DiamondMy heart was racing in my chest as I listened keenly to Lennox. I wasn't supposed to be feeling this way, I knew too damn well. But I couldn't control how my heart was palpitating as I anticipated what next he had to say. Was it going to make me feel better if he said he still had feelings for me? Was it going to somehow undo everything he did to me? What even was I expecting to happen? That he would leave his wife for me? Wait, no. Did I want to get back together with Lennox? I had never for once considered the possibilities of any of these questions. Ever since I came back to New York, the goal had been to stay away from Lennox because I needed to protect my children from him. Protecting my heart was never the question because why would I go back to a man that cheated on me? Why should I still feel anything but hate towards him? As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you. And if you fool me twice, shame on me. Yet, with all of these thoughts, my heart seemed to have a m
LennoxI felt my heart constrict in my chest when I turned back to see Karl kissing Diamond. Though that wasn't what hurt me the most. Five years ago, I was angry at myself for doing such a despicable thing to such a beautiful and kind woman. And after Tim said these exact same words, I knew that it was time to tender a real apology to Diamond. For some reason, I thought it would have been easy—not rendering the apology, but her forgiving me. Maybe it's because I imagined she had moved on, considering she had three kids now. I didn't stop to think of how I might have felt if I was on the other side of the fence. And Diamond did a very good job spelling it out for me. To say I was disgusted and disappointed with my actions back then would be an understatement. But I always said that saying sorry couldn't fix everything and maybe this is one of the cases. I felt a pang in my chest at the thought that Diamond might never forgive me. I had no idea how much I had hurt her until she expl
Diamond Lennox didn't seem too enthusiastic about me playing football. Or maybe he didn't like that I was on the same team with Karl. Or maybe the little reminiscing we did down at the cellar shook his mood. Anyways, I tried not to care. I was handed a blue t-shirt with the number, 7, body written at the back. There were always enough shirts printed in different sizes just in case anyone decided to play; just like I did this year. Since I was on the blue team, the ever competitive Jeremy was the captain. We huddled up in one corner as he began to dish out instructions and talk tactics. “Diamond, you're going to be the wide receiver.” He said to me and I nodded in affirmation.I have never played football before but I have watched enough of it to know that the wide receiver’s duty is to catch passes in the area. Surely, that can't be too hard. “So here's going to be the game changer,” Jeremy continued. “Diamond, as much as you're on the side, I'm going to need you to alternate bet
DiamondFor the next few hours I was at the villa, I tried as much as possible to avoid Lennox. After the game, we headed to the dinning in the backyard and had the meal of our lives. It was the perfect comic relief following the intense game, and the intense interactions between Lennox and I. After eating, we played some games and talked about life with one another—though nothing too serious. At the start of the day, I was regretting saying yes to Karl. But into the picnic, I found myself enjoying every bit of it. At about 7pm, the guests began to troop out. Considering my ride was with Karl, I had to wait for him to be done catching up with his parents who hadn't spoken to him in a long while. So I went to the pool area which was empty, rolled up my jeans and put my legs in the water as I sat by the edge of the pool. With a glass of wine in hand, I hummed along to the music playing in the background. I was enjoying that moment of peace and quiet until Lennox waltzed into the area.
Lennox The holiday was over and we returned to work in the hospital. Today was the day the senator's doctor was coming in so Diamond and I didn't have any classes. We planned to do a study session later, now that that patient was within close proximity and study, but that was just about it. The day was smooth sailing, there were no emergency surgeries, just a few minor ones. I didn't have so many patient rounds that day. With some scheduled patient consultations, and review of some medical records, I waited patiently for when the patient would come in. At about 2:30 pm, a nurse knocked on the door to my office. “Dr. Winthrop,” she called and I looked up from the files on my desk. “The senator and his daughter are here.” “Okay, thank you, Amara. I'll be down in a few minutes.” I closed the files and arranged them in one corner of my desk before going down to receive the senator. Diamond was already at the reception doing the formalities when I showed up. “Good afternoon, Senator
LennoxPanic washed across my face immediately I heard the news. I couldn't think of anything else other than her at this point. “Wait, wait. What happened?” I demanded impatiently but the dean's secretary chose to take a dramatic pause.“Did you hear me? What on earth happened to my daughter!?” I didn't care that I was yelling to somebody far away from me, on the other end of this call. I also didn't care that I sounded harsh and rude. All I cared about was the whereabouts of my daughter. “I'm sorry, Dr. Winthrop, she just slipped and fell.” The woman finally answered. Her voice trembled as she said, overcome with so much guilt. They were going to tell me how on earth she tripped and fell to the floor, but first I needed to get to that school and see my daughter otherwise I was going to lose my mind in this instance.Diamond must have overheard me yelling on the phone as she came out of Alicia's room. Worry etched her voice as she asked, “What's wrong, Lennox?” “The school calle
