OLIVIA“This isn’t working!” I pushed the album I was holding away from me. We were at the clinic, or shall I say facility as they called it. looking at pictures of possible surrogate mothers. Last week they extracted my eggs and this week we were looking at surrogates. “What can I do to make the process easier for you?”Asked the lady in charge of the facility. “No need for that, we can just drop everything and go home, my love. Those eggs will still be there and viable whenever you are ready to start again.” I gave him a kiss. I loved how considerate he was. But that was not what frustrated me.I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “That is not it, love. I see all their information and pictures but that is all they are. They don’t give me anything about these people. Their personalities the energy when I am around them. I want to interview them in person to see for myself the kind of people they
OLIVIAI didn’t know how to feel seeing Sandra like that. I felt hot suddenly and suffocating in that room. As much as I wanted her away from me and my family. Seeing her like that affected me in ways I never thought it would. The woman was my friend, I grew up with her, did many things with her and even shared my secrets with her.She was like a sister I never had. That was until recently, of course. What she did to me hurt and it still haunted me. But I also, can’t say that I was pleased to see her like that. yes, knowing that she was locked up and couldn’t do anything to hurt me was a relief. But I wished I listened to Marcus and never gone to see her.I felt his hand on mine snapping me out of my thoughts. “Do you need anything else?” I wished there was something that could be done for me to unsee what I had already seen in that room. that woman in there was not Sandra but a shell of someone that she used to be. It was not nice seeing a person like that and knowing that you did th
UNKOWN “Listen, your niece better do everything I say for her to be able to ace the interview or we will never have a chance like this again.” She eagerly nodded in agreement. “She will do exactly what you say, she knows what is at stake here. Tell me, are you sure you can get her to accept my niece?” I knew Olivia better than anyone.If anyone could get someone into her house without anyone suspecting something, then it would be me. “Leave everything to me, we will get it done. Where is she anyway? The interview is in three hours, and we need her to be ready by then.” Oh, Olivia. I wonder what made you think that you could live a happy life.How could you be so brazen to think that you deserve anything other than misery in your life. Who do you think you are to deserve that? “Let me call her.” she stepped out to make the call as I sat there waiting. They said revenge is a dish best served cold and I fully agree with that statement.Sometimes one needs to wait for the right time to g
OLIVIAThe facility manager called us two days ago to inform us that she had scheduled the interviews for today. We were meeting the first five candidates we had selected. As I was getting ready, I realized I didn’t know where Marcus was, as he wasn’t in the room when I woke up. I finished getting dressed and stepped out of the room, only to bump into my husband, who was carrying a jug of juice.“Perfect timing! I made us breakfast. It’s going to be a long day, and I wanted us to have enough energy to get through it,” he said. I smiled. How did I get so lucky? I kissed him on the cheek and followed him to the dining room, where Samuel was already sitting and eating pancakes.I never understood his obsession with pancakes. He loved them, always starting his day with them. I tried to make his snacks and lunch a little healthier. “Morning, baby,” I kissed the top of his head before sitting down. “Where’s Grandma and Lupita?” I asked.“They’re here. Someone was refusing to wear socks, say
UNKOWN She came back looking pleased with herself and a huge smile on her face. The moron thought it was all her doing when it was I who taught her how to act, what to do and not do. Who the hell did she think she was to come in here acting like she did more than just act a role I created for her?“Would you stop smiling like a fool and tell us how it went?” she was beginning to annoy me, and we were not even halfway yet. I wished I could push that damned woman to make a decision so we could get to the good stuff already. “They loved me, they totally loved me and Olivia. Damn! That woman is beautiful. I almost told her that I was doing this because I wanted to be her, I wanted her life.”My frown deepened as I closed the short distance between us. “Listen here, you have not been picked yet and if I were you. I would focus on practicing and being the perfect girl in case they pick you. fooling Olivia will not be easy especially when you start living in her house and…”“I will live in
OLIVIAThe past two weeks passed with Ethan and Marcus doing background checks on the young woman we chose, to be our surrogate. Marcus liked the young woman and so did I. But he had a feeling about her and didn’t want us to go ahead without checking her out. When Ethan heard about that, he offered his services as well.They had been at it for the past two weeks and would meet every evening to compare notes. If you ask me, they finished their investigation two days after they started and were just buying time saying they were still busy. Marcus was starting to enjoy Ethan’s company and were now starting to establish a real friendship.I liked that, Marcus had no friends there, all his friends were back in London, he needed to have someone here to talk to other than me. as much as I wanted them to be friends, they were not going to do that at my expense. I walked to his study to talk to them about the issue at hand.I could hear laughter even before I could knock. I decided to push t
