Zyliah Smith had it all, until betrayal shattered her world. A scandal, a one-night stand, and a secret she never saw coming. Now, six years later, she's back with twin sons and a new name, ready to bury the past. But fate isn't finished with her yet. When the man from that long-forgotten night reappears, wealthy, ruthless, and dangerously captivated, Zyliah is pulled into a storm of old lies, new desires, and a love she never dared to hope for. But the past always has claws. And this time, it wants everything.
View MoreCHAPTER 1
ZYLIAH'S POV 'I have a surprise for you. Come around.' A huge smile blossomed as I read the short yet sweet text from my fiancé, Fynn. I was just leaving the house to hang out with my girls, but that could wait. This couldn't. I got into my car and zoomed out of the compound, heading straight for his place. Both hands on the wheel, I couldn't stop smiling as my eyes caught the beautiful rock nestled perfectly on my finger. I couldn't believe how good life was to me. A job I enjoyed, a romantic fiancé I loved, and who loved me back. Truly, I was blessed. Driving through the open electric gate of the compound, I parked and practically jumped out of the car, rushing upstairs to his room. I thought I heard voices, but decided they weren't real. But a few seconds later, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Every part of me refused to accept it was real. A hallucination. I was seeing things that weren't there. I blinked repeatedly, but the picture didn't go away-it just kept playing out in front of me. My fiancé and my stepsister, who unreasonably hated me? No, this couldn't be. "Oh God, Fynn... uh... hmm." Her lusty moans made me snap. "What is going on here?" I was prepared for them to be shocked and stutter their way through any flimsy excuse that would justify their current intimate position. But it was my turn to be shocked... yet again, because they actually paused and locked eyes with me, head on. "You should be leaving by now." My fiancé, who was currently positioned behind my stepsister, Sabrina, his hands on her waist and his dick still inside her, said flatly. His nonchalance spiked even more turbulence within me. My legs suddenly felt heavy, but I forced them to walk three steps further into the room. "What are you doing, Fynn? I should be leaving? Aren't you remorseful?" It was a struggle to keep my voice from quivering. I didn't want to fall apart-not just yet. And definitely not in the presence of Sabrina, who would love that very much. "Why should I be remorseful for having a good time with my woman?" he sneered. "Talk about being stupid." Sabrina snickered at that. I ignored the insult, my brain refusing to move beyond... "Y-your w-woman?" The tears wouldn't obey. They were threatening to spill. They'd welled at the edge of my eyes and couldn't wait to roll down onto my cheeks. "Oh, sorry-we didn't inform you. But yes, Sabrina is my woman now. One who'll give me lots of beautiful children." I heard the insult in his remark, but I couldn't understand it. Lots of beautiful children? Wasn't he insinuating I couldn't? I sniffled, wrapping my arms around myself as though to protect what was left. "W-what are you insinuating, Fynn?" Irritation crossed his face. He slipped out of her. Sabrina whined in protest, and he kissed her back. "Let's get rid of her and we'll continue having our best time." Hearing the man I loved talk this way about me-even while I was standing right there-ripped my heart apart. What did I do to deserve this? Was this some kind of twisted joke from the universe? "Works for me." My stepsister giggled, then climbed down from the bed, stark naked and not the least bit ashamed. She wound an arm around Fynn's waist. He had hastily drawn up his boxer shorts. "So?" Fynn quirked a brow. I couldn't say a word. It felt as though this was all a dream, one I'd wake up from. Words failed me at this point, but I knew I had to say something. Battling back tears, I took a small step forward. I was too invested in my relationship to let it go without putting up a fight. "Back up there, miss. Any step further and you'll be crowding my territory." Sabrina made a shooing gesture. I faced her with all of the anger brewing in me. "How dare you, Sabrina?! What have I ever done to you?! All our lives, you have always wanted to be where I was, have what was mine. Our relationship has been a competition to you, why?! Now you had to go for my man? Someone you know I'm engaged to?!" Tears poured like rain. They were angry ones. I almost lunged at her, but stopped myself a second sooner. "Quit with the drama, Zyliah. No one's competing with you. Rather, she saved me from making the biggest mistake of my