SEBASTIANI entered the living room and saw her seated. She was beautiful, in a jeans and a clean shirt that made her look younger than she was. I had grown to love her, she had a good vibe, always hoping for the best and staying with her sister through thick and thin. We were here to discuss something really important."Sebastian!" She cried out and came to hug me, "hmm, you smell nice. Is that a new perfume you're wearing?""Yup. You love it right? It's the best I have." As I sat down, I called the chef and we moved to the dinning table, we began eating and discussing. Excitement filled the air as Cora talked about the plan she had. We knew we had to make it a memorable event, something that would not only celebrate Booker's special day but also help boost her business. And what better way to do that than by inviting all the influential business tycoons in town? To me, I think it will help her."So, I learnt about this hall in the wealthy wing of the city, or, we could book the gran
Thea’s POVSilent night… holy night… all is calm, all is dead…That song, remixed by me came to my mind as I stood in front of the magnificent hall, a sense of unease washed over me. The silence was deafening, and it made me question whether I had come to the right place. Cora and Sebastian had insisted that I come here fully dressed, promising me a surprise that would make my birthday unforgettable. But now, as I entered the hall, there was no sign of anyone. It felt eerie, like stepping into a ghost town. I wanted to go back, to curl in my bed and sleep. Lily was out with Mark and her nanny, so she was safe. I contemplated going back but decided to just see what was in store for me. Sebastian would ensure he make the best for me but I wasn’t sure what this would be.I cautiously walked closer to the pouch, and pushed opened the door. The only people I’ve seen so far were the butlers and the security but not anyone I know. I entered the hall and started to walk, my footsteps echoing
TYLERIt was in the news I read about the party but I wasn’t given an invitation. Or, Thea didn’t see the need to invite me. Nevertheless, I was going to go. I got up from my bed, racking a hand into my head trying to picture myself at the party. “Maybe something good will happen tonight, I will try to win Thea’s trust.” I told myself and went to the bathroom I decided on a fitted tuxedo that was meticulously crafted to fit my frame. The jacket featured a sleek black satin lapel, that was beautifully against the crisp white dress shirt underneath. The shirt was expertly pressed, with a subtle sheen that added a hint of luxury. I had gotten this set last week but had nowhere to wear it to, it was the trousers that intrigued me, it was tailored to perfection, falling just right on my legs and creating a clean and polished silhouette. Trust black to always go well with me, it was the perfect choice to add liveliness to my demeanor. I got the details of the venue of the party online as
TYLERTwo weeks had passed by in a flash yet I still wasn’t feeling up to it. I was still lost and confused with no idea of what to do. I took a swig alcohol, as I had been doing everyday for the past weeks. My daily routine had become unproductive; involving nothing other than a quick visit to the office and spending time in the house overriding my brain with thoughts while experimenting with the effects different alcohol brands had on me, a sad routine indeed.The past weeks made very little to zero sense and I had become a walking shadow. Never for once did I think anything could make me feel this way not even Thea who had refused to get out of my head, except now it wasn’t just her in my head; my child Lily was too.My phone vibrated in my pocket and the first name that popped up in my head was Thea, I brought it out slowly and checked to see who it was; Magnus as usual. I slipped the phone back into my pocket. Ever since, I went ghost on everyone, Magnus had been trying to reach
Thea“I know you might be wondering why I resorted to blackmail when I could have just persuaded your father.” Her eyes nodded a yes as she stared at me with extra attention, her hands were placed on the couch she was no longer leaning into, and I feared she would jump at me if I said even one wrong word. “I resorted to blackmail because I got the information late and if I had waited just a day longer, we both would have lost everything. Everything Thea, you would have been left penniless.”The walls around me looked like they were spinning as I heard these words, there was deafening silence but my ears were hot and it sounded like loud sounds were being played in my head. I looked up at Tyler still in the same position; he took his eyes away from me and glanced around the room awkwardly. And then I screamed. “WHAT?” “WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”"Thea, I-""Shut it please, just shut it." I let Tyler into the house willingly yet he had the guts to stand in front of me and utt
THEAAs I sat in my office, playing with the rim of my favourite coffee mug, my mind was swirling with a whirlwind of emotions — anger, hope, relief, forgiveness and some others I couldn’t define. Tyler's revelation had left me utterly flabbergasted. As he was saying it, God knows I didn’t believe, not until I had my own check did I believe him and how bewildered I was. I intentionally did the research myself, with a little help from my men.Father’s manager wanted to sell the company after all. I remember he would come with father, looking all sorry about the fact that the investors were pulling out and the company was losing money. Even after all the other workers had resigned, he was still with father, telling him to do this and do that. I was pretty sure he made father get that much loan from those people who threatened to harm Lily if their money wasn’t paid. How could he have done that? How could have betrayed my father? And all because he wanted to sell our family company? It w
