Somehow, Ava was not surprised to find herself in this situation. In fact, it felt like on a subconscious level, she had been hoping that Derek would find out that he had a daughter from her this way.He had not yet pieced the puzzle together, but was instead, smiling and looking at her uncertainly, probably wondering why she was acting strangely.Ava willed herself to smile … do something … say something, but all she could manage was to open her mouth and close it several times like a fish out of the water, totally at a loss as to what to say.“Well, fancy meeting you here, Ava. What are you doing here, if I may ask?” Derek asked.“Hello,” Harper said to Derek before her mother could answer the question, choosing that moment to greet him, and he smiled warmly down at her and told her hello in return.“Um, well … I …” Ava stammered, her face flushing. Harper came to the rescue in the next second.“This is my mom. Mom, this is Barry’s Dad. He has many nice cars.” She introduced Derek t
Ava braced herself for whatever his reaction would be, ready to defend herself if the need arose, although she knew that Derek wasn’t that sort of person. The last thing she expected was for tears to gather in his eyes. He blinked the tears back rapidly and stared at her with a very hurt look that made her feel guilty. “Why didn’t you tell me, Ava?” He asked. “I … I …” “Would you ever have told me?” “Of course, I would have! I wanted to tell you earlier today. That was why I asked to see you privately, but I guess I lost my nerve. It’s not exactly an easy thing to say.” Ava replied. “You were afraid I would not want her. You were afraid that I would reject her.” Derek stated. “Yes, I was. You can't blame me. You know how adamant you were about me not getting pregnant. Look, this is not a topic we can discuss here. We’re beginning to get a lot of curious looks from small, inquisitive eyes.” Ava told him. They were having this conversation in whispers because they did not want the
Derek could not stop smiling. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would suddenly get a daughter out of nowhere, but that was exactly what had happened less than an hour ago, and he was ecstatic about it.What was even better was the fact that his beautiful daughter was birthed by the woman he loved. Yes, he loved Ava, and maybe it was high time he stopped deceiving himself and trying to deny his feelings.There was no point in doing that. He couldn’t wait to start to make up for lost time where Harper was concerned. Also, he couldn’t help but wonder if things would have been different had he known that Ava was pregnant with his baby before she left.Yes, things would have been different, because he wouldn’t just have allowed her to leave with his child. Hell, he wouldn't have divorced her in the first place because it would have meant choosing between her and Denise and there was no way he would have chosen Denise over her.One of the reasons why he had finally decided
EIGHT PLUS YEARS AGO As much as he didn’t want to, Derek still thought about Denise once in a while and he also thought about the kind of life they would have had if she was the one he got married to. He absolutely hated having such thoughts, especially because of the way things ended between them. Due to the way she left, a normal person would have gotten over Denise easily, but apparently, he wasn’t normal. A week after Ava informed him that she was pregnant, he had to travel to another state. Each day, Ava made sure to call him and check up on him, telling him how much she missed him and how she couldn’t wait for him to return. And then on the eighth day after he left, he did not receive her call. He did not think too much of it and figured that maybe she overslept that day. So busy was he that day that he did not think anything of it until the next day, when she still didn’t call. By the time it was afternoon, he put a call through to her, but it went unanswered. He called he
He rushed over to her immediately, his heart pounding harder than it had ever pounded in his life.He lifted her head up and checked for a pulse, calling her name over and over as though that was going to make her get up, laugh, and tell him that it was all a prank.He did find a pulse, although it was a very faint one, and when he found it, he sagged with relief, reached for his phone, and called his driver who had dropped him off immediately. “There’s an emergency. Please get the car ready and keep the engine running. We have to get to the hospital as fast as we can.” He told the man, not bothering to listen to his response.It would be much faster for the man to drive them to the hospital than for him to wait for an ambulance to arrive, he reckoned. He was also in no frame of mind to drive right then.Already, he had lifted Ava up in his arms and was headed as fast as he could down the stairs, still dressed in his suit.The driver had the car ready as instructed and was already wa
“What do you mean by she was the one who told you to stay back? Why would she want to be in the house all alone?” Derek asked the woman.“We were all at the party together, sir. She wasn’t feeling too well and asked the driver to take her home. I offered to come home with her, or at least send someone along with her, but she vehemently refused and asked us to stay back since she was capable of looking after herself. If we had known that it was this bad …” The woman trailed off, wringing her hands worriedly.“Alright, alright. That’s fine.” Derek told her.Not long after, he went home to have a much needed shower and rest. Then later in the evening, he went back to the hospital to see how Ava was faring.She had been stabilized, which was such a big relief to him and everyone. She spent a total of ten days in the hospital before she was discharged. By this time, she had found out about the loss of the baby and was inconsolable. Now that she was better, Derek too was feeling the sadnes
Derek took a deep breath and slowly let it out before replying.“Ava, I don’t think that that’s a good idea … at least not now. First of all, it’s way too early to start trying for a baby so soon after the miscarriage. Also, I don’t want to have kids right now, and even if I do want them later on, I’ll most likely adopt them.”“You were happy when I told you that I was pregnant. You wanted the baby that we lost.”“Yes, I did, but remember that we both had no choice really. We did not plan the pregnancy. It just happened, and then it almost took your life. ”“It wasn’t the baby’s fault. These things happen to women more often than you think, and it doesn’t mean that I can't carry a baby to full term. I’ll just be closely monitored this time around.” Ava insisted. “I don’t want a baby,” Derek told her very firmly and watched the hurt enter her eyes.However, he meant what he said and he now realized that it was better to tell her how he felt and what he wanted, rather than to give her
I think we have made a dreadful mistake, Ava. We certainly didn’t think this through before we decided to get married.” Derek told her uneasily.“I didn’t make a mistake, Derek. I wanted to marry you because I loved you, and I still do, so I married you happily. If you think the marriage is a mistake, please speak for yourself.” Ava replied, holding her head high, but she could not keep her chin from trembling and tears from filling her eyes.“I just meant that we clearly want different things, and we did not discuss any of this beforehand.”“I know, but it’s fine. You were optimistic that we could work things out after we got married, but now that we are, you're refusing even to try. It's okay though. Marriage is about compromise. I’m willing to compromise with you and accept your terms. You’re right. Several children who are already in this world need a loving home and we can provide them with that. We’ll start with the adoption process once you're ready.” Ava replied.Derek was dum
“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