•DARLA•"Oh, fuck." I muttered as I got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth while I thought of what I was going to say to Sonia when I called her. I didn't want to get in the middle of Elijah's problems, but since he sounded desperate and wouldn't have asked for my help if he didn't need it, I felt like I owed it to him. When I was done brushing my teeth and taking a shower, I went to the living room and found Ethan's note in the living room informing me that he was coming back soon with a surprise.So, since I was alone, I took my cell phone and dialed Sonia's cell phone number, and she took a while to pick it up. When she did, I got up from my couch as the nerves started to kick in. I didn't want to make her an enemy by taking away her chance of being with the man that she wanted. I also didn't want to ruin our friendship over a man that I wasn't worried about who he dated and when. I didn't want it to bother me because I was happily married to Ethan. "H
•DARLA•"Are you sure that we can bring the kids here? They are loud, and they cry, and they are loud to emphasize my point." I tried to convince Ethan as he booked the kids and Penelope a flight from San Francisco to Detroit. "Yes, babe. We will be here for a very long time, so they might as well come and live with us. They are very young to see us one week in a month. Besides, this house is big enough to give us some time to work while they are playing somewhere around the house." "Are you sure that we will be able to handle work and the kids?" I asked, wanting to make sure that he was not going to feel under pressure once the kids were here. "Of course, babe. Besides, Penelope will be helping us with them. It's not like we are going to look after them 24/7. So, I don't see a problem with this new arrangement." "You're right," I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. "Thank you, Ethan. I don't know what I'd ever do without you." "No, I don't know what I'd ever do witho
•ABIGAIL•"I wonder if they are going to get him to marry her now. After what we did to her face, I doubt if she would want Elijah to look at her." Kathrine chuckled on the other end of the line while I dressed for my little date with someone."There's no wedding that's going to take place," I laughed. "Not in my watch. Not while I am carrying his child. I will make sure of it." "Do whatever you have to, and know that I'm one phone call away in case you want to kick ass again." "Thank you, big sissy." I hung up the call and smirked in front of the mirror. Zara and Sonia were just about to feel my full wrath, and I pitied them. If they knew not to mess with me, then I wasn't going to do what I was about to do to them. After getting dressed and feeling my outfit, I left my bedroom and went straight to my car. I didn't even want to bother myself by responding to the voices behind me. After turning on my engine, I hit the accelerator and drove straight to Midtown, where Anthony had j
•DARLA•"Who is our father anyway?" Madison asked. I looked at them and felt my throat getting dry. My body went numb, and I couldn't think of anything to say to them."Your father went away on a business trip so that he will be able to send you money every month to buy you clothes and food. I'm sure he will return someday, and he will be happy to see two so grown up and tall." I finally answered.The twins smiled as they looked at each other. I felt relieved because at least I was able to provide them with an answer than saying that he was dead. "Is he a police officer, Mom?" William squealed. "No, baby." I chuckled. "He's a business guy in a construction. He's very handsome too and looks exactly like you, Will." I smiled at them. "When he returns, he will take you to Disneyland and show you all the amazing places around the world." "When do you think he will return, Mommy?" Madison asked, her face looking a bit sad. "Very soon, baby. Very soon. He told me that he can't wait to
•ABIGAIL•"Abi, what's going on?" Kathrine asked when I called her again in my bedroom. "I was talking with Harper. She heard me when I was talking to you on the phone, but I'm not sure how much she heard. I'm just scared that she might ruin all my plans." "Harper is the younger one, right? The one Dylan cheated on you with?" "Yes. Ugh," I rolled my eyes. "I still don't know what he saw in her. What's worse is that she thinks that she and I are mates since we fucked the same man." That was 10 years ago before I met Elijah. Dylan was the love of my life before I found out that he cheated on me with Harper. I was shocked to my core when I discovered that she was Elijah's sister. I only knew about Poppy since Harper was always out of the country for school. "You have to teach her a lesson before she walks all over you. I'm sure she thinks that you're still competing for Dylan with her. I don't know why she doesn't focus on that junkie and leave you alone." I didn't know how to ans
•ELIJAH•When I got back to my villa after bumping into Darla at the supermarket, I was very conflicted and couldn't let go of how the twins referred to Ethan as their uncle. I couldn't let it off my mind even though a part of me kept trying to convince me that if the kids were mine, Darla wouldn't have kept them from me. "Jason, hey, man." I called him so that he would be able to talk some sense into me in case I was reading too much into the whole situation. "Hey, bro. Are you good? How's Detroit?""Drtroit's good, I'm just having a bit of a problem right now with Darla. I can't let go of the feeling that her kids might be mine." "You mean the twins? But isn't Ethan their father?" He asked. "That's the thing, my guy, the twins referred to him as their uncle when I asked about him. I'm sure that if they were his kids, and he had been there since their births, they wouldn't call him uncle. That's just weird." "That's true, man. I think you have to talk to Darla about this one.
