"I can't believe that this is happening. I swear, I don’t know what you're talking about. Perhaps someone is trying to frame me or something. I had nothing to do with Derek’s disappearance. I swear it. Derek and I didn’t always see eye to eye, but I’ll never hurt him. Amanda, you have to believe me!” Denise said, her voice sounding frantic as tears gathered in her eyes.“Unfortunately, I can't, Denise. All fingers point to you. It's only a matter of time before everyone realizes it and they will the minute the news of your child's true paternity breaks out."“Oh, my God! I can't believe this is happening to me. Are you going to tell people about Barry?"“Calm down. I'm not a gossip. You told me about him because you trusted me, so I'm not going to expose you. Barry's real father might not have any such reservations though, but that's beside the point. I have a solution to the issue on ground. Wanna hear it?” Amanda asked, her eyes glinting mischievously.“Okay.”“As you well know, Der
SIX YEARS AGO“You’re what?!” Derek exclaimed out loud, shock reverberating through his whole being as he stared at Denise, who was staring back at him very calmly, as though she had not just dumped the biggest … and most terrible news of his life on him.“Pregnant. You know … the thing when a woman has sex with a man and then a few weeks later, her body feels funny and different, so she takes a pregnancy test which comes out positive. I’m pregnant, Derek.”“I got that part. The other part is what I don’t understand.”“The part about me keeping the baby? What's there not to understand? You know how much I've always wanted children. I’ve never gotten pregnant before, not that I've tried to do so anyway. I'm not aborting my first pregnancy.”“I’m married…”“I know that, dear. I don’t know why you had to rush to get married, but if you had had the patience to wait instead of getting hitched to the first desperate female you found, then maybe you would have received this news differently
“You’re a very beautiful woman, Ava. Any man would be lucky to have you as his woman.” Steve complimented Ava as they sipped their wine and waited for their food.“Thank you, Steve. I really appreciate you saying that.” Ava replied.The compliment warmed her heart, especially since it was coming from someone like Steve, who himself was one of the hottest men in the country. Ava was beginning to like him more than she had thought she would, which was no surprise because if there was one thing that Steve possessed in abundance, it was charm and charisma.It was a different kind of charisma from the one that Derek possessed or used to possess. Whereas Steve was light-hearted, easy-going, and happy-go-lucky, Derek was the opposite in that he was dark, brooding, and oh-so-serious.“Earth to you, Ava. Your mind is elsewhere. Am I that boring?” Steve asked her, but he was joking.“Oh, no. I was just thinking to myself how different you are to Derek.” Ava replied.“Oh? I guess you could say
When the news of Derek’s disappearance finally broke out and people began to speculate that he did not disappear of his own free will, the news spread like wildfire. This was after nearly two weeks of his disappearance. Suddenly, news outlets, as well as several gossip blogs began to spread the news. “Billionaire Derek Turner missing … Foul play suspected.” “Derek Turner kidnapped and presumed dead. Live in girlfriend and mother of his child arrested in conjunction with his kidnap.” These and many more headlines, with different speculations as to what had happened to Derek, were being peddled on the news outlets. The police immediately swung into action, although it was difficult to know exactly what to search for, especially since so much time had passed. For one thing, Derek’s car had disappeared alongside him. For another, he had left messages with several of his acquaintances, including business associates that he was going to be gone for a while and was going to be unre
Denise couldn’t stop shaking, but she tried to answer the questions of the police … of which there were many, as best she could.No, she wasn’t the one who kidnapped Derek and she would never do something like that because she had nothing to benefit from it.No, she and Derek did not have any major fight that would have led to him abandoning her and Barry and going away for a while.If he indeed decided to go away for a while, it was because he wanted to or for other reasons best known to him, but not because she had done something to him.This particular answer wasn’t exactly true considering what she was suspecting that Derek knew, but the police did not need to know that.No, she wasn’t aware of where he could have gone, as he had never disappeared this way before and she had no idea of any hidden property in the woods where he could have gone to as they said he told someone.Yes, she would cooperate with the police and if any new details sprung up that would be useful to their sea
"Yo, I sent you a message just now but you didn’t respond.” The caller said into the phone without a preamble. It was a male voice. Denise wished she hadn't picked up the phone. She had not heard that voice in years, but she would recognize it anywhere, anyway. “Oh,” Denise said, thinking fast. She did not know how on earth to reply to him or what the hell she should say to him, but she had a very good idea of what he wanted. “Well, where are you, and how have you been?” “What do you care?” “Oooooh, I see that you know who I am. Is that any way to talk to your dearest baby daddy? I made you a mother, remember? How is my beloved boy doing anyway? I mean, it's a boy right?” He asked, his tone mocking. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about and I’m going to hang up on you now.” “Oh, come off it, Sweet pants. You know exactly what I’m talking about and you wouldn’t dare hang up on me unless you want problems … And by problems, I mean massive ones that you won’t b
