•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 girl?" I sighed. My divorce with Darla was not finalized yet for me to talk about marriage with Abigail. "When do you think you're going to have the alimony arrangement ready? I need her to get the money as soon as possible before her family thinks otherwise about me." "You're avoiding it. Alright," he chuckled. "They'll be ready by the next morning. I'll fax them to you as soon as I'm done." "Thank you, Shane." He smiled at me before he got up from the chair in my office, took his things, and left. When the door closed behind him, I quickly sent Abigail a text that she should come to my office for a quick fun time. I needed it. *** "Abigail told us that you saw Darla having lunch with that boy, Ethan. Is it true? Is she with him now?" My mother asked as I walked into the lounge. "I don't want to talk about that right now, Mom." "We have to, Elijah," she insisted. "If her family is going to make demands now that you're getting divorced from her, we will have to use that as evidence of their daughter's adultery." "There won't be any need for that. I talked with her father, and he's aware of our divorce. He didn't ask me anything regarding the divorce, as long as it doesn't ruin our business arrangement." "If that's the case," she sighed. "I don't want anything to stress Abigail if Darla and her family come back to cause trouble for us. Abigail's carrying my first grandchild, so we have to do everything to make sure that we keep the peace and make Darla's family understand that the divorce was out of our hands." "I am handling everything, Mom. I won't jeopardize our business deal with the Millers." Just as my mother and I were talking, Abigail walked inside the lounge with a huge smile on her face and an envelope in her hand. While she approached us, I couldn't ignore the silent ache that I couldn't understand its cause. "Hey baby," she squealed as she leaned down and kissed my cheek. "You're home. I have something to show you." She explained as she sat down next to me and kissed my cheek once again, causing my mother to chuckle with satisfaction. "What is it?" I asked as I turned my attention to her. "Look, this is our baby. I think it's going to be a boy," she squealed with excitement as she showed me the scan. I was happy and looking forward to the new chapter in our lives. I knew that this new transition came with many changes, but I didn't want to hold on to the past anymore. Abigail was now in my life just as I wanted before. "I'm so happy. Thank you, Abi, for making me the luckiest man in the world." I kissed her cheek. "Alright, you love birds!" My mother squealed. "Get a room!" *** To celebrate the pregnancy and my official divorce from Darla a week later, I booked a villa at the Bahamas resort and went all out to impress Abigail. On our first night there, she wore a very sexy outfit and approached me on the bed. I was so distracted by everything that she was showing off that I felt completely mesmerized by her beauty. "So, you're all mine now, huh?" She smirked as she lay down on top of me and pressed her lips against mine. "All yours," I declared happily. "Do you know what I want to do to you now?" "No. What do you want to do to me?" I bit my lower lip as if I already knew what she was thinking. "I want to suck your dick, make love to you like I never did before, and make you watch me as I swallow every drop of you after your dick has been inside me." I gulped at her words, and my dick instantly rose to life and brushed against her soft thighs. "You turn me on. Are you going to be able to take me all in?" "I have no gag reflex, and I'm very good with my tongue around the head and balls." "Am I allowed to watch?" "You can start by watching me take off my clothes," she answered. She got off me, stood near the bed, and started taking off the little clothes that did no justice to cover her body and those round titties. She was the prettiest creation of art that I had ever seen. When she was done and had taken off my trousers, I watched as she freed my dick and massaged it a little before her sweet mouth and tongue took it all in. I closed my eyes and released a soft moan, and at that very moment, I was at peace with how things turned out.•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•"You never touch me anymore or even spare a second to look my way. What's going on with you?" Abigail questioned me as I walked toward the bar to get something to drink."I take care of you. I bought you this house and a car and made sure that you could never work a day in your life. What more do you want from me?" I poured whiskey into my glass and sipped the whole content."I've been your fiance for four years, Elijah! Four!" She snapped. "I'm a woman, and if you think that you're going to use this ring to keep me all to yourself when you don't treat me like your woman, then I don't want it on my finger!"“Then stop nagging me!” I shot back as I looked at her and smashed the glass on the floor, and it shattered. There was utter silence before she slapped me on the face and frowned. “Don’t ever raise your voice at me again.”She walked out of the bar and left me still standing around the shattered glasses on the floor, and I sank onto the chair next to the contour. “What h
•DARLA•‘Great.’I sighed when I saw him. Seeing him turned out exactly as I had imagined. Emotionless and completely different than how I thought I would feel five years ago when I left while pregnant and decided to raise the twins with Ethan. Even though I no longer cared or loved him like I used to before, my heart sank for a second at his presence and the way his eyes lingered on mine. It almost felt like the second time I saw him and my parents introduced him as my arranged husband at a dinner invitation at his house.Except that I was thrilled by the news, even though I knew about the other woman.“Elijah.”“I’m sorry, I thought that everyone was back,” he said as he glanced at me for a moment before he turned around and left. “That was weird,” Ethan shrugged when Elijah walked off and left us alone. “It doesn’t matter. We are already here anyway,” I smirked as I wrapped my arms around Ethan’s neck.“That smirk,” Ethan chuckled softly. “Is there something that’s on your mind
•DARLA•“Mommy, when are you coming home? Are you on your way back?” Madison asked on the phone when we arrived at our hotel suite.“Uncle Ethan and I will be home in a few days, baby, okay? Where’s Will?”She sighed. “He went out with Penelope to get something to eat.”“They left you alone?” I asked as I walked to the kitchen to grab something to drink from the fridge. “They left me with Uncle Peter, Mom.” She answered, referring to our house guard whom we employed to keep an eye on the house and the kids when we were not around, including Nora - our housekeeper, and Penelope the children’s nanny.“Alright, I'll call you back later, baby, okay? Take care of yourself and tell Penelope that you’re not allowed to have candy before bed.”“Bye, Mom! And say hello to Uncle Ethan for me!” She quickly hung up the call, and I just chuckled because I knew that they would nag Penelope until she gave up all the snacks and candy that they wanted. “How are the kids?” Ethan asked behind me as I t
•ELIJAH•“I want you to find anything you can get on him. I expect feedback within three days. Are you going to be able to meet the deadline?”“I'll get everything you need in two days. I’m sure you read my profile, I am very proficient and reliable in what I do. But before then, I’ll need upfront payment, including pictures and basic information about him, to make things easier and faster.”I looked at him and exhaled as I quickly made a transaction of ten thousand dollars to his account, including all the extra fees of delivering the information within my period.When he saw the money alert on his phone, his face quickly lit up with a smile. “I won’t disappoint you. You’ll get everything you need in two days.”“Yes, thank you, Mikael. I’ll get my secretary to send you the pictures and the basic information about him right away.”He nodded as he took his things and left my office. I sat down on my chair and hoped that I was not going to regret getting that young boy to get me any se
•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
•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