(Ashley)It's that bitch!It's really her.What the hell is she doing here?I clench my fist in rage, my blood boiling with lingering resentment.I'd made sure I kept her out of Dean's life, never thought she'd show up here after all these years.It was an easy peasy, she loved and trusted me, warmed up to me so quickly. It wasn't so hard putting her out.I'd planned everything since the day I deliberately ran into her.And then, the perfect timing came, I'd baited her out.I thought I've won, thought Dean would be so vulnerable to fall into my arms, to see my love for him. but he didn't, for some reason he'd acted indifferently to me.And then, I thought to myself, maybe he needed time to get over her, to accept she'd left him for good. I'd convinced myself he'd come around.But then, months turned into years and Dean's still the same.He acts like he's over her, he'd pretend like he's fine with the divorce but I know he isn't.I can see right through him. And it hurts to know he'd ne
(Dean)I lean back into my chair, my eyes wanders at the stack of contracts on my desk, waiting to be signed. I've been struggling to stay focused but my mind is far from steady.It's like the more I try to push the nagging feeling gnawing at me since I met Bella last night, the more it's stuck in my mind.I'm angry, confused and not to mention I'm curious as to why she'd show up acting all clueless.I mean, it's been four years, and she has every right to have moved on with someone else but for some reason I can't seem to let it go.Seeing her happy with him while I'm still stuck in the past makes it even more unbearable, with her taunting replies during our brief altercation, I just knew I wouldn't let it go.And to add to my stress, mom's been blowing up my phone since last night. My guess is, Ashley already told her about the break up.Of, course I'd expected her to.My phone buzzes again, this time it was Aunt Elena and not Mom.Their interference just makes me so sick to my stom
(Bella)I've scoured for the best preschool around with the help of Derrick. Langford Academy stands out.I mean, with their current and past records, they're no doubt the best, and that's exactly what I'm looking for, because my cute little munchkins deserves nothing but the best.And even better, it's just a few minutes drive away from home, and not so far from Clein's.We've been there for a brief interview, alongside with Javier and Jasmine. And I wasn't surprised when I got a message of their acceptance two days ago. Javier and Jasmine are very bright and quick-witted. So I'd expected it.I take a quick glance at my wrist watch as I walked out of the kitchen, carrying their lunchbox. "Come on darlings, we're going to be late for school," I call after Jav and Jas as Anne clears their table.Not only was it their first day in school, it was mine in work as well.I didn't think much about working on board with Brenco, because according to Calvin, we won't be working directly with De
(Dean)I stand tall and confident, my eyes pinned on no one else but Bella.Her pretty face and eyes stares back at me, bowled over.The look on her face says it all, just as I'd expected.Our eyes lock for a second longer before she drags her gaze away from me.I'd taken her unaware, beating her to her own games."Dean," Calvin calls out as he stands up, extending a hand with a gentle smile.I manage a smile, taking his hand, whilst watching Bella intently from the corner of my eyes."We hadn't expected to see you in person, your assistant reached out," Calvin says, sitting back down at the head of the table while I take my seat just directly opposite Bella. Perfect!I give a tight-lipped smile, a gesture that belies my true intent. "Well, I changed my mind," I retort. "Or does anyone feel uncomfortable working with me?" My eyes are fixed on Bella when I say this.Her eyes meets mine briefly before she breaks her gaze but not before I see something flash through her eyes."Of, course
(Bella)Something about Dean turning up for this meeting rather than his assistant pushes me off-kilter. I'm convinced it's not just about business.I'd like to think and as far as I know, Dean never mixes personal issues with business.But then, so much has changed, he's changed and I can't hold on to the things I used to know, especially one that comes from a place of hurt.Plus, I know he still sees me as a cheat and a gold digger, who was with him because of his money.There's nothing I'd say or do that'd change his mind anyway, so why bother?And oh, the smirk and glint in his eyes doesn't go unnoticed.His attention is on me as he steps in, his proudful strides, a constant reminder that maybe โ well, all of this is about me.The impact of his threats still lingered, like an imprint in my head. But then, he needs to know it doesn't bother me.I don't care about his threats.I snap out of my daze, and put my game face on.The presentation is filled with an underlying tension, which
(Dean)"Be here in time tomorrow. I have an early appointment," I tell Raymond, who nods in return."Sure, boss." I step out of my car, heading right inside. It's been a long day and I'm quite stressed on what to do with Bella.Once I step into the living room, I paused.Nothing prepares me for the sight before me.Mom's seated on the couch, her legs crossed with a glass of juice in hand like she's a queen or something. Her presence is imposing as ever.I'm surprised, mainly because I didn't see her car parked outside. Maybe we'd revisit her having a spare key.I mean, I'd expected her to show up here or at the office since I've been avoiding her calls.But she didn't in the past one week and now she's here, and at this time.I take a quick glance at my rolex. It's past 7pm."Mom?" I call out, walking towards her."Oh, you're finally back," she says, bringing her glass down, unfazed."What are you doing here by this time?" I ask outrightly, my tone skeptical.She frowns, clearly not p
