“Daddy!” Cooper ran and hugged Garvin by the legs with excitement. This was the first time in a long time his father got home late and he was awed. He wouldn’t let his nanny read him bedtime stories since that was his father’s job and he had a surprise for the older man too. Garvin was surprised to see him awake but was still happy that he was. He did not think he would be able to sleep without having a taste of the apple pie and wanted to share it with Cooper and Luna. “Hey Champ, you are still awake.” Garvin bent over, hugged his son, and ruffled his hair whiles he spoke, Cooper smiled broadly and said to him, “I wanted to show you my school project.” Garvin’s brows raised in amusement. It wasn’t the first time Cooper showed him his marvelous school projects, ranging from balloon bowls and robot puppets so this time, he was very enthusiastic about it. “Well, I can’t wait to see it.” Cooper ran up the stairs to his room and returned shortly with a portrait and gave it to his f
The twins broke from the hug with difficulty, their eyes red but their hands were intertwined together while they descended the stairs together towards their desperate father. Garvin went on his knees to reach Curtis’s height whiles Iris figured it would be good for Curtis to have some time alone with his father and quickly rushed down before saying to Cooper, “Cooper, this is grandma and grandpa.” She directed his gaze to the elderly couple, who were smiling at him affectionately. Cooper was indeed excited to meet his mother’s parents since he never saw his father’s parents before.Yet, he was still reluctant to let go of his brother. He stared at Curtis until the latter nodded his head before their hands loosened and they finally let go of each other’s arms. At the same time Austin and Jacqueline took turns hugging Cooper, Garvin hugged Curtis tightly. He shivered and lifted his son in his arms when he rose to his feet and shed a tear. “Son, I love you very much. I’m sorry for no
"Curtis, when did I say that?" Iris was slightly nervous at how Garvin might quickly take advantage of Curtis’s words to make matters worse for which reason she quickly asked, not thinking that Curtis would remember the details."Mom, you said Uncle Adam was just a friend and if you should marry anyone, it should be daddy. You also said that you just haven’t decided.” Curtis spoke slowly as if he was trying to recollect every word his mother spoke from his memory.Iris saw a loophole and took advantage of it. "Good. I said I have not decided so we should keep it that way, right?"Curtis was not happy with his mother’s response but so were Iris's parents and everyone else standing there including Cooper who asked with a sad countenance,"Mommy, do you hate Daddy?" Everyone was interested in Iris’s response, looking at her curiously. Iris was taken aback by the question. She knew she did not hate Garvin. She was just afraid of him."No. I can never hate your daddy."Then do you love h
“When are you coming to live with us?” Iris found herself sweating and Garvin had a smirk in the corner of his lips while everyone else looked at her curiously, demanding an answer. She wondered where she went wrong and whether her actions were so bad that no one sympathized with her. He looked at Cooper lovingly beside his grandfather,“Champ, I will be moving in as soon as me and Daddy get married but for now, Mommy would be coming to spend a few nights over to take you and your brother to school, how about that?” “That sounds good to me,” Garvin said with a smile and everyone laughed. For as long as Iris was willing to spend a few nights at the villa, Garvin already had a plan. After that, Iris was free to eat in peace and no one spoke anymore. When breakfast was over, Garvin thought about getting some clothes before taking the twins out since he did not carry along any extra clothes. He had to get some of Luna as well since they never planned on sleeping over until Curtis req
Garvin wasn’t smiling this time and his silence took a while, it became uncomfortable, unlike someone who has done most of the talking so far. Austin knew it would be an impossible task to achieve from a man like Garvin but was glad to have at least asked. From the silence, he discerned that that option was not available and no matter how he wanted it, he had no choice but to give up. “I understand that this is very hard for you. Don’t stress yourself,” he said with a smile. There was no offense whatsoever.“If we do have any more boys in the future, I will consider it together with the twins but I won’t do the same if we have girls in the future. They should solely bear my name,” Garvin finally spoke to Austin’s shock. All this while, he was thinking about the request. For a man who has sacrificed so much for his grandchildren, Garvin could not be selfish but he was also considering the future since he wanted more children.
