THIRD PERSON POV“Wah…what are you saying, miss Hernandez?” Mrs. Thompson asked carefully, making sure she didn’t hear wrong the first time. But Valerie only chuckled in response, “They live with me now, Mrs. Thompson.” She confirmed, “Didn’t Charlotte tell you? I thought you guys were close seeing as you got invited to her shopping mall party”Mrs. Thompson’s lips parted open in surprise, her eyes widening as she slowly pieced everything together. “Oh my God…” she whispered to herself, smiling with glee at the new found piece of information she had just gotten. An exciting piece of information, that was what this is!And just then a car horn sounded loudly from behind, signaling the line had began moving and Mrs. Thompson was in the way of others behind. With a gasp she faced a still smiling Valerie, “Errm, sorry Miss Hernedez! I have to go now, but it was so nice seeing you again!” she said, smiling from ear to ear like she just won a medal and Valerie simply nodded in response befo
HUDSON’S POV“Ma’am Valerie has already left the building, Sir!” the receptionist said, her features serious. Meaning she wasn’t trying to tell me off.But how could Val have left already, when we talked on phone just a few minutes ago? “Are you sure about this? She really left?” I pressed, urging the young lady for any information I could get out of her.But I guess it was futile cause she simply nodded her head as a positive to respond to me. “She came in earlier today, with a few cute kids and after a while, she left! I saw her myself, Mr. Rodriguiez. But I can schedule you a meeting though, you just have to-“No, no. No worries, I will just…contact her on phone” I said, waving off her polite gesture before turning away and out of the building. My legs, taking me to the parking lot. And as I did, the more worried I became. Continuously dialing her contact without getting a response. “Where are you, Valerie?” I grumbled, allowing the robotic voice fill the air again.But just as I r
HUDSON'S POVThe cop simply straightened up at my words. “I think you need to see this, sir” he said, pulling out his phone. “This is the CCTV footage from the building opposite yours, and as you can see these men were the culprits. They came in with vans, weapons…destroyed the place and left right after! Could be an enemy or a certain person that is currently not in good terms with you. But rest assured, we are taking care of it! We will find them and keep you posted on our findings, for now I will say be careful and not leave your kids at home!” he finished, taking back his phone.I didn’t even know what to feel given this new piece of information. I didn’t even know what to think!Just a few moments ago I had thought it was Charlotte pulling a stunt and wanting to find where we lived, but this? I didn’t expect this at all and the mere realization that the entire mess in our yard was caused by a strange group of men and not Charlotte left me feeling totally disorganized.“Can I have
VALERIE’S POV“You fool! What the hell is going on?!”“How the hell did your matter get to the news?!” Drake yelled out; his voice so loud that I winced a bit from it. That was to be expected though, considering I was listening in on his phone call with Charlotte through my secret room.“Dad, i-“Shut the fuck up! Just shut the fuck up! You’re so useless, you can’t even keep that arrogant bastard in check and yet you wanted to marry him?! You’re so useless!” he yelled, cutting her off.“I already called a person I know on the news channel, he promised to take the news down!” Charlotte defended; her voice stressed. But that was still not enough for Drake.“Take down? What’s the point of that?!” he yelled again, “Everyone has seen it already! Everyone is talking about it, even the maids here won’t stop chatting about it! My God… how did end up tied to this mess?! Just what is that Hudson up to?!”Charlotte groaned for a bit, her hands roaming her hair roughly like a mad woman. “Dad, plea
CHARLOTTE’S POV “Madame” “Madame…” Maria pleaded; her voice shaky as she held on to my phone while I vigorously switched between channels. My eyes glaring as I watched how far the news had spread on several stations. I’ve been at it for almost 5 minutes now, and so far, it seemed like every single channel just wanted to announce to the world that Hudson and Valerie had something going on! “Fucking morons!” I cussed under my breath as I passed through yet another channel! I couldn’t even believe it. How did everything become like this? How did everything turn like this?! Just a few days ago I had that bitch Valerie hunted down and I even got to know the house Hudson moved in with her. They had actually moved in together. Staying together, all happy…like a perfect family with their kids. The nerves! Here I was planning to show up at that stupid house of theirs, hoping to disagree with Hudson and have him leave with me plus, Aby. We would’ve been complete again… but rather, I woke
Valerie’s POVLater that day, after my call with Hudson ended, a series of events took place. Number one been from Hudson himself.The man was that surprising!One minute he was talking to me about ignoring everyone and then the next, he was holding a press conference and confirming our relationship himself!Like, could you believe that?!Don’t get me wrong, this way the end product I had wanted when I decided to push forward with the rumor stuff. But I never expected Hudson would take it up so fast! The plan was to act pitiful and bullied, forcing him with more rumors and cries from me so he would step forward to end it all. Publicly at that! That way Charlotte would cry more tears of blood while in that house.But look how the heavens decided to help me! They probably knew I wasn’t born with the inbuilt acting skills as my aunt or as Charlotte, and so crying or lamenting daily to Hudson would have been a struggle. They then decided to cut my journey short and make Hudson step up.Wh
