•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
•DARLA•"Mommy, will be back soon, okay?" "Where are you going again, Mom?" Maddie asked, sobbing. I knelt before the twins and placed my hands on their shoulders, trying not to break down in front of them and tell them that their grandfather, whom we visited at the hospital two days ago, was dead. "I'm going to work and will be back as soon as I can. Penelope will take care of you and will call me so that I can talk with you whenever you miss Mommy, okay?" William nodded as he rested his head on my shoulder and hugged me while Madison sobbed. It broke my heart that I couldn't take the kids with me, but I didn't want to risk anything happening that I wasn't prepared to happen. "I will come back soon, and we will all go shopping, play games, and go swimming," I promised them as William leaned back from me. "Just like we used to. How does that sound?" "Are you sure you will be back soon this time?" Maddie asked as she wiped off the tears from her cheeks. "Yes, and I will take yo
•DARLA•"What are you doing here?" She asked after closing the door behind her and walked toward me. I quickly got up from the bed and hid the doctor's report behind me, trying to calm my racing heart from making it obvious that I was snooping around. "I'm sorry, Mom," I cleared my throat and pretended to wipe my eye with my free hand. "I was looking at Dad's pictures, and I kind of lost track of time. I'm sorry." She arched her eyebrows, clearly not convinced by my answer or perhaps suspecting that I was hiding something behind me. "Get out of my bedroom before I call security on you." She pointed her finger at me. "If I ever see you again in my house, I will make sure that you rot in jail. Do you hear me?" I frowned at her statement because even though she couldn't hide the fact that she hated me and everything that had to do with me, I was still Benjamin's daughter and had every right to come to his house. "But this is my father's house, and as far as I am concerned," I close
•ELIJAH•"Elijah, can we talk?"I groaned when I heard my mother's voice behind me. I was on my way to work in the morning when she stopped me right in my footsteps in the hallway. "I just want to make sure that you and I are good. I can't bear the thought of being in a bad place with one of my kids after laying one of them to rest forever. I can't take it anymore, Elijah, please. I am very sorry for everything that happened. But you are my son, and what happened between me and your father was never meant to reach your ears." I scoffed as I turned around and looked at her. "I'm not mad at you because you had an affair when you were with my father and had Harper. What pisses me off more than anything is your affair with a man young enough to be your son. Actually, I don't think I would've had a problem if that man wasn't my children's uncle." "I know, baby. I know that I messed up," she leaned closer. "But what happened between Anthony and I was nothing, but something that was meant
•DARLA•Elijah kept snickering next to me in the car while I was trying to act all serious and avoid him. We were on our way to the airport, and I already didn't want to see him. I just wanted to be home with my kids and pretend for a moment that everything that happened didn't happen. "Are you really not going to say anything to me?" He broke the silence, and I rolled my eyes, folded my arms on my chest, and looked away from him. "Come on, I won't tell the kids until you're ready to tell them yourself. You know that I want what's best for them," he added.When we got to the airport, we boarded our plane and I was relieved when we didn't get seats next to each other. After a few hours on the plane, we finally arrived in Atlanta, and Elijah hurried to help me and the twins out. I then told the twins to go inside our car and wait for me while I had a word with Elijah. He just smirked when I pulled him to the side. "Listen, I don't like this tension between us, especially about my
•DARLA•"You can't take my kids from me, Elijah. I don't care that you feel as if I kept them from you for years, but you're the one who abandoned me when I was carrying them. Those kids are mine," I seethed as we got inside a taxi in Montana."It's because you kept them from me that I think I should stay with them for a while. They deserve to know their father and be close to him." I shook my head as I looked out of the window. "We are getting my kids, and until I'm sure that they're safe, I'm not letting them off my sight.""They're mine as well." God, I regretted ever telling him the truth. He was going to use that line against me every time he wanted to have his way and take my kids from me. I didn't say anything to him until we arrived at the station. I hopped out of the car and rushed inside the building, eager to see my kids and make sure that they weren't harmed. When an officer came to assist me, I told him about the twins, and he didn't hesitate as he took me straight t
