SHAWNA“What happened? What's the problem?" Liam's voice traveled to my ears. Different thoughts were appearing in my head.I didn't even realize that my phone had fallen off my hand till Liam gave it back to me. His voice brought me out of that reverie and back to reality. “Grandfather, there's an update on his health." That was all I could say, nothing else came to my head at the moment."You mean Mr Bryan?” I nodded at his question, still numb. It suddenly occurred to me that the update could be something good or bad."We need to go over to the hospital now! The nurse only said I have to come right now!” I rushed out the words suddenly, urging Liam to hurry up.“Okay, okay. Let's get going then." He said, walking over to his car. We both got in and he drove off immediately. My mind wasn't at rest at all, it was just spiraling out of control.I badly want to be optimistic about this but I'm failing woefully, different what-ifs keep coming to my head. But on the other hand, it could
DAMIENMy face looks so relaxed and my body so calm but my internal body is racing. Shawna should be here any minute from now, and for some reason I'm nervous.I don't know if it's because this is the first time we'll be meeting up willingly since we separated. The other times are either coincidental or for a reason.But this time, I don't think there's much to say again. Everything is settled now so she's coming here for a random conversation.She soon walked in through the door, looking around immediately after she got in. I waved her over so she could see me. She looked as beautiful as she had always been.But I couldn't help but notice that she has lost weight, the recent happenings took its toll on her and it's so obvious.“Hey, welcome," I said when she got to me.“Hi.” She mumbled at me.She sat down across from me, her face looking around the restaurant. It's one of the most quiet places around here, people just mind their business.That could be because only rich people can a
SHAWNA“Do you think he's still coming?" We've been waiting here for quite a while and it just seems the private investigator we're meant to meet here isn't coming again.“Let's just wait for five more minutes, after that, we're gone," Liam said. He said this five minutes ago too, but this time around we're leaving if the man doesn't show up.I sipped the drink before me, it's almost finished now since that's what I've been drinking since we got here.I kept quiet and kept looking around the lonely cafe, it's one of the most low-key ones right now. It only gets filled up when it's weekend, morning, or evening. But it's at its best at this time of the day.“He's here." Liam's voice brought me out of my thoughts, I looked in the direction he was looking to see a man dressed in a blue polo shirt and black trousers coming towards our table.He got to us and sat down on the third chair beside us.“I'm very sorry for coming late, something held me down outside, it would have been violent if
SHAWNA“Please come over to my-" Her panicked voice went off just as it came, it's almost like the phone was snatched from her or something. I tried to call the number back immediately but it was switched off.There's something wrong with this, something is fishy. She sounded like she wanted to tell me something before the call ended.“What's wrong? Who was that? Are you okay?" Liam asked me after I dropped the phone. I looked at him with a frown etched into my face."I don't know, a woman called just now saying she's the lawyer's wife. She was panicky and all and she said she needed my help with something before the call ended abruptly.” I told him."The lawyer who just died?” He asked and I nodded."This is serious, and the call ended abruptly? That sounds suspicious.” He frowned."Exactly, it sounded like the phone was yanked away from her before the call disconnected. Now she's unreachable.” I felt restless. Anything could be going on with her right now, or is this some kind of p
EUGENE“What do you want to eat today?” My mom asked me, she had just walked out of the kitchen with an apron around her."I honestly don't know, I think I'm fine with anything.”I shrugged then went back to my phone.I was chatting with someone very important, his text came in earlier, saying that he had something to say to me. Even though the number is unsaved, I know who he is.My mom said something again but I wasn't even listening, my whole mind was on the phone I was pressing. After waiting for his follow-up text and I didn't get any, I dialed him directly.The phone rang and he picked up immediately, “Why aren't you replying to my texts?" I asked him."I was kind of busy. And I wasn't so sure about what I saw, I wanted to confirm.” He said."You should have just texted me that instead of raising my hopes.” I hissed.“I'm sorry ma." “Do whatever the fuck you have to do, that's what I'm paying you for after all. And don't keep me waiting." I ended the call with him.I huffed in f
DAMIEN“What you're telling me now is that you still haven't found out who the woman in question is?" I asked my doctor.“It's proving harder than I thought it was, whoever it was did a hard job of keeping themself hidden. It's not meant to be this hard actually." He answered.What I don't understand is why anyone would want to use my sperm to formulate a fetus. I have an intuition on who it could be but I don't just want to conclude yet.“What are you going to do then? I need to know who's doing this.” I was trying so hard to keep myself at the moment, I badly wanted to lash out at him to just do his job.But I know how hard it can be to uncover things like these too.“Just try harder, you know how important this is, just do your thing,” I told him.He tensed up a bit, "Yes, I'll try more. And once I get any information, just anything, I'll let you know immediately.” He said.“Yes, and-" I was interrupted by the ringing of my phone, I looked down to see that it was Eugene calling me.
