•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 s
•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
•ETHAN•"Eva is your mother, Ethan!" She breathed. "You're the baby that Noah was talking about. Eva left because she couldn't stand raising a child of the man who molested her."My mother's voice kept ringing at the back of my mind even after I had hung up the call. I couldn't believe it. I didn't know if I should call my father and confirm what my mother just told me. I was losing my mind, and the thought of Ella being my mother caused an aching feeling in my heart.I then decided to call Ella and confirm the news from her. Since she blocked my personal cell phone number, I used my work cell phone and called her. She took a little longer to answer the call, but when she finally did, I started feeling angry. "I want you to answer one question for me, and when you do, I will leave you alone and never bother you again just as you've asked." "Ethan, is that you?" She asked. "Are you my mother? Am I the reason you left the States and went to Canada because you couldn't stand raisin
•DARLA•"Elijah?""Darla, I - I -" He looked as shocked as I was to see him. His mouth was agape as we looked at each other for a moment."What are you doing here? Were you following me? Is that why you're here?" I scoffed as I turned and faced him. "This is a coincidence, I didn't know that it was you. I'm sorry, I'll -" He stammered. "I'll go on my way and give you some time alone. I'm sorry." I breathed. "It's okay, you can stay." I rolled my eyes as I returned my focus to the sea. I was alone, and seeing a familiar face felt better. "Are you sure?" He asked as he leaned closer."Yeah, as long as you promise to keep quiet and allow me to think. It's been a long day, you know." I sighed. "Yeah, it's been a long day for me as well. My sister's missing, and we can't seem to find her anywhere." I gasped as I looked at him. "My goodness, is it Poppy?" "No, it's Harper. She went out with her friends two days ago but didn't come back home. I had to come here as soon as I could so th
•ABIGAIL•"Harper!" I chortled as I walked inside the building where she was kept. "Harper?! Are you in there?!" "Oh my goodness," I smirked as I leaned against the doorframe and watched her as she struggled to stay awake. "You must be very thirsty and hungry." Javier's men beat her to a pulp, and she looked almost unrecognizable with all the bruises on her face. Her soft groaning alerted me that she might have endured a few broken ribs. "What do you want from me now, Abigail?" She asked as she tried to lift her head, but she struggled to maintain eye contact for a long time. "I came to see you and find out how you're doing," I chuckled as I walked toward her and sat down on the chair in front of her. "Are you still happy that you betrayed me? Does it still make you feel good that my baby died because you wanted to be an attention seeker?" "Keeping me here won't make Elijah take you back, Abigail," she coughed. "You should kill me already because when he finds me and gets me out
•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 -"