(Anj’s POV)“How did -” Sky stopped. “What?” His eyes widened. “No!”It was like he hit the stop button that I had stopped crying. What did he just say? “God, no, Angela! Good heavens, we’re not related.” He hissed as if I had said something terrible. “What made you think you’re my sister?”“Because…” I cried again, clutching his dress suit, not minding I was wrinkling it already. Now that I knew he wasn’t my brother made me want to bury my face in his chest.He moved closer to me and wrapped his arms around me, heaving a sigh many times. “I should have talked to you about it, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to answer all your questions.”“Finn and I…” My voice trailed off, not knowing how to say it. “Freya.”He moved slightly away from me and cupped my face, his fingers wiping my tears. “This is Dad’s fault.” He shook his head. “It’s a long story, but for the sake of our peace of mind here, Freya died in an accident when they were fourteen,” he said sadly. “Dad… he just couldn
(Sky’s POV)Lalaine has been calling my cellphone, and I have ignored her call while talking to Angela. At this moment, Angela's welfare is more important to me than Lalaine's concerns.When Angela fainted in my arms, my heart stopped beating, yelling Finn’s name for help to ready the car, forgetting my kids were there and we had a nurse at home. If she had not recovered, I would have probably gone crazy. I am not losing another woman in my arms, not after Freya. My sister died in my arms, and I could not do anything to save my poor sister.“Sky, it’s Lalaine,” Frank informed me, transferring the call to me. I picked up the telephone, answering her call.“Lalaine,” I breathed out, hoping not to talk to her right now, but I had to answer her at some point because of this Absolute Glam position issue.“Finally!” She irked as I uttered her name. “Why aren’t you in the office? Just a little more of this rolling of eyes of your secretary, I’d strangle her,” she snarled.“Lalaine, can we ju
(Anj’s POV)“Your cousin never fails to amaze me, Anj,” Dylan shook his head as we watched her taking pictures with my kids in the garden.When Anya and Dylan arrived, she asked me immediately if she could have pictures in the garden. Not wanting to disappoint her, I gave in to her request, and now my kids looked like little tour guides with their cute guard puppy, Nitro, following her around in the garden.I turned my head to Nina when she came with snacks and coffee for Dylan.“Angela, if you need anything else, I’ll be in the kitchen,” she smiled, but I caught her flickering her eyes at my handsome guest.“Sure. Thanks for the snacks, Nina,” I said, but I could not help myself from checking the pastries for the girls, making sure no peanuts in them.“No peanuts,” Nina grinned. “Elenita served the same pastry to the young Mr. Mars.”“Thank you,” I said thoughtfully, remembering that Elenita always prepares the meals, and in this house, she was the queen in the kitchen.When Nina lef
(Anj’s POV)“Who’s pregnant?” Sky looked at me, and for a moment, I was unsure of the emotions I read in his eyes. However, the suspicion was evident as he stared at me and waited for my answer.“I am pregnant.” Leyanne chuckled, putting her stuffed toy under her shirt and answering his question, which Anya and I did not dare answer. Her sisters giggled as they poked her tummy.“You looked funny, Leyanne,” Selene laughed at her. Sky smiled and kissed the girls on their heads, and after that, the three ran back to the middle of the garden.“I’ll probably kill if that happens to my girl at a young age,” He shook his head as he watched our daughters.Dylan smirked. “I’ll skin him alive,” he said, agreeing with him.“Who’s pregnant?” He asked again, sitting across from me and making sure our gaze would not be broken until his question was answered.I shrugged. “Anya?”Dylan moved his eyes from his phone to Anya. “You’re pregnant? You said it’s negative.”“No!” She panicked. “It’s not me
(Anj’s POV)After dinner, Sky returned to work, attending an hour meeting with a business partner. Anya joined me in reading for Steve and entertaining him with her stories about the girls. I smiled, remembering how his eyes sparkled when she showed him their pictures at school. Dylan got preoccupied when Finn started talking to him about dogs, and when he showed him the breeds he has, he had just forgotten he wanted to leave the house.As I closed the door behind us, it was also the same time Sky went out of the study room.“Are the girls sleeping already?” he asked as he walked with us, returning to the family room. “Where’s Dylan?” As if he had spoken the magic word, Finn and Dylan entered the door with a puppy in his arms.“Dylan, what’s that?” She hissed as her eyes widened at the little animal.“I’m sure it’s not a cat, Anya,” Sky chuckled, looking at Finn.He grinned. “Sorry, but this guy here just fell in love with her. What can I do?”Anya sneered at him, but Sky patted his
(Anj’s POV)Mom?She couldn’t be my mother. There was supposed to be a connection, but there was none. I looked at her and saw the possible resemblance we have. Except for our round eyes and heart-shaped face, I could not see our similarities.“M-Mom?” I stuttered, afraid that she might not be the one I was looking for but frightened that I was feeling empty at the woman in front of me, but when she pulled me to her, embraced me, and sobbed like I was her lost sheep, my tears fell.I had to turn my head to Sky, hoping he would rescue me, but like the others, he also looked surprised.“Mom,” I called, not the woman hugging me but Sister Grace.Eden moved away from her, smiled, and wiped her tears as she gazed at me. “I’m sorry,” she said, smiling apologetically at Jocelyn. “She looked just like my sister.”Sister?I breathed in relief. I didn’t know why when all my life I wanted to meet my real parents and see them, but when she hugged me, it was like millions of questions popped comin
