CHAPTER ONE

I watched the children as they ran around the field, screaming and cheering while throwing the ice cream in the cone they held around the park. 

"Be careful!" I shouted as one of them fell to the ground. A bitter cry erupted from her and I rushed over, cupping her into my arms. 

"I asked you not to run around, didn't I?" I scolded in a soft voice and rubbed her leg, my heart tightening at the bruise on her knee.

Little Betty cried in a low voice, wetting my shirt with her tears.

I paused and looked back at David, her elder brother, and nodded at him.

"Come on, let's go," I forced a smile on my face to make him feel better.

He dropped the cone in his hand and rushed after me, grabbing my hand.

I dropped them into the passenger's side, rubbing my thumb across Betty's cheeks as she stared at me, tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry, honey, I will have your wound gone, hmm?" I muttered and kissed her forehead before heading into the driver's seat. 

I turned on the car's ignition and reversed, heading to the villa we lived in. 

I couldn't stop glancing at Betty's puffy face in the mirror as I drove along the silent street of the estate.

"Dad is coming back tonight, right, mummy?" David chirped and I gripped the wheels tighter.

"Of course, he will come back tonight," I replied and added a nervous laugh at the end of my words.

I had met Jaden some years ago at an award show. His wide-eyed gaze and sparkling grey eyes threw me off my feet the moment our eyes locked in that crowded hall full of business elites, rivals, and most importantly, my family and the man I was betrothed to. 

It was a hell of a fight with my family when I made it known that I wanted to be with him. They had disagreed, threatening to cut me off if I dared ruin the marriage arrangement for the CEO of a near-dead company. 

I was in love, so in love that even my father's threat couldn't stop me. I rejected the luxury, the inheritance, and a life of comfort and chose Jaden, not minding that he had two children and was a divorcee. 

My throat knotted at the thought of Jaden. He had been acting weird these past few days and rarely came back home. I understood that it was the pressure the company was putting on him. The company had climbed up to the position of one of the top three companies in the country, and this only brought more competition and expectations from the public.

Every day, I wished I could help him run the company, but he only wanted me home and taking care of the kids. 

Relief swept past me as I drove into the villa's garage and parked the car then got out and rushed for Betty.

"Come on," I whispered and carried her out then began to walk towards the building with David shuffling beside me, giggling over a bird that kept hitting its peak on the glass frames that faced the garden.

"Look at that, mummy, it's attacking itself," David said, pointing at the struggling bird.

"It's foolish, isn't it?" I said.

"Hmm, so foolish," he mumbled.

We walked into the house and were welcomed by the maids. 

"Get the first aid kit," I said to one of the maids and dropped Betty on the couch, whispering words of comfort as she winced in pain.

The maid appeared again with the head maid trailing behind her.

I stood up and walked up to her, my brows raised in question.

"Is everything alright with him?" I asked Mrs Rosalia, our head maid.

The woman looked over my shoulder in Betty's direction, worry swaying in her eyes.

Betty was staring at us, her attention diverted from the maid who was tending to her bruise.

I pulled the head maid to the kitchen as I suspected that it could be something bad.

"The master isn't coming home tonight. He has an important issue to take care of," she said and my heart dropped.

"But..." I was confused and dumbfounded, unable to understand what she meant by that.

Tomorrow would be our anniversary and he had promised over the phone to be back today to prepare for tomorrow's party.

"Do you still want to continue with the party? Should I send out the invitation cards?" She asked. I sighed and shook my head.

"No, don't send it out. It's not worth it," I muttered.

"Dad is not coming back?" A voice snapped behind me and I spun around, my heart crushing.

"David?" I whispered, horror laced in my tone.

He took a step back, anger sweeping over his innocent, little grey eyes. 

"Let me explain, okay?" I whispered and began to trudge towards him, my hand reaching out to touch him, but he backed away, glaring at me.

"This is all your fault. I hate you!" He yelled and in a flash, he was gone, racing out of the kitchen.

"Oh, Lord," I lamented and rushed after him in alarm but the cry of Betty stopped me.

I turned around and my chest tightened as my eyes locked with hers.

She stared at me with tears in her eyes and her hand stretched out towards me.

"Mummy," she called out, crying loudly.

I stared at the door David had disappeared through and sighed loudly before shuffling over to Betty.

"Hey, baby, don't cry, I got you, hmm?" I whispered, running my hand through her hair after a long minute, hoping that Jaden would walk through the door with a smile on his face and his hand stretched out towards Betty to give her a warm, comforting hug.

I kissed her forehead and straightened up, realizing it was just a thought. A thought that would never come to reality at that moment.

"Mummy will take you—" 

"Ma'am! Come quickly. David is in danger!" 

One of the maids screamed out.

My heart sank and I jerked up, rushing towards the shivering maid with widened eyes filled with alarm.

The maid grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the house to the pool.

My blood froze when I neared the pool and found the maids gathered around a body beside the pool.

"David?" I whispered in a cracking voice, tears gathering in my eyes.

My heart broke into tiny pieces as I pushed through the staff and saw little David lying on the ground, wet and not breathing.

"Is he dead?" I heard one of the staff whisper and my chest tightened.

"N...no!" I screamed out and dropped before David. I grabbed him, intending to prove the staff wrong, but my world crumbled and my breath ceased when I realized that his body had gone cold.