•ANTHONY•When I got to my room after work, I sat down on the edge of my bed and released a deep sigh as I picked up my father's photo from my pedestal counter. I looked at the picture and remembered when our family got ruined. My father's secret affair broke our family, and things were never the same again, especially after my parents brought Darla with them as a baby. A week before they brought Darla home, I found my father's cell phone on the living room counter and used it for texting with a friend when a text came through from an unknown number. "Hey, Ben. I wanted to let you know that I have decided to raise this baby on my own. If I knew that you were married, I wouldn't have gone all the way with you. But I am grateful for the child that you've brought into my life." I was so stunned after reading the text. I was 10 years old and knew what the text meant. I was infuriated that he cheated on my mother. So, I quickly placed the cell phone down on the counter and went to my
•DARLA•"Ahh..." I moaned as Ethan pulled out his dick and we laid down on the bed for a moment. "Should we prepare for the baby now, or should we wait until that pregnancy test is positive?" I turned to him and smiled. His enthusiasm to have babies with me flattered me. It was obvious that he couldn't wait to have his own child. "We have to wait until I miss my period before preparing for the baby. Besides, we don't know if I'm going to have multiples again or not." We chuckled. "Twins? That would be even better. Our house will be busy and noisy with kids everywhere. Perhaps my parents will get off my back, too." "One baby, Ethan." I chuckled as I got up from the bed and wrapped my towel around me. "We will see then," he answered with a smirk. I shook my head while laughing and headed to the bathroom. I then closed the door behind me, took my pills from the cabinet, and drank them. I looked at myself in the mirror and felt a tinge of guilt after what I'd done. I didn't know
•ETHAN•"Did you tell your wife that you're trying to bring back your sister to the States?" Chris asked on the phone as I tidied up my home office. "No, Chris, I didn't tell her. It doesn't matter anyway because she's occupied with other things as well. We are trying to have a baby. Or let me just say, I'm trying to have a baby with her." "What do you mean? Doesn't she know that you're trying to have a baby?" "She knows, but she doesn't know that I know the little secret she thought she was keeping from me. I found out and exchanged them with vitamins.""You exchanged what with vitamins?" "Her birth control pills, Chris. I want a child, and she agreed. I was so disappointed when I found out that she was still taking her birth control pills, so I'm hoping that my plan works." "Are you sure that you're going to stand her anger when she finds out what you did?" "Are you going to tell her?" "Of course not, Ethan, but she might figure out that there's something wrong somewhere. May
•ABIGAIL•"I just sent you his cell phone number. Tell him that I'm the one who referred you to him so that he won't cost you an arm and a leg." I got up from the bed and went to sit down on the couch. "Thank you, sis. I'll give the guy a call and find out how much he's going to charge me." "Abi," she breathed on the other end of the line. "I hope you know what you're doing. The Houstons have a lot of money and are well-connected. There's nothing they won't do to find Harper, so you better be sure about this.""I know what I'm doing, Kat. Harper betrayed me and knew what was going to come her way if I found out. I'm not going to allow her to get away with this. She has to pay for the death of my child." "I hope you have the money this is going to cost you. I don't want you to come running to me for any assistance because I don't have that kind of money." "I'll take care of my business, Kathrine, but thank you." "I'll hear from you then once you have her." I hung up the call and
•DARLA•"I don't understand, Elijah. What do you mean the DNA swabs are invalid? I took them myself and made sure that they weren't contaminated." "I don't know what happened, but this means that we need to conduct other DNA swabs." He answered the phone as I turned off the engine of the car. "I had to lie to my kids, Elijah. I can't do that to them again, especially when I've told you countless times that you're not the father. This is very unnecessary." "I need proof that they aren't my kids, Darla. If ever your pregnancy didn't collide with the time you left, I wouldn't bother you about DNA. But I can't stand back and relax when they could be mine." "The kids and I are in Atlanta. You have to wait for us to come back before taking other swabs.""That's alright. Please tell me as soon as you're back." I rolled my eyes and was about to hang up the call when Elijah asked me to wait. "Wait, Darla. Can I ask you something?" I sighed. "Yes." "Do you think you can forgive me for w
•DARLA•"Hello? Who am I speaking to?" I asked as I stood up from my chair. I felt like the room was small and the walls were closing in on me, and I couldn't breathe. The thought of Ethan with another woman drove me crazy. "I should be asking you that. Who are you?" I scoffed. "If Ethan is there with you, please tell him that I said you should keep him. If you can, I want you to delete my cell phone numbers from his phone before I lose my mind on him when he calls back." The girl chuckled. "This is so funny. Anyway, I'll tell him that. But just so you know, Ethan is mine and I have no competition. Removing yourself from the queue doesn't really help because you weren't even going to be selected." "What? Bitch I'm his wife!" I snapped at her audacity to think that I was one of those girls that he picked up from the street corner. I felt so disrespected because this was the second girl that Ethan decided to lie to me about. But since I had told myself that I wasn't going to stay
•ABIGAIL•"Ahh... My head..."I smirked as I watched Harper slowly open her eyes. I couldn't wait for the look on her face when she saw me and realize that she messed with the wrong bitch. "Abigail?" She started hyperventilating when she saw me and looked around the building. Gosh, she was so dramatic because I hadn't even started dealing with her. We were in the middle of nowhere, and no matter how much she wanted to scream, no one would hear her or come to her rescue. "Are you surprised to see me?" I chuckled as I leaned back on the chair I was sitting on. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her legs were tied to the legs of the chair she was sitting on. She looked very scared and her eyes were glassy. "What am I doing here? What did you do to me?!" She snapped as she tried to free her hands, and when she saw Javier and his guys behind me, her nostrils flared with anger."WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" "Hey, watch your tone!" I snarled as I got up from the chair and slapped he
•ELIJAH•I scoffed when the door closed behind Abigail. I was still baffled at her resistance and not giving up when I made it clear over and over that it was over between us. Shaking my head, I went to my bedroom and received a call from Poppy when I came out of the shower. She was crying on the phone when I answered the call. "Poppy, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" I asked as I tried to change after coming out of the shower. "Harper's missing, Elijah..." She cried. "Mom and I have looked everywhere for her and called all her friends, but no one knows where she is. Please, you have to come back home. Mom is losing her mind." "What do you mean she's missing? When did this happen?" I was shocked because it was unlike Harper to disappear without our mother and sister knowing where she was. "It's been two days now. She didn't come back when she left to see her friends the night before yesterday. I'm afraid that something might have happened to her, Elijah." "Alright, I want you
•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