It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off Ava’s shoulders. Derek had accepted the news of his daughter quite well, and he was happy to play his fatherly role. What was left now was to tell Harper about who he really was to her, and she did so that very afternoon. She took Harper to her favorite ice cream parlor, where they both got some ice cream. “Harper, I need to tell you something really important.” She told her daughter after they had both devoured their ice cream. “Okay, Mommy,” Harper replied, giving her mother her full attention and looking so serious that Ava burst out laughing for a moment. The girl sometimes acted like one who was much older than her age. “So remember how you said you wanted a daddy?” “Yes, mommy. Are you going to marry Steve so he’ll be my daddy?” Harper asked excitedly. “Calm down, honey. No one talked about marrying Steve, but then, your real daddy wants to meet you.” “Oh … is he nice? Do you think he’ll like me? Do you think he’ll want
Amanda had never felt so mad, depressed, and vengeful at the same time in her life. Her mother … the woman who got her like no one else and who tried her best to make sure that that evil beast that Amanda called a brother, didn’t cheat her of what was supposed to be rightfully hers had died trying to save her idiot of a brother. Her mother, Blair hadn't even been buried yet, and yet that asshole had cut off every single benefit that he used to give her before, telling her that he was sure that Blair had left her some substantial amount and that she was to use it in supporting herself the way she saw fit. She had tried to go to his house a few days after he got back from the hospital to apologize for her behavior at the hospital the other day, but the worthless security men who manned his gates refused to allow her entry onto his property. It wasn’t even like she actually had anything to be sorry about, after all, it was true that it was his fault that their mother was dead. If he ha
Less than an hour later, Amanda was sitting in Denise’s living room and looking around the place in awe and a little envy, while sipping a glass of whiskey which she had helped herself to without asking for permission first.“This place is big and quite nice. How on earth were you able to afford to buy this house on such short notice?”“Well, I work and I have savings too, you know.”“I know that, but for you to have been able to afford this house just like that, your savings just won't cut it.”“Is that what you wanted to see me about? To quiz the shit out of me about my house or try to find out how much I have in my bank account? If you did not gamble away every cent that came into your hands, then maybe you would have known that it is indeed possible to save up to buy something as important as your own house, especially if you weren't fortunate enough to have rich parents who bought you everything under the sun once you asked them for it.” Denise said angrily.She hadn't really mea
“So he didn’t react to the fact that you’ve been lying to and deceiving him all these years?” Amanda asked in disbelief after she had overcome her shock.“No, he didn’t. You know Derek and how soft he is, even though he pretends to be all hard and macho. He already has a soft spot for Barry and the boy is going to die any moment from now, so he doesn’t want him to spend his last days worrying why his favorite person abandoned him. Talk about a softie! He did ask me to leave his house though, which was why I got this one next to him because if I plan on getting him back, I need to be close to him.”“I get that you think that you’ve somehow managed to solve all your problems, but you're forgetting something, aren't you?”“What’s that?”“What do you intend to do about Ava and her daughter?” Amanda asked, but somehow, she already guessed what the answer to that question would be.“Nothing at all. Derek’s a billionaire. He has more than enough money to go around and last a few generations
Denise actually indeed had somewhere to be as she told Amanda, and once she was certain that Amanda had been kicked off her premises, she headed there in her car, her heart beating as she hoped to high heavens that the purpose of her outing was going to be fruitful. Amanda hadn't always been this way. In fact, once upon a time, Denise was the one who used to look up to her and want to be like her. Back then, Amanda was fit, beautiful, and rich as hell, so who wouldn’t want to be like her? It didn’t matter that she was three years older than Denise was because she was fun-loving, just as Denise was, and was also quite laid-back, although she was also quite bossy. The two women had met in one of the classes that they usually had together and Amanda had been the one to speak to Denise first. Denise still remembered that day very well. BACK IN THE DAY (COLLEGE DAYS) “Hey, do you happen to have a spare pen that you could lend me?” The person beside Denise asked. Denise looked over to s
As far as Denise was concerned, she had hit solid gold and she wasn't about to let go. She and Amanda became inseparable, although Amanda’s friendship was a bit overbearing and stifling.For starters, she did not want Denise to have any other friends, or even talk to anyone else in their class or anywhere else. It was like being with a toxic and extremely jealous partner.Also, Amanda expected Denise to be at her beck and call at all times, regardless of whatever else she had going on. She was the obsessive kind of friend.At first, Denise did not care for this sort of behavior and blatantly told Amanda so, whereupon they got into a huge fight during which they said some really mean things to each other.After that, they did not talk to each other for a whole week, even though they still attended some classes together. Whenever their paths crossed, they simply acted as though they did not know each other.In the span of that week, Denise had to go back to eating ramen noodles and cheap
On that day, Denise had just come back from the gym and was taking a much-needed shower when she thought that she heard a sound in the house, which was supposed to be empty, except for her.Terrified, she paused her shower and listened carefully, trying to remember if she had locked the door when she came into the house earlier.The sound she had heard came again, louder this time, nearly causing her heart to stop in her chest. It was the sound of heavy footsteps and they were moving very leisurely around the house.She could quite vividly remember locking the door, so how come someone was in the house? Without waiting to ponder on the answer to that question, she quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself, then got out of the bathroom as quietly as she could.She grabbed a baseball bat that she had never seen Amanda use but reckoned that it belonged to Amanda's brother, and tiptoed around the house searching for the intruder.She found him … or rather, nearly ran into him
Finally, Amanda came back to school. She was surprised to see how much time Derek was spending at the house and how often he was coming over. “What is that Derek always doing here? I don’t like having him around.” She complained to Denise, who shrugged and did not back her up the way Amanda had thought that she would do.“He’s not so bad.”“Hmm. Was he coming here a lot while I was away?”“Yes, he was. According to him, you both own the house, so I guess he has a right to come here as often as he wants. I certainly do not have the right to question him over his coming and going in his own house.”“Oh? Why do I feel like you’re taking his side over mine?”“On the contrary, I’m not taking anyone’s side. Derek just seems like a very nice person, and I think you should try to be friends with him and spend time with him instead of thinking the worst of him all the time. I mean, he is your brother, and your flesh and blood. I know how much I wish I had a brother or sister so it would not j
“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