Xavier knew Laura probably had something up her sleeve when she asked to meet him at her penthouse instead, but he agreed to go, not because it was the least he could do since he would be taking her son away for a whole month, but also because he knew that if he didn’t, she would continue to nag about his conference room. “Sorry I’m late,” Xavier said and took the empty seat in front of what he could only call a picnic table. Laura smiled, not at all offended. “It’s alright. I pulled you out of space so you weren’t under any obligation to come so early. How have you been?” Xavier nodded without giving an audible answer. One hand held up his jaw while the other held onto the side of the chair as he tried to get used to this new setting. The penthouse was scattered with toys, yoga mats, pillow and whatnot. He didn’t like how lived-in it looked, neither did he like the fact that Laura hadn’t even bothered to tidy up the place before inviting him. She was giving off the hidden
For the first time in weeks, Charlotte felt at home. She and Kate had been cooped up on the couch all day, binge-watching a series on Tv and eating chips. “I can’t feel my butt,” “We’re all out of chips,” Kate and Charlotte said at the same time. They looked at each other and began to laugh. “I just came up with a great idea to solve both our problems,” Kate said, flicking her wrists. “Stand up and exercise your dead butt, and while you’re at it, go to the kitchen and get more chips.” Charlotte gave her a look. Kate rolled her eyes and pushed her. “Go. I’ll pause the show,” she assured her. “Ugh, okay,” Charlotte said resignedly as she stood up with the empty plate of chips. “I’ll be sure to keep my butt issues to myself from now onwards.” Just like her sister, Charlotte was obsessed with chips. Ever since she left Xavier, chips had become her comfort food, which was why on her first day out of the house to do grocery shopping, she had purchased an entire truckl
Charlotte felt ridiculous wearing her sister’s clothes, but she knew that the real reason she kept tugging at it was because she was nervous. Charlotte had told Kate everything, well everything except that Xavier had driven her home after she assaulted his sister at his company and tried to get her to open up to him, but she refused. If she did tell her, she would never hear the end of it. After several confusing turns and exchange of borderline unpleasant words, Kate finally announced, “we’re here!” “Come on,” Kate said as she opened her side door. “Or do you want me to open the door for you?” Charlotte rolled her eyes. “You literally just stopped the car. Can you just chill?” Before they walked down to the gate, it opened for them and the guard in charge for the day greeted her with a smile like he had been expecting her. Charlotte squinted at him. He had never been this excited to see her. “Welcome, Mrs Roman,” he said, making way for her to enter the premises. “J
There was an awkward silence for a while as Xavier and Charlotte stared at each other. “So uhm, the maid told me he lives with you now? Your son, I mean,” Charlotte said to break the silence, even though the words hurt her as they left her lips. “He’s not my son,” Xavier corrected quickly, and the boy jerked back a little. “I just asked her to let me have him for a while so that she’ll finally leave me alone. It’s complicated. I’ll explain later. Just know he isn’t staying here permanently…” Charlotte ignored Xavier and left the couch to go to the boy. Caleb’s little body shook as she approached, but he remained at a spot. He no longer clung to Xavier, who had vehemently refused him. “Hey, are you okay?” She asked him in the softest tone she could muster, but he didn’t answer. She reached out to touch him, but he kept moving back until his back touched the wall. Xavier sighed when she looked up at him in question. “That’s how he has been for days now. He’s always scared, ev
“Charlotte,” Xavier called out, catching up to her just before she started going up the stairs and holding her hand. “What?” She snapped, making Xavier take a step back, even though he didn’t let her go. “You just got here,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “Did I do something wrong? I thought you would want to talk to me.” Charlotte chuckled drily and slapped his hand away. “Did you do something wrong?” She mimicked. “I think the correct question here should be ‘when have you ever done something right?” Xavier’s jaw tensed as he let her go and put his hands in his pockets. He was silent. “You won’t say anything now? Do you think that just because I’m back, we can just carry on from where we stopped and pretend like this whole thing didn’t happen? You have a child. A child with a psychopath. No matter how hard you try to act like that’s not a problem, it is.” “He’s not my child,” Xavier said with a frown. Charlotte scoffed. “Well he’s currently living in your house and
Charlotte nodded and cleaned the stubborn tears that came out of her eyes on Xavier’s suit. She pulled away from his embrace and pressed her lips together as she stared at the Tv that wasn’t even on. “I’ve missed you,” Xavier said, without taking his eyes off her. She wit-held herself from smiling. “Thanks.” “Thanks?” He asked with a smirk. “No ‘I missed you too’?” She smiled. “Maybe you don’t deserve to be missed.” “Wow.” They both laughed. Unfortunately, her temporary relief was interrupted by a thought. “You said Laura now has a successful tech company?” She asked. “Yes, why?” “And she has a lot of money?” “Yes…” Charlotte wrapped her arms around herself. Now she knew that Laura wanted Xavier back, the pieces of the puzzle all fit perfectly and her suspicions had been confirmed. “What’s wrong?” He asked, noting her discomfort. Charlotte suddenly felt cold all over. Was it not better to let it go since he didn’t seem to know what was going on? No. It was better she sp
