ADLEY Our family left, leaving Mykel and me on the patio. The night seemed in our favor, and the moon was beautiful and bright. “Come.” Mykel held my hand. Tonight was just Mykel and me—I cherished this moment and left the issue behind us for a while. I sat on his lap, and he instantly wrapped his arms around me, his cheek pressed against my back. “I overstepped, didn’t I?” “You did the right thing. I wasn’t used to asking for help until you walked into my life.” I could still feel the pain in his voice, but I was happy that he appreciated what I did. “I didn’t call Mom because I don’t want her to worry and rushed over here.” “Thank you for taking it into consideration.” “Of course.” “I’m such a terrible husband. I’m sorry that this happened. And I neglected to ask how are you handling this?” I faced him. “Babe, look at me.” He lifted his head and looked at me. There was a smile on his face, but not the cocky smile I used to see in him. “I’m handling this well than yo
MYKEL “Mykel!” I didn’t know what came over me that I was snarky and so pissed off with something nonsense. And what was worse was that I mentioned my brother’s name. I was a complete jerk, an asshole. What had gotten into me? Because it had nothing to do with the choices of movies she wanted to watch. I just couldn’t figure out what the jealousy was all about. I regretted it right away. I knew Adley didn’t have feelings for Knox. She was mine in the first place. So why was anything about Knox still bothering me? “You’re overreacting.” She joined me in the office and sat at the desk where I exactly told her she was the only missing piece. “You pushed me away. I came here to make money. What do you want, Adley?” I asked dryly. “You’re upset with me.” She touched my chin, forcing me to look at her. “I think I’m a little bit over dramatic if I’m pissed off about something.” I was typing gibberish. I couldn’t focus on what I was doing when she just spread her thighs in front of
ADLEY “What did she say to you?” We met Sax outside the firm. “Surprisingly, she’s less bitchy than I thought.” Mykel was seemingly in deep thought as he crossed his arms over his chest. He barely said a few sentences during the ride, and I started to worry. “Let’s get inside and see what she has to say, boss,” Kye particularly said to Mykel. Linden was already waiting for us as soon as we were in the firm. “You can watch the whole thing, but I suggest you stay out all the time.” “I wanna talk to her.” “Mykel, let him do the job. After the interview, then you may talk to her, but I’m coming with you,” I insisted. This issue affected him so much, and I felt helpless. We were both under a lot of stress. “I just want this to be over.” Linden walked into the interview room with a file in his hand. “Maisey Bouchard, twenty-six, living at Hathorn, has an older sister, graduated in fine arts, and your current work—” “I wanna talk to Mykel. Oh, no. I will only talk to him. Or else
MYKEL Things seemed back to normal. Gary Merick’s face just popped on the national news. He almost had Lex fooled. I should not gloat, but he deserved it. I always believed that good would win against evil. I have learned a lot of lessons in the past few weeks. One thing was, the family was always family. They were always there for me when I needed someone to hold onto and when I needed light when I was lost. My wife was incredible. Despite my involvement with women, it didn’t stop her from helping me get through those hard times. She remained my source of strength—my anchor. How couldn’t I love her more every day? “You called me, boss?” Sax closed the door behind him. “I hope not another babysitting assignment.” “Come in.” I pulled an envelope from the drawer and put it on my desk. I knew once I did this, there was no going back, and my decision would drastically change the course of my life. “Spectacular,” Sax said before he looked down at me. Everyone in the office couldn’t
ADLEY I taught myself to be considerate. I tried to be a better person—a better wife. That bomb he blew in my face was something I had never even imagined. I knew his little exploits, but to run away from responsibility because he was not ready or tried to show the world he was a good man? That was utterly freaking outrageous. We just got out of the almost highest-profile corporate alleged sexual assault scandal of the century. I couldn’t even imagine watching him and our faces on TV and the internet. It would not only ruin my career but my entire life. I might as well find myself in a mental institution after that. Thankfully, it was over. Then here I go again—in the middle of the situation because of my ties with Mykel freaking Creed. And here I thought we were planning a family in the future. I was not usually selfish, but knowing he could have a three-year-old child with another woman? I couldn’t take it. What if it was confirmed that the kid was his? Was I going to take care
MYKEL I’d never cried in my entire adult life, but I thought I was about to break the record today. Watching the love of my life go felt like the end of the world to me, and I couldn’t make something right with her. Part of me wanted to run after her and beg for forgiveness. My heart crashed, and I followed the other part—to make things right. And I started by getting the truth if the kid was mine. “Mykel?” “Lex, is my wife with you?” I had never been this agitated and wrecked, but I wanted to find out if she was there. “Maybe I should open another headquarter of 911 for matrimonial service.” “I don’t have time for jokes, Lex. Please let me know if Adley gets home?” “Isn’t her home now with you, young man?” “She left my office upset.” “You two really have a lot of things to work out, son. What did you do this time?” “I admit this is my fault. I wanna make things right. After what happened with that woman and Merick, I wanna start over. I want a good life with Adley, which i
ADLEY It was the longest and most excruciating three minutes of my life. I was staring at the six kits aligned on the sink, and with each second ticked by for a whole minute, I felt like my heart burst out of my chest, and my stomach coiled tightly. I wanted to throw up. I was anxious, terrified, and confused. And at the same time, I was excited to know the outcome. Two minutes had passed, and there was still no result. I paced back and forth in the bathroom while chewing my cheek. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know to break the news if the result turned out positive. I didn’t know to deal with it. I didn’t even know if I could be a good mother. For the first time, I had no clue. On the other hand, this was not a part of the plan. At least, not right now. I just burst into crying. There are many things I want to experience, but not quite being a mother. “Adley, you’ve been there for five minutes. I’m gonna tear this door down and come in if you don’t get out of there in th
