"There's no problem." Anne said, looking very relieved and Asher smiled. It has scared him more than he wished to admit when she had walked out on him that morning, like it was the last time he would ever see her. He was even surprised she had accepted his apology so quickly.Suddenly, the intercom buzzed and the voice of his trusted receptionist came. "Mr Ingram, your father is here, sir. I told him you have an appointment but as usual he didn't budge. He's on his way up now. I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything, sir." His father, here? "You have to get out of here." He told Anne and got up, springing into action. "What?" she protested, not understanding why he was suddenly chasing her away. "My dad is coming up here and I know how much you hate him." he said in explanation. He knew that statement would make her even more resolved to not want to meet his dad. That worked out perfectly well . She frowned and allowed him to lead her to the door. He was not comfortable that this wa
Anne felt sick as she went to her children's school. She had thought she would be over that sick scumbag, Asher's father, but seeing him again brought back all sorts of ill feelings. The fact that he had not changed made it ten times worse. Her grandmother had just told her she would not be able to pick up the twins and she had not bothered to ask why. She honestly did not want to know. That woman was full of surprises and some were not so nice. The kid's new school, albeit a little more pricey than the last, had the tightest security she could imagine. Ironically, it had been Asher's idea to take them there immediately after the whole deal with Trevor and then that of the security. She watched the children run along happily as she searched for her own. She tried to put up a smile but it was next to impossible. Aside from Asher's father's berating, what made her even more unsettled was what the old man had said. She could not believe she had let herself fall for a man who fucked wom
"What are you doing here?" he asked, although his heart was pounding with glee to see her. She had shown up unexpectedly at his house, smiling and acting like they were old time friends. Not that he was complaining. "Well…" she said, spreading her legs slightly to sit more comfortably. "You got me a car without even asking if I could drive."He tried to keep himself from chuckling. "So you're here to admonish me for giving you an apparently wrong gift?""Oh. Not at all!" She fake gasped. "I'm more than thankful for the car, Asher. I just…don't know how to use it."He watched her sitting in her most casual clothes and talking like she had not insulted him a day ago. Even if she had been right, it had still been embarrassing to hear what she really thought of him. He thought of his dad who had had to be rushed to the hospital after his outburst the previous day and was concerned he still felt no remorse for putting the old man there. "I take it you came all the way to my house to c
"I didn't send your son to prison ma'am. Please stop this!" She had an idea what had happened but she was not about to have this woman keep embarrassing her especially when it was almost the school closing time. Unfortunately, the woman was relentless. "Trevor is sorry. I swear. He really loved you. Did everything for you. He was ready to marry you but you turned around and put him in prison just because you met a rich man. I'm not blaming you but please just leave him out of this. You can live your life however you please!" Anne stared at her with a mix of shock and anger. Had Trevor told his mother all that? Lied he had given her everything? What did that even mean? He had been the most awful boyfriend she had remained with for reasons she could not even figure out now.And he had the guts to tell his mother she had sent him to prison, unprovoked just because she was now with Asher, if she could call it that. And surely the woman was not so dumb to believe that…Apparently she
"How are you?" he asked when they were all settled in the car and had begun to drive off, after waving her grandma goodbye. "Great," she muttered, already feeling a little out of breath from being in the same space with him. His hand reached out and grasped her lap through her leggings, as was now custom when they were both in a car together, but the action still made her breath hitch in her throat. In a good way, at least. "How are you?" she asked him and he nodded, with a small smile on his lips. She felt like a school girl again, whose high school crush had just noticed her. "And how are the boys doing?" he asked, staring over his shoulder at the boys who were unusually still."Awesome! I can't wait to play games and eat candy like you promised, Uncle Asher!" Danny said, getting his bounce back."Sure thing," Asher said. "What about you, Damien ? You're so quiet today""Nothing," the little boy said stiffly, staring at the floor with his arms crossed. "He'll come around." Ann
"You look like you're really digging this movie," Asher said, stroking her hair. They had been quiet for quite a while and it was either she was deep in thought, asleep or really into the movie. For some reason, he chose the latter. "I suppose it grew on me," she said, smiling. "Hmm. Didn't know horror was your thing. You found the movie boring when it was all about two people in love, but now you're suddenly into it because it's now about her killing everyone?" She playfully elbowed him."Don't make it sound like I'm a psychopath!" "Maybe I now dig psychopaths," he said, making her chuckle."Speaking of psychopaths," she muttered after a while, "I didn't know you had Trevor thrown in jail." The hand stroking her hair stopped. "Who told you that?" She turned to him."So it's true. His mom ambushed me this morning and demanded I tell my man to release her son." "I do like the sound of that," he was referring to the part where he was her man. "Is that really what you're intere
