"Barry’s body is not even yet cold, and neither has it been removed from your house and you’re already going outing with the child who killed him? What other despicable thing are you going to do? Go have sex with that ugly, obnoxious bitch that you keep panting after like a dog in heat while the boy you claim to love lies dead?” Denise raged, her voice loud enough to awaken the dead and jealousy coming off her in droves.Right on her heels came two of Derek’s security personnel who did not waste time in grabbing each of her arms and trying to bundle her out of there, but it seemed that they had underestimated just how angry or mentally unhinged Denise had become.“You tricked me, you heartless bastard. You tricked me into leaving after you wasted my time all these years and now you think I'm going to stand by and watch you leave me to go be with that woman and her daughter. I will only allow that to happen over my dead body!” She screamed, fighting the men who were holding her like a
The house was small, but beautifully furnished and looked really cozy and homey. That was the same way his house had looked when he was married to Ava and had let her add her touches to it.It was the same reason why he hardly changed anything after she left back then. That, and the fact that having his house remain the same way reminded him of her.“Here you go. Do you want anything to eat?” Ava asked him, handing him the drink that she had gone to prepare for him.“Thank you, and no. There’s no need for you to go to any trouble on my account. I’ll have something prepared by my chef at home later on.” Derek replied, sipping the drink.“It's not a problem. I was already preparing food before you guys came, and incidentally, I made more than enough for us and was going to put the rest in the refrigerator. There’s no need to do that since you’re here. I’ll be just a moment.” Ava replied.At that moment, Harper came back into the room, armed with several toys which she dumped at Derek’s
Right there on the television screen was Denise, giving an interview to anyone and everyone who would care to listen. It was crazy how fast after his encounter with her at the house she was giving this interview.She looked a hot mess, with strands of her hair flying every which way and her expression livid as she ranted on live television.“He didn't even wait for our son's body to get cold before running off into that impostor’s arms. Do you know how many years we were together and didn't get married, yet he married that woman who is only after his money mere months after meeting her? He was flaunting his daughter with her at me too, not minding the grief I was going through, less than two hours after our son’s death.” Denise was saying.She was painting him to be the black sheep, and herself a saint, probably because she knew that he was too embarrassed to tell the whole world that she had given him another man's child to raise, and he had fallen in love with the child, and still c
“Who could it be? I’m not expecting any visitors today.” Ava said, getting up to go check who was at the door.Derek was not surprised when he heard Steve’s voice a few seconds after he heard the door open. Disappointment wracked his whole being. How did Steve always manage to show up at the most inopportune time to ruin his plans?Now, he would have to postpone telling Ava what he wanted to tell her because there was no way he was going to say all that in front of Steve. Hell, he knew that Steve would not give him the space to do that even if he wanted to.A minute later, Ava was ushering Steve into the dining room where Derek and Harper were still eating. Derek wondered if he was imagining the disappointment on Ava’s face and decided that he probably was and it was wishful thinking on his part.“I saw what Denise was doing on the news and immediately came over to check that you were alright.” Steve was saying to Ava. Derek knew that the reason the other man had come was because Deni
Time hadn’t been good to Andrew Tanner in the least. His life was meaningless and had been so for a while now.He had thought that he would be able to get some money from that wicked and heartless bitch, Denise, which he would have used to get his life back on track, at least to some extent.However, it turned out that she hadn't changed at all. She was still the same heartless, wicked bitch that he had known back then who thought only about herself.For several months now, he had been struggling to make ends meet and living from hand to mouth, unable to believe that sometime in the not-so-distant past, he had once lived like a king.Now, he looked nothing like his former self and had aged far more than he should. He looked much older than his peers and that was saying something, considering that he was already about to enter his sixties.Denise was living large and enjoying herself, while he, who had made it possible for her to do so, was rotting in the slums, hardly able to afford a
"Who is this and what do you want?" Derek asked again. He sounded like he was about to end the call, so Andy dropped his show of acting mysterious and spoke quickly."I'm an erstwhile friend, turned enemy of Denise. I saw the interviews she was granting earlier today and I felt bad on your behalf, so I decided to come clean to you and help you in any way I can.""I'm listening.""I don't know if you are aware of this fact, but the child that just died isn't your biological child.""Who exactly are you?""I'm Barry's biological father. Do you mind if we met somewhere private to discuss?" Andy asked."Actually no. I know how this is going to go, or at least I have a very good guess. You're going to ask for money so that you don't spill the secret to the public. Well, I don't care what you do or you don't do, okay? You can spill the secret to the public if you so wish. In fact, you will be doing me a great favor.""I was hoping that you'd say that sir. I figured that you wouldn't want to
"So, I’m going to point you in the direction of paparazzi, and you’re going to give them all the juicy details while leaving my name out of it. I wanted to do that myself before, but the thought of going on television and saying all that stuff nauseates me, so you're going to do it for me. You can sell the information to the paparazzi. I believe you're going to make a good amount of money, considering the fact that Barry's death is currently trending on the gossip channels.” Derek said.“I know I can make some money sir, but I'm not sure I'm going to make a lot of it that way. I just need enough money to set up a business for myself and …”“Take it or leave it, Andy my man. As you well know, I don't owe you a damn thing. If you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, as well as a great bargaining spirit, then you should be able to make some good money from the paparazzi. Let me know how it goes once you’re done, and I may decide to compensate you for your efforts.” Derek said into the p
Andy was clearly having a field day as he fielded questions from the paparazzi. He left out no part of the story, but said everything the way it had happened, saying parts that even Derek didn’t know about because Denise had conveniently omitted those parts when she confessed what she had done to him.Andy talked about how Denise had abandoned Derek after his accident and had gone in search of fame, only to come back when she found out that Derek was now far richer than she had imagined that he would be.Then he went on to talk about how he had helped Denise go about getting Derek back after they got back into the country. Just listening to the man talk caused Derek to cringe.He couldn’t believe that he had been fooled so utterly and smoothly, despite priding himself on being a world-wise man. Andy’s story made him look like a gullible and foolish man, who was so easily deceived.He listened to the man talk about how he and Denise had drugged Derek and planted evidence to make it loo
“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