Chapter 19 This was the second time Elliot was coming to my place of work and honestly, I did find it interesting. I wondered why he would come here without any prior notice. Elliot's expression was blank until he saw me, his face lit up but there was a flash of confusion. I was wondering what was in his mind without showing any impression that I was happy to see him. I was happy but I made a promise to myself, and I wasn't going to break it. Even with the dark clothes he wore, Mrs. Lane seemed to recognize the billionaire immediately. She ignored the other customers as she was always asking Elliot if he wanted to eat anything. I sensed his discomfort. He wasn't used to coming to this kind of restaurant that was so clustered and full of people. His eyes shone with irritation as he stared at me. "Don't worry, Mrs. Lane. I would take it from here." I told her with a small smile. There was a flash of disappointment on her face but the next second it was gone and she smiled back tight
Chapter 20We got as fast as we could into Elliot's car and zoomed off. I didn't know where we were going exactly and Elliot wasn't saying anything either. I was too much in my feelings today and there was nothing I could do to replace the memory. Each time it came on in my head, I cringed and let overthinking control the whole situation. Maybe he would think less of me? Although he didn't react that way, there was no way I could read his mind. Ever since he arrived, his expressions had been passive. I tried to shake off the feeling of shame from me and just be in the moment. There was nothing no one could tell me, there was this kind of safety that staying with Elliot brings. Too bad, we were already history even before we got to live through every memory.It was over twenty-five minutes and the silence between us was deafening. We didn't say a word to each other and I would love to know the reason but I just decided against everything that concerns him. He kept driving and taking t
Chapter 21 We started feasting and having conversations in between. There was more than enough food, so much that I feared it was going to be too much for just me to eat. I loved how everything was curated. There were burgers and pizzas, cooked lasagna, and pasta. I didn't know where to begin at first but he urged me to eat to my satisfaction. I was beginning to feel better and for the first time, I didn't feel a wave of sadness from my episodes of overthinking. He was talking about how he charmed everyone with his looks when he came to look for me at the restaurant. He was so full of himself but in a funny way. I kept laughing and things weren't so tense when he said that. I was glad we were quick to put the talk about "my ex" by the side. "For a moment there, I think your Manager was into me." he winked. "She kept coming to me and asking if I was okay." "That's because she knows you and she wants you to be comfortable. She is pretty nice to everyone. So don't flatter yourself to
Chapter 21 The drive back home was pretty silent. I was not comfortable and my curiosity wanted me to ask what exactly was wrong. He was driving with this fury and his veins popped out so much that I decided it was only a matter of time before he exploded. Twenty minutes later he took a familiar route and I knew we were close to my house. He stopped by the walkway just before the house and I turned to face him, my eyebrow raised. "You can come down here." He looked away like he was talking to the wind. I let out a sigh, my face scrunched up as I tried to make sense of what exactly was going on in his mind. "Are you okay? You seem-" I swallowed when he turned to me with a sharp glare. "I just- never mind." I nodded and stepped out of his car without a word. He zoomed off immediately and there was something inside of me that wanted him to reverse and at least talk to me. It was all wishes that would not happen, at least not at that moment. I got to the house and stepped inside
Chapter 23 Accepting Drew's offer turned out to be a very good decision. We've been on a roll telling one story after the other and laughing hard in between. We ordered some scones, small chops, and milkshakes. Drew wanted a whiskey instead without anything to eat. He wanted a package of Chinese food to take home so replaced the order. Drew mostly sat there, listening to me be a chatterbox as he offered to pay the bills. I wanted to ask about Elliòt but I decided against it. I didn't know how to begin to ask such questions, I was already feeling weird about it. Then he faced Kathy. "So Katherine, how is work?" I let my eyes go back and forth between the two and I nodded to myself. I could feel Kathy being all giddy but she wasn't showing it as much. Sneaky idiot. She took a sip of her drink and shrugged. "You know, it's been fine. Nothing much really happens at work." "Same old." The guy smiled broadly and my friend nodded. "I hope Zora hasn't been a pain in the ass because
Chapter 24 I held my phone in my hands for a long time, contemplating my decision. Would I regret this chance that I was about to blow up? I shook my head and exhaled. I was not going to overthink this one. It was a long time and I needed to do this. I clicked on his contact and my finger hovered on the send button. He suddenly went radio silent and I didn't know what to make of it. "Is everything okay?" It was very short and I hoped those three words conveyed all I wanted to tell him. Are we okay? Is he okay? Did he miss me? All the questions I wanted to ask and I just sent that. I breathed out again with a sigh. I had to lock my ego somewhere and ditched the key because I was extremely worried about his well-being. Even if Drew had told me he was fine, I still could not shake off the feeling. What was going in that pretty head of his? I knew that it would help me and doubts if I could hear from him. It was a Monday and how I hated Mondays. The mere thought of it weakened me a
