AVA'S POV.I groggily walked down the stairs, my body heavy with fatigue. After the argument with Zayn, Sleeping had been very difficult, and waking up with morning sickness and joint pains was something I was dreading. Every day into the pregnancy seemed to come with new challenges. Sophia’s loud laughters could be heard, and I made a silent wish hoping she wasn’t on the dining table, but I guess it was too late—I reached the foot of the stairs and sitting on the dining table was Zayn alongside Sophia. A sad smile found its way to my face, she looked so happy that he was finally giving her his attention.I couldn’t interrupt them…. That’s what I kept saying to myself, but deep down, my heart was torn apart. My stomach gave a low rumble and I heaved a deep breath before walking down to the dining area, only to stop for a second time. There was Sophia, her eyes lit in delight, as she ran her hands through his hair.“What did you do to it? It's softer. No lies,” she laughed, and t
AVA I entered my room, making sure to lock the door before letting out a deep breath. My mind was reeling with so many things, most especially—Zayn’s touch. I plopped down on my bed, closing my eyes as I reminisced the moment. He had a way of making someone want him badly, my hands trailed down my laps and I parted them open slowly, I just needed to release the tension building inside me. I felt a flutter in my chest and a growing warmth between my legs, Zayn’s image filled my mind as I found myself slipping my fingers into my core My breathed hitched as I continued starting slowly, my mind filled with thoughts of Zayn lips, his touch, his hands. My legs trembled as I increased the pace, a low moan escaping from my lips. I slipped another finger in as the image of the night we had sex flashed through—I envisioned his lips sucking me down there, and my body arched, yearning for his touch. It was wrong—I shouldn’t be doing this….yet I couldn’t stop. The pleasure was intoxicatin
AVA'S POV.“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your offer”. Andrew glared at me, his face turning into a scowl, “Why?!” He asked, his voice rising, “Why are you hell-bent on destroying this beautiful relationship?”The way he switched up from calm to anger was shocking, “I can’t leave yet, Zayn and I have built a friendship over the months and I know how important this baby is to him. I’ll leave after delivering the baby.” “You’re willing to give your baby to a man who forced you here and stole all your rights just to bear his heir? I never knew you to be this stupid, Ava”.I stood up, “You never knew me in the first place, I believe this conversation is over and…” He cut in, “Don’t you fear for your life?” he asked a sinister expression on his face and I felt a shiver run down my spine, “Have you forgotten how the other surrogate died? She was killed!”“If this is meant to scare me, I’m sorry to disappoint, but it doesn’t. He promised to protect me and I believe him”. I replied, my voi
AVA'S POV.I remained calm, as I digested the information, there was a lot going on in this family. Here I was thinking he cared about Sophia and Zayn’s relationship not knowing he has something crucial to gain if I had left. Cassandra nudged me slightly, “I don’t want you to overthink this. I just shared this information with you so that you would know that everything is not as it seems”.“But why?” I interpreted, “Why so much hatred in this family? Did something happen?”There had to be a reason why none of them were close, they all seemed like enemies forced to be in a family.. Casandra heaved a sigh, “It’s a lot and I can’t begin to explain, you won’t even understand” She replied, her voice low and soft.“It's like spiderwebs, weaving in and out of each other. They're all tracing back to one root, but you can't even find it. It's a tangled mess. And our family is just that. We've been complicated from the onset. And it's not just something that started with us. We were born int
AVA'S POV. “What are you implying, then?” Cassandra asked, her voice shaking, “I knew you blamed me for her death, but you kept denying it, Why would I hurt Lucy?” She added, tears streaming down her face. My mind was reeling with different thoughts. Cass never told me she knew the previous surrogate that died and finding out now. Could it be that…..No!! Cassandra wouldn’t. She is kind-hearted, and Zayn was only thinking this way because of the hatred he had for her. “You claim you have always wanted to made amends but the last time you came here was when Lucy was pregnant, and now you are back claiming to want to make amends with me, I know your tricks Cassandra”. My gaze flickered to Cassandra, and coincidentally, she also did. Her eyes were teary, and I could feel my heart racing, the only question in my mind was, “Was she also part of the persons who wanted my baby dead?” “You know what I’m done! This is the height of this, Zayn” She blurted out, her voice lou
Zayn’s POVI paced back and forth on the hallway, my heart racing with different thoughts. Who could have done this to her?!How were we not able to notice?The doctor hasn’t said a word since I came in, and it was like my heart was being ripped out of my chest, I couldn’t stay calm, no matter how I tried.The image of her face contouring in pain and her vomiting blood was still fresh in my head and…. I was scared. What if she…. No, I shouldn’t be negative. I promised to protect her… I promised her no harm, how did I not see this coming? Pain, anger, fear, was all that was radiating through my body and I needed to vent it out on something.I couldn’t wait any longer, The antiseptic smell of the hospital hit me like a punch to the gut as I pushed open the doors of the room. But I was blocked by some of the nurses and security, “Sir you can’t be here, you need to wait outside”. One of them said, holding me back.From where I stood, I could see her. My heart melted away, tears threateni