THEAI woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and I smiled. Cora and her ways with making coffee. I was on my bed for a while, reminiscing on the event of last night. Tyler ensured he created a bond between him and Lily and I was sure if I told her we'd be meeting him again, she would be thrilled.He passed the test, which means I would give him a chance? I wasn't so sure what to do but then any decision I make now will all be in Lily's favour. And it must be now. I sighed and got off the bed, feeling the need to drain down Cora's hot coffee down my burning throat. As I approached the sitting room, I heard Cora talking to someone. Mark must have arrived earlier and I have never seen him talk to Cora before, I was curious so I didn't go through the kitchen directly, I went to the sitting room and stood still for a while - there he was, Sebastian. He was standing in my living room. It was as if he had materialized out of thin air, or had slept here overnight. He would never come
TYLERI got out of the car feeling all brand new. It was my first time going to pick my daughter - the daughter I never planned for. But then, I loved the new me, and having a daughter changed me since Thea came back to Manhattan. I became a changed person. I smiled, knowing I wasn't thinking about Thea the way I was before. I made a promise to take good care of Lily and I wouldn't ever forger that. She was unplanned for, but in my power, with all I had, I will give Lily the best life a child could ever ask for.Having a daughter was unplanned, but then, as at now, I already have a lot I envisioned with Lily. My mind wandered through the fun time we had that night and how I had wanted her to call me 'papa'. I envisioned taking her on adventurous trips to explore different countries, immersing her in new cultures and experiencing the wonders of the world. I would climb ancient mountains with her, hike through lush rainforests, and marvel at breathtaking landscapes. Lily loved arts, she
THEAI excused myself and went outside. I didn't want to imagine that Tyler left without telling me. He was all smiles when we were planning the surprise birthday party, he couldn't leave without a word. As I stepped outside, lashed by the cold fingers of the wind, I was taken aback by the sight of someone sitting on the staircase. For a moment I stood still, then remembered that the person's clothes looked familiar. It didn't take long for me to figure out it was Tyler and when I cleared my throat, he turned back, his eyes fixed on me with a mix of awe and longing. My heart skipped a beat as I made my way towards him, my senses heightened by the tension between us."Hey," I said softly, sitting down next to him on the step. "What's going on? I thought you left."He chuckled and turned to the moon, his eyes still filled with wonder. "that," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper as he pointed to the cloudless sky. He continued to stare at the moon for what seemed like minutes un
THEAI saw him first before Lily and I immediately went to stand in the doorway. Lily was by my side, holding a welcome home banner she designed herself and I was holding one too. I couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions.Excitement to see Tyler again after a whole lot of time and then the thought about how he would react to the party. As I thought of that, a hint of sadness washed over me and I immediately deleted it from my mind. Although our time together had been cut short by his accident then I was glad he was fine.He would be receiving the rest of his treatments and recovering at home. The doctors said he was healing well, but I knew I would still see the faint scar on his chest, which would be a reminder of the traumatic event that had brought us together - Lily's kidnapping. I took a deep breath and stepped forward when I saw him enter the house, holding out the banner. "Welcome home, Tyler!" I exclaimed, trying to sound cheerful but deep down I was bursting with excitement
THEA"Why do you care about Tyler after all he's put this family through?" This question rang in my head. How would I explain it? Yes, Tyler had helped us, but it wasn't enough for the amount of care I felt entitled to show him.I looked up and met father's gaze, he stared at me expectant of a reply. "When you left, I and Cora moved to Manhattan." I watched his eyelids flutter at the mention of Cora, no doubt he was starting to get emotional."Things were pretty rough, I struggled to build an enterprise from the start before deciding to come back here in quest of revenge against Tyler, but as life would have it; things changed. A lot of things changed.""What changed?""I found out Tyler had a pretty good reason for leaving us, I couldn't really blame him. All he did was try to save us, everybody including you. Also..." I trailed off, unsure of how to break the news of Lily to him."Go on, I won't judge you." I didn't really care about his judgement, I just wasn't sure it was right to
