CHAPTER NINETEENEthan's POVI stood beside the bed and waited until Emily was fast asleep, her light snores reverberating through the room. She looked so peaceful when she slept, the woman. Soft and care-free, as though she had not a burden in the world. She murmured something as she slept, then rolled over to the other side.It was funny how much had changed since she came into my life, how she seemed to have turned the trajectory of my life, my purpose, my ambition. She'd given me the one thing, the only thing I wished for above all else: a child. If only she knew just how much she meant to me.I sighed and turned away from the bed, my smile morphing into a scowl as I moved to the door. Now, I had to face the hardest part of my day. I reached the door and wrapped my fingers around the doorknob, taking a moment to sigh. I glanced back at Emily, who was still snoring peacefully on the bed, her face made pale by the slanting moonlight from the window above her. She shouldn't see thi
CHAPTER 20Chloe's POVMy mind was still in the fringes between sleep and wakefulness, but I could tell that Ethan was not beside me. I frowned; it wasn't unlike him to skip his sleep, but I was worried nonetheless. I turned over on the bed, then ran my hand along the sheets.The bed beside me was cold. Cold and empty.My eyes flew open, then darted to the bed space beside me. Ethan wasn't in bed; he'd either left when I was sleeping, or he never came to sleep at all.My mind jumped to conclusions immediately; he was definitely with that accursed Emily girl!I threw aside the bed covers and sprang from bed, then wrapped my robes securely around me. I began to pace the room, feeling rage burn through me with every step I took. It was all I could do not to scream and throw things around the room, as I tried to tamp down on my anger. Ethan, the bastard! Getting a woman pregnant without my knowledge was one thing, but sleeping with her as though they were lovers was another thing.I cou
CHAPTER TWENTY ONEEmily's POVIt was the sunlight pouring from the window above me that jarred me to wakefulness. I groaned sleepily and turned over on the bed, but the sun had done its thing. I was fully awake now.Peeling my eyes open, I looked around. I was half-expecting Ethan to be somewhere close, his sea-blue eyes on me, watching me fiercely like a mother hen. However, the space beside me on the bed was cold and empty. I raised my head up, then glanced around. The rest of the room was empty too.I pushed the duvet away from me, sighing in near-sadness. This wasn't like me, to crave physical warmth or touch, especially from a man such as Ethan Brown. I might not know much about him, but from what I saw, Ethan was a man with a perfectly-carved hard emotional shell. He definitely won't be caught dead cuddling a woman on her bed, much less a woman like me.Funny thing was, I understood that to my core. I also wasn't a person to expose myself to the vulnerability of love or loving.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWOEmily's POVThe entire foyer was thrown in silence at those words. My eyes widened as I watched Ethan's chest heave as he took breath after breath. It seemed as though the entire room had held its breath, and all eyes were on him, waiting for his reaction.My eyes darted from Ethan's tense frame to the owner of the voice. The person who had confessed stumbled outside from the group of maids. It was the girl whom I'd asked for Ethan's whereabouts in the corridor.She seemed to have shrunk in size under Ethan's stony-eyed glare. Her entire body was in shivers, her dress hanging off her in loose folds. Her pale gray eyes were wide in fear, and her lips trembled.“I…I d—did it.” She whispered. “I was the one.”I slowly stood to my feet, inching closer to Ethan in case he did something stupid. The pure rage coming from him was almost tangible, and I knew presently that he could do anything to the poor maid.“Why?” He asked. The single question carried so much weight th
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.Emily's POV Immediately Ethan dashed out of the foyer, I followed closely behind him, ignoring the maid on the ground. I could hear Madame Doherty and the other maids gather around her, whispering words of comfort and solidarity to her. A small, humane part of me pulled me back towards the foyer, but I had more pressing questions.I needed to ask Ethan a lot of things. I needed to know.Ethan's back was stiff and rigid; I could see the tension in them even from this distance. He appeared to not notice that I was at his back, but when he got to the foot of the stairs, he stiffened, then halted.I stopped too, a few feet from where he stood. We stood in silence like that for a few seconds, before he spoke up. "You didn't have to stand up for her.""I have every right to." I snapped back immediately. Slowly he turned to face me. From this angle, his face looked drawn and tired. It was as though the incident that just happened had forced the last ounce of physical s
Chloe's POV"What the fuck is going on here?" I screamed.The sight shouldn't have shocked me. By all laws, I'd been expecting this sooner or later. I knew the escapades between Ethan and the surrogate mother would come to light sooner than later. But all that didn't stop the influx of hatred and rage within me.I watched as Ethan turned away from the bitch and faced me. I could almost see the wheels in his head turning, his lips opening as he thought of a lie that would make me feel at ease. His hands were no longer around the bitch, and yet I noticed the way he leaned towards her, the way she hid in his shadows, as though they were one.By God, the sight made me furiously jealous as hell."Chloe—" Ethan started. I could see the slight anger and embarrasment in his eyes, the flush in his cheeks that told me he wasn't liking this situation any more than I was.But no, I wasn't going to let him feed me his bullshit. Not today.My eyes darted to the bitch standing behind him. Her deep
