“Elena, calm down.”“You do not tell me how to react!” She bellowed, her eyes sparkling in anger.“Elena…”“How dare you run a background check on me?!”“I did not.”“Don’t you dare lie to me!”“I followed you.”Elena went mute for a few seconds before she smacked her lips and hissed. “What?”“I am sorry. I followed you to their school that day and then… I saw them. Yes, I did run a check on you, but I found nothing… just a little.”She raised her hand to slap him again but he was quick to stop it, he grabbed her gently and then bore his eyes on her.“I am sorry.”“You are sorry?” She scoffed and tried to yank her hand away.“Elena, please listen to—”“They are not yours,” she snapped and snatched her hand from him.“Elena.”“My children are not yours, so get the fuck away!”“I know you are mad at me and…”“You wanna fight their custody? You want to take them away or what?”“What? No! They are your children and I would never do that to you!”“Good. Now leave. You have no kids with me.
“He knows,” Elena said as she took one last look at herself in the mirror in her sister’s room.Ariana was also preparing to leave home. It was a Saturday and the kids were home, with her parents.She was wearing a maroon color button-up and cream pencil skirt, matched with cream blazers.Her hair was in a half bun with locks framing her face. She applied some lip gloss and wore her maroon peep-toe heels. She looked nice, and she knew.“Who knows what?” Ariana asked as she adjusted her collar and turned around to look at her sister.They had not had the chance to talk well since the past week and that was because Ariana had been cramped with work and had been returning home very late unlike Elena who always made sure she returned home by six or before six pm.“Zeke,” Elena signed and pressed her lips together.“Talk well, Elena. I can’t understand you if you’re speaking like this.”“He knows about the kids!” She snapped and then smacked her tongue.“What?!” Ariana hollered and then co
“Who did you say is asking for me?” Elena raised her brows as she clutched the telecom tightly to her ear.“She said she is Camila, ma’am. She…”“Camila Rush!”She heard the woman’s voice from the background and then pressed her lips together.“We told her she can’t meet you without an appointment but…”“Why do I need an appointment to meet her?!” The woman yelled again.Elena scratched her chin, nodded her head, and then sighed, “Send her in.”On a normal day, she would have sent her back or refused to meet her at all.But… she knew it was right that they talked too.Plus, she was bored. A little craziness could lift her mood, right?!She leaned in her chair comfortably and then raised her head to look at her assistant, Marvella who stood in front of her.The lady was reading to her the feedback from the meeting she had attended on her behalf.“Can we do this later?”“Sure, ma’am,” Marvella bowed gently and then turned to leave.Rather impatient, Elena turned her swivel chair around
As Camila struggled to get on her feet, Elena stood up and then watched her with her hands akimbo. “What I stole? Girl, he was mine to begin with!” “Good for you.”Camila adjusted her clothes, raised her shoulder, and then covered the space between her and Elena.Their faces so close to each other, Elena stared down at the lady she was a bit taller than, and then smacked her tongue.“You don’t know what I am capable of,” Camila groaned, her voice so low that she could almost not hear what she said.“Oh?”“You don’t know the length that I can go to just to keep what is mine.”“Oh?” Elena raised her brows again sarcastically.“If I needed to kill a person…” she panted, and Elena took a step back as the lady’s saliva fell on her face.“If I needed to kill a person just to be with him, then… I will!”“If you would ask me, I would say that the person that you would kill first is only yourself.”“You know nothing, Elena! You do not know anything!”“I know a lot, Camila and because I do, I
“Let’s go to an amusement park first!” Nathan screamed.“What is that?! Let’s go to the zoo and then lick some ice cream afterward!”“Zoo? Do you have any friends there?” Nathan grunted.“Friends at a zoo?” Natalie drew her brows together.“Maybe your friends are in the cage there,” Nathan said and then burst into laughter at his own joke.“Hey, Nathan!” Elena snapped as she turned to look back after she ignited the engine of the car.“You should not say something so sensitive, it is not nice,” she smacked her tongue.“It is just a joke, mama!” Nathan grinned and Ariana turned her head to look at him.“It is not a joke when the other party does not laugh at it,” Ariana rolled her eyes.Elena shook her head and then drove the car gently out of the compound.It was a Sunday, and as Ariana had suggested, they had came out for fun.“You should say sorry to your sister,” she said, her eyes on the road.As she drove the car out of the compound, she glanced at the car that was nearly packed
