Alexander ~•~Olivia’s nonchalant attitude to the situation only fueled my frustration. I was confessing my feelings to her but she didn’t seem fazed about it. I wasn’t going to forgive myself if she eventually started a serious relationship with the Maxim man. I hadn’t even gotten all the answers to my numerous questions when my buzzing phone interrupted our conversation. I wanted to ignore the call but Olivia gestured for me to answer it. I pulled out my phone from my back pocket and saw that it was Emily calling me. Emily barely calls me except it was really important. I stepped aside to take the call. “Alexander, you need to come back home right away!” Emily’s worried voice echoed from the other end of the line. I ran my hands through my hair, my mind racing with different thoughts. Her tone made me so worried. “Why? What is going on?” I asked, my voice laced with curiosity. “It’s about Jason and his biological father,” Emily replied and I responded with a frustrated sigh.
Alexander Burke ~•~I drummed my fingers impatiently on the desk as I waited for the officers to return with Sandra. I needed to speak with her before thinking about my next action. It was unbelievable that she would send her baby daddy to my house to take Jason without informing me. I found it disrespectful and unacceptable. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Sandra finally walked through the door, accompanied by two police officers. I watched her as she walked towards me with handcuffs in her hands and settled on the chair opposite me. “How are you doing?” I asked, feeling a slight bit of sympathy for her. Sandra snorted. “How does it look like I am doing?” She asked, her voice laced with anger and frustration. “Why are you here? You’ve never visited me in the past five months. You didn’t even let me see my son.” I avoided eye contact with her because I didn’t want to feel bad about the situation. “Why did you ask your baby daddy to come to my house without informin
Olivia ~•~Just as I was about to sleep, the buzzing of my phone interrupted me and I jolted back to reality. I groaned inwardly before reaching out to my phone from the side drawer. I glanced at the screen to see Alexander’s name flashing on the phone. I wanted to ignore the call and drift off to sleep but it wasn’t going to be fair. During the day, he called me while I was at the office, and I promised to talk to him when I got back home. It had slipped my mind to return his call, so I had to answer him now. I clicked the answer button and pressed the phone closer to my ear. “Hey, what is going on?” I asked, my voice slightly groggy. “Did I wake you up?” Alexander asked, his voice barely audible. “I’m sorry if I did, I’ll talk to you in the morning.” He added without giving me a chance to respond to the first question. I smiled, running my hands through my hair. “No, you didn’t,” I replied. “I was just about to sleep when your call came in. But it’s okay, I wasn’t even feeling
Alexander Burke ~•~After I was done speaking to Olivia on the phone, I thought I was going to feel better and be able to get to sleep, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Jason and the court case. I paced around my room, my mind racing with different thoughts and possibilities. What if the judge grants his biological father full custody and pushes me to the side? I couldn’t imagine something like that happening. I was constantly texting my lawyer, asking him if he was prepared for the next day. I even promised to double his payment if he could win the case. Staying awake wasn’t the best option because I needed to rest for the big day ahead. But I couldn’t do anything about it. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t drift off to sleep. Frustrated, I stepped out of my room and went downstairs to get a glass of water from the kitchen. On my way there, I ran into Tricia at the stairs. Tricia paused and looked at me with a concerned expression registered on her face. “What’s goi
Alexander Burke~•~Everything seemed to be falling into place.I won primary custody over Jason and the judge said I could introduce Jason to his biological father whenever I felt it was convenient for him. Jason’s father was unhappy with the ruling, but he was powerless to change it. The court had made its decision, and any attempts to undermine that could land him in serious trouble.I felt bad for his father but I had to do what was best for Jason. Eventually, I would introduce the two of them to each other. But this just wasn’t the right time. Sandra wasn’t happy with the decision either but she was in prison and couldn’t do anything about it. I made sure Jason spoke to her occasionally because he claimed that he was missing his mother.A few weeks had passed since the court case was closed. The incident even made my bond with Jason deepen. He even spent most of the nights with me in my room because of the statement he had made the other day. “Nobody has slept in my room for a
Olivia ~•~Everything felt so surreal. It was just like yesterday when I packed my entire life and moved back to New York with the kids. But in reality, it was actually a year. As I sat down on my bed, I couldn’t help but reflect on everything that had happened during this time frame. I had gone through so many challenges but somehow I was still standing. I was so proud of myself and how far I had come. I started my career from scratch but I was still able to build something great for myself. I was grateful for everything. The sound of my buzzing phone interrupted me from my thoughts. I picked it up to see it was Alexander. The kids had spent the night at his house for a sleepover to celebrate Jason’s birthday. I felt bad for Jason because his mother wasn’t present to celebrate his birthday with him. I also felt bad for Sandra because she was apart from her son. Life would have been so much better if she hadn’t turned out to be a horrible person. We could have still been friend