life," Fynn spat, his eyes glaring pointedly at me as though he was appalled by my presence. "W-what? I... I'm the biggest mistake of your life? Is that what you're saying?" I shouldn't have been more shaken than I already was, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't believe that the Fynn who used to love and admire me would ever talk to me in such a manner. "Yes, but thanks to my new woman here," I could only watch with a broken heart as my fiancé drew my stepsister closer and kissed her hair. "I get to find out that you've been nothing but a whore-someone who slept with men to get what she wants, especially during our time in college. God, I just wonder how foolish I was not to have seen that trait in you." "Excuse me?!" I couldn't believe my ears. Disbelief and shock rocked my body violently, threatening to upend my balance. "I should have suspected from the way you eagerly, or should I say desperately, accepted my proposal, just so you can find a resting place for your empty, ruined womb!" he finished. "My w-what?!" My brain was scrambling to comprehend what he'd just said. And it hit me after what seemed like a long time, though it really wasn't, that I knew exactly who was behind it. "Sabrina, you had to go this far? You had to ruin my image to the man I was going to marry?! Why? Why would you?!" Helpless anger had me stomping my feet as more tears flowed. "I only told him the truth, Zyliah. How long do you think you can hold off on the truth? It would be unfair getting married to him without him knowing your past," she said, rolling her eyes like I was some naughty child she was tired of babysitting. "It's all a lie, Fynn. I swear, I did none of those things she accused me of. I never slept with any lecturer to get good grades. I earned every grade honestly," I pleaded, ignoring Sabrina to face Fynn. I took a bold step to move further. As soon as I got close enough and touched his arm, Sabrina pushed me away. I fell, hitting my waist against the small coffee table. Pushing myself up to my feet, I winced, realizing I'd been hurt around my waist. Rage filled me, and I lunged at Sabrina for payback, shoving her so hard her head would've hit the edge of the bed-if Fynn hadn't caught her just in time. "See what she did to me, Fynn," she said, her lips quivering like I was the evil witch. "I'm sorry, babe." Fynn helped her to the bed, and when he turned to face me again, I didn't expect his hand to strike me hard across the face. The hit landed so hard it stunned me, the force of it sending me staggering on my feet. I had to plant them firmly on the ground so I wouldn't lose my footing and hurt myself again. Fresh tears poured as my hand cradled that side of my face. "Y-you hit me?" Fynn had never once raised his hands on me-until today. And it was because of Sabrina. "Get out of here and get lost!" His eyes glowed a dangerous red. "Fynn, please, I..." "This is over. We are over. Now leave my place before I throw you out myself," he yelled. A broken sob escaped my mouth, then another and another, until I was finding it hard to breathe or talk properly. "F-fynn, p-p-plea..." "Get out!" I jolted in shock and fear, but before I could move my legs, he was already shoving me out the door. I heard the door click shut and the quiet shuffle of feet receding further into the room. Sunk in despair and not caring about my surroundings, I let myself slip to the cold, hard floor and cried my eyes out.CHAPTER 42SAYGE’S POV"Hello, doc. What's the update?" I was working when my phone rang. It was a call from the doctor concerning the DNA test."I just asked my assistant to send it to your mailbox. You're the father," he said plainly.Silence ensued for what seemed like hours but was merely nanoseconds. "Thank you, doc. I'll have my P.A. send payment to your account soon," I told him."Alright."The call ended. I dropped my phone, propped my elbows on the desk, and hid my face between my palms. I didn't feel the excitement I'd felt when I'd found out about the boys, and it made me feel a bit guilty because a part of me had wished it was a lie.If it were another doctor, I'd have doubted it, but Doctor Finney was a longtime family doctor. We trusted his medical records and judgment.The little girl deserved just as much as Waylen and Casper also deserved.My phone rang. It was Claire. "Yeah, hello Claire." I rubbed a hand over my face, wondering what Grandma Charlotte and Dad wou