“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 enough for a few p
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. She wa
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’s hard to
“Help me, Mateo.”Ramon breathed heavily and waited for his brother to respond to him from the other end but he did not.“I am fucking tired… and I am losing my patience.”“I feel like… I… I could kill him.”“Who do you wanna kill?” Mateo finally asked, chuckling.“Zeke, of course, Zeke!”“You wanna kill your cousin?” Mateo burst into laughter.Ramon needed not to be told that the man was being sarcastic at the moment. “Spare me that shit. He ain’t my brother.”“Why are you suddenly losing your patience? I thought it was going well.”“Elena has wavered totally and at this point, I can never get her!”“And you want to kill Zeke because of that? Wait, you don’t believe she would come to you if you did that, do you?”“She has found solace in me before, she can again. Or better still, if I can’t have her, he can’t have her too. I can’t stand them together!” He hollered.“Chill, Tiger, chill.”“Let me in on your plans. You and your father are not telling me anything. Besides, when do you
“Sis,” Ariana entered the room, glancing around.“Did something happen? Ramon didn’t look… good,” she said, pointing her hand to her face to make a gesture.“Did he leave?”“He didn’t even talk to anyone. He said his goodbye in a very quick way. What happened?”“Nothing,” Elena rolled her eyes and then settled on her bed.Pulling the duvet over her body, she let out a hiss again.Convinced that something was going on, Ariana rushed over to the bed, pulled the cover away from her sister, and then settled on the bed, purposely inconveniencing her.“Tell me.”“Ariana, leave. I’m so pissed right now.”“Tell me, come on!”Elena sat up, blew the strands of hair that fell over her face away, and hissed. “That man had the audacity to tell me that no one will tolerate my kids.”“Wait… really?”“He said, I am quoting, “no one will be so willing to take in kids that do not belong to them.”“No, no way!” Ariana widened her eyes.“He fucking did.”“Wait, why? I can’t believe that!”“Apparently, he
“I said I do not…!”“It is me, Elena. Ramon.”He said hurriedly and waited as a short silence ensued before he heard the creaking sound of the door.The door pushed open and Elena held the door for him to enter which he did instantly.“I didn’t know it was you,” she pressed her lips together after she locked the door and then returned to the bed.She settled on it while he sat on the couch away from her.“What’s wrong? You seem to be mad at everyone in the house.”“I am not,” she shook her head.“They think you are, though. See, locking yourself away is proof on its own.”“They know what happened, Ramon.”He nodded his head and clasped his hands together hoping she would venture into the topic fully but she didn’t, rather she looked away in silence too.“Are you still mad at me?” She shook her head in response and he breathed out.Things had gotten pretty awkward between the two of them and he hated that.“You are, Elena, I know you.”“I am not, really. I just do not see the need to
“Would you accept if she agrees to return to him? If you would ask me, I would say that she looked like she could,” Ariana her parents.Ramon stood still in a corner as he listened to the conversation between the family.“I have said before and I will repeat, I will support whatever decision she makes,” Karina said.Oh, how much he disliked this woman!She was a huge preacher of ‘going with the flow.’One time in Australia, she wanted him for her because of how he was good to her and how Elena seemed to find comfort in him too. She had said to him on two or more occasions that she would wish for Elena to consider him too… but, she can’t force her daughter to do a thing.At first, it didn’t seem like a problem to him. He didn’t give it any meaning at all.But, now when she still says the same thing? Even when it was certain that Elena could return to Zeke…Could she not be different for once?“I don’t want that,” Ray shook his head.Finally, the only person in the family who wanted h
