“What is in this for me?” Ramon asked as he stared at his father and brother through the screen of his computer. “No… how long have you known?” “That is why you should have waited to hear everything before you rushed back to that fucking country because you heard her child is sick,” Mateo hissed distastefully. “Answer me, how long have you known?” “It’s been a long time. Three years? Four… or, five?” He asked rhetorically. “And you never thought of telling me?!” “What do we do when you are overly dumb for your own good? Even now, I would not have told you if not for Father. I don’t trust you, Ramon. You could snitch on us for all I know.” “I am not like that,” Ramon hissed. “Are you not? Still, I don’t trust you.” “I want to ruin Zeke as much as you want to,” he sniffed. “Because he seems to have a better chance at winning the woman you love than you?” “Because he does not deserve her!” “And you do?” Mateo asked, his lips tugged upward in amusement. “Yes.” “Oh?” “I was
“Elena,” he finally moved over to them and watched as Zeke slowly leaned back in his seat rather comfortably. “Ramon,” Elena exhaled and dropped her eyes on him. She thought he was mad at her. She had thought she was unnecessarily harsh on him that day and had beat herself to it quite a bit. Seeing the man with a slight smile on his face, she smiled back. He was no longer mad, she thought. Ramon was the nicest man that she knew and she was glad he was the type of person who did not let things of the past hold him back. She stood up, moved over to him, and then he hugged her gently. “Are you okay?” He asked her and she nodded her head. “I am sorry I have not come over since then. I just… I…” “No, it’s fine,” she shook her head and he smiled. “I should be more careful with my choice of words, really,” he said and she chuckled loudly. “I know, right?” “How is Natalie?” He asked and slowly settled on the chair, totally ignoring Zeke who sipped his soda gently. “She is sleepin
“Just let him be,” Zeke said and then glanced at the boy who wrapped his arms around his leg. He could not miss the displeased look that Raymond Baskerville and Ariana were giving him, instead, he only focused on Elena and Nathan. Ariana had arrived at the hospital earlier with Nathan and had told them that Nathan’s homeroom teacher had advised that the boy stay back home as his focus was not on school at all. There, Elena was asking and literally scolding him as to why he was not concentrating before he had butted in by saying she should let him be. “He should be in school!” She exclaimed, her brows snapped together. “Even as an adult, I could not concentrate at work. What do you expect from him? He’s just a boy and his twin is sick,” Zeke said. Elena inhaled and swallowed hard. He was right but a month plus was too much for him to miss school. She watched as Zeke bent down slowly to face Nathan and then glanced at her father who tore his eyes away with a scoff. “Are you okay
“Don’t choke my son!” Zeke snapped and hit Jeremy’s arm. Jeremy grinned and pulled away gently, before pulling out the empty chair beside Nathan and then settled on it. “Don’t choke your son?” He rolled his eyes. Ryan settled on a chair beside Zeke and then clasped his hands together. “How did you know I am here?” “We saw Elena. She said you were probably at the cafeteria, or that we should call you,” Ryan answered. “God, your father in law is so…!” Jeremy stopped halfway as he turned to look at the boy who was still eating and then shook his head. “Cranky,” he whispered. “Why?” “Why?! He literally tore us to pieces. Me especially. Why? Because I am your brother,” Jeremy rolled his eyes and Zeke nodded his head. “Did grandpa hate you too?” Nathan’s sudden question made them go mute and then exchange glances. “W… what?” Jeremy stuttered. “Grandpa. Did he hate you too? He hates my daddy so much,” he said. “Nathan, you should…” “Hate me?” Jeremy burst into laughter, cuttin
“Congratulations, ma’am.” Elena dropped her eyes on the two awards that the woman pointed at her and she sniffed. “I… I won?” She raised a brow at Marvella and then the lady nodded her head. “I wished you were there to receive them by yourself. I would gladly give my all to watch the happiness on your face while you were called on stage,” she grinned as Elena finally collected it from her. Grabbing the two awards in her hands firmly, she smiled softly and sniffed back the tears that were going to drop. Not to lie, she had assumed that she was not going to win this. She literally took her mind off it too because she didn’t want to be hurt when the result finally came out. Not only one award… but two. She shook her head and then smacked her tongue. “I am speechless.” “You deserve it,” Marvella grinned. “Oh, my God! Sis!” Ariana finally left where she stood with her parents and then rushed to hug her sister. “Congratulations, Elena!” She exclaimed while she hugged he
It was early morning, and time for surgery. The doctor started by greeting the family and reassuring them that the surgery was going to go well. After, it was time for Zeke to follow him. Zeke moved over to Elena, ignoring her father, and then dropped his hands on her shoulder. “It’s alright.” She nodded her head and forced a smile. Glancing around to look at her family, and then Chloe, Jeremy, and Ryan who had arrived so early that morning, she nodded her head again. They were enough to keep her going till the surgery was over. As soon as Zeke turned away from her to leave, she exhaled, and called out his name, her hands subconsciously grabbing the hem of his clothing. “Zeke.” Eyes fell on her, but she ignored them and only raised her head to look at Zeke who turned back to look at her. She moved her hands away, picked on her fingers, and then exhaled. “I… I checked online…” she stuttered. “It is not a painful surgery.” “I know,” Zeke nodded his head. “It… it won’t give
“So… how are they? My daughter and… and the donor?” Elena asked. “Rest assured, they are doing well. However, the donor… Mr Zeke. The anesthesia wore off during the surgery and he was aware during the entire procedure. Although it is highly unlikely for a person to wake up during the surgery, as the anesthesia is designed to keep them in a deep sleep state. Still, it is not impossible. It is a rare case, but it still happened with him.” “So? Is it going to be a problem?” “Not really. We made sure to adjust the anesthesia levels to ensure he was comfortable and pain-free. He will be taken to a recovery room soon where he will be monitored as the anesthesia wears off completely, but he may experience some discomfort, pain, or nausea… oh, and difficulty sleeping. But be rest assured, all of these can be managed with medication,” he informed. “Oh, God,” Elena palmed her mouth and then sniffed. “He is out of danger, Ms. Baskerville, I assure you. And your daughter too. The surgery was
“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
“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
Elena looked away from him and breathed out.For a few seconds, she had thought he was truly getting married- To another woman.And that news had almost sent her flying out of her seat.She closed her eyes and smacked her lips.She was hopeless, really.“Are you thinking about what I said?” Zeke asked and then joined the audience in clapping.She turned back to look at him, swallowed hard, and then clapped too.“There is nothing to think about there.”“There is, Amore.”“Don’t call me that,” she snapped her brows together.“Amore?” He asked and she frowned harder.Zeke laughed and shook his head, “Why do you get mad whenever you’re called anything else aside ‘Elena’?”“Because Elena is my name and you should address me as that,” she pointed her index finger at him.He wrapped his hand around her finger and then kissed the back of her hand hurriedly.“No, Amore.”“Hey,” she snatched her hand away and then looked around.“So, Elena. Let’s throw a party too. A very extravagant one.”“You