Derek had never felt so awful in his entire life. It felt as though his entire head was made of lead and that his mouth was filled with ashes. His head throbbed so bad that for several minutes after he came to, he simply remained in the same position in which he woke up, waiting for the pounding ache in his head to die down. It didn’t die down by any means, but he got used to it enough to crack open one eye and try to get bearing of his surroundings. He did not for the life of him, recognize where he was, why he was there, or who had brought him there. After what felt like an eternity, he was able to struggle into a sitting position, even though his head and body protested the movement every inch of the way. He soon realized why. There was a dirty makeshift bandage and sling covering the upper part of his chest and his right arm. No wonder moving into a sitting position had hurt so bad. He looked around him again, trying to get his bearing, but there was nothing to see. He was in
It took several days... Much longer than it was supposed to take, for people to realize that Derek had most likely been kidnapped. In the message that his bodyguard got that same morning of his disappearance, it had been stated that Derek was going to be unreachable for several days because he did not want to be disturbed. However, everyone who knew him also knew that there was no way he would leave his son so abruptly without giving instructions on what was to be done for the boy, or at least sorting his medical bills. “I can't believe this! How irresponsible can the man be? Who the fuck leaves a sick child in the hospital and disappears in the middle of the night when he knows that the boy’s mother is working and would not be able to come to be with him?” Denise fumed. She was pacing the entire length and breadth of the hospital room in which Barry was admitted and was constituting such a huge nuisance that Barry’s nurse had to ask her to step outside. The child looked very r
Denise stared at Amanda, mouth agape, unable to believe the words that the latter had just uttered.Granted, she had always been aware of some sibling rivalry between Derek and his sister, but that sibling rivalry was all Amanda’s fault.She had always seemed to low-key resent Derek and believed that she was the one who was supposed to have everything that Derek had, but Denise didn’t know that her feelings of resentment ran this deep.“You’re joking, right? You can't be serious about what you just said. He is your brother for crying out loud.” Denise said.“What kind of brother cuts off his own sister and makes her work menial jobs when he has the means to get her settled forever? My father would roll in his grave if he saw all the things that Derek is doing to me.” Amanda replied in indignation, her double chin quivering in anger.With each day that passed, Amanda seemed to be putting on a lot of weight, and very rapidly too. In fact, Denise was beginning to be embarrassed to be see
"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
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