She woke up to a start, a throbbing headache threatening to split her head in half. She soon figured out the cause of her headache - the boys were jumping all over the bed and consequently, on her. As she had fallen asleep much later than usual, it took her longer to wake up. "Will you both stop!" she said. She had meant to shout to let them know how serious she was, but her words came out in a throaty whisper, barely audible. The boys did nothing, they probably hadn't even noticed she was awake. While she wished she were someone else entirely, her sleepy eyes adjusted to the light and she did a double take. They were on a bed, a big bed. Scratch that, the bed was enormous. She was sure it could comfortably carry a family of ten. She rubbed her eyes again as she wondered where she was and how she had gotten there. They were still in Asher's house obviously. His house was the only place she had been in that had a different room each time she came around. So she had solved the riddl
After a very eventful weekend with Asher and her boys, Anne was the saddest when it was over. His driver dropped them off at their home on Sunday evening with a promise to see them all pretty soon. Bracing herself, she knew she had to suck it up. Hold herself until when next one of them had some excuse to see each other. Besides, he hadn't taught her to drive yet, and she could tell he had done that on purpose. She had to go back to other parts of her life she had basically put on hold for quite a while, like the bakery. Leaving Jake in charge had turned out pretty well for her, but at the same time, it was beginning to feel like he was the actual owner of the bakery. It wasn't in a conceiting way however, he just now knew more about the bakery now than she did and that was something that never happened. Even Lola seemed to know more about it than she did. It was something she could say she had built all on her own, something she owned, and she wouldn't let it slip out of her finge
Six months later "Stop shuffling Danny. Don't you want to look good in the Christmas photo?" Anne warns, trying to keep smiling and also tell her kids what to do at the same time. It's Christmas eve and they're taking a family photo but the kids for some reason can't stay at a spot for more than a minute. "You heard your mother," Asher says in a deeper, sharper voice and the boys stay still as the cameraman once again takes the shot. "Aha. This is perfect!" he exclaims, urging them to remain in the same spot. After a few minutes, the photoshoot is finally over and they collectively breathe a sigh of relief. The pictures look so clean and beautiful on camera, even the boys look delighted. "I'll send the photos immediately after I'm done editing them," he says. "You have a beautiful family," he adds before leaving and Anne mouths 'thank you', with a blush. As they all sit down to have dinner, all in their pajamas, the word 'family' keeps ringing in Anne's ears. Even after six mon
"Trevor?" Anne repeated, not sure she'd heard right. But when she saw Trevor walk up to them with a determined look on his face, she knew he really had something to say. At the far end of the room, Lola and Asher's sisters kept gaping with open mouths. They were obviously just as unaware as she was. No wonder he'd shown up randomly and seemed to know about the wedding even when no one else did. When he reached up to them, he smiled and shook Asher's hand like they were old time friends. "A lot of you don't know, but Mr Ingram is now a very good friend of mine," Trevor began, addressing the crowd. "I have just started a small company in Chicago and it's very successful, all thanks to him." He gave Anne a slight nod of acknowledgement before he brought out a small flashdrive. "Some months ago, I met up with an old friend, Jason in Chicago. Unknown to me, he'd traced me there because he needed a favor from me. The favor was to burn down Anne's home with all of them in it." The cro
"What the hell are you talking about?" Jason asked, taking a step backwards. Asher smirked, turning to Gabby who looked like she was about to explode in tears. "You tell me," he shrugged. "You're the one who's desperate for this wedding to hold and I wonder why. You're in love with Gabby, she's carrying your child, yet you want us to be married. Why is that?" The congregation watched with keen interest as the drama unfolded before them. This was not what they'd expected but it was much better. Anne couldn't say anything. So this marriage was a sham from the start. It was comforting but strange. There were more questions than answers and she hated being in the center of attention but not knowing what would come next. "Asher," Gabby whispered in a weak voice. "Why are you doing this at our wedding? The baby in my belly belongs to you and you know this." "Will you just shut it already?" Asher said, rolling his eyes and turning to face her. It was evident he was sick of pretending
