Sarah's leaving :( And what does this asshole want to talk about? Did you feel like Olivia's melting a bit? Comment what you think. And read on to find out what's going to happen. <3 <3 <3
_____________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~."She is out like a light," Jackson said as he closed Kelsey's bedroom door behind him."Thanks for carrying her," I murmured, trying to keep my voice steady.Jackson nodded and followed me into the living room."What is it that you want to talk about?" I asked, my arms folded tightly across my chest.Jackson took a deep breath, his eyes on the floor before he looked back up at me. "I know I have a lot to make up for, Olivia. I've been thinking about everything since I saw Mom's letter. And now, with Kelsey... I just want to be in her life. To be there for her in a way I never was for you.""Jackson, this isn't just about you and me anymore," I said firmly. "It's about Kelsey and what's best for her. I need you to understand that."He nodded slowly, taking a step closer. "I do understand. And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to earn your trust back. Both of your trusts."I shook my head. "Nothing is ever going to happen between the two of
_____________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~.Jackson had texted me earlier in the morning saying that he would pick up us.I was still doing some last-minute packing.Jackson had said that he would take care of accommodation when we got there. But I could always stay at Sarah's.I did not want to stay with my parents.I had not even told them that we were coming, or that Jackson was back in our lives, or that he had dropped the bomb on the status of our marriage.But I knew that I had to.The last thing I wanted was to cause more drama, especially for Kelsey.So, I took a deep breath and picked up the phone to call my mom.Cassandra Smith had not changed one bit in the last five years - she was still the charming socialite and host and overbearing mother, who was never satisfied with what I did.The phone rang for the longest time before she picked up. Knowing that my mother was attached to her hand device like a second skin, I could imagine she was in the company of someone else. And
____________ ...~ ~ ~ J A C K S O N ~ ~ ~."That's not enough, Mommy. Kiss Daddy better." Kelsey demanded.I raised a brow at my daughter's demand.Kiss Daddy better?I really liked that idea."No need for that, monkey." I pretended to be the good guy. "Daddy is not sad. Mommy is right about Daddy not knowing how to tie your hair anyway."Olivia shot me a look that could have frozen the Sahara desert."Kelsey," she said firmly. "Mommy and Daddy are just friends now. No more of that, okay?"I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smirking - try selling that to our daughter, wifey.Come on Kelse, show her whose daughter you are! Get what you want from her!"Mommy!" The stubborn pout was on. "We are not going anywhere until you kiss Daddy."Olivia's eyes shot to me, a silent plea for help.But I was enjoying this too much."Okay, okay, Kelsey," I said, stepping closer to Olivia, my hand on her shoulder. "I guess I can get a kiss from your Mommy for doing a good job on the bu
_____________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~.The scent of home was something else.It was true that I had uprooted my life and moved across the country, that this was not home to my daughter.But it was where I had grown up, where I had met Jackson, where I had gotten married, where I had fell in love, and where I had felt the most pain.It was a homecoming I was not sure I was ready for.As the plane touched down, my stomach churned with a mix of anxiety and nostalgia.Home.There were two cars waiting for us on the tarmac."Grandpa!" Kelsey yelled as soon as she sighted my father."Dad?" I was confused.I had told my mother that we would talk about where we were staying. Why was he here when we hadn't had that talk yet?Jackson looked over at me. "You didn't tell me Daniel was coming.""He didn't tell me either." I sighed.Jackson took Kelsey's hand and led her down the steps of the plane while I took a moment to compose myself.My father, Daniel Smith, was a man of few words. But h
________________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~.Kelsey asked me why we were not riding with her Daddy on the way to my parent's house.My Dad was not at all happy to hear that but he kept quiet for the sake of his granddaughter.Jackson followed us in his car.I wondered why he was doing it.Could he not just go to his place? What was the need for coming to a place where even the lawn weed hated him?"Mommy, why is Grandpa mad?" Kelsey looked at me, her voice filled with innocent curiosity."He's not mad, sweetie," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "He just has a lot on his mind.""I am mad." My Dad mumbled.I gave him a flat look.Did I really need to verbally remind him that I already had a four-year-old to deal with?Did he have to be stubborn and make things more difficult for me than it already was?"See!" Kelsey pointed out. "I told you Grandpa was mad.""Grandpa won't be mad anymore after I talk to him, monkey. It's grown-up things. You are just a baby. You won't understa
________________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~."I am making this more difficult for you, aren't I?" Jackson asked after dinner with my parents.Kelsey had fallen asleep in my father's arms and he had insisted that we stay for the night.And Jackson had refused to leave, going as far as to threaten to wake Kelsey up if he didn't get to stay.And then he had the audacity to ask me if he was making