"Well, it’s very simple, sweet pants. You owe me big time and I've come to collect.” the man said, leering at her in a way that showed that he was up to no good, which wasn't a new thing, come to think of it.“I don’t understand what you mean when you say that I owe you big time. If you can remember very clearly, you tricked me into leaving the country with you by promising me a great acting job, only to lead me into something entirely different. Till today, no one, not even Derek, or his sister who is my close friend, knows what actually went down in those three years I was away.” Denise retorted angrily, amazed and appalled in equal measure at the nerve of him.She could not forget in a hurry how this asshole had ruined her life, her relationship, and even the career that she was only just trying to rebuild again. It was etched in her brain forever.EIGHT-PLUS YEARS AGOMarriage …Denise still could not get over the fact that Derek had proposed marriage to her and even worse … that
Andrew Tanner … He was one of the biggest film producers back then, which was about ten to twelve years ago. He had started young but had quickly grown to prominence and in his heyday, produced and directed a series of movies that had done pretty well.In recent times though, he had gone off the grid, and many people speculated different reasons that could be the cause for his sudden decision to take an extended break from the movie industry, but no one knew the exact reason.And now, here he was looking like a million bucks, and was clearly the answer to the prayer that Denise had been praying all her life … which was to meet someone big in the industry who would catapult her to her destined greatness.“It’s so nice to meet you, sir,” Denise told him, trying not to make it too obvious that she was so excited to meet him.“And you too. Judging from the look on your face, I take it that you’ve managed to recognize me. I don’t have time to waste because I’ve got an important meeting c
The day was bright, sunny, and cheerful, as were the people who were present at Derek's house to celebrate with him and Ava as they got married for the second time.The large garden at their house had been decorated beautifully and had served as their wedding venue. The two were the stars of the show, and they had eyes for no one but each other.They had just exchanged their vows again, to the thunderous cheers of their friends, family, and well-wishers.To put it more precisely Derek was the one with the friends, while Ava was the one with her family members present.Derek didn’t have any extended family members left, and neither did he want any. The family that he had built and was still building was more than enough for him.He had Ava, who was the best and most supportive partner that anyone could have, and with whom he was madly in love, and vice versa.He also had his beautiful daughter, Harper, who was growing up so fast and was so smart and well-behaved that she melted hearts
He led her back to his room, walked over to a drawer by the side of his bed, opened it, and brought out something from inside it.When he turned towards her and she saw what it was that he brought out of it, Ava gasped out loud.It looked like the black box in which her engagement ring had come several years ago.Derek had always had a taste for good things, and he had the money to support his taste.Thus back then, even when he wasn’t really into her, and was only marrying her out of pity, he had gotten her a beautifully crafted and expensive engagement ring.As he opened the box in his hands now and got down on one knee, she could see that it was the same ring that was inside it.He had kept it even after all these years! Tears sprung to her eyes, filling them as he professed his love to her and asked her to marry him again, promising to treat her right this time around and make up for all the lost years.“Yes, yes, Derek. Of course, I’ll marry you! There’s nothing I want more.” She
Ava wasn’t about to take any chances though. After hugging the living daylights out of Derek, while he hugged her back just as tightly, she insisted that they had to visit the hospital right then.“But it’s already late. Besides, I don’t think there's anything they can do or will have to do. We can wait until tomorrow to go there and celebrate this night instead.” Derek suggested, his voice rife with meaning as he threw a suggestive wink Ava’s way, but she didn't allow herself to be swayed.“No way in hell. We’ve waited too long for you to regain your memory to just take it so lightly now that it has finally happened. We’re going now, and that’s that!”“As Her Royal Highness wishes.” Derek joked, making a small, formal bow that made Ava smile.Yes, he was back. She could see in his eyes that he truly recognized her, but even better, he had the same look in his eyes that he used to have before he went to the conference and everything changed.The look that told her that he was in love
