CHAPTER 46ZYLIAH’S POVOur faces were still so close I could feel his warm breath fanning my face, and though his hands had stopped shaking my shoulders, they were still resting right there.Our eyes stayed locked on each other, and it was as though we could no longer understand whatever it was that kept brewing between us.I wanted to move back, to put space between us, but something had me rooted to the spot. Maybe it was pride, one that didn’t want him to even begin to feel like he’d actually won this ridiculous little war.And he wasn’t moving either—it could’ve just been plain old stubbornness on his part.A knock sounded. I heard it, and I guessed he heard it too, but neither of us was ready to move from our spot."Am I interrupting something?"The voice finally got us to move away from each other, and my gaze shifted toward the door.Claire. A bit of confusion creased her brows.“What are you doing here, Claire?” His tone was gruff, still holding anger—or whatever was left of
CHAPTER 45ANTHONY SMITH’S POV"Where's the client? Did you not inform him of the meeting?" I swallowed down the lump of apprehension, trying to drown the real reason my potential client wasn't here yet."He… he backed out at the last minute. Says we have to provide records of the company’s successful innovations from the last five years," my secretary, Penelope, said.I opened my mouth but shut it immediately. There was nothing to say. I truly had nothing to say.Without another word, I left her behind and walked into my office.Anger and more apprehension clawed at me viciously. My spacious, air-conditioned office felt small and cramped—hot and uncomfortable.I was on the verge of losing it all. All my years of hard work were about to go down the drain. For the past five years, instead of gaining clients and making real profits, all I had to show were losses—money and clients both.Sabrina had played an awful part in these clients leaving. She couldn't hold on to any of them, nor co
CHAPTER 44ZYLIAH’S POVI was in the kitchen, making lunch with the help of Sara, my assigned maid, when my boys came bursting through the doorway. "Mommy!" Their tone barely masked the eagerness and jittery excitement bubbling through them as they rushed in to tell me whatever it was that had them darting into the cooking area like little whirlwinds."Slow down, boys. We don’t want any scraped knees or bumped heads, now do we?" Sara gently cautioned.They grinned at her with matching mischievous smiles. "Hello, Miss Sara.""Hello to you too, my darlings." She grinned right back, playful as always."Mommy, she’s here," Casper announced, eyes bright with something close to wonder.I arched a brow, smile tilting with curiosity. "Who is?”"Our sister. Alexa. She's here..." they chimed in unison."...and she brought her mommy too," Waylen added."Oh." I honestly had no idea how to react to this particular information so I just allowed my smile to stay in place. "Come see her, Mommy. She
CHAPTER 43ZYLIAH’S POVI had no idea how to feel about the news, so I kept my mouth shut and my expression carefully blank.I could feel his gaze on me, but I forced myself not to look his way.“Are you saying we have a sister?” the twins asked in unison, their voices rising in disbelief.“Yes. You have a sister,” he said simply.“How old is she?” one of them asked, their curiosity bubbling to the surface."She's the same age as you." “Is she going to live with us?” Casper asked, leaning forward a little.“I believe so. Do you want her to?” He was seeking their opinion, and strangely enough, it felt thoughtful that he would care about their feelings enough to even ask in the first place.“If she isn’t mean, yes. But if she is, no. I don’t want no mean sister,” Waylen said with a firm shake of his head.“Yeah. Mean people are like...like really bad.” Casper chimed in with a solemn nod.“Yeah. Our mummy says not to mingle with bad people.” Waylen shook his head slowly, repeating the w
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