•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
•ELIJAH•"Jason, can I call you back later? There's someone at the door." "Alright. When you get time, you can text me the location, and we will see what we'll do. We have to get this done before the month's end." "That's right. I'll call you." I hung up the call when I got to the front door and opened it. When I saw Abigail, I wished to punch myself in the balls."Abigail?" "Hey baby, can I come inside?" Before I could answer her, she shoved her way inside the house, and I was forced to let her be and close the door behind me. "Baby, I'm sorry about last night. I was angry, and I overreacted," she said when I turned to her. "I shouldn't have gone to your mother's house and insulted her. Please tell me that we can still fix this. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." I rolled my eyes and scoffed as I walked to the bar to get myself something to drink before preparing to go and see Jason. "You shouldn't be here, Abi. I got my PA to pay you a monthly allowance just until you g
•DARLA• My breath halted when I looked down at his hand on my wrist. When he saw that I was uncomfortable, he quickly removed it and leaned closer. My heart was racing, but I did very well with hiding it. I didn't want my kids to think that there was tension between us. "I see that you're in a hurry, I promise I won't hold you up for too long." He explained as I pulled the kids to my side. "I don't have time to talk right now." "Are the kids yours?" He asked, and I chuckled. Gosh, if only he knew. "Yes, they are mine. We were here to see my father, and now we are going back home. "Hey, little ones." He knelt to their level, and the kids giggled as they answered him back. "My name is Elijah. What are yours?" "I am -" "Madison and Ryan," I quickly answered for them as he straightened up and looked at me. "It was a pleasure to meet you guys. Don't worry, your mother and I were old friends and are now working together. She told me a lot about you," Elijah directed to th
•ABIGAIL•"Miss Hayes, how can I assist you today?" I took out the brown envelope from my handbag and placed it on top of his table. When he saw it, he took down his eyeglasses and looked at me. "What is this?" "It's enough to keep our business confidential." I leaned closer to the table. "You're a very good doctor, Dr. Bowes. I've heard good reviews from people who do business with you, and I'd also like to be among them. We know how strict the law is when it comes to doctors who break their principles and make side hustles with their licenses, but I wouldn't want to take away your only livelihood." He took the envelope and slid it inside his drawer under his table before turning to me. "What do you want me to assist you with?" ***After my appointment with Dr. Bowes, I drove straight to Elijah's apartment and opened the door with the spare keys that I had with me. I wanted him to come back and find me in the house. He and I had been together for a long time and were not going
•DARLA• "Please don't run, guys!" I warned the twins as they ran to their rooms as soon as we walked inside the front door. I scurried up the stairs, desperately trying to find Ethan so that I could tell him everything that happened at the hospital, including the part where Anthony commented that William looked like Elijah. It was already late when we got home, so I suspected that he was already in bed trying to sleep. But when I walked in and found the bed empty and the shower running, I headed to the bathroom and opened the door. "Hey, stranger. We are back," I announced as I went to peek inside the shower, and when I saw him in the shower with a woman, my handbag slipped out of my hands and fell on the floor. "Ethan?" I was in disbelief at the sight before me. I couldn't understand how he sneaked Rachel inside our house and dared to sleep with her in our bedroom. "Darla!" He panicked as he leaned back from her, grabbed his towel near the shower, and wrapped it around his
•DARLA•"What happened?" "His vital organs failed before the surgery was completed. I'm sorry, Miss Miller. Our condolences to you and your family." The lady on the phone said before she hung up the call. I laid my cell phone down on the bed and couldn't believe that he was dead. When I tried to remember my last memory with him, my eyes filled with tears because I never got a chance to understand why he never treated me like his child. I felt unworthy of love because the first man who was supposed to love and protect me failed when Belinda started to ill-treat me.When I picked up my cell phone to call Amelia and inform her of the news so that she could advise me about what to do, a text came through on my phone. Text: "As you know that Abigail and I are engaged, I want you to know that I love her as I always did when you and I were married. She's the only woman that I want and wouldn't want you to take my kindness for anything serious. I'd also appreciate it if you respect her a
