Nicholas Brightman..

“Look, it's daddy! Daddy, mummy is taking us home. She's mad at us, can you please talk to her?”

The whole world stood still. All heads turned, eyes blinked rapidly and hearts stopped beating literally. A lot of whispers, a lot of muffled surprised sounds.

The tiny cute creature ran to me and kept tugging at my suit. Under the numerous stares from all, I stooped to her level and patted her hair. She had brown beautiful hair, a charming set of dimples and the sweetest smile that could break ice.

“ Mummy is mad? Did you do something wrong?” I looked past Valerie and found her, she was a bit impatient and probably anxious about something.

“ Yes, she's annoyed with my brothers and I, daddy..”

“ Valerie, we should get going. Your tutor would be home anytime soon. Let's go, young lady.” Madelyn's high pitched voice resonated through the hospital and everyone went about with their normal activities when I cast a few stares. They got the hint and all activities resumed.

Leading the way, I brought her to Madelyn. The little princess had her hand entwined with mine and was reluctant to let go. I felt Madelyn's eyes bore deep into her and she disengaged immediately.

“ He's not your daddy, Valerie. I have told you and Daniel several times. He's Liam's father, but not yours.”

That sure made Valerie sad but it made Madelyn even more sad. I can't tell but she had this look, like one in pain. I could tell she was hiding something. There's got to be something she's keeping away from me, and the paternity of these kids is just one out of the many stuffs she's been hiding.

“ Whether I'm her father or not, she has the right to call me daddy if she wants to. I don't care who's the biological dad but I'm taking these kids as mine, and they have equal rights as Liam.”

My statement made Valerie feel better and she engulfed my legs in a hug. Swooping down quickly,I took her in my arms and placed a kiss on her hair. It scents so lovely and I heard her mutter a few kind words. The boys came to me and I had a brief talk with them. Madelyn stood all along and waited for our conversation to be over before she butted in.

“ Tell grandma we will stop over when she's much better. We have to go now, CEO Black.”

“ Wait.” she had her back turned to me already with her hand softly brushing through my daughter's hair. Weird but I loved the sound of that, I surprisingly love having kids. “ Don't call me CEO Black. Please don't, I'd prefer you call me Jason.”

She lit up with a small smile and nodded. “ Well, see you around Jason.”

As they walked through the hospital door, I found the little image of her smiling stuck in my head. It was impossible to stop thinking about that scene. I realized I never really looked at her while she was around until she was about to leave. I mean, I did stare at her and we maintained eye contacts a couple of times but I never really noticed how pretty she was.

She was dressed like a delivery girl and a few rough patches of black eye bags underneath her eyes, probably as a result of lack of sleep. It was only now I wondered what it was like to cater for three children, oh scratch that. Six kids, all between the range of one to seven years of age. Just how much toil it would have taken on her to nurture these kids on her own.

As I made to leave for Grandma's ward as I have been standing at the exact spot Madelyn left me, a small pink ribbon caught my attention. It belonged to Valerie, I had noticed it earlier when I kissed her hair that she held a pink ribbon. Maybe she had earlier used it for her hair but decided to take it off.

Holding it like it was the only thing I had of her, which was true actually, I walked briskly out of the hospital in attempt to catch up with them. I'm sure they had not gone far yet, they might be outside trying to flag a taxi. My eyes wandered about for a while and I finally found them, but I stopped dead in my tracks as a car stopped and a gentleman came out, grinning from ear to ear.

This man was certainly a family friend because the kids gathered around him and in two seconds narrated all that happened earlier today. Madelyn and the strange man hugged and he helped her get into the car. The kids sat at the back and he shut the door. Making his way back to his seat so they could drive away, his face became visible and I staggered.

No, it wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Was this the man she had those kids for? How was that even possible? I stood frozen to the spot like though in a trance until the car sped past me. I only stared at the pink ribbon and shook my head. It would be a catastrophe if that man was the father of Madelyn's kids.

But how?