(Sky’s POV)Seeing Jocelyn, my mom, again after many years was surprising, but not Eden when I just saw her this week. When she cried and hugged Angela, I thought lightning struck me I couldn’t move.Sister Grace was right, I made a path for Angela to find her birth parents, but I was not expecting this. Instead of walking in a different direction to avoid Lalaine, I only put her right into its door, an exact place where Lalaine was.Fear crept through me when I saw her running away. I knew she was only going to the bedroom, but with the pain, anger, worry, and shock, all mixed in together, Angela was like someone who would not stop until she was far away from me.“Sky, the reason why I wasn’t choosing Dylan is because of Anya. My cousin loves him, but he is blind not to notice her. And I am telling you the same thing. I am not choosing you because of Lalaine.” She explained but lacked the details that she was usually good at.I nodded, only to show her I understood, but I didn’t beca
(Sky’s POV)“Sky,” Elenita called, and when I didn’t move from the window, she walked toward me and peeked at what I was looking at. “Mrs. Johnsons already left, but your mom’s staying for the night. She’s in the guest room.”I was not interested in where my mother would stay or whether Eden had left already. My sole concern now was the woman sitting near the fountain. She was hugging her knees and looking blankly at the water.“What are you doing to that poor child, Sky?” Elenita asked. She smirked when I didn’t answer and continued, “I remembered the first time she was with us, and I told myself that child is crazy. When I brought her clothes to the hospital and asked her what she needed, she said a red pen.” She scoffed and shook her head. “Just a red pen.”“She’s stupid to ask for a red pen. She could have asked for something else,” I growled.Elenita glanced at me. “She did. She wanted to go home, and then she changed her mind… after that, she wanted to leave again.” She laughed.
(Anj’s POV) Two years later… I glanced at Anya as she rubbed her baby bump. She hissed as she continued to touch her belly. “Dylan was so ecstatic about having a boy that I wanted him to carry our baby. This little one seemed to practice taekwondo inside my belly,” she complained. “I’m not sure if he’s practicing for the Olympics too early.” I chuckled, looking at my girls as they listened to Olivia playing the violin in the pavilion, and then my eyes went back to the three children playing on the sand. “Dayana!” yelled Anya at her daughter, startling me. “Good lord, don’t eat that!” “Relax, Anya. She was only smelling the shell,” I laughed. “Cloud, Rain,” I called my boys, shaking my head at my twins. They giggled and stood up, walking toward their sisters, leaving Dayana as she continued to play with sand. It has become our tradition to visit the Angela Island every year. Although this year was different without Steve, leaving us all last year just before his birthday. “I onl
(Sky’s POV)“I want to marry the Mighty Sky,” I remembered Angela saying dreamily.I looked at Frank, and as he smiled, I recalled telling him that night, ‘I’ll marry this lovely angel today.’“Are you ready?” Father Jesse asked, his eyes wandering at the small chapel I asked to build for this celebration before looking at me.I turned my gaze to him. “Yes, but Father Jesse, I have a question.” Not giving him a chance to talk, I asked him, “I came to you and asked for Angela, but you said you didn’t know her.”He chuckled softly. “You were looking for an Angela with red spots on her face, and you were describing her to me as if she was ugly. I didn’t know any ugly Angela. I only realized she was the same person you were looking for when I opened the envelope.”“My bad,” I smiled nervously, and Father Jesse patted me on my shoulder before entering the chapel.Olivia sat in front of the piano organ and began playing. The wedding organizer smiled at me, giving us the cue, and I walked on
(Anj’s POV)“Aren’t you scared of being on the plane with me?” Sky asked when his new private plane took off.I shook my head.“Then why do you have that long face?” he asked me again, pulling me to him.I placed one arm on his waist and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt him kissing my hair. “I convinced Anya and Dylan to go with us, but I guess she was having difficulty with her pregnancy.”“Have you experienced that with the girls?” he tilted his head to see my face.I craned my neck to look at him. “In my first trimester. It was hell,” I chuckled. “I couldn’t even make my own perfume, but after that, I could study and work again.”He heaved a deep sigh. “I should have been there. You shouldn’t have carried them alone.”I raised my head and reached for his lips, kissing him. “What would you do? Get one baby and put her inside your belly?” I teased him.“I wonder if men will like that,” he laughed at me, then he pouted, looking so cute. “I’m still mad at you. Why didn’t you want