•ETHAN•Email: "We are sorry, Sir, but the DNA you sent has no found matches. We apologize for any inconvenience caused." I read the email and groaned as I leaned my head back on the couch, feeling a light headache from trying to find the only sibling that I thought I had out there. "Did you find anything?" Chris asked on the phone when I called to inform him about the outcome of the DNA agency that he recommended for me to try out. "Nothing. It's just so weird, you know. I can't even ask my parents because they will do anything to conceal the evidence that's already there about the child that they had before me." When I went home and found a picture that had been hidden under a picture in our family album, I made it my sole mission to find out who the little girl was that my parents hid from me and didn't tell me about."Are you sure that they don't know that you saw the picture?""I'm sure. They would've asked me." "It's alright, we'll find out soon enough. I'm sure if we get s
•ELIJAH•On my way back to the house, I kept thinking of Darla and the children she was with. I couldn't stop wondering about the possibility of one of them being mine. But even at that, my mind kept reminding me that she was on birth control the entire two years we were together, and there were slim chances that she might have left while pregnant with my child. 'Fuck it.' I swore under my breath as I slipped out my cell phone from my pocket and texted her. The boy seemed older and looked a little bit like my late father. Before resting my mind on the possibility of having a child out there without my knowledge, I needed Darla to confirm that there was no way that the boy was mine. Me: "Hey, I'm sorry to ask this... But how old are the kids? Is there a possibility that one of them is mine?" Darla: "They are twins, Elijah. And no, they are not yours. I wouldn't have kept them from you if they were. These kids belong to Ethan." Me: "I'm sorry for asking, I just wanted to make sure
•ELIJAH•"I think we should get Mom the Italian food that she loves. It would really mean a lot to her. Especially now." I said on the phone to Poppy. "Okay. Send me your location. I'll just request an Uber to get me there, and we will drive back home together." "You're not home?" I asked as I hopped out of my car, locked it, and headed to the hotel's restaurant. The whole idea of going there was to get my Mom something. Even though we had a lot of hiccups together, she was still my mother, and being there for her was important to me more than anything."I went out. I just needed some air. And Elijah," she paused and sighed. "Yes?" "I'm sorry about our fight. I didn't mean to upset you that day. I was just trying to help you and Abigail to be happy again. I really loved her for you, but if that upset you, I'm very sorry." I was surprised by her apology because everyone at home knew that she didn't apologize for anything. She had always been the nonchalant one, which is why I n
•ABIGAIL•Scolding, I walked out of the bathroom, slammed the door behind me, put on my clothes, and left his bedroom.When I got downstairs in the living room, Poppy was waiting for me. She had a smirk on her face while her hands were folded on her chest. "Did we get lucky?" She wiggled her eyebrows, clearly implying something else. "No, Poppy. Your brother is no longer in love with me. After everything that I've given him, the years we've been together, he's in love with Darla. He wants Darla, and not me." My voice broke as she leaned closer and wrapped her arms around me. "Oh, Abi. I'm so sorry," she comforted me. "You just have to give him time. He will turn around and realize that he will be making a mistake by leaving you." "I can't wait for him to see that, Poppy. Not when he has told me that he loves her, and not me. I can't force him to fall in love with me again. I can't." "But you can wait for him. You can give him time, I mean. He can't leave you, he won't." I leaned
•ABIGAIL•"So what's the plan now? Are we going to stop looking for Harper and keep her from getting us in trouble? I don't want her to ambush us at the last minute and put all our work in vain." I looked at Diego and sighed. He just knew how to stress me when all I wanted was to ignore my problems and pretend that they didn't even exist. "What do you want us to do? I can't waste my time looking for her. We are going back to Atlanta, and I'm going to get back what she took from me. That's the plan.""She's alive, Abigail. Doesn't that scare you? If she shows up and tells everyone what we did to her, you won't even get a chance to get whatever she stole from you. Do you realize that, or you just don't care?" "She won't tell anyone anything, Diego. You have to relax your mind and trust me. I've known her for years, and after what I did to her, she knows better than to mess with me again." "She might just get us in trouble, and I don't want to go to jail. Not because of you." I glan
•DARLA•"Hello?" I yawned. "Darla, it's Anna." She sobbed on the phone, causing me to sit up on the bed. "I'm in the hospital with Charlotte. She was admitted from a headache, and the doctor said they found a tumor in her brain, and now they have to operate on her." "What? Did they tell you when they're going to operate on her?" I asked as I got up from the bed. "They're doing that right now. I called you because -" She paused and cried. "- because I don't have the money to pay for the hospital bill. I don't know what to do or who to ask for help. Please, is there anything you can do for her?" "Of course, Anna. Please send me your location and I'll be there as soon as I can." "Thank you, Darla. I don't know what I could've done without you. I'll see you soon." I hung up the call and quickly went to the bathroom to take a shower. When I was done, I went to the kids' room and found them with Ethan, dressing them up after their baths. "I have to go and see my aunt in the hospital.
