“Are you sure? If it were up to me, I’d suggest that you stay here for a few more days,” Elena said, worry plastered across her face as she watched the man who did his shirt button. It was early the next morning and Zeke had already asked to be discharged even though the doctor had suggested that he should spend at least a day more. He insisted that he was good already and that he had no other complaints and if he did, he'd let the doctor know. “He does not listen,” Chloe who stood beside Ryan rolled her eyes and hissed. “I don’t like it here. I could not sleep well in that bed,” Zeke snapped his brows together as he glanced at the bed. “As if you’ve ever slept well in any bed,” Ryan rolled his eyes. Zeke swallowed, moved over to Elena, and then dropped his hands on her shoulders. “I am fine. I promise.” She exhaled, nodded her head, and then sniffed. “You better let me know if anything goes wrong again.” “I promise. Now, we gotta wait till Natalie gets discharged, right? The
When Ray suddenly burst into laughter, Zeke’s eyes fluttered as though he had said something very funny. He tilted his head and then sighed. “Sir?” “Is this some movie show?” “You asked…” “How much do you want, Zeke?” “I have answered you.” Ray shook his head, “My daughter is not an option.” “Everything I did is for my family, father.” “I am no father of yours and they are not your family either.” Dumbfounded, Zeke nodded his head and then smacked his tongue. “Sir.” “I am grateful to you for what you have done for our family. For my grand daughter.” “It is my responsibility as her father.” “You have no responsibility to fulfill, dear,” he chuckled rather sarcastically. “So, see her as much as you want to while we are still in the hospital. Elena included. I can assure you that will not happen again after she has been discharged.” “Fath—” “You can’t have her again!” He snapped and then palmed his forehead. “You don’t even deserve her.” “I will make myself worthy of her
“Did something happen?” Ryan asked Zeke again. This time, he had pulled the car gently into his compound and had followed him out of the car. Zeke had kept mute the entire time in the car and even though he and Chloe had thrown random jokes, or started random conversations with the hope that he was going to join, he kept mute still. Still, Zeke said nothing and made an entrance to the big door of his house. “No, I am certain something happened. What is wrong? You said you were going to stay for a while. You said you wanted to see your daughter.” “Ryan…” Zeke finally exhaled and swallowed. Entering the living room fully, he turned around, dropped his eyes on the couple, and then palmed his forehead. He was keeping his feelings bottled up. He felt like he wanted to cry. But, he was a man and he should not cry, right? But, fuck that. He had little regret in his life, but this…? He would forever regret it. It was something he could have controlled. He did it anyway. He though
Elena looked out of the door for the umpteenth time and then sighed before she returned to stab a piece of apple in the bowl in her hand. “Give up. He’s not coming,” Ariana breathed out. “Who?” “I know you are waiting for Zeke.” “I am not!” She denied and Ariana nodded her head. “Besides… how did you know he is not coming?” She asked. “It’s been almost a week. He left without telling you and has not returned since then. He didn’t call you either.” “Something… might be wrong with him,” she shrugged her shoulders off. “Something like? Chloe was here and she didn’t deliver any bad news, so, what something?” Ariana asked. Elena sniffed, bit her lower lips, and then turned to look outside again. She did not want to admit that she was worried, but deep down, she knew she was. He was supposed to be here… He had promised he would be by her side till Natalie got discharged. He left that morning and had not returned since then. He didn’t even call her! She suspected so strongly t
“So, you’re not going? Really?” Zeke ignored Ryan totally, his head buried in his laptop and the man shook his head. Ryan exhaled and collapsed in the chair opposite Zeke and palmed his face. “Your daughter… Natalie is getting discharged today and you really are not going there?!” Still, he was mute. Maybe if Ryan peeped to check what Zeke was typing continuously on the keyboard, he would see that the only word he kept typing was ‘Natalie.’ “You know, you are an asshole, right?” Still, he was mute. “She is leaving the hospital today. It means she is hale and healthy already. It means she can move around freely and you can meet her as you please, you know?” Ryan reminded him. When Zeke did not answer, he leaned closer, pushed the laptop shut, and then hissed. “What are you planning? I can swear that you are not busy and you were typing shit right there.” “C… could you see them home safely?” “Dude, that is your duty, not mine!” Ryan snapped with creased brows. Zeke nodded h
“Take, one more spoon,” Elena patted her daughter as she took the last spoon of her food and after the girl collected it from her, she cleaned her mouth with a handkerchief and then leaned back. “Are you full?” Natalie nodded her head and then turned to look at her plate where Nathan had dropped a piece of meat in. She raised her brows, smiled gently, and then picked it up. “Thank you.” Nathan watched her sister chew it completely and then asked. “Do you want more?” She shook her head and then instead pulled off her cap. “See, my hair is starting to grow.” Nathan stared at her head where he could barely see a strand and then chuckled. He pulled off his cap too, bowed his head, and then showed her his. “Mine too.” “But…” Natalie tilted her head. “I can’t see any hair there.” “Same. There is no hair on your head either.” They dropped eyes on each other, and Elena pressed her lips, thinking Natalie had taken offense at his comment when her facial expressions literally went unre