MYKEL Jade was glaring at me and then at Sax and Kye before she stepped aside. The apartment was awfully small, but the furniture was pretty clean and sturdy. There were toys on the coffee table, on the floor, and the small bookshelf, reminding me that my son did exist and I had been a father for almost four years. “Have a seat.” “These are my—” “Bodyguards?” she replied vilely. “Also, my friends. Sax the bald and the blond is Kye.” “Hello, ma’am.” My guys took a seat. I went to look at the photos on the walls and shelves. “Why are you here, Mykel?” I turned to face her. “What’s my son’s name?” She wallowed. “Zhaer Jax with E. He likes to be called Jax. Zhaer is a mouthful.” Unknowingly, I was smiling. “Beautiful name.” “You still did not answer my question.” “I wanna know him. I wanna meet him. Of course, with your permission.” Before Jade could say something, the boy walked in with a superhero action figure in his hand. “Mommy?” Jade stiffened next to me, and so
MYKEL Four years later “Mykel, are you still here?” My wife stopped in her track when she saw me sitting on my desk with a glass of whiskey in my hand. “Hey, baby.” She stepped closer at a sultry pace as she took off her coat. “Are you ready to go?” “Wearing that?” I emptied the glass and put down the desk. My skin started burning in anticipation of what could possibly happen tonight. I never fucked someone or even Adley in this office, but tonight, I would break that rule. I pressed a button on the screen—our privacy was secured. “It depends.” She stopped right in front of me, looking at the huge framed cover copy of herself for the business magazine as the most influential woman of the year. I spread my thighs apart, slid my hands on her hips, and pulled her closer to me. “What are you up to accomplish tonight, baby?” She bit her bottom lip before she spoke, “The kids are with their grandma, so I thought we could have fun.” “And this is your way of fun, huh?” I stared down
ADLEY The private island Mykel and I bought was beautiful. As we promised my grandfather, we got married as soon as I lost my baby weight—it was spectacular, just as the old man wanted it, with five hundred guests at my beach house. Then we had our honeymoon in Monaco, then on this same island where we would spend a week. This was our second time visiting this property after our wedding. I promised Mykel to spend more time with the kids and him. I prioritized my family over my work, and he did the same. I lost track of time when I was in a beautiful place like this with a white sand beach and a clear blue sky above the breathtaking ocean. I watched Jax play his castle set with the sand when my husband called me. It was our daughter’s feeding time. Amelie was too tiny in his arms as he carried her securely. Despite our kids having nannies, Mykel was a hands-on dad. Who would have thought he would become this remarkable man? “Time flies by so fast when you’re enjoying watching
MYKEL Ten months ago, I would have laughed my fucking ass off if someone came to me and guessed my future of being married, let alone having two kids at this moment. I would have said, you’re fucking insane, man. But life happened, fates collided, stars aligned, and all those shits. “Babe, please hurry up!” Adley was literally screaming as I tried to scramble, picking things into my hands. “Babe, relax. We practiced this a thousand times!” I dropped things down and closed my eyes for a moment so I could focus. “Those are shits, Adley! When it’s the time, I can’t focus when you’re in so much pain.” Just by looking at her, it hurt like fucking shit. She had contractions, sweating, and her face contorted in pain. She did a breathing exercise just like we practiced so I would not panic. She was the one who was so calm when she was about to pop our baby out. She was relaxed despite the pain all over her tummy. “Calm down. Give me my phone.” She gestured. “Now it’s not the time to cal
ADLEY “You know you can always talk to me about everything, right?” Mykel was talking to his son in the study. They did that a lot after Mykel read him stories. We spent most of our time in the backyard during weekends, and sometimes, we decided to go to the park. Last week, we visited Madelyn in her home, and the grandma was delighted to see her grandson again. It was hard at first having a three-year-old boy at home that I did not raise, and I didn’t know what he wanted because he barely opened up. I tried to find out the food he loved, what he liked to play with, or even his favorite tv shows. After some time with Jax, he was not choosy. He liked blue and green, monster cookies, and blueberry smoothies. Jade did a great job raising the kid into a beautiful human being. Jax liked Knox a lot. His uncle allowed him to play with colors and tempera paints in his studio. “I mean, Daddy will buy it for you if you want anything. Adley and I are always here for you, buddy. You can tel
MYKEL My move was deliberate as I took off the last thing on her body. I tossed her panties over my shoulder. My fingers caressed her collarbone, tracing down to the mound of her breast. I leaned down, taking the peak of her nipple into my mouth, sucking harder. Her breathing became heavy. Her chest rose and fell with every deep breath. I paid attention to her tit, sucking, nipping, and pulling it between my teeth. “Babe, I want you now.” “Always impatient.” Raking my fingers through her hair, I brought her lips into mine, kissing her passionately and deep as my silent approval. I slipped the tip of my tongue along the seam of her lips. She moaned and granted me entry. Deepening the kiss, I pressed my body into hers, and her hips bucked against mine. My hand slipped along the line of her hip, down to her thigh, bringing and pulling her knees up. As if on cue, she wrapped her legs around me. I ground my cock into her. She was always bare and already ready for me. “Mykel, please?”