Halfway through the makeover, Anne already felt her spirits returning. The old man was in another room and Lola had joined in to help select the perfect dress that would turn heads, according to her. Within an hour she looked even more breathtaking than she'd looked at the ball a few weeks ago. Her jewelry matched her skin tone perfectly, her gown hugged her curves and flattered her glossy skin which glowed from the expensive ointment Yvette rubbed on her. Heads would definitely turn. "We should open a beauty salon," Lola gasped, shaking her head like she couldn't believe what they'd just created. "And Anne will be our model." "I second that," Yvonne said, honestly. "You really think so?" Yvette said, trying to mask her pride. "You look absolutely gorgeous.""Asher's definitely going to rethink everything when he sees you." Danny and Damien came in with Trevor who was wheeling in the old man when he heard a lot of noise. "You make me regret losing you." They laughed.The kid
Lola and Trevor agreed to wait in the car for her while she went in, simply because Yvette's voice had sounded very frantic on the phone and they didn't want her mincing words because of them. When she entered the house, she suddenly felt on edge. Breathing in again and again, she went up the staircase to the room Yvette assured her she'd be, and tried to remove the memory of her fighting and humiliating herself on that very staircase. She heard their voices before she reached the room so they were easy to spot. They? She'd only hoped to see Yvette. When she heard the throaty male voice come out from the room, accompanied by Yvonne's voice, her expression turned sour. This had not been part of the plan. She wanted no business with the horrible man who was Asher's father. Sometimes she wondered why God had taken her grandmother and not him. "Anne!" Yvonne called, just when she decided to go back down the stairs. "oh thank God you're here. Please come in. Asher's about to make th
"You need to go there," Lola said, trailing after her."And wreck their wedding?" Anne asked, trying to mask the anger and betrayal in her voice. "Of course. You're always letting things go. You want him and if he gets married to her, that's gonna be the end. Even if you don't do this for your own happiness, do it for your sons. She's a slimy bitch and that's how their relationship is gonna be forever. If he continues to take custody of them, they'll have to grow up with her. Forever." "Where else do you think I'm going?" She asked getting into her car. "I knew you had it in you, girl." Lola said, getting into the passenger side of the car beside her. As they zoomed off, Trevor gave them the directions to the wedding arena while Lola hyped her up. She didn't know what she would do when she got there, but it would all be worth it. As long as the anger in her remained, there wasn't going to be a wedding. "Wait!" Lola suddenly screamed, making Anne screech the car to an abrupt halt.
Her newfound admiration for Asher died down the moment he bade her goodbye, revved his car and started to leave with the kids. Perhaps she'd been wrong to assume that after the culprit responsible for her grandmother's demise had been found and him taking her out, the least he could do was let her have her children back, at least for some time. "I don't really think you're in the right frame of mind to have the children hovering all over you. I don't want you to lose it," he'd said before giving her an apologetic look and driving off. Now she was in her new house, telling everything to Lola after finally finding her voice. "Did you just say Jake was arrested?" Lola asked in disbelief. "For arson?" "I'm just as surprised as you are.""Hmm. I knew he was wicked but not a murderer. Are you sure the detective was right?" "They've been trailing him for a while now and even got his confession on tape." "Hmm. I suppose I'm lucky for everything that happened. Imagine we were still datin
Fear engulfed her body, making her mind run places as she searched for her sons. They were nowhere to be found. Oh God. Why did she have to turn her face away to listen to what Asher had to say. "Damien, Danny!" Asher screamed their names and she followed suit, suddenly remembering it was a possibility.Where had they gone? She had to be positive, she told herself, and realistic. No one could have possibly kidnapped them right under her nose without them screaming or yelling for help. They'd either left to find some other more interesting place not so far from there or worse, like the last time, they'd seen someone they knew and followed them."Danny, Damien!" She called, desperation entering her voice. "Mommy!" She heard from not so far away. She turned immediately to the sound of her sons' voice. "Oh, God," she breathed in relief as she ran to where the boys were. Asher was still on the other side of the field looking for the boys but she called him over, signaling to him th
Having the kids all to himself had not been anything like he'd expected. There were several things he never thought he would experience. He was only used to seeing them once in a while, usually when they happened to be on their best behavior because they were just excited to see him and tried to please him, but when the excitement wore off within a few days of them spending day and night with him, everything changed. Just at breakfast the other day, they'd asked for their mom and when Gabby told them she wouldn't be joining them soon, they began to complain about how the crusts of the bread hadn't been cut off like their mom always did. Danny made a fuss and threw the contents of his side of the table away and Damien soon followed suit. When he tried to get them to stop, they only spat at him and threw tantrums.. He wished that was the end but it wasn't. They complained about the most random things and threw a tantrum anytime anyone corrected them. The most unbearable part of it was