Christian"Okay, so the gender reveal party is tonight at home", Emily says through the video conference. Ivanna is sitting on the bed with the laptop on her lap while talking to her as I overhear them getting dressed. "And even though I don't have to give you a formal invitation, I have to give it anyway""I can't believe you arranged a party in less than 24 hours without any help. How do you do that? At least, you could have called me""Nah. I'm good. That's a simple party anyway. You have a lot to deal with though", she says."Yeah. We're going to meet Advocate Shawn today. We got the date of the first trial. Next week", Ivanna says. Emily doesn't speak for a couple of seconds. "Damn! Even the next trial of my case too""This sucks. I never wanted any of us to go through such shit. Why did it all happen?" I hear Ivanna say out of frustration."I have a mantra to get rid of this question— it is how it is", she says. "Yeah", Ivanna sighs. "We have each other's back, right? Okay. S
Christian As he takes Jarred's name, I frown at him, confused. I indeed told him about Chrisanna being the biological daughter of Jarred and Thea but it has nothing to do with the case unless Thea drags it out of nowhere. I'm definitely not gonna drag it out because this might backfire. "Jarred?" I exclaim and glance at Ivanna. She doesn't look affected. She's just looking at nowhere. "Yeah. Him", Shawn says. "But why him suddenly? I mean he has nothing to do with the case and what can he even do for me? He doesn't even know about the incident", I say. "Exactly", Ivanna nods. Shawn shrugs and purses his lips into a half-smile. "Well, you're right. He can't do anything about the case. He can't do anything for you in court either. But he can definitely make changes outside of the court", he suggests. "Like what?" I ask. "I— I really don't want to drag this matter. Not in the lawsuit stuff and all. It can be a risk to my daughter" "You don't have to risk anything. And it'll d
Ivanna"You know like—" Shawn gulps down, stuttering to explain. I can't believe we were talking to the same man a while ago. "I tried. My best actually—" he gives an embarrassing smile. "I contacted all her friends. But no one is ready to hear me out. They don't wanna talk to her either to just— explain that I do need a chance. All of them have just one thing to say. I don't give effort", he shakes his head. "I don't know what I can do. I definitely wanna give an effort. But I don't know how to. So, if you can just tell her once. Maybe, she'll— think about it. Well, I'm not going to nag you if you don't want to", he laughs a bit. "It's just— what if it works"I let out a sigh and cross my arms. "You know what, Shawn? Maybe, you are too complicated. I mean— your way of thinking is complicated and that's why you can't figure out what to do to give an effort when it's already there", I say as he confusingly stares at me. Some people can be so good at professional life but so ignorant i
IvannaI shake my head in disbelief. "What?""Yeah. That's ridiculous. It's just been a month—" I can feel the utter panic in his voice and grab his arm right away. "Chris, wait. Is the number correct?" I ask. He looks at the screen and scrolls down. "Yeah. This is the same— yeah, same one actually"I take his phone and dial the number again. It's switched off! "Why would he do this? That's the same number he gave to all of us""Does that mean he has ghosted us?" He asks, looking straight into my eyes. "I hope that's not the thing", I shrug and give the phone back to him. "We should wait. Maybe his phone is dead or something. He can switch it on later. It doesn't mean he has abandoned the contact number""I hope so", he breathes heavily and puts the phone back in his pocket. "Are you done? I need to go to the office""Yeah. I'm done", I smile at him, picking some packs of sour candies that Emily loves the most. She's going to go crazy to get this. After leaving the supermarket, Ch
TheaMy brain stops working at that very moment. I just gawk at him and I don't even know what I'm looking like at this moment. My head has gone blank. I didn't imagine this question which he would use in the middle of the whole thing. How come on earth can someone come up with such a thing? "Mrs Fox", he calls me out in a bit louder tone. His eyes are still darted on me like arrows as if he's trying to look for answers in my silence. "Are you okay?" John asks, squeezing my shoulder as I look at him with my hollow gaze. I nod in silence. "Actually yes. Why didn't you call me?" John scoffs. "You just opened the door when you could literally call me and the whole situation could be avoided. Christian would never be able to reach you"I don't know how to reply to this. All I feel right now is immense nervousness and a burden on my chest. The flow has broken. I look down and rub my throat."I— I don't— know", I mutter."You can't answer like that Mrs Fox", Sebastian says in a cold to