DAMIENAfter getting off the phone with my investigator, I entered my car and drove off without having anywhere in particular in my mind.I didn't have anything to do again for today, why don't I just go over to a bar to cool off? That's the only relaxing way I could think of after the stress of the week.I steered my car towards the direction of a bar around here, it's not the one I go to normally. But I guess I'll just try this one out today.I got there in no time, it's not so far from Eugene's office. On getting in, I was wowed by the interior, no one would have thought it would be this good.These organizations need to start working on their exterior looks too, doing it for just the interior wouldn't do anything to attract customers.I walked further into the bar and picked a seat on the far right side of the bar. I sat down with my legs crossed and face relaxed, patiently waiting for a waiter or something.Looking up, I saw a slouched-over figure directly before me. I had no ide
EUGENEI stormed away from him with anger thrumming through me, he had some nerves to ask me that question. I get it that he saved me from being embarrassed.But even at that, that question just did something to me, it annoys the fuck out of me. I don't know if it's because it's true, or I'm just mad at myself for going to him for help in the first place.If my stupid assistant had just said why my attention was needed in the office, I'd have escaped all these. I'd just have to come up with a reasonable excuse, I wouldn't have shown up at all.I'll visit my assistant's case later, I need to take care of Shawna now. Maybe I'll just transfer all the aggression to her. I dialed my investigator's number, he'll have to ask me one or two for me.He picked up almost immediately, “Help me find Shawna's current location, I need to pay her a visit.” I said."On it ma'am, I'll text you the address once I get it.” Then he hung up. This is one of the things I kind of hate about him, no one hangs u
PHOEBERichard didn’t react at first. He just stared at me like he was trying to read my thoughts.“I’m sorry for coming unannounced. I just… I really need your help.”I heard my own voice tremble. My eyes darted briefly to the floor before finding Richard’s again. I hated that I sounded so desperate, but I was. Completely and utterly desperate.Richard frowned, his brows pulling together. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?”I nodded slowly, my fingers wringing each other nervously in front of me. “It’s Ramon. I’ve been trying to find him all day. His apartment’s locked up. It looks like no one’s there. Curtains drawn. Door locked. Lights off. I knocked, I waited… nothing.”Richard’s expression changed subtly. Concern started creeping in.“I tried calling him. Several times. But his number’s not going through. It’s not even ringing.” I paused, struggling to keep my voice steady. “And I’ve spoken to some people who used to see him often…security at his place, a few mutual friends. N
PHOEBELater that day, I was still sitting at my desk, staring at the resignation letter in my hands like it might change if I looked at it long enough. It didn’t. The words stayed the same.I stood up and walked over to Clara’s desk. She looked up from her computer and gave me a soft smile before bowing to greet me.“Clara,” I said, holding up the letter. “Do you know where Ramon is? I need to speak with him.”She frowned and shook her head. “Oh… he left early this morning. Said he had something urgent to take care of. He didn’t say where he was going.”I felt my chest tighten. “Did he seem okay?”Clara paused, thinking. “I don’t know. He was quiet. Didn’t really talk to anyone. Just packed up his stuff and left.”“Packed up?”She nodded. “Yeah. Said he wouldn’t be coming back for a while.”That made my heart drop. What the hell was going on?I left the office immediately. I didn’t even bother to grab my bag. I just walked out, got into a cab, and told the driver to take me to Ramon’
PHOEBEI sat on my bed staring at nothing. My eyes were sore from crying, but no more tears came. I felt empty. Numb.A soft knock pulled me out of my thoughts. I blinked and looked up."Come in," I said quietly.To my surprise, it wasn’t Winnie. It was my grandmother."Grandma?" I said, standing up.She walked in slowly, her eyes scanning my face like she could read every thought running wild in my head. She didn’t say anything at first. She just came straight to me and pulled me into a hug. No words, no questions, just warmth. And in that moment, I cracked."Oh, my sweet girl," she whispered into my hair. "What’s wrong?"I hugged her tighter, and the tears came again, harder this time. I couldn’t stop them even if I tried. The sobs came from somewhere deep, somewhere I didn’t know still ached this much."I feel like I don’t know him," I sobbed, my voice shaking. "I feel like everything I believed was a lie."She didn’t say anything right away. Just rubbed my back gently, like she us
RAMONThe moment I saw her, my heart stopped.There she was, Phoebe. Standing by the garden path with the sun behind her, making her hair glow like it always used to when we’d sit on the porch together. I couldn’t move at first. I just stared.“Phoebe,” I said, finally stepping forward.She looked up, and our eyes met, but the look on her face hit me like a punch in the gut. No warmth. No relief. Just surprise… and something that felt like pain and disappointment rolled into one.She turned away instantly, like she couldn’t get away fast enough.“Wait…Phoebe, wait!” I rushed forward.She didn’t stop. She picked up her pace, but I caught up to her. I reached out and lightly grabbed her arm. “Please. Don’t go. Just let me talk.”“Let go of me, Ramon,” she said, her voice low and cold.I did. I stepped back, hands raised. “Okay. I’m sorry. I just… I wasn’t expecting to see you. I didn’t think you’d come out here.”“Well, I didn’t think I’d run into you,” she snapped. “Yet here we are.”“