“Who did you say is asking for Elena?” “A Zeke Russo, sir.” Ray drew his brows together and turned to look at Karina who sat on the couch away from him. “Don’t let him in.” “Raymond,” Karina called him softly. “Let him return to wherever he is coming from or you will be losing your job!” The gateman bowed and then rushed out back. Delivering the message to the man in a rather harsh way, he closed the gate and returned inside. “Something happening?” His partner asked him as he returned inside his quarter. “The man outside. Boss said he does not want to see him in this compound or I will lose my job.” “Wait, really?” “I am telling you,” he exhaled and then settled on the chair in front of the big screen. “W… what is he doing?” He stuttered as he watched the screen. The other man rushed to him, drew his brows together, and then parted his lips. “Is that what I think it is?” “He is on his knees?” The gatekeeper asked rhetorically and then stood up hurriedly. ___________ “
“Is he truly outside?” Karina rushed to her husband as he entered the room and he swallowed, entering fully. “I have told him to leave. He is leaving already,” he answered and then looked around the living room. “Where is Ramon? I ran into him outside the door here.” “He has gone to see Elena,” she replied. “Was he truly on his knees?” “You worry too much, Karina.” “Answer me, Raymond.” “Do you think that man has what it takes to do that?” He knew so well that his wife would not agree to the fact that he had left Zeke on his knees outside their mansion. “Honey, I really think you should stop interfering in their business.” “Whose business?” He feigned ignorance and settled on the chair. “Elena and Zeke. Raymond, they are not children.” “You are not honestly rooting for them again, are you?” “I am in support of whatever Elena chooses. I can’t make decisions for her and you need to know that too.” “In the past, you were against their union! I should have listened to you.”
“K… kids? Whose kids?” Elena stuttered.Zeke dropped the call instantly and palmed his face.“You are not talking about the kids, are you?” The gateman stuttered.“Why…?!”He sniffed and shook his head.“Why did you let them go with him?”“I have seen him before, so I didn’t think to refuse him. Besides, they called him uncle.”Zeke looked around and his phone rang again.He gritted his teeth and then picked up the call gently.“Where are my children?!” She thundered, breathing heavily.“I am going to look…”“You said Ramon has them?!”“The gatekeeper said someone came to pick them up. I believe it was Ramon.”“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Elena screamed from the other side.“Stay back, Elena, I am going to find them,” he said when he heard the sounds of footsteps.“You can’t tell me to sit back while my children are missing!” She yelled and then dropped the call.Zeke looked around and when he saw the CCTV camera, he moved closer to the security man.“Can I see the CCTV footage right away?”As
“B… but… why have you come to pick us?” Nathan stuttered as he reluctantly got out of the gate.“Your daddy sent me to pick you up. He is running late at work.”Zeke had initially thought that they were going to close by 3PM as usual but they had closed by two.“Daddy?” Natalie raised her brows.“Have you forgotten? I am his friend. His only best friend in the world.”The twins exchanged glances again.“I know you two are mad at me about what I said the last time and I am so sorry, okay? Can you forgive me already? I’m taking you to your daddy. Can we leave now?”Nathan moved over to Natalie and then held her hand. “We will wait for Daddy to come.”Ramon gritted his teeth and then forced a smile hurriedly. “Come on, guys.”“Daddy promised to come pick us up.”“But he is not here yet.”“He probably thought we would be closing by three and not two!” Nathan snapped.Oh, this boy was smarter than his age.Ramon hissed,“Actually… I should not be telling you this…” he sighed and bowed his
“Can we not go to school today, Daddy?”Natalie forced a solemn look as she stared at her father who addressed her dress.“What?” “We are not going to tell mummy.”“What?!” He widened his eyes when Nathan added.“We’re going to act as if we went to school and then when it is time, you will take us back home,” Natalie said.“Jesus, when did you two become like this?!” He exclaimed and the twins burst into laughter.“You are being dramatic, papa.”“You want me to join you to lie to your mother!”“You are exaggerating. It’s not gonna be a lie. We’re just gonna tell her that we went to school…”“Whereas you didn’t?” He cut her short and she clasped her hands together.“Exactly.”“How did you two come up with that idea? It is so…”“Perfect? We know,” Nathan smiled.“Not perfect, guys!”Natalie covered the space between her and her father who knelt in front of her and then wrapped her arms around his neck.“That is because we have missed you, daddy. We want to spend the rest of today with
