NICKOthers might have thought I was cruel, but I wasn’t. Marcus needed to understand that Olivia wouldn’t stay where she wasn’t loved or appreciated. I knew that better than anyone. I had lost her once, granted, the mistakes I made were huge and unforgivable. But now, Olivia wasn’t alone. She had Luke, her father. And he would never let her be mistreated again.Luke might have liked us, but when it came to his daughter, the man was ruthless. I had seen it with my own eyes. That’s why I had to remind Marcus that winning Olivia back might not happen. I wasn’t trying to discourage him, but I wanted him to be aware of the reality of the situation.If they managed to get back together, I would be happy for them. That would mean we could all come back home. If not, Olivia might never return to New Village, and Marcus would have to travel to see his daughter. Not only that, but he would also have to watch that other guy love the wife he lost, and that was going to eat him alive. It drove me
OLIVIAI hoped Nick would come home early today. He hadn’t been around much since he started working with my best friend, Sandra. Things had been hectic at the office, but I still hoped today would be different, seeing how it was our fourth-year anniversary. I also had big news; I was finally pregnant, and we were about to have the family we’d always dreamed of.I couldn’t wait to see his reaction when I told him, and I didn’t even want to think about my mother-in-law—she’d be thrilled. I’d call and tell her after telling Nick. I was sure they’d cut their trip short once they heard the news of my pregnancy.I hummed as I moved around the kitchen, cooking. I was happy, despite knowing things hadn’t been the same between Nick and me lately. I hoped that after hearing the news of my pregnancy, he would become the man I fell in love with again.Just as I placed the last dish on the dining table, the front door opened. My heart leaped with excitement, and I rushed to greet him. Nick was ta
OLIVIATwo Days Later“Lock her up, and don’t let her see the sun ever again. She doesn’t deserve it!” Nick barked at the New Village Town police. His eyes were cold as ice, filled with hatred. The officer roughly shoved me into the filthy, smelly cell before slamming the bars shut. I turned to look at Nick and Sandra. They stood together, looking like old friends... or lovers. She was why he had turned against me, though I didn’t understand what had motivated her. We’d grown up together, did everything together. We’d watched each other’s backs. And now she stood beside my husband as he threw me into jail for something I didn’t do. A few hours ago, I was cooking dinner for my husband, waiting for him to come home from work. Even after the incident with Sandra in the kitchen, and even though things had changed between us since Sandra came back, I still had hope that we could fix things. Then this happened.The way Nick had looked at me when he arrived with the police broke my heart,
OLIVIAAs I stood in the cell, my thoughts went to my grandma. What would happen to her now that I was locked up? My chest tightened as I thought of her and her fragile health. Hearing about my arrest might kill her.Nick turned to the officer. “She’s to have no visitors and isn’t allowed outside. Let her rot in this cell. She can die here for all I care!”My heart shattered into a million pieces. I felt hot and struggled to breathe. How was my grandmother going to know that I was all right if I couldn’t have visitors? This would kill her! My throat felt like it was closing, threatening to cut off my air supply. I wanted to give up so badly. But then I looked at the satisfied gleam in Sandra’s eyes. Determination flooded back into me. I wasn’t going to let that witch win. By then, I was drenched in sweat, my eyes wide as saucers. I was sure I looked pale as a white sheet. The nice policeman looked terrified. “Sir, she can’t breathe. Should I call the doctor?” Maybe I should tell Ni
OLIVIAI sat in the dark jail cell, thinking about my baby and how he was going to survive in a place like this. I didn’t care about myself—they could keep me there for as long as they wanted—but my baby didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve to be born in a jail or suffer for my sins.It was only the second day of my incarceration, and the police were keeping their word to Nick about not letting me out. But I thought they were taking it too far; they hadn’t given me food since I arrived.It was good that nothing stayed in my stomach anymore. I’d been starting to have morning sickness. But I still felt hungry, even though I knew whatever I ate would come back up again.“Oh, my baby,” I said, caressing my stomach, “I’m so sorry you’re going through this, that you’re going to start your life into this world like this. But I swear to you, I will protect you. Your father will never know you exist, and he’ll never hurt you or me ever again. He’s done enough.”The cell door opened. I stood
OLIVIANINE MONTHS LATERPrison had been hard, not just because I was pregnant but because of how I was treated. But I was grateful for one thing—Ethan kept his word. The guard he’d bribed continued to bring me vitamins and took care of me as promised.But when he wasn’t around, the others would conveniently “forget” to feed me. There were days I was so hungry that my stomach ached. One day, I yelled until someone finally came. But instead of food, I got a beating.They beat me so badly that I had a black eye and bruises all over my arms and legs. But through it all, I protected my baby. Even after the beating, they didn’t give me any food. From that day on, I learned to stay quiet when that officer wasn’t around.I rationed my food, eating small portions and saving some in case I didn’t get any the next day. I was skin and bones, and I worried about my baby. Was he getting enough nutrients? Would he be born healthy?The thought of my baby suffering only made my resentment for Nick gr