•ABIGAIL•"Fuck," I cursed under my breath as I took a hoodie and covered my face. I stood in front of a tall building and released an exhausted sigh. I was in Chicago, and I was sure as hell that I would be caught soon. I hesitated to walk inside the building and find the person that Kathrine said would be able to help me until all the chaos had settled. I took a deep breath as I walked up the stairs and asked for Caleb from the receptionist. She gave me a stern look before she directed me to his office."Hold on for a minute," he suggested as he was on a phone call.I impatiently sat down on the chair in front of his desk and tapped my foot on the floor. I knew that Elijah wouldn't give up searching for me until he had found me. Now that it turned out that Harper survived, I had nowhere else to hide anymore. "Kathrine's sister?" Caleb asked after getting off his call. I took off the hoodie that covered my face and nodded. "Yes. She said you'll be able to help me with getting a
•ELIJAH•"I'm going to the house right now, Harper called and told me that she had arrived. I just wanted to pass by the restaurant and get something to eat and avoid my mother for a while." "You still mad at her about Harper's biological father?" Jason asked as I was heading back home. "And that she was sleeping with Darla's brother. I couldn't believe it when Abigail revealed it before she disappeared. My mother even had the guts to admit it to me without showing any remorse or shame." "Fuck. That's pretty messed up, bro. What is she going to do when she finds out that the twins are yours?" "She knows that. I told her. I wanted to see her reaction when I told her. What baffles me is that she was the one who kept pressuring me to get DNA tests after she met the twins. I don't know if she didn't think that her relationship with Anthony was going to be jeopardized." "It's okay, bro. I hope you and your Mom manage to find a common ground and fix things. The twins deserve a family r
•ETHAN•"Ethan, please tell me that the kids aren't with you. You're going to be in serious trouble if you're caught by the police with them on the road." Chris said on the phone when he called me again the following morning. I hung up his call yesterday because I was afraid that he was going to tell the police that I was the one who took the twins, especially since he was the one that I talked to. "Yes, Chris, the twins are with me. But you should know that they're perfectly safe with me. I've been their father since day one, and nothing has changed. I have the right to be with them now.""You just don't get it, do you?" He released a low growl on the phone. "The twins are everywhere on the news. The moment they see them with you, you'll be in trouble." "You and I know that you're the one who thought this would be a good idea to get Darla back to her senses. You don't think that's a good idea anymore?" "I never said you should kidnap the damn kids! Elijah's looking for them, and
•DARLA•"Elijah knows about the kids being his?" Daphne asked as I laid my head down on her lap as we were sitting in her living room. "I just found myself blurting it out because I was upset. I don't know, but my mind was all over the place, and maybe I felt guilty that the kids went missing, and he still didn't know they were his children." "How did he react?" I sighed. "I just left him there and went to my car. I couldn't even go home and decided to spend a night here. I didn't want him to come knocking outside my door." "So, you're avoiding him?" She asked as she looked down at me with a smirk. "That's not what I'm saying!" I defended myself as I straightened up from the couch and looked at her. "I just don't want us to talk about my pregnancy. Not while my kids are still out there and not found yet." "Are you sure that's why you're avoiding him? You told me that something happened between you two when you were suspecting that Ethan was cheating on you, remember?" I sighed
•SONIA• "Now that the boy is mourning his sister, I want you to be there for him. Be his shoulder to lean on and create a safe space for his vulnerability. It's time you show this family gratitude for everything that we've done for you." "Yes, Daddy." I bowed my head a little and nodded as a tear slipped down from my eye. "Are you crying?" "No!" I exclaimed as I quickly wiped the tear from my eye and looked up at him. "I'm sorry, Dad." My father sighed as he got up from the couch across from me and looked at me. "We'll talk when you come back home." He then walked out of the living room and went to his study. I closed my mouth and released the tears that I was holding behind my eyes. I was so scared of failing my father and our family. More than anything, I was scared of losing Philip, the only man who loved me for me. My father never approved of him because he didn't come from a good family background. His family was poor, and he earned an average salary. "Miss -"
•ELIJAH• "The twins are your children." Her voice kept ringing in my head, and I didn't know what to do with myself. It was Poppy's funeral day, but the only thing I was thinking about was Darla's confession. I was so angry yet sad that she had to do everything on her own when she found out that she was pregnant with my kids. I felt robbed of a chance to be there for them and know them. At the same time, I knew at the back of my mind that I deserved it. I broke Darla's heart and filed for divorce because I thought that I was expecting a child with Abigail and thought that I would raise the child with her as a couple. "Elijah, can I come in?" My mother asked outside the door. She and I haven't been talking for a few days now, and though I opened the door for her, I didn't know how to react to seeing her. "Yes?" "I just wanted -" She walked inside my room and sighed. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for being such a disappointing mother. I didn't know that you would find ou