“But Daddy, do you pull your friends' clothes?” Natalie asked after they had watched Ramon out of the compound.“We were only talking. It is nothing serious. Trust me.”“I thought you were fighting. About what he told us.”Zeke sighed and then glanced at Ariana who chuckled. “We have settled everything. He had apologized for saying something like that so we are good now.”“Hmm,” Nathan rolled his eyes.“I am being serious.”He held the door for them and they both entered the car.“Have you told mummy?”He parted his lips and then scratched his forehead. “I forgot.”“Daddy!” They both exclaimed and he rushed back inside.Ariana laughed as they watched him run to the big door and she turned to look at the twins.“Your mummy will agree. Don’t worry.”===“Daddy, do you know our birthday is on Saturday?”He nodded his head as he took a turn out of the street before he glanced at them through the rearview mirror.“I do.”“We will be six years old!” Natalie shrieked and he giggled.“The ‘Ye
By the time Zeke and Elena got to the living room, Ramon was ready to leave. “Oh, I was just going to come to you to say bye!” He exclaimed, smiling. Zeke needed not to be told that the man was wearing the fakest and forced smile ever. “Oh… is that so?” Elena smiled and then moved away from Zeke. “I… sorry about your face,” she pointed her finger at his face and he chuckled. “I probably deserve it.” She nodded her head and he leaned closer to her gently and then hugged her. “I have missed you.” Zeke watched, with his hands curled into a tight ball. “When will I see you again?” She asked him. “When you feel like seeing me… but soon,” he pulled away and then stared at her. “Soon,” he repeated and then glanced at Zeke. He turned to leave the room after bowing at the old couple and then Zeke hurried after him. “Are you going to pick a fight again?!” Ray hollered. Instead, Zeke curled his arm around the man’s neck, turned back, and then smiled. “Not at all, fat
After they disentangled from the hug, Ariana waved her hands at her sister and then exited the room, leaving just the two of them in the room.When she got up to the living room, she rolled her eyes backward when she found her mother cleaning Ramon’s wound.Oh, Zeke should have hit him harder!At least, disfigure his face for the rest of his life.She grunted and then walked to the big door that led outside the room.“Where are you going?”“The twins are in the car. So, I’ll check up on them.”“Why won’t they come in, in fact?” Ray rolled his eyes.“I bet they think Zeke has come to return them so they chose to stay in the car till he returns,” she laughed.She dropped her eyes on Ramon, twitched her lips upward, and then said, “They love their father so much, you know. At this point, I can’t wait for them to become a proper family.”She said on purpose to rile Ramon up.Instead, the man only watched her while he faked a laugh.“Just leave them to do their thing,” Karina rolled her ey
“Zeke, no please!” Elena screamed and rushed to the man who threw a punch in Ramon’s face. She grabbed his shirt and tried to pull him backward but he would not budge. He kept hitting the man while Ramon raised his hands defenselessly. Zeke pulled him up, and then shoved him against the wall, “What are you doing here?” “C… Chill… you’re gonna kill me,” he coughed, trying to move Zeke’s hand from his neck. “What the hell are you doing here? How dare you show your face here?” “What are you saying, what have I done?” “You’re going to feign ignorance?” “I don’t know what…” Zeke raised his fist and tried to punch him again but Elena was quick to wrap her hands around his wrist. “Jesus, Zeke, you’re going to kill him!” “Let go, Elena.” “No, not on my watch.” “Why would you even let him in?!” He snapped and yanked his hands from her grip. “Just let him go.” Zeke turned back to look at Ramon, tightened his grip around his neck, and then breathed heavily. At that
“Where are the twins though? I have not seen them anywhere around?”Ramon asked as he stared at Elena who settled on the couch opposite him.“Oh… they are at their fa— They are at Zeke’s house,”“Oh…” his mouth formed an O and he nodded his head.“So… Can we talk now?” She asked.He nodded his head, bowed his head, and then palmed his face.Elena watched while he did that for a while before he started.“It was during the time Natalie was sick that I heard about my origin.”“My father had always claimed that he was an orphan. He said it was just him and that his family had died during a plane crash and he was the only survivor. We believed him of course, till recently when my brother called to tell me the truth.”“My father is Russo. He is Zeke’s uncle. Surprising, right?”Elena swallowed and then nodded her head.“After he told us, my brother thinks that it was right that he pursued his rights. He said he had shares at their house and since then, he has been out of reach.”“Your broth
“Is it my eyes or is someone actually standing there?”They all turned to look out of the window after Ray said.“Is that…” Ariana drawled.“Ramon?” Elena drew her brows together.She and Ariana exchanged glances and then shook their heads.To their parents, he was just Ramon.The man who was awfully obsessed with their daughter till it got in his head and started to act wrong.But to them, he was Zeke’s brother. Cousin. And might actually be a pawn for Ethan’s conspiracies. “What is he doing here?” Ray grunted.“Maybe he is back to his mind now,” Karina chuckled.As the car pulled in front of the gate, the gate creaked open and Elena got out of the car.“I will meet you inside.”“You can just bring him in too. You’re not turning him away, are you?” Karina asked.“Don’t interfere, mum,” Ariana said instead.“Elena…”Ramon rubbed his hands together and then shook his legs.“What are you… doing here?” She swallowed hard.“What do you mean? You missed me, didn’t you? So, I am back becau