“Do you want more milk with your cereal?” Charlotte asked Caleb, using the highest pitched voice she could muster. The boy didn’t even look up at her. He just kept turning his dry cereal, until she gave up and poured the milk for him. He had started therapy, but so far, nothing had changed. The only person he was comfortable being around was Kate, and that even hurt more than any other thing. Kate had asked her not to sweat it because her mother had probably convinced him she was a bad person even before they met. She wondered how things would be between them since Kate would soon return back to London to be with her family. That morning, she was the only person left to take care of him. Kate had gone out ti meet friends she hadn’t seen in years, while Xavier had gone out to work. It was boring staying home with someone who wouldn’t even regard her existence. It was weird that she felt even more lonely now than when she had been in her apartment. Marcella walked into the dining
The surprised look on Kate’s face made every hope that all of this was just a huge misunderstanding disappear. Kate and Carlos obviously had history, and judging by how Kate’s chest heaved for long without her breaking into a smile or hurriedly introducing them, it was probably not a good one. “What are you doing here?” Kate asked finally. “I work for Mr Roman,” Carlos explained. Kate nodded and crossed her arms over each other. “Hi sis,” she greeted Charlotte, only noticing her then. “Hi, Kate,” Charlotte said flatly, and turned to check if Carlos had heard her call her real name. Kate frowned when she realized what her sister was trying to do, but the frown was quickly replaced with a sharp smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “See you around,” she said quickly to Carlos and walked past him into the house and shut it, not giving him any chance to object her dismissal. “Miranda?” Charlotte asked as her sister paused by the shut door. She rolled her eyes. “Ha ha, very fun
“It’s time for bed, Caleb. Let’s go,” Charlotte told Caleb with her arms crossed over her chest, giving him no room to argue. “Just let me win this game…” he argued absently, more focused on the game he was playing on his iPad. “You’ve spent your extra fifteen minutes,” she said, taking the device out of his grasp. He frowned, but conceded in the end. “Fine.” As Charlotte tucked him into bed, she couldn’t imagine how the times had changed. It had been six months since Laura had been taken away, her parents had been released and since she had started running her own business. Caleb had started therapy again, and it had definitely worked. These days, he spoke so often and did whatever he wanted to do that it was hard to believe he had been the same mute boy from months ago. He had just turned four, but the topic of his birth mother never came up fortunately. He seemed to blend right in, just as sweet and annoying as any other four year old boy. “I love you mommy,” he wh
When Charlotte saw Jonah being led out by a prison ward officer, she froze and started to wonder what she had been so scared about. He looked nothing like he did before. He had slimmed down to an almost unrecognizable state and his face looked like he had permanently lost the ability to smile. He walked with the slouch of someone that had given up on life in general. Charlotte doubted that whatever he was going through had happened in that prison in such a short time. “You can wait for me,” Charlotte whispered to Carlos who reluctantly left her side when he understood. “Hi,” Jonah said when he was sitting opposite her. He tried to smile, but it ended up looking like a grimace. He couldn’t meet her eyes. “Hi,” she said simply. She couldn’t let him see she pitied him. “How have you been?” He managed to ask. “You look good.” She couldn’t say the same for him. “Why did you call me here, Jonah?” “Straight to the point like always, huh?” He said with something she suspec
Xavier could only relax comfortably when they were back on the jet and on their way back to California. He could finally let himself be convinced that his dream had been nothing more than that. It hadn’t been a sign of anything, because it had gone on perfectly with no dramatic appearances from anyone. Unfortunately, the thought of one day running into Laura again came often to him and disoriented him. However, he always pushed that possibility away to the back of his mind. He had run a background check on the psych ward Don had placed her and from his research, it was a very exclusive place, so her chances of leaving were lower than zero. It was like a madhouse for wealthy people to drop off their family members who had lost it through drug use of whatever means. Their security was so prioritized that it was practically impossible to get in or get out unless the very owner of the establishment permitted. There was also no possible way Laura could bribe anyone there. It was afte
