"Oh, um, I’m sorry. I didn't mean anything bad by that. It’s just … I thought that Barry and Harper will be spending time together since Harper may need to visit Derek and all that and I though …”“Look, ideally, our children aren't even supposed to be friends because of the history between us. you know that as well as I do. Their friendship is fine by me, but I don’t think that you and I will ever be friends. Also, Derek and I haven't really discussed anything yet or made any arrangements about how he is going to be involved in Harper’s life, so I sure as hell will not be discussing any of it with you either.”“Alright. I understand of course.” Denise said, gulping.“Anyway, it was nice talking to you. I’ll see you around.” Ava said, turning and walking away.Before Denise could stop herself, her hands shot out of their own accord and she grasped Ava’s left arm desperately to stop her from leaving, surprising the other woman.“What the hell are you doing? Have you lost your mind? Let
Drinking himself into a stupor was the only thing that made sense to Logan nowadays. He still couldn't believe that Sam was gone. Sam, his little brother whom he had practically raised, even though they were only four years apart in age.It all seemed like a bad dream from which he would soon wake up … except that he never did wake up. He had warned Sam against taking such a job since high-profile people were involved, but Sam had laughed off his worry and called him a chicken.The pay was unbelievably huge, and Sam had let that sway him. Now look how it ended. He was dead and was never going to be able to spend any of the money he worked hard for.Logan felt truly and utterly alone in this world, which was no surprise because Sam had been his last living relative, at least that he knew of. Their father, who was in prison, certainly did not count.The asshole had abandoned them with his aged mother after the boys’ mother died of an illness when Sam turned three. Less than six months la
Amanda stood stoically and silently as the preacher droned on and on about how we came from dust and to dust we shall all return. Tears slipped down her face in quick succession and her head was bent, but no sound escaped from her.Even when she watched her mother’s coffin being lowered into the ground, she did not show any outward sign of distress, other than the tears that refused to stop flowing down her cheeks.The number of people who showed up for the funeral was pitifully small. All in all, there were not up to ten people there in the graveyard as Blair’s coffin was laid into the cold earth.Derek was noticeably absent, and Amanda could not imagine the disrespect. Her mother had died trying to save his ass, and yet, he could not be bothered to show up to pay his last respects to her?What sort of an arrogant bastard did something like that? Denise was also absent, which was also very disrespectful because despite the fact that the fucking backstabber had betrayed Amanda’s famil
"Hey … hey, don’t do that, okay? I took a big risk coming here because I felt that you would like to hear my proposition.” The man told her urgently.Amanda closed her mouth and took another good look at him. She was right and it was indeed who she thought that it was, and she could not believe the nerve of him in coming to meet her like this in the open.It was one of the criminals who had captured her on that fateful day when her mother was shot and killed out there in the woods. In fact, it wasn’t just one of them, but it was the very one who had captured her and later shot her through the foot as a parting gift.“You have some nerve showing your face here or anywhere in town. Mark my words, you’re not going to leave this establishment a free man.” Amanda told him harshly, hating the very sight of him.Needless to say, every thought of getting laid had flown out of her mind and all she could think about was the different ways in which she would like him to be tortured.“Oh, I think
"I hate him too. If not for him and his busybody, my brother, Sam would still be alive.” The man said, sadness clouding his features for a second. As crazy as Amanda was, she still thought how insane of him it was for him to be mad at Derek for getting his brother killed when the fact was that he and his brother were trying to get Derek killed when it happened. Talk about delusional! Still, his delusion served her purposes quite well, so she was willing to play along with him and get what she wanted out of it. It was still surreal to her that her mother had gone to all that trouble and gotten herself killed just because she wanted Amanda to have her rightful inheritance and the thought of Blair’s selflessness caused tears to spring to Amanda’s eyes. She was going to avenge her mother, she vowed fiercely to herself. Derek was a thief and an usurper. She was the firstborn child, and by reason of that, she was supposed to inherit the bulk of what her father had built over the years.
"Mom, your phone is ringing,” Harper said, coming into Ava’s room with the said phone, which Ava had forgotten in the living room before she came into her room to try to have a nap.“Oh, thanks, honey,” Ava replied and took the phone from the child before looking at the screen to see who was calling.It was Derek, and she was surprised that he still had her number, but then, she realized that he could easily have gotten it from numerous sources if he didn’t have it again.She on the other hand, still knew his number by heart, despite the fact that it had been years since she last dialed it.“Hello.” She said into the phone.“Hello, Ava. How are you doing today?” He asked her politely.“I’m good, thank you, and you?”“I’m fine too. I was calling to check up on you and Harper.”“Oh, thank you. We’re both fine. Also, I was thinking that we should meet somewhere over the weekend to discuss how we’re going to share custody of her. Well, I don’t exactly mean custody, but you both can get to
Derek was having a late lunch when his phone started to ring and when he picked it up, he saw that it was Ava who was calling. His heart skipped a beat because it had been ages since he saw her name displayed on his phone screen, but he immediately composed himself.She was someone else’s now, so there was no reason why he should feel giddy when she called him. By the time she picked up the call and spoke, his opinion was solidified.“Hello, Ava.” He said into the phone.“Uh, hi, Derek. I’m sorry to be calling out of the blues, but I figured that we could just talk over the phone,” she replied.“Oh, I hope nothing is the matter. You and Harper are fine, right?”“Yes, yes. It’s nothing like that. We’re both fine, but Steve isn't in support of you and me meeting to discuss.” Ava told him, sounding a little embarrassed.“Ah, I get it,” Derek said, although he didn’t get it at all. There was no way that they wouldn't have to meet in the end, no matter what Steve thought. They shared a chi
BACK IN TIMEHe wasn’t being fair to Ava. Derek knew that, but he just couldn’t help himself. Her nagging all the time drove him crazy, and the more he stayed away from her in the guise of working hard, the more he saw her sink into despair.This made him feel guilty as hell, but Ava did not take the hint and realize that the marriage was as good as over as he hoped that she would. Each morning that he left for work before she woke up, she called him, sounding normal as she asked him how his night was and all that.Derek realized that it was up to him to be a man and tell her that he wasn’t interested in the marriage any longer. This wasn’t exactly true, but it was the only way to get her to stop hoping futilely. The truth was that he didn’t actually mind being married to her any longer. In fact, he had come to actually like being married.The only problem was that they both wanted different things and he could tell that she wasn’t happy anymore. She desperately wanted kids. He despe