Novels by Steph Avery

A Year Later Salma “You bastard!” I screamed as I held the rails of my bed tightly, “I guess your promise meant nothing, eh? You…” But my words were lost as another contraction racked my body. I could feel every pore on my body fire up with pain. “You said you would never break my heart again!” I screamed at Brandon. He gently removed my fingers wrapped tightly around the rail and said, “I have not broken your heart.” I squeezed his hand until I heard the bones in his finger crack, but I was in too much pain to care. “So it's fine to break my vagina, huh?” I remarked harshly as I felt another contraction coming. “Salma,” I heard my doctor's voice, “you have to push now. You’re fully dilated.” “What about the epidural? Why is the damn thing not working?” I screamed. The doctor's voice remained calm, “It should have begun to kick in.” “I can see the baby's head,” I heard Josephine's voice, “you need to push now.” “You've got this,” Brandon whispered beside him. I wanted to

Brandon I was desperate for an answer, but I had a sinking feeling that it was not going to be what I wanted to hear. Even to me, my excuse sounded pathetic. My excuse for leaving her without so much as an explanation sounded flimsy and stupid. If she turned her back on me and disappeared without a word, leaving Leona entirely to my care, I would deserve it because it was the same thing I had done to her. And yet. Yet, I was ready to do anything to change her mind. To make her remain here in Texas while we worked on us. I was determined to make things work between us because it was clear now that the only woman in the world for me was the one standing right in front of me now. “You deserve to hate me,” I said, my voice reeking with desperation, “I won't blame you if you resent me and you never wish to see me again.” I was staring into her eyes, hoping that they would communicate just how much I loved her and how sincere I was. “I just wanted you to know that I am sorry, and I wi

Salma“You know,” Josephine said, “it sounds like you still love him.” I had just narrated to her how I had first met Brandon, how he had saved me from my wicked stepsister and her villainous friend. “Of course not!” I refuted, placing a hand on my swollen stomach. “I do not love him at all,” I said to her, “how can I love someone who left me so cruelly and without a word too? Can you believe he fucked that bitch? He slept with Marilyn, and I have a feeling he wanted me to see them together. I could never love a man who would do that to me.” Josephine looked at me without saying a word. But from the look on her face, I could tell that she was not buying anything I was saying. She believed sincerely that I was still pining for Brandon. I could not explain the reason, but I felt I needed to convince her. Because if I could not convince her, how could I convince myself that I was over him for real? “I'm sure he has had the chance to reach out to me,” I said, “his parents and mine wa

Salma “What? Are you going to cry?” I was flat on my face on the floor and bruised from the impact of my fall. I rolled over and saw the entire cafeteria staring down at me. I looked directly above me and I could see Marilyn's smug face above mine, looking at me like she was a predator enjoying toying with her prey before finally squashing the life out of it and gobbling me all down. She had a smile on her face like she was daring me to challenge her. “You… you made me fall!” I shouted, refusing to be a victim again in college after enduring her humiliation throughout high school. “Me?” she pointed at herself while scoffing at me, “Do you have proof?” “Everyone saw you!” I yelled at her, “You put your leg in the way so…”“If you're going to accuse me,” she said, “at least have proof of what you're saying.” Tears burned behind my eyes, but I was resolved in my mind not to let them drop. Being bullied in high school by my sister and her best friend was one thing. Being bullied in

Salma Teagan cut me off before I could finish speaking, “You could go to the moon for a year, honey. We are very happy to have her here with us.”“Are you sure?” I wanted to be certain, “I wouldn't want to be a burden.” “A burden?” Teagan echoed, “You're not a burden in any way.” I smiled and stood up. “Mommy?” Leona looked up, “When will you come back?” “I'll be back before a month is over,” I replied to her, “so don't worry too much, and just have fun with your grandparents and your dad, okay?” She nodded cheerfully. “I'll miss you,” she said, warming my heart with her small voice. “I'll miss you too, sweetheart.” **** I was waiting in line to be checked by airport security before going to board my flight when I saw Brandon running towards me. My heart leaped out of my chest because the only reason I could think of for him running to me was that something had happened to Leona. “Brandon?” My heart beat even faster, seeing him stand in front of me completely out of breath.