VALERIE'S POV“Liam is so annoying!” I grumbled, shutting my door as I took my bags inside. My grumblings filling the air as I walked to the front door. But could you blame me? All through the ride back home, his words just kept replaying in my head. His laughter and mostly especially how much they got to me.He was right. I acted so flustered!But why though? I wasn’t in love with Hudson, that much I knew! I mean, I felt nothing along the lines of what I felt for him before when we were married. Meaning his words weren’t true, so why do I keep thinking about it?Yes, maybe I am showing a bit more kindness to Hudson now, compared to how angry I was to him but that didn’t mean anything. I was only doing so for the sake of the kids. We lived under the same roof and slept on the same sheets for heaven’s sake! I couldn’t possibly let harm come to him… right?I couldn’t … okay hold on, why am even thinking about this again?“Arghh, it’s all you’ve been doing since you left the darn restaur
CHARLOTTE’S POV“Char!”“Oh my goodness, Charlotte!”and just like that, her hurried footsteps towards me filled the air while I mentally prepared myself to get what I wanted from her. And as she got closer, her steps faltered, her grey eyes slowly taking me in as they shone with unshed tears. “Oh no... you’re so pale! Look at your skin, the eyebags…” she moaned out,I let my eyes wet with tears as she gently took my hands, her touch soft and comforting like she could understand it all. She could clearly see me… and even if it wasn’t part of the plan, I hugged her instantly. Slowly letting it all out, the pains…the hurt and absolute loneliness that these past few weeks have kept me in!All the betrayals and abandonment that have been dished out to me by the people I considered my own, my father, Raymond… and even Hudson! Most especially Hudson! He was the source of all this pain I was feeling right now! It was all him! “Mom…” I cried out, my words getting choked up in a cry as she held
HUDSON’S POV“Do you understand now?”“First, the man you wanted left you, Amelia left you, Ethan also did, and now… your own father has abandoned you.” her voice sounded softly, almost considerate but the underlying cruelty was hard to miss. A total contrast to the nonchalant expression on her face, like even speaking to the woman on phone was not worth wasting her energy.It was enchanting, to say the very least.“No one wants you; no one wants to be with you.” She whispered slowly, “You will die alone, Charlotte. A long, lonely death. Remember that,”And just like that, the call ended. The phone sliding from her ears, every movement smooth like she had finished the deal right then and there, which she had though. The bait had been set.The bait we both agreed upon after Ethan showed up at our doorstep, with information about Charlotte. A very daring attitude from a person with his record of betrayal. Ever since he attempted to kidnap Valerie back then, he had gone off record. Which
CHARLOTTE'S POV“Oh yeah?” she sneered, sounding totally unbothered as I continued to brew with anger. “What will you do to Drake then? You see he made a deal with me; to hand over all his dealings with my family, testify against you in court, revealing all the many corpses that was buried underneath the garden in his house for you.”What?“What are you talking about you bitch, I killed no one!” I responded, my breathing shaky as memories of how so many dead bodies were used as fertilizer for the rose garden back home. Dead bodies that were as a result of several tortures and beatings given to men doing business with the heartless man that was my father!It was all him!How come this bitch was saying something else here? How did she even know about the bodies?!“Those corpses are as a result of the many murders that you have done over the years, Charlotte!”“That’s not true!” I argued angrily, losing my cool.“But Drake said it is, and he is testifying against you in court!” she insis
CHARLOTTE’S POV“What the hell are they doing?”“Why are they even together at the hospital? Just what the fuck is this?!” my voice resounded everywhere, bouncing off the walls in the apartment I currently occupied with Raymond.But could you blame me? I was pissed off!Pissed off by the stupid ass video that was been displayed on the tv screen! A video of what supposedly had happened between my man and that bitch Valerie today! Or was this some sort of trick? That bitch Valerie was pulling a stunt again?But even if she did, how did Hudson come onboard with this?! To do this with her! Act like they were all perfect and okay, when I knew they were not! They most definitely were not! They shouldn’t even be!Valerie’s schemes have been exposed! Hudson knows all about this now, I was sure of it! I watched him drive off angrily that night, away from their new place. He didn’t go home that day I sent those cameras, they had a fight. I was sure of it!So why instead of packing his things an