“Xavier, wake up! Wake up!” The sound of the female voice calling out to him sounded so distant at first, but the hand violently shaking his shoulders brought him back to consciousness. He was breathing fast, as his eyes got accustomed to the light around him, his chest heaving rapidly. “Are you okay?” Charlotte asked him, peering into his eyes as she touched the sides of his face. He could see the fear in her eyes as she studied him. “Charlotte,” he whispered, holding her arms and wrapping her in a tight hug. She was alive, here in front of him. “You’re alive.” “Yeah,” she said uncertainly, hugging him back. “Did anyone kill me?” She asked with a chuckle. He finally pulled out of the hug and glanced around. They were still in the jet, on their way to Orlando. He had just had a bad dream. “Where’s Caleb?” He asked. “Right here,” she said, pointing at a part of the jet where a small makeshift bed had been made for Caleb to lie on. “Is everything okay?” “Yeah,
After bidding Kate and her family goodbye, Xavier and Kate had to take the journey back, while consoling Caleb, who couldn’t understand why the twins had to leave without him. It was a Saturday, and for the first time in such a long time, Xavier had a free day. They all decided to spend the day together, to make up for Caleb’s friends leaving. Charlotte was extremely happy. She chatted and laughed all the way to the four seasons Orlando, where they decided to spend the day with their son, since he had seen a video about it online and wouldn’t shut up about going there. She held Caleb’s shoulders during takeoff in Xavier’s private jet, more to distract herself than him. No matter how often she rode in the jet, she still got jittery when they had to go anywhere in it. She had made an appointment with Dr Anna that morning and she couldn’t wait to finally carry out the surgery the week after. “Are we really going to Orlando?” Caleb asked, peering out of the window of the jet.
The ride home was mostly silent, with Xavier at the backseat, pondering on all that had happened that day while Carlos drove them home, shooting glances at his boss from time to time. “How was your break?” Xavier asked all of a sudden and Carlos cleared his throat. “Great. Thanks again for it. I really needed it,” he said with a smile. “How did it feel to have an actual conversation with her after so long?” Carlos sighed. “Not as bad as I thought. I actually feel better. Thanks for advising me to do it. We cleared some things out. She was mature about it and that’s that.” Xavier nodded and looked out the window at the trees that were zooming past. He remembered when Carlos had come to him for help when having to see Kate after the history they had was threatening to drive him insane. He had advised him to take a break, and then discuss with her when he was ready. It seemed to have worked. Carlos looked like himself again. It had been weird to find out that there had been a
“When will you come back, daddy?” Caleb’s little voice came over the phone and Xavier smiled. He could picture his son standing next to Charlotte and holding the phone to his ear with both his hands. “I’ll be there this night, I promise,” he replied. From the corner of his eye, he saw Private trying to get his attention. “Take care of mom for me, okay? I’ll see you soon.” “Bye daddy,” Caleb said and Xavier nodded before he ended the call. “What’s up?” He asked Private. “She’s causing a scene, boss. She’s yelling at everyone and she even pushed her brother and broke a glass on the doctor’s head when he tried to sedate her,” Private told him. There was an urgency in his private investigator’s voice as he reported to him, but there was also a hint of amusement in his tone. Xavier rolled his eyes and walked past him toward the ward he had left to answer his wife’s call. “Why was there glass next to her in the first place?” He asked no one in particular when he enterrés t
“My daddy used to beat my mommy before that woman took me and told she’s my real mommy,” Caleb explained the best way he could. “He told me he’s not my real daddy and that my mommy sold me to him.” “Wait, wait,” Charlotte told him. She had no idea what he was talking about and the more he spoke, the more confused she became. None of what he was saying made any sense. At this point, he was just throwing the words ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’ around. “Laura, the woman that brought you to us, she’s your mommy, isn’t she?” She asked him slowly, hoping his answers would make sense to her this time. He shook his head. “That’s what she told me and then she brought me here after,” he said. “So you had other parents before she came?” She asked and he nodded. When Charlotte realized he wouldn’t give her an understandable answer, she decided to stop asking him so that he wouldn’t confuse her more. Since Xavier had gone out to find answers, this one might be one of them. She would ask him wh
“Mommy!” Caleb squealed when he saw Charlotte and ran up to her. She carried him up and enveloped him in a tight hug. She was still not used to him calling her ‘mommy’, but hearing it was so natural and calming. Whenever she was with him, she secretly hoped something would happen to Laura or that she would say she didn’t want him again. She didn’t think she would be able to move on if he had to leave to go back to his real mother. “Did you miss me?” She asked, tickling his tummy. “Uh huh,” he replied, laughing and trying to get her hand away from him. Charlotte kissed him on the forehead and carefully set him back on his feet. She held his small hand and allowed him to lead her into the house. She had been in a sour mood after the meeting with her parents, but just a few minutes with Caleb had softened her up. Kate looked at her and smiled. With a playful frown, she nudged Caleb and asked him why he didn’t notice her. He started to laugh. “What did you do today while we were g