Entering the living room fully, there was only Nathan and Natalie watching an animated show on the television, and Ramon entered fully, walking over to them.“Hi, guys!” He drawled and clasped his hands together.They both turned to look at him and then smiled gently before they returned to drop their eyes on the TV again.If he was asked, he would say that smile was nothing closer to being genuine.Regardless, he wore a larger smile and then dropped his hand on Nathan’s shoulder.“Where is your mommy? She is not picking up her calls. Is she upstairs… or out?”“In her room,” Nathan groaned as if he was forced to answer.Ramon nodded his head, moved his hand, and then turned away.“Uncle!”Nathan’s voice stopped him and he turned to look at the boy and raised his brows.“I have been trying to understand something since,” he started.Ramon’s eyes darted to Natalie who was pulling the tip of Nathan’s clothing like he was warning him to not talk.Then, he knew he had to brace himself for
While Zeke sat in silence at the back of the car, his head out of the window, Chloe and Ryan sang through to the music while Ryan drove. “But I, I think I like this little lifeeee!” Chloe sang the chorus of the song so loudly that Ryan laughed. “This little life!” Ryan sang back. “Can you two just shut the fuck up for a second?” Zeke finally hissed and asked. “What exactly is fun about this life?” He asked, angered. The couple went mute for a while and then Chloe turned to look at her brother with a sneer, “Why are bittered, brother? There are a lot of things to love in this life.” Ryan nudged her gently to not say anything as the man was apparently not in a good mood, but she didn’t listen, instead, she asked again. “Or, do you not like your life?” “Shut up, Chloe, and end that song too. Enough of the noise.” Ryan stopped the music instantly and Chloe turned to look at him, “Why? I was listening to it.” “We will listen to it after we drop him at his place,” he whispered to
When Ryan and Chloe entered and saw the atmosphere of the room as it was, they turned to look at each other and almost retreated from the room.When they had arrived at the living room downstairs and didn’t meet anyone, they rushed to ascend the stairs with the fear that Zeke was yet to regain consciousness but with the noise coming from the other end of the hall, they rushed over there, only to see everyone in the room.“That is not happening, Natalie, and I have…”“Mommy!” The twins cut her short.“You and Daddy will live together with us and we will live like a happy family, that is our opinion!”“Your opinion…” she swallowed.If she told them that it did not matter, they would probably never forgive her.“If you do not agree, Natalie and I will run away from home,” Nathan blurted.Natalie moved over to him, held his hand in support, and then whispered in his ear gently. “We will?”“Play along,” he whispered back.“We will run away and you will never find us again.”“Are you two… m
MAYBE…Zeke entered the room fully after Ariana had left and then bent down slowly beside the three of them.After Elena had said a piece of her mind to him and had left him there, he had stayed there all through to think and rethink what else he could do and say to make the woman forgive him.After he was done thinking, he decided to look for her in her room before he heard the cries coming from the children’s room also.“What are you all doing?” He asked.Natalie laid on the floor, crying, her feet in the air. Nathan wrapped his arms around his crying mother while he cried too and Elena sat on the floor, crying without a break.Not to lie, this scene right now was literally so funny to him because he could only wonder what had happened before they all burst into tears, Elena included.“Why are you crying?” He asked again.When none of them answered him, and not even knowing who he should start consoling and where he should start from, he rested his chin on his palms and
“So, is Daddy going to live with us now?”Natalie’s eyes shone in hope as their mother entered and then asked her.“Or would we need to move to his house? His house is very big, mama. Bigger than here. We can move there and start living together. Aunt Ariana can join if she wants. Including grandma and grandpa,” Nathan said.Elena exchanged glances with Ariana who stood across her, her arms folded across her chest, and then shook her head.Elena settled on the chair and the twins rushed to her in excitement, as if they were confident of her response to their questions.“Now, you both need to calm down and listen to me,” she said as she caressed the back of Nathan’s head.“Yes, go on, mama. Is it about our luggage? Natalie and I can handle our luggage. You can deal with yours.”“Or daddy can help us with packing,” Natalie suggested and Nathan giggled in agreement.“It would be so fun. You have a lot of dress. It will take a long time to pack up your things.”“Or we could hire those mov