CHAPTER 41ZYLIAH’S POV"You can hate me to your heart's content, but you have to tell me why you changed your name from Smith to Davis." His angry tone followed me as I tried to escape his suffocating presence."I do not owe you anything." I hated how shaky my voice had gotten. Burying the past had been too hard. Almost successful. Trying to forget what I'd gone through as payback for my years of sacrifice, love, and hard work for the family that had not just backstabbed me but also allowed the public to ridicule me was the toughest pill I'd had to swallow.Maybe I should have never returned. But Delia was the reason I'd returned. Her accident had brought me back. She had stood by me till the end, even with the distance. And I thought to extend the same hand to her. Right now, I was beginning to think my reason for returning wasn't worth this. All of this! A hand grabbed me. My hand and arm flailed and extended to his face and landed one.A deep, furious grunt rumbled from him. He
CHAPTER 40ZYLIAH’S POV"Grandpapa says you're our daddy. Is it true?" Casper asked between mouthfuls of buffalo wings.It was dinnertime, and everyone was at the table. "Do not talk while eating, Casper," I gently reprimanded."But you talk and laugh with Aunt Delia and Aunt Natasha whenever the three of you eat." Casper frowned, his lips in a pout.He couldn't understand why I was reprimanding him for the same habit I had with my best friends. There were two reasons why I'd shushed him. One, he was a child and could easily swallow food the wrong way. Two, it was our first night in this place, I didn't want them thinking I wasn't teaching my boys good manners, especially with Sayge watching.I saw the laugh tweak his jaw. He obviously had found it funny. He cleared his throat. "Clearly, you've been a hypocrite.""Sayge." His father called, his tone calm for the boys' sake, but there was the sternness beneath. "Dad, she...""Your son asked a question." Oslaz, in that same calm mann
CHAPTER 39ZYLIAH’S POV"Is this our new home?" Waylen bounced about the living room the moment we set foot in it, happy to be back in this 'big mansion,' according to him and his brother, Casper. Well, I agreed with them. It was big.But I didn't care how big it was. I still felt quite uncomfortable, not because of the occupants. Well, partly because of one of the occupants. Him.But also because I didn't want it to look like I was leeching off them, even though they had practically begged me to come.Plus, Natasha's and Delia's sweet talks and subtle threats if I turned down what they saw to be an 'opportunity' were part of the influencing factors. "Say something, Mama." Casper tugged at the thigh-length shirt dress I was wearing, snapping me back to my surroundings.I quickly fixed a smile on my face. "Yes."At my response, they were overwhelmed with joy and ran around the living room in unbridled, childlike excitement that had my brows quirking in surprise. They'd only been here
This chapter contains references to abortion and pregnancy loss. Please take care while reading. CHAPTER 38 SAYGE'S POV "Hi, Daddy." A tooth was missing, but it didn't make the little girl any less pretty... and she was my daughter? Good Lord! A month ago, I was a man without responsibilities. I'd only just discovered-was still getting used to-being a father to two boys...and now there was a girl? Three kids? From two different women? Fuck my womanizing life! "Hi." I mustered a smile, unwilling to disappoint the bright expression on her young, innocent face. She had the same dark hair as me, and though her eyes were blue, they weren't my shade-more of a cornflower tone. I observed, moving away from the door. Jasper and two security guards came in just then. I'd left the door unlocked. "Please, take them away." Jasper directed the security guards. "Mommy, did we do something bad? The cops are here." The fear on the little girl's face, combined with the emotion in her tone,
CHAPTER 37 SABRINA’S POV I made myself a bit more presentable before my mom arrived. I was changing from the casual halter-neck mini pastel-colored flowery dress—realizing it was showing belt marks and slap prints—into a black turtleneck mini dress with full sleeves when the sound of the knob turning made my heart skip a beat. Willing my heart to calm as I assured myself it could be my mom, although she'd never intrude on my privacy without yelling my name or seeking my permission. I realized I was wrong, taking a few reflexive steps backward as my husband came in. He looked at least somewhat sober and definitely embarrassed—it was safe to say that much. Summoning courage, I managed to ask, "W-where have you been?" "Out," he mumbled, walking right past me and into the bathroom. He reeked of yesterday's alcohol, making me almost puke with my otherwise empty stomach. But his sobriety gave me enough nerve to confront him about the news. "Out where?" I asked, my hands now on my
Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.
Comments