Anna stared at Dylan and he stared back at her, Anna read the look on his face and as much as he tried to remain indifferent, Anna could see in his eyes that he was scared, which made her think that he needed this contract just as much as she did. “What if I was backing out of the agreement?” Anna asked him, she wasn't though, but she wanted to get a reaction out of him, crack the cold exterior that he had put on since yesterday. “Then I wouldn't fault, it's your choice,” Dylan told her but deep down he was hoping that she wouldn't change her mind. Seeing that her plan didn't work, Anna released a huge sigh and rested back against her seat. “I'm not going back on the agreement, we had a deal and you have more than left up to your end of it,” Anna told Dylan. Anna couldn't see it but her words made Dylan's heart rate come down. “Good, so why haven't you told her?” Dylan asked Anna again. “Daddy, are you and mummy fighting?” Emma asked as she looked at t
Anna ran into her room and locked the door behind her. She was such a fool, believing for one second that she they could be a family. She wouldn't be making that mistake again, she was going to fulfill her end of the deal and be the wife that Dylan wanted and then when the contract was over, she would leave. But apart from him acting cold towards her today, there was something different about him, the way he called her by her full name, there were only three people that ever called her Anastasia and those were her parents and her childhood friend Dylan. That's who he reminded her of this night, but there's no way that the both if them could be the same person, her friend was kind and loving and Dylan was the complete opposite. It took her a while, but she finally got control of her emotions, she left her room to go check on Emma. When she entered Emma's room, the lights were off except for her barbie night light. Her baby girl was asleep on the bed and next to her was
The next few hours flew by, after Anna ran out of Dylan's room, she played with Emma until the hair and makeup people came. They set up in her room and it took about two hours to style her hair and finish her makeup. Anna looked at herself in the mirror and she couldn't recognize the person staring back at her, it looked like her, but she was glowing. The makeup wasn't too much, it just highlighted all her features. “So, do you like it?” The makeup artist asked her. “I love it, thank you,” Anna told him. “You look beautiful mama,” Emma told her mother. “Well thank you, sweet girl, you look very beautiful too, like a princess,” Anna told her daughter who had a huge smile on her face, the hairstylist had also done her hair and she put in butterfly clips and flowers in it and she was also wearing her flower girl dress, she couldn't wait to put it on and Anna couldn't say no to her, she just hoped that she wouldn't get it stained before the wedding. There
Anna walked downstairs and Emma was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs with her baskets of flowers in her hand. “I'm going to go out first and then Emma will follow, once you hear the violins, that's your cue to come out,” Lucas told her and then he left. Anna took Emma's hand and then they both walked to the double doors that led to the garden. When Lucas walked out, Anna waited a few minutes and then she turned to Emma. “That's your cue baby girl.” She told Emma and then Emma left, sprinkling flowers as she went. Anna waited a few more minutes and then she heard the sound of the violins playing the bridal march she took a deep breath and stepped out into the garden. When she stepped out the first thing her eyes saw were the photographers and videographers at the one end of the garden and she started getting nervous all over again, the flashes from the cameras were too much. She turned around to the other side of the garden and that's when sh
James was at his office, he had a huge smile on his face like the cat that ate the canary. Everything was going as planned, the last time he spoke to his guy, he told him that he had infiltrated the team that was working on the high blood pressure drug at Kings Pharmaceutical and he said he would have the formula before the end of the week. Everything was looking up for him. His intercom in his office buzzed. “Sir, Mr. Patrick is here to see you,” Liam informed him. “Really, I wasn't expecting him,” James said, wondering why he would come to his office without informing him. “Send him in,” James instructed Liam and then a few minutes later, Mr. Patrick walked into James' office. James stood up from behind his desk to greet him. “Mr. Patrick, I wasn't expecting to see you till the end of the week.” He told him as he stretched out his hand to shake him. Mr. Patrick took his hand and returned the handshake. “Yes, I know that sir, but this was an emergency an
Dylan walked back to his office and locked the door behind him, he went straight to the side table where he kept his alcohol and poured himself a glass of bourbon, he downed it in one go and then poured himself another glass. The phone call he got had just ruined his mood, it was from his COO in London, he informed him that somehow his brother was able to get a meeting with his board of directors. His phone started ringing, he looked down and saw that the caller ID was from Lucas. He picked it up and put it on speaker. “Sir, we have a problem,” Lucas said. “I already know Lucas, my COO in London just called me. How exactly was he able to get a meeting? Did he get his hands on the will?” Dylan asked Lucas. “I don't think so sir, I've gotten no news about that from my source,” Lucas said. “Then what could it possibly be, he needs a good reason before the board would even agree to an emergency meeting, so what is it?” Dylan voiced out his question.