Alexander Burke ~•~ Just as I turned around to welcome my parents, my dad’s husky voice broke from behind. “Why didn't you come with your wife?” I took a deep breath and before I could respond, my mother chimed into the conversation. “I hope we aren’t late for the wedding?” She asked, changing the subject. I shook my head, responding with a small smile. “No, ma. The wedding doesn’t start until noon.” I pulled my mother into a warm embrace before opening the trunk to allow the airport guards to help put the luggage in the car. When they were done, I tipped them before heading back to the driver’s seat. My parents sat in the back seat while Caroline sat in the passenger seat beside me. As soon as I drove into the city, Caroline began. “Can you believe Arthur is finally getting married after all these years?” She questioned, her voice laced with amusement. I laughed because everyone had the same reaction when it came to the news of his wedding. “It’s high time he settl
Olivia ~•~Who was this mystery man and how did he know about my father’s favorite flowers? I was too stunned to speak, so I was at a loss for words. David, on the other hand, wasn’t too stunned to ask questions. “Who are you and why are you bringing flowers to my father’s grave?” He demanded, his gaze piercing as he assessed the stranger.The man opened his mouth to speak but abruptly stopped, as though he was unsure how to respond. He placed the flowers beside ours, then he dipped his hands into his coat and brought out something small. It was a flash drive. He handed it over to David but my brother was hesitant to collect it from him. I was just watching in silence, trying to make sense of the whole situation. He gestured for David to collect it but he still didn’t move. “What is on it? And who are you?” David demanded with a hint of suspicion in his voice. The man didn’t answer. Instead, he turned toward me, extending the flash drive in my direction. Curiosity got the bette
Riley Burke ~•~I felt better after Amelia and Harper called to check up on me. It was the weekend and we weren’t having classes, so they had gone back to their respective houses.Our group conference calls always lightened up my mood. After we rounded up the call, I made my way downstairs for dinner. Caroline volunteered to make dinner. For someone who barely cooks, she was a great chef and I was excited to try her food. As I stepped into the dining room, the aroma of roasted chicken filled the air and my stomach growled in response to the scent. I was hungry and couldn’t wait to eat. Everyone was already sitting on the table. “You’re finally done with your phone call?” Rowan asked as I sat beside him. A few minutes earlier, Rowan came to tell me that dinner was ready. I told him to hold on because I was on a call with my girls. I nodded. “Of course, I am.” My family and I engaged in a light conversation as we ate our meal. Every bite I took tasted heavenly and I couldn’t he
Mason Craig ~•~I had tried calling Riley earlier when I saw her calls but she didn’t respond. Initially, I felt she was upset because she felt I was ignoring her, but I chose to believe that she was asleep. I was washing my face in the bathroom when I heard my phone ringing. I had been expecting Riley’s call, so I rushed outside to take my phone. As I saw Riley’s name flashing across the screen, I let out a relieved sigh. “Hey.” She greeted me with a low voice. I apologized for missing her call and told her about how I tried calling but she didn’t respond. Surprisingly, she was not upset and was okay with it. Before I could ask her about the reason she called, she started talking. She wasn’t happy with the fact that my father refused to debunk the rumors and wanted me to convince him to accept her father's terms. Apparently, that was the only way she would believe that I wasn’t part of my father’s schemes. The call was a brief one because she hung up as soon as she passed her m
Chapter 230Riley Burke ~•~We were talking about random stuff, and then out of the blue, she stared at me and asked. “I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while. Have you met someone new? Are you seeing anybody?” “Emm… huh? Wha….” I stuttered as I tried to form a coherent sentence. I had no idea why I found it difficult to answer her question. It wasn’t like I ever kept my love life a secret from my mother, her question just caught me off guard. My mother was always the first to know whenever I got into a relationship or met someone new. But this time, her question felt like a trap. What if she knew about me and Mason and was just asking to see if I would tell the truth? But there was actually nothing going on between Mason and I. I mean. We hadn’t even gone out on a date. I wasn’t even sure I really liked him or wanted to date him. He just talked to me and sent me a gift basket. I let out a deep breath and cleared my throat. “I’m not seeing anybody,” I replied, my voice st
