EvelynIt took time to calm my racing thoughts, but even now, I had no answers. Still nothing but a plain sheet of blank covering my whole mind. Every corner.I needed to hear it from Jacob—his opinion, his view. This wasn’t just my decision or a race alone. It was ours.We had to face this situation together…For….Our baby.“I’ve looked into a few venues,” Jacob murmured, brushing his thumb over my ring. The moonlight caught it, making it gleam. “I liked some, but a few need a closer look. You should come with me,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of my head, “Well, you are coming with me.”His warmth lulled me for a moment, my eyes fluttering shut.“So, no more secrets like everything else?” I teased, a soft chuckle escaping as I leaned back against him. His chest met my back, his warmth hugging me and his nose grazed my neck as he inhaled deeply. “If I could keep it a secret, I would,” he deadpanned, making me laugh again. “But I want the venue to be your choice. Besides
EvelynI stepped out of the doctor's office, my heart heavy and light all at once. It thudded violently against my ribs, my breath coming in shallow bursts. My skin felt cold, and tears prickled at the corners of my eyes. The feelings surged, intensifying with every second, creeping into every cell of my body.I felt lost. Hopeless. Overwhelmed.Was I ready to be a mother?I didn't know.Was it too soon? Maybe.But not once, in the whirlwind of thoughts swirling in my mind, did the idea of harming the tiny soul growing inside me cross my mind. My decision had already been made before I even realized there was one to make. I knew what I was going to do.I just didn't know how.Two and a half months. Probably from our time in America. And yet, until two days ago, the thought hadn't even occurred to me.Lost in thought, I pushed open the door to our apartment. The evening light filtered through the large windows, casting a warm glow. I froze when I spotted Jacob. He stood facing the mirr
JacobI sat in my office, drenched in sweat, my breath shallow and quick. Dread crawled under my skin, seeping into my bones, invading every inch of me until I was cold. The air around me felt thick, suffocating, and each breath I managed to draw seemed to take all my strength. It was suddenly a chore to keep breathing and stay alive.I paced back and forth, running a hand through my hair, the dim light above the ceiling the only thing cutting through the darkness. I couldn’t bear to be in complete darkness right now. I needed to see something, anything, just to remind myself I was still here."Calm down," I muttered, trying to steady my shaking hands, clenching them into fists at my sides. "Fucking calm down."It had been years—years since I’d felt like this.The last time was when I was fifteen.I thought I'd outgrown it, that I had put all of it behind me. The fear. The pain. The panic. Why now? Why was it coming back?"He's dead," I breathed out, burying my face in my hands. The w
EvelynSunlight filtered through the small gap between the curtains, landing softly on my face. I squeezed my eyes shut, determined not to wake up, but it only lasted a moment before I gave in. Panic shot through every one of my veins as I opened my eyes and saw the empty space beside me.Sitting up hurriedly, I scanned the room.Did he not come home last night?I slipped on my slippers, ready to search for him, when a realization stopped me in my tracks. I'd fallen asleep on the sofa, waiting for him. Yet here I was, waking up in bed. The memory hit me then—his strong arms carrying me to bed, his warmth enveloping me as he held me close.I stepped out of the bedroom, my ears catching the soft clatter of utensils. Following the sounds to the kitchen, I found him there, cooking breakfast.A sigh of relief escaped me at the sight. He stood at the stove, relaxed and focused, as if the weight of our troubles didn't exist. As if we didn't have a situation to handle. As if we both weren't w
EvelynIt was noon when I couldn’t stand the silence any longer. It was suffocating, eating away at me, and I had no idea how to face it. So, I did the only thing I could—opened the damn door and walked out.Jacob was sitting on the couch, his head lowered, eyes fixed on his hands, clenching them together like they could somehow hold him together. The sound of my footsteps must have pulled him from his haze because his gaze shifted to me, and I saw the tension in his shoulders ease. A quiet sigh escaped his lips.He didn’t say a word, just stood as I walked toward him, stopping just a breath away. My chest tightened. Tears were threatening to spill, and worse—he could see it. That made it worse, because now I couldn’t hide it. The lump in my throat grew with each passing second.Before I could say anything, he raised his hands, cupping my face gently. His touch shattered whatever restraint I had left, and my chin trembled, fighting to hold back the flood of tears.He seemed to feel it
