He left the house and went off to quickly sign off the deal that he had mentioned, and then went with the clients to have dinner. Throughout the drive to the restaurant, his mind wasn’t settled as he kept wondering how Ava was, what she was doing, and how she was absorbing the news of the divorce.He didn’t get to wonder for very long, as he soon found out. As they got to the entrance of the restaurant, Denise strode faster to catch up with him and linked her arm with his as though they were the world's happiest couple.Short of appearing rude in front of the client who had come with them, he could not extricate his arm from hers, so he gave her a tight smile that expressed his displeasure at the unwanted gesture as they entered the restaurant.Denise for her part, smiled at him very brightly as though she had done nothing wrong, and chattered away. She had been quite talkative all through this evening, and he wondered why.Even the client who was with them found her to be funny and l
For the past several days, Amanda had been walking about with a spring in her step. She hadn't heard from the guy who had walked up to her in the restaurant that day, Logan, but she was confident that she would soon hear from him and that he would reach out to her when he was well and truly ready.She was no longer afraid of him because she knew now that they had the same goal, and that was to get rid of their common enemy. What Logan didn’t know yet was that he was going to help her get rid of other enemies aside from Derek.She did not mind emptying her account, or even spending all that her mother had left her just for that to happen. She would get all that belonged to Derek once her plan was accomplished, and would regain everything that she had lost a thousandfold, after all.She needed to make sure that her mother did not die in vain. She had died trying to make sure that Amanda got what she deserved, and by God, Amanda was going to make her wish come true. Besides, the earth nee
Barry was beside himself with excitement when he learned that Harper was coming over to the house for a sleepover. As a matter of fact, Derek was also beside himself with excitement.It was time to start making up for lost time, and he couldn’t wait to be a proper father to his daughter. He had purchased a bunch of toys that he hoped Harper would like since he didn’t know what she liked yet.Around seven that evening, Ava arrived at his mansion with Harper, who like Barry, couldn’t stop jumping up and down in excitement. For all her exuberance on the phone, Harper was a little shy at first when she saw Derek, but that did not last for long. “Dad said you’re my sister, Harper,” Barry told Harper who nodded and assured him that she was also aware of that fact. Then he led her away eagerly so he could show her the toys that Derek had bought for her.Thus, the two adults were left alone in a somewhat uncomfortable silence, or maybe it was uncomfortable only for Ava. There was a reason why
Ava got home to meet Steve waiting for her in her living room, a none-too-pleased expression on his face. She pretended not to notice his expression and greeted him normally, wondering what his problem was now. “Where are you coming from, Ava?” He asked her after responding to her greeting, his tone implying that he knew exactly where she was coming from. “I went to drop Harper off at Derek’s place. She’s having a sleepover there with him and his son.” She replied, determined not to get into a fight tonight because it seemed that that was all they ever did lately. Prior to dating him, she had had no idea that Steve could be so jealous. “I thought I made it clear that I don’t want you having any dealings with Derek.” “Excuse me?” “I’m a guy, Ava and I know how my fellow guys think and behave when they like someone. Derek likes you and you spending so much time with him is only going to make him think that you like him too.” Steve told her, softening his tone when he realized t
Watching his two children play with each other was the best thing that had happened to Derek in a long while. His heart was full to bursting point, or it would be if he and Ava got back together, but that wasn’t going to happen and he had to respect her wishes. It was almost time for Barry’s bedtime, but the little guy showed no signs of feeling sleepy anytime soon. It wasn’t every day he got to have another kid, least of all his best friend come to his house and sleepover, so his excitement was understandable. Derek supposed that since the next day was a Sunday, and he wasn’t going anywhere, he could let the children stay up late and then everyone could sleep in the following morning. As he was thinking this, he heard the sound of footsteps which were headed towards the living room where they were. He thought nothing of it, thinking to himself that it was probably one of the maids or Barry’s nanny who was coming. It turned out that it wasn’t any of those people, but rath
It had been ages since Derek visited the family of Tim, his late personal assistant who had died in the car accident that had almost claimed Derek’s life too. Spending time with Harper and Barry made him realize just how long it had been since he last saw Tim's children and the thought of this made him feel extremely guilty. He had been sending them their monthly allowance without fail, but then, money wasn't all that mattered. Showing up to show that he cared also mattered. Thus, he put a call through to Tim's widow and asked her if she would be at home with the children the following evening, which was a Sunday evening. She was delighted to hear from him, as were her children and she assured him that they would be home. So Derek spent Sunday afternoon doing a bunch of shopping with Harper for company, under the very watchful eyes of his new bodyguards. Barry didn't come along with them because he wasn't feeling too well and even if he was feeling well, the stress of shopp
