•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
•DARLA•In the morning, when I woke up and didn't find Ethan next to me, my heart sank that he had spent a night in the living room and didn't come back to bed late at night. I sat up on the bed after making it and took a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts and process everything that happened last night before deciding on what to do. I was afraid of losing him when I was slowly growing on him. He was an important part of my life and didn't want to hurt him in any way. I thought of something that I'd do to make it up to him and make him understand that I wasn't going anywhere.I knew that Ethan loved keeping journals and using them to express his thoughts daily before bed, so I opened his drawer to see if he had enough pages for me to get him another journal and other things that he would appreciate. But something that I saw on the last page caught my eye, and I forgot the reason I opened his journal. My heart raced while reading, praying that he didn't barge inside the roo
•ABIGAIL•"That piece of shit and old rag. Who does she think she is? I'm going to show her who I am and what I do to people who take me for granted and want to humiliate me in front of a crowd," I muttered under my breath as I headed to the third floor to Zara's bedroom in the morning. "She has started a war with me that she won't win. Oh, I am going to show her the devil in person. She doesn't know me. She will know me today," I muttered as I angrily banged outside her door. She pissed me off last night to the point where I couldn't sleep, thinking about her and the remarks she made about Elijah and that stupid bitch, Sonia. "Who is it? Do you want to break my door down?!" She asked outside the door. But when a man who could very much be Elijah's age showed up at the door, I was stunned and almost laughed. Zara pushed the guy from the door and stood at the entrance with her nightgown barely covering her body. "Abigail, what are you doing here so early in the morning? Don't you
•AMELIA•"I'm sorry, Amee. You and I had a good time, but I can't do this anymore. I've realized that I'm not cut out for a committed relationship. With my job and trying to get my first house, everything just feels overwhelming. I hope you understand." 'I hope you understand?' I internally scoffed as I looked at him. I couldn't believe that he used such a lame excuse to break up with me on my birthday. Of all days. "So, you decided to come to my house and tell me all that shit? Do you realize that today is my birthday and you just decided to come here and dump me? You couldn't have done it any other day?" I scolded him."Oh, I didn't know." He chuckled. "Happy birthday, babe!" He leaned forward to kiss me, but I pushed him and closed the front door on his face. I rolled my eyes, scoffed, and headed upstairs to my bedroom, and was about to call Darla when I thought that she probably had a lot going on and didn't have time to talk with me about another boy who broke up with me. But
•ELIJAH•After my morning run on Saturday morning, I signed the policy that Shane sent me and edited out the parts that I didn't want to be included in the policy anymore. I then called him after sending it to his email to confirm the changes that I had made."Shane, have you received my email? I edited the policy on some parts because I needed them removed and revised properly. I also want my mother to be informed of the changes so that she doesn't cause trouble for us." "I will go through the policy before submitting it to the policy provider, my guy. Thank you for submitting it on time before weekdays." "Yes. Do call me if I missed anything on that paper that needs my attention." "Alright, I'll do that." I hung up the call and went to take a shower. When I was done and preparing myself to go for a little shopping for shoes, my cell phone rang, and it was Abigail. I knew when she called me that it wasn't a good call. Instead, she shocked me when she informed me that my mother
•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