(Alphonso's POV)I expected to be there for just an hour, but every time I would try to sneak out, someone else would pull me into conversation, and by the time I realized what had happened, it was already past eleven in the evening.I drove to the hospital, but Lily was already sedated and asleep.I kissed her forehead as I sat beside her.She turned to look at me, her eyes half open and half shut.“You took your time.” She stated in a soft voice as a smile came to her lips.“Sorry about that.” I whispered.She turned and closed her eyes. Then she turned back to me. “No problem. Gemma kept me company.” She muttered before she drifted off to sleep.I was too stunned to speak. I was trying to see if I heard her correctly.I stepped out of her room and went to the reception desk.“Hello, was there a lady in my wife's room?” I asked.“Yes. She said her name was Gemma, a friend to your wife, and you asked her to come spend time with your wife when you left.” The nurse replied.“I am stil
(Lily's POV)I had to do a lot of physical therapy when I left the hospital. Alphonso incorporated a few self-defense classes in there as it dawned on him that, as much as he wanted to always protect me, he wouldn't be able to do it all the time as he wouldn't be around me all the time, thus empowering me.I was sweaty when I got back to the hotel; we were still trying to find a house, Alphonso and I, and sometimes Gemma would join us. I would see how Alphonso would glare at her, much to her satisfaction, but he wouldn't do anything about it. We needed to keep up with the appearances.“I like how hot you look when you are sweaty like that.” Alphonso commented when I stepped into the bedroom.I chuckled. “Of course you would.” I replied by winking at him.“Okay, I'm joining you in the shower.” He said as he took off his shirt as he was getting ready for work.He had pulled me in for a kiss when there was a knock on the door.“Let's just ignore it.” He said as he trapped me close to hi
(Chris' POV)I had a lot of regrets about changing Sharpe for this knockoff, who just left the moment she could. Lola only cares about herself and no one else, and I felt stupid that I hadn't realized that sooner.Now here I was with this rich, middle-aged woman who was showering me with gifts, but I still felt like there was something missing.I guess I wasn't hiding it as well as I thought I was.“Is there something wrong?” Nancy, the middle-aged woman, asked.I sighed. “Have you ever done something you felt was right at the moment but regretted it?” I asked.She scoffed.“Story of My Life.” Nancy said, “But what is wrong with you? You seem very distracted of late.”“I'm just wondering what my life has become and what I want it to be.” I replied partially honestly.“I thought you enjoyed being here with me?” She asked.I turned to look at her, “I do, don't get me wrong, but is this all there is to life?” I asked.I wanted to leave this place. I was starting to become too comfortab
(Lily’s POV) I had finally decided to go back to work after we moved into our new house. Alphonso and I had decided on a sophisticated apartment complex that needed an ID badge for you to get into the elevator and a code for you to enter the apartment. It also had security at the door and a panic room inside the apartment.Alphonso made sure that we would be safe and that nothing like what happened before could happen again. But between moving in and work, we barely had time to spend together.I had pushed Alphonso's meetings because I wanted us to be able to have time alone while Frank was in daycare.I walked into our bedroom, wearing only one of his button-down shirts.The smell of fresh coffee made him wake up. His eyes flattered open as he saw me standing there with the tray in hand.“Good morning.” I said it in a sultry tone.He smiled at me, “I could get used to waking up like this.”I carefully placed the tray on a coffee table beside the dresser.“I thought we would just spe
(Lily’s POV) We settled at our table in silence, except for the excited chirping of the children.“Thank you for inviting us for dinner.” Oscar broke the silence.I offered him a friendly smile, “Our children seem to like each other; I'm sure we can tolerate each other every now and then.” I joked, but we all knew, deep down, that I wasn't joking.At this point, I was sure they knew we were onto them but were just playing dumb. I didn't have anything to prove my suspicions, so for the time being, it was just a feeling. And I knew better than to go around spewing things I couldn't prove.I turned my attention to Alphonso, just as he turned to look at me.I smiled as I folded my leg, letting it intentionally rub against him. He gave me a small smile as he placed a hand on my lap.I turned to Oscar and Gemma and asked, “How long have you two been together?”Gemma's hand rested on top of Oscar's as she squeezed it. “I don't think I can say that we are together, together.”I held my brea
