Olivia ~•~A few weeks had passed since I returned from the trip to New York. Alexander couldn’t stop blowing up my phone after I refused to meet up with him the day we were meant to leave for California. Ethan had pleaded with me but I didn’t listen because I couldn’t listen to Alexander’s excuses or justifications for his betrayal. I was determined to move on from him and I was going to keep to my words. The kids, on the other hand, couldn’t stop talking about New York and their cousin. However, I made them understand that they had to wait until the holiday before they could see him again. Since my cover about where I had moved to was already blown, I didn’t have a problem visiting New York again. The last time I stalked Sandra on social media was when she posted the news of her baby. Ever since then, I blocked her everywhere because I didn’t want to be reminded of her betrayal. But I didn’t know why I decided to check again, I tried to stop myself from doing it but my curiosi
Olivia ~•~The next day when I went to work, I asked Ethan if I could go with him to New York for the deal. He was confused at first because I declined his offer the previous day, but when I explained the reason to him, he understood and agreed with me. Throughout the day, I couldn’t focus on anything. I kept on thinking about my life and how I spent the years arguing with my parents. I blamed myself for his death even if he died in a car accident. Maybe if I hadn’t left, things would have turned out differently. “You didn’t have to come to work today, you could’ve just called me.” Ethan’s soft voice echoed, interrupting my thoughts. I jerked back to reality and ran my hands through my head. “I couldn’t be at home alone, I needed a distraction.” I didn’t know how to deal with grief and I couldn’t be alone because I was just going to think about it continuously and cry my eyes out. The previous night, I couldn’t sleep and stayed up crying. Even during dinner, my kids noticed some
Olivia ~•~When I pulled up to my parent’s house, I was certain it was Alexander’s car that was parked in the garage. What was he doing there? And what business did he have with my family? I took a deep breath to calm myself before walking through the front door with Ethan by my side. I wasn’t surprised when I saw Alexander sitting on the couch in the living room. It had been so many years and the house still looked the same. My lips curled into a small smile when I heard my mother's voice coming from the kitchen. I pretended like Alexander wasn’t even present and walked to meet my mother. I was grateful she was alive, and even if we didn’t agree on many things, I was going to be nicer to her. “Olivia, come here!” My mum exclaimed with a wide smile and open arms. That was the happiest my mum had ever been to see me. I fell into her open arms and her arms wrapped around me in a tight squeeze. “I’m so happy to see you,” I confessed and she hugged me tighter. After a few seconds,
Olivia ~•~After multiple knocks, my mother finally opened the door. I was fuming with anger and I didn’t want to say anything disrespectful, so I just walked past her and went straight to the living room. Ethan stood up and reached for me as he saw me coming. “What happened there?” He asked with a worried expression registered on his face. I needed some fresh air, so I walked outside and he trailed behind me. My father just died and instead of them to focus on his funeral, they were trying to rekindle a love that was already long gone. “Are you okay?” Ethan asked as we sat down outside. I shook my head, fighting back the tears. “I’m not, I don’t even want to talk about it. My mum and Alexander are unbelievable. Maybe coming here was a mistake.” I sniffled, struggling to contain my emotions. Ethan didn’t say anything else, he just pulled me closer and I leaned into his body. I decided not to go back inside the house until Amanda and David arrived. While we were outside, I call
Alexander ~•~I’d been searching for Olivia for what felt like an eternity. I’d used my connections, money, and influence but I still couldn’t track her down. But finally, after all those years, we stumbled upon each other again. Even if I was surprised, I was the happiest person that day. I couldn’t stop thinking about her and wasn’t about to let her go again.I was determined to win her back, especially now that I knew we had kids together. If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have given up on searching for her.This time, I was going to fight for her and reunite our family. Letting her go the first time was the biggest mistake I had made in my whole lifetime. When Olivia’s mother informed me about Olivia’s coming, I cleared my whole schedule because I wanted to see her. I even arrived at the house before her. My efforts to get her to talk to me failed, but I wasn’t going to give up just yet. I didn’t know what the relationship between her and her partner was, but I wasn’t going t
Olivia ~•~“Let’s go back inside and make arrangements for Dad’s funeral. That’s what we are here for.” I realized I needed to take control of the situation. I didn’t want to let my emotions get to me anymore. Amanda nodded in agreement and we both made our way back to the front door. As we walked into the house, Sandra was coming outside. She avoided eye contact as she walked past us but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to call her out for what she did in person. I grabbed her by the hand and stopped her from walking further. “How could you even stoop so low?” I asked, my voice dripping with disdain. Amanda wanted to stop me but I ignored her and focused on Sandra. Sandra was at a loss for words. “After getting pregnant by him, you still dared to show your face here,” I asked with a humorless chuckle. “Don’t you even have a little bit of self-respect?” “The both of you were divorced and you moved out to God knows where. So don’t blame me for going for what made me happy.” There
Olivia ~•~“What?” I exclaimed, my eyes widening in shock. Even if I was curious, I never asked how everything happened because I felt it was just going to hurt me more. “Yes, I wouldn’t hurt you like that on purpose.” He assured me. “I had a shitty night that day, so I decided to go to the bar. I met Sandra there and I got wasted. She offered to accompany me to the house because I was really drunk and when I woke up the morning, I saw her on my bed with our clothes scattered on the floor.” Even if it had already happened, I still gave Sandra the benefit of the doubt. “So how are you so sure you didn’t consent to it? How are you so sure she took advantage of you?” Alexander sighed. “Even if the whole night was a blur, I knew I wouldn’t do something like that with Sandra.” He continued. “When I asked her about the night, she said I looked like I needed it. She claimed I needed someone else to get over you.” Sandra knew he wasn’t in the right state of mind, and she still went ahea
Olivia ~•~“So which of them is going to get a second chance at your love?” Maya asked and I laughed. I spent the whole afternoon with Maya, explaining what was going on in my life to her. Ethan was pissed at me because I was finally on good terms with Alexander. He felt like I was going to get back with Alexander even if I assured him that nothing would happen. Alexander and I have been talking a lot because he always wanted to speak with the kids. They were so happy when I introduced him to them during the holiday. According to Rowan, he could finally talk about his father to his friends in school. Riley wasn’t as excited as Rowan was. They spent a lot of time with Alexander in New York. I took them there during the holiday just like I promised. When it was time to return to California, they didn’t even want to leave. During the time we spent there, I ran into Sandra several times, she couldn’t look me in the face because she realized I knew the whole truth. I also met Jason.
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