•AMELIA•"This is the sac, and the little tadpole inside is your baby. You're currently measuring 6 weeks and 3 days. Would you like to hear the heartbeat?" The sonographer asked. I nodded with a smile. "That's the heartbeat. It beats twice or even three times as yours. This is a very good sign that the baby is developing well. Since you're in the most fragile phases of pregnancy, I advise that you take as much rest as you can, eat healthy, and try to be active whenever you can. Avoid strenuous exercises." I nodded at her with a smile as I took the sonogram pictures and went back to my doctor's office. His face was long, and he sighed as I sat down on the chair in front of him and gave him the pictures. I didn't want him to make me choose between my life and that of the baby after hearing the heartbeat.I could even hear the heartbeat at the back of my mind, and the thought of getting rid of it before they were able to see the world that I was trying to survive in made me guilty.
•DARLA•Wednesday morning, after getting off the call with Ethan and the kids, I went to the bathroom, took a shower, and prepared for my welcoming meeting at The Miller's Properties Lifestyle building. "We are delighted to work with you, Darla Sullivan, as the new CEO and director after your father. We believe that we are going to reach great success through your leadership." One of the board members commented after the meeting as I got acquainted with them. "Thank you very much, Mr. Olson. I'm looking forward to working with all of you, and hopefully, we will all have a great relationship." The old man smiled at me. He was a good man, and the last time I saw him, I was probably around seventeen or eighteen years old. My father had been working with him for a long time, and when he started his estate business with the Houstons, Mr. Olson invested in the company and ended up as one of the board members. "We will!" He beamed. "Your father was a very smart man to leave his estate i
•DARLA•"I think I might know who did this," Elijah replied as he got up from the couch. "I think with this new evidence of him trying to tarnish your name with nonsensical theories, we have a chance to get him in jail.""You know who did this?" I asked as I wiped off my tears. "It's Ethan, of course. Who else would've leaked the information about how you got the Millers Properties Lifestyle? Or how you inherited everything from your father and banned your stepmother and brother from the company? It seems pretty obvious to me." I looked at him and realized how much sense he had made. Yet again, I failed to see Ethan for who he truly is. "Then what now?" "I know how to get him to confess to this and also get him to get this article off the internet. So don't worry, I'll take care of him for you. He will never bother you again." For the first time in forever, I let down my guard and decided to trust Elijah. Even though it was hard for me to admit that I needed his help when I came
•ABIGAIL•"Don't worry, I'll call you. Yeah -" My heart skipped a beat when I heard Diego on the phone when I walked out of the restroom. We were in New York and had withdrawn the money for our fake passports, which made it weird about who he might be talking to on the phone. He made my mind and heart uneasy because of his constant attention to his cell phone, which wasn't a problem until a few hours ago.'Fuck. He better not be cheating on me,' I groaned as I walked back to the bathroom and went to look at myself in the mirror and reapply my makeup. I sure wasn't going to let Diego use me to get a fake passport and then turn around and want to bring his whore with us. I had to make sure that he didn't even think about stabbing me in the back after all the things that he did with me and to me. When I was done patting myself on the back, I walked out of the restroom and found him waiting for me. He looked a bit agitated. "Is everything okay?" He asked when I walked toward him as
•ELIJAH•"I want your best flowers and the best gift box you got. Make sure that they are as romantic as they can be. I want them delivered to the address that I sent you. Yes. Thank you." I hung up the call and sat down on my couch. I was in one of my apartments so that I could have my own space and also get my mission accomplished on time.After receiving a file from my private investigator about Ethan's fraud with his former Arab business partners, I realized that it was going to help me get him under my control, and also get him to pay for kidnapping my kids.My cell phone rang, and when I realized that it was Harper, I got up from the couch and answered the call. "Hey, Jason sent me a text that Diego called and told him that you found them. Is Abigail with you?" I asked. "Yes, she's here. We are still keeping her in our hotel room. Jason hasn't called his cop friends, has he?" "No, but they are waiting for something. Abigail has to be captured, and since they had a lead, it h
•DARLA• "I can't believe that you had sex with Elijah," Amelia commented after I closed the door behind Elijah. I rolled my eyes as I turned around and walked to the living room where the kids were happily playing together. "I don't know what you're talking about. It's so crazy that you think I did such a disgraceful act with Elijah. I'd do that with anything walking around with a dick, but Elijah. My goodness," I answered when we got to the kitchen. "I'm sure you think that you're fooling me right now, but I can literally smell and see a person who just had sex." "Oh, yeah?" I chuckled after pouring myself and her a glass of apple juice. "Your pregnancy does that?" "Yeah, and your shirt is turned over." I gasped as I looked down at my shirt and instantly felt overwhelmed with embarrassment. I was so sure that even the housekeeper and Penelope saw that and knew what I did when Elijah was in the house. "That -" I sighed as I tried to think of an excuse. "I didn't see it