Riley Burke ~•~I called Mason’s phone severally but he didn’t answer. I was upset for a moment but I decided to calm down. I figured he would be busy with his family, due to everything that was happening. Or he could be asleep because the day was already dark. After tossing my phone on the bed, I decided to rest my head for a few minutes. But the next time I opened my eyes, I saw that it was morning. Sunlight streamed through the window, making me realize I hadn’t closed the curtains before I slept off the previous night. I blinked repeatedly as I tried adjusting to the brightness coming through the window. Letting out a loud yawn, I sat upright on the bed and reached out for my phone on the scattered sheets. As I picked up my phone, I glanced over the screen to see what time it was. But I realized I had gotten a lot of calls from Mason. I was deeply asleep and didn’t hear when the call came in. I contemplated returning the call but it was too early. I decided to wait for a l
Mason Craig~•~A few moments later, I heard a loud bang on my door, followed by my mother’s angry voice. “Mason Craig! Why did you choose to betray our family?” I had no idea how long I had been asleep for but I jerked back to reality after I heard those words come out from my mother’s mouth. I stood up from my bed immediately and walked to the door. My mother had a disappointed look on her face as the door swung open. “What are you talking about?” I asked, my brows etched in confusion. “So you decided to tell your little girlfriend about what we did? You decided to snitch and betray your family?” She questioned, her voice laced with disdain. My eyes were still thick with sleep and it took me a minute to process what she was talking about. “What do you mean? What girlfriend? I didn’t say anything to anybody.” I responded, my tone defensive. “Oh please!” She waved her hands violently in the air. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Follow me downstairs, your fa
Riley Burke ~•~After I was done talking to Mason, I went to meet Rowan because he asked me to meet him after my class. We were meant to go back home together. He was waiting for me in the driveway. I settled down in the front seat of the car and fastened my seatbelt. As we drove back to the house, I contemplated telling Rowan about the situation with Mason. But I wasn’t sure if I should say anything. Rowan would be so upset and probably tell my parents about it. I didn’t know if I wanted anybody to know what I knew Mason personally. It was best if I kept it away from them for a while. After an exhausting drive, we arrived at the house. “Is Belle still pissed at you?” I asked Rowan as we both stepped out of the car.He shook his head. “Yes, I messed up big time and I’m not sure she’ll forgive me easily,” Rowan admitted, running his hands through his hair. My lips parted and I blinked. “What? How did you mess up?” My curiosity got the best of me and I couldn’t resist asking him
Mason Craig~•~After Riley left, I remained in the office for a few more minutes. I needed some time to think and clear my head. I was certain that Riley didn’t believe anything I said and I had no idea how to make her see that I was being completely honest with her. Even if she eventually comes around, things will still be weird between us because of my parent’s behavior. After meeting so many shallow people, I finally found someone worth starting something with again. But it was already crumbling before it could even start. I didn’t have any other classes, so I decided to head back home. I locked the office and made my way back to my car. My uncle was a professor at the university, so he gave me a spare key. He asked me to go there whenever I needed a break from the crowd. He was one of the reasons why my father allowed me to attend Columbia University. He wanted me to go to a different country for college, but I didn’t want to go far away. Most times, I do regret my choice. I
Riley Burke ~•~I was already pissed when I saw Mason walking into the class. But his stupid text only fueled my irritation more. He still had the guts to ask if he did something wrong. Whenever I was upset and couldn’t do anything about it, my legs automatically started shaking. Liam noticed and tried his best to calm me down.I hated the fact that I was about to crash out in public. At first, I didn’t want to respond to his text. But out of annoyance, I responded to him and then blocked his number afterward.I didn’t want him to contact me anymore.After what felt like an eternity, the class was finally over. At one point, I even wanted to walk out of the class, but Liam persuaded me to stay. As everyone left the class, I wanted to rush out before Mason could get the chance to speak to me, but he was faster than me. I knew I wanted to have a conversation with him to demand answers but I wasn’t interested anymore. My daddy was going to take care of everything. “What do you want
Mason Craig ~•~After thinking about what to do for a while, I decided to tell Riley about it. I could imagine how devastated she would be if she found out about it from someone else. I didn’t want her to think I was part of it in any way. I knew telling her was me betraying my parents, but I didn’t care. The truth was going to come out eventually. I didn’t want it to look like I was enabling their behavior. At first, I wanted to call Riley and talk to her about it over the phone, but since we had a class together later in the day, I decided to leave it. I would have a conversation with her after our class. A few hours later, it was time for me to leave for school. I was already running late, so I grabbed my keys and bag before rushing down to the car. While I was on my way to school, I couldn’t stop thinking about the damage my parents had caused. They were so hungry for power and success, it wasn’t healthy. Even if they were giving me the silent treatment, I was still determ