the situation harder for me.No shit, Sherlock!"Jackson," I hissed, my eyes flashing as I turned around to face him. "You have no idea."I was in the balcony, drinking a cup of chamomile tea. It helped me sleep. I needed it especially after he appeared back in my life."Olivia, we need to talk." I didn't know why he had followed me outside.All I knew was that I really did not want to talk to him now, or ever. But I needed to say this one thing."You are an absolute piece of shit, you know that?" I asked."I know." He made no attempt to defend himself."Do you even know why I am saying this
_______________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~.Elena.Jackson's first love.I felt all the pain that I had tucked away in the corner of my heart rush back in full force at the sight of Jackson's first love."Mind your language or I will forget that this is a funeral."Elena raised an eyebrow at me. "You think you can scare me?"I looked at her with a deadpan expression. "I'm not trying to scare you, Elena. I'm just stating the fact that this is a funeral. A place for mourning, not for drama."Her eyes narrowed, and she took a step closer to me. "Don't you dare act all high and mighty! You're just the desperate bitch he settled for because he couldn't have me."I felt my hands clench into fists at my sides. "This isn't the place for this. If you have anything to say to me, say it later."Elena smirked. "Oh, I'll save it for when he realizes his mistake and comes back to me, with his tail between his legs."I raised a brow.So they were really not together?And Jackson had initiated the
_____________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~."Mommy!" The sound of Kelsey's excited voice pulled me out of my thoughts. She was standing in the doorway of my room, her eyes wide with excitement. "Daddy's here!"Jackson?I looked at the huge clock on the wall.It was seven in the morning. What was he doing here this early?I quickly straightened my pajamas and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "What do you mean, Daddy's here?""He's downstairs with Uncle Will!" Kelsey exclaimed, bouncing on her toes. "They brought presents. Santa messed up the orders and dropped some of my presents there!"I blinked, trying to make sense of her words through the fog of sleep. "What are you talking about?""Daddy's downstairs," she repeated, her tone impatient."Why?""It's Christmas, Mommy!"I couldn't believe I had forgotten. It had been so chaotic with the funeral and the aftermath that the holiday had slipped my mind entirely.But as I saw the excitement in Kelsey's eyes, I knew I had to play along."O
_________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ .New day, new me. Last night, when Jackson said that he had more secrets, for a moment I thought he was going to come clean. For a moment, I thought he was going to show some kind of remorse. But then I didn't know what I would do if he did suddenly confess to all his wrong-doings. What the hell was I supposed to do? How the hell was I supposed to react? But he simply shrugged and walked away, waiting patiently for me at the living room with Kelsey and Pickles for their sandwich and snacks.He gave me time to sleep on the thought. What would I do if he suddenly came clean? And I had come to a conclusion. I was not going to forgive him. Him confessing to his sins was like a serial killer confessing to his murders. Would the confession decrease the severity of the crime committed? Maybe to the court of law, it would. But not to the victims. And I was the victim. And in my court of law, there was no forgiveness of Jackson Reign. “You ok
_______...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~.“Daddy!” Kelsey ran into Jackson’s arms as soon as we walked in through the door. Pickles, on the other hand, seemed not very interested in seeing him and went sat down by Kelsey’s feet though she was wagging her tail.“Monkey, I missed you!” He picked her up and twirled her around as she giggled. “So how was girls’ week?” That was the excuse we had come up with to cover up the latest fuck up. “Fun!” She giggled. “Daddy, get me a brother so than you can have boys’ night!” Jackson laughed nervously as he looked over at me. Yeah sure, bruh. I am going to give you another child after all the shit you put me through.“Alright Monkey, get changed. Mommy will fix you up a sandwich.” I told her as I walked over to her bedroom to drop off her bag. “Okay!” She was in a really good mood tonight since she was back with both her parents. And Pickles. My daughter did not want anything more than this. And I felt horrible that I could not even give her th
_________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ .“Till when are you going to keep this up, Jackson?” I asked as soon as the other two stepped out of the conference hall. Sarah was not at all happy. I knew that she believed in me but there was a part of her who still believed that I will melt for the sob story that Jackson would present to manipulate me. I needed to make my loyal best friend proud. Jackson winced as if me calling him by his whole name had done more damage than all of his bullshit did. “Liv, just listen to me.” He said. I knew he had enough time to make up a good story and that he had come completely prepared to get the deal that he wanted.I crossed my arms across my chest and tipped my chin up. “I am listening. So say what you have to say.” And he did. His made up story of how Elena had approached him to get William’s help with her divorce. “You don’t believe me.” He said after I stayed silent for almost three minutes after he had finished his tale. “Oh I believe you.”
