•DARLA•
After a little while, things seemed to be going very well for Elijah and me. I was happy and praying that things remained the way they were. I found myself enjoying the little gestures he did to make up for what was wrong. We were spending time together and laughing together a little bit more than before. I found myself falling in love with him all over again. He was my dream guy, and I couldn't imagine a love greater than what I felt for him. Even though he had never expressed his love for me, I decided to be patient with him and wait for the day he would realize that he was in love with me. As for the baby part, I didn't allow it to ruin my mood every time his mother asked if I had my period or not. I decided to occupy my day with the study material that I received from Business College before my parents abruptly discouraged me from studying further for my business degree and told me that I had to marry Elijah and be a housewife. Although Elijah had no idea about my desire to be in business, I thrived in living my business career through him and was always happy whenever he was kind enough to share some of his triumphs at work. When I mentioned a few times about studying further, Elijah always ignored me and his mother, and my parents always told me that I had to focus on building my family, so, the study material was all that I had to keep my dream alive. While I was busy contemplating how I was going to get myself enrolled in a Business College without Elijah and our families knowing, my cell phone rang beside me, and I quickly answered it. "Amelia, hey!" I squealed in excitement, thinking that she might be the one to take me out of my misery. "Darla, are you home?" She asked, her voice a bit low. "Yes, I'm home. Is everything okay?" I asked as I started to get worried that she did not have good news. "I need you to come to the Houston's Construction building right now." I was so confused about what she was talking about because if something had happened to Elijah, we would've known about it at home. "What's going on, Amelia? You're scaring me," I said as I sat up straight on the couch. "You remember when I told you about the business conference that I had to attend here? Well, I just heard some things, and I need you to come down here, and I'll explain everything to you when you get here, okay? Just be quick," she answered before she hung up the call. My heart was racing as I got up from the couch and prepared myself to go to Elijah's company building. *** When I arrived outside the building, I got out of my car and called Amelia. "Hey, I'm outside," I informed her after she answered the call. "Just come inside. Go to Elijah's office," she replied. My heart started racing again. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" "Just go to his office. I'll be behind you," she answered before she hung up the call on me again. I felt so confused and didn't know what to think of the whole thing. I knew one thing. That Elijah hated it when I showed up in his office unannounced. But if there was something that I needed to find out, then I wasn't going to waste the opportunity of finding out myself. "Oh, babe, you flatter me," a woman giggled inside his office. "You have no idea how much I've been craving to feel your lips again. Your body against mine..." Elijah answered, and I instantly lost it. I barged inside the door and found him with Abigail kissing. They leaned back from each other when they heard the door opening. "Is this what you do behind my back and then come back at night to sleep on the same bed with me?" I fumed as I walked toward them. "Is this what you do, Elijah? You sleep with your new secretary and come back and tell me that she's family to you? You're actually making me a fool while you have the guts to spread my legs and insert the same dick that you use with her?!" "What are you doing here, Darla?" He dared to ask that because we had company behind me, and they were all seeing what kind of a jerk he was. "Don't you dare ask me that question!" I shot back. "You're cheating on me and making me think as if I've been hallucinating the whole thing!" "Close the damn door, Amelia!" He commanded her behind me when he saw that someone was holding a phone and taking pictures. After Amelia closed the door, Abigail pointed her finger at me. “How dare you come here and cause havoc in front of our clients and colleagues?” “No,” I closed the small gap between us. “How dare you flirt with my husband?” I snarled. She scolded, “Before he was your husband, he was mine, and as far as I'm concerned, he's still mine.” Before I knew it, she gave me a hot slap on my face and when I wanted to slap her back, she grabbed my hair and when I tried to lose her hands from my hair, she tripped and I fell on top of her. When I got up from her, I realized that she had passed out. "Fuck, Darla! Do you see what you've done?!" Elijah growled as he pushed me from Abigail, and I lost balance and fell on the floor near his desk. My heart broke when I saw him trying to wake her up without a care in the world about me. Even when I tried to stay awake, my body started feeling weak from the excruciating stomach ache after falling on the floor, and it became all black. *** When I woke up and saw a drip machine next to my bed, I groaned as I closed my eyes and tried to recall how I got into the hospital. When I remembered the last image of Elijah trying to wake up Abigail when he had just pushed me out of the way, my heart broke again. "Mrs. Houston, you're awake!" A voice called out as I lifted my head and looked at the woman walking toward me. "I'm Dr. Criscilla Reeves. I've been your doctor for the past 8 hours you've been admitted to the hospital." "Oh, I see. Where's my husband, Mr. Houston?" "You were brought here by your friend, Amelia. Do you want me to call your husband for you because there are news here that I have for you?" Of course, Abigail was more important, and he didn't care what was happening with me. Even if I died, he wouldn't have cared. "No, there's no need for that. What's the news?" I asked, thinking that I probably had cancer and only had a few months to live. "We did blood tests, and you're 6 weeks pregnant. Congratulations, Mrs. Houston."