Very early the next morning, Mika has everything ready, all their personal effects, clothes and the likes mainly. She walks around the apartment, noting things down that has been left behind, like most of the furniture, kitchen utensils and the like.
She does not touch them, the back of her head telling her to be reasonable, that they just might return home. She doesn't know what to make of that man just yet.Lucas Santinello.He may be a trillionaire, who has made a name for himself in the industry but what's to say that he's not a bad person? Maybe a woman beater? A child abuser? Frantically, she looks for her children and pull them into a hug. She pulls them back and looks into their eyes individually. "Maya, Miles. We are going to a different state, things will be very different okay? New people, new accents, you'll even make new friends and the biggest of all, you will be living with your father, please tell me anything that happens that you don't like, okay?"They nod, smiling. "Look, Daddy is here." Miles points to the door where truly, Lucas stands, smirking.That feeling of wanting to wipe the smirk away comes rearing it's head in Mika's belly. She sighs deeply. What's with this feeling of wanting to beat the man up?Lucas walks inside and takes their hand. "Whatever you don't like about Daddy, you can tell Mummy okay?"The twins nods, seeing nothing weird but Mika looks away, he had caught the meaning behind her words.And if course, he can't be such a big person if he's unable to read between the lines.She watches as his men come into the place to pick up the things that has been packed.Luc looks around. "Is this everyone?"Mika nods. "Of course. Do you want us to come with the whole house?" She asks him sarcastically.He walks over to her and leans in very close. "The more you use that tone with me, the more I want to mess with you."She swallows and takes a warning step back, right into a carton behind her, and very embarrassingly, she trips and down she goes. Her eyes widen in immense embarrassment but she feels strong hands around her waist, pulling her back to her height. She opens her eyes, turning extremely red.His hands are still around her waist."Than..."He cuts in, not letting her finish her words. "Don't fall for me just yet."She swallows her words and scoffs, rising to her full height. "Let's just go."Lucas laughs to her detriment and leads his children out of the door, looking at her with his side eye as she walks behind them.In about an hour, Lucas's jet has been loaded and the passengers have boarded. Mika safely straps her children to chair, giving them the warning to not unbuckle the belts until they are allowed to.Lucas rolls his eyes but he doesn't say anything about that. "I'll be having some personal passengers since their flight has been delayed. I hope you don't mind?"Mika shakes her head, acknowledging that even he knows how to do some little good.In about five minutes, three more passengers make their way into the plane, one of them, an elderly man seems to have a little struggle with pulling his carry on bag with him so Mika stands up to go help him. "Give it here sir." With agility, she carries the bag and helps him put it into the overhead carriers. She also helps him to his chair.He smiles at her in a fatherly manner. "Thank you very much dear."At that split moment, Mika remembers her Dad, who never thought it through, also her Mum, who never thought they should ask her if anything was true, or at least try to find her.Because of her little sister and best friend's betrayal, her family exiled her.She snaps back to the moment and smiles at the man before going to her chair, also strapping herself in.It's a six hour flight from San Francisco to Brooklyn, New York but surprisingly, the twins does not sleep anytime during the flight, even playing with Lucas, who also plays with them, in a way that she would have thought unseemingly of him. He even sent them to her sometimes but she sent them back to him, uninterested.At long last, by five pm, that same day, they finally leave the airport. As soon as they step out, Lucas's men take the bags to the cars that had been waiting for them for hours.Mika looks around the airport, the last place she had seen before disappearing with the twins in her womb five hears earlier. She takes a deep breath, not sure whether to smile from