•HARPER•I took labored breaths as I tried to get off the rope from my wrists. Every twist and turn felt like thorns in my hands, but I couldn't stop when I heard the sounds of hyenas nearby. I was dripping with blood, so I was sure that the scent of it would draw them closer, and they'd get tempted to eat me. My voice was already dry and hoarse from screaming all day for help. Even on the verge of death, I hoped that my soul wouldn't give up the fight in the middle of nowhere. "Help..." I muttered under my breath when I heard a car outside the building. I wasn't sure if it was Abigail or not, but if it wasn't her, I had to take my chances and find help. If I was meant to die, then I was better off dying where my mother would find me rather than going on for years and not knowing what even happened to me. "Help!" I screamed when the car stopped, and footsteps were getting closer to where I was. But after exhausting my last strength, someone walked in with a torch and blinded me
•ELIJAH•'Fuck,' I muttered under my breath as I inspected my swelled eye in the bathroom.That motherfucker punched me right in the eye and it was just starting to hurt. I quickly looked for first aid in the bathroom cabinet so that I could treat it myself. I took antihistamine eye drops to reduce the discomfort and then went back to my bed to lie down just a bit. I hoped that the swelling would be a bit reduced in the morning since I had to go to my office.I was about to fall asleep when my cell rang next to me, and I quickly picked it up when I saw that it was Billy. "Yes?" I answered the call as I sat up on the bed."The hand is not real. It doesn't belong to Miss Harper or anyone. Just a mannequin hand with realistic makeup. I don't even think that Abigail knew that." I stood up to my feet and was flabbergasted. Harper was alive, and that meant that someone else took her. Either to save her since Abigail had left her to die or was going to ask for ransom before they could b
•DARLA•"Am I interrupting something?" Ethan asked as he walked inside the cabin restaurant, and I froze in my steps for a moment. I was so shocked that I didn't know what to say. I wondered for a second how he even found me and came at the moment when I couldn't even make up a lie for what he saw. "Ethan, hey." Elijah greeted him and extended his hand for a handshake. But he just looked at it and walked toward me.He looked pissed and I had no idea what he would do when he looked like that. "You said Amelia called and asked for you to come over to her place because her man was giving her some trouble. So, where is she?" He asked as he looked down at me. "Ethan, this is not what you think. I can explain. You don't have to be irrational," I answered as I tried to grab his hand, but he wouldn't take it. "Irrational?!" He snapped. "Bitch, I'm not the one lying so that I can go and see my ex behind your back! You left the kids with me just so that you can come here and dine with him,
•ABIGAIL•"Hey, where are you? I went to your place just a while ago and couldn't find you." Kathrine asked on the phone when I arrived at my hotel suite with Diego. "I just went for a short vacation. Is everything okay?" I asked as I changed into comfortable clothing. I didn't want to tell my sister that I was in Detroit to sort out my problem with Harper because she was obviously going to tell me that she told me so. "Jason came here to my bar asking for you. I didn't know what to say to him. Is there anything I need to know, Abi? You know that I'm your sister and can help you with anything. I just hate that someone from the police is busy going around asking about you.""Did he tell you what he wanted with me?" I sighed as I leaned against the dressing table. "He didn't say anything, but I'm sure we both know what he wanted. Elijah could be the one who sent him. I hope you made sure that nothing could lead to you. They can't ever find Harper's body." "I know, Kat." I groaned a
•ELIJAH•"Sir?" "Yes, Billy?" "I think I found her." "You did? Where is she? Is she okay?" I was so happy when he told me that he had found her. "I found a body." "What?" "I found a hand. I think it belongs to Miss Harper. Abigail and her bodyguard just left, and I decided to inspect the place. I think they left her here after they killed her. I'm not sure if it's her hand, but I'll take whatever I can get and do DNA tests." My whole world shattered, and I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how I was going to tell my Mom the news. They were going to break her apart. But since Billy wasn't even sure that the hand belonged to Harper, I was going to wait until DNA tests proved otherwise. I hung up the call and turned to Darla at the bench. I didn't want to leave her just yet, but it seemed like I didn't have a choice. "Seems like I have to be on my way home now." She got up from the bench and looked at me. "It's alright, I hope they will find your sister." "I think they'v