•DARLA•"You're 6 weeks pregnant... Congratulations, you're 6 weeks pregnant..." The words kept replaying over and over in my mind as the doctor signed my discharge papers, and Amelia came to pick me up. I kept asking myself how I even got pregnant when I was on birth control, and Elijah was even making sure that we didn't have a child together yet. I wasn't sure if I had any slip-ups, especially now that Elijah wasn't hiding his unfaithfulness to me and was publicly displaying his affection for Abigail. I wasn't even sure that he would want me to keep the baby if I told him the news. He made it clear several times to me that he didn't want us to have a child. "I'm so sorry about yesterday, I didn't want to tell you on the phone about what I saw and heard." Amelia apologized as she pulled up outside the house. I looked at her and smiled. She was my best friend for 20 years now and I was happy that she always got my back. She and I had come a long way, and I trusted her more tha
•ELIJAH•"Hey," a voice greeted me at the door of my office, and when I lifted my eyes and saw Abigail, I straightened up with a smile on my face. "Hey," I smiled at her as she closed the door behind her and walked toward my desk. "We need to talk," she breathed as she sat down on the chair opposite mine. I tensed up at that because I knew that it wasn't something good. In my mind, I assumed that it had something to do with my wife. That bitch couldn't behave. I hoped that for her sake, Darla wasn't causing any trouble with Abigail and disturbing her peace. "What is it? Is everything okay?" I asked. "Yeah, but... There's something I have to tell you." She took out something from her handbag and placed it on the table contour in front of me. When I saw the positive pregnancy test, my heart raced, and I felt like I was sweating. 'Wait -' In my mind, I wasn't even sure that I nutted inside her, which explained the throbbing headache the following morning in our hotel room two m
•DARLA•One way or another, my life had to go on, and that meant that I had to let go of my breakup with Elijah. "Your husband called and told us about the divorce. Is it true?" My mother asked on the phone the following morning. I hesitated to answer because I knew how much she and my father wanted my marriage with Elijah to work. "Yes, Mom. Elijah filed for divorce, and we would be officially divorced very soon after his attorney finalizes it in court." "You can't get divorced from the Houston boy, Darla. Like the good girl that you are, I want you to go back to him and make things right. Apologize for whatever it is that you did to him and make sure that the divorce doesn't happen. Do you understand me?" I groaned as I got up from the couch in my hotel suite. "He divorced me, Mother, because he's having a baby with someone else. I can't possibly go back there and ask him to take me back after what he did!" "You can't go back just because he's having a child with someone else?
•DARLA•"Are you sure that you can do this?" "Yes, Ethan, and before I change my mind, I need you to run me over the whole thing again. I need all the details, including the business that you'll be doing with the Iraq men." "Of course, we can set up another lunch date, and I'll tell you everything that you need to know. And about leaving Atlanta," he paused for a moment. "I was going to suggest that we relocate to California. That's where I'll be working most of the time." I honestly didn't care about where we relocated to, as long as I was going to be very far away from Elijah. I was looking forward to finally living my life without being told what to do and when to do it."That sounds great to me. As long as we will be out of Atlanta," I said as I packed the pregnancy report inside my traveling bag. "I'm sorry about earlier, I should've -" "It's okay, Ethan," I sighed as I sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm over that now. Once you and I leave this place, we won't talk about
•ELIJAH•"You're going to pay one hundred and fifty million dollars in alimony? Are you insane?" Shane asked, shocked as we were drawing up the alimony arrangement."She's been with me for two years. She deserves even more than that," I replied as I closed my work laptop and turned my attention to him. "I can't believe that you're willing to pay this much money to a woman that comes from a wealthy family as well, and you weren't in love with." "Okay," I rolled my eyes with a sigh. "I shouldn't tell you so much about my personal life if you're going to use it against me when you have to be my lawyer." "That's my job. To help you make rational and wise decisions when it comes to your personal life and money. I have to be your voice or reason." "That's the job for my PA and financial advisor. You just draw up documents to protect me legally. Nothing more," I emphasized. "Fine." He groaned as he wrote down the amount on the paper and looked at me. "So, are you going to marry this new
