Noah POV“Are you alright?” Briana asked.My eyes fluttered open, and the first thing I saw was her hovering above me.Briana.My head says her name, and I felt a growing sense of satisfaction that she had stayed behind for me.“I thought you left with them,” I said, unable to conceal my happiness. Briana still has this soft spot for me. I can feel it every time we are near each other.The attraction was still there, but more than that, I realized Briana had always been kind to me, even when I was rude to her when she was younger.I never liked her before, even when she had not done me wrong.
Briana POVI walked as fast as I could to seek refuge at the hotel's restroom.Noah has changed.On the three occasions he and I interacted, I saw changes that made me pause to think because it did not add up.Where was the angry Noah who accused me five years ago of killing his parents?I splashed cold water on my face to jolt me back to my senses."It was an act, rig
Briana POV“Well, well, well. If this isn’t the cheater.” Britney White snickered when she noted the surprised expression on my face.I decided not to play her games and ignored her. I was about to step out when Britney blocked my path.“We are not done talking yet, b*tch!” She hissed in my face.Accidentally, I sucked in the air, and her stale breath clung to my nostrils. I almost gagged.“Have you been drinking?” I asked out of concern.“Don’t try to play the kind hostess fiancée stealer.” She spat out.Her face contorted in anger.
Briana POVAt the sight of Noah, Britney becomes hysterical.“Noah. Your ex hurt me. She twisted my hand.” She cried and clung to him.I rolled my eyes at them.Noah brushed her off, and I smirked because her face contorted.The tears brimming her eyes had been sucked back up by her tear glands.Then, I shifted my gaze at Noah, challenging him to defend her from me.Our gazes met, and I arched my brows.Britney tried to steal his attention by wailing so loudly. It was so ear-piercing that I finally had enough.I decided I didn’t want to be involved in their drama. Noah and I were done.I shrugged and smirked, daring him to believe her, and then I turned around to let myself out, but at this time, my brothers came barreling through the door.They looked at Britney’s face, Noah’s, and then me.“Did she hurt you?” Charles, my eldest brother, as
Briana POVI was so nervous.Every time the office phone rings to announce a visitor, my heart skips a beat.I tried to busy myself with reviewing proposals lined up on my desk, but I could not concentrate. With each tick-tock sound of the clock, my expectations mounted.After an hour of trying to get work done, I stopped pretending and called Martina.“Have any other visitors been waiting for me?” I asked.She answered in the negative, and I put the headset back on its cradle with so much disappointment.To keep myself busy, I called on the children. When I left the penthouse this morning, they were still sleeping.School opening is in a week, so I let them sleep longer hours as long as they wanted. They are in preschool. Next year, they will start formal schooling.“Mommy, you did not kiss me goodbye.” It was Mason, my sweetest boy.I smiled. “Of course I did. It’s just that you were so sound asleep that you did not feel it.” I told him.“Next time, wake me up.” He told me, still
Briana POVI went to my desk to pull out three large books and handed them to Noah.Without a word, he accepted them.I watched while he opened the book at the top and was silent, seemingly engrossed with its contents.“It’s the children’s baby book. From birth up to their birthday last year.” I informed him.He nodded absent-mindedly. His eyes never left the page as he scanned it.It seemed like he was lost in what he was seeing and had forgotten about me, but I didn’t mind.It gave me a sense of satisfaction watching Noah as he let his eyes roam around the pages. Sometimes, he would caress a page w
Noah POV“She has moved on,” I told Brent. We were back at the Blue Canyon, A VIP membership club overlooking the sea, and I was getting liberal with the booze. “What do you expect? She is married. Marcus Ford is a good man for taking responsibility for your children and raising them as his own. Briana would be a fool to let a man like him go.” I sighed. Between us, Marcus Ford is a better man, but I can’t shake this resolve that if only Briana would give me a chance, I would show her that I could be the best man for her and the triplets. Brent tapped my shoulder. “Give it a rest, dude. At least, be thankful that she is willing to introduce you to the children.” That sobered me up. I remembered Briana would be introducing the children to me tomorrow. It was supposed to be today, but she told me something came up, and she has an emergency meeting. I had no choice but to leave hurriedly then. After meeting with Brent, I drove straight home. When I left the car, I took out the
Noah POV“She is your fiancée. She had every right to escort you wherever you go. Besides, she’s well-known. What you did embarrassed her. The press had a field day. Fortunately, I intervened on her behalf and nipped a huge scandal in the bud.”I smirked to myself, but to Uncle Matt, I said dispassionately.“That was unnecessary. You could have let Britney be. She brought it upon herself. Let her suffer the consequences of her actions.”I have coddled Britney a lot of times in the past. Now, she is on her own.
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