ADLEY “Are you sure you wanna do this?” Grandpa asked me over the phone one more time. “For God’s sake, Grandpa, I’ve done this before? Are you more concerned about me, or is it because I’m taking the jet?” “You’re pregnant, young woman, and you’re terrified of flying.” “I’ll be fine. I can do this. Now hang up the phone so that I can go.” “Call me when you land, Adley.” “I will.” I hung up the call. I was already strapped in, and my heart started hammering. I drew deep breaths when the jet started moving the runaway, and it began to shake. “I’m here, Mrs. C if you need me.” “I should get used to it without help.” I didn’t even look at Romare. I kept my eyes shut all the time. Even if I wanted some wine to calm my nerves, I couldn’t drink alcohol. It sucked, but I needed to let go of this irrational fear once and for all. “Oh, God! I’m gonna be labor in no time!” I gripped the armrest as hard as possible when the jet started to ascend. Then another terrifying moment when it
MYKEL I shut my eyes close, waiting for him to reply. “No, sir. She’s alone.” “Which hospital?” Cracking my eyes open, I let go of a shuddering breath as I sagged against the backseat. I felt terrible that somehow I was relieved that my son was not with her when it happened. I hung up the call after the officer gave me the hospital’s name. “Turn around, arrange the flight to LA.” I couldn’t take my mind off Jade. I just talked to her over the phone, and now she was rushed to the hospital fighting for her life. I tried to wrap around it and rationalized, hoping this was just a nightmare, but the more I thought about it, the more I was sucked into the reality that Jade might not make it, and my son would be losing his mother. How was I going to tell a three-year-old kid? How was I going to raise him alone? “Jesus Christ.” “I’m so sorry, boss,” Sax said. “I was just talking to her. This could not be real.” I shook my head, voicing out my denial. “How did this happen?” “Is your
MYKEL“Jade, it’s nice of you to call.” I FaceTimed with my son almost every day. He barely talked, but I was happy to see him so often. I knew it was not a good idea to expose a three-year-old kid to gadgets, but I was taking my chances of getting close to his heart. “What is he up this time?”Jade chuckled. “Oh, my God, Mykel. You put me in a difficult position. He keeps reminding me of going on an airplane. So yesterday, I brought him to a toy store and bought a toy jet just to make him forget, but he did not.”I laughed out loud. My voice echoed in the office. “I’m sorry, Jade. Adley and I have already planned everything for the weekend. You and Jax will come to New York, and then we will fly to one of Adley’s residences.”“I’m also sorry. I know how busy you both are. Jax just gets too excited about his first trip.”“Well, we were kids once. I know how it feels. And I’m also sorry that I have to move the trip. You know Adley is terrified of flying, and she’s also pregnant. She ha
ADLEY “Hey, babe.” I sat on the massage chair I purchased last week. It felt good. I was lucky to be one of those women who got pampered during pregnancy, but the work was time-consuming for someone like me who used to be hands-on on everything. I was still in the process of adapting to the new environment and position, and it still felt fulfilling despite the daily demand of my work. Besides, I had the best consultant at my speed dial. Dru had been a great help. “Busy?” I’d been busy for the past weeks. I’d visited some ongoing projects from my predecessor, Grandpa. I’d attended meetings for collaboration projects of the world’s top corporations and scientists. The hopes for the future were aspiring—to be able to build a commercial space station outer space. The plan was incredibly ambitious for 2050. “Not anymore. Grandpa left me tons of work, but it’s over now. All I need is good cuddling.” “We can cuddle all night. Besides, it’s the weekend, and baby?” “Yes?” “No more work