EvelynThe soft sound of someone shifting and moving around the room pulled me from the depths of sleep. My eyes blinked open, heavy with lingering grogginess, and I saw Jacob getting ready—probably for the office, judging by his sharp suit.Dragging myself up despite the weight of sleep threatening to drag me back into the sea of the mattress, I yawned. Maybe it was just another side effect of pregnancy—this constant, consuming need to rest.“What are you doing?” I mumbled, voice thick with sleep.Jacob froze mid-motion, his hand hesitating as he fastened his watch. He turned toward me, his gaze softening as he abandoned the task and approached the bed. “Sorry, baby, did I wake you up?” he murmured, leaning down to caress my cheek.“Not really.” I let out another yawn. “But why are you leaving so early? You usually head out much later than this.”A small chuckle escaped him as he caught my hands, preventing me from rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “Don’t do that,” he teased. “If you w
Samuel"You're too young for a baby, Evelyn!""Jacob's right—you should abort it!""No, you can't have a kid when you're still a kid yourself!""I'm going to kill that bastard!""Evelyn, think it through!"A hundred pleas, a hundred desperate arguments—none of them mattered. She was hell-bent on having this baby. And truth be told, I couldn't force her. Danica and I had her when we were young too. Questioning her now would mean admitting we thought she was less capable than we had been.And I refused to do that. My daughter could handle this. I knew she could.As shocking as the news was, my bigger concern was Jacob. That piece of shit's reaction. I knew what this meant for him—how the word father terrified him, how much he hated himself for the blood that ran through his veins.He didn't think he was capable of being a father because he was convinced he'd fail. I'd seen it in him for years—his greatest fear."Do you think Jacob's going to agree to this?" Clara asked, worry lacing her
Evelyn"W-what?" My voice trembled, barely a whisper. Somewhere deep inside me—somewhere I refused to acknowledge—there was hope. A desperate, foolish hope that he’d say something different. That he wouldn’t break me with a brutal truth like this."Yes, Evelyn." His voice was steady, his eyes cold, though maybe—just maybe—there was a flicker of guilt in them. But at that moment, guilt didn’t matter. His words did. His actions did. The emotions he chose to display, and the ones he kept buried, were the only things that mattered."I am not fucking ready to be a father." His tone was unyielding, each word a blade slicing through me. "I don’t want to be a father. I don’t have it in me, and I’d rather die than carry a burden like that. Raising a kid, all of it—it’s pointless. Stupid. Meaningless shit. And I thought you felt the same, but I was wrong. And that fucking scares me. I hoped I could convince you, but you’re proving me wrong at every turn. Evelyn, no matter how much you think you
EvelynMy eyes blinked open to darkness. Well, a room barely deserving the name. Crumbling walls, shattered water pipes, and the constant drip of water hitting the damp floor surrounded me. The cold wetness had seeped through my boots, and sweat slicked my skin—not from heat, but from the suffocating gag biting into my mouth."Well, well." His voice slithered through the room, echoing off the broken walls and scraping against my nerves. "Someone's finally awake, huh?"Through the haze of drowsiness, I saw him. Tyler. He stood before me, a knife glinting in his hand, the blade catching what little light filtered through the cracks. The silence wrapped around us, broken only by the distant chirping of crickets. No passing cars, no sign of life—just isolation. Wherever I was, it was a place no one with good intentions would tread.He moved closer, his eyes as dark as his twisted heart. He crouched before me, his knife still in hand, his presence suffocating.I pressed back against the ch
EvelynHe had left after we had sex. Lots of sex. As always, I loved every part of it. Every moment. Every nip, every kiss, every thrust, every rub against skin to skin. And the way it left me smelling nothing but like him. The pure scent of Jacob Adriano, the smell of his presence, the scent of his breath and the beautiful smell of that shampoo he uses.Argh! I loved that man.I'd probably love him more tomorrow. A little more the next day. And then again more the following day.It'd go like this. Forever. But now, no matter how much I loved my man and how strictly he'd told me not to step out of the apartment alone, I couldn't help but feel the itch of the open breezes against my skin. I wanted to go out and pretend that I was safe and not scared even if I wasn't. But I also knew I'd be risking my baby's health and mine if I happened to be caught anywhere near that Tyler named monster whom I could feel everywhere these days. Worse, sometimes even in my dreams.So, I knew that I'd
JacobThe restraining order had been issued and I didn't know why, his family that was not at all concerned about him was suddenly helping that piece of shit get through things not be thrown under the bad eye of the media. They were fucking helping him cover up his shit.I was being around my two angels as much as I could, as much as it was fucking possibe and even now as I stared at her laying in my arms, peacefully asleep, I couldn't shake off the guilt that she felt unsafe. I knew it from her face even though she didn't say it.Even after a month....She felt him everywhere and that piece of shit was probably tracking our every movements.I didn't know what was I supposed to do.I'd thought about sending her back to America and then join her later after getting shit sorted but she'd not agree. She wanted me with her and I wanted her. Always around me. With her sweet scent, beautiful smile, silky hair and that beautiful litte baby bump. God, even her swollen feet looked adorable to m