•DARLA•"You're leaving Atlanta? Are you serious?" Amelia gasped in shock and irritation. "You can't tell me that Elijah got under your skin, and now you're on the run!" "I'm not running, Amee." I rolled my eyes. "It seems so to me," she sighed. "If you leave town, he's going to know that you left because of your divorce. Besides that, Atlanta is all that you know, Dee." "I know, but I have to go. I made this deal with Ethan, and my terms were that we leave town. Elijah doesn't know about the baby, and I want to keep it that way." "You keep surprising me, honestly." She sipped her cocktail and groaned. "How does he not know about the pregnancy?" "Because I don't want him to know. It's mine. He's going to have his own family with Abigail, and I don't want it any other way." "So, you're leaving town and keeping his baby from him? Please tell me that this is not going to be the biggest mistake that you've ever made?" "I know what I'm doing, Amee. I have to do what's best for me an
•DARLA•The next morning, when I left Atlanta with Ethan, it finally hit me for the first time that Elijah would never belong to me.When the flight took off from the ground, my heart broke once again, and I couldn't believe that he had chosen someone else over me.Just a few days after we broke up and filed for divorce, the pain felt new like the night he brought me those divorce papers and told me that Abigail was pregnant with his child.I couldn't imagine any greater pain like that. Reality slapped me in the face when the last memory of him was with Abigail.I knew when I left that I would never be able to love another soul as much as I loved Elijah, even though he made it known to the world that there was no other woman in his heart, but Abigail. "Hey, are you okay?" Ethan asked, snapping me back to earth from the heartbreaking flashback."Yeah, of course." I smiled at him. "I'm looking forward to a new beginning in San Francisco.""We'll be there in an hour."I nodded at him wi
5 YEARS LATER •DARLA•"We are delighted to inform you that the board members liked the architect design copies that you sent and would like to offer you a project that will take place in Michigan. The allocated amount will range from one billion dollars to 10 billion, and you will have the privilege of hiring your own team of architects to work with. You will be in partnership with Elijah Houston, who will be assisting with construction men and all the needed materials. Thank you, Miss Sullivan, we hope to hear from you very soon.” My heart stopped for a second when my eyes lingered on Elijah's name in the email. I needed the project to add to my portfolio, especially since it was going to be big and spanning for quite some time. But seeing Elijah's name on the email filled me with doubts and hesitation. “A collaboration with Elijah Houston…” Ethan sighed as he looked at me as I sat down on the couch next to him after he received the same email. “I'm sure we will find something e
•ELIJAH•"We have arranged your marriage with Benjamin Miller's daughter, Darla. She's a good girl with a good figure and will be able to bear us heirs." "You arranged my marriage to who?" I scolded. Fuck, if I wanted a wife, I was very much capable of getting myself one. "Do you remember that property project that we were discussing while you were in Austria? We decided to be partners with them and to seal our deal, you're going to have to marry their daughter to ensure that all the wealth that will be generated from the project once we are gone, will still run in our families." I scoffed as I shook my head in disbelief. I knew that my mother was capable of doing the most outrageous surprises, but this one surpassed them all, and I was shocked. "She's educated and was able to obtain her degree in communication. She will be an important asset when you attend business trips with her." "Do you mean to tell me that I went to Austria to complete my PhD in Business Studi
•DARLA•"What happened back there?" Amelia asked when we got inside her apartment. "I actually didn't think that he would try to talk with you while he was with Abigail. I'm sure she was pissed as hell when she saw him running after you."I sighed as I took off my shoes, sat down on the couch, and exhaled. "Did he say something to you to offend you?" She asked, seeing that I was a bit distracted. "No, it doesn't matter. I'm just tired and mad that I didn't get my food." "That's not all, Dee, and you know it." She sat down next to me and placed her hand on my thigh. "I'm your friend. You can talk to me about anything, and you know that." "He didn't say anything to me." "Are you sure? You've been quiet all the way home, and I was certain that he said something that took you back to the years when you were together.""Nothing. Besides, I'm with Ethan now. I would be a fool if I'd say that seeing Elijah had any impact on how I feel about him because it doesn't." I smiled at her. "Let
•DARLA•I was only twelve when she told me the news that wrecked my heart and shuttered my world before I was even able to understand what happened to my mother. “Why are you still doing here and not helping Mary get the dining room ready for our guests?” She glared at me on the couch with her voice a bit high, which shocked me because she never spoke to me like that before. “You want me to help Mary? Why, Mom? Is she not okay?” I closed the book that I was reading and looked up at her. “I’m still reading a book.”“I will not repeat myself, Darla.” Her face changed as she pointed her finger at me. “Get your ass up from the couch and go to the kitchen and help Mary set up the dining room table. Are we clear?”“But I’ve never done anything in the kitchen.”She scoffed. “You’re right. It’s my fault that you’re a spoilt brat who can’t even do anything in the kitchen as a woman! But that will end right now, so get up from there before I drag you to the kitchen myself!” “M