the feeling of nostalgia or hate the atmosphere, the state that housed the people that almost ruined her.Maya let's go of her hand and runs to Lucas to hold his. Lucas shrugs at her as they walk to the white limousine that's parked, waiting.She looks around one more time before she starts to walk to the car that's parked a few feet away. Her eyes come to rest on a familiar face, their eyes meet at the same time and time seems to come to a standstill.She smiles, a mixture of surprise and something like ridicule?"Mika? Mikayla Anderson? Is this really you?" She whips the placard in her hands into the chest of the man standing beside her, knocking the breath out of him but she does not seem to mind.Mika looks her over. "Alicia.""Yes. Yes, it's me. How have you been? You just disappeared? I came to see you that day you were discharged from prison but we all heard that you had left already. Is this really you?" Alicia moves forward, trying to touch her.Mika steps backwards, looking at her hands like it carries a plague. Alicia drops her hand, still smiling. "Wait till everyone hears that you're back. We've all missed you, you know?"Mika scoffs. "You all missed me?"Alicia nods, smiling evilly. "Totally, we even binge watched your self made pornography a few times. We were never able to get over the fact that that was your first time..."Mika looks at the car where Lucas's head suddenly pokes out. She doesn't want him to interfere, or even see him. As she's about to raise her hand to shoo him back inside, a voice sounds roughly from behind her."Miss Alicia Green."Alicia looks behind Mika to see who she's come to the airport to meet. "Oh my God! You look positively dashing in your outfit. I still can't believe you're here to host my fashion show. Please come...""No, I won't." The man responds with a cold voice.Even Mika has to turn around to see what happened.Alicia looks at her embarrassed and then back to the man. The man is the old man from earlier, the man Mika had helped on the plane."We can talk about what's wrong, you just need to come...""I said no." He shakes his hand away from Alicia's hand. "You're a very terrible person. I wonder why everyone in the industry these days thinks it's perfect and right to step over others. Excuse me miss..." He turns to Mika who smiles at him."Yes sir?""I know you're a good person, don't let her get to you." He smiles warmly at her and she nods.Alicia is left standing alone, seething.The man walks right past her and hails a taxi."Whatever trash you were saying just now, I hope you know you just lost someone due to it. Alicia, you can and never will win against me. I am back and back for good." Mika whispers to her and walks to the limo, closing the door behind her, leaving Alicia to watch her leave, dumbfounded.Lucas regards her in the car, sparing glances at her every once in a while.She catches wind of it. "What is it?" She asks him, not grabbing her children's attention.He shrugs. "What? I didn't say anything."She's pretty much lost in her thoughts after that. Alicia? A fashion designer that's flying someone down for her show? After backstabbing and bringing her own life a standstill, she had the guts to go and make it? Mika scoffs out loud unconsciously.Luc looks right at her. "Something funny?"Mika just throws him a glance and says nothing.It's a long drive from the airport to wherever they were going. She snaps out of her head and watches Maya as she paints something on her brother's face, both of the bursting into laughter. She also smiles."Wow. I didn't think you were ever going to smile, figured you were an ice queen or something."Everything in her body unwilling to show any ounce of friendliness to him, moreover, he's still in a way a complete stranger to her. All she know
It's almost like time stops immediately it happens and just as they kiss accidentally, Mika gasps and through muffled lips, it comes out as another sound.She immediately scrambles to get out from beneath him. He also stands up, struggling to keep his composure, the suaveness he had managed to sustain all day coming to an end. He clears his throat and puts his hands into his pockets. "Well, you're welcome." He decides to not mention it, just reporting back to his former attitude smoothly. "I mean, you could have cracked your fall if you fell down without my support."Mika smiles awkwardly. "Seriously. We should go back, I want to see the kids. I can't believe I miss them already."He nods.She passes by the flowery patterned door, her mind too far away to care about how secretive he is about what he's in the room. They just kissed!Accidentally, yes but it's a kiss all the same. His lips are as luscious and soft as they look and... She suddenly shakes her head, scattering all her hai