(Lily’s POV)“How long will you be gone?” I asked as I zipped up his suitcase.Alphonso smirked as he pulled me closer to him, his hands folding me there.“If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you missed me when I was gone.”I shrugged. “Not back then, but we have been having so much fun lately.”He chuckled, “Can’t disagree with that.” He kissed my forehead as he hugged me tightly and said, “This time I'll make sure to call you. No radio silence.”“You better.” I said as he let go of me and grabbed his suitcase.As he rolled it away, he stopped at the door and said, “Maybe next time I'll take you with me.”I gave him a small smile and said, “Maybe.”He smiled as he turned around and walked out.I was dreading having to spend time alone with Michael. He clearly had some so
(Alphonso’s POV)The meeting went smoothly. It turned out I had nothing to worry about.I got back to my hotel room, and I immediately called Lily. If things went well for me, then she was the one I was worried about.She picked up the phone after three rings.“Hey sweetie.”A smile came to my face when I heard her voice. I couldn't explain it, but I had fallen deeper in love with her.“How is my baby?” I asked as I loosened the tie.“Frank or me?” She joked.I smiled and said, “Both.”I was considering divorcing her before, but now I was madly in love with her, and I would do anything to make sure she was okay.“Well, Frank is in bed, and I am relaxing in the bath.”“I would have loved to join you.”“If you did, we would not be relaxing.”I was about to reply when there was a knock on my
(Lily’s POV)While Alphonso was deep in conversation with the old birthday boy, I offered to get them drinks.“How about a refill?” I asked with a smile.They smiled at me as they handed me their glasses with the name of what they were having.I dropped the glasses at a nearby table and went in the direction where I saw Chris drag Lola.“What are you doing here?” I asked as I entered the empty room, with the exception of Chris and Lola.Lola smirked, “I told you, I want my life back.”“And I told you, you don't get to decide how I live my life.” I replied, “You made this decision for me, and I'm not going to let you take away my chance of making another decision on my own.”“Lily,” Chris muttered breathlessly, as if he were star-struck.I wasn't exactly pleased to see him there either.“You two aren't going to pull
EPILOGUE.ONE YEAR LATER.Frank was playing with Sienna while Alphonso and Lily were in charge of the people planning a party for her one-year birthday.The door to their new house, a house Alphonso wanted to raise his kids in but Lola never allowed it, opened and in walked Oscar, Gemma and Abigail.“Hello sweetie,” Lily greeted Abigail who just waved as she rushed towards the back yard to find Frank and Sienna. They had formed such a close friendship, including Sienna too despite her young age, and so had their parents.Gemma couldn’t wait to share the news with Lily. And the first thing to show her was the engagement ring.“Oh my god that is so beautiful, I guess he finally popped the question?” Lily asked loud enough to capture Oscar’s attention.“Rushing it actually.” Oscar responds, and he turns to Alphonso, “and you’ll be my best man an
(Third Person’s POV)It was close to the day Lily was to give birth to her little baby girl, and Alphonso seemed to be the nervous one. He was walking around looking at whether he had everything that Lily was going to need at the hospital gathered together.“Should I bring the fluffy or comfy pillow?” Alphonso wondered out aloud as he weighed the options in front of him.He turned to Lily – who was casually lying on the couch in a dolphin onesie eating crisps covered in ice cream.“You know the due date is usually just an estimation by the doctor, right?” She stuffed a bunch of ice creamed covered crisps in her mouth.“The doctor said the due date is likely tomorrow, and I think it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.” Alphonso replied with shrug, “I will go with a comfy one. I think at that point you’ll value comfort above everything else.”Frank joined their p
(Noah’s POV)It had been almost two weeks, and the person I had assigned to watch Diana’s other apartment still had nothing to report to me.If Diana wasn’t staying there, then where the hell was she?!I kept trying to call her phone, but it kept going straight to voicemail. Was she listening to this?I left another message.This time leaving out all the threats and curses.“I just want us to talk about this, Diana. Come back home, and we can have a level-headed conversation about this. We don’t need to ruin our marriage.” I took a deep breath. “I even asked Lola to leave and told her I wanted nothing to do with the child. You are the one I want to have a family with, Diana. Now please call me back.”I hung up after leaving the message.It had taken me a while, but I noticed that I hadn’t seen Lola in a while. I looked around the house, and I was definitely
