have felt weird by the way I suddenly started to treat him, but everything I was doing was genuine. I feel bad for him for being in this situation. "Hmm. I'm fine," He replied to me blankly, and I slowly nodded.I sat o