“Mama, I wanna use the restroom,” Natalie moaned as she walked closer to her mother and then tapped her gently. “Me too!” Nathan hurried to her and then grabbed his shorts. “The both of you?” Elena raised her brows. “Yes, hurry, mama!” “Okay, sorry babies,” she smiled and then prepared to stand when Ariana raised her hand and then stood up instead. “I will follow them. I’ve been here before so I know the way to the restroom,” she said. “Okay, thank you.” “Let’s go guys,” Ariana caressed Natalie’s hair and then took their hands in hers. After they were out of sight, Elena raised her head to look at the car that was parked there earlier but soon squinted her brows when she realized that it was no longer there. ‘Someone got tired, I guess.’ She thought and then picked up her phone. ____ Since they were both kids, Ariana entered the female restroom with the two of them and then escorted them to a different toilet. It was quite a large restroom, so it had different rooms enoug
Ryan glanced out through the window to check if his friend was coming but there was no sight of him and he let out a long sigh again. A while ago, when Zeke had sighted the kids standing from their seats with their aunt, he had told him to drive the car to the back of the ice cream shop which he did after he asked why. Zeke didn’t answer him till he got there and then said that he assumed that they were going to get more orders or to the restroom and he hoped it was the latter. Ryan sighed again and rested his head on the headrest before he sank into his seat comfortably. He knew that his friend wanted nothing more than to reunite with Elena and just like he knew, he also knew that it would take him literally everything in the world to make the woman take him back. It’s been three months since she returned, and all through the three months, he had been pleading with her but there was no sign that she was going to forgive him yet. She still stared at him with hatred in her eyes.
Zeke got down from the car and then walked towards the butler who waited outside like he was anticipating his arrival. “Mr. Russo,” James greeted him formally as he covered the space between them. “Is everything alright? Mum is acting hysterical,” he said as they turned to the door. Early this morning, his mother’s calls had bombarded him. If he was asleep, he could have said that her call woke him up as it was barely four in the morning. She told him he needed to come around today and even though he told her he was going to be busy, she yelled at him frantically and said to him again that he must be present. James shrugged his shoulders off as they both entered the room, and there, he met his brother and then sister who sat on the chair while their mother paced to and fro the room. “Mother,” he called out and the woman stopped walking. “Oh, finally!” She snapped and rested her hands on her waist. “I told you to come in very early!” “Ma, it’s barely eight in the morning. It’
Jeremy and Zeke stood at the edge of the bed while they watched Chloe tuck their mother back in the bed. They waited until she was asleep and they were sure of that before they all turned to leave the room. As soon as they reached the living room, Jeremy said to Chloe instantly. “Stay home today.” “What, why?!” “An insane man is roaming around and we don’t know what he looks like. It’s safer if you are at home.” “Are you staying home too?” She frowned. “We’re men and we know how to protect ourselves from people like him, so you don’t have to worry.” “Bullshit! Why should I stay home and you can’t? Is it because I am a woman?” “Come on, Chloe. Just stay home.” “I won’t! Why should I do that because of that person? Why don’t you both just stop me from going out at all? Besides, he is a man, so I don’t have any business with him. It’s you who should be worried given how you work with literally only men! I only sew ladies’ clothes,” she said, breathing heavily. Zeke pressed his
“Guess what I made for youuuu,” Elena sang as she entered her room with a tray in her hand. “Pasta!” Chloe clasped her hands together. “How did you know?!” Elena laughed and dropped the tray on the table and then turned to look at Chloe who sat in her bed. “You know that is my best food, so I assume that is what you would be making since you chose to cook for me,” Chloe laughed back. “Nice try,” Elena chuckled and then moved the try to her. “Do you love surprises so much? You didn’t tell me you were coming.” “Today is Sunday, so I guessed you would be at home. And see, I guessed right.” “I could have gone on a date with whoever,” Elena rolled her eyes and Chloe went mute. “Please, don’t.” “What?!” Elena burst into laughter. “Don’t go on a date with anybody,” she said, her eyes fluttering like she meant what she just said. Oh, she actually meant it. “Whatever. How about you? Are you not seeing someone, Chloe?” Chloe exhaled at the change of topic, picked up the fork, and t
“Dad, it’s Nathan and Natalie!” Nathan said. Zeke cleared his throat and then nodded his head. “I know, bab—” he was still saying when a FaceTime request came in from them and he picked it up after adjusting his hair. Seeing their wide grin plastered across the screen, Zeke smiled unconsciously and waved his hands at them. “Hiii!” They drawled. It seemed as if they dropped the phone on the table so it could capture both of them equally and then sat in front of the phone. “Whose phone are you using to call?” Zeke asked. Nathan looked around as if he was being watched and then whispered, “It is for Mama.” “She would be so pissed when she finds out.” “We just have to make sure she does not,” Nathan shrugged and Natalie nodded her head in agreement to him. Zeke smacked his tongue at their naughtiness and then nodded his head. “How are you both doing?” “You are our daddy, right?” Natalie asked instead. “Of course, he is!” Nathan exclaimed. “How did you know? He had not even s
