Days passed and nothing was heard from the guy who had blared Derek's secret all over television, even though he had promised to come back the following day after his last interview with some more secrets he had to expose about Denise.People were stunned to find out that the guy was the one and same Andrew Tanner, who was once one of the biggest film producers in the industry back then. The man had aged so badly over the years and looked nothing like the way he used to look.Denise also seemed to have gone into hiding and was thankfully not going to the gossip channels to say anything else about Derek, Ava, or their daughter, which was such an immense relief to both Ava and Derek.Denise was also notably absent during Barry’s funeral, which was probably for the best because the last thing anyone needed was for her to start to stir up drama in such a solemn gathering.After the funeral, Derek traveled as he had said he would. He had been putting off this trip for a very long time beca
At first, Derek thought that he was seeing things. What on earth was Steve of all people doing here? He was supposed to be thousands of miles away shooting a movie as he had told Ava, so how come he was in another state and city entirely?That wasn’t the most surprising thing though. The most surprising thing that had Derek’s mouth nearly hanging off the floor, although on second thought, it shouldn't really have come as much of a shock to Derek, considering the kind of person that Steve was, was the fact that he wasn’t alone.Hanging onto his arm were two different women, both of whom were dressed so scantily that they could have for all intents and purposes, been naked.As Derek watched in disbelief, one of the women used her hands to drag Steve’s head towards her for a kiss, and Steve happily obliged her, kissing the woman as deeply as though his life depended on it right there in the club.The other woman, not to be left out, also dragged Steve’s head towards her for a kiss, and o
"You asshole!” Derek said through gritted teeth, not bothering to answer Steve’s greeting.Steve irritated him to the high heavens. Luckily enough, the other guys who were with Derek had gone off to find prospective dance partners, or to do something else, so at least, no one was paying attention to Derek and Steve.“Now, is that any way to greet an old friend?” Steve asked, attempting to make light of the situation, but Derek wasn't having it.“You’re no friend of mine, Steve, and I was about to leave anyway. You can stay here and carry on with what you were doing. Don’t think I won't tell Ava about it though. She deserves to know just the kind of person you are.”“Ah, so that’s what this is about. Have you forgotten that I'm a movie star? Fans come up to me all the time. What do you expect me to do? Turn them away? I can't do that, as you well know. These people are the ones who made me what I am today. They watch my movies, and that is how I make my money. If they stop watching my
However, there was the fact that Ava was now aware of the fact that he didn't cheat on her while they were married, so maybe those words did not hold true any longer, and she did not see him as her vomit any longer.Whatever the case was, she had to know about Steve and then make her own decision about whether she wanted to continue to datesomeone like him or not.Derek hoped she wouldn't continue to date him, because not doing that would mean that he could finally tell her about his feelings and see if she would be receptive to them rekindling their romance again.Aside from that, he also didn't want them to continue dating because he did not want a man like Steve to be a stepfather to his daughter, in case Ava decided to get that serious with Steve in the future.Frankly, if anyone had told Derek that Ava and Steve would still be an item after all these months had passed, he wouldn't have believed it since Steve got bored dating one woman really easily. He did not bother to dignif
“Ah ha! There we have it! I knew there was more to this. It was a mistake, dearest Saint Derek, as I have told you countless times. I was discharged and acquitted by the police after all that brouhaha. Hell, her mother attested to that fact and told everyone how manic her daughter truly was. You know that very well. It was simply self-defense, and I don’t get why you think I should have spent the rest of my life in prison simply for defending myself.”“It doesn’t change the fact that you killed her. Also, don’t forget that I was in the same house with both of you that night. I call bullshit on the self-defense story that you made everyone believe. It wasn’t self-defense. What it was is plain murder ... possibly premeditated murder, even.” Derek said, the usual feeling of guilt stirring up within him whenever the subject of late Victoria came up.“I …”“And what about her father ... the poor man you and Victoria’s greedy mother made everyone believe was crazy? You as well as killed tha
THROWBACKDerek first met Victoria when he was a freshman at the university and went to the library to read. On that day, she was sitting a little distance away, and for some reason, he felt drawn to her like a flame to a moth.She was a very beautiful, but timid looking girl, and each time their eyes met, she blushed and looked away quickly. However, it was clear that she was probably interested in him too, because she kept stealing glances in his direction.Deciding that he would try to strike up a conversation with her after some time had passed, Derek got up and went to get another book in another part of the library.He only took a few minutes to do so, but by the time he got back, she was gone. Apparently, he had misread her, and she had probably thought he was a creep, which was why she was glancing surreptitiously at him.He thanked his stars that he didn’t actually approach her, because that would have been embarrassing, and continued with his reading. The next time he saw Vic
It turned out that Victoria's aunt had a coffee shop a few blocks away from where Steve lived. In fact, Derek and his friends had always frequented that coffee shop at least three times a week ever since they moved into that area.It was a marvel to Derek how he had never crossed paths with Victoria until now because according to her, she helped out her aunt a lot in the shop.She informed him that the reason was because she used to live in the school dormitory, but had now moved in with her aunt, who lived in the apartment above the coffee shop. After that encounter at the grocery store, the guys saw her nearly every time they went to the coffee shop and became close friends with her. In fact, Damien’s then-girlfriend, who attended the same book club and was an acquaintance of Victoria, also became good friends with her. Victoria began to spend time at Steve’s place with the guys and Damien’s girlfriend, which was were they hung out most of the time.Before anyone knew what was happ
For one thing, Victoria cried through it all because she didn’t really want to do it and because she said that it hurt so much. She cried so much that it felt like Steve was raping her and he had to stop many times before she was comfortable enough to continue. For another thing, she did not have any experience, which was no surprise because she was a virgin. Therefore, he did not enjoy himself at all, as she hardly had any idea of what to do.Steve discovered that he had greatly overestimated what sex with a virgin was going to feel like, and it felt like he had been punishing himself all this while abstaining from sex just because he wanted to please Victoria.Thus, he wasted no time in trying to make up for lost time and went back to his old ways. Victoria, on the other hand, seemed to have fallen even more in love with him after he had sex with her for the first time.She called him at all times and wanted to hang out with him all the time, which meant that he had to hide his sex
“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