•DARLA•After the end of the 5th-anniversary celebration of Hope Lives charity, I drove straight back to my hotel suite after I told Ethan that I was going to see Amelia. I didn't even want to do anything but to pin Ethan down on the bed and undress him as I pleased. His body was even inviting, and I wanted him inside me.'Bloody Elijah. Just when I was thinking that he was worth a second of my time, this is what I got. Humiliation and embarrassment in front of a hundred people. I will show him what an asshole he is.'I was hurting after what happened and how everyone looked at me as if they pitied me when Elijah left with Abigail in his car after she put up a show and acted as if she was experiencing some pain. "Baby, what's happening?" Ethan asked while I was riding him.I stopped and looked down at him, annoyed and on the verge of rolling my eyes. "What do you mean? Am I hurting you?" "Yes," he answered as he pointed to my hand on his nipple. I felt bad when I realized how tig
•ELIJAH•"What do you mean that you're not moving back here with her? Have you lost your mind, my son? How can you bring the mother of your child to be alone in your home while growing your child inside of her?" Zara asked as I headed toward my car. I rolled my eyes with a sigh as I turned to her. "I brought her here because I thought that it was the right thing to do considering that she was staying alone. What more do you want from me?" "I want you to fix your relationship with Abigail and make sure that you raise that child together as a family. She's the one that you wanted, isn't she? So, Elijah, I advise you to make your relationship work.""She will have the baby, and as the father, I will make sure that she and the baby are taken care of until she's back on her feet to receive child support. Other than that, it will be above my capabilities." "What kind of a man are you who can't stand up for his responsibilities? You wanted this when you got divorced from Darla and got Abi
•DARLA•"Darla Sullivan, you're speaking with Rowen Sanders. I just got a call from Julian that you're now the major shareholder of The Miller's Properties Lifestyle. When do you think you will be able to come to Georgia? I'd like to meet you.""Rowen Sanders?" I asked on the phone, shocked because I didn't think that the board members would find out about me so soon. The name and the voice sounded familiar as well, and I tried to remember where I knew him from. "Yes, ma'am. This is Rowen Sanders. Have you forgotten me?" He asked, and somehow it made me chuckle. I closed my laptop in my home office and got up from my chair. I stood near the window and looked outside the garden as I remembered my last moments with him. "Not at all. I didn't expect your call ever. How are you?" I caressed the necklace on my neck. "I'm good. I was actually thrilled when I found out that you will be taking over from your father. May his soul rest in peace." "Thank you, Rowen. It also came as a shock
•ABIGAIL•"Hello?" I answered the call as I walked to the kitchen to get something to drink from the fridge. "Miss Hayes, you're speaking with Emily. I wanted to discuss a few things with you on behalf of Elijah. I am his personal assistant."I suppressed a squeal as I refrained from asking if it was about the allowance that I had been anticipating since I saw him at the hospital yesterday. "Yes, Emily. How may I help you?" "I wanted to inform you about the allowance that Mr. Houston has acknowledged and approved to be sent to your account every second day of the month." She answered."Yes, I'm listening." I pretended as if I didn't care whatsoever, hoping that the money was good. "Mr. Houston will be sending you fifty-five thousand dollars a month, which includes your toiletries and anything you might need when going shopping. He will handle your doctor's visitation fees and transportation." "Thank you, Emily. Please do tell Mr. Houston that I appreciate the offer. But I can't w
•DARLA•"Ethan, did you see my designs? I can't find them in my bag or my office. I don't know where they are." I panicked as I looked in my office, turning the place upside down because I needed the designs before we left for Detroit in an hour."Are you sure you've looked in your drawer?" He replied as he opened the drawer and looked for them. "Yes, I've looked everywhere, and I can't find them. We can't leave for Detroit and resume the project without them. What am I going to do?" "I can't find them here. Maybe they're in our bedroom. Or anywhere around the house since we've been on the move with them a lot.""But I've looked everywhere," I groaned as I sat down on the couch after turning the living room upside down. "It's okay," Ethan knelt before me. "We will find a way to retrieve them. But we have to prepare to leave in an hour. This won't stop us from doing our job and getting our bags. Okay?" I looked at him and smiled. He knew how to calm me down and get me back in high
•ELIJAH•"I've sorted out your desk and cleared all your scheduled meetings that had to be held this month, Sir. What else do you want me to do before you leave?" "I want you to call Abigail and tell her that she will be receiving an amount of fifty-five thousand dollars as allowance monthly on the 2nd. Please do not try to argue with her if she demands more. Give her whatever money that she wants.""Yes, Sir. I will do that." Emily nodded as I packed up the work stuff that I was going to need in Detroit. My flight was leaving in an hour, and Emily was helping me to get ready. I trusted her to take care of things during my absence and make sure that Abigail got everything that she wanted to avoid any drama."I have booked your flight and also booked a villa for you in Detroit where you will be staying for the next three weeks. Is there anything else that you need me to do, Sir?" She asked as she got up from the chair. "That will be all, Emily. Thank you." I smiled at her. "If Abig
•ETHAN•"Hey baby, I want to go out and get a few clothes at the mall before we start working on site tomorrow. Are you going to need anything?" Darla asked when she found me working on my laptop in the living room. "No, babe, I'm good. Didn't you bring enough clothes with you?" It sort of came as a surprise because she came with extra luggage for extra clothes that she wasn't even going to wear during our 3-week stay before going home for a week and coming back again. "I feel like they are old," she groaned as she wrapped her arms around my neck. "Fine. But come back as soon as you can so that we can see what we can do about the building plans. I think we might be able to print them out from the laptop since we had pictures of them taken for an email, remember?" "Oh, yes!" She squealed in disbelief. "Gosh, what would I ever do without you?" She kissed my cheek from the back. "When I come back, I might have to thank you properly and do to you whatever you want me to do." I blush
•DARLA•"Get off me!" I pushed Rowen off me after he kissed me in public without my permission. It made me so angry how stubborn he was and didn't want to listen to me. After he stole the building plans, showed up outside my hotel suite, and kissed me, I didn't want to see his face again. "Don't you ever do that again, do you understand me?" I snapped. "I am a married woman!" "I just wanted to make you understand that I did everything that I did because I want you, Darla. I've wanted you for as long as I can remember. I waited for years for you." He answered. "I don't care if you waited millennia for me, but I won't allow you to disrespect my husband because if you think that I could ever leave him to be with you, then you have to think again, Rowen." Even when I shouted at him, he remained calm as he closed the gap between us and looked me in the eyes."I could never ask you to leave anyone to be with me, Darla. I just won't stop showing you my love because you're now married a
•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