MARCUSI couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so, she decided to tell Nick about Samuel. She even called him her son’s real father, like I was nothing but a replacement. I saw how tired she was, and I went to call the masseuse, I had booked for her, Lupita, grandma and Jennifer.I wanted them to relax and be pampered. She and I had a long way to go when the baby arrived. I wanted to spoil her now before all our time was taken by the baby. I guess, she was eager for her and Nick to get back together. Maybe I was just wasting my time trying to show her that I only wanted to be with her.I turned back without saying a word going straight to our room. I laid down staring at the ceiling as if it was going to provide me with answers or great wisdom on how to deal with what was happening. I didn’t know how long I laid there for when the door opened.My beautiful wife walked in, and I could not help but take in the sight of her. she looks radiant but the look in her eyes was distant and sad.
JENNIFERI clenched my hands into fists. Olivia, what the fuck have you done now? Marcus was warming up to me and doing everything I wanted. Then you went and ruined it all. You are starting to piss me off and you don’t want me to be pissed off. there is a lot I can do to make your life a living hell.“Of course, I can run myself a bath.”“Do that then.” He was so cold to me, colder than I have ever seen him and it was all Olivia’s fault. That woman doesn’t like seeing other people happy, she thinks she is the only one who deserves happiness. He turned and started walking away.“She might be working all day, but I am the one growing a human inside me, your baby. I would think my job is more important than hers, not unless you don’t really want this baby then I will understand.” He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to look at me.His face void of emotions and if looks
MARCUSI was going crazy; it was like Jennifer was possessed. The way she was threatening me, it made me wonder what happened to her, the woman we met and interviewed. Or was the person she was showing me now the real her and the woman we interviewed was fake.Was it all a lie? I did say there was something with her that I couldn’t put my finger on. I guess this was it, she was a psychopath and a pathological liar. There was no way a normal person could act the way she did. I feared for my wife as she didn’t seem to like her much.I feared for my baby even though she seemed to think that it was hers and mine. Just what kind of psychological test did the do with these women in the clinic and how did they miss that Jennifer was fucking crazy!When I was done with her feet she was yawning. I left when she was about to get out of the bath. I didn’t know what to do. All I knew was that I needed to tell someone. My wife? No, i
OLIVIAI trusted my husband, besides our recent disagreements about Jennifer. I felt like there was something else going on. I didn’t want to think he was cheating on me with her, he was not that kind of man. Well, I also thought Nick was not that kind of man.He said he never cheated as well, that nothing ever happened between him and Sandra. But in my opinion, what he did with her was far worse than cheating. He neglected me, trusted her over me and even sent me to jail. I had a criminal record under my name because of him.Then there was my current husband, he looked hurt when he said he would do better, when he said he thought he was better than only to find out that they were the same. Then he told me to always remember that I was his, that he loved me.That alone told me that something was going on with him, something that might make me doubt his love for me. I wished I knew what it was, I wished he would talk to me and tell m
OLIVIAMy blood boiled, “Excuse me, what did you just say?” Lupita was right, the woman did think she was the madame of the house. Where the hell did, she get the audacity to say something like that to me and in my own house. Treating my son like that in his home, she was the guest, and she seemed to forget that.“I asked what are you going to do if I call him a brat?” she repeated herself and I closed the distance between us. Marcus was quick to pull me aside. “Let us all calm down here,” he turned to Jennifer. “I know you are emotional, and little thing might upset you, but Samuel is a child. You don’t treat him like that.”She laughed as if she was a crazy woman. “Then what am I carrying Marcus? Is it not your child that I am carrying and trying to protect? Why would you even reprimand me and not this boy for being so careless? I could have been holding hot tea and it would have spil
OLIVIAI have tried, the Lord knows, I have tried. I have tried to keep the promise i made to my husband for the sake of our child. I have tried to be brave, to endure but it's too difficult. Each day I see less and less of my husband. Each day i lose a part of me, a part of my marriage, my happiness. I feel like I was never meant to be happy in this world. At least not with someone by myside, maybe my destiny is to remain alone, rasing my kids and working to make a life for them. One that will be way better than the one I had. Maybe I should just give up on love and focus on those who need me the most. My kids.I have desperately tried to love, first it was Nick, I gave him my all and he betrayed me. Now Marcus, the man is doing the most for the woman who came into my home as a nobody, just carrier for my child but now seems to own my home. My house no longer feels like home and I find myself not wanting to go back at the end of the day.I used to look forward to going home but now
NICKI sat on that jet with the image of Olivia's sunken face engraved in my mind. I wanted to talk to her, find out if she was alright but as soon as the pitch was over, she disappeared. I thought of going over to her house to find out what was going on. Use the excuse that she invited me over not so long ago. But I held back, if she still wanted to talk to me, then she would have done so at the hotel after the pitch. But instead she left, that meant she was not ready to talk yet. But the image of her walking around looking like the dead hurt me. What could have happened to her? It's only been two months since I last saw her and she was happy. "Sir, we are here." I looked out and saw that we were outside Luke's office. Did he know what was happening with his daughter? I doubt it, he would have been there for her if he knew. A sigh left me. Owen opened the door for me and I got out. When I got to his office, i knocked once and let myself in. "I knew it could only be you who would h
MARCUSI should have never suggested we have a baby, it is all my fault that this is happening now. If I didn't suggested it, my wife wouldn't be suffering, she, Samuel and I would be happy now. Going to the park together, trips, movies, dinners. Doing everything a happy couple should be doing. But I got greedy, I wasn't conted with what I had and I wanted more. Why, why did i want more, why couldn't I be content with things the way they were? Was it because Samuel is not my biological son? No that's not it. It was because I was afraid I would lose him to his real father when the truth came out.I wanted to have a child of my own so that it wouldn't hurt much when he left. Basically, I wanted a consolation prize which I was not meant to have. Now I am stuck with that disgusting woman and hurting my wife. As if she has not been hurt enough, as if the pain Nick caused her wasn't enough. Why the fuck aren't humans ever content? Men to be specific. We always want more.More money, more s
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