Justin’s POV“Thank you for driving me home,” Ayva mumbled before moving to open the car door. It was the first and only word she’d said to me in the past thirty minutes. Our lack of conversation wasn’t because I didn’t try to bring up something because trust me I did try, but rather because Ayva had seemed so uninterested that she’d chosen to reply to my questions with either a nod or a shake of her head. I figured after my third question that she didn’t want to talk to me and as much as that made me feel down, I respected her wishes and shut my mouth all through the ride. At least she’d let me take her home ‘cause I definitely would have felt like shit if she’d turned me down when I offered to take her home. I got out of the car as she stepped out and when she gave me a questioning look, I felt compelled to explain myself. “Um, I just wanted to know if you’ll be free tomorrow,” I asked awkwardly, my hand reaching to scratch the back of my neck. She threw me another questioning gaze
Justin’s POVI was late for the family meeting. I kept glancing at my wristwatch as Aiden did his presentation on the new design he and his team were proposing we worked on. The presentation was supposed to have ended an hour ago but due to some technical issues, we weren’t able to start the meeting on time. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I brought it out and checked it under the desk to see that it was a text from Emily. ‘Mom just got here.’ The message read. “What the fuck!” I cursed under my breath. Why the fuck was she there? She had no business there. The meeting was arranged by Bella’s dad and I knew it was going to be about my divorce with her. My mom had no business being there especially because my dad would be there with his lover. It was almost as if she went there to get hurt. How did she even find out about the meeting? I’d warned Emily not to tell her and I very much knew that Emily kept it from her. ‘Tell her to go back home now. The meeting doesn’t concern her.’ I
Ayva’s POV“What are you doing out here like this, alone?” Olivia’s voice said, interrupting my thoughts. It was a dark night and there were a lot of stars in the skies. It’d been a while since I stared at the stars since I talked to my baby and so I decided to lie on the porch that night and pour out all my heart to her. And by the spooky look on Olivia’s face, I could tell that she’d heard a part of my conversation. “Just stargazing,” I said as I pulled myself into a sitting position. Her gaze was skeptical, she didn’t believe me and because I didn’t want her to start getting worried or thinking that I’d started to go crazy again, I quickly tried to change the topic. “There’s something I haven’t told you,” I said, tapping the empty spot next to me on the bench for her to take a sit. “What is it? I don’t like that tone.” She said as she took the seat. I glanced down at my hands sitting on my lap and then up at the skies. I wanted to tell her about Bella’s pregnancy about how I wa
Justin’s POV“Congratulations Mr. Mount, I heard that your wife is expecting another child.” Aiden’s obnoxious voice rang across the corridor. I’d been on my way to the accounting department, to discuss the increase of my employees' salary when Aiden popped out of nowhere and dropped a piece of information I did not need my employees to know. “Congratulations, sir.” My secretary, Samantha, and just like that, every employee on that floor followed suit. All congratulated me as if it was the determinant of whether they would be paid their wages at the end of the month or not. I threw Aiden a hardened look and he returned it with a smug smirk. He lowered his head in a mock greeting as he started to walk towards me. “I want to believe you’ll have some decency now and let Ayva be.” He whispered just before he walked past me. I turned around, glaring at his retreating back. I didn’t need him to turn around before knowing he had a scornful smile plastered on his face. It pissed me off to
Ayva’s POV“Where’s she? What happened to Allison?” Aiden asked as soon as he stepped into the waiting room. Amanda left my embrace that instant and ran to meet Aiden, and he wrapped his arms around her. Their embrace looked and felt so natural as if they’d done it too many times. I leaned back in my seat as I continued to watch their exchange. I felt uncomfortable being there. I couldn’t help but feel as if I was seeing something I should have seen as if I was interrupting their private moment in some way. Maybe Aiden and Amanda were way closer than I thought. It only made sense for them to be. Amanda met Zion before I did and while he might have chosen not to make me meet his brother, he might have been different with Amanda. I should be in the grocery store, picking out some fresh vegetables and my favorite cereals but Amanda called me before I could even step out of the house. We’d made plans on going on a spa date together that evening so I’d thought she’d called to talk abo
Ayva’s POVHe blinked and looked down as if trying to hide his face from me. I scooted back, putting some distance between us so I could get a proper look at him. “Aiden,” I called, reminding him that a minute had passed and he’d yet to answer my question. He chuckled and wiped his face with his palms. “I didn’t realize that I was.” He tried to make light of the situation but I didn’t buy it. It hadn’t been a small teary moment that one could easily blame on an emotional moment, it had been a full-blown sob with snots and red eyes that’d definitely get swollen later. I gave him a look to make him know that I wasn’t buying his excuse and he chuckled nervously. His left hand unconsciously went to the back of his head to smoothen his hair down even though his hair was perfectly done. I recognized that as another habit of Zion, he usually did that whenever I caught him red-handed doing something he shouldn’t be doing. My brows furrowed even further. Do identical twins have the same ma