Chapter 25 My thoughts were drawing me into a deep void. I felt like nothing could stop this from eating me up. Confusion spun me further into its lair. I couldn't decipher what was true anymore because the fear and too many emotions clouded me. I grabbed the counter and tried to breathe. I was finally exhaling when Bella appeared beside me. "Mrs. Lane wanted you to fix the kitchen before you end your shift. She is really frantic, I suggest you get to it. That's if you still need the pay cheque by the end of the month." I stared at her blankly as she spoke. I gave a brief nod and she walked away. I saw the pity that lingered in her expression for that short time. I understood because I had days where I pitied myself. Just that the humiliation I had faced, wasn't something I had expected. I sighed for the umpteenth time as I went about to get the task done. There was no need to cry over spilled milk, no point crying like a baby. It wasn't even worth a shot even if I had tried it. I
Chapter 26 The kitchen was a mess and I couldn't take it anymore. I didn't know how long it would take to bake a cake but it was awfully too long. I was careful to check through from time to time because I didn't want it to burn to ash. Then, it was just my wish because the instructions were not straight even if I followed through every little detail in the recipe. It was almost like everyone had their personal recipe for chocolate cake. Each recipe I found on YouTube was more complicated than the other. The cake got burnt and it wasn't tasting nice. "So much for wanting to bake a cake." I groaned, crashing on the couch in annoyance. "I would just order some food." I concluded, hissing as I groaned again, staring at the once sparkling kitchen. Kathy still wasn't back and I really hoped she stays at Fred's tonight or she is going to kill me if she sees this mess. *** "The hell?" I screamed as I fluttered my eyes open to see an angry Kathy staring at me with rage. I jolted up
Dear wonderful readers, I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to read my book! Your support and enthusiasm mean the world to me. Without you, book one could not have been the success that it is. I am grateful to have such amazing, dedicated readers like you. It thrills me to announce that there will be a book two! I am so excited to continue this journey with you and bring you more of the characters you have grown to love (and certainly some new ones too!). I promise to keep you on the edge of your seat with even more twists and turns. Again, thank you for all that you do. I appreciate every kind word, review, and recommendation. You are the reason why I write, and I cannot wait to share more of my stories with you. With love and gratitude, H.B Temilorun
EpilogueZora lost track of the fluorescent white bulbs that skipped past her as she lay on the stroller moving at a high speed. She had hoped that keeping count of them would be able to distract her from the pain that throbbed through her entire system. Her eyes were half shut and her throat hurt from screaming so much.She looked around her and studied the crowd of nurses that had gathered around her all pushing the stroller through the hallway of the hospital. She was pregnant, yes, but she knew she wasn’t that heavy so she couldn’t understand why there were so many people blocking her air.She inhaled loudly in a desperate attempt to take in all of the lavender and disinfectant-filled air into her lungs before letting it all out with a loud scream as a new surge of pain rippled through her. She wondered why it was taking them so long to get to the theatre.She reached for Kathy's palm which sat beside her pushing the stroller as well and she squeezed it tightly as the pain continu
Chapter 128.Aaron rolled my suitcase through the airport lounge as we went to check in, the queue wasn’t long so I was able to finish quickly and I dropped off my baggage and collected my boarding pass then he waited for me while we ran through passport control and security clearance and then I returned and we all headed to the waiting area.My flight announcement was called soon after and we all got up from our seats. “That’s our cue,” I said as I turned to Aaron and I could see he was biting back his pain. “Um, so take care you guys and be safe, oh and eat a lot of good food too…” he trailed off and pulled me into a tight hug immediately, I hugged him back and squeezed him gently.“Hey, it’s not even that long you don’t have to be a crybaby,” I teased. “I’m not crying,” he said, his voice cracking. We pulled out from the hug and then he hugged Kathy next.“What! That doesn’t make any sense,” my words flashed through my mind as I watched them. Kathy was already on the airline's we