“Uncle Derek! Uncle Derek!” Tim’s children exclaimed happily when Derek arrived at their house, flinging themselves into his arms and hugging him tightly.The children were twelve, ten, and nine years old. The youngest was just one year old when their father died in the accident.Derek hugged each of them back as tightly as they hugged him and asked them how they were doing. By this time, Tim’s widow, Vanessa, had come into the living room. Apparently, she had heard all the ruckus and came to see what was going on.She was a young woman, who was a little younger than Ava was and in the years after Tim’s death, she had become a shadow of herself and had become so lean that Derek was worried for her health.He was glad to see that she was doing fine now and was looking robust with health. She came over to him and hugged him tightly the way the children had done, and he let her.She had once told him that he was the closest thing she had to keeping the memory of her late husband alive, a
“I’m afraid you have to prepare yourself for the inevitable this time around, Derek. I'm even surprised that the young lad has managed to fight this illness for this long, but unfortunately, we’re nearing the end. It’s best you and his mother prepare yourselves.” The doctor told Derek, his gaze sympathetic.Apparently, Barry’s condition had taken a turn for the worse after Derek left to go home the previous night. In fact, according to the doctor, if Derek had brought him in an hour or so later than when he did, he may not have made it.“No, no, that isn't possible. That was what you said nearly ten months ago, but he’s still here. You could be wrong this time around as well.” Derek said, shaking his head several times as though that was going to negate what the doctor just said.He knew he was being unreasonable, but he just couldn’t help himself.“I know, but sometimes people get lucky. I’m certain this time around though, and I don’t want you to be caught unawares.” The doctor told
“It was by sheer luck, if not, they never would have found you on time, and what would have happened then does not bear thinking about. Apparently, they managed to arrest the guy that Amanda initially hired to do all this sometime yesterday.Once the asshole realized that there was no chance in hell that he would get out of this and that he was well and truly done for, he began to sing like a canary. He led the police right to the house, and the rest, as they say, is history. I'm so thankful we got there on time.” Damien said.“Yeah, me too. It’s still hard to believe that Amanda could be filled with so much hate in her heart and that she was willing to go to such lengths to harm Derek, me, and even our child who has done nothing to her.”“I was surprised as well. I always knew that she was a mean person, but I never imagined that she was downright evil. I'm glad you followed through on your instinct.”“Me too. So is Amanda still …” Ava asked, unable to finish the question.“Unfortuna
Mother and daughter hugged each other for what felt like decades, and when they finally pulled apart, Ava's arm was hurting where she had been shot."I'm so sorry, baby. No one will ever hurt you again, I promise. Not when I'm alive." Ava said, ruffling Harper's hair, and wincing when she saw where the area on her head that had been shaved because of an injury there."The bad woman hit me with a gun. She shot Uncle Steve with the gun. Uncle Steve wanted to run away with me and Gracie, Mom." Harper explained, noting that Ava's eyes were on the wound.Ava gulped and averted her gaze immediately, unable to imagine the horror that Harper and Gracie had been through. Little children like them should never have to see someone murdered in cold blood.Seeing such a thing messed with even grownups like her, not to talk of children.The girls were going to need loads of therapy. Once again, Ava damned Amanda and Denise to hell and back in her mind. Suddenly, she realized the implications o
Ava had grabbed Denise because she wanted to use her as a human shield, and her plan worked pretty well, as it was all that saved her from what would have been certain death.The bullets that Amanda had just fired hit Denise point blank and in rapid succession. She died quickly, although the other two women didn’t know it yet.Ava felt Denise’s body jerk with the force of the shots at the same time that she saw Amanda crumple to the ground as though in slow motion.That was confusing, and Ava stared at her in surprise, unable to fathom what had just happened.She glanced down at Denise, whom she still held, and who was clearly very dead, and let go of her body immediately, feeling extremely sickened.She needed to focus on not getting killed, which was what Amanda was bent on doing to her.Amanda was trying to get back up, but before she could manage to do that, someone tackled her, and hit the gun out of her hand,Within moments, policemen swarmed the room, and Ava collapsed in relie