•ELIJAH•"I still can't believe that we have been sleeping in separate bedrooms ever since that skunk showed up. She knows her game so well, and she's good at it. Wow." Abigail kept whining in the car on our way to get dinner. "We are sleeping in separate bedrooms because you keep nagging me non-stop. If you were able to keep your mouth shut and trust me, things would've been much better." I answered as I pulled up outside the Italian restaurant. "She shows up here for a day and already has her dirty claws wrapped around you," she scoffed. "It's sickening to think that you and I were so good until she came back. You were acting different all this time for weeks because you knew that she was coming back here, didn't you?" "Like I said to you before, Abigail, if you have a problem with her working with me, then stop showing up at my workplace and jeopardizing my business." "The day you professed your love to me and proposed to me was the day you signed up to be faithful to me. I'm n
•DARLA•“What did you just say?”“I’m carrying his child, grandma.” She rolled her eyes and folded her arms on her chest.I gasped in shock as I tilted my head and looked at Ethan beside me. I had known him for five whole years and hearing her say that she was carrying Ethan’s child felt like a bomb in the face and I just shook my head and left him with her and went to the bedroom. I went straight to my closet and took out the realistic water gun that I brought with me because I wanted to prank my kids when we went back home and went to fill it up in the bathroom before walking to the living room with it, fuming.“You need to get out of here, Rachel. And don't ever show up saying that you're carrying my child when you know that you're not.”“Come on, Ethan, you and I know that she doesn’t want you as much as I want you. And besides that, you promised to help me when I need your help, and I’m stranded right now.”“You’re stranded. Are you kidding me?”“Get out of my house before I lo
•DARLA•“I want to know how you even got in that elevator and ended up spending an hour with him inside it,” Ethan demanded as we opened the door and got inside our rented villa after discovering that we would be in Atlanta for a little while.“I got in the elevator to go to the ground floor, Ethan. I wanted to talk to the guy because Abigail accused me of being after him, the elevator incident was purely coincidental and if I knew that it was going to be stuck, I would’ve used the stairs.”I sighed as I walked to the bedroom, took off my jacket, and tossed it on the couch near the closet. “You’re right. You should’ve used the stairs. You and I are supposed to be fixing things between us instead of getting stuck in elevators with our exes!” He ranted. “Can you calm down, please? Nothing happened between Elijah and I, and nothing will ever happen. I don’t think you should worry yourself about him since you still have to sort things out with your ex-girlfriend before you and I can lab
•ELIJAH•“Elijah, we need to talk. I want you to let her go and find someone else to do business with. You and I both know that there are so many other great architects that you can find out there. Didn’t you hear how she talked down on me and made me feel small in front of you because you haven’t made me your wife yet?”I sighed as I took off my clothes after we had just returned home from work. I was tired and didn’t want to go through this with her again. “Are you even listening to me?” She asked as she walked to me. “I don’t want you to work with Darla anymore, Elijah. She’s probably planning something else to do to get you back after she succeeded in getting you to spend an hour with her inside that elevator. Can’t you see that this was all her plan? To get you back to her.”After taking off my shirt and pants, I turned to her, cupped her face in my hands, brought her face to mine, and kissed her. Once she loosened to the kiss, I picked her up, took her to the bed, laid her dow
•DARLA•‘This fucking bitch.’ I groaned as I walked straight to Elijah’s office and found him with her. I wanted him to warn his girlfriend or fiance- so I heard, to stay away from me before I caused trouble for her or him by dropping the business deal, even though we were just offered more benefits for the contract that would span over 6 years.When he saw me, he quickly got up from his chair while Abigail tilted her head and looked at me from the opposite chair she was sitting on behind Elijah’s desk. “Darla, is there a problem?” He asked as he walked over to me. I closed the door behind me and closed the little gap between us.“I want you to tell your girlfriend to stay away from me or else, I’ll be forced to report her harassment to the board members before I exclude myself from the project and take my skills elsewhere where I wouldn’t be insulted for something that I don’t know about.”“Abigail insulted you?” He asked as he tilted his head and looked at her while she stood up f
•DARLA•That night, I did exactly as Amelia advised me and decided that I was not going to allow Elijah to get between Ethan and me, especially now that he was upset with me.When I got inside the bedroom and found him changing his clothes, I walked behind him and hugged him around his waist. “I’m sorry, babe. I honestly do not like the tension between us. You know that you’re more than just my best friend and business partner. You’re everything to me.”He sighed as he took my hands off him, turned around, and looked at me. “Can we sleep and talk about this in the morning? I’m tired right now and really need to rest my eyes.”“I said I’m sorry, Ethan. I just don’t want us to not get along now because we are back here and working with my ex-husband. He’s not supposed to get between us.”I tried to make the situation a little bit easier, but his facial expression did not convince me that he wanted to do the same thing. It felt as if he didn’t want to see my face.“No one’s getting betw