Emily's POVIt'd been one and a half months.One and a half months since Ethan had come up to my room last. One and a half months since he'd cradled me in his arms and told me I smelled good. One and a half months since I'd smelled him so close to me, since I'd felt his warm, sensual breath on my face, since he'd been inches away from kissing me.One and a half fucking months since Chloe had barged in on us!I couldn't decide what I'd felt more in that moment: shock or embarrassment. Or shame. Perhaps I'd felt a mixture of the three, and they were like a knot in the pit of my stomach, all tangled up and confusing.I'd looked into Chloe's eyes, and beyond the murderous mafia rage I'd seen in those twin pools of grey, I'd also seen true hurt. She had been pained at Ethan's act, maybe even a little heartbroken, though I doubted the Ice Princess had any heart left in her to be broken.And the thought that I'd pushed so far as to make a tough-as-nails woman like Chloe heartbroken, scared m
Emily's POVThere was a haughty look on her face as she walked in. Immediately she saw the both of us, I watched as the proud look slipped. The facade she'd worked so hard to put up shifted for a moment, and I saw hatred, real hatred behind those eyes.I knew there and then, that Ethan's mother would never accept me no matter the miracle that could happen. No matter how much Ethan tried to integrate me into his family, I would forever be an outcast.And the thought sickened and annoyed me at the same time.Who did this woman think she was, anyway?Ethan's mother stepped into the dining room, all high-heels and expensive perfume and manicured nails. Her puce-coloured face hadn't changed; it still held as much pride and as much makeup as a painter's palette. She had on a beige, fox fur coat and underneath that, a black silk top and beige pants. Her heels made ominous, clicking sounds as she walked towards us. She stopped at the table and folded her arms. "Well, well." She started. "I
Emily's POVI was shocked to find out the culprit who was behind my children's kidnapping. The most shocking news to me was their death. I felt so sad, I couldn't believe my ears. Chloe Lee and Ethan's mother were dead. My heart felt so sorry for them, Ethan told me all there is to know about his underground business, the love I had for him was far greater than all that. My kids and I paid a visit to the hospital, taking care of Valerie. Luckily she was becoming responsive to treatment, she was healing faster, I had nothing to worry about. Surprisingly, Zadok would also follow us to the hospital to keep Valerie company. " You don't need to come here everyday, I'm okay," Valerie said with a smile." I just came here to give you the good news, Ethan proposed and I accepted" I said jumping up excitedly."Of course he has too, if he doesn't get married to you, he would be losing out for life" Valerie said proudly. Hearing this I chuckled. " You are really a pain in my ass, I would only
Zadok POVThe gun shots must have been so loud and it must have scared them. Nathan had some bruises on his body, but he was brave and didn't complain. But the culprit wasn't going to stay alive, I was certain that my boss wouldn't spare them. They would be dead. I stretched out my hands towards them, losing the ropes around them. Luckily, my men were everywhere. We had the blueprint of the whole place. There was no way for them to escape. Emma was still hiding behind him, clutching his shirt. She was too traumatized to speak or look at me. She had seen things no child should ever see.I reached out to her, hoping to comfort her. But she flinched and turned away, as if I was one of them. She didn't trust me " Emma, I am here to help you." I said.She didn't trust anyone."Emma, uncle is here to help, I came here together with your Dad. Come with me, I am here to save you." I pleaded. "My dad is dead, mama said I shouldn't ever go with strangers " She said, she was already shivering
Chloe POVLooking around I couldn't comprehend what was happening. My men were being shot, they were dropping dead. " Mistress , we've been surrounded, you should leave, it's no longer safe" one of my guards announced. Hearing this my heart skipped a beat. Emma was crying loudly, this made me more confused. " Shut the fuck up" I shouted. I couldn't help it. I needed some time to think."What! " Penelope screamed out in horror. Her face suddenly turned pale. " We can't just leave, get it over and done with" She said glaring at the guard. "Auntie, we've been surrounded. We need to leave, " I said looking at her. We were already surrounded and all she could think about was killing Nathan? I didn't need to be told trying to lay hands on the kids would be committing suicide, my men earlier has been shot with a sniper."Mistress, you have to leave," My guard said, leading the way towards the back door. My men rushed inside to get some weapons and rushed out again fully armed. The sound of
