Note that this is a long chapter(two times long) to make up for the short chapter at (Lust At First Sight: Five).Chapter SeventeenMaryanne:I would win, I could tell, and I won just as I planned. It's been four years since Mikaela left her family for Ethan, giving him the company.Of course, I pretended to be nice. I pretended to want the best for her. I pretended to defend her when Ethan brought in a new woman to give him a child. I did everything to make her like me more. To make her stay. To be the only reason she stayed in the marriage so I would strike at the right time. At the moment she didn't expect it.I wanted to strike like a snake hidden in the grass that even Ethan wouldn't see it coming. Ethan loved her, I could see it in his eyes but that wasn't the plan and I guess her inability to give him a child pushed him to get another woman, Ava.Ava was nice to me anytime we happened to cross paths but deep down, I could see the grudge in her towards me so I distanced myself.
Chapter SixteenMaryanne:Years passed, and I raised the child together with Gabby. We were blessed with a brilliant boy, and I let Gabby choose his name: Ethan.Ethan wasnât just any child. He was smarter than his age, always asking questions about money, business, trade. While other boys played with toy cars and sticks, Ethan collected paper bills, real ones. Heâd study the faces, the numbers, the weight of coins. At seven, he was already learning how to flip small items for more value. Gabby said it was genius. I called it destiny.But while I raised Ethan, I never forgot the daughter stolen from me.I watched them.Even when I was in hiding, even when I moved from city to city, I never lost sight of them. I had people, people who owed me favors, people who feared me, and people who pitied me enough to help me stay informed. I knew when the daughter who they named Stephanie turned seven. I knew when they bought a new house. I knew the day Diana walked into that shelter and laid ey
Chapter FifteenDiana:After that encounter in the supermarket, I never saw Maryanne again. Not once. Not even a shadow of her.But her words... her eyes... they never left me.Sometimes, in the middle of the night, Iâd wake up to the sound of my own heartbeat pounding like a drum inside my chest. I'd grab Stephanie from her bed just to reassure myself she was still mine. That Maryanne hadnât taken her back while I slept.I kept telling myself it was paranoia. Gary said the same. âSheâs probably dead by now, babe. You saw her. Sheâs a shadow of herself. Let it go.âHe knew he was telling a lie even him didn't believe.So I couldnât either.Her eyes haunted me. That moment haunted me. And somehow, life just... kept going.Stephanie grew fast. She was a bright child, full of questions and always craving my attention. Her hair darkened as she grew older, and I loved her deeply, even if some nights, I found myself wondering if she'd ever feel Maryanne's blood calling her.When Stephanie t
Chapter FourteenDiana:Years passed, and Gary and I lived in happiness. Finally, the happy ending we deserved had found us.We never heard from or come across Maryanne ever since she was taken to the hospital which was exactly our plan.Gary told me that immediately after giving birth, he had arranged for her to be trafficked to another part of the city which sounded like a great idea even though I was concerned.What if we got caught? Wasn't trafficking humans a crime?But Gary explained that it wasn't just any random trafficking. It was one that had been kept hidden for over a decade and every month, the event took place. He called it The Silk Harvest or something like that, where young ladies are auctioned to horny men in a secret bar.He had a conversation with the owner of the bar and they had paid him some money before the delivery while he gave them the go ahead to take her away. He didn't want their money. All he wanted was to keep Maryanne as far away from us as possible. Ev
Chapter ThirteenMaryanne:âYou're three weeks pregnant!â My heart skipped. Not because of the news but because it rang a bell. A loud bell. One that reminded me of some years ago. Those were the same words that the doctor said to me.The same words that made me realize my purpose. The words that made me a mother and a surrogate mother. The words that made the betrayal cut deeper.My throat ran dry and I gulped, but it still went dry again, as if I just swallowed a handful of sand.I stretched both my hands across the desk, my fingers shivering as I took the result paper from the doctor reluctantly. The same way I took it from that doctor some years ago. That same day when my life changed.She beamed at me, her slips spreading ear to ear. I stole a glance at the paper and quickly looked back at her, as if avoiding looking at the paper. As if scared to see the same results again.The doctor noticed my pale face and her smile melted away. âAre you okay?â She asked, raising a brow as she
Chapter TwelveMaryanne:From that day on, I became good friends with Gabby. Just friends. He gave me accommodation while I tried helping him stop his addiction. Slowly, he stopped drinking and smoking but I still let him do it once in a while. I just had to. I knew it wasn't an easy journey so he needed it sometimes until he wouldn't need it anymore.After some months, I got a job and insisted we move to a new apartment where his friend, Isaac would never be able to locate us.But was that my main plan? No. I didn't care about Isaac. My main plan was to move near the part of the city where Gary and my Sister lived and get my revenge as soon as possible. Not so soon but at least, after some years, just after they forget I exist. After they assume they're living their little happily ever after, I would strike like a thief in the middle of the night.Gabby didn't know anything about my past. I just lied to him and mentioned I was a stripper at a strip club and I was drugged and taken t