The morning sun filtered through the dusty blinds in Sierra's tiny apartment, waking her from a restless sleep. She blinked awake, momentarily disoriented, before remembering—the children. With a groan, she dragged herself out of bed and splashed some water on her face, glancing at her reflection in the chipped mirror. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, a testament to the sleepless nights that had become her norm. At only twenty-three, she felt worn down in a way most women her age could never understand. But she steeled herself with a deep breath, summoning her determination. She had responsibilities now—far greater than any average young adult. Three little lives were depending on her, and she couldn't—wouldn't—let them down. The familiar sounds of pitter-pattering feet and giggling woke the rest of the household. Sierra stepped out of the bathroom to find London and Paris, her five-year-old twin niece and nephew, setting the table with bread and the leftover soup from last night. Mea
“Kids, are you hungry? I can make some lunch.” Sierra announced as she checked the time on the clock. It was almost time for lunch and she decided to stop working and prepared the food for everyone first. “Can we have grilled cheese?” London asked, eyes lighting up. The boy rarely asked for something, and Sierra was more than happy to give him what he wanted. “Please?” Paris clasped her hands together, twisting side to side. “Of course.” Sierra ushered them to the table, retrieving bread and cheese from the fridge. The familiar routine of making their meal steadied her, pushing aside the pressure that her work kept pushing her to the bottom. “I wonder what he wanted for lunch,” she mumbled while thinking of Caleb. After breakfast, Caleb said he needed to go home for a bit and when he said home, he was talking about the mansion where he lived before he moved in next door. “Uncle Caleb said he’s going to have lunch outside,” Paris informed. “He’s too scared to stay here after what h
“Thanks for coming over. I appreciate your help again today.” Sierra smiled at Dr. Frank and walked him to the door. She glanced at Oliver, who was quiet the entire time. Contrary to what she expected, Oliver said nothing much after he briefly played with Gabby before Frank examined the baby’s condition. She was worried Oliver would say something strange again though Sierra could already guess that he was familiar with either of her sisters.Frank smiled back at Sierra and nodded his head. “Feel free to contact me in case of any medical emergency. I mean, I might be able to help you somehow. And Dr. Oliver here is a cardiologist. He’s famous in his field, so don’t hesitate to come to him as well when his service’s needed. You know, when you have heart problems. Haha!”"My heart's totally fine," she replied."Oh! That's great to hear. It's nice. Um...Yeah."Sierra just smiled and waved her hand. She didn’t want to see Oliver again, if possible. “Bye!”Sighing, Sierra leaned her back on
“Why can’t you find anything about that man? Are you telling me he’s some sort of part of the underground world or royalty, that even hiring multiple investigators to dig about him isn’t enough?”Mason kicked the under of his table in disappointment. He couldn’t believe it had been a few days, and he still didn’t know anything about Caleb West. “That arrogant guy. He looks at me as if I’m a piece of trash in front of him. How despicable!”After going home that evening when he met Caleb in Sierra’s place, Mason immediately ordered his people to investigate, but he got nothing up to date.Mason’s face darkened as he glared at his secretary, Robin.“I want to know exactly who Caleb West is,” Mason demanded. “I must know what kind of person he is and I want answers!”The secretary nodded, knowing that Mason wouldn't allow anything less than a thorough investigation.For the next few days, Mason’s team worked tirelessly to uncover any information they could find on Caleb West. They looked
Caleb’s face darkened as he watched Mason get into his car. He wished the latter wouldn’t come back to find Sierra again. Caleb frowned when he recalled giving Austin his orders the other day. “He must have a lot of free time,” he muttered to himself before turning to face Sierra.“He’s quite a handful, isn’t he?” Sierra sighed and leaned by the door. “I might end up killing him if she showed up again like this. I just fell asleep a few minutes ago,” she said, sounding disappointed.“Go back to sleep,” Caleb ordered. “You’ve been working tirelessly these days. You should get more rest,” he added, pushing Sierra back into her apartment.“I will do that.” Sierra sauntered inside and yawned. “You should go back, too. It’s still 4 in the morning. Damn, that guy!”“Don’t worry too much about it. I’ll make sure he’s not going to disturb you for a while.” Caleb held Sierra by the shoulder and pushed her to the bedroom. “For now, you should go back to sleep.” He blew onto the back of her ears
Oliver Lewis was a quiet person. He preferred silence than be in loud places and with loud people. He made it clear to everyone that he wanted to be alone, doing his business, and everybody respected his choice, they all let him do what he wanted, except for one person.“Hey there, gorgeous!”Oliver remained calm despite an arm wrapped around his shoulders. He continued reading his textbook, understanding every sentence, and coming up with answers to his assignments. He could not care less about anyone, especially a certain person who kept making his quiet life miserable.“Whoa! You’re reading that? I need to write a reflection paper related to this topic. Will you help me?”Again, Oliver pretended he was alone. His mind had been trained to ignore any distractions that may come on his way of studying. He was confident she wouldn’t ruin his concentration whatever noise she was making. His mind was, but his body gave in when her hands went down his chest.“Oli, are you going to ignore m
Sierra looked at herself in the mirror. She pulled her lips into a smile and sighed. Her eyebrows met as she scanned the clothes she put on. She had little clothes to pick, nor did she think of going out on a date after mothering her sisters’ children.“This is not it,” she groaned.She flipped through her wardrobe, a little surprised at how her hands moved too slowly. She grabbed the off-shoulder dress she made a few weeks ago. It was a peach-colored dress with lace details around the neckline and at the edge of the skirt. She smiled as she put it on. The dress hugged her curves perfectly. It was made to fit her, after all.Sierra put on some light makeup, just enough to make her look presentable for Caleb’s date. She added a bit of mascara and blush, then sprayed some perfume that Caleb gave her last time.To complete the look, Sierra wore her favorite long earrings with a pair of strappy sandals that matched perfectly with the dress. She smiled in satisfaction as she looked into th
Caleb's cheeks grew warm as he laid his eyes on Sierra. It had been a few years since the last time she had utterly mesmerized him. She was always pretty in his eyes though when dressed up and all; she was even more gorgeous.Sierra noticed his expression and smiled at him with her bright eyes. “What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost,” she said, her voice cutting through the silence.Caleb's face blushed crimson and he stumbled over his words before saying, “No, it's just that—you're so beautiful.”Sierra chuckled and coyly tucked a strand of her curly hair behind her ear. She stepped closer to Caleb and touched his arm lightly, sending sparks of electricity throughout his body. He could feel the blush spreading across his neck as he opened the door for her with a grand gesture. Sierra smiled in gratitude before settling into the passenger seat.When their eyes met again, Caleb felt his heart race as if it was ready to burst out of his chest. There was an intensity between th