The next day Anna woke up by six am to get ready for their flight to London. She was in an irritable mood because she didn't sleep well at night and it was all because of Dylan. She walked to Emma's room to get her ready first, Anna knew that her daughter wasn't an early riser so she made sure she took a shower the night before so that when it was time for them to leave, she would just have to put on her clothes. Anna entered the room and just like she predicted, her little girl was still asleep, she had thrown off her blanket from her body and it was on the floor. She knelt by the bed and tapped Emma's hand. Emma frowned her face, not ready to wake up. “Come on sweet girl, it's time to wake up, remember we're going on an adventure today,” Anna told her daughter, then Emma slowly opened her eyes. “Morning mama.” She greeted Anna with a sleepy voice. “Hey sweet girl, how'd you sleep?” Anna asked her as she caressed her head and moved her hair awa
Anna just stared at the phone, allowing it to ring until the call eventually cut off. “Anastasia, are you all right?” Dylan asked her. The question finally snapped her out of the haze that she was in. “Yeah, I'm sorry about the mess.” Anna apologised to him and then she was about to clean up the coffee on the ground but Dylan stopped her. “Leave it, the maid will handle it, we're already running behind, we need to get to the airport.” Dylan stood up and Anna grabbed her phone from the kitchen Island and followed behind him. They entered the car and Dylan strapped Emma to her car seat and they were off to the airport. From what Dylan knew about Anna's parents, they were always close and she was especially close with her mother, he had no idea what happened between them that caused such a rift. “This isn't the road to the airport,” Anna told Dylan when she noticed they were going the wrong way. “We're not going to the airport. We're going to a p
EPILOGUE. SEVEN MONTHS LATER. A lot had happened in the past seven months since Dylan ran to the airport to stop Anna from leaving. Now, it wasn't smooth sailing between them; they both put in the work by going to therapy and working on their relationship, and they were good now, only choosing to go to therapy twice a month. Dylan stuck to his word, and he was the best husband; the night they came back home, he told her everything about her life, from the moment he was taken away to London, he told her everything, not leaving out any detail. He had also waited on her, hand and foot, since he found out she was pregnant, not letting her do any strenuous activities; he was the perfect husband and father. In those seven months, something else also took place, the cases were tried in court and her father and Mr. Smith were both sentenced for murder and Mr. Smith was first murder and attempted murder. Her father was sentenced to thirty years and Mr. Smith was
Anna and Emma arrived at the airport about forty minutes later, they didn't have much, just two suitcases, one for Anna and one for Emma. Anna paid the driver, and she and Emma got out of the car. She held Emma's hand and used her other hand to wheel in the suitcases. They were about an hour early for their flight. They walked into the airport, and she checked in her bags, and their tickets were scanned. The attendant told her that they would announce when the flight started to board. Anna thanked her, and then she and Emma walked over to some chairs to sit down. Emma had been quiet throughout the journey, and Anna knew it was because she missed her dad; she hated that she was feeling that way; it was all her fault. She was the one that brought Dylan into their lives. “Hey, sweetie, do you want to watch some cartoons on my phone while we wait?” Anna asked Emma. “Sure, I guess.” Emma said as she shrugged. Anna put on Bluey for her and gave Emma t
After Anna was discharged, she spent two days on bed rest by order of Caroline; she didn't complain, though; it gave her enough time to think of her next plan. Just like she thought, Dylan had not come to look for her, and she didn't blame him; in the end, they weren't meant to be together; there were too many secrets and lies between them, but it still didn't change the fact that she loved him. Emma has been asking for him constantly, and Anna has had to lie that he was away on a business trip, but she knew that lie wouldn't last forever. So she had to plan, she knew one thing for sure, and that was she couldn't stay in New York, and if she was settling down in another place, it couldn't be London. So after two days of planning she decided that she and Emma would move to Australia, there was a hotel there that had been trying to poach her for months, so she called them and asked if the job was still available, they said yes and she accepted it. The job came with a
Anna blinked her eyes open and she was hit with a blinding light that she had to close her eyes and groan in pain. “Anna, are you awake?” She heard Caroline ask. She opened her eyes slowly so she could get used to the light, and when they were fully opened, she saw Caroline standing by her side. “Oh, thank God you're awake; you gave me quite a scare, Anna. I'll be right back, let me go and get the nurse.” Caroline said and then she left the hospital room. Anna was confused. How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was watching the press conference with Caroline and Emma was sleeping. Emma? Where is Emma? Anna frantically sat up on her bed as he looked around the room but there was no sign of Emma. Caroline walked back into the room with a nurse. “Welcome back Mrs. Knight.” The nurse said. “Caroline, where's Emma?” Anna asked, her voice was scratchy because her throat was dry. “They have a daycare here; I didn't think that you'd wan