ZAYN’S POV The sound of her screams were loud and echoed through the hallways, but I couldn’t find her. “Ava!” I yelled, my heart racing with fear as I opened all the rooms once again, “Where are you?!” She didn’t respond, and I could hear her soft whimpers. My head was spinning as I couldn’t understand what was going on. “Zayn….please…” her voice trailed off, and I ran outside only to find myself submerged inside water. And Ava….was struggling to swim. The water was so deep and the current too strong as I struggled to swim forward. It was like I couldn’t move, no matter how I tried, and her screams were getting worse as she struggled to stay afloat. I kept trying to move forward, desperate to save her, but I felt someone pulling me back, “Get away from me!” I yelled, but the person didn’t bulge. My eyes were fixated on Ava as I tried breaking free from the person’s hold, “Take care of the baby, I love you” She muttered, trying to keep her eyes open. And then it h
ZAYN Ava's eyes widened in shock as colour drained out of her face, she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. “Why?” I asked, trying to sound calm despite the turmoil brewing inside, “Why would you hide such from me?” She swallowed hard, blinking rapidly as she made sure not to meet my gaze, No words. She was so silent and it was killing me inside, I wanted to know why she would hide such vital information from me. I was already overthinking and I needed her to speak! “Say something already!” I said, my voice rising, “Didn’t you think I should know or perhaps this….our relationship means nothing to you?” She raised her head, her eyes meeting mine and they held an emotion I couldn’t decipher, “Zayn…I know you’re hurt but can we talk about this at home…somewhere private and—” “No!” I cut in sharply, “We are having this conversation now, Ava. Why won’t you tell me that we were having triplets!” She adjusted herself on the bed and hesitated a bit befor
AVAAt first, I thought I was sleeping. Carter’s voice sounded so distant and hushed, but the words were too sharp to be ignored. “It’s just for a week. What could possibly happen?” He whispered, and I strained my ears to hear him properly, “I had to agree so as not to raise suspicion. If I find out he has an ulterior motive or if he finds out her real identity—I won’t hesitate to kill him!”On the last words, I jolted up awake, my heart beating so fast. And there he was…a sickly smile on his face as his eyes burned me with so much intensity. He quickly dropped the phone on my bed stand, “You’re awake.” He said casually, “Did you have a nightmare?”I didn’t respond to his question, not when I had just heard him threatening to kill Zayn. I had thought this was just a sick obsession but from that call, it’s obvious it was something worse, perhaps a vendetta against Zayn. “How is your hand? Does it still hurt?” He asked again, reaching out to my hand and I flinched, before questioni
ZAYN I stood at the entrance of the door about to enter when Carter burst out, “Mr. Beckham? Did we disturb your sleep?”My eyes scanned the room in search of someone—Ava.But I couldn’t see anything aside from blonde curls. That was definitely not Ava. She had black hair. Had I been wrong all along? “Mr. Beckham?” Carter's voice interrupted me from my thoughts and I chuckled slightly to cover up, “I heard noise and thought to check if everything was okay.”“Everything is fine. Just arranging a few stuffs.” He replied, and my gaze flickered to his hands, it was bloody. He noticed where my eyes were and quickly hid his hands behind, “Carter, that is blood? Are you sure…”“I said everything is fine, Mr. Beckham. Please leave! Go and rest or something, you’re interfering in my privacy.” He blurted out, making me startle. I was about to speak again when he shut the door in my face. What the hell? I retraced my footsteps back to the room I’d been assigned to. No matter how I tried,
AVAI had just finished breaking down in the restroom. It wasn’t seeing him that made me so emotional, it was the fact that he never gave up. He travelled miles away just to search for me. I made a silent prayer that he would understand that wink. As much as I wanted to run into his arms and hug him tightly, I needed him to tread carefully with Carter.Because the Carter I’ve stayed with these days is a very careful and dangerous man. Currently in the books, he was the good one, my supposed passport shows I am his wife with other documents he had managed to forge. Thankfully, Zayn was able to handle the situation well. Carter stared at him, and I was sure he had already started having doubts about Zayn coming here, “Mr. Beckham…” he began and Zayn interrupted him, “Call me Zayn, no need for formalities anymore.”Carter clenched his fists underneath the chair. He was barely able to hide the hatred and disdain he hadfor Zayn. “Zayn. The thing is that, I enjoy my quiet space, and yo