It was as if Garvin took the very air Iris was breathing due to the closeness, she gasped and wanted to create a distance, “Garvin,” Garvin knew she was going to refuse, tightening his grip around her waist, and she could feel his warm breath, melting into it. “Relax Iris, if I want to do something with you, I won’t do it in your parent’s house or our children’s room. Also, it would not be without your permission.” Iris was ashamed to think that one kiss might lead to something else. It wasn’t the first time they kissed but those were both she and Garvin’s ways of making their fake relationship look real. As such, the way Garvin read her mind correctly made her even more scared of him but she was beginning to doubt if it was indeed fear she felt towards him or a hidden desire. “Garvin, are you for real?” She could feel her stomach becoming hot while she asked him. He said he loved her for the first time. Most of the time, he was only preaching about marriage but there was nothin
The next day, Garvin woke up with a weight on his chest. When he opened his eyes, it took a while for him to adjust to the fact that he was not in his villa but rather in Iris’s room in the Poconos. The chandelier above was somehow too stylish for his liking and the spotlights were all on, it blinded him a little since he never used bright lights in his bedroom. The woman liked white, which made everything in the room bright. Garvin was not surprised by the weight on his chest. Cooper always ended up on his chest every time they slept together on the same bed. The only problem was, this weight was more than that of a five-year-old. Garvin was about to tilt to the side to gently drop the weight when his fingers ran through the soft silky blonde hair. His movement awoke the woman who slept comfortably on his chest. She was wondering why her bed suddenly became harder and yet comfortable. As she opened her amber eyes, they bored into a gray pair. “Garvin!” Iris expressed shock and
Blaze switched his attention to Iris. He was too heartbroken about the news of Garvin being her boyfriend. He traveled to Asia for a few years to take care of some business but all he ever cared about through it all was Iris. They spoke on the phone a lot and messaged each other too so how could Iris be saying this? Blaze felt betrayed and thought of the possibility of something being wrong. “Iris, when did you start going out? We’ve been chatting, and texting on the phone but you never mentioned it. Not even last night.” Garvin’s eyes darkened dangerously. Chatting and texting and he never knew? How was Iris able to do that when he never saw her on the phone whenever they were together? Throughout yesterday, the only call he saw her receive was from Chelsea. Some superwoman she was.“It’s a long story,” Iris sighed. How could she have known that accommodating Blaze’s friendship would send the wrong message? Perhaps she should have learned from the likes of Adam, Keanu, and Chase.
Garvin had a small smile on his face. Cooper and Gerald might be wise, but Garvin was still more experienced. “Your method would not have been the best.” “I would have sent them to jail,” Gerald said. He hated that Yvette and Nathaniel were walking around freely, so what if they were impoverished? “They would have served a few terms and then be walking free. They would also come back to enjoy their family’s wealth as if nothing happened. It’s the reason why I took this action,” Garvin explained. It made sense to Cooper and Gerald that though their plan would punish those two well, it would have also been for a short term, but Garvin’s method was a long-term one. “Fine, but next time, you should discuss with us first,” Cooper insisted, but Garvin refused and explained, “Ivory is also my daughter.” Thus, he didn’t need anyone’s permission to protect his daughter. The three men all loved Ivory in different ways, and they were ready to avenge her. Since there was no way around Garvin
Ivory may be resilient and resourceful, but this time, she felt the security of being with her family. Gerald was already there for her, but so were her brothers and parents.Nathaniel was not only humiliated but also afraid. With all these powerful men threatening him, he couldn’t find any means of support and was afraid of his father’s deteriorating health.To find a way to get out of this mess, he decided to expose the brain behind it.“It was all Yvette’s idea. She masterminded everything. Please Gerald, I’m very sorry.” Nathaniel looked remorseful, but the damage caused was too much to let go.Ivory had to constantly look over her shoulder because of the enemies she was exposed to.“Why are you blaming me? If I suggested it, did I tell you to go ahead with it?” Yvette was equally trying to find a way to get out of the mess.“So you agree that you suggested it,” Gerald glared at her. She realized she had made a mistake with her words.“Please Gerald, it won’t happen again.”Gerald
Chaos broke out as the guests began to murmur in confusion. Gerald’s expression darkened instantly, but no one else knew what was going on. Ivory didn’t have her hacking tools with her to stop whoever was trying to sabotage her so openly because it was a joyous event. The first name that came to mind was Dean Arlo, but he was being processed for court and wouldn’t dare. Gerald already got the best lawyers to handle his case. The robotic voice continued to speak as images were shown on the screen. “Two years ago, three company servers were destroyed by Ice Panther. Those companies are now closed down with their employees jobless.” The crowd was already feeling pity for the company shown on the screen, but Ivory was boiling with rage. She was trying to figure out who was behind it since it was not hard for her to defend herself. For that reason, she decided to wait a little, hoping to be able to detect the human behind the robot. “A year ago, Ice Panther hacked into a government s