NICKTwo years have passed since that woman humiliated me, since I found out she stole millions from me. While I had planned to start a family with her, she had secretly been taking birth control pills. Why couldn’t she have just told me she wasn’t ready for kids? Now, I know why—she was still in love with her ex and was only with me for my money.How could I have been so stupid and blind? When Sandra told me that Olivia had a hand in what happened to my mother all those years ago—how they met, how Olivia “just happened” to save her from being hit by a car—I refused to believe it at first. I thought my wife could never be capable of such things.Then she gave me that recording of their phone call, where Olivia had admitted everything: how she’d landed her “golden goose,” how her life was going to change for her and her grandmother. As if that weren’t enough, she stole from me. Sandra had showed me the proof.I recovered some of the money, but only a small portion. Thinking about her s
NICKMy parents left and Sandra came out from the kitchen. She was crying and I didn’t like it. I didn’t know why my parents would be so cruel to her, she was not the one who did all those things to me. she was the one who saved me from a bad situation and showed me the kind of wife I had.I didn’t understand why they would treat her that way. “Sandra, I am so sorry. I will talk to them again and make them understand. I will show them the proof of Olivia’s crimes and then they will believe me and accept you as my close friend.”I took her into my arms and consoled her. “Don’t get her out Nick, am scared of what she will do to me when she gets out. Please, let her stay there.” She cried even more, making my heart tighten. I wished I could let her stay; I wanted her to stay there longer but my parents were not joking when they said they would disown me if I don’t let her out.“Don’t worry, I will protect you. that woman will never come anywhere near you. but I have to make that call. I h
NICKOthers might have thought I was cruel, but I wasn’t. Marcus needed to understand that Olivia wouldn’t stay where she wasn’t loved or appreciated. I knew that better than anyone. I had lost her once, granted, the mistakes I made were huge and unforgivable. But now, Olivia wasn’t alone. She had Luke, her father. And he would never let her be mistreated again.Luke might have liked us, but when it came to his daughter, the man was ruthless. I had seen it with my own eyes. That’s why I had to remind Marcus that winning Olivia back might not happen. I wasn’t trying to discourage him, but I wanted him to be aware of the reality of the situation.If they managed to get back together, I would be happy for them. That would mean we could all come back home. If not, Olivia might never return to New Village, and Marcus would have to travel to see his daughter. Not only that, but he would also have to watch that other guy love the wife he lost, and that was going to eat him alive. It drove me
MARCUSI was stunned when a nurse came in and told me I had a call from my wife. Even Nick, who was still barely conscious, opened his eyes to glance at the nurse. I just shrugged and followed her out, not thinking for a second that it would actually be Olivia on the other end. She wanted her baby with her. There was no way to describe the joy I felt—it was like everything else in the world faded away in that moment.Even when she cut the call after I begged her not to leave me, my smile didn’t fade. I was over the moon. She had read my letter, and she was willing to be a mother to our daughter. I had truly hit the jackpot when I married her. God, how I wished I could be with them right now, making it up to her for all the pain I caused.Olivia was more than just a good woman and a wonderful wife. I was starting to believe she was an angel in human form. No human could possibly be that good. We were all flawed, but not her—she had a heart of gold.“I take it that really was Olivia on
OLIVIA“I am guessing that is your husband.” Xander said the moment he saw me. I was going to Ethan’s room to get Samuel for dinner and met him on the corridor. “It’s a long story.” He nodded, “He is very possessive of you, I see. As he should be, a woman like you is… I won’t cross the line.” I wanted to laugh.He looked bothered by Ethan and wanted to know if he was my husband and maybe ask what happened between us, but he was holding himself back. What a gentleman. “I am going to get Samuel for dinner. Talk later?”“No, you won’t be talking to him anymore.” Came Ethan’s voice from up ahead, he was walking towards us. “Samuel is sleeping, I came to tell you that. now, you can go back and get some rest. I want to have a word with this guy.” I chuckled.By this time Xander’s smile was gone and only a serious looking, handsome man remained. “He is my friend, Ethan.” I reminded. “Okay, I want to talk to your friend then, maybe he could be my friend too.” Xander chuckled shoving his hands