ZAYN It’s been a week since I arrived in Abu Dhabi. I had made sure that the kids were safe with Cassandra. She hasn’t given me any reason to doubt her and, moreover, she was the only person I could trust with them. Noah had given me the necessary details on their particular location and even went as far as finding out Carter’s Favorite restaurant. But it’s been a week now and no progress. I came here day and night, sometimes I just sat outside. Other times, I pretended to be a guest, ordering black coffee I barely touched, all this just to get a glimpse of Carter. It was exhausting—and fruitless. Until today. I bumped into a lady and had just turned to apologize when the words got caught in my throat. This can’t be. Her eyes, those lips—Ava. It was difficult to see her face because of her clothing choice and just as I was about to speak up, a familiar voice interrupted me. “Mr. Beckham?” I froze once more as I turned. Lo and behold, Carter was standing bef
AVAI’ve lost count of how many days I've stayed here. Escaping proved more difficult than I thought it would. The other day I found out that Carter had changed my name, and even created a new passport.How he was able to do that in my unconscious state still amused me. Everything about the house was creepy, from the colors of the room, to the old maid, to the numerous bodyguards. Who knew Carter, Zayn's supposed bodyguard and trusted servant, could be this rich? I’ve not been allowed to leave the house and anytime I ask why, Carter's excuse was that I am not strong enough to start moving out. And when I persisted, he said I didn’t have the right clothes to go out with. And so today, he decided to get me the ‘RIGHT’ clothes. The sound of his horn broke me away from my thoughts. I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me he’d arrived. I hurriedly went into the room and laid down on the bed. In no time, the door was open ajar and Carter walked in. This has been the normal routine of com
CASSANDRA I stepped out of the house for the first time in two months. I couldn’t leave the kids for a second with the fear that my mother would strike. Seconds, minutes, days and now two months, I have cried every night and woken up to different nightmares. Her face haunted me—I could still remember how she looked when she found out I had betrayed her. Guilt was killing me slowly, and it only worsened when I looked into Zayn’s eyes. I see him struggling every time, the other day I found him crying in the garden. The last time I’d seen him like this was when he lost his mother, and it hurts that I partook in his pain. I was stupid, wicked and misled. Sometimes I felt like coming clean, but that will make him hate me and distance me from the kids I’d vowed to protect with my life. And now, I was in my car, going to see the mastermind behind all this—Rebecca Beckham. My mother. I was done hiding, it was time to stand up to her. It was a three-hour journey and
ZAYN It’s been 74 fucking days since I last saw her. Papers, files, documents, and lots more were scattered on the table, all contained clues and places I’d already searched. But I wasn’t stopping anytime soon.If I have to, I’ll search the whole world for her. I refused to accept that she died. It seemed too convincing. The shrill of my phone rang loudly, and I didn’t bother checking it, “Any news?” I asked, immediately, my voice hoarse from days without proper rest. It was my agent, Noah. “No sir.” He responded, “But one thing is confirmed, she is not in the waters. In all my years of expertise, if someone dies in the water, the current always returns to the body after a few days, a week, or even a month. But in Ava’s case, there’s nothing to show even after continuous searching.”I heaved a sigh of relief. This was what I wanted to hear—that she didn’t die in the water, that’s why I asked them to search.This was also confirmation that Ava was RESCUED. She had been pulled out,
AVA The door creaked open, and I shut my eyes immediately, pretending to be asleep. I could hear footsteps coming closer to where I laid. And then—strong, sweaty hands roamed around my body and I felt like I was being pricked by a needle. I already knew who it was…his fragrance was choking the hell out of me. His hands reached my chest and I stiffened. What did he want to do? My heart was racing and just as I was about to hit his hands off, the shrill of his phone rang. His hands left my body as he stood up, I heaved a deep breath. “Blackwood speaking.” His irritating voice spoke out, and I peeked my eyes open to see him by the window. “I can’t believe it worked. The universe seems to work in my favor.” I froze, my ears listening attentively, I couldn’t hear what the other person was saying but from Carter's response, I already had an idea. “She doesn’t remember a thing, Noah!” He squealed in delight and I tightened my hands underneath the bed. “I’m not let
AVA What was he saying? Christopher? My husband? Why was Carter telling lies to me? Or were we in any sort of trouble?Every nerve in my body screamed at me to react, to shout, to call out the lie—but I didn’t. Something about the way he was looking at me…the way his words were so carefully chosen… told me this wasn’t just a misunderstanding.This was a setup.My heart was racing beneath the calm facade I put on my face. The last thing I could recall was the sound of the gunshot…falling from the cliff and sinking deep into the river. And then…darkness clouded by vision. But here I was, Alive and Awake with Carter spilling lies to me. My eyes scanned around the room before landing back on Carter, he had a smug expression on his face. “Where are we?” I asked, my voice low.My body ached so bad, especially my legs and I could barely sit upright. “My love, we are home.”Home? This didn’t look like home. The vicinity didn’t even look familiar, and it made me wonder where I was.