The next morning meets Luc downstairs along with Miles and Maya. Mika heads downstairs as soon as she wakes up so she can make breakfast for them but she meets them dressed as though they were all going out without her.She looks at Luc for an explanation. "Aren't you going to work?" She asks him with a speculative look."I'm my own boss so I can take a free day whenever I want. And today, I want to spend it with my children. Do you have any problems with that?"Luc can swear he saw her eyes twitch at his question and he only smirks at her. "They are mine too. I have a lot of money I can't spend on myself alone so I'd rather use it for them. We have a pretty packed schedule today. We'll go to a restaurant first and then go shopping, then in the afternoon, we'll go on a brief trip with my jet to a small place I just discovered I don't want to tell you." All the while, he's smiling in a way that Mika can't quite put her finger on, like he's doing it deliberately to get her angry.Not wi
Luc scowls in the car as he sees the articles that has been released about her. If he hadn't urged and convinced her to return, she'll probably remain ignorant and happy with her humble life where she was but now, no one is willing to cut her some slack.They are really saying tons of shit about her."Bull..." He starts and sees the curious eyes of the twins looking up at him. "snout." He changes his words last minute and swallows the 'shit'. He mutters under his breath "Damn it."It's already late evening and they are heading back home, it had taken him quite a while to see the ruckus her presence back in Brooklyn has caused. He had been so carried away with being around Maya and Miles that he hadn't checked his phone all day which is completely unlike him.His scowl deepens as his secretary reiterates everything back to him. All that had been said on the news and tabloids, basically their view of her and with the one he's seen himself, neither of them is coming on her side.But what
The twins bound out of the elevator with a woman behind them dressed in staff's black and white clothing. They become more excited when they see them in the hallway and run to hug Mika by the legs.She laughs, way bubblier than he had ever seen her and she bends down to their level, properly hugging them, also not letting what had put her in a bad mood show in the slightest. "Mommy was very bored at home today without you two. I missed you too.""Miss you too mummy." They respond and give her something each. Maya gives her a bag of chips and Miles gives her a small aeroplane figurine. She takes them, laughing."Thank you loves, how about you tell me all you did today over dinner?" She asks them as she holds their hands separately and walk towards the elevator.Luc scowls slightly and walks behind them, completely forgotten.*Price returns from work and collapses into the couch, letting his suitcase drop from his hand onto the ground and his legs sprawled out dramatically.Lily peeks
The next morning is a pretty uneventful one but Mika is starting to be bored already so she decides to join the staff while going morning chores. Even though Lucas frowned terribly on it, she's as stubborn as a mule and would do what she decides to, even though it means defying him and she can't help but laugh at the fact that defying him always puts her in a pretty good mood.As she sweeps the front yard, she looks ahead and sees the wide expanse of land he owns to himself and marvels. She hadn't grown up in poverty, oh, not at all. Her family is also wealthy but even to wealth, there's class and hierarchy.If it's a pyramid, Lucas is most definitely at the top triangle while her family, well, former family, would have been in the middle or something close to that. "Do you want to go out ma'am?" One of the staff sweeping along with her asks as she watches her gaze around the place.Mika smiles. "Not really, just a stroll to the gate. How about we go pick flowers by the gate?""Uhm..