NICKI walked into Luke’s office, and he hid his phone, strange and it got me curious. What could he be hiding? He was a mafia boss and as much as we were in good terms. I didn’t ask about his business, and he didn’t talk about it with or in front of me. we had boundaries. Which was why his behaviour seemed strange to me.“You should knock when you enter someone’s office.” I raised an eyebrow. “Since when is that a requirement?” he didn’t respond but stood and poured us a drink. “What brings you here?” he asked handing me a glass. I gladly took it and took a sip. “Do I need a reason to come and see you?” why are you acting so strange today, Luke?What the hell are you up to, did something happen to Olivia that you don’t want me to know about? “Never mind,” he said taking a seat on his chair. The more I looked at him, I noticed that he was avoiding making eye contact with me.“I hope you are not as lousy when keeping something from your people.” He threw a glare my way. “I am not hidin
NICKI stood and buttoned my suit jacket then turned to look at my uncle. “If that is what you have to do, then do it uncle. But until then, I will go after your daughter because it doesn’t matter what you think of me, what I have done. But I believe that I deserve happiness just like everyone else and unfortunately. My happiness lies with your daughter.”I did not wait for him to reply, with a heavy heart and even heavier feet. I dragged myself out of his office. We were finally getting along, talking as we should but I guess it was not meant to be. My uncle will never allow me to be with his daughter, not unless Olivia takes me back.I was so hurt that I didn’t even feel like drinking as that too got me into trouble. Since I drove myself, I got into the car and sat there for a moment. I took out my phone and went to my emails. I checked my old emails between my wife and I. Emails of the time we were happy together, a time before Sandra and her lies.A time when I was a loving husban
MARCUS“Boss, we’ve arrived,” Steve said, his voice cutting through the thick fog of sleep that had settled over me. I blinked a few times, disoriented, before slowly coming to. My body ached from the constant movement, the long days of traveling across continents, jumping from one city to another, chasing dead ends and half-truths. I hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in days. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was the face of my wife, Olivia, fading from my thoughts like a distant dream.I rubbed my face with both hands, trying to shake off the fatigue. The exhaustion was getting to me, but there was no time for rest. Not now. Not until I had her back. My mind was a blur, constantly circling back to the same thoughts: Where is she? Why won’t anyone tell me? The people who had information were all cowards, and none of them would speak up. It was maddening. The jet had become my only sanctuary, a
OLIVIAIt had been two days since Xander left, two days without food or water. My body had grown weaker with each passing hour, and I could feel every ache in my bones, every crack in my spirit. But there was a small sliver of hope amidst the physical torment: the sedative he had used to paralyze me was finally starting to wear off. I could feel a slight tingle in my legs when I pinched them hard, nothing much, but enough to give me the faintest glimmer of relief. Soon, I would be able to move again.That is, if I didn’t collapse from thirst and hunger first.The worst part of being in that hellhole wasn't the paralysis. It was the silence. The uncertainty. I had no way of knowing if it was day or night. Time had ceased to exist in that dark, suffocating tomb, and with each passing moment, I felt like I was slipping further from reality. I was literally buried alive, a prisoner in a catacomb of stone, with no one to help me, no one to hear
NICKLuke’s face changed from shocked to anger very quickly. “Tell him, tell the moron where we are!” he bellowed throwing his hands in the air. “How could this moron do something like this? I am the only one who is supposed to do things like these. You boys are supposed to keep your hands clean!” he paced the room.He was frustrated. “Since when did Marcus become worse than me in things like these, just what the hell is wrong with him?” he said to no one in particular. I didn’t know if he was just frustrated or a little impressed by his son in law. He turned to me with a glare. “What the hell are you waiting for? Do you want him to bomb more cities before you tell him where the hell we are?”I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Just moments ago, Luke had been telling me to keep everything from Marcus, and now, here I was, being blamed for not telling him where we were fast enough. It felt like I had no place to stand, caught between a rock and a hard place. But it wasn’t the time t
