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
Her lips went from an o shape to a smile when she realized what he'd done. Normally, she would have felt ashamed and even upset at him for showing up unannounced but right now, looking at him stand like he owned the place, all but ignoring all the opportunists who flocked around him, she was proud to be associated with this man. She gracefully stood up from her chair and walked up to him. She shuffled among the people gathered, drew him by the hand and hugged him. If he had been surprised by her action, he did not show it. As they walked back to her table, she tried to act like she did not notice the loud whispers around them, or the phones flashing and taking pictures. Now they had something to talk about. Something undeniable. She imagined what Gabby would say when she saw the news. She would tell her she was making a grievous mistake and to run now she still had the chance. However, for some reason, thinking of her best friend's advice amused her. "I take it you're happy to see
The gagged man in front of her flared like a fish out of water when he heard footsteps, grateful someone had shown up. Coupled with the ruffled cloth that covered his mouth, a black sheet covered his eyes as well so he couldn't possibly know it was her. Trevor looked nothing at all like his former self. He was twice thinner, his complexion was dull and the marks on his body made him look like a suffering old man. He tried to say something, but behind his gag, she couldn't make sense of it. Anne shivered when Asher caught up with her and touched her. From the horrific spectacle in front of her to his otherwise indifferent nature, she tried to convince herself it was all a misunderstanding. However, deep down she knew it wasn't. She had seen him beat a bodyguard almost to stupor, had heard him make death threats and had seen him violently push his ailing father when he thought she wouldn't see. But thinking of it, every single act of violence always had something to do with her. Ever
"What's going to happen to your power bike?" she asked him after they left the building in an Uber. "I'll take care of it in the evening. I don't want to draw too much attention to this place, you know, for obvious reasons." The driver, although quiet, was very obviously curious and invested in their conversation. But no one could blame him. He was carrying a celebrity in his car.They drove quietly the rest of the way and she clung to him. She was extremely tired, both mentally and physically. She didn't want to think about Trevor now he was out, reminding herself she hadn't even been thinking of him all this while. After all, she'd made his mom happy by sending him home, so that had to add some credit to her goodwill. When he woke her up, they were in front of his home. This house was his favorite as she had come to realize. They got into the house she had become accustomed to."Wait here," he told her as he limped further down, into a room to change. She followed him. "I asked
The tone of his voice was calm, slightly challenging, but she was used to him by now. The stare down was intense, two pairs of eyes trained on each other, daring and waiting. She smiled warmly, knowing that picking a fight with her was just his way of changing the subject. She wouldn’t blame him anyway. She knew what it was like to suffer under, yet love a dysfunctional parent. Studying the slight creases on his face, she knew that though he had probably wanted to change the subject, he was equally curious about the father of her children. She reached out to him, placed her warm palm on his cheek and smiled when he impulsively leaned back, more from surprise than anything else. “The father of my children is the most clueless man on earth. I have no idea why I ever fell in love with him, but I don’t regret it for a single day. He gave me the best gift I could ever receive from anyone, my boys.”He swallowed. She suspected he did not think she would answer his question directly. He’d
Kids," Asher said, looking at Anne although he was addressing the kids. "This is your grandfather." She nodded, letting him know she did not regret her decision. Damien and Danny looked at the figure on the bed, whose face had contorted to form a smile, but instead looked like something out of a horror movie. They looked from him to their parents, probably unsure how to proceed from that moment. With the bit of strength in him, he sat up, wires and gauzes scattering all over. "Hi, kids. How are you both? I've been dying to meet you. What are your names?" They hesitated for a moment that even Anne began to get second hand embarrassment from watching him try too hard. "Danny.""Damien." He smiled a full toothed smile or rather, a full gummed smile. "I'm Ingram. I'm the reason that's your surname." The twins looked confused as they should have been. He noticed. "Don't tell me they took your surname and not mine," Ingram muttered to her with an undeniable note of annoyance. "In
"Yeah, sure," she muttered, facing away from him. Birth control, she wondered. She'd actually never used birth control in her life, never had a need to. And now he was casually asking her if she was on birth control. "I'm so sorry. That was a dumb question. I'll call my gynaecologist over to get you sorted out." She sat on the bonnet of the next car, wondering why he had a gynaecologist at his beck and call. Did he do this often? She asked herself. "What are you thinking about? What's bothering you so much? Is it the birth control?" He faced her at the back of the car, staring tenderly into her face. She flared her hands a little. "Why do you think something's bothering me?" He shrugged."Well for starters, your face is quite flushed and you haven't made eye contact with me since. " She made a show of gazing into his face just to counter him and he shook his head, holding in a chuckle. Surprising her, he climbed in next to her, bringing his face so close to her skin. "Just so
His fingers slowly wrapped around hers and squeezed. his eyes were trained on her but she could only look further ahead. She couldn't stop staring at those flowers. Something about them gave her a sense of peace she couldn't really understand. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. "Not really." She quickly wiped a tear from her eyes before it slipped and got his attention. She sighed, looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. "Alright then. We can sit here all day, looking at that garden without saying anything. I don't mind." She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, but chose not to think too much about it. His hand was still holding hers and she leaned into him as it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Everything with him just felt effortlessly right, she thought. They remained like that for several moments, his back pressed against the lifted trunk of the car and his head resting on his shoulder. He was still rubbing her hands, and staring ahead. "
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