HUDSON’S POVSilence settled between Val and I as we walked all the way to the ward. Our fingers still interlocked, until finally we reached the very door that held Miley’s excited laughs behind it. And then I stopped, facing Valerie right then.“What money?” I asked, but she simply blinked. Probably not expecting my question, but I heard the conversations between her and her aunties anyways. Or at least part of it, since they were already speaking before I arrived there. So…“The money your aunt was referring to” I explained, my voice calm as I waited. “She said something about a stolen money that was in Mason’s name, and you were going to be arrested for it if they called the cops. What was that all about?”“Oh,” was all she said, a deep sigh following right after. “It’s… it’s a bit personal,”Huh?“Personal?” I repeated, not believing she was about to do what I thought she would do. “How personal is this that I can’t even know about it? Mason is involved here, that’s my son, Valeri
HUDSON’S POVComing back home was nothing short of what I had expected. My kids gathered were together, happily playing games, absolutely oblivious of the current happenings surrounding me and their mom. As far as they were concerned; daddy had to take a little trip to check out a building site.A strategy Nanny Beth took to save them from the hassle of wondering why I wasn’t home for 2 days. But aside my kids, everything else seemed fine. The maids, Nanny (Whether or not she knew, she didn’t behave like it at all. But assuming she didn’t know anything will be highly stupid on my part cause Valerie tells her almost everything despite their huge age difference!) but above all, there was no Valerie.I wouldn’t lie to you, a part of me immediately thought of going back to the house outside the city, to check if she had still gone back there. But I just held back. Forcing myself to focus on taking a nice shower, eat a really satisfying meal and then catch up with my kids.The last time I
VALERIE’S POV“I-I’m truly sorry,”“I am- am so sorry for lying about that day,” I apologized, my voice breaking as I tried to keep my tears at bay. “I shouldn’t have lied! I should’ve… I didn’t know you and the kids were at the office, I didn’t know you guys wanted to surprise me so we could have lunch together. It’s all my fault! I’m sorry…”“Of course you are. You are sorry now, Valerie.” His voice sounded in the air, bitter but yet so calm. Unlike his explosive self that I had seen that day in the secret room. “But you weren’t sorry when you just lied to both me and the kids that day, running off to go clear evidences of your actions for fear that someone would get to it first before you do. Maybe someone already got to them-Charlotte had! She did send a few cameras after all; I’m guessing that is what got you agitated and also what had been bothering you days before the kids and I even went to your office!”“No! That’s not it at all,” I rushed to explain, “I wasn’t bothered about
CHARLOTTE’S POV“What? What did you say?”“They are still under the same roof? My Huddie is still living in that house? With her? with bitch Valerie?!"He simply nodded in confirmation, amplifying the horror I just heard. “How?!” I blasted, loosing my shit right then and there. “How is any of that even possible?! He should’ve left her by now! They should be fighting and him not forgiving what she has done! How can they still be together? That’s impossible!”“It is possible!” Raymond insisted, his tone similar to mine. “I saw him myself! I saw Hudson drive into that mini city of his- the Sky Walls! I saw him, and even waited for over an hour to see if he would come back out, but he didn’t! The man simply went home to his woman and kids, get over him kiddo. We need to leave the country before things get out of hand!”“No,” I responded, not wanting to believe a word he said.“Kiddo, You-“No! I said no!” I boomed, smashing the glass of water I was supposed to take my meds with. “I’m not
VALERIE’S POV“He just suffered from a mini panic attack, ma’am”“Given his age, attacks like this could often lead to stroke, full blown heart attacks, or even death on the spot!” The doctors voice resounded in my ears, sending yet another terrible ache throughout my temples. It has been this way since we took Papa to the hospital. And by we, I meant myself and Babara.Patricia came along too but quickly left after hearing he was still breathing and alive. Davis didn’t even come at all. Displaying their exact feelings towards their own father. Making me wonder even more that; what would have happened if I had already driven out of the estate before he collapsed today? What would have become of my Papa? Would he have- would he have really died? Just like that? Because his own children were too busy fussing over him instead of hurrying to get him to the hospital immediately?!“We have managed to stabilize his blood pressure for a bit, but I would advise no more shocking news to be brou
HUDSON’S POV“Daddy is making dinner, yay!” Miley's excited voice filled the air.“Yup!” I concurred, enthusiastic as I turned around to face the kids- my guests. “Good evening, pretty princesses and handsome princes! You can call me chef of sweet meals, and I will be preparing dinner!”“Yay!” Aby clapped happily as I introduced myself, smiling as she looked into the camera.“Since when did daddy become a chef? Do they learn that in business school too?” Mason asked curiously, looking around for answers. So typical of Mason, linking stuff around and asking questions as soon as they popped in his head.“No sweetie, no one learns cooking at business school.” Her sweet voice sounded in the air, answering Mason’s question. And in no time her face came into view, her smile flawless as she angled the camera to capture herself as well. “Daddy knows nothing about cooking, which is why I am here recording this moment! First time ever for the popular Hudson Rodriguiez to be in the kitchen! We ha