(Bella)"Oh, baby, you shouldn't be up, look at the time," I retort, feigning a frown as I walk into Jasmine's room.She's on her tablet, clearly playing games on it. But as soon as she hears my voice, she puts it down, her eyes furrowed at me in guilt.I reach out to her, caressing her hair gently. "Javier is sleeping and you should do the same too, sweety." I frown a little."I'm sorry mommy," she says softly, pouting her mouth in a cute way.Pretty irresistible thing, how'd I stay mad now?I let a smile form on my face. "It's okay, baby," I say, patting her back gently. "Come. I'll put you to bed," I say, pulling the covers over her tiny body while I lie beside her, caressing her softly."Mommy?" She calls with a soft voice."Yes, baby." I smile at her, willing her to go ahead."I want a new doll, mommy. You promise to get one when we get here. Can we go to the mall tomorrow?" Jasmine ask, her eyes wide in anticipation.It just dawned on me that she'd had her heart set on having a n
(Bella)It's been almost five minutes since I got into Brenco.A nostalgic feeling washes over me, it's been four years since I last step foot into this place, and the giant building before me does nothing to soothe my racing mind.I'd prepared myself for this but sometimes we can't control how we feel.Calvin was a bit skeptical about this but I assured him that I could handle it, and I've been considering telling him about my history with Dean, because sooner or later he'd find out.I let out a deep breath.Calm down Bella, my inner mind tries to soothe me.All I have to do, is walk into his office, hand this document over to him, ignore his nonsense while at it and leave once he's signed them.Yes, that's it.With that, I step out, walking my way into the main building, it's still as luxurious as I can remember.I head towards the front desk, a lady in her late thirties smiles warmly at me. She's new, not the secretary I used to know but I don't let that thought linger on.I give a
(Dean)The smile on her face makes my stomach clench with happiness and every ounce of jealousy I had felt suddenly ebbs away.I don't reply, my words failed me, all I did was stare at her, my desire laid bare.My eyes darken and the next thing I knew, I leaned over and claimed her lips, kissing her so hard. I need to get lost in her so bad, I want to eat her out for hours.She moans into my mouth and my dick throbs in my pants. I whirled her around, resting her back on the couch, towering over her, and claiming her lips once more."What are you doing?" She asks, out of breath, while I gently nibble on the nape of her neck. "DeanโฆAnne couldโฆ,""She's out to get groceries. It's just the two of us, baby." I murmur against her skin, running my hand over her hard, sensitive nipples through her silky top."She'll be backโ in no time," she croaked out, causing me to pause and look at her.Fine, I picked her up and maneuvered us to her room, I gently put her down and pulled off her silky top
(Dean)I have called Arthur and asked him to urgently look into how those pictures got to the press and I know I'll have my answer in less than a day.I stood in front of Bella's front door and exhaled deeply, ready to face this strange lady but this time I won't be leaving if I don't see my woman.I press the doorbell and waited and after a while the door creaks open and this lady stood before me yet again, bearing an unreadable expression.But instead of telling me off, she shifts to let me in, and I see a smirk creeping up her face.Is she messing with me?"Come in," she says, giving me quite the look.I step in, still as confused as hell."Didn't you say you just โ," I tried to voice out but the approaching footsteps cuts me off.I turn to see Bella, and she paused as soon as she sees me, staring into my eyes.The warmth in her eyes somehow takes all my worries and fears away."Babe," I call out softly and rushed to her, pulling her close and wrapping my arms around her, I hold he
(Bella)"Why didn't you say so sooner?" I smack her arms and she giggles slightly."Well, that's part of the surprise, telling you would have ruined the fun, don't you think?" she says, lifting her eyebrows.I shake my head, and walk over to her car to meet a beaming Aria, I pause.She's gorgeous, pretty eyes and a cute smile like her momma."Hi," I say, flashing her a smile.Her grin grows bigger and she throws herself into my arms. "Aunt Bella!" She squealed.I ruffle her hair and when I look back to where Ivy was standing, she isn't there anymore, she has opened the door of my car, leaning over and talking with the twins, I could literally hear their soft giggles.I snap my eyes back to Aria and kiss her forehead. "What's her name?" I pointed to her big doll behind her."Star," she says, her smile growing even wider."Such a cute name," I retort, ruffling her hair gently, my smile still in place. I just love her, I've loved her long before now.After we had our moment, I step aside