Pretty soon, Mika is tired of being all day everyday, wondering when Luc will let her out. At breakfast at the moment, Mika places her fork down and wipes her mouth with a napkin, drinks water, all stalling for a little time before she speaks."Uhm... Lu... Mr Santinello?"Lucas pauses and looks up at her, puzzled that she'll call him by his last name. "Yeah?" "Can I...?" She starts "No, you can't."Flustered, she loses her cool and throws up her hands. "Come on, I haven't even spoken yet." She half yells.Luc smirks, dropping his fork as well. "Why do you want to leave, don't you have everything you need here already? Even Miles and Maya have started school so ain't you having fun here resting?" "I know and appreciate you doing this all along but I really want to get out there. I can't have them all thinking I'm a lose woman who's clumped in with a man. Well, I am clumped in with a man but not the one they think it is nor for the right reasons. I want to do something."Lucas leans
Mika wakes up the next day, an extra spring in her step. She even prepares her children for school, listening to all their tales about making new friends and how the school treats them so well and so much more.She's all laughs and fun with them, the opportunity to get back at all of them who hurt her has presented itself and even after almost a week of being idle and watchful around Luc Santinello, she's come to accept that he's no ordinary man.And he himself, well indirectly, told her she could use him for whatever she wanted and that's exactly what she'll be doing. Although, she'll do it in her own way.The first step is to be in a position of power and that's exactly what she's set to do today. After sending off Miles and Maya with kisses on their foreheads, she heads back in to get dressed for whatever Luc had planned for the day.She looks through all her options and decides on a plain black armless jumpsuit and an ash coloured blazer to go with it. She picks out an ash bag fro
"Do you, Bethany Mikayla Callaghan, take this man, Lucas Pierce Santinello to be your husband?" "I do." Her crisp voice shouts in the beautiful wheat field where the wedding is being held. "Do you, Lucas Pierce Santinello, take this woman, Bethany Mikayla Callaghan to be your wife?" "I DO!" He yells even louder, looking handsome in his new haircut and tailored Italian suit. "This two are now pronounced husband and wife." "You're now fully mine, CEO of Mi-nello Group." Bethany laughs. "See a whole Conglomerate CEO talking to a small person like me." "Ooh, I plan to show you tonight that you're not small and neither am I." She laughs. "You naughty man." She whispers as she leans in for a kiss. Amidst the whoops and holler, Lucas kisses his wife on the lips, causing there to be a ripple of jealousy in the crowd. Both Miles and Maya comes forward to hug their parents and pose for a family picture. Lucas picks up Maya while Mikayla picks up Miles, all beaming at the camera, the f
Of course, after dramatically disrupting the ongoing funeral, Grey, Smith and a couple other officers walk to the front of the coffin."Sorry to disrupt this perfectly ongoing funeral of a woman who committed suicide..."The whispers begin. They had been told she died in her sleep after all."Mr Reese Anderson, you're under arrest for the murder of Ronald and Minta Callaghan and Price Woods, your daughter's late husband."The entire hall is thrown into intense chatter and chaos.For the first time in days, Lily's eyes regains focus. "What?"Grey turns to look at her. "You knew your father killed your husband and yet you protected him. You're also under arrest for aiding and abetting murder.""Who is Ronald and Minta Callaghan?" Lily asks, completely ignoring the words of the officer of her own arrest."The parents of Bethany Callaghan who we all know to be Mikayla Anderson."That's the final straw."I killed Mum... I killed Mum... I killed Mum..." Lily begins to mutter again, throwin
The same time, Lucas pays the taxi driver, gun securely in his back and Mikayla in his side.He holds her hands and since it's his house, he's able to know the nook and cranny of the house, including places where you can get in without being spotted by any cameras.He leads them to the side where there is a doggie fence. "I'm sorry." He whispers to Mikayla as they both have to crouch to pass through the place.Mikayla shoots him a smile and a thumbs up as she comes out after him.He holds her hand once again, and as slowly and as stealthily as possible, they make their way to the back door which serves as their entrance into the house.As soon as the door clicks shut behind them, they both sigh in relief.Just then, the lights turn on and they are standing right in the middle of the kitchen, lights shining down on them.The man who gets them immediately yells and pulls out a gun. "Down!" He yells and they comply. He is joined by two other men and they drag them out to living room whe
Lucas and Mikayla are laying flat on the ground, late at night with different cars speeding by, watching and peeking out at the scene with every one of them having something to say in one way or the other.Outside the car, the listening bug should hit be able to do much so when a police car arrives on the scene and out comes Grey, Lucas sighs in relief, happy that the officer had received his message in time and had come to help him out."Sir!" The patrol officers salute their higher subordinate."At ease. Can you release them? They are currently on a mission.""What?" The patrol officers look at one another in confusion. "There is a body in the car.""And if it's not a body?" Grey asks, stepping forward and using his higher up voice."Uhm..." The officer is at loss of words. "Well, it looks exactly like a body.""Well, let me tell you something. They don't want the help of the police as it may jeopardize the lives of their children. The children were kidnapped from school earlier tod