Flashback. Eight years ago**

“ I'm telling you Jas this is going to be carried out as smoothly as possible. Their company name gets ruined and I take back revenge for what that old bat did to my pops a few years ago.” Nicholas and I were conversing at our favorite spot, the Marina after a hectic night at work.

Then a lady walks in. His gaze never tore away from her body. His eyes follow her till she gets seated. I don't really fancy women, but she's pretty. An out of this world beauty and with such aura, one could tell she's wealthy!

“ Have some shame, Nick. You literally undressed her with your eyes. C'mon man, shake it off.”

“ That's her.” he pointed in her direction, with the stick of cigarette between his fingers.

“ Who?” I wasn't even interested in finding out who she is but Nick does have a liking for her, so I had better feign interest in knowing who the beautiful lady was and her connection with Nicholas.

“ That's Madelyn Adrian. The lady we were just talking about. Ain't gonna lie man, but she's one hell of a beauty. Such a shame I have to use her to get revenge.”

At the mention of Madelyn Adrian, I sat up and studied her. So, this was her. The eldest daughter of CEO Adrian.

“ C'mon man, whatcha looking at? She's pretty, right? Knock out of it. I want her to myself. All to myself. I want to see her tear up when I defy her and have her video posted all over the net. I want her father to go down on his knees.”

“ How do you intend to do it again? Sorry, I tend to forget a lot these days.”

“ Her father is money thirsty. CEO Adrian is never satisfied with the millions of dollars he has. So, it's quite simple. Offer him money and partnership while pretending to bury the hatchet and embrace peace. offer a huge amount of money in return for a night with his beautiful, innocent daughter, Madelyn.”

It was as if I suddenly became unable to breathe properly. I struggled for air and Nick asked if I was alright. Of course, I assured him I was. But I wasn't. My eyes never left Madelyn. She was so innocent and I watched her smile and say a few nice words to the waiter who brought her drinks. She was pretty humble and kind for someone whose father was stinky rich. And her smile, she had the wildest smile I had ever seen.

“ Are you listening? Jason!” Nicholas shot and I jolted up in my seat. I got carried away.

“ uh? I'm sorry, I kinda got carried away. What were you saying?”

“ Well, knowing Adrian, it will be pretty easy to have her.” as he took in a few drags, his eyes were fixed on the innocent damsel a few tables from ours. One who had no idea what danger was lurking around or what was coming.

“ Why do you say so? How sure are you that she would give in? Look at her Nick, she's a decent young lady.”

“ Her father is CEO Adrian. Doesn't that ring a bell? If he can subject his wife to sleeping with CEOs and potential clients in return for partnerships, deals and money, why would this be different?”

I shook my head. A pretty, kind-hearted young lady who just happened to find herself in the wrong family.

“ So what next?” I needed to know every detail of the plan. For some reason, I felt sorry for her and I vowed right there to be her messiah. I was going to do all it takes to save her from thirsty men like Nick.

“ Have her in bed, record her unknowingly and have her video posted on social media. Trust me, their company name would be tarnished forever. It would take quite a long time to recover from a scandal as this.” and his eyes lit up as he said the last word.

I seriously don't know how I ended up with a friend like this.

“ All for revenge man? That's too much. Listen, I understand how you feel and the hate you have for CEO Adrian over what he did to your old man, but that's not enough to subject that innocent lady to something as cruel as this.”

“ Stay out of it, Jason. I will have my way with her regardless. Wrong or not, I certainly do not give a fuck.”

I turned just in time to see her smile at the waiter and watched her tip him off. There's no way I'm letting any evil befall her.

“ Alright man, good luck with it.” I replied, feigning lack of concern and took a sip of my wine.

“ Asides taking revenge, I have always wondered how a virgin moaned. I have always imagined having one all to myself, Jason. Imagine the little moans of pleasure escaping from her small lips while I'm thrusting in and out of that honeypot.”

I heaved a sigh and we drank into the night.

End of flashback*******

How did Nicholas Brightman find his way into her life? Who is he?

“ Oh Madelyn! What have you done???”