AgathaOn July 2nd, I received the best news in a while: I had gotten the job at Karl Winthrop's modeling agency. Now that Diamond was back, that nagging feeling that I didn't do something tangible with my life, save for getting married to a super rich and super hot doctor who I don't want to admit to myself might still be secretly into my sister. So my life wasn't going great at the moment. Actually, it has never been great. Ever since Diamond's return, I have been paranoid and angry. I was counting the days to when she was finally going to leave and go back there Texas because even if Lennox doesn't admit it to himself, his head was screwed from the moment he saw her. But over my dead body will I allow him and Diamond ever get back together. I am his wife now, he left her for me and that is exactly how it is going to remain. But if I wanted to keep my husband from falling for my sister, I needed to make something of myself, make a name for myself. So this modeling job was my best b
DiamondI was worried about Lennox. I could only imagine the shock and the horror when he found out that his daughter had been in an accident. When he had mentioned it to me, my thoughts immediately went straight to my boys. I was worried and restless that something bad might have happened to them, too, so I had to call the dean to inform me of the well-being of my child. When I asked about Natalia, he said it wasn't in his place to disclose that information. So I concluded that I'll have to wait until Lennox is back to ask him myself. I said a silent prayer for Natalia, and continued about my duties and his. Thankfully, he didn't have much on his itinerary. I was in the middle of the patient rounds when I encountered one of Lennox's patients. Before going into the room, I check the name of the patient. It was a 72 year old woman named Mary Winslow. When I walked in, Mrs. Winslow was screening through the channels of the television in her room. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Winslow.” I sai
Diamond2 years later…I looked around happy with the table arrangement. Lennox would sit beside me of course, the kids and then Karl and Rebecca beside each other. The oven dinged and I went over to check the chicken. Rebecca loves her chicken golden brown and properly crisped, so I left it in for a few more minutes.Rebecca and Karl were coming over for dinner and final preparations for their wedding tomorrow. She had always wanted to go on her honeymoon the night of her wedding, so I won’t get to see her for a while after tomorrow. That only reiterated the need for this dinner. Lennox and I would be hosting them, alongside the kids. We were happily married now and might I say, this two years have been the best of my life. A lot had happened within the span of two years. My parents and I were finally on good terms although we don’t speak frequently because that can’t just change after so many years. I had gotten a permanent job at the hospital. After the incident with Tim, he an
Diamond My hands were trembling as I made my way to Lennox’s room. Karl was behind me and I could sense that he was equally as anxious as I was. Rebecca had gone to inform Lennox’s parents about his condition. I slowly knocked on the door before letting myself in. I turned to see that Karl wasn’t following me in. He nodded and closed the door behind me. Lennox was staring at me intensely as I walked across the room to the bed. “Hey”, I said as I sat beside him. “Hi”, his smile was wide and genuine. He took my hand in his and brought them up to his lips, placing a small kiss on my knuckles. “I was so scared…”, I began as tears filled my eyes, “I’m sorry”, I said cleaning the tears off my eyes. “What are you sorry for, you didn’t do anything” “Exactly, I didn’t do anything. I couldn’t do anything, I…I thought I was going to lose you. I couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing you again, of not having you in my life.” “Diamond…”, he squeezed my hands gently and looked into my
Karl I paced around the hospital hallway after my discussion with the doctor. He had spoken to Diamond first since I was nowhere to be found. After making sure Hayden was alright, I left the hospital to go search for Agatha and Lennox since they both had mysteriously disappeared. Rebecca had to stay with Diamond and the kids for emotional support. But during my vague search, I saw on the news that Lennox had been shot by an ex-convict. I had never been more sacred in my life. I began panicking and stumbled over anything and everything in my way, but I didn’t bother to pick them up. I had been to the bar I met Lennox in. At that point I just searched everywhere Lennox would normally be that I was aware of. The bartender and a few drunk men yelled at me as I exited the bar but I payed no attention to them. I immediately ran to my car, fondling with my keys, before I finally opened it. I hopped in and sped off quickly in the direction of the hospital. A lot of things went through my
