Olivia ~•~As I ushered the kids into the back seat of the car, Riley reminded me that I hadn’t given her an answer. It was then it dawned on me that I didn’t call Alex again after he didn’t respond to the first call. He didn’t call me back either. Riley wasn’t letting me go without an answer, so I had to give her one. “Tell your daddy that I’ve accepted the invitation but he doesn’t need to send me a dress.” I closed the door and made my way to the driver’s seat. Just as I started the car engine, Riley continued. “Why?” She asked, her voice was laced with a hint of surprise and disappointment. “But the dress is really really pretty.” “He already bought the dress?” I muttered to myself, shocked by the revelation. I turned around and looked at Riley. “I already have something beautiful to wear.” But Riley wasn’t having it. “It would be rude not to accept it.” She countered, her tone defensive. “I’ll tell him you are excited to see the dress.” I let out a defeated sigh. “Fine, y
Alexander Burke ~•~The plan was to pick up the kids from school and spend some time with them before taking them back to their house. I clocked out of work early and headed for the kid’s school. As soon as one of the staff saw me walk into the building, she hurriedly ran to fetch Jason, Riley, and Rowan. I stood at the reception as I waited for them to arrive. “Daddy!” They all ran to me as soon as they saw me. They engulfed me in a tight hug and I wrapped my hands around them. After I released them from my grip, I turned over to the staff who had brought them to the reception. “Thank you.” I expressed my gratitude before ushering the kids to the car. Rowan and Jason sat in the backseat while Riley sat in the passenger’s seat. I made sure to fasten all their seat belts before heading to the driver’s seat. I started the car engine and drove out of the school. As soon as we passed the gate, Riley jumped up in excitement and I turned to her. “I convinced my mama to attend the eve
Olivia ~•~I hadn’t even been at home for up to thirty minutes when the news of my date with Maxim started circulating on the internet. For a while, I thought the paparazzi had finally given up on snooping around my life. But I was wrong, they were still watching me. I was used to being on these blogs, so I wasn’t fazed anymore. The only good thing was that the reporters knew better than to show Maxim’s face. It would have been worse.Ever since I stopped reading the comments on the news, I had peace of mind. I wasn’t bothered by what random strangers on the internet had to say about me. I didn’t even give room for their negative opinions to get under my skin. I was proud of myself for doing that all these while but today was different. I wanted to read the comments. I wanted to see what people had to say. I knew there were going to be negative ones but I already prepared my mind to look at them. As I scrolled down the comments, my expression shifted from shock to anger, happine
Olivia ~•~I turned on the volume of the car stereo to the highest as I drove through the city. The street lights reflecting on the dark clouds were therapeutic to watch. It had been long since I drove out in the night. I always made sure I finished my day’s activities and was inside with my kids when the day became dark. But I had to drive over to my mother’s house to pick up the kids. After numerous failed attempts to reach me, Alexander settled on dropping off the kids with my mother. I knew she wouldn’t let me go off the hook easily because Alexander must have said some things to her when he dropped off the kids. Plus, I ended our conversation and I was certain she would want to continue from where she stopped. On my way there, Alexander was still blowing up my phone. He was so persistent. I thought he would have given up on trying to reach me. I felt a little bit bad for ignoring him, so I finally decided to answer his call. “Hey!” I said nonchalantly as I paused my music a
Alexander ~•~I didn’t hear a single word that came out of the host’s mouth. My eyes were focused on the entrance of the building. I was watching patiently as I waited for Olivia to walk through the door with the familiar dress I had picked out for her. It was a masked party, but I could certainly recognize her through her dress. Even if I had checked in with her the previous day, confirming if she was still attending the charity event, I still had some doubts that she would come. I already prepared my heart for the disappointment but a part of me still had hope. I wanted to confess my feelings to Olivia. I wanted to be real with her and stopped playing games or listening to my family. It had been over a week since she promised to speak to me but she never did. I wanted to talk to her about us but she never gave me the chance. The most frustrating part was that I couldn’t find anything about the mystery man she went on a date with. My private investigator was only able to get his
Olivia ~•~I spent most of my evening at the salon, preparing for the charity event. I had second thoughts about attending but I just decided to go because I promised Alexander I would be present. He had asked me multiple times to confirm if I was certain that I would attend and I assured him that I wouldn’t miss it for anything. I hadn’t been the nicest person to him in the past week and I wanted to make it up to him. I refused to call him even though I assured him I would talk about the Maxim situation. On multiple occasions, he had tried bringing it up but I always changed the conversation. I didn’t want to talk to Alexander about anything concerning my personal life. I didn’t owe that to him. The only thing I was allowed to speak to him about was issues concerning the twins. I was proud of myself for setting those boundaries and didn’t want to compromise them anytime soon. I felt bad for treating him that way but I felt bad for myself for having feelings for a man who had ano
Chapter 139Alexander Burke ~•~I had a confused expression registered on my face and it took me a minute before I realized that I should be chasing after her. She responded with a nod when I asked if there was still a chance of us being together, but ran away almost immediately. Her actions were really confusing. Maybe I had made her feel overwhelmed with everything I said to her. Or maybe she felt bad because she was already in a secret relationship with that Max guy. Panic surged through me but I tried to stay calm as I hurriedly walked through the crowd. I needed to find her before she could leave the premises. As I walked out of the building, my eyes darted around the parking lot to see if I could find her. But it was too late, I didn’t see any sign of Olivia at the premises. I facepalmed myself when I realized what I had done. The confession could have waited. I shouldn’t have said all those things to her in a crowded space like that. I had fucked up and pushed her away.