Ayva’s POVAfter getting my blood drawn out of me, I was told to return to the waiting room while Amanda had to return to the ward Allison was to stay with her. “See, needles aren’t so bad after all.” Aiden teased as soon as I settled in the spot next to him. My eyes narrowed at him in suspicion. “How did you know I was scared of needles? I never told you that?” He laughed. “Your expression earlier gave it away.” I eyed him skeptically, I wasn’t fully convinced by I let it go eventually. Aiden and I sat in comfortable silence as we waited for the doctor to return with the news of the test result. Out of the blue, Aiden placed a hand on my knee and I threw a questioning gaze at him. “You were moving it a lot. Are you okay?”I didn’t even notice that I was bouncing my foot on the floor. “I am. Just a little anxious.” I murmured. I was nervous about the test result. What if I wasn’t a match? What would that mean for Allison? What would happen to her? Aiden took my hand in his. An
Justin’s POV“Is something the matter Mr. Mount?” Samantha whispered to me. She looked concerned and when I threw her a questioning look, she said, “Mr. Montoya has been asking you a question for the past thirty seconds and you haven’t responded yet.” I glanced at Mr. Montoya and then the rest of the businessmen in the room. They were all looking at me, weirdly. I cleared my throat and asked, “Um, what was the question again?” The truth is my mind wasn’t there. I didn’t like the tone Ayva had spoken to me with when I called earlier. I didn’t like that I’d tried her number multiple times after that and I kept getting told that she couldn’t be reached. Another thing that bothered me was the picture Miguel, the private investigator I hired to watch Aiden sent to me. It was a picture of him embracing Ayva. I remember how I’d squeezed my phone so hard that I almost crushed it when I saw the picture. And since then, I haven’t been able to concentrate on the meeting. If I’d gotten the pi
Justin’s POV“Mom!” I warned with a glare as I tried to caution her. She continued glaring at Ayva whom I’d now pulled to stand behind me, shielding her from any other impending attack from my mom. “Oh my, oh God! What is happening? My son has- oh lord! I no longer recognize the man I birthed.” She staggered, but Emily held her before she could fall. “Where is he? What happened to my son?” She cried out dramatically, attracting unnecessary attention from passersby. My jaw ticked, “Mom, this is not the time or place for this.” I gritted through my teeth. “Oh Emily what has happened to your brother? How could he be so cruel to me?” She continued, ignoring my warnings. “Stop this now or I’m going to leave.” I kept on clenching and unclenching my teeth, trying to keep the anger and irritation o felt away. “Now he’s threatening me. He’s threatening his own mother. He’s not my—” “Mom!” I barked, gaining more eyes on us. She looked stunned and so did Emily. And their shock was because
Justin's POV"What do you mean by that?" I inquired, casting a skeptical glance at Samantha.She approached my desk, placing an iPad on the surface. I eyed her suspiciously before picking up the iPad.True to her words, there was a video of Bella on live TV. I was taken aback. What was she doing there? She had mentioned feeling unwell that morning, causing me to arrive at work late, yet there she was on TV, looking nothing like she had described earlier.The presenter was asking her questions, but I couldn't hear clearly as the iPad's volume was low. I quickly connected my AirPods to the iPad to listen to what she was saying."Oh, that's all false. My husband and I are stronger than ever. All the divorce rumors are just tabloid trash," Bella claimed. "Did I mention that we also have plans to renew our wedding vows?"We do?"Really?" The presenter seemed surprised by the news. Well, that made two of us. "That's great news, Bella. We heard rumors about Mr. Mount having a mistress. Ther
Ayva's POV"Ms. Wesley, Ayva, are you still here?" Martinez's voice jolted me out of what I was reading on my phone.I blinked multiple times, sat up in my chair, and nodded. "Of course, I am. What were we talking about again?" I said, placing my phone down on the desk with the screen facing down. I intertwined my fingers together as my elbow rested on the desk."I said the only way to prove his identity is false is to confirm if he's truly Allison's father," Martinez said. "But you know we can't use DNA samples acquired illegally, so he has to be aware of the DNA test.""But then he'd know what I'm onto," I said, and Martinez slowly nodded. "There has to be another way," I mumbled. Although I'd yet to scientifically confirm if Aiden was truly Zion like Justin had claimed, since that day that he said it, I'd been unable to shake off that idea from my head. As days went on, I slowly accepted that Justin might be right.It'd been two months since I decided that we needed to take a break