THEAMy eyes were closed and I felt like I was in a different world as the remaining drops of tears escaped from my eyes. I wasn't sure how long my head was bent or if I had drifted off into thought, but the next thing I felt was a tap on the shoulder softly.I paused for a minute to wipe off the corners of my eyes before almost jumping off my chair eager to hear anything from the nurse, maybe then I would calm down. "How is..?" I rose my face from the edge of the chair, but couldn't complete my statement as I stared at the face which stared right back at me. Was this real?The walls of the reception began to revolve around me and for a second my head went blank. Was I dreaming? Someone wake me up, I found it hard to believe. Hard to believe that after so many years of neglect, my father would show up to the hospital in search of me because this was definitely not a coincidence.It wasn't a coincidence that he chose to walk into this particular hospital, pass through the outer lobby a
THEAThe slap that led to all of these replayed in my head. Maybe I did blame myself earlier for Lily's abduction, afterall it was me Sarah was mad at. But now that I think about it, if she had just been sensible and didn't raise her hand to hit me, maybe we wouldn't be here right now.If anything, I hated Sarah more than ever now for whatsoever she put Lily through. Lily looked like a shadow of herself and it scared me so much. Judging from the little I had seen of Sarah, I could imagine she starved my baby of food and most likely put her through pain. She looked frail and she didn't deserve to go through all of these at such a young age.I didn't know when the tears began to fall from my face neither did I try to stop them, I let them flow freely while hugging Lily tightly. "I missed you so much and I'm sorry baby. I'm sorry I let you out of my sight," I whispered into her ears."I'm sorry Lily," Tyler apologized. I resented him a lot because I trusted him to keep watch over Lily as
TYLERI gripped Thea's hand as we sat in the car ready to go to the location. Inputting the coordinates into the GPS, I stared at her and nodded my head "let's do this.""Hell yeah, let's get our daughter back."Inwardly, I knew I was scared, but I couldn't show it. The maniac like laughter of the kidnapper over the phone scared me, what if she was mentally unstable? What if she doesn't release Lily after everything? There were so many what ifs in my head, it was hard to concentrate."Are you okay?" Thea asked as I drove."Sure I'm fine, I just want to get Lily back," I lied."Take a left turn ahead."As directed by the GPS, I turned into the pathway which looked like it led into the woods. Thea's breath hitched audibly as we kept on going and lost track of humans and normal surroundings."You'll arrive at your destination in a minute," the GPS informed.There was a cabin out front and I wondered if that was it.My phone screen lit up with a text message from the kidnapper, we were be
THEAI heard the woman's sinister laughter as she said, "Anything? Are you willing to sacrifice your own life for your daughter? You would do that?"As I saw the tears welled up in Tyler's eyes, I saw he choked back his emotions, probably because he did not want me to break down into tears. He couldn't lose Lily as much as I couldn't, I saw in his eyes that he loved that girl more than gold and silver and when he said, "Yes! I'll give anything if it means Lily's safety. Just tell me what I need to do and where you want to get it from." I knew this was true love from a father to his daughter.I was shocked that Tyler was ready to give everything for the sake of Lily and I knew how much he had suffered to take his company to great heights. I had always known that he was a driven and ambitious person, but I had never realized just how much he had sacrificed for the sake of his business. He had sacrificed a lot, he built up my father's crumbling company. As I thought about it, I could ima
THEA"I just want my daughter..." I said that in my mind after calming my nerves. I sat on the warm sofa, but to me, with my heavy heart, it felt like I was on a cold, vinyl chair in the hospital or the police station, my heart was heavy with worry and my mind racing with thoughts of my missing daughter, Lily. And Tyler, sat across from me, his eyes filled with a mixture of guilt and determination, the policeman was still around and he worked a great deal before I calmed down.From where I sat, I knew Tyler wanted to reach out to me, he did reach out, apologising but I pulled away from him, my anger and resentment still raw. "What good are your apologies now, Tyler? Where is Lily? I trusted you with her."Tyler didn't look at me, he faced the policeman directly. His jaw clenched in determination. "We need to find her. I can't just sit here and do nothing, waiting for your men to find herThe man nodded, his heart heavy with grief. "Yes, we need to find her. And trust me with this, I
THEAIt'd been three days without my baby. Although she wasn't so much of a baby anymore, her absence hit me hard. It gave me time to reflect on many things but I was so used to her presence, it left me longing to see her. Tyler couldn't even call me in the midst of his enjoyment with my daughter. She's his daughter too but she was mine for now, I did raise her on my own. The way things had taken a turn still surprised me. I wasn't so sure if my decisions, but they seemed the best fit for the situations at hand.I bought a new bow and a new game pad on my way to his house. It was going to be a surprise visit, I wanted to catch them in the act. I wondered which games they could have been playing. Sometimes, seeing them together brought tears to my eyes. I had a lot of regrets, but I couldn't count giving birth to my daughter as one. She'd been my greatest blessing. My own father abandoned me, and I know it was unfair to keep the secret of her father away from her. They bonded anyways,