ETHANThe moment Nick hung up the phone, his face shifted, his expression unreadable. It was as if all the colour drained from him in an instant, his skin paling in a way that I had never seen before. I had been around Nick long enough to know that he was no stranger to bad news, but this? This was different. It was as if something beyond our worst fears had just been set in motion.We had already been living through the chaos, Luke, Xander, Olivia’s disappearance, and now, the kids were safe with us. That much, at least, had been a small mercy in the storm. But Nick looked like he had just been hit with the weight of something even worse, something that none of us could prepare for. My mind raced, trying to figure out what could possibly be so bad. And then it hit me. Could it be…? No, it couldn’t be.Before I could make sense of it, I moved closer to Nick, my concern deepening. I needed to make sure that whatever was going through his mind wasn’t as bad as I feared. Leaning in, I wh
NICKI had been holding onto the hope that once Xander showed up, everything would fall into place. That the mess would be cleaned up, and we could put an end to the nightmare that had been plaguing us.Luke and Xander reached some sort of agreement, at least, that’s what I gathered, but the specifics were still hazy in my mind. Luke had told Xander to bring Olivia, or he would destroy his father’s remains.What exactly that meant, I wasn’t sure. It felt like a vague threat, but the tension in the air told me it wasn’t just idle talk. Xander responded with some sort of counter-deal, loaded with things I couldn't follow. Honestly, I was drained. I didn’t care about the details anymore. I just wanted this whole nightmare to be over. But Xander wasn’t backing down, and neither was Luke.Luke had his men tail Xander. And, as expected, Xander went straight to the hotel. He wasn’t trying to outsmart anyone or go off the grid. He was playing by his own set of rules, one that I didn’t fully u
XANDERI was about to take the biggest gamble of my life, and I knew it. Luke was offering me a choice, an impossible one. It was a trap, a setup where only he could win. The terms of his proposition were clear: there would be no chance for me to exact my revenge on him, and there was a very real possibility that I would lose my life in the process. But I wasn’t ready to die, not yet. Not when I had a son waiting for me, hoping I would make it back.I had to think fast. Luke had me cornered, but I couldn’t show him how much fear his words stirred inside me. I had to put on a face, act like I was in control, even if I wasn’t. It wasn’t just about surviving this moment; it was about finding a way out. I wasn’t going to let him win that easily.I stood tall, trying to exude confidence, even though inside I felt like a bundle of nerves. My heart hammered in my chest; my hands clenched into fists at my sides. I could feel the sweat starting to bead on my forehead. If I didn’t hold it toget
XANDERFor the past few days, I had watched them stumble around in their futile attempts to track me down. Every morning, they would set out at dawn, and every night they would return empty-handed, their efforts wasted. It was amusing to me.They had no idea where to look, no real understanding of how to hunt someone like me. It was almost laughable. I had thought they were dangerous, but I quickly realized how wrong I was. There was nothing good about them, nothing that made them worthy of fear.Perhaps they just hadn’t met their match yet. Until now.Now, they had encountered me, and they knew they were nothing compared to what I was capable of. They were amateurs, playing a game they couldn’t win. But Olivia... she was another story. She surprised me. I had expected more resistance from her, some fight, some fire. But instead, she complied. She ate the food I gave her, barely muttering a word of protest. The silence was almost worse than anything. I could tell that the trauma from
NICKThe island was still, too still. No one slept that night. Luke had kept busy with his men, the sound of his voice drifting through the halls, low and intense. I couldn’t make out the words, but I could tell they weren’t discussing anything good.Ethan had joined them; he was more involved than I would have liked. I had asked him to keep an eye on Luke, to make sure things didn’t escalate further. I didn’t trust Luke, not when he was like this, wild, unpredictable, the kind of man you couldn’t reason with once his mind was made up. He was like a caged animal finally set free, and I was terrified of what he might do to the people on this island. They were innocent; they didn’t deserve to be dragged into whatever madness Luke was planning.As for me, I was stuck dealing with the kids. I tried to keep my mind occupied, tried to push away the dread gnawing at me. But before anything, I knew I had to prepare. I organized money, lots of it. It felt like I was bracing for something big.
NICKIt had been three days since Olivia disappeared, the longest, most agonizing three days of our lives. Every day felt like a never-ending loop of despair. We woke up, checked the rooms, scoured the island, hoping to find some trace of her. But no matter how much we searched, it was as if she had vanished into thin air. There was no sign of a struggle, no indication that she had left the room, and absolutely no lead to follow. It was like she was swallowed up by the earth itself.The island wasn’t that large, and it seemed impossible that someone could just disappear like that. But here we were, endlessly combing through every corner, every inch of the place, but we kept coming up empty. It felt like we were chasing ghosts. The stress, the exhaustion, the hunger, none of it was helping our situation. It wasn’t that we didn’t have food. We had plenty of food. But none of us could bring ourselves to eat.The nanny we had hired to take care of the kids, a kind woman, had been cooking