TheaAs soon as I come out, my breathing gets faster. I hold the pillar and breath heavily. Just then, John holds my shoulder, startling me. I squirm, turning back at him. "You good?" He asks in a concerned tone.That's such a lame question to ask. I wanna burst out in front of him right now. But I take a grip on myself. "Do you think I can be good after that deadly confrontation?" I scoff, glaring at him as I feel my eyes pooling. "Hey!" He cups my face and leans closer. "It's okay. I told you, right?"I gulp down and jerk my head. "No. It's not", I shrug. "I can't do this anymore""Do what?" He asks. Why do I need to explain every fucking thing?I groan, looking away while squeezing my eyes shut for a second. "Of course, explaining. Especially to him. That lawyer— what does he think of himself?" I gasp, looking in the direction of Sebastian's cabin. John squeezes my shoulders."Thea, relax. We're still in his office", he looks around and I realise there are his interns and t
Christian"Is that like Nicole's baby shower we went to last year?" Chrisanna asks as we reach Kane and Emily's apartment. "Kind of that", Ivanna says, helping her get out of the car. "But we're gonna know if you and Eric are going to have a girl buddy or a boy buddy"Chrisanna's face lightens up. "Oh really? That means I can already plan the games I wanna play with her""Well, I bet you'll be bored with those games until the baby grows up", I sigh, chuckling at her. "Aha! I'll still play", she says. "Okay. Let's go now", Ivanna carries and asks me to carry the goods inside with Ethan.I wonder what she was thinking about Emily while getting so much food. What is Emily? A monster? Can be. I never saw a pregnant woman 24/7. *When I enter the apartment, I find myself lost in a small crowd. Emily should have told me to look for a place instead. Their space is too small even for a medium party. It was okay for only four of us with our house help employees. There are a few people fro
Thea"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I can't handle all this. My head vibrates all the time. I can't sigh in relief. I can't close my eyes to peacefully sleep. I'm nervous. Terrified. Disturbed. All the fucking time. I don't know how to explain things to people. Especially John. They can't understand me. No one can understand me", I keep ranting at Molly.I wanna speak more. There's so much nonsense filled inside my head. I wanna clear them up at any cost. I stutter, trying to get my words out when my frustration mixed with immense anger keeps hammering my head, my chest, my sanity, everything. My entire body is shaking. "Thea!" Molly snaps. I hear her. But I don't stop. I glare up at her and grab the arms of the couch tightly, digging my nails into the surface. "I feel like shutting everything down for a while and going far away from everyone. I don't wanna be here. I don't—" I go out of breath and halt, trying to catch my breath. "Thea!" Molly snaps again, giving me a reli
JohnGetting married in the 50s isn't that strange anymore. But for me, it was— for a man who believed his marriage would last forever and then believed he would never marry again. I stood before the mirror as Ryan helped other groomsmen with their last fit."You all look pretty handsome. Ready to leave. But I wish Kevin had that time to get a good fit. Your suit sucks!""I feel better anyway", Kevin snarls. I chuckle while fixing my bow tie, watching my sons in their 20s still fighting like toddlers. It's been a blessing for me to have a family which didn't break even after the biggest disaster. And maybe it was because, in our family, it had always been us. Me and my two boys. Their mother wasn't there. The death was just a formality. I didn't really change that much. My boys were happier than ever after she died. It's really mean of me to think that way but it was the truth. They were traumatised because they were kids. As they grew up, I realised they had a better and healthier
It's been a while since I updated this book. However, I have delayed letting you know that I'm writing a book on Samuel and Chrisanna titled "Dispute Marriage" You'll find it on my goodnovel profile. This book is a bit different from others which don't have a forced marriage trope or any abusive family since you are already familiar with both families.The story revolves around two childhood friends Samuel and Chrisanna and their sudden marriage after Samuel disappears from Chrisanna's life for eight years. The book deals with heavy mental issues and a dark past. Slow burn. Please give that book a try and let me know if you like it. And I would like to know if you would want a short portion of John and Georgia's story or a direct epilogue to close the book.
