•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
•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
•ABIGAIL•"I demand an answer now!" I roared as the car pulled up outside the gate. "Get your ass out of my car right now, Abigail. I will not repeat myself for the third time before you could be able to register this through your thick skull that I need some time alone from you." "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to allow you to treat me like trash all because of her!" I snapped as I pointed my finger at him. "You're going to send her away, or I'll make life difficult for the both of you." "After tonight, I don't think I'll ever be surprised if you do something nonsensical. But if you ever think of causing trouble for Darla, just know that I won't fold my arms and watch you do as you please." "Is that a threat?" I scoffed. "You can take it however you want, but I dare you to go near her so that you will see what I am capable of." "I don't take threats lightly, but you're going to regret this." I snarled. "The drums that you and Darla are trying to play will be the music th
•ELIJAH•"Georgia, do you think you can find the best florist in town and have them deliver flowers to the address that I will send you?" I asked, my heart racing because I didn't know how she was going to react when she came for the meeting the following day. She was married, but who cared? I had to do everything in my power to at least get her to forgive me for how things turned out five years ago. "I think I can get one in town, Sir." She nodded as she sat down on the chair across my table."Thank you, I would appreciate that." I flashed her a quick smile before I gave her the document that she wanted me to sign. "Before I forget, I want you to call the bank and tell them to freeze the credit card that I allocated to Abigail Hayes. When you're done with that, please inform the security team to be on the lookout and not let her inside the building." "Yes, Sir," Georgia replied as she took notes on her notepad before she handed me the schedule for the day and left my office. At
•ETHAN•"Will, how's your sister? Is she getting better? Did Penelope call our doctor? Please give her the phone."I worriedly closed my laptop and looked at Darla pacing up and down while on the phone when it turned out that Madison wasn't having a common flu. "Please call Dr. Willow to check up on her. I will take the first flight to California in the morning. Yes. Please tell her that Mommy is on her way, Penelope. Alright, thank you. I'll call again later to check if her fever has gone down." After hanging up the call, Darla turned to me with glassy eyes, and I swiftly got up from the chair and went to embrace her.I knew how worried she was whenever one of the twins fell ill when we were away from home."I'm so far away from her, I don't even know what to do." She sighed as she wrapped her arms around me. "We are going to California tomorrow. It will be okay. She will be fine. I'm sure the fever will go down now that she has heard your voice.""Are you sure you can come with m
•DARLA•"Go back to your rooms," I told the twins as I walked up the stairs to my bedroom. Just as I was about to close the door and go and have a long shower, my cell phone rang in my handbag. "Amee, hey." I answered the call as I sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hey, when did you leave?" She asked. "Oh, we left this morning. I'm sorry, it was urgent. Madison was sick, or so we thought she was." I rolled my eyes, just thinking of how the twins and Penelope tricked us into coming to California for some silly game. "Oh, my God, is she okay?" "She was never sick. I'm angry at them right now. Can you believe that they conspired into getting Ethan and I back so that they could play matchmaking on us?"Amelia laughed. "Aww... They don't know that you guys are together already? How did they react when you told them that you and Ethan are dating?" I scratched my head and sighed. "I didn't want to tell them that. They grew up knowing that Ethan is my good friend and their uncle, and I
•ELIJAH•"Elijah, you came!" My mother squealed with joy with her arms wide open as she walked toward me. "Mom, hi." I greeted her as I hugged her for a moment before pulling away and walking to the living room with her.I wanted to deal with whatever she called me for and then find out after that why Darla didn't come to work or call me regarding the flowers and box of chocolates that she received. I expected Ethan to be the one to retaliate about the flowers, but he also didn't show up at the last conference meeting. "What's going on, Mother? Is Harper back from Manchester?" I asked as I sat down on the couch opposite her. "Is it bad for a mother to call her son just to see him again?""I was with you like yesterday." "Come on, I have only one son, and if I want to see you, then I will see you. So, tell me, have you resolved the issue with Abigail?" The whole setup with my mother calling me on a Monday evening to see me seemed suspicious. There were not only two glasses of ha
•DARLA• "What's going on?" "I'm going to Atlanta. My father was admitted to the hospital due to kidney failure." I answered, packing the twins' bags. "You're going with the kids?" "Yes. My father might as well see them now." "Can I come with you?" Ethan asked as he walked inside the twins' room. I sighed after packing the last bag and putting it down. He and I were not good, and I didn't want to complicate things even more when my father accidentally addressed him as my husband in front of the kids. "We'll be okay, don't worry yourself." I walked past him, heading for the door when he said something that stopped me right where I was. "You're still angry at me, aren't you? Trust me, I get it, Darla. I fucked up and thought that things were just going to work themselves out between us and forgot that I failed to deal with Rachel the right way. If I was able to set boundaries with her from the beginning, she wouldn't have come back to disturb our peace." "But you didn't d
•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