___________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ .“I know that you have got this.” Sarah turned to me. “I know you are in your boss girl era, but a gentle reminder that your asshole of a husband will do whatever the fuck it takes to get the company in his name. You are not allowed to fall for any of his bullshit. Capiche?” I took a deep breath and let it out. “Yes yes, ma’am. I will do my best to not be influenced by hi-”“No no no.” She stomped a foot to make a point. “That’s not the attitude we are looking for. We are not going to do our best to resist his manipulation. We ARE going to resist his manipulation. Now, rephrase your sentence.” I rolled my eyes. My friend was motivating and coaching me like I was going out to war, which I was. Did I love it and felt grateful for her support? Absolutely. But she was going a tad bit overboard with it at this point. “I am going to not be influenced by his manipulations. I am not going to fall for his same old cheap tricks. And I am going to m
___________...~ ~ ~ J A C K S O N ~ ~ ~ ."She said she still loved me. That means I still have a chance to set things right, right?" I asked as I paced William's office. I looked over at him, who was looking at me as if I was an idiot, and raised a brow, "Well?" "Why the hell would you go to meet Elena? When you know very well that she is trouble?" William asked. I rolled my eyes. He was still stuck there when there was much more important matters to worry about. "Why the hell would you go to meet Sarah? It's not like you knew Liv was going to be there? Why the hell would you go to meet your arch nemesis alone? What would have happened if she had stabbed you and fed you to some wild animal?" Of course, I knew I was being dramatic but I would not put anything past that pain in the ass. William let out a chuckle. "One, she is not my arch nemesis. Two, you have a wild imagination. Careful now Reign, someone might think you actually care for someone other than yourself." I t
________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ ."I am keeping the company until you prove yourself."The fact that he played right into my hands with this was so damn hilarious that I had to do everything to not laugh at the absolutely horrified look on both his and his asshole best friend’s face. I side-eyed Sarah who seemed like she was going through as much as a hard time as me trying to stay serious. “What do you mean?” He finally found his voice. I thought the man had had a stroke hearing my condition and lost the ability to speak. “You heard me. I am not signing the Lilith Corp. back to you until you prove that there was, is, and will never be anything between you and Elena.” I said as evenly as I could, trying not to sound arrogant or victorious.“Liv, that makes no sense.” He said. “Whatever you mean?” Sarah spoke, coming to stand beside me. “It’s the most sensible thing I have heard her speak ever since you came back into her life.” Jackson turned to look at his stumped friend
__________...~ ~ ~ J A C K S O N ~ ~ ~."Harvey, you motherfucker! Why the hell would you visit them without telling me?" I bellowed into my phone as I hurried to my car. Why the hell did he have to go there? Why the hell would he do that without letting me know in the first place?"And why the hell would you go see Elena, of all people, after telling Olivia you were hanging out with me?" William sounded equally pissed. He had no right to be. Okay, maybe I should have given him a heads-up but why on earth would I ever imagine that he would turn up at their door?"There is a situation." I breathed out as I got into my car and connected my phone to the system."Don't tell me that bitch is blackmailing you with something else now." William sighed.I rolled my eyes."She wanted to talk.""Seriously, man." William sounded exasperated on the other end. "I know you both never had anything going on between the two of you, but I always felt like Elena had something for you. And even if the
________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ ."What's D-E-F?" Sarah rolled her eyes. "Deception, Extortion and Fraud?"I snorted as I passed her a bowl of popcorn as I plopped down on her couch. I had just told her about Jackson's date idea.It was good to see that her humor had not been affected after what happened. I knew that my best friend was still beating herself up for things that she could not control.And the sleepover was me trying to fix that."I do not like that you left my Kelse alone with that fraud just to come here to make me feel better." She pouted.I rolled my eyes.Of course she knew what I was doing."You think I haven't learned my lesson?" I asked, feigning disappointment at her for undermining my common sense. "I dropped Monkey off at my parents at the pretext that they have been wanting to visit some kiddish stuff with her for the past few days. And Jackson has been wanting to visit William, no doubt to plan more bullshit against me, so it worked out for the best fo
_______...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~.I stepped out of my room in a white and green floral dress with a denim jacket thrown over it. I had my white sneakers on. "Daddy, it's coming apart!" I walked to the living room to find Jackson working on Kelsey's pigtails. "Do you plan to stay up all night, Monkey? Why are you dressing up?" I asked. Both of them looked over at me. Kelsey grinned at me while Jackson had that look of awe that used to make me melt on the spot. Used to. Not anymore. Because I knew it was a farce. "Mommy, you look so pretty!" Kelsey clapped her hands and turned to Jackson. "Right, Daddy? Mommy looks like a Barbie doll, right?" I rolled my eyes as he nodded in agreement before looking back at me. "Even better." "Alright, let's go, shall we?" I asked, holding my hand out for my daughter to take. She held my hand and then turned around to hold her father's hand as well. "Let's go! I miss Pickles!" "Don't tell Grandma that you are going there to meet Pickles.