Ayva’s POV"Ms. Wesley, Ayva, are you still here?" Martinez's voice jolted me out of what I was reading on my phone.I blinked multiple times, sat up in my chair, and nodded. "Of course, I am. What were we talking about again?" I said, placing my phone down on the desk with the screen facing down. I intertwined my fingers together as my elbow rested on the desk."I said the only way to prove his identity is false is to confirm if he's truly Allison's father," Martinez said. "But you know we can't use DNA samples acquired illegally, so he has to be aware of the DNA test.""But then he'd know what I'm onto," I said, and Martinez slowly nodded. "There has to be another way," I mumbled. Although I'd yet to scientifically confirm if Aiden was truly Zion like Justin had claimed, since that day that he said it, I'd been unable to shake off that idea from my head. As days went on, I slowly accepted that Justin might be right.It'd been two months since I decided that we needed to take a break
Justin’s POVI felt like shit. Seeing Ayva so broken, shocked, and disappointed in me made me want to disappear. I was beyond embarrassed.And the worst part was I had no excuse, nothing I could say to fix how she felt about me now, which just made everything worse.I’ve had my suspicions about Allison for years but didn't confirm it until a month ago when Amanda called Ayva to the hospital. I half expected Ayva to catch on when she was told she was a match with Allison. It seemed fishy that neither Amanda nor Aiden was a match, but Ayva was. And when I realized she hadn't figured it out, I promised myself I'd tell her when the time was right. If only I knew that jerk would beat me to it.Ayva wiped her nose with the back of her hand. I offered her a handkerchief, but she didn't take it, choosing to wipe her tears with her sleeves instead."What else?" She sniffed. "What else are you keeping from me? It feels like there's always something you're hiding." Her words hit hard. "Tell me
Ayva’s POV“Ayva, how did you-”“Answer my question, Justin!” I snapped before taking a deep breath to steady my nerves. I shouldn’t be getting angry with him, not when he was most likely the only one who could help me find her. “I…” I sucked in a deep air into my lungs. “I just want to know Justin. I need to know where she is and— please,” I grabbed his hand, my desperation evident in my eyes. “Tell me the truth, I promise I won’t get mad.” I wasn’t exactly sure I could keep that promise but it didn’t matter at that moment. I was ready to do anything, say anything to make him tell me what I wanted to hear. He sighed, casting his gaze downwards to his desk before looking up at me again. With a heavy breath, he asked, “How did you find out? Who told you about this?” I shook my head at him in disappointment. “Seeing as you’re avoiding answering my question, that means you knew about it. How long Justin? How long have you known this? How long have you… watched me suffer in silence. W
Justin’s POV"What do you mean by that?" I inquired, casting a skeptical glance at Samantha.She approached my desk, placing an iPad on the surface. I eyed her suspiciously before picking up the iPad.True to her words, there was a video of Bella on live TV. I was taken aback. What was she doing there? She had mentioned feeling unwell that morning, causing me to arrive at work late, yet there she was on TV, looking nothing like she had described earlier.The presenter was asking her questions, but I couldn't hear clearly as the iPad's volume was low. I quickly connected my AirPods to the iPad to listen to what she was saying."Oh, that's all false. My husband and I are stronger than ever. All the divorce rumors are just tabloid trash," Bella claimed. "Did I mention that we also have plans to renew our wedding vows?"We do?"Really?" The presenter seemed surprised by the news. Well, that made two of us. "That's great news, Bella. We heard rumors about Mr. Mount having a mistress. Ther
Ayva’s POVI suddenly shot up in bed, startled by a dream that had felt more like a nightmare and had sent cold sweat down my back. My breath came in short gasps, and I was drenched in sweat as if the nightmare had seeped into my waking world.Letting out a heavy sigh, I turned my gaze to the alarm clock resting on the bedside table. It had just ticked past ten. Despite sleeping for nearly ten hours, it felt like only ten seconds had passed since I closed my eyes.I fumbled around the bed, searching for my phone, and finally unlocked it. As I scrolled through my missed calls and messages, a text from my boss caught my eye. He’d asked if I was still interested in being a part of the company or if I’d simply removed myself. At that moment, his message held little significance to me; the thought of losing my job didn't faze me. Instead, my mind lingered on the absence of any message or missed calls from Justin, the one I had been eagerly anticipating.The disappointment that I felt was i
Ayva’s POVBella, with a stern look, asked me, “Are you going to tell me why you were in my husband’s room, why you are in my house, or do I have to call the cops for trespassing.”I felt her gaze pierce through me across the corridor. I guessed I had indeed trespassed. After all neither Justin nor Bella were aware that I was going to drop by."I'm sorry, I was just heading out," I muttered as I made my way towards the stairs.But Bella wasn't letting me off that easy. "I asked you a question," she stated firmly, making me stop and turn to face her. "I think I deserve to know why you were in my husband's room while he was sleeping."Her stress on 'husband' was clear, like she was reminding me she was still married to him and had every right to ‘interrogate me.’ "I mean, you've gotta be a whole new level of shameless to show up here knowing full well that his wife was gonna be home with him," she remarked, taking deliberate steps toward me. "For seven days, my husband was off with you