(Bella)Whoever was behind this aimed to ruin me, hence the reason my social handles were all over the media, notifications were pouring in, tons of hateful words, dirty comments and some even tagged me a whore and a golddigger.The blogs didn't relent, they're clearly milking this for all it's worth.Tired of reading through all the nonsense about me, I drop my phone and exhaled deeply.I'm handling this a lot better than my emotional self would, it baffles me but well, I'll have to do me, the world will be just fine.But thenโฆ.. I pause, a thought comes to mind. If this lingers on, it won't be long before they drag my kids into this drama.I sigh, running a hand through my hair. Soon enough, it'll be the gold-digging wife and her secret babies.My kid's faces will be all over the media, I wouldn't put that past the person behind this chaos.God, I don't want them to drag my innocent kids into this and I definitely do not want this kind of ridiculous attention for them.I sucked in
(Dean)Unease, worry, a surge of helplessness, all of it scratch it's way through my skin, seeping through every pore.It's been over five seconds since this strange lady shut the door in my face, and here I am, glued to a spot.That isn't even the disturbing part, but wheels are already turning in my head at her response. She moved in?If that's not strange, then I don't know what is. A pang of uneasiness, fear, and a little bit of anger settles over me.Maybe if I hadn't freaking silenced my phones, I would have been here in time.But moving out? Did Bella really do that?I'm not believing any damn thing till I hear from her, and there's only one way to find out, actually two ways.Shitโฆ I pause.I can't contact Derrick, I had angrily deleted his number when I thought Bella left me and I still don't have it now.Ugh. I run my hand through my hair, and then I lift my eyes and slowly walk over to meet the building's concierge.He bowed down to greet on seeing me.I give him a curt n
(Dean)Full tilt into my meetings and I've barely come up for air. It's been a busy day, even so more than usual.And I can't wait to get done with it and head back home to my woman and kids. I couldn't wait until I could hold Bella in my arms again.But then, I had an odd feeling when I called Bella before getting on with these meetings and she didn't answer, I texted her and waited for a while but got no response.Humphrey came to inform me that it was time for the meeting, my eyes had flickered on the phone before I put it on silence and handed it over to Humphrey, alongside my other phone.I do that whenever I have important meetings to avoid distractions, and this one is with international investors, so yeah."We're looking forward to working with you, Mr. Brennan." One of the men says with a grin as he extends his hand toward me.A smile sits on my lips as I take the hand he's offering. "It's a pleasure, Mr. Duke."Once done, I head out to where Humphrey is seated, waiting.He g
(Bella)I got home in time before Javier and Jasmine woke up, I had to, Anne isn't too strong to get them ready for school on her own, and I needed her to get all the rest she can.I didn't get Ivy's call nor text, she usually calls every morning or leaves a text. I had called but she didn't answer and hasn't returned the calls.I pocket my phone and help get the twins ready for school before heading to make us breakfast.As I move around the kitchen, plating the food, I couldn't help but reminisce about last night, it was beyond what I could put into coherent words, it was beautiful, it was passionate and it felt right, more right than anything has in a long time.I had a corking good time.We made love till we were both tired out, we talked about a lot, from how I felt when I realized Ashley and his mother had set me up down to how challenging being pregnant and alone was, how helpful Calvin has been.My stomach twisted when I mentioned Calvin, a subtle reminder of our unresolved is
(Bella)Those words were all it took, and Dean's lips are on mine again, devouring every inch of my mouth, I could barely catch my breath as the kiss grows more intense with every second.It feels like we're both starving, the passion is still there, as fiery as ever.Dean lifts me up against the wall, his lips still on mine, while I wrap my legs around his waist.After a few minutes of kissing me none stop, he gently brings me down, and striped me bare, discarding my dress and I watch his eyes darken as he stares at my body, eyes filled with admiration."You're so beautiful," his voice is hoarse and soaked in desire, he undid his button, shrugging out of his shirt, revealing a well-defined chest and sculpted abs.My eyes roams his body, exploring every fascinating inch of his chest and abdomen and then my face flushed as my eyes drifted to a certain bulge in his boxers briefs. When I look up to meet his gaze, he has a smirk.He took a single step forward and that was it, he whirls me
(Bella)The awkward silence lasted till Calvin was out of sight. I turn to look at Rihanna and she looks a little sad, her eyes pinned in the direction Calvin had taken.I clear my throat, snapping Rihanna back to reality. "Is everything okay?" I say, my eyebrows lifting in question.She forced a smile. "Oh, it's nothing," she waves it off. "How have you been, Bella. It's been such a long time," she says, her eyes lightening up again.There, she's being too obvious about changing gears but that's okay. I understand awkward moments better than most.I exhaled, offering a smile as warm as hers. "I've been great actually. It's so nice to see you," I say earnestly."Yeah," she mutters, her gaze softening. "We should catch up sometime," she says and I nod."Yeah, we should,"We talked a little more before she excused herself to join her date.As I watch her leave, I couldn't help but think about earlier, what was that?There's definitely something, it can't be nothing.Calvin looks like he