Tiffany Emery runs to Sebastian. "Da—dy"And he immediately drives his eyes down and takes her in his arms. They both look at me lovingly. Now, I don't feel bad about pushing the wedding. This feeling would not be the same if we got married before Emery came. Ryan and Kevin walk beside me to the aisle. I wanted them to do this honour because if there's anyone in this world I still love more than Sebastian and Emery, My eyes become teary as I walk to them. Sebastian spreads his arm at me and I immediately dig into his chest.He leans closer to my ear."My beautiful bride"I smile against his chest and look up. He takes my hand and leads me to the centre. I take a look at every one. John, Mr Ryder, Gary, Myra, Christian, Ivanna and the recent teenager Chrisanna. Everything feels so complete and beautiful. Mr Ryder comes and takes Emery from Sebastian even though she doesn't wanna go. With the pastor's words, Sebastian and I looked into each other's eyes deeply. "I, Sebastian Ry
TiffanyI can't figure out how to react and what it's all about because I don't wanna assume anything unreasonable. He's on his knees with a damn ring.It means— God! I can't— comprehend it. My eyes flutter open at his handsome face. No words come out of my mouth. I'm at a loss of words."I know you're shocked! And I'm sorry if I scared you with this sudden—" he doesn't complete, yet keeps his eyes straight into mine. "But I couldn't keep this longer inside me, Tiffany. I had known a long time ago that I needed you in my life. Forever! And I'm not scared to ask you that—"With that pause, my heartbeat stops and my entire body shivers when I wait for him to complete."Will you marry me?" I feel goosebumps littering all over me with those words. Did he really ask me for marriage? It takes me a while to process. His eyes are full of fear and hope and I'm left in shock. Never in my wildest dreams, I had imagined he would propose to me. I hear some people around cheering up and root
TiffanyTime indeed flies like air and it happened in my case in a better way. In the best way, actually. I started my job in the daycare centre with all the lovely kids around which made my life less monotonous after Ryan and Kevin left. They are doing good in their new school and John has also settled into his new office over there. I and Sebastian balanced our life beautifully, supporting each other. As days and weeks passed, our love grew stronger. Among everything, I was happy with the fact that I have my identity now. A good identity. My salary doubled in just three months after joining for my good service and the way all the kids related to me. In a year, I was promoted to manager of the daycare centre, life couldn't be any less beautiful. It's been two years, I and Sebastian are together and we are living our best life. We hardly argued and most of the time it was just silly. He loves to tease me and I go along with it. Sebastian has become the most demanding lawyer in the
TiffanyWe spent the last two days painting the house and I can't describe how beautiful it came out. We did some changes like replacing the furniture and donating some. If everything goes well, I'll be here in less than three days.John has finished all the preparations in Hong Kong and he's leaving the day after we decided to move in. It all happened so fast but I'm glad that John is recovering. It's been eight months since the tragedy and I know it's gonna take years for him to overcome this. I'm happy for him but I would be happier if there was any chance that he finds someone to love him as much as all of us found a person to love.It sucks and I hate the fact that all his life he never found someone like that.I and Sebastian carry the portrayal I had in my room for years. It's a huge one and Sebastian suggested we should place it in the living room because it's beautiful. It's a painting I got from an art summit years back, featuring a mother and her small daughter, surviving
Sebastian"Really, Sebastian? I have never seen you this excited before", Georgia says as I show her some themes I'm confused with and I end up telling her the whole plan. "Isn't it something to be excited about?" I blurt out. "She's moving in with me. Isn't it amazing? People can't even go past dating and we are really moving in!" I tell her and she smiles wider, sitting in front of my desk."That's true", she says. "I'm just wondering what you would do once you guys announce the marriage!" she laughs but on a serious note, it makes my heart stop for a while.She pauses, looking at me. "Sorry. I should not have said that?"I chuckle. "Nah! Nothing like that. I just spaced out when you talked about marriage""Ah! So, that means you're thinking about it", she leans to the desk. I scratch the back of my head with an awkward smile. "I could marry her the moment I saw her! But hell! I'm not repeating any mistakes from the past. Maybe, I'll wait for a while before proposing to her. And t
Tiffany We stop by the nursery. It's one of the biggest nurseries in the city which I can completely believe by the way it looks. The boys run into the green surrounding and I and Sebastian slowly walk to see the plants. One of the workers accompany us, showing us all the kinds of plants we could use for decor. "I want the real ones", he says as I scan those plants which need no sunlight. They would be perfect for indoors."These are real ones too. These are just indoors", I say, watching his expression change. "But I still don't find the realness in them. You can take these. I'll look for others", he walks away to find his REAL plants as I shake my head at him in disbelief.We load all the plants we have got for the decor and Ryan and Kevin took two small ones to plant in the yard. Even though they won't be staying here, they wish to see it all grown up when they would occasionally visit. After that, we stop by a restaurant to have lunch. Surprisingly, Sebastian didn't suggest h
Tiffany We talked a lot today. I'm glad that I took this whole day out for him because we needed to have this conversation. I have finally decided to move in with him. Nonetheless, it'll come with more challenges and I'm ready for it. This decision will not only make our relationship stronger but also give me a world of my own. I can't wait to finally live my life in my own conditions and happiness. Sebastian asked me if he could help me anyway. But I refused to take any help from him as I did with John. It's my call to explore and look for opportunities which I'll be doing from today. I'm thinking about having a conversation with John again. I want him to change his decision of holding back until I settle down. Because that's impossible. I'll need a lot of time to clean the mess and organise my life and I think I'll surely do it if I have Sebastian.I'm glad that Sebastian understood me and more than that he trusted me enough. I'm scrolling through my phone to research the jobs I t