TylerI stepped back into the penthouse.No—not a penthouse. A fucking shithole. Sure, most people would kill to be here, surrounded by functioning luxuries, calling it a dream. But for me? This was nothing. A joke compared to what I had. What that piece of shit, Jacob, stole from me. And there was only one way to take it all back. I had to take everything from him. And in this world, if there was anything Jacob Adriano cared about more than his own life, it was her.Evelyn Fernandez.The one thing I could never have. The one fucking desire that had ruined me. I didn't regret what I did—not for a second. One taste of her would've been worth losing everything. But I couldn't have her. And that's why she had to die.There were two reasons Evelyn had to die.One—I couldn't have her.Two—Her death would be Jacob's down
EvelynMy breath hitched. I staggered back, my pulse a wild, erratic thing in my chest. No. He couldn’t be here.My gaze darted to the security camera, and there he was.The same black hoodie. The same soulless eyes. Standing closer than before. At our doorstep.“Well,” his voice slithered through the speaker, smooth, taunting, “stepping away from the door won’t do much. If I wanted to hurt you, I fucking would.” He paused, the weight of his words pressing against my ribs. “But here’s the thing—I’m not here to hurt you. Not today.” A beat of silence. Then, a soft chuckle. “Can’t say the narrative won’t change next time we meet.”My stomach twisted violently. I could see it—that sick grin. The one he wore when he watched people crumble.“A
EvelynJacob paced the room like a caged animal, phone pressed to his ear as he spoke with different people—lawyers, Tyler’s representatives, anyone who could do something to help fix this mess. His jaw was clenched so tightly, I thought it might snap, and the veins on his neck bulged with barely contained anger. He looked like he was ready to tear through anything in his path, except for me. How did I know? Because….Every time our eyes locked, his softened.I knew what was eating at him. It wasn’t just that Tyler had walked past me, silent but leaving everything under his dark shadow. It was that Jacob hadn’t been there. He’d been away, and Tyler could have done anything. He could’ve harmed me. Or worse—hurt our little Sienna.I pressed my hand against my belly, trying to steady my breath, to hold myself together. One of us had to remain calm, and Jacob had already lost i
EvelynClara had given me a bunch of tips as she came downstairs, whilst I was still blushing from the moment Jacob had fed me fruit salad. Within the hour, both she and Dad left, and suddenly, the house felt too quiet.The silence had been comforting when they were around. Even though Jacob worked from home most days now, we both craved the presence of familiar company—especially me. I loved when Bianca visited, or when Rosaline and Enzo surprised us with bags full of pastries and endless stories.But now, it was just me and Jacob. And the quiet felt... hollow.Jacob glanced up from his laptop, noticing the bored expression I wore as I absentmindedly picked at the snacks in my lap. Without hesitation, he closed his laptop and made his way over to me.“Done already?” I asked, surprised as he plopped down beside me and effortlessly pulled me onto his lap. These days, I wouldn’t be surprised when he did that—he’d been doing it that fucking often.“Not exactly,” he murmured, brushing his
EvelynI hadn’t told Jacob about the incident at the mall. As days turned into weeks, I started convincing myself it had been a hallucination—just my paranoia playing tricks on me. I’d been on edge ever since Tyler's release, after all. Maybe it was just fear messing with my head.Days blurred into months. Three, to be exact. And now, my baby bump was unmistakable. My body had softened, my feet were slightly swollen, and I'd gained the kind of weight that made me look exactly like a pregnant woman should. Loose, comfy clothes became my everyday style, but I didn’t mind the changes.In fact, I loved them.I found myself smiling in the mirror, running my hands over the curve of my belly, fascinated that I was growing a little life inside me. Jacob loved it even more. He couldn't stop staring at me—his eyes filled with awe and something deeper every time he sa
EvelynJacob's brows rose slightly, and he hurriedly stepped closer, slipping his arm around my waist as if afraid I might collapse. His hand cupped my face, his thumb brushing gently against my cheek as he met my eyes. He already looked dead worried."Hey, it's okay," he whispered, trying to calm me down, “Breathe, baby. Just breathe."It was only then that I realized I wasn't breathing. I'd been holding it in—along with the panic, the fear, the overwhelming dread. My hands trembled, my knees threatened to give out, and my breaths came in shallow, broken gasps. I didn't feel like myself. I didn't feel human.Tyler was out of jail.The memory hit me like a slap. The text he'd sent me the day I left Italy surged through my mind, dragging me deeper into panic."It might be over for now, but not forever. One way or another, you will be mine, Evelyn.