•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
•ABIGAIL•"How does it feel now knowing that Elijah won't marry your darling Sonia? Do you remember how you taunted and told me that Elijah would marry her because I'm no use to him?" I scoffed as I folded my arms on my chest."He still won't marry you, Abigail. Don't you see? His heart is now with Darla, the one who might have bore him twins and is the famous architect and the new CEO and director of The Miller's Properties Lifestyle." She closed the small gap between us and smirked. "Both girls are way over your league. You don't even qualify to be in their standard. So whether he wants Darla back or Sonia, I don't care, as long as he marries a woman who knows what she wants in this life." "I am carrying his child, so he won't do anything that would risk him being a part of the new life that's coming." I gritted my teeth, my heart aching at her response. "Who told you that having a baby for a man automatically makes him yours? It's just a baby, after all, not a wedding band. You'
•DARLA• When I got to the bathroom, I closed the door behind me, leaned against the door, and took deep breaths. My heart was racing after Elijah asked me if it was true that I loved him at the beginning of our marriage. I didn't want to have that conversation with him because he couldn't even notice back then that I was in love with him. Even when he used to tell me to never expect love from him. But after having that moment in the bathroom, I walked to the sink, washed my hands, and looked at myself in the mirror for a moment. When I stepped out of the bathroom, I held my head high and pretended that I wasn't going to let what had happened earlier to affect my mood until we were done. "It was a pleasure to have you here, Miss Sullivan," Sara said with a smile as she handed me my laptop bag. "I have booked your flight to Detroit, and I hope you're going to have a lovely trip back home tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to working with you." "It's a pleasure to know you
•ETHAN•"Oh, yes, I had a wonderful day, love. The board members are actually lovely people, and I'm very excited about this new chapter in my life." "You deserve this, baby. I hope you know how proud I am of you for working hard to achieve everything that you want. I can't wait to see how you're going to turn around The Miller's Properties Lifestyle." "Thank you so much, babe. I wanted to tell you about Belinda and Anthony earlier, but I forgot." "What about them? Did they try anything funny?" I asked as I packed the twins' bags and mine. "They caused a scene and accused me of killing my father and getting the company through fraud. Someone," she cleared her throat. "Someone had to intervene and get them to leave. I was honestly lost for words, and even now, I'm still shocked by what happened. I don't know if I should try to talk with them or get Julian to get them off my back.""I don't think you should talk with them. You're right that you should seek help from Julian. They mig
•ELIJAH•"Thank you, Emily, for keeping an eye on my affairs and taking care of my clients. You really do deserve a raise," I smiled as I walked to my desk and sat down to catch up on everything that was happening before going back to Detroit tomorrow morning. "I was counting on that," she giggled as she closed the door behind her and came to sit down in front of me. "So, how's the arrangement with Abigail going? She did not give you any difficult times?" "She didn't, actually. She seemed pretty happy about the amount, and everything was good. I just found it a bit challenging to manage the office without you, Sir.""I'm sorry, Em, but since many of our clients know now that I'm not here, they will ease the load for you. But if it takes time, please don't be afraid to forward their calls and emails to me.""I'll do that, Sir, thank you." She smiled, nodding. "How's Detroit? Does it make you homesick sometimes?" "Barely. I love it there." She chuckled. "Please don't tell me that y
•DARLA• When I woke up in the morning, I found Daphne looking at herself in the mirror, touching her stomach and breasts. I chuckled as I sat up on the bed. "You better look at yourself more carefully because, in a few months, you won't be able to recognize yourself when you have swollen feet and a big belly." She chuckled as she turned around and looked at me. "Can you believe that I heard a dream of the baby crawling out of my stomach and I woke up screaming? I was surprised that I didn't wake you up." "That happens too," I laughed. "It still happens to me even though the twins have outgrown my arms." "They do grow up fast, don't they?" She asked as she came over and sat down on the edge of the bed next to me. "Very fast. You have to capture every moment of them before they grow up and become toddlers who run around the house, causing chaos." "Do you promise to take pictures of every moment for me and bring them to my resting place?" She asked with a serious face that cau
•DARLA•"Well, thank you for keeping me informed, Anna. Please tell Charlotte that I'll come over and see her very soon, okay? I've just gotten the twins back and can't travel with them yet." "It's okay, I'll tell her, and thank you so much for everything that you did for us. Now that she's out of the hospital, you don't need to send us money anymore. We'll make do with what we have." "It's okay, Anna. I want to help, and until Charlotte has fully recovered, I'll keep sending you money to make sure that the kids are taken care of and that the bills are paid. You're my family, and I have to make sure that you're good." Anna sobbed on the phone as I went inside the house with Elijah behind me. "Thank you so much, Darla. I wish my sister was still alive to see how her daughter has been taking care of us. I hope she's looking down from heaven and is so happy and proud to have you as her daughter." "Yeah, I hope so too. Anyway, have a good night, and kiss the kids good night for me. I
•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 -"