•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
•ABIGAIL•"Oh, my God, she's pregnant?""Yes, and she moved in with us about two days ago." "Those are great news, Poppy! I'm sure Mother is over the moon and can't wait to hold the baby in her arms." "You bet!" They both laughed. "She's over the moon!" I was heading upstairs to my room when I heard Poppy and Harper talking in the living room. I scoffed when I realized that Harper, the spoilt brat, was back home. I wasn't even in the mood to face her after my date with Alec. Harper was one of the people I least preferred to sit in the same room with for more than a second. I tried to tiptoe my way upstairs so that they wouldn't know that I was back home, but when my heel made a clinking sound on the staircase, I swore under my breath and wished that I could evaporate myself from the house. "Abigail, hey!" Poppy called out for me when they saw me trying to escape to my room. I turned around with a surprised look on my face as if I didn't hear them talking and celebrating my preg
•DARLA•I grunted as I took the flowers and the locket box and threw them inside the restroom's rubbish bin. I was tired and didn't want to entertain Rowen's and Elijah's games anymore. I was done with them and didn't want anything to do with them anymore. Not when it was compromising my relationship with Ethan and everything that we worked hard for together.But when I walked to the door and remembered the necklace in the locket box, I turned around, took it out of the box, and threw the box away. I didn't want to think about it as I slipped the necklace into my jean's back pocket and headed back to work."Darla, are you okay?" Ethan asked during our lunch break. I was sitting alone in the contour when he sat down next to me. "I'm fine," I smiled at him and leaned for a kiss. "I was just thinking about the kids and if they were okay. We didn't call them today before we left home." "Yeah, I miss them too," he chuckled softly as he took a bite of my hamburger. "We will video call
•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
•DARLA•"Lily..." I whispered under my breath when I arrived at the orphanage center that Elijah had kindly turned around and made it a more comfortable home for the kids who weren't lucky enough to find their happily ever after home."Miss Darla!" She squealed as she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. "Did you come with Elijah? He told me that he'll be coming with you the next time he comes to visit."I sighed as we sat down on the grass at their park. It was easy to spot her since they were having a sports day. "You only got me, unfortunately," I chuckled as I pulled out a diary book for her from my handbag. "This is for you." "What is it?" She asked as she took the diary. "I had one when I was your age. It helps to write down the chaos in your head and keep them inside the book. That way, things don't get into you very easily. I know how chaotic things get when you're 15." She gave me a brief hug again. "Thank you, Miss Darla." I wrapped my arms around her and rested my
•DARLA•"Elijah, what are you doing here?" I closed my office door, and he walked to the table and sat down on the edge. "I didn't know where to go. I couldn't sleep or do anything. My mind is all over the place, Darla. I don't know what to think. I think I've lost my sense of direction in life." He vented as I walked toward him with my arms folded on my chest. "What's wrong?" I asked. I didn't want to throw him out. Not when he seemed like he needed to talk. He chuckled as he got up and walked toward me, and that's when I realized that he was fucking drunk. It was 10 in the morning, but his breath was reeking of alcohol. "Can you believe that my mother, the one person that I deemed to be perfect in everything that she does, cheated on my father and fell pregnant with my younger sister? The one who disappeared?" "Harper?" "She lied to us all our lives when she knew very well that my father died because of her. He died from a cardiac arrest because of her. I'm sure he couldn't ta
•ABIGAIL•"Who do you think you are?" I scolded. "You can't come here and threaten me in my house." "I just want to ask you a few questions, Abigail. You don't have to be so defensive." My goodness, I couldn't believe that Jason dared to come to my place and ask me useless things. Harper was probably dead wherever she was, but this guy was still bugging my ass about her. He texted and called me several times last night to ask me if I knew anything about Harper's disappearance, but despite telling him that I didn't know anything, he decided to come to my place and interrogate me.It was clear that he and Elijah were convinced that I was the one who kidnapped Harper. But fuck. I was the one who made him suspicious of me from the beginning when I threatened to hurt Harper because she ruined things for us and made me kill my child.But no, they weren't going to prove anything. "I'm not defensive." I scoffed. "How would you feel if I showed up at your house at this time of the day an
•ELIJAH•"I gave you an order to find my sister!" I punched Enzo in the face after Jason called me to his garage when he found him having a drink at the club and having fun. Jason had recommended him because he had good reviews about his competency in finding lost people. He was praised by many and had a lot of success cases. But when Jason found him slacking, we had to teach him a lesson. Every hour that he wasted by putting Harper's life at risk and anything could happen to her. It had been 4 days without any lead to her, and we were starting to be more worried and on edge. We couldn't afford any little mistake. "If you knew that you weren't capable of finding my sister, you would've declined the offer and stopped wasting time and my money!" I was angry and felt like beating him up just like they were beating up Harper on the video."I'm sorry, Sir, it will never happen again. I swear that I did my job and went to the club because I just wanted to clear my mind before resuming m
•ABIGAIL•"You will always belong to me, Elijah. No one is ever going to take you from me unless they want to deal with me." I looked at Sonia, who rolled her eyes at me."That's never going to happen." "Alright, if you say so." I looked at her and scoffed because she clearly had no idea what I was capable of, but she was about to find out."Listen here, and listen very carefully, Abigail," Sonia scolded as she closed the small gap between us. "If you know what's best for you, I would advise you to stay away from my business with Elijah. If he wanted to be with you, he would've made that clear by marrying you instead of breaking off your engagement." "Bitch, I still have his ring on my finger," I cocked my head to the side and smirked as I showed her the diamond ring. "So, as far as this is concerned," I pointed to the ring. "He's still mine." "Leave my house, you two, right now!" Elijah escorted us out of the house, and I didn't have a problem.When I got inside the car, Diego roa