DiamondHayden was awake and could finally have visitors. He’d have to stay in the hospital for a few days before he could be discharged. The doctors had to monitor his progress and recovery. “Put that down”, I ordered Braden who was accessing some of the equipment on a tray“I know you’re curious, I was too at your age, but these are sharp objects and not something you play with”, he pouted and stepped away from the tray, “I’ll get a nurse to take the tray out”Jayden was sitting beside Hayden on the bed, he had not left that position since we came in to see Hayden. I hated having to put them through this, it was my mess, they didn’t have to suffer for it too.I left the room to get a nurse to come clear the tray.I was about entering the room when I turned to see Rebecca running to me. She got to where I was standing, breathing heavily.“What’s wrong, Rebecca? Why are you running?”She was still panting heavily but managed to get her words out.“Le...Lennox, he was rushed to the ho
LennoxI had never felt more scared in my life. My heartbeat elevated as we ran into the hospital. I tried to collect my thoughts. I felt so guilty. I never should have let Natalia out of my sight. If anything happened to her it would be my fault and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.We rushed to the security office. Rebecca was there, in a heated argument with one of the security guards.“What’s going on?”, I asked as we neared them.Rebecca turned to me and said the man wouldn’t allow her see the security footages. I mentally smacked myself in the head, why didn’t I think of this first before running to the police station.Agatha walked passed me and began threatening the guard who seemed unfazed by her words.We had to get permission from the board in other to view the footages but there was no time for that. So I stepped forward willing to plead with the guard. To my surprise he recognized me, and his tone changed to one of respect.“Dr. Winthrop, are you with t
AgathaI wasn’t sure I had heard right.“What did you say?”, I asked, anger and disgust clear in my tone.Diamond stood her ground looking as confident as ever.“You heard me…”“Diamond”, Lennox called and my eyes immediately flew to him.I couldn’t believe it. Lennox was the father of these bastards?How is it even possible?They are probably a year younger than Natalia. So when did it even happen?Where they still seeing each other behind my back?So many questions swirled in my head. I assumed a variety of conclusions.But deep down there was one final conclusion which I didn’t want to accept. And it seemed like the most reasonable…She had gotten pregnant before their divorce.That would mean he didn’t cheat on me or betray me.I turned to look at the two boys with identical faces. I had never seen it before, mainly because I never bothered to observe them, but there was a resemblance to the Winthrops…to Lennox.I shook my head in disbelief.Turning away from the b
DiamondWe were in the waiting room, expecting the feedback from the doctors in the OR.Everywhere was tense. The boys clung to me tightly.Rebecca had gone to get coffee, even though it was pretty late for that.She came into the room with a plastic cup of coffee at hand. She had asked if I wanted some but I declined.She gulped down the entire cup before assuming her position of resting on the wall again. Even when there were many available seats.Lennox was also in the room, although I didn’t dare look at him.Our conversation earlier was pretty heated. And it ended with me leaving the rooftop in tears. I didn’t even know when he entered the room since I was lost in my head.It hurt so much because everything he said was true. I hadn’t really thought about it then. But I could see now that what I did was wrong, not only to Lennox but to my boys too.Could you really blame me though?I was humiliated and I had no one. And my boys deserved the best. They still do.The door
Lennox‘His father’s blood is a match’The words kept replaying in my head. I didn’t understand.Why would the doctor call me Hayden’s father?Maybe he made a mistake.“What are you saying Doc?”, I asked.“Well you know how we are incorporating new technology into every field in this hospital. So we used the STRs for a more accurate and faster result”The STRs…It is a specific genetic marker.That method would not just check the compatibility of the blood group but also genetic similarities.No I couldn’t believe it. I shook my head turning away from the doctor.“Here are the results”, he said for more confirmation.I slowly took them from his hands, eager yet scared to see what it was.I unfolded the paper.Positive…Match…Applicable…He was right. The Doc was right.So many thoughts swirled through my head. I didn’t even know where to start.“You can come in for the transfusion whenever you’re ready”, he said, bringing me back to reality.He turned away from me
Diamond I blinked a million times. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. I couldn’t believe that was Hayden on the floor. Rebecca shook me yelling my name before I finally snapped out of it.The realization dawned on me.I quickly ran to Hayden who was lying unconscious. The boys began to cry tugging on Hayden. He was bleeding from his head. I looked up at Natalia, her expression had gone from angry to frightened.I turned to her sharply and yelled.“Why did you do this? Why did you push him?”, I was so furious now I couldn’t think straight.“What the hell is wrong with you?”“I don’t…I” she stammered, and her eyes widened in shock when she saw the blood flowing from Hayden’s head.The boys kept crying now and fought the tears that threatened to fall.I hurriedly carried Hayden in my hands and Rebecca ran to get the keys to the car.No communication was needed.I rushed to the car and placed an unconscious Hayden in the back seat and I hopped in sitting beside him