"Tch..." grumbled the black-haired woman, who got up abruptly to stretch and massage her neck. "My love, that ungrateful girl hasn't replied to my messages," she said, approaching her husband sitting in his armchair."I doubt she's seen them, Vanessa" the blond man said, amused."You know, Frederick, if you're going to take her side over our daughter's, you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight.""I'm not taking her side, my love," Frederick said, holding onto the woman by her waist to make her sit on his lap, "But it makes sense that she hasn’t responded to your texts because I seem to recall that someone intentionally spilled wine on her stepdaughter's old laptop.""Oh... right, heh, I forgot about my little prank," Vanessa said as she looked into his eyes."Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go to her and teach that stupid girl a lesson because she hasn't called us all this time, and that angers me," Frederick said, his blue eyes reflecting great hatred."Well, you can't blame h
"Wait... what did she say?" Cassandra asked, frightened."Deborah isn't here? Where did she go?" Frederick interrogated."No idea, but what I know is that poor girl won't be coming back to this house. Good for her because only idiots like you would come yelling at her door," the woman said, annoyed as she closed her apartment door.The father and daughter were astonished because that was something they never thought would happen: Deborah leaving that house. Where did she go? With what money? Did she manage to win over Roger and move into that luxurious house old Mr. Peterson had given them?Many questions swirled in their heads, and as if it was fated, Roger happened to just arrive at the apartment, looking furious.He was lost in his thoughts, mentally cursing stupid Deborah because she had helped fulfill his father’s threat. Now he was just another employee who had been scolded by ‘his boss’ for being late. Roger swore he would make sure she never dared to escape from that damn
Blissfully unaware of the family drama unraveling in the Anderson family, Deborah was immersed in her own world, fully engaged in a discussion with Charlotte as they planned for Deborah to teach a sign language and Morse code class for kids.They spent the entire morning planning the class and discussing details of the structure of the lessons and class schedules. Their conversation had to end at 11 as Charlotte needed to pick her son up."Alright, Deborah, I think we’ve got most of the details down," Charlotte said as she walked to the door.[Yes.] Deborah wrote her response, a communication they had agreed to for convenience."In that case, see you tomorrow at five to show you the place where you'll be teaching. I’ll spread the word among the neighbors about the upcoming classes today too.” Charlotte opened the door and continued to say, “Well, I'll leave now to pick Michael up then make lunch."[See you later.] Deborah said her goodbye through her notebook, watching Charlotte l
‘I guess he’s busy today.’ Deborah blushed, realizing what she was thinking. ‘Whoa... Deborah, get a grip. You're not divorced yet and you're already thinking about someone else.’ Flustered, Deborah hurried into her house and put away the groceries.Just as she was about done, Caroline and Christian arrived with dinner.[Welcome.] Deborah greeted them at the door, letting them in."Hi, Deborah," the couple replied as they entered the house. Christian placed the bags on the table."It looks like you've settled in," Caroline joked, seeing a corner of the living room with the laptop and some open notebooks.[Well, it's my house. Besides, I like the view from the window, so I made it my workspace.] Deborah replied."That's the spirit," Christian praised her."Dear, clean your hands and help us set the table," Caroline instructed, taking the bags to start unpacking the food.Christian obeyed. When he returned, his partner asked him to open the wine bottle and serve some juice while
The day before had been very relaxing for Deborah. So today, she was determined to work towards properly owning this house, to make it her new home. After breakfast, she calculated how much savings she needed to buy the house from Jayden. She also wanted to make sure she had enough to get him a thank-you gift.Her calculations were interrupted when she checked the time—she had an online appointment with a client to discuss their tax declaration for this bimester. Deborah closed her notebook and logged into the online platform.‘Now that I have more time on my hands, I can easily handle four clients a day.’ She smiled—she had been handling a total of 20 clients per week without any issues before this.Once the appointment was over, she started drafting her report to send it to her boss.With this increase in clients, and if she saved her money well, she could have enough to pay for the upcoming hospital bills; the necessary clothes, furniture, and other items for her baby; the curre
"I don't care."[What?]"I don't care if the baby isn't biologically mine. If you allow me, I'll treat that baby as my own because I really like you, Deborah. And my feelings for you are sincere."[Jayden, I couldn't ask you for that.]"Why not?"[It's just... no... it wouldn't be right. This baby is Roger's, it's not yours—]"That baby is yours, and if you give me a chance, I'll strive to be a great father to him or her."[Jayden... but I'm not—]"I know, you're not divorced yet, but soon you will be, so I'll continue my fight to win a piece of your heart."[I don’t think you need to fight for that.] Deborah looked away with a slight blush.Jayden was surprised by her reaction, and his smile widened. "I’m delighted by your words."[I still don't know exactly how I feel about you, but I think about you a lot.] Deborah admitted."I know, let's take it one step at a time," he said, taking her hands. "But I like how things are starting."Deborah nodded, smiling at him.After
Meanwhile…Roger wasn't having a good time. His father had followed through with the threat and demoted him—he wasn't a department head anymore. Now he had less money because his salary reflected his new role: a basic employee.That only meant more problems and stress for him because Sophia couldn’t be bothered about any of that—she wanted to keep spending money as usual and now she was asking him for more, using her pregnancy as an excuse.After leaving work, he went home because he didn't feel like seeing anyone at the moment. He had been ignoring Sophia's constant calls all morning—she had truly become a nuisance."Ah... give me a break..." he complained, throwing his phone on his bed. He was tired of seeing messages like [Roger, my love, I need you... Can you give me money? Why aren't you here? I feel lonely... Hey, when will you give me a little gift...?] And that was only the tip of the iceberg in the number and types of messages she sent him.He cursed himself... he should
Upon hearing those words, Roger’s eye twitched as he turned to glare at his mother."That's right, son, you shouldn't neglect Sophia and my grandchild," she insisted."What... but—""While you two chat, I'll go unpack my things," declared Sophia, quickly detaching herself from him. She entered the apartment with her suitcases and started exploring the place while murmuring to herself."Mom, are you crazy or what?" Roger complained quietly."Don't talk to me like that, Roger.""How could you bring her to my house?""But I'm not doing anything wrong, since you two should be living together because of the baby and—""Mom, forget that because I'm going to bring Deborah back.""What?! Why?" The women exclaimed in unison."Because I want to reclaim everything that was mine," he declared, crossing his arms."What do you mean by that?" Sophia asked, unaware of the business matter."But your father…he didn't mention—""He was dead serious, and in case you don't remember, mother...