Seating with his hand arranged on his laps, Gabriel tried to keep his cool. Although word on the street had it that Benjamin was weak and sickly, his aura had not wavered and he remained the same formidable for on the battle field. That aside, seating like this, steaming cup of coffee in between both males, was a rare occurrence for Gabriel.Even during his marriage with Leonica, he hadn't gotten the chance to seat with Benjamin this way, so today, was definitely something new.Taking a sip from his coffee, placing the cup down afterwards, Benjamin was the first to break the silence. "We're both business men so I'll be straight forward. What do you plan to do by coming back into my daughter's life?"Gabriel shook his head. "Nothing, Sir. All I want is to have legal rights to be in Ashley's life...to be his father?"His answer, earned a loud snort of mockery from Benjamin. Gabriel winced at the familiar sound, mentally noticing where Leonica had gotten it from. "You want rights, to be
"Alright Kiddo, that's a wrap." Packing up the last of his medical equipments, Doctor Bailey gently patted Ashley on the head, the boy reacting to the affection the exact same way he reacts to his mother's touch. "Everything is perfect, and you have your father to thank for that.""My father?" The boy perked up at the mention of his dad. "You know my father?" His eyes shone as he looked at the doctor who found his reaction rather cute.Holding the clipboard close to his chest, he nodded. "Of course I do. Mr. Bryce is your father, right?""Mr. Bryce?" Ashley questioned, looking more confused than a few seconds ago.At this point, Doctor Bailey wasn't sure if he should continue speaking. But nonetheless, he chuckled uncertainly. "Yes, Gabriel Bryce. That's your father, isn't he?" Immediately he asked that question, the doctor slapped his forehead. "Ah, how stupid of me. Who am I to ask a kid for such answers when the test proved that he is the biological father." He spoke to himself, ho
The first two words that registered in Leonica's brain was 'Conceive' and 'Baby' and best believe it, her brain hung, trying to reboot itself but always failing as the confusion she was experiencing acted like a bug.Unbeknownst to Doctor Bailey, he continued on, tone urgent. "Medically speaking, I advice that the child be conceived as soon as possible, because as it stands, he or she needs to be at least five years of age before they can undergo any form of surgery. And looking at Ashley's medical charts, he only has that long, no more, no less.""That...you have to be kidding me, right?" Leonica questioned, shifting in her seat as she felt prejudice against the doctors words.Much to her dismay, Doctor Bailey shook his head. "As a matter of fact, I'm dead serious. Ashley's life depends on that marrow transplant.""But...can't, can't they be another way? Must we...must it be him?" Gabriel's brows creased in a questioning and very much offended manner at the way she addressed him."Ye
Artificial insemination.Those words were like a grinding sound to Gabriel's ears."Artificial insemination?" He repeated, brows knitting together in a way that showed his disapproval.Well, not like Leonica cared. His opinion was the last thing she could care about and the first thing begin her son's wellbeing."Yes. Didn't think that far, now did you?" She tilted her head to the side, a satisfactory smile making it's way to her lips at Gabriel's puzzled Expression.Serves him right, Leonica wanted to say that much, but considering Gabriel's hot temper and the fact that they would get into yet another argument in front of Ashley's room, she reconsidered her options and for the sake of her son's sanity, remained silent.However, the words she had said was more than enough to blow the lid on Gabriel's anger. "Artificial insemination, what the F*ck Leonica? If you despise the idea of me so much, then why keep Ashley? Why did you keep my kid?""Is that even a question?" Pushing the hair
"Isn't this great, Gabriel?!" Angelina celebrated meekly. "This wouldn't have been possible if that night didn't happen. You called it a mistake but I call it a miracle, Gabriel. It's a miracle." She explained happily, ignorant to how Gabriel's face knitted together in confusion as he stared at the positive lines on the pregnancy test stick.Sure, under normal circumstances, this would have been a good news, great news even. But the circumstances right now, wasn't the best. Especially when Angelina explained that the child she was carrying, his child, was conceived by the night at Stellar's birthday party, they spent together. But he was d*mn sure that the person he slept with that night was Leonica!A hundred percent sure. His memory and all served him well. The bracelet he had found the following morning was even another piece of evidence. And he had no memory whatsoever about spending any sort of time with Angelina.Yet, here she was claiming to carry his child that had been concei
"Gone, all of it." Placing the batch of information he had gathered over the past few hours on the table, Bill stepped back, giving his employer enough room to survey the different papers sprawled across his table.Footage details, Missing medical records, tampered medical documents, you name it. And each piece of paper in front of him, seemed to confuse Gabriel. Firstly, the security footage from Stellar's birthday party. It was gone, deleted obviously from the looks of it. And then moving on to the missing medical records, Angelina's medical records to be precises. Just around the time Gabriel had called Bill with the situation of the security footage, the *ssistant had been wrapping up his work at the central hospital, trying to get Angelina's records like his boss had requested. However, just like with the CCTV footage, he ended up with nothing other than a blank slate. The medical records had disappeared like they never existed in the first place.And then lastly, the evidence th
Staring at the pale female in front of her, who looked anything but good. Leonica was stuck in between a cross road. First road; Ignore the vampiric witch and go on her merry way, committing her wellbeing and whatever happened to her into the hands of God. Or, second road; be the higher person, the bigger person and offer her some help.A few seconds of being unnoticed went by before Leonica sighed, her decision already been made.As much as she'd want to go on the first road, bliss and all to her day, she couldn't bring herself to leave Angelina the way she was look. Not because she was nice or cared about the witch, F*ck no!The answer was simple. Her unborn child. Just like her, Angelina was or rather, was going to become a mother sooner or later and leaving her this way set the perfect stage for a miscarriage, resulting in an innocent life at stake.Saint or not, she couldn't stand by and watch a innocent life of an unborn child be put at risk. No matter the animosity she had towa
The entire of three days had p*ssed before Ashley had been discharged from the hospital. Having the strings and wires upon wires detached from his arms and bandages unwrapped from his forehead felt like a whole new level of bliss and freedom combined."Alright, that should wrap it up." Doctor Bailey concluded, dropping the last of Ashley's used bandage into the awaiting tray of his *ssistant nurse.Ashley nearly squeaked with joy, nearly. But he didn't. Holding himself back, he jumped off his hospital bed, landing on his feet and charging at his parents the very next second. Leonica happily caught him, swooping him up into her arms."Mommy, I'm free!"Chuckling at his excitement, Leonica kissed his forehead. "That's right. Congratulations.""Congrats Champ." Gabriel gently patted the child's head from where he stood on the side.Ashley giggled happily at the gesture and moment overall. Having both his mother and father with him was one of the best wishes he could ask for. And he got i