Chapter 127.I could barely keep my legs straight as I looked at him and I was scared my knees would give in and I'd fall to the ground. I had gone to the wedding with all confidence hoping to say my mind with a straight face and walk out with explosions behind me like I was in some Tom Cruise movie.But as soon as I walked into that room I felt as though my backbone had split and I was leaning on a thin shard, if I wasn’t cautious I would crumble to the ground and it would be an absolute mess. But I knew better than that. I had already crumbled and there were no tears left to cry, but now that I had hit rock bottom I could only go up but I had to cut any strings holding me back for that to happen.And Elliott was a massive fucking chain.He was even more beautiful as he stood there in his black tuxedo and I couldn’t help the envy that crawled at the back of my neck. I would’ve given anything to be in Sharon’s place, but then again that’s not why I was there.I stood up straight as I
Chapter 126.I stood in front of the mirror with a small smile on my face as I dusted the bottom of my dress. Kathy stood propped at my door frame staring at me warily. I ignored her. I had made up my mind on what I was going to do and I was not interested in what anyone else had to say.If everyone was so bent on me moving on, then they should allow me to do it my way. “This is a crazy idea,” she blurted out, finding it hard to keep a cap on her thoughts any longer. “Kathy, we talked about this,” I said, my eyes still on the mirror.“I know we have but is there seriously no way to talk you out of this? I mean, everything about this is wrong,” she waived. I turned to her and rolled my eyes. “You promised you would respect my decision no matter what it was, saying it's wrong isn’t very respectful don’t you think,” I hissed. “Besides, I kept to my side of the deal. I’m going on the vacation aren’t I?” I added and she heaved a sigh as she rubbed her temples.She was worried and I unde
Chapter 125.I sat on the couch breathing in the coffee-filled air into my nostrils as I held the cup of freshly brewed coffee to my face. There was a calming effect coffee always seemed to have on me and I hated that I couldn’t drink it all the time. It wasn’t like there were any healthier alternatives.It was either that or alcohol.Aaron walked into the sitting room and sat beside me as I finally brought the mood to my lips and slurped loudly. I hummed inwardly as the bitter-sweet taste massaged my taste buds and the warmth reverberated through the walls of my mouth before sliding down my throat. I let out a satisfied breath as I closed my eyes. “Hey sis, can we talk?”Can’t I just have my damn coffee in peace?The past couple of days had been filled with countless pieces of advice and lectures, mostly on my little brother’s part. I knew he cared about me but I couldn’t understand why he was hell-bent on letting Elliott know about the baby and why he refused to understand why I jus
Chapter 124.I rounded up my chores for the day, dusting off surfaces and spraying air fresheners in the different rooms. I was just about to retire to my room and take a rest before heading for the shower when I heard a light tapping on my door. I froze for a moment as I wondered who it could be. Kathy and I hadn’t been getting visitors for a while so I wondered if it was a friend of Aarons.My chest began to beat harder as another possibility crossed my mind. Maybe Elliott had gotten tired of waiting for me to text back and had come to me himself. If that was the case then I was screwed. I wasn’t sure I would be able to successfully keep the truth about me having a baby from him if we got into a heated argument.I shrugged it off immediately, there was still tension in the media, and his marriage to Sharon was still being talked about everywhere. Elliott was a smart man, he wouldn’t risk coming to my place at such a time.Well, there was only one way to find out who was at the door.
Chapter 123.At this point in my life, I wasn’t sure I could handle another shocking news.It felt as though I was in a tragic slice-of-life drama and I was the main character. There was absolutely no other explanation as to why amid everything that was going on I stood at the hospital with results from a pregnancy test in my hands.And it read positive.I had gone to the hospital to get a prescription for nausea or fever at most but instead. I found out that there had been a living thing in me for two whole months. My mind flashed back to moments when I had felt dizziness and fatigue but I thought they were from work-related stress or at most the effect of mourning my father in an unhealthy manner for so long.Meanwhile, I was pregnant. I couldn’t even understand my emotions anymore as I stood frozen on a spot while the doctor explained the result with a wide smile on his face. Ordinarily, I would have been happy, no, I still should have been happy no matter the circumstance but the
Chapter 122.Time travel doesn’t exist. That statement felt like a hoax the following days after I met with Elliott. I felt as though I had been plunged right back into the past. A past I had struggled to crawl out from only a few months before, a past that left me devastated and locked up in my room was now replaying in the present.Only this time, there were no flowers or midnight texts, this time I was truly alone. I couldn’t see a future for myself anymore, part of me knew that there was still one for me but how on earth was I supposed to get there after all I’d been through?I’m only human and there’s only so much I could take so why on the earth was the world so unfair to me? Why was I being saddled with more weight than I could lift? What on earth had I ever done to be treated like this? Was it so wrong to fall in love?I missed the old me, strong, independent, self-willed, and determined, and whenever I thought about it I realized that the greatest mistake I had ever made was