“Will you guys open the door right now?” Nathan, who stood by the door with the phone in his hand, exhaled one last time at his mother's words and then turned the knob gently. He pulled the door open and Elena entered the room gently, and then dropped her hands on her waist. “What is going on?” “With?” Nathan grinned. Her brows drew together and she collected the phone from him. “What were you doing with my phone and why did you lie that it was not here?” She asked as she browsed through her phone with the hope of finding out what they were up to. “Uhm…” Nathan scratched his forehead. “The thing is…!” Natalie jumped up and rushed to her. “I remember you saying that you downloaded a game on your phone so I wanted to show Nathan.” Elena pressed her lips together and stared at her kids unsurely. “I don’t trust you two,” she shook her head and then turned to leave the room. As soon as she walked out of the room, she turned to look at the door that her kids slammed shut instan
Ryan shook his legs vigorously as he kept his eyes plastered on the screen of his phone. He had been on her I***A page since forever and had been looking at her pictures all day. Every day, she crossed his mind, and every time, he refrained from reaching out to her because of Zeke. When Ryan remembered the incident that happened some years back, he knew it was his cue to not trespass. He knew a person who married his friend’s sister and right there, Zeke had shown his disgust at it. “How could my friend fall for my sister? That is messy!” He had laughed it off, even though at that time he was developing feelings for Chloe already. But since he had thought it was just something casual and would leave in a short time, he agreed with his friend to his face. But, many years had passed, and his feelings for Chloe had only grown more. The woman established her business about three to four years ago, and she has been topping the chart in the fashion industry. He loved that for her a
Elena dropped her head on the steering after the call ended and then Zeke finally got to her place.“What’s wrong?” He asked, placing his hands on her thighs.“He called… Mateo.”“Don’t let him get to you,okay? I have this under control. I have gotten…”She grabbed his wrist hurriedly, cutting him short.Elena shook her head, moving gently away from the camera that was planted in her car.“What?” He whispered when she dropped her index finger on her lips.She picked up her phone, and then turned on the note application, “My car is bugged too.”He drew his brows together as he read and then nodded his head.Afterward, he collected the phone from her and then typed in it too.“We are going to find the twins soon. There is a way.”“So Mateo called me too,” he said after she read the message he typed.“He did?”“And he made his demands already.”Zeke narrated everything to her and she shook her head.“He is crazy.”“I plan on doing that.”“What?!”“We have to give him what he wants in ord
“D… do you hear that?” Zeke stuttered after the call ended and Ryan raised his brows.“He is a psycho,” Ryan breathed out.“No, no. I heard the sound of a siren in the background. He…”“I got his location!” One of the men hollered.“Where is he?”“He is… nearby,” he drew his brows together and zoomed in properly.“He is around here,” he repeated.Zeke prepared to stand up but Ryan was quick to stop him.“No, wait.”“I have to find him.”“We need to be rational here. Hold on.”“He said the bomb could detonate on its own!”“I heard that, just calm down.”“How is it going so far?” Ray joined them in the car and Zeke breathed out.“He has called, and made his demands,” Zeke answered.“Good. How much? Tell me, and I will raise it right now.”“He wants all of my assets.”“What?”“My assets. Everything down to my shares and buildings.”Ray swallowed hard and then shook his head. “That psycho.”“What are we going to do? Make the call again. I will give him mine. They might not be up to yours,
“I knew it…”When the low, hoarse voice of the little boy came up, Ramon turned around to look at him and then breathed out.“What?”Nathan adjusted in his seat and then glanced at the tiny rope that was used to tie his wrists together.“I knew… something was wrong about you. I have always known that.”“Shut up, you don’t know anything,” he hissed at the boy.Natalie stirred gently from where she sat too and then finally opened her eyes.Looking around at where they were and how they were tied, she whined gently and then burst into tears.“I know you were not a good person,” Nathan said again.“The problem with you is that you act like you know everything.”“I think you are actually pained that I have always been right about you.”Ramon forced a laugh and then shook his head. “Right about me? You don’t know anything, trust me!”“Aside from the fact that you hold grudges against little children like us which actually amuses me, I know for a fact that you have always had this darker sid
The call ended, and Elena shook her head vigorously. There was no way this was going on. She swallowed hard and dialed the number again but it was not going through. Skeptically, she looked around the car while she made sure she sat tightly. What if it was not a lie? What if there was truly a bomb in her car? How could anyone have had access to the car anyway? Finally, her eyes settled on the dash camera in her car and she squinted her brows when her eyes caught the faint red light that was flashing beside it. She leaned closer and when she realized that a camera had been planted in her car. No wonder he knew to call the moment she wanted to leave the car. If truly she was sitting on a bomb as he had said, then she could have died if he had called her a second late. Oh, what a psychopath! Her kids were missing and she has been made to sit forcefully in her car. She browsed through her phone and then clicked the camera application. She began to record the car and then gentl
“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
“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