•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
•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
•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•“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
•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
•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• 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
•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 think I might know who did this," Elijah replied as he got up from the couch. "I think with this new evidence of him trying to tarnish your name with nonsensical theories, we have a chance to get him in jail.""You know who did this?" I asked as I wiped off my tears. "It's Ethan, of course. Who else would've leaked the information about how you got the Millers Properties Lifestyle? Or how you inherited everything from your father and banned your stepmother and brother from the company? It seems pretty obvious to me." I looked at him and realized how much sense he had made. Yet again, I failed to see Ethan for who he truly is. "Then what now?" "I know how to get him to confess to this and also get him to get this article off the internet. So don't worry, I'll take care of him for you. He will never bother you again." For the first time in forever, I let down my guard and decided to trust Elijah. Even though it was hard for me to admit that I needed his help when I came
•ABIGAIL•"Don't worry, I'll call you. Yeah -" My heart skipped a beat when I heard Diego on the phone when I walked out of the restroom. We were in New York and had withdrawn the money for our fake passports, which made it weird about who he might be talking to on the phone. He made my mind and heart uneasy because of his constant attention to his cell phone, which wasn't a problem until a few hours ago.'Fuck. He better not be cheating on me,' I groaned as I walked back to the bathroom and went to look at myself in the mirror and reapply my makeup. I sure wasn't going to let Diego use me to get a fake passport and then turn around and want to bring his whore with us. I had to make sure that he didn't even think about stabbing me in the back after all the things that he did with me and to me. When I was done patting myself on the back, I walked out of the restroom and found him waiting for me. He looked a bit agitated. "Is everything okay?" He asked when I walked toward him as
•ELIJAH•"I want your best flowers and the best gift box you got. Make sure that they are as romantic as they can be. I want them delivered to the address that I sent you. Yes. Thank you." I hung up the call and sat down on my couch. I was in one of my apartments so that I could have my own space and also get my mission accomplished on time.After receiving a file from my private investigator about Ethan's fraud with his former Arab business partners, I realized that it was going to help me get him under my control, and also get him to pay for kidnapping my kids.My cell phone rang, and when I realized that it was Harper, I got up from the couch and answered the call. "Hey, Jason sent me a text that Diego called and told him that you found them. Is Abigail with you?" I asked. "Yes, she's here. We are still keeping her in our hotel room. Jason hasn't called his cop friends, has he?" "No, but they are waiting for something. Abigail has to be captured, and since they had a lead, it h
•DARLA• "I can't believe that you had sex with Elijah," Amelia commented after I closed the door behind Elijah. I rolled my eyes as I turned around and walked to the living room where the kids were happily playing together. "I don't know what you're talking about. It's so crazy that you think I did such a disgraceful act with Elijah. I'd do that with anything walking around with a dick, but Elijah. My goodness," I answered when we got to the kitchen. "I'm sure you think that you're fooling me right now, but I can literally smell and see a person who just had sex." "Oh, yeah?" I chuckled after pouring myself and her a glass of apple juice. "Your pregnancy does that?" "Yeah, and your shirt is turned over." I gasped as I looked down at my shirt and instantly felt overwhelmed with embarrassment. I was so sure that even the housekeeper and Penelope saw that and knew what I did when Elijah was in the house. "That -" I sighed as I tried to think of an excuse. "I didn't see it
•ETHAN•"Morning, beautiful." I smiled as I brought Meghan a cup of coffee in bed. She looked so beautiful, and I couldn't believe my luck in bringing her home from the bar after a failed attempt two nights ago. "Fuck," she groaned.She didn't look so impressed when she saw me. She got up from the bed, dressed up, and took her handbag from the floor. "I'm sorry, but I've got to hit the road. I'm sure we had a lot of fun last night, but I'm not the romantic type to do breakfast in bed, talk, or whatever you thought was going to happen." I placed the cup of coffee down on the pedestal counter and turned to her a little disappointed. She didn't seem like someone who only did one-night stands.I was even thinking that maybe she didn't like me as much as I thought she did when she came home with me. "Wait, what's wrong? You were happy when we came home and you seemed interested in me. Did I read all that wrong?" I asked as I leaned toward her. "It's not you, honestly. But I can't do
•DARLA•"Say it again, Darla. I want you to tell me that you don't love me anymore, but I want you to look me straight in the eye this time when you say it." "What difference will make it, Elijah?" I scoffed. "It won't change the fact that I don't want to be with you anymore. Getting me the cool pink car, jewelry, bags, and shoes is never going to make me forgive you for all the shit that you put me through!" "Are you going to say it?" "Fuck you!" I snapped. "You left and abandoned me when I was pregnant with your kids! How dare you think that you can come back into my life, and I'll just forgive you as if you didn't leave me to be with another woman?! You're a motherfucking cunt, Mr. Houston!""I know that I lied, cheated, and divorced you on claims that Abigail was pregnant! I know that I was an asshole who doesn't deserve sympathy from you, but I love you!" He sighed. "I love you with all my heart, and nothing makes sense to me right now than you." He breathed. "You're the only
•HARPER•"Hey, are you okay?" I breathed, packed my bag, and took a sip of my lemon juice on the table. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired of being here and not getting anywhere. Abigail seems impossible to find." Alec smiled as he came to sit down next to me on the bed. "Don't you trust me anymore? I brought you here with me because I know that we can find her. I know Abigail and how she thinks. Chicago is not big enough for her to hide." "Yeah, and we've been here for a day already. We should be getting somewhere, but it seems like we aren't getting anywhere, Alec. What if she's no longer in Chicago? I don't think that I can stay here any longer chasing pavements!" I snapped and then sighed. "Something's going on with you. What's wrong? You know that you can talk to me about anything." "There's nothing wrong! Stop with your interrogations, Alec, and get me, Abigail!" I snapped again as I stood up from the bed. "I'm starting to feel like you don't want me to find your bitch anymor
•ELIJAH•"This better be good," I sighed after answering Diego's call in the morning. I was sleeping when he called me at 5 AM. I had a long night and slept quite late because of a research that I was conducting. "I'm with Abigail, Sir. We met last night in Chicago and will be on our way to New York this morning for some cash. I just need a little more time before turning her in." "My sister and her friend are in Chicago searching for her. When you come back from your New York trip, please give me a call. She has to be captured tonight. That's how much time I'm going to give you." "Yes, Sir. That's okay. I'll make sure that she's captured. I just want to make sure that Harper gets back the remaining money that Abigail took from her." I got up from the bed and sighed. "Alright, give me a call when you're back." "Sir?" "Yes?" "Does our deal still stand? You get Abigail and let me go? You promised not to harm me or my family if everything goes your way. Please, I hope nothing wil
•SONIA•"Hey, Mom. It's me again," I sniffed as I sat down on the carpet floor in the basement. This was where I spent some of my time whenever I needed to feel close to my Mom, even though I didn't really have any memories of her.Before my father had his life devoted to his work, he and I used to have a weekly tradition whereby we would watch videos he took with my Mom before she died. They looked so happy and in love together, which made sense why my father never remarried after her death. She was the love of his life."I know that we barely know each other, but I have no one right now. You're the only person who can listen to me without any judgments, and I really need to vent right now," I sighed. "Was it ever this hard when your parents wanted to get you married to someone else when you were with Dad? Was it this hard because they didn't want you to be with someone who wouldn't be able to take care of you?" I silently cried and wiped my tears before they could reach my cheek