•ETHAN•"Morning, beautiful." I smiled as I brought Meghan a cup of coffee in bed. She looked so beautiful, and I couldn't believe my luck in bringing her home from the bar after a failed attempt two nights ago. "Fuck," she groaned.She didn't look so impressed when she saw me. She got up from the bed, dressed up, and took her handbag from the floor. "I'm sorry, but I've got to hit the road. I'm sure we had a lot of fun last night, but I'm not the romantic type to do breakfast in bed, talk, or whatever you thought was going to happen." I placed the cup of coffee down on the pedestal counter and turned to her a little disappointed. She didn't seem like someone who only did one-night stands.I was even thinking that maybe she didn't like me as much as I thought she did when she came home with me. "Wait, what's wrong? You were happy when we came home and you seemed interested in me. Did I read all that wrong?" I asked as I leaned toward her. "It's not you, honestly. But I can't do
•DARLA•"Say it again, Darla. I want you to tell me that you don't love me anymore, but I want you to look me straight in the eye this time when you say it." "What difference will make it, Elijah?" I scoffed. "It won't change the fact that I don't want to be with you anymore. Getting me the cool pink car, jewelry, bags, and shoes is never going to make me forgive you for all the shit that you put me through!" "Are you going to say it?" "Fuck you!" I snapped. "You left and abandoned me when I was pregnant with your kids! How dare you think that you can come back into my life, and I'll just forgive you as if you didn't leave me to be with another woman?! You're a motherfucking cunt, Mr. Houston!""I know that I lied, cheated, and divorced you on claims that Abigail was pregnant! I know that I was an asshole who doesn't deserve sympathy from you, but I love you!" He sighed. "I love you with all my heart, and nothing makes sense to me right now than you." He breathed. "You're the only
•HARPER•"Hey, are you okay?" I breathed, packed my bag, and took a sip of my lemon juice on the table. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired of being here and not getting anywhere. Abigail seems impossible to find." Alec smiled as he came to sit down next to me on the bed. "Don't you trust me anymore? I brought you here with me because I know that we can find her. I know Abigail and how she thinks. Chicago is not big enough for her to hide." "Yeah, and we've been here for a day already. We should be getting somewhere, but it seems like we aren't getting anywhere, Alec. What if she's no longer in Chicago? I don't think that I can stay here any longer chasing pavements!" I snapped and then sighed. "Something's going on with you. What's wrong? You know that you can talk to me about anything." "There's nothing wrong! Stop with your interrogations, Alec, and get me, Abigail!" I snapped again as I stood up from the bed. "I'm starting to feel like you don't want me to find your bitch anymor
•ELIJAH•"This better be good," I sighed after answering Diego's call in the morning. I was sleeping when he called me at 5 AM. I had a long night and slept quite late because of a research that I was conducting. "I'm with Abigail, Sir. We met last night in Chicago and will be on our way to New York this morning for some cash. I just need a little more time before turning her in." "My sister and her friend are in Chicago searching for her. When you come back from your New York trip, please give me a call. She has to be captured tonight. That's how much time I'm going to give you." "Yes, Sir. That's okay. I'll make sure that she's captured. I just want to make sure that Harper gets back the remaining money that Abigail took from her." I got up from the bed and sighed. "Alright, give me a call when you're back." "Sir?" "Yes?" "Does our deal still stand? You get Abigail and let me go? You promised not to harm me or my family if everything goes your way. Please, I hope nothing wil
•SONIA•"Hey, Mom. It's me again," I sniffed as I sat down on the carpet floor in the basement. This was where I spent some of my time whenever I needed to feel close to my Mom, even though I didn't really have any memories of her.Before my father had his life devoted to his work, he and I used to have a weekly tradition whereby we would watch videos he took with my Mom before she died. They looked so happy and in love together, which made sense why my father never remarried after her death. She was the love of his life."I know that we barely know each other, but I have no one right now. You're the only person who can listen to me without any judgments, and I really need to vent right now," I sighed. "Was it ever this hard when your parents wanted to get you married to someone else when you were with Dad? Was it this hard because they didn't want you to be with someone who wouldn't be able to take care of you?" I silently cried and wiped my tears before they could reach my cheek