BILLYI watched the door close behind Phoebe as she walked out of the room. My eyes followed her, but she didn’t even glance back. She just left.Jasper was standing beside me, arms folded, a puzzled look on his face. We both turned slowly to look at Winnie, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed. Her hands were clasped together, and she looked like she was trying not to say too much.“What’s going on?” I asked, breaking the silence first. “She just left us standing here.”“Yeah,” Jasper added. “She looked upset. And Ramon walked out earlier, looking like someone kicked his soul out. What’s happening?”Winnie looked up at us and sighed. “It’s… complicated.”Jasper raised an eyebrow. “Complicated how?”She stood up slowly, smoothing her shirt. “It’s something you should really hear from Phoebe.”“But she’s not exactly giving out answers right now, is she?” I said. “We’re her brothers. We have a right to know what’s happening with her.”“I agree,” Jasper added, nodding. “Did she r
PHOEBEThat morning, I woke up to the quiet hum of birds outside the window. For once, I didn’t have to rush to work or pretend everything was fine. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying not to think too much.The soft floral curtains swayed gently with the breeze, and for a moment, everything felt peaceful. But that peace didn’t reach inside me. I felt like I was just floating, present in body, but far from okay. My eyes were heavy from lack of sleep, and my chest ached from holding in tears all night. Still, I stayed there, wrapped in Winnie’s guest blanket, letting the silence stretch as long as it could.Winnie had helped sneak me into her house late last night, and I was grateful."Are you going to tell your parents you’re here?" she asked softly that morning as she came into the room with a cup of warm tea.I sat up slowly, blinking away the crust from my eyes. "There’s no need. They’ll just ask questions I’m not ready to answer."She nodded and handed me the cup. The mug
RAMONI stood there for a long time, watching Phoebe walk away. Her words echoed in my head like a sharp slap: “I never want to see you again.” I wanted to chase after her, to make her listen, to explain everything. But I couldn’t. Not when I didn’t even have the answers she needed.Not when everything in my life was already broken beyond repair.Maybe she was right to leave. Maybe this was the best thing for her. That’s what I kept telling myself as I dragged myself back to my uncle’s house. It was late, and the street was too quiet, like even the night wanted nothing to do with me.When I stepped inside, Uncle Richard looked up from the couch. He was lounging like a king in his robe, glass of whiskey in hand, the flickering TV light painting shadows across his aging face. He looked too calm for someone who had just helped me destroy the only thing that ever made sense in my life.“Well, look who’s back,” he said, a slow smile curling at the corners of his lips. “I take it she finall
PHOEBEMy whole body was sore. My dress was torn, my wrists burned from the ropes, and my eyes stung from crying. I was huddled in a corner of that cold, dark room, shivering as the last of the men ran out like rats. One second, they were setting up cameras, saying the most disgusting things, and the next, they were gone. Just like that.It made no sense. None of it did. Why would they leave me? What scared them off?I was too weak to stand, too confused to think straight. My head was pounding, and I could still feel whatever they had drugged me with swirling through my system. My heart was racing so fast I could barely catch my breath. My legs were pulled to my chest, arms wrapped tightly around them, as if I could make myself disappear if I just curled up small enough.And then I heard footsteps.Fast. Heavy. Coming closer.My eyes shot to the door.I froze.My heart shot to my throat.Were they back?Did they forget something?Were they going to finish what they started?I couldn’t
RAMONI stood in that hotel lobby staring at the manager as if he'd just announced a death. Maybe he had. Because knowing Phoebe had been taken right from under my nose felt exactly like that, like something had died inside me."She was in your care!" I shouted. "She was supposed to wait for me here!""Mr. Ramon," the manager said nervously, "we thought it was authorized…""By whom? My uncle?" I spat. "You took her because my uncle said so? Did she look like she wanted to leave? Did you even ask her that?"No answer. Just that sick, silent guilt on their faces.I didn't waste another second. I turned on my heel, stormed out of the hotel, jumped into my car, and sped straight to Richard's estate. My hands gripped the wheel so hard they ached. My mind was a storm, rage, fear, regret. I kept seeing her face in my head, her smile, the way she had trusted me. And now...She was gone.When I got to the mansion, the guards at the gate crossed their arms."Sir, Mr. Richard said not to let you