(Sky’s POV)The luminance of the glow-in-dark stickers in the bedroom still shone vividly when Angela and I collapsed on the bed, panting and catching our breath as I pulled her closer to my body. The thought of dying in the plane crash still made me shiver, and I couldn’t imagine leaving Angela alone, raising our kids, and hating me for the rest of her life for not coming back to her. I kissed her again, not wanting to stop, but I knew she wanted to know what had happened.“I hate you, Sky,” she whispered as her fingers traced my cheeks down to the hollow of my throat. Her hand slid down, stopping her palm on my heart and closing her eyes as if to make sure my heart was still beating. “What happened to you?”“Frank and I didn’t expect it to happen. I was about to enter the cockpit when Leo called and reported someone saw Leonard escaping to Macau. I didn’t need a plane to catch him, so Frank and I got out of the plane but gave my pilot and his co-pilot a go when he asked me if he c
(Anj’s POV)Don’t blink!Don’t disappear!Sky claimed my mouth before I could say his name again. If this were a dream, I would probably hurt anymore who would dare wake me up. It was an intense kiss and hungry as if there was no tomorrow.I could feel the tears rolling on my cheeks, and I cried when Sky stopped kissing me and moved slightly away from me, pressing our foreheads together. It was one long second that I thought my heart had stopped beating again.“I love you, Angela!” He whispered, his lips reaching mine and planting a quick kiss.My mouth opened, hoping to utter words, but no sound came out except my sobs. The mixed emotions stirring in my heart and mind made me dizzy, and all I wanted was to be in his arms. Slowly, I raised my hand, placing my palm on his chest, feeling his beating heart.“Say something, pumpkin,” he sounded begging, but I was more afraid to speak.If only Sky knew the news almost killed me and broke my heart. If he only knew that the days without info
(Anj’s POV)“Angela!”My hand stopped from opening the door, and I turned to the female voice I rarely hear in this place. I saw Jocelyn smiling shyly at me, and behind that curve in her lips, there was tenderness in how she looked at me.“Yes, Jocelyn?” I asked, wondering what she wanted from me.“I wondered if our granddaughters could sleep in our room tonight,” she asked.Our room? My eyebrows raised. With Olivia? With Finn? With Steve?“Steve -” She heaved a deep sigh, blushing like a teenager. “Umm… He wanted to ask if the kids could sleep with us tonight.”“Ah!” I exclaimed, opening the door and finding my children, now in their pajamas, jumping on the bed as Anya read them a book.“Mommy! Mommy!” Lyra Helene called me.“Please, girls, stop jumping. You’re making me dizzy,” I smiled softly at them, stopping at the edge of the bed.The girls stopped jumping and ran to me.“Yes, baby?” I asked, brushing their hair with my fingers, starting with Leyanne, then Selene.“Mommy, Aunt A
(Anj’s POV)The large clusters of clouds had been hiding the beautiful and perfect blue sky for two days now. As I leaned my back facing the garden, I noticed that even the flowers were gloomy about the weather, and sadness loomed in the mansion.Elenita shared with me that it has never been this busy in Mars’ residence except when Freya died. In the kitchen, as she claimed her kingdom, the maids seemed to have never stopped cooking. It was only yesterday when Jocelyn came, hysterical with the news about his son was missing and could be dead somewhere. Steve, though looking tired, remained the strong head here at home, but when he saw his ex-wife, I saw him break into tears for the first time.After seeing Steve cry, I understood what he meant when he told me not to break down because when everyone saw him and Jocelyn crying, it was like looking at the top of the tower falling to the ground. All I wanted was to sit in the corner and wept, wanting to scream for Sky.Finn and Leo have n
(Anj’s POV)“Sky is alive!”It was what I wanted my heart to believe.After Sister Grace left, Aunt Rose came, giving me her warmest hug, and for a while, she cried with me. She sniffed as she moved away from me, her palms on my face as her thumb softly touched my cheeks, wiping the tears.“Have you eaten already?” She asked, and when I shook my head, she forced a chuckle. “I’m not asking you, Angela. I’m asking that little Sky in there,” she took my hand and placed my palm on my belly. “He might be hungry and tired. Or should I say, they might be hungry?”“They?” I released a brief laugh, tears rolling again. “Aunt Rose!”She smirked. “What? You’re a Mars now. You should have known the rumors about them.”“Rumors?” My eyebrows raised at her.Aunt Rose grinned at me. “They were wealthy because someone in the family always produced double. Steve has twin brothers, and you knew he has twins, too, right?” She pursed her lips. “I guess you broke the tradition of producing only two. They s
(Anj’s POV)After giving birth to two babies, the doctor asked me to push again. I remembered glancing at my sun and bright star before nodding to her. She was expecting another girl to come out, but she said it was as if my moon goddess helped me push her brother, but despite that, he still didn’t survive, and Selene almost didn’t make it.When I heard Selene’s first cry, I sobbed, wishing Sky was here. With three babies on top of my chest, I told my children that the sky was almost complete. My heart ached for Cloud, but with three babies, I had to live and wake up. They needed me, and with the thought of me being an orphan, I swore to my children that they would not lose a mother.“Mooommmmyyyyy!” My children wailed, crying as they tried to get into the bedroom. Nina has been stopping them because she thought I needed the time alone.I blinked, and my head turned, following the cry of my girls. My lips curved a sad smile as I opened my arms to them. I saw Nina wiping her tears, ste