(Lola’s POV)It had been over a week since Diana left. The trip was supposed to be for a week, but Noah seemed oblivious to this. I knew that Diana was planning something.I had snuck into her room, and there was almost nothing in the closet. Her jewellery was gone. Most of her clothes, shoes and bags.I cursed under my breath; she was leaving this idiot, and he didn’t even worry about it. Or notice it.It was time I went back to my life, back to Alphonso.I started to scope out the apartment. It had been a long since I was there, and I wanted to know what to expect. But all I had seen so far was Frank and Catherine. Never Alphonso.I even tried to sneak into the apartment once, but the locks had been changed.I had lost all my leverage. But I was still Frank’s mother, and I was going to use that to my advantage.“Where did you go?” Noah asked as he came into the house from scoping
(Chris’ POV)Alphonso, Lily, and Frank definitely didn’t spend just an hour together. I was at the parking lot, staring down at Alphonso’s truck.In my mind, I was debating whether or not I wanted to break into the car and see what I could find.But his truck was parked in a place where people would definitely see me if I went and started snooping around his car.I decided to finally go and throw the hook at Denning to see if she would catch what I wanted her to.I handed her a cup of coffee—good coffee, not from the hospital.“I thought you could use some pampering.” I gave her a sweet smile, turning on my charm.“I have been on my feet the whole night.” She complained, but hugged the coffee gratefully. “I have just four more hours left in my shift, then I could go home.” She didn’t seem to even notice my charm, most women do and I don’t have to
(Alphonso’s POV)I closed the door to the bathroom after seeing the man in the shower.“Why did you bring him to where we live with Frank?!” I asked Gemma, shocked that after she gave me a lecture about being reckless, she would do this around my kid.She sighed, “About Frank. I have arranged for Catherine to pick him up at the private airstrip.”“Who will Frank be traveling with?” I inquired.“The pilot is a trusted friend of mine. I have communicated with Catherine, and she has agreed to pick him up. I spoke with Oscar, and he will be letting Abigail and Frank spend more time together; in the meantime, we will be cleaning stuff up here in Deadwood.” Gemma seemed to have thought of everything.I pointed to the door and said, “I think he is too doped up to even formulate a single word.”“I doubt he even knows that he is no longer at Chris’ h
(Diana’s POV)Time always seemed to fly by when I was with Sean. But this time I had my wits with me and didn’t try to sleep with him.He did, however, call me to make sure I got home alright, and it was the small gestures he made that Noah didn’t bother with that made me want to file for divorce even faster.The next morning, I was at the accountant’s office. I wanted to sort out the issues with my finances first, so that the divorce lawyer could have an entire picture of what we were dealing with.“Diana Adams?” An older woman called out my name.“Brett Hunter?” I asked in confusion.The woman chuckled. “You were under the impression that I was a man?”I shook my head, but I was sure my eyes betrayed me.She gestured for me to follow her, “Don’t worry about it. My father knew what he was doing, as my name is what got me here. And my super
(Chris’ POV)I decided to go home and pack; maybe find my way out of Deadwood. Lily didn’t seem to notice me with Alphonso around, and staying at this point was just doing more harm than good.All I needed now was to give Ben a bad batch of drugs; he overdoses, and I throw him in some corner as I leave Deadwood.I was back at the house to find Ben gone!I cursed under my breath as I ran around every room in the house, trying to find him.“Ben?! Where the fuck are you?!” I called out; I didn’t know if I thought he would respond back, but it didn’t hurt to try.He was too drugged up to be able to leave this house alone. But I wasn’t sure of his state; I had been spending most of my time at the hospital with Lily.I didn’t know why, but I felt this burst of anger towards her. How dare she?I took care of her after that crazy wife Alphonso has stabbed her and left her
(Diana’s POV)I didn’t want to go and meet up with Sean. I didn’t even know he had my number. Where did he get my number again?I was in the kitchen making myself some breakfast—glad I didn’t have to take care of Lola anymore—when my phone rang.Unknown caller.I was confused as to who it could be, but I ignored it.“Who was calling you?” Lola asked curiously.I shrugged, “unknown number. Probably a telemarketer or something along those lines.”“Are you sure it’s not the guy you spent the night with?” Lola continued to inquire. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought Noah sent her to spy on me.Noah had been acting a bit weird too late. As if he wanted us to fix our marriage, but he would then turn around and go back to sleep on the same bed with Lola.I picked up my creamy coffee and my phone with the plate of