Ethan's POV I remember telling myself that it could be Chloe behind all this but I wasn't too sure about it. She had bluntly denied the whole thing and Emily had saved her from my grasp.After the conversation between my Dad and I, I quickly rushed home to see what I could do. I had to keep an eye on Emily, someone could try to kure her out of my mansion. I couldn't let that happen. From the looks of things I was sure Chloe Lee and Penelope had something to do with my children's kidnap.If I don't get any useful information about our kids to tell to Emily, she will be so worried and restless, I had to be with her."Zadok," I called out for my right hand man immediately I got home. He must have some information for me, regarding my kids."Zadok, You Haven't given me any update about my children. I had given you the permission to turn the city upside down and get the whereabouts of my kids. What's happening? Have you trailed Chloe? I want you to know what to do next, so tell me, wha
Ethan POVWalking into the hospital, I could see how Valerie was wrapped up in bandage. Seeing me she git up abruptly from the bed "Did you find them?" She asked.I was amazed, she was in such a state but all she was worried about was my kids. Emily walked up to her bed and sat beside her. " There are currently searching the whole city, turning it upside down, trust me. We would find them" Emily said comforting her, I knew how worried she was herself, all my promise to find our kids were falling on deaf ears. But here she was comforting Valerie.Hearing this Valerie heave a sigh of relief. " Ethan has cleared all your medical bills" Emily announced." You are a bastard, but I know you would find my little babies" Valerie said looking at me. Her words cut me off guard, was that a compliment or an insult? "I would be taking her back to my house to get some rest" I said looking at Valerie, she gave me a nod and holding Emily, we left the hospital.Arriving at my mansion, Emily looked ar
Chloe POV"You both are so cute, I wished I was the one that gave birth to such beautiful kids" I said smiling broadly at the two lovely kids. Though they looked scared, I didn't feel sorry for them, if there was anyone they had to blame then it had to be Emily, their mother. " Auntie, please let us go. I promise I wouldn't say a word to anyone" Emma pleaded, she had been crying for a long time now."Stop the tears, just like I said I wouldn't hurt you. I just want to teach your mom a lesson. I had warned her but she just wouldn't listen" I said with a frown. If I had known that she was pregnant with twins, I would have aborted the children by all means." Please auntie, there's still good inside you. Whatever my mom did to you, you can forgive her and move on"'The little girl continued. Her words made me speechless, she was just as innocent as I thought. " Darling, I wish I could, moving on isn't as easy as you think, '' I replied with a smile. " Now let's have a nice meal, I bought
Chloe pov...I held trance my hands on my neck feeling the pain I had felt earlier when he had clenched my neck, like I was nothing to him. "What a bitch!" I said angrily. Emily was there acting like my hero, she was nothing but a low life tramp. I would have killed her when I had the chance, but what did I do? I foolishly let her go.. moving away from Ethan's office, I had a smirk on my face, their peaceful days were over, this is Just a tip of an iceberg, there was more to come. This was just the beginning, when I am done with them, Emily would regret ever meeting me or Ethan.I brought my phone and made a call. "What's the update?""Mistress, everything is just as you had planned it. That fool Zadokehad ran a check on your movement but he hasn't found anything and trust me mistress he wouldn't find a thing. You had really been shopping the whole time" My guard on the other hand said. "Good, I would have to be cautious about my movement. Ethan had nearly killed me but not to worry
Ethan's POVLooking at those beautiful eyes, I was short of words. I knew from the look in her eyes that she believed my words. " I wasn't going to marry Chloe, I was just acting based on what my mom wanted. She had threatened me with her life, It's you I love. If I didn't love you I would have been married to her by now. I love you so much Emily, and I have never loved any woman like the way I love you. I have never felt the same way for any woman. When you left I turned the city upside down, I ran wild and mad with rage..I didn't want you to misunderstand me or hate me" I explained. Emily looked directly into my eyes. I could lie with words but the eyes never lie. I knew she was finding answers inside of them." I thought you wanted to take my kids away from me after birth, when I heard those things my heart shattered into a thousand pieces" Emily said walking over to the couch. She had sadness written all over her face. I knew she had a lot she wanted to say, so I stayed quiet as I
Emily POV "I have to see him, it's a matter of emergency. Move aside" I said looking at the assistant who was blocking my path. " It's about my kids, they've kidnapped my kids" I said at the verge of tears. "I promise you, you won't lose your Job " I said sincerely. Hearing that she moved out of my path, I rushed Into the elevator, heading to the top floor, where Ethan's office was located. This was the same office I had run into many years ago to sign the contract and save my mother's life. This was the same state I was in then. It seems history was repeating itself in an entirely different format.After all the restlessness, I couldn't think straight, neither could I figure out what to do next. I decided to go seek Ethan's help, I needed his help to help me find my kids, I believe he can be of help in some ways just like Valerie said.On getting to his office, I called out his name, raising my voice. I was halfway to his office. I knew he must have heard me. Seems like he was bu