NICKI threw Marcus’s phone away then kicked the tires of his car. I was so angry that I didn’t know what to do with myself. “You fucking moron!” I bellowed in anger. Marcus looked like he was going to faint, clutching on his chest as if it hurt. He could die for all I cared.It should hurt him like hell, he saw everything I went through when he took her from me and now, just when I was accepting that he had her. he went and fucked it up! Now another fucking man from somewhere we don’t know was busy giving her the attention he never gave her.What the hell was I supposed to do with that? “You called me here for this shit? fix it, fucking fix it now!” I yelled in his face pulling him closer to me with his collar. I was mad, enraged. What pissed me off even more was that the moron just cried.He didn’t say a fucking word, he just cried. Bloody shit! what the hell was I going to do with Marcus. I swear to God above. If he didn’t have a child to take care of, I would have killed him! “Why
OLIVIAI got a huge shock when Xander said there was a man standing on the balcony taking photos of us. He brought us to the pool and Samuel was having fun with Justin, his son. I was happy that my son was smiling and laughing like that. he must have missed me as much as I missed him.Lupita was also enjoying herself while grandma was constantly bothering Luke. He would complain but I think he liked it. Xander said he was going to check who the man was but then he sat back down saying he was coming our way with a low voice.I thought maybe it was one of Luke’s men but when I turned, I was shocked to see Ethan in white shorts, white short sleeve shirt. When he got to us. He didn’t say a word, he picked me up from the chair and carried me.He started walking way but stopped and turned to Lupita. “Please look after Samuel for a while.” Lupita nodded with a smile. Xander had an expression I could not read; he must have thought that Ethan was my husband.“Hello Ethan.” He ignored me and to
MARCUSLast night, we said our goodbyes to Ethan. He said we were going to see him whenever Olivia decided to come back. He warned us not to have him followed or check where he went. I wanted to so badly but at the same time, I wanted to give Olivia the space she needed to calm down. I also sent a letter for her with Ethan.Then I went to the hospital and spent the night being kangaroo dad to my newborn daughter. A child with no name and born into a broken family. I never wanted her to know that she was the reason my wife left me. I would like to believe that the cruel people who instigated the whole thing were the ones who were responsible for everything.But how would I explain to her that she spent days and maybe it was going to be months without a name. because I wanted her mother to name her, if she did that, that would mean she accepted my daughter as her own. She might not want me back, but it didn’t matter to me, as long as my daughter had a mother. But it was going to hurt me
MARCUSWe now knew that Olivia was with Luke. But the man was not budging, he was not picking up my calls either. He only picked up when Nick called but only to tell him to not look for them. I didn’t know what he expected us to do. But he knew very well that we wouldn’t sit on our hands and do nothing.Ethan for starters now looked like a caveman in just four days of them being gone. The man didn’t sleep, he was busy with whatever sites he was busy with to try and locate them. I have tried to call Olivia many times, but her number was not in service anymore. My wife hated me so much that she didn’t even want to talk to me.“Send Luke a picture of this man, ask him to at least take him out of his misery. He won’t tell us any way even if he knew where they were. This is a man who kept the fact that Samuel was your son, twice. He can be trusted.” Nick glanced at Ethan.“I think we became frien
OLIVIAThe Maldives was a beautiful place, serene. Nothing or no place could compare to it. being there felt like paradise. I felt free, not once did I think about my husband, I had everything and everyone who meant something to me by my side. Marcus was busy with his daughter, the most important person in his life.I limped to the balcony and closed my eyes feeling the sea breeze gently caressing my face. I inhaled deeply smiling as I did so. I should have gone there sooner. “I know Nick, but I will not tell you where we are and don’t try to look into it because you will be killed or detained until I come back.” I didn’t want to be hearing anything about the people back there.Luke was on the balcony as well taking a call, I didn’t notice him at first until he spoke. “I don’t care about that, this time, I am thinking only about my daughter, what you and Marcus want is none of my business. Don’t ca
NICKI felt lighter after leaving that room, like a weight had been lifted and in a way it had. There was no more Sandra to worry about, no more looking over my shoulder, no more wondering what she is planning or what she would do next. All those worries were now gone. I felt like a new man, like I was born again and given another chance at life.Another chance to redeem myself, a chance to make things right and getting rid of Sandra was the first step towards achieving that. Call me cruel but the bible says, ‘God helps those who help themselves. Olivia, me and God forbid Marcus. Have been waiting for some miracle from above.Praying to God that Sandra changes, but no miracle came, instead, the she devil hurt us even more. Well, I guess I was not different from her after all. Maybe I was worse than she was, I mean she never killed anyone at least not that I knew of, but I did. I killed her, I could not stand to see those close to me suffer anymore.Even the moron who took everything f