Rosie felt terrible for the hairstylist. She had put in so much effort to put in the extensions and they looked good on Rosie.“I’m sorry, but you have to take everything off,” Rosie said politely, but her voice was stern. The hairstylist did not want to, feeling that if Cooper saw Rosie, he would reconsider.“That will take time. You will be late for your wedding.”“Let it be so, but Cooper’s happiness matters to me. After all, I’m doing all this for him, so what is the essence if he doesn’t like it?” Rosie stood her ground.She would rather be late and appear the way Cooper wanted than to appear on time with a look that would make him upset.Ivory smiled at Rosie’s resolve. She would have done the same for Gerald. It was just as Gerald wanted her to wear that wedding dress, and Ivory couldn’t refuse.“She’s right. You should make the necessary changes. We shall wait for her and everyone else,” Ivory added her voice.The hairstylist sighed frustratedly. “Alright. Please remove the we
Three weeks later, excitement brewed in the air as another joint wedding was announced among the Berets after so many years.A journalist was reporting the news on live TV. “I’m Lola, a reporter from Channel Z. Decades ago, the Parker-Berets and their best friends hosted a mass luxurious wedding.”“The trend is repeating itself as the twins, Cooper and Curtis Parker-Beret, are getting married to the sisters, Rosie and Rosalind. What makes it more interesting is that the last born of the Berets, Ivory, is also getting married to Gerald Scott, the hot CEO of Scotts Automobiles and Cambridge Incorporated.”“I am here to give you every information you need about this mega wedding so stay tuned,” the reporter ended.There was a lot of excitement going on. Curtis’s relationship with Rosalind was well known to the populace so the shocking ones were that of Cooper and Gerald.Most people knew that Gerald was engaged to Yvette, not knowing how he was getting married to Ivory.The news sparked
“Admit it. I won,” Ivory smiled and gave in to sleep. She still had no regrets at all. Gerald smiled and shook his head.His little Pumpkin was growing smarter and smarter by the day, she was even outsmarting him now.It wasn’t long before he fell asleep. The next day, Ivory woke up feeling sore. Her movement woke Gerald.“Pumpkin, are you alright?” He asked worriedly. Pain registered on Ivory’s face. How could something so sweet give her so much pain and ache in the morning?“I feel sore. Is this how you wanted our honeymoon to be? It’s as if I have a knife stuck in there,” Ivory exaggerated the pain.Gerald was worried and said, “Don’t move. I will be right back.” He went out and called his dad on the phone, speaking hastily,“Dad, I had my first time with Ivory and she’s complaining of pain. What should I do?” Gerald could manage two companies flawlessly but with Ivory, he was as helpless as a teenager.His father chuckled at the end of the line. “I see you finally became a man.”G
“Ivory’s cycle falls on our wedding day,” Gerald revealed. The twins understood the weight of the problem as Curtis eagerly suggested,“Dude, you should take your pound of flesh before then.”Gerald chuckled. “I’m still thinking about it but I can’t believe she’s your sister. You are giving me bad advice,” he accused Curtis. He laughed and retorted,“She’s a woman after all. So, what happens to the companies if we all get married on the same day?” He asked.Cooper already had that planned out and asked them, “Isn’t that the reason why we have parents who pioneered the business?”As Gerald and Curtis were nodding their heads in agreement, Cooper added, “That reminds me. We should let them handle our wedding planning too.”“Perfect suggestion,” the three men clicked their wine glasses.That night, Cooper had a serious talk with Rosie. “When you get better, would you like to work in the company? I can train you,” he suggested. Rosie recalled what Ivory told her about Cooper and work.She
Cooper frowned suspiciously, but before he could refuse, Gerald cut in, saying, “I even want to speak to you and Curtis, Cooper.”Cooper glanced at Rosie, and as she smiled, his heart warmed. He said to her, “Excuse me, Rosie, I will be right back.”Rosie chuckled and quickly replied, “Take your time, Cooper, Ivory and Rosalind are here.”Cooper did not like it when other people got his woman’s attention. He was the last to fall in love among the three, and his behavior showed that he was trying to catch up on all the years he lost.“You prefer them better than me?” He asked with a slight jealousy in his tone. Rosie was amazed, smiling and asking him,“Are you jealous?”Cooper pursed his lips but did not immediately respond. “I…I will see you soon,” he said and walked out with the two men.Rosalind was glad that Ivory created this opportunity for them to have a girls' talk. She quickly asked her sister,“Rosie, you look happier and better than I ever saw you. What have you been doing?
"Is it the doctors? It’s not yet time for my routine check," Rosie said, equally at a loss. As the plane lowered, Cooper detected the person in it."No. It’s Gerald. That’s his family jet."The two of them walked towards the jet to meet the person in it. It was just as Cooper said. Gerald was the first to alight, his arm intertwined with that of Ivory.Cooper frowned a little at the intrusion and said, "I didn’t know you were coming."Rosie and Ivory had already hugged each other. "Rosie, you look stunning. What is on this Island that makes you look so good? I want to join you," Ivory said half-jokingly. Rosie blushed and looked at Cooper.She knew that not only her health but appearance had also greatly improved."We decided to surprise you but we have something very important to discuss," Gerald was saying to Cooper when another couple alighted from the jet.Cooper wanted more time with his woman and was not pleased with the intrusion, especially when they had not informed him."I s