Noah POVI felt like a stalker watching the black SUV cruise down the highway. At the next stoplight, it turned left and stopped outside a huge house. The house looked brand new. It is a two-story modern mansion that looks majestic from afar. The lamps outside cast a muted color of gold that looked breathtaking in the moonlight.The green backdrop of trees and mossy green grass emphasized simplicity, neatness, and understated opulence.Looking at this house was like looking at Briana herself. She used to be simple, but her beauty radiates from within.“Bye, Daddy M.” They cried in unison as they clambered out of the car, ducking their father’s tall figure.I looked at the sight with envy and a dull ache in my chest.“It’s Mr. Ford. I did not know he had children.” The driver’s voice pulled me out of my trance.“He’s in the limelight because of his work. He must have done it to protect his family.” It was Chris explaining.I sighed.“Let’s go,” I told the driver, and we left the are
Noah POV"How did I get home last night?"That was the first question that came to my head when I opened my eyes and saw the familiar sight of my bedroom's ceiling.My phone rings, and despite feeling hung over, I squinted to locate my phone. I grabbed it from the nightstand and pressed the answer button.“Hunter,” I mumbled huskily.The caller spoke, and I sat up straight.“Chris, who brought me home?” I asked, brushing back the hair that fell loosely on my forehead.I really could not remember what happened the night before. I was so hammered.
Briana POV“Are you alright?” Anthony Goldstone asked after the conference.We walked out ahead of the others because I felt like my whole body was burning.Sitting with your ex sucks.“I’m fine, Anthony. Can you and Martina wait for me in the car? I’ll just need to freshen up.” I told him.Anthony seemed reluctant to go. He looked at my face for a while before nodding his assent.When he and Martina left, I went to the powder room, following the directions of one of the staff.I looked at my flushed face in the mirror and groaned.It was so hard keeping myself together, appearing nonchalant while your ex-husband sat right next to you.It was discomfiting, at the least.Throughout the conference, I was so anxious. I wanted to make the hands of time move faster so I could go.Noah was the only man in my life, and though I hated him for the last five years, seeing him and sitting next to him shook my insides to the core.I realized, much to my dismay, that Noah still has that same effe
Briana POVI darted away as fast as I could.Noah called out to me.I could hear the creaking sound of his shoes as they met the floor and pressed my feet to hasten my walk.Curious heads turned my way, but that did not stop me.
Briana POVI left Noah in the middle of the lobby with his mouth hanging open and felt great satisfaction at my handiwork.It was not always that I got to leave him stupefied in an argument, and it gave me immense pleasure to know that today, I did just that. I left Noah Hunter speechless!I believe I deserve a mental pat on the back.There was a skip to my step when I walked out of the building and into my brother’s waiting black SUV.When I opened the door, three tornadoes slipped past me to jump out of the car. They were wily that my attempt to pull them back was futile.I watched in amazement as they ran inside the building, shouting at the top of their lungs
Briana POV“I have a fully functioning brain, Briana. You know that I can always pay someone to check their birth certificates for me.” Noah warned.The seriousness in his voice was unmistakable. My heart started to throb as fear coursed through my spine.I tamped it down and started downplaying Noah’s suspicion."You'll find nothing. My children are Fords." I told him in false bravado.Noah's look was probing. But his hold on me slackened.I took that as my cue to leave. I turned around and walked out of the building to my brother's waiting car.I tried to walk as normally as I possibly could. Despite my efforts, my knees were wobbly.I can’t seem to get Noah’s threat out of my head.I worry about wha
Noah POVI watched Briana leave with suspicion and could not shake off the apprehension I saw on her face.I have a strong feeling that Briana was not telling me the truth.When the black SUV left, I picked up my phone from my pocket to call Brent.“I have another task for you.” I opened it when Brent picked it up.“Fire away.”“Check the records of Briana’s children. They’re triplets. Briana said they are Ford’s, but I have a strong feeling they are mine.”There was silence on the other end.“What made you say they were yours?” Brent countered.I hesitated, and Brent picked up my silence wrongly.“As your friend, I am giving you a word of caution. Don’t look
Noah POVWhen Langley left, I slowly massaged my temples. Then, I closed my eyes, fingers tapping the smooth surface of my desk.My head ached, thinking the man I trusted did not deserve my trust.My laptop sounded like a notification for a new email. And when I checked the sender, it was Langley. I opened the file with shaking hands and started reading its contents.When I finished, my chest felt stuffy. Here is the proof of my uncle’s duplicity.I remember five years ago, he pushed me to take a leave of absence from the company to concentrate on myself.“You need to heal from the loss of your parents, from what happened to your marriage, and to get your strength back. Don’t worry about the company, I will manage it for you.”I snickered in my head because I took his words and trusted him.Talk about misplaced trust.I called Brent."We have the evidence," I told him and forwarded him the email Langley sent me.For a while, we discussed what to do.“We need to take caution. Un
