Tiffany’s words echoed in her mind. Eric was dying…She stared at the white walls outside the hospital. She didn’t want to leave like this, but she couldn’t come up with a reason to go back inside. In the midst of her hesitation, she noticed a black BYD on the side of the road. The car window winded down, revealing Jett wearing a pair of glasses and gesturing at her with his chin.She looked around, ensured that no one who knew her was around, then got into the car. “What are you doing here?” Jett started the engine with an emotionless look on his face. “I’m worried. I have to go back to Alejandro’s, but I’ll drop you home first.”Tanya bit her lip and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t go into the ward at all. I ran into Tiffany at the hospital. Don’t worry. I didn’t say anything.”Jett did not answer. He tossed a plastic bag from the hospital at her, with two small medicine bottles inside. She took out the bottles and found that it was folic acid. “These are… for me?”Jett nodded. He
Life was funny that way. You hope and hope for something to come, but it never does. Then, when you least expect it, it arrives like an accident.Jackson noticed her staring at him and turned his face to the side to look at her. “Why are you staring at me? Is there something on my face?”She hurriedly turned away. “No, I was looking at the scenery. Don’t be so vain.”Jackson wasn’t in the mood to joke around with her. He dropped her off at the ground floor of her condo. “Here.”She opened the door and got down from the car then suddenly stopped. “If I told you that I was the one who got pregnant and not Tanya, would you take responsibility?”Jackson stared at her as if lost in thought, then said, “If you really could get pregnant, I’d love to see it. Even a chicken would have laid an egg by now after taking care of it for so long.”The corners of Tiffany’s lips twitched. “I really… can’t be bothered with you. Fine, fine. Go home and get some rest. Be careful on the way home.”Sh
Aristotle stared at Eric as he sucked on his fingers and drooled. His tiny face was a picture of innocence and naivety, completely unaffected by the suffocating air of illness in the ward.Eric smiled at Aristotle. “So cute… Unfortunately, I’ll never have children, and I’ll never get to watch him grow up.”Arianne took a deep breath as she felt her eyes sting with tears. “Don’t talk like that. What if a miracle happens? You look fine to me. You’ll be fine. You have to stay optimistic. Everything will get better.”Eric took off his oxygen mask and paused. “Do I look like a pessimist? You’re all sadder about it than I am. There’s no need, really. I think it’s fine. Putting this thing on makes breathing feel weird. I won’t die. Why should I keep it on?”Mark forced the oxygen mask back on him. “Are you nuts? If the doctor tells you to put it on, you put it on. Why are you taking it off?”Eric rolled his eyes helplessly at him. “Fine, I’ll keep it on, okay? I think I can leave the hos
Arianne flashed Tiffany a weirded-out expression. “Okay, what are you talking about, Tiffie? Did you skip sleep last night and are now trippin’?”Tiffany rolled her eyes. “What I’m talking about is the truth, hon! If we count the dates, I actually got pregnant waaay before Tanya! Ha! Okay, okay—so, yesterday, I was like, hey, I haven’t gotten any visit from Aunt Flo. And so I went to do a body checkup and bingo! I hit the jackpot—I hit the goddamned jackpot! Holy hell, I was praying left and right, every day, so that I could finally bear a child, but nothing worked. And now, I have my child after Jackson and I are over… Like, am I supposed to be pleasantly surprised, or should I be like, a bit more mortified?”Arianne became quiet. “On one hand, news of Eric’s suffering has just broken to us. On the other, you’re eagerly telling me one of the best news ever. It’s making my head spin. I don’t know if I should feel sad or happy… So, what do you plan to do? Get back together with Jackso
Jett’s grip on the steering wheel unconsciously tightened. “What do you plan to do?”Bone-chilling blizzards seemed to howl within Alejandro’s eyes. “I will not let that child come to this world, never. If she loses it, she loses the only reason she has to return to Jackson… Yes, I won’t stand seeing her being taken away from me ever again!”Jett was stunned. Was Alejandro’s ultimate game plan not to have Tiffany in his arms? Had his boss never truly loved Tiffany and done everything just to possess her like an object? After all, how could anyone who genuinely loved someone be able to mercilessly scheme a miscarriage?Finding it deeply troubling, Jett spoke up, “Mr. Smith, I honestly believe this to be a terrible idea. What happens when she finds out that you’re the one who caused her to miscarry? Would she even want to spend the rest of her life with you after that? Doing something like this is to plant a bomb that would one day blow up, sir.”Alejandro had obviously lost much of
The accountant threw his arms around Jackson’s leg just as he started toward the door, crying, “No, no, Mr. West, please! I’m begging you! My parents… They are in ill health, Mr. West! My mom needs meds to survive! If they heard of this, I don’t think they would be able to stomach it at all! Please, please… I can return that money, I swear, I swear—”The accountant wept, but no amount of tears could soften Jackson’s heart. Everyone had that little line in their mind that, when crossed, would compel one to deny others mercy. Jackson’s happened to align with the law.Shrugging the accountant off of him, he returned to the office without sparing the teary accountant so much as a glance.Tiffany and Amy, whose ears were perked up to listen in on everything, sat up straight and solemnly when he walked in.Jackson’s steam did not seem to have petered out, though, which was evident in the way he furiously flipped through the documents in his desk as though he could not find the exact pape
When it was near the original time to get off work, Tiffany felt mild aches flaring up all over her waist, shoulders, and back. She leaned onto her chair, feeling a little burned out.Desperate, she sent a text to Jackson: ‘Are you sure we’re supposed to work overtime tonight? Can I say no? Like, I think I’m about to fall apart. Can I request for leave? If you don’t reply to me, I’ll assume the answer is yes.’Tiffany had expected the man to be too busy with whatever was occupying his time to spare her any attention, yet his reply was lightning-fast. ‘No overtime? Only if you join me at the hotel. It’s this, or stay in the company. Choose.’The term “hotel” cued Tiffany to jump into more risqué imaginations; however, when part of her mind reminded her of her pregnancy, her eagerness dissipated. She replied to him a little guiltily, ‘Why do you want me at the hotel, hmm? I’ll be upfront; I’m not into casual sex. And also, we broke up.’To her shock, Jackson’s next reply came from ca
Jackson went into the elevator first, followed by a very dawdling Tiffany. To accommodate her, he courtly reached out to the side of the elevator doors to stop them from shutting.It was a little gesture, but it was enough to add a few more regrets into Tiffany’s mind. She was really beginning to wonder if she had been jinxed by some kind of vodou when she wanted to break up with him.Jackson had said nothing the whole time they were inside the elevator. He stared ahead while wearing a stoic, uncaring expression as he casually tucked his hands into both pockets of his jeans. He had rolled up his sleeves to about his elbows, hence exposing a small section of his ivory-fair skin. Clasped on his left wrist was an expensive luxury watch that betrayed his social status.If one were to describe the aura Jackson exuded, it would be that he was seventy-percent gallantry blended with thirty-percent knavishness.During their descent, several other guests in the hotel boarded the same elevato