Denise and Ava stared warily at each other after Amanda left the room, and a few seconds later, Ava decided to try to reason with the other woman, even though she wasn’t sure that Denise was going to listen to her. “Denise, please, let us go. I promise not to press charges against you. You must know from all indications that there’s no way the both of you are going to get out of this unscathed. It doesn’t matter what Amanda says now. I can see in your eyes that you know it.” Ava tried to get to Denise. It was all she could do not to rush straight at Denise and grab Harper, who was whimpering in fear and trying not to move so that the knife would not nick her, away from the woman. She could see the fear and indecision in Denise’s face. Apparently, she was wise to realize what Amanda clearly failed to realize, which was that Ava was right and there was no way she and Amanda going to get out of this without being apprehended by the police. “Shut up!” Denise muttered. “Think abou
Ava didn’t wait to see what would happen next. She rushed straight at Amanda, faintly aware that her arm was hurting weirdly, but her adrenaline was too great for her to think anything of the pain right then. She had taken self-defense classes several times in the past, and although it had been a long time since she took them, those classes came in handy at that moment. Her life, as well as those of Harper and the other little girl, Gracie, depended on her. She couldn't let them down. She began to try to wrestle the gun away from Amanda, who struggled fiercely with her. As they struggled with the gun, it kept discharging, but by some miracle, neither of them was hit. Finally, the gun was out of bullets, and Amanda let go of it while yelling for Denise to come at the same time. Ava wasn’t done with her, though. She thought of poor Harper and her friend who were somewhere in that house, scared to death and definitely not in the best shape. She thought about Derek, who had been throug
Adrenaline pumped through Ava’s entire body, and utter rage filled her entire being. She was right! She had been right all along. These evil women were the ones who had abducted her daughter and another innocent child. She would have called for help, but there was no service on her phone, and she could only hope that Damien and the police would be somehow able to find her and soon too, before something bad happened to her or the girls. Had it been she had thought things through earlier, she would have gotten a car tracker before coming on this solo adventure. Unfortunately, never in her wildest dreams had she imagined what the night would bring, and so she had failed to take this necessary precaution. One moment, she was standing outside the house in fear, and the next moment, she found herself beside the door. Without caring what was waiting on the other side of the door, she threw herself against it as hard as she could. She thought fleetingly of the poor soul that was growing in
Ava didn’t go back home after driving away from Denise’s place. Instead, she parked her car the next block away from Denise’s house in a spot where her car would not easily be detected.Then she waited for what felt like an eternity for Denise to leave her house because she had every intention of following the woman to wherever it was that she was going.Her phone was blowing up with calls from Damien, who had left her several messages, asking her not to do anything drastic that could cause Denise to have the power to get her arrested or something.She ignored the messages and continued to wait. After a while, she saw a car, which she recognized as one of Amanda’s cars, come from the opposite direction and drive towards Denise’s house.Ava’s heart immediately began to beat really fast. Amanda was picking Denise up? Where the hell were both of them headed by that time of the night? Several minutes later, the car appeared again and drove off into the night.Ava let a few minutes pass, a
Ava sat in her idling car outside Denise’s house, her nerves failing her now that she was here.What was she thinking, sneaking out of her house like a thief in the night and coming here to the house of her sworn enemy?She just couldn't continue to sit at home, wringing her hands and crying while waiting for something positive to happen.She wasn’t sure what to do now that she was here, but she had to do something.Taking a deep breath, she took her phone and texted Damien to tell him where she was, just in case somehow, her hunch was right.If it was, then it would be incredibly dangerous and foolhardy to just walk into Denise’s waiting arms without telling anyone where she was.Even though it was only a little past eight in the evening, the streets were deserted, and there was no one around.Ava was about to open her car door and get out of the car when the lights in Denise’s house went off. Apparently, she was preparing to go to sleep.Ava sat still for a few minutes, wondering wh
It had been several days since Amanda and Denise paid their so-called courtesy call to Ava at her house … a move that Denise thought was incredibly stupid and dangerous.After all, the three women weren't friends and all of their acquaintances knew that, so it was surely going to look weird and suspicious that Denise and Amanda decided to visit Ava.Unfortunately, once Amanda put her mind to something, especially in recent times, it was practically impossible to change her mind, and so Denise had no choice but to go along with whatever she wanted, even if she thought it was foolhardy.“I’ve got a bad feeling, Amanda,” Denise said.“About what?” Amanda, who was in a terribly foul mood asked.It was now common knowledge that Derek had not only survived the gunshots but had also gone on to regain consciousness. Ever since this news broke out, Amanda had been unconsolable and had even taken out her frustration on Derek’s daughter, whom she still held captive.“I don’t know … I’ve got a ba