She picked up the papers with the slowness of a very old woman and scanned through them, her hands shaking.She was not surprised to see her name, as well as Derek’s name on the papers because she had recognized the papers the minute they fell out of the book.It was the same ones that Derek had handed to her on that night several years ago, which she had had no choice but to reluctantly sign, while crying her eyes out and swearing never to forgive him for everything that he had done to her.Except that he hadn't really done anything in the sense of the word ... at least, not in the way that she thought.Why on earth were these papers still with him? She had signed them and left that day without giving any thought to what he was going to do with them.Her signature was there on the paper, right where she had signed it haphazardly. In fact, she thought that she could still see a tear mark or two on the papers since she was crying when she signed them, but she couldn’t be sure since th
They walked in companionable silence to Derek’s room. Once they were inside the room, he led her to his walk-in closet where he had stored the journals, making sure to keep a respectable distance between them.Ava knew that it was because she had complained about the scent of his cologne, and now, she wished that she had kept her wide mouth shut.“It’s all in there. Here, let me look for the specific one you asked about.” Derek said, picking it out and handing it to her.“Oh, thank you. Are you sure that you don’t mind me reading it?”“Not in the least bit. I feel like I’d be doing the guy who wrote all that stuff a huge solid by letting you see for yourself all the things that he wanted to say to you for so long but was too chicken to say. He might want to kill me for doing it, but I think he’ll be better for it in the long run.” Derek replied, shrugging.“Okay then,” Ava said happily.Derek, for his part, suddenly became self-conscious. What if she thought that he was a sappy fool a
Several seconds passed, and then Derek rushed in the direction that she had gone.He found her in the restroom adjoining the living room. She was throwing up violently into the toilet bowl.Derek went over to her and moved her hair away from her face, providing support until there was nothing for her to throw up anymore.Once she was done, she slowly turned to face him. It was clear that she was reluctant to turn, andDerek remained immobile for a few more seconds before rushing after Ava.He found her in the restroom adjoining the living room, throwing up violently into the toilet bowl, and rushed towards her.He held her and moved her hair away from her face until there was nothing for her to throw up anymore.Then she slowly and reluctantly turned to face him, a fact that wasn't lost on him. In fact, she seemed to be inching awayfrom him so that there was a little space between them.He figured that it was because she had just finished throwing up the contents of her bowel and did
The next day, Derek arrived home from work with a huge bouquet of flowers for Ava and a smaller one for Harper. The two of them were in the living room, watching Harper’s favorite cartoon and looking all comfy and cozy. Their eyes lit up the moment Derek stepped into the living room, and this filled him with warmth. Harper in her usual fashion, bounded up to run over to him to give him a big hug. Her hugs were one of his favorite things nowadays, and he could never get tired of receiving them for as long as he lived. Ava, on the other hand, was more reserved in her welcome towards him, but she did smile at him in welcome. Her eyes were always cautious around him, which kind of made him sad because that emotion was definitely different from the one he wrote about in his journals after she warmed up to him. “Welcome home. Derek. What have you got there behind you?” Ava asked him. “Thank you. I got you both some flowers.” He replied, and brought forward the hand that was holding th
As the days passed and Derek's memory didn't return, he got more and more frustrated because it felt like things were at a standstill due to the memory loss.On the bright side, catching up with work wasn't difficult for him at all. In fact, it was one of the easiest things he had to deal with and he spent several hours a day at it while Harper was at school and Ava was trying to get back to work.Catching up with the rest of his life was what was difficult though. Nothing made sense, and so he had to go through all of his stuff, trying to find out more about his current than he already knew.He managed to find out a lot just by doing this. He had always been very organized and used to keep journals that documented his daily life.Apparently, he still kept these journals and they were all arranged neatly on a shelf in his library.He went through each and every one of them, trying to catch a glimpse of the man he now was. Going through them made him realize just how different he was f
She smiled at him and slowly came out from behind the chair. Derek had no idea for how long she had been hiding there, but it seemed that it had been quite a while.“Daddy…” She said and without warning, rushed at him and embraced him tightly with more strength than he would have expected a child to have.Derek awkwardly patted her back and embraced her too, not sure if he should pick her up, kiss her cheek, ruffle her hair, or anything like that.“How are you?” He asked her, wincing as soon as the words left his mouth. He sounded like he was having a formal meeting with some board of directors or something like that, not talking to a child.However, Harper didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she made his decision for him by raising her arms, indicating that he should pick her up.“I’m fine, daddy. The bad woman told me that you died, but I didn’t believe her.” Harper told him.Derek immediately did as she wanted and she rested her head on his shoulder in the sweetest gesture ever. To his