Salma “You know what?” I was seated across from Daphne sipping coffee while venting to her about men in general being annoying. I really was venting about Brandon, but I did not want her to think I still had feelings for him. “I'm going to take the next flight that takes me to Sudan,” I told her. She dropped her mug and looked at me like I was going crazy. “You're a mom,” she said, “you can't just take the next flight out of the country. What about Leona?” “She has her father,” I said with a shrug, not mentioning Brandon's name because it physically hurt to even think about him.I felt stupid for feeling this way about a man especially after everything I had been through recently. “What is in Sudan?” she asked me. “People who need my help,” I replied, “people with heart defects that cannot afford to get surgery.” “So you do volunteer there?” she asked me. I nodded with a smile of satisfaction. I had always loved helping people and I loved that studying medicine, and surgery h

Mark “Thank you for agreeing to walk Susan down the aisle,” I said to my mother who adjusted my bow tie for me. “Of course!” she replied, “it's only right.” She stood back as though to admire her creation. “I'm really proud of you, son,” she said, her eyes filled with tears, “I used to worry you won't get married until I was decaying in my grave.” “Mom! Why would you say such a thing? And you shouldn't cry, you'll ruin your makeup.” She sniffled and dabbed her eyes with a napkin. “Don't mess this up, Mark,” her voice was serious, “I know you're a playboy, but don't…” “I won't,” I said to her, “I promise.” She looked worried still, “and you're still sure you do not wish to know who your biological…” I cut her off before she could complete the sentence, “Richard will always be my father. I do not wish to know the man who donated his sperm to make that happen.” My mother punched my arm. “Ouch!” I winced. “Saying things like that makes it easy for people to gossip about us,”

Susan It felt surreal. “With a unanimous vote, you are hereby appointed president of the Cuban Group.” Even the applause that erupted around the board felt unreal. The sight of Mark seated at my right, clapping hard to cheer me, felt unreal as well. I had gone from an ordinary college graduate with a toxic mother to the president of one of the largest cooperatives in the entire world. I cleared my throat as the applause died down. “Thank you,” I said, bowing my head a little bit. “It has been an honour to serve on this esteemed board these past few months. You have made room for me even when I knew absolutely nothing. Thank you for your unwavering support.” Another warm applause followed, and I proceeded to sit down for the first time at the head of the table—a table where the father I had never met growing up had left for me. **** “You know,” Mark said as we walked along the shoreline at the beach, “it's been exactly a year since you stumbled into my life demanding that you

Mark I was seated in my office going over the fiscal budget when my secretary informed me there was someone without an appointment requesting to see me. “Did this person give a name?” I asked my secretary. She looked at me with an expression that told me this was not a welcome guest. “She said her name is Susan Rivers? The lady who has been harassing you for…” “Please send her in,” I said to my secretary. My excitement at the sound of her name made my secretary confused. Just a week ago I would have gone wild if I were told Susan was within the company's premises. So I understood why my excitement looked unnatural to her. I tried to switch to a poker face, but it was too late. “Send her in,” I repeated to my stunned secretary. Susan walked in mere seconds after that looking elegant and beautiful. I enjoyed watching her walk. Her steps were graceful and yet commanding at the same time. “Have you watched the news?” she asked anxiously as she sat across from me. I stood up and

Susan The woman I had known all my life as Eleanor Rivers was seated across from me, a clear glass dividing us. She picked up the phone on her end and I did the same. “Did you really do it?” I asked her despite the overwhelming evidence I faced. Still, I wanted to hear it from her. “Did you kill my mother?” I asked her. She laughed, a throaty wicked laughter like she did not care what I thought of her. “Does it make you happy that I'm behind bars?” she asked me, “you finally got what you wanted, didn't you?” “You think this makes me happy?” I asked bitterly. “Then why did you have me arrested?” she asked me, “You did not have to report me to the cops.”I had always wondered while growing up how she had been able to afford to buy all those drugs she was addicted to and I knew the answer now. She had gotten that money by extorting Mark's mother. She had collected so much from the woman that it would have been more than enough to provide us a comfortable life, and yet she chose t

Mark “What is this place?” Susan asked me as we walked into the private study that stood by itself in my father's old house. I used to come here when I was a lot younger to play with my father or whoever I thought was my father. He would put me in a corner after hours of running around his large study and place a book in front of me. “You are what you read, son,” he would look at me, his eyes filled with love, “and if you read nothing, you will become nothing.” That had made no sense to my eight-year-old self. I turned on the switch and the light flooded the dusty room. It was a large study that doubled as my father's private study and library. “My father… I mean Richard used to spend a lot of time here reading and working,” I said, “if we are looking for answers about our past, I believe this would be the place to search.” Susan had a pensive look on her face. “What more do you think we'll find?” she asked, looking around, “and what does it change?” I knew what it would chang

Susan I felt like my world was falling into a million pieces right before my eyes. My vision blurred as I looked at the DNA result in my hands. It couldn't be, could it? The woman I believed all my life to be my mother was not my mother? Who was I then? Who was I?“Is it that shocking?” the lady who had handed the result to me asked. I looked at her but my vision remained blurry. I rubbed my eyes and said, “This… It may be wrong, yes?” The woman had a smile on her lips. She had definitely been asked this question so many times. “The result is conclusive,” she said, “it is not wrong.” “But… but there can be an error…” “You can request to have another test done,” she said kindly, “but I know another test will not change the result.” I nodded and walked out of the testing centre in a daze, my mind filled with conflicting emotions as I continued to stare at the result. I continued walking, almost absentmindedly, and ran into a warm wall. I knew I had hit someone, so I bowed and t