Alexander Burke ~•~She cut me off before I could even complete my sentence. “Yes, I wasn’t at the party. My zip got spoiled and I wanted to text you to inform you about it. That was when I saw your text.” Her voice sounded so genuine. “Huh? Wh….at?” I stuttered as I tried to make sense of the situation. If Olivia didn’t attend the party, who was the person in the same dress I had sent to her? “Are you sure?” I asked, my voice laced with confusion. I just poured out my feelings to the wrong woman. It was unbelievable. Olivia sent me a photo, showing me the green dress which was carefully placed on her bed. I zoomed in and saw the damaged zip at the back of the dress. I shook my head in disbelief, trying to make sense of what had just happened. “So let me get this straight,” Olivia asked with a chuckle. “Someone else was at the party and you thought it was me? Then the person ran away?” I nodded even though she wasn’t there with me. “Y…yeah.” I stuttered, still trying to make s
Chapter 269Riley Burke ~•~I wanted everything to be perfect! For the past two weeks, I’ve been looking forward to this day. Mason and I were finally going on our date. I had no idea why I was nervous. It wasn’t like it was the first time I was going out with him. Maybe I was just having PTSD from our last date. But I knew I had nothing to be worried about. My father had assured me that he was okay with me being with Mason. He wanted me to be happy, even if my happiness included being with someone who had hurt us in the past. It wasn’t Mason who hurt us but I just didn’t focus on that part. As long as he was ready to move past the whole situation, I didn’t care to correct him anymore. “The makeup artist is here!” Rowan yelled loud enough for me to hear after knocking on my room door. Yes, I had to ask for a professional makeup artist because I was hellbent on making everything perfect. “I’ll be downstairs soon,” I replied as I wore my hair bonnet to protect my hair while getti
Chapter 268Mason Craig ~•~Ever since Riley’s father picked her up from the restaurant and interrupted our date, I had this lingering feeling of sadness inside me. But I acted like everything was fine and normal. I didn’t want to put too much pressure on her. I felt hurt because every day I woke up, I was reminded that she wasn’t my girl and could easily give another boy a chance. I didn’t want that to happen but at the same time, I didn’t have any control over it. Every day felt like torture but I was glad that it had finally come to an end. Riley’s father had finally approved of our relationship. A wave of excitement surged through me but I tried my best to remain calm when she told me about it. I would finally be able to be with the girl of my dreams. I had a feeling that he changed his mind because my father agreed to help when Riley had gone missing. I also had my father to thank. He finally fixed the mess he had caused earlier. Everything was finally going smoothly. I h
Chapter 267Olivia ~•~“Are you sure you don’t mind seeing them together?” I asked Alexander for the umpteenth time when he said he wanted to tell Riley that she could be with Mason. I didn’t want a situation where he would second guess his choice and regret his decision. Or a situation where he wouldn’t be nice to the boy later in the future. It wouldn’t be fair on Riley. Alexander nodded his head as he parked the car in the driveway. “Yes, I’m sure.” He assured me. “I shouldn’t be the one to take away my daughter’s chance at teenage love.” He added, smiling at me. I shrugged. “Okay, if you say so,” I replied as I loosened my seatbelt. “I hope you don’t have any secret animosity towards him that will reveal itself later.” Alexander laughed. “Don’t you trust me?” He asked, raising a brow at me. “I’m not holding anything against the boy. Not even his parents.” “Fine.” We stepped out of the car and made our way into the house. On our way back home, we stopped at the mall to get
Chapter 266Riley Burke ~•~It was fun having my friends over for the weekend. And it was a total flop trying to pretend like I was surprised when they first arrived. They saw right through my pretense. Even if we hadn’t been friends for so long, they knew me well enough. I barely even thought about what I had gone through while they were around. Having them around was a good distraction. I was sad that they had to leave. But I couldn’t do anything about it as I walked them to the car. During their stay, I realized that it was actually my mother’s idea to invite them over. Now it made sense why she was so welcoming. My mother didn’t usually like it when I had my friends over. I mean, my friends from high school. Our family was always under scrutiny, so she didn’t trust anybody. It was nice to see her giving my new friends a chance. The weekend was over and it was a new school week. I hadn’t completely healed but even when I assured my parents that I would be okay, they claime