After Dylan saw Anna's car drive off, every atom in his body wanted to go after her but he couldn't. He had to attend the press conference and he wasn't worried because Marcus was with her. Fucking Kate, it was like she planned it or something. He had to come in through the back and go up to his office because everyone thought that he was dead and then a few minutes after he walked into his office, Kate walked in. Her eyes were red and it was clear that she had been crying. When she saw him she hugged him so tight saying that she knew he wasn't dead, Dylan asked her why she was in his office and she said she was there to beg for her life and that Dylan should spare her, she confessed that she was working with James but only to get him away from Anna and they she had nothing to do with the plane crash. Dylan wasn't shocked to hear that she was working with James; I mean, it would explain the pictures they were sent to Anna; someone had to take them. While s
“Let's go to the living room so I'll be able to keep an eye on Emma.” Anna told Caroline. “Why do you need to keep an eye on Emma? Anna, what's going on?” Caroline asked again. “I'll tell you everything, let's just go sit down.” Anna told her and then they both went into the living room and sat on the couch facing the TV and opposite where Emma was sleeping so Anna was able to keep an eye on her. “You better start explaining yourself, Anastasia George, or is it Knight now?” Caroline asked her. Anna released a huge breath and then she proceeded to tell Caroline everything. How she met Dylan at the hotel, how she got into a contract marriage with him and in exchange, he agreed to protect her from James and bring him down. How they went to London, Emma's kidnapping, and her heart condition. She told her how they slowly but surely fell in love and admitted their feelings to each other. How everything was so good and then it all went so bad, from the th
Anna ran as fast as she could, she could hear Dylan call out her name behind her but she didn't stop to look back. It was all too much, he had lied to her about everything. She got into the elevator and frantically tapped on the button for the down floor. She could see Dylan getting closer, but the doors closed just in time. She wasn't free just yet, and she knew it; she wouldn't be until she got as far away from Dylan Knight as possible. The elevator doors opened, and she stepped out; she knew Dylan wasn't far behind, probably opting to use the stairs. She ran out of the lobby. She knew she was drawing attention to herself, but she didn't care. She stepped outside, and thankfully, Marcus listened to her and the car was still parked outside the office. She ran to the car and opened the door. “Drive Marcus now.” Anna told him with urgency. “What's going on Mrs. Knight?” Marcus asked her. “Just drive Marcus.” Anna told him as she looked back at t
Anna slowly brought out the folder that had her name on it. She opened it up and on the first page was her basic information, her name, date of birth, house address, place of work, things like that and then she flipped to the second page and she saw her pictures, pictures from when she was picking Emma up from school, going to work and coming back from work. Did Dylan have her followed? She continued flipping through the pages, and she could see that this folder was like a dossier on her life; everything about her was in that file: her marriage to James and her parents. Anna didn't understand why Dylan had this. It was when she flipped to the next page that her heart dropped to her stomach. They were pictures, and she recognised the place, it was the club, and she was more sure of it because, at the top of that page, it was written in block letters: ANNA SIX YEARS AGO. She looked at the pictures, and the more she flipped through them, the memories from that night
By the time Dylan was done with his call and he went up to their bedroom, Anna was asleep. His talking to her would have to wait till tomorrow, but he had to do it before the arrests were made because once they were made public, she would surely put two and two together. Especially since Lucas informed him that she wanted to find him, something happened when she went to see her parents, that had to be the only reason why she wanted to find him urgently. But what could've happened? Could she have found out the truth? No, that couldn't be it, whatever it was, he would ask her about it tomorrow morning after he told her the truth, that's if she was still talking to him after. He took off his shirt and trousers, left only his briefs on and then he got into bed with Anna and wrapped his arms around her, even in her sleep, Anna turned around, seeking his warmth. ************ The next day, Dylan woke up expecting to have Anna by his side, but when he opened his eyes