Mikayla begins to shiver in the cool weather.Lucas stands outside, a look of immense fury on his face from what Logan is asking him to do. He grabs his phone and dials Logan who picks up on the second ring."Do you like what the package looks like? Cute, isn't it?"Lucas, seething... "What the fuck are you asking me to do? Tie up another loose end for you? What do you want from me exactly? Stop tormenting I and my woman and my family and just tell me what you're after.""This is cute but you're forgetting that I am your family too? Anyway, I do want something from you but it's extent is what I'm yet to decide on. You can start by disposing off the body first. Maybe when you finish this mission, just maybe, I might have my request ready.""So you mean this is not the fucking end of it?""Depends on how you act and what you're doing now is making me think of murdering someone else, maybe your daughter since she looks the most scared here. I'm waiting to see the body at the bottom of th
The day before, Lucas and Mikayla had left the school around six pm that evening, driving off in the direction of the apartment where Lucas had met him just four days earlier.Their meeting had not ended well then, and it does not look like it will now.Lucas receives a text message from his number, Logan. He pulls up by the sidewalk to check it."If you think you will find me at the same location as the other times, you're kidding yourselves. I told you clearly, you do what I ask you to do or you're in deep shit. You'll never see your precious children again. You'll receive the first directions in a little bit. I want you to keep going to the apartment though, your first mission is over there."Lucas punches the steering wheel, startling Mikayla a bit, her nerves are still frayed, getting so worried about her children and even worse, they are still in the hands of a maniac that no one knows where they are.Cursing under his breath, he starts the car once again and the journey continu
About to head out of the cafe, Grey pays for the coffee both men had taken with his card.Stepping outside, he inhales the crisp cool air and sighs.His phone ringing distracts him from the search of his keys and he sees the caller to be Smith."Hello Smith? Can I help you tonight?""Where are you right now?""I had a meeting with Mr Santinello and I am heading off to my bed. Do you have something for me?""Certainly. Can you drop by the office before heading home?"Grey groans. "I hope for your own sake that it is something worth my time, if not, you'll spend the whole remainder of this week in the holding cell and I mean it."Smith laughs. "Sure then. Just come on over first."Grumbling, groaning, tired, weary, weak, sleepy... All of the states of mind Grey experiences before appearing at the office. He slouches up the stairs to the office where he meets Smith bending over a computer."What do you have for me?""Before I show you, I did it to show that I did not take my job as a jok
Mikayla rushes into her car and drives off in the direction of the school, running late after a meeting, just barely ten minutes after the original closing time, she finally parks there.Not seeing any of the twins where she usually picks them up and wait for her no matter what, not even their bags to indicate that they probably just went to use the toilet, she gets down from the car and looks around to no avail.She locks up the car and walks over to the classes but it's empty, even down to the teachers, there is no one in sight that can be of help so she leaves for the school's administration building.She's immediately directed to the Dean who receives her warmly."Good afternoon ma'am. I hope all is well? Considering that you didn't call ahead to inform us about your coming.""I'm sorry as well but I ran a bit behind in picking the children up. I'm here now but I can't seem to find them.""I'm pretty sure they left the classes as soon as the school closed. You know what, children
"It's after school time. Come on, Mum is coming to pick us up." Mikes iterates as he slings his small backpack over his back and carries the lunch bag in his hands.Maya does the same thing, grabbing her back and lunch bag as well as the two of them walk in tow to where Mikayla usually showed up to pick them up, almost immediately after school.Just as they arruved, a black SUV parks in front of them.Both of them walk to the car, waiting for Mika to come out and give them hugs as she always does before tucking then in and putting their seat belts on before leaving but this time, a tall man comes out.Miles immediately steps back, standing in front of Maya to protect her... Or something like that."Hi Miles and Maya. I am Ben. Mikayla sent me to pick you up.""No. We won't go with you." Miles replies immediately.The man laughs, removing his sunglasses to reveal brown, almost friendly eyes. "Mika told me that you will say the same thing and that when you do, I should show you this." H