Chapter 265Riley Burke ~•~As soon as my dad handed me a new phone, I found my friend's phone number and called them immediately. It was already noon and on the weekend, so I was confused about why none of them answered their phones. I mean, those girls were literally always with their phones. I really wanted to speak to them, but I guess I had to wait until later to try calling them again. Maybe they were busy with something. I spent most of my time inside my room and I was getting bored. Normally, my mother didn’t like it when l took my food upstairs but this time, she brought the food to my room by herself. I hadn’t gotten any reason to go downstairs. I needed a change of environment, so I decided to freshen up and head downstairs. I was pretty sure Rowan and Jason were playing video games in the living room. After spending about thirty minutes in the bathroom, I dressed up in my comfortable sweatshirt and shorts before making my way downstairs. “Hey,” Jason said as soon a
Chapter 264Olivia ~•~I wanted to accompany Alexander when he was going to see Maxim, but he refused. I knew that he didn’t want me to see him, but still, he said I was going to see him later. After helping Riley with dinner and giving her medication, I went back to the room to meet Alexander. I hadn’t talked to him since he came back from the station. “Hey, what happened at the station?” I asked him as I walked into the room. He was standing in front of the closet and searching through it. “I have something to tell you,” Alexander muttered under his breath. My interest became piqued. “I’m listening,” I responded as different thoughts ran through my head. Alexander sounded so serious and I couldn’t help but wonder what he wanted to say to me. He took a deep breath and turned around. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” He cleared his throat and continued. “You remember when you found out that Maxim was a fraud?” He asked and I nodded, anticipating what he had to say next. “Y
Chapter 263Riley Burke~•~When we finished at the restaurant, my father asked my mother to drive me back home. He wanted to go to the station to see Maxim and the other men who kept me hostage. My mother wanted to accompany him but he refused, saying she would see him later. As soon as my father left, I followed my mother to the car. I couldn’t wait to go back home and see my brothers. I was so excited to see everyone. Being free felt so good. “Riley, I’m inviting the doctor over, so she can do a checkup and give you the necessary treatments you need.” My mother said as I settled down on the passenger’s seat. I hated anything related to hospitals or medical care, but I couldn’t protest against it. I actually needed medication because I was still in pain. My legs and my head were still hurting and I needed the pain to stop. “Sure,” I responded with a smile and my mother nodded. A few minutes later, we arrived at the house. My heart leaped for joy as the security guards open
Chapter 262 Rowan Burke ~•~I loved my sister but I had no idea that her absence would affect me so badly. Ever since I realized she was missing, I couldn’t even focus on anything else. My mind was always racing with different thoughts. What if something bad had happened to her and my parents took so long to search for her? Everyone thought Riley had willingly disappeared but that wasn’t the case. My sister was missing. I couldn’t even talk to anyone or go anywhere. I shut everyone out, including my girlfriend, Belle. Until Riley was found, I was certain that I would be restless. While my parents were at the station, I kept on blowing their phones with constant calls. Most of the time, they didn’t respond. A part of me felt bad because I wanted to be kept in the loop, I wanted to know what was going on, or even if they had gotten a lead. But I knew that they were busy and my calls were distracting them from doing their work. When my mother finally answered her phone, she a
Chapter 261Olivia ~•~Different waves of emotions rushed through me as I saw Riley running in our direction. Relief, joy, and gratitude swirled together, overwhelming me.I was so happy to see her. For a moment, I thought we were at a dead end. I thought she had left the house or the men they caught were probably lying about her whereabouts. She looked so scared but also excited to see us. Before I could even move, Alexander rushed and pulled her in a tight hug. I was still in shock as I watched them reunite. After a few moments, I joined them, turning the hug into a group hug. “Oh my baby, um happy to see you.” I smiled at Riley as we broke the hug. Riley looked like she was struggling to hold back her tears. I could only imagine what she had gone through at the hands of those people. Alexander stepped aside to call the detectives. He wanted them to know that we had seen Riley. While he made the call, I led Riley to the car. As soon as we got into the car, I began asking her