Speechless! This word best describes what I was feeling right now. Do you know that you were amazing readers? Yes, you who stayed with me until this page. When I first started writing this story, I had so many trepidations. I did not think I would be able to pull this through. First, it has a little similarity to my previous novel, Billionaire Ex Wants Me Back, but my editor believed so much in my draft that she encouraged me to consider doing this. (My heartfelt thanks to Lyra Pinter, who had been a constant source of support.)My feeling of uncertainty magnified when I received so many attacks when the story was first published. Too many detractors lashed out at my characters that I had a hard time concentrating.I know what I wanted to do, but the first people who were vocal about the story did not give me enough encouragement. They did not give my characters a chance to redeem themselves as the story progresses. Fear grips me everytime I face the blank screen of my computer
Briana’s POVThe soul always knows how to heal itself. I had often heard that phrase before but it was never more gratingly obvious til now. After I volunteered to be Charles and Jenna’s surrogate, I had not counted on the pain the act would invariably inflict on me. At the start, it was all too easy. For 40 weeks, I would be carrying their baby in my womb, and that was it. Jenna and Charles will have that baby they desperately wanted. Of course, Noah and I submitted to counseling before I did this, but I never expected that when the time came that I had to turn over baby Amira to her parents, it would hit me so hard. I had not counted on how my self-sacrifice would backfire on me. It hurts so much. I was so heartbroken when I realized that Amira would no longer be a part of my life. Noah took me to several sessions of counseling, and with his support, I was able to get past the hurt and accept that Amira was not mine.The rest of the family helped. My brothers hovered over me
Hello my loves, Jenna and Charles’ story was one of the most painful stories I had written so far. It was because I had to dig up long-forgotten events in my life.But I had to do it for you to be able to understand the motives behind Jenna and Charles’ actions and the pain they invariably inflicted on each other. Jenna and Charles were both non confrontational. They keep things in stride and hope for the best, but sometimes even with the best intentions, our pain could not lay hidden for too long. It needed to be addressed and voiced out, not because you wanted to lash out at your partner or give them the same pain they were giving you.Sometimes, our silence is our cry for help. Or it was a way to protect ourselves. We retreated into the inner recesses of our soul to find solace and comfort because the people we expected to comfort and provide solace for us could not hear our cry for help.But all’s well that ends well. Am glad for those people who had requested me to do a story
Charles POVOne year later…I was standing behind the french windows of the room I was occupying at the Rosewood Hotel, eyes looking outside toward my wife.This past year was a crazy one.Just as Briana predicted, Jenna and I barely had time for ourselves. The kids were growing, and they were beautiful to watch.Jenna’s laugh made its way to where I was.As I watched Jenna play with our children, I could not help comparing her to a rose in bloom.I could not help feeling proud of the changes in her.&nb
Charles POVWe placed our babies in a customized baby carrier that could fit the four of them, and Jenna and I walked out of the suite that had been our temporary home for the past month.At the lobby, we looked like we were on a parade with our nannies in tow and bodyguards, but that’s a small price to pay for the security and safety of my family.“Jenna! Charles!” Beth called out to us.We stopped when we neared her.“Where are your kids?” I asked after she and Jenna hugged each other.I learned this past month that Beth chose to be a stay-at-home m
Charles POVThe next day, our other two babies were born one after the other.Jenna and I were also there to witness everything and become part of our children’s birth.Jenna’s eyes were puffy when she held our two other newborns in her arms. She had been crying nonstop since yesterday because it still had not sunk in that she was a mom of four babies.When we visited Briana, she and Jenna had a long talk.Briana was smiling, but I could see that she was at a loss when it was time to take the baby away from her.I realized that this ordeal put a lot of strain on
Charles POVThe phone in the delivery room rang, and a nurse went to answer it.“Dr. Martin, it’s delivery room 2.” She said from across the room, allowing us to hear.Dr. Martin went to answer it. Her face was serious when she placed the phone back in its cradle.Then, she turned her head back to her medical team.“Are you still up for another delivery?” She asked her team.Their high spirits rubbed off on Jenna and me. We were smiling when they shouted, of course.
Charles POVIt was a crazy day.We were having a meeting when I heard that Briana had been rushed to the hospital.“Brie is having our baby,” I told my brothers and friend after I dropped the call.It was Jenna. She, Noah, and Biana were already in the hospital because Briana's water broke.My face contorted as emotions I could not name assailed.A mix of fear, excitement, nervousness, worry, and happiness barraged me.Briana, my baby sister, was going to deliver my and Jenna's baby right now. 
Jenna POVThe days quickly passed by.Though we did not talk about it, it seemed as if Charles and I were in tacit agreement to take things slow concerning our careers and concentrate more on each other.We go out of town and do things we had never done before as a couple.It was marvelous.“It’s good that you spend more time with each other because I tell you, once the four babies arrive, you won’t get even a wink of sleep,” Briana told me when I came to her house that afternoon to catch up and to check on her.It’s the baby’s