LOGINIt was the next morning. Fatima had barely slept the night before. Since she didn’t take any sleep medication, it was even worse. She kept turning, but as a mother she still had responsibilities, even with Mrs. Wilson there. As soon as her seven a.m. alarm went off, she got up and started her day.After a few minutes to get herself ready, she went downstairs. She found Mrs. Wilson already in the kitchen. Breakfast was made.“You don’t seem to have had a good night’s sleep,” the woman said, handing her a cup of coffee.“Thank you.” Fatima took the cup, sat on the kitchen stool, and took a sip while Mrs. Wilson continued working. “Are the kids awake?”“Yes. They already had their morning bath. Ms. Bonnie is helping Mr. Wave with his shoes. She insisted.”“Alright. Um, so I have an awkward question.” Fatima started. The woman nodded. “You worked for my parents, right?”“I’ve been with the family for years, Mrs. Kingston.”“Fatima. I keep asking you to call me Fatima.”“I can’t.” The woma
Of course Madelyn was alive. Fatima already knew that. She felt sorry for Ryan because he had no idea Madelyn had probably moved on. Madelyn had made it clear she didn’t love him anymore. But Fatima knew telling Ryan the truth would only start an argument.“Ryan.” Fatima swallowed hard as he handed her his phone.“Please speak to her. I’m overwhelmed right now,” he said.Luckily the call hadn’t started yet. It was just in the caller log. Fatima didn’t know what to do. If she refused, Ryan might start to suspect her. So she took the phone and pressed the call button.Fortunately, the call went straight to voicemail.“No, something is wrong.” Ryan grabbed the phone from her hands. “I heard her voice. She’s alive.” He tried calling again himself.Fatima wanted to tell him the truth, that Madelyn probably heard his voice and ended the call because she didn’t want to talk to him. But she knew better than to say it.“Are you sure it’s her?”“It’s her number, Fatima. It’s her,” he said, soun
Obviously Fatima didn’t want her kids far away. She couldn’t bear the thought. But she also knew Nicholas was right. These kids needed to be away from all the drama. Everything would be much easier if they were somewhere safe.“Let me connect him,” Fatima said. She added David to the call.“Oh my god, if it’s not my favourite great-grandchild,” David sounded excited on the other end. He thought he was speaking to Bonnie.“Hello, Grandpa. How are you?” Fatima said.David cleared his throat and his voice became serious when he realized it was Fatima. He hadn’t forgotten how he had done her dirty. He felt bad about it, but he didn’t regret it. If he could choose today, he would still do the same thing.“Fatima. How have you been holding up? I’m sorry I haven’t gotten time to check up on you.”“I’ve been good. Listen, Nicholas is on the line.”“I’m sorry, child. There’s nothing I can do. That clause was put in place by my grandfather,” David said. He thought they were calling to ask for h
It wasn’t that she really cared, but this was surely shocking. He had just been with her a few minutes ago. Death, right?“Ian is dead?” she asked.“I have no idea. The crazy thing is he came to attack me, then someone else started attacking him.”“I don’t get it. What do you mean by someone else?”“Well, he ran with me. He had a bullet. He might be fine.”“So you two escaped?”“I can’t drive, so he had to drive.”“What?” This was confusing for Fatima. “You’re saying that you and Ian rode together and he didn’t kill you?”“He was not going to kill me in the first place. He just wanted to bruise me. But yes, I needed to leave that place ASAP.” Fatima understood what he was saying.“So, you both have a new enemy?”“It looks like it. Whoever it was, they were prepared. They shot up the place and seemed to be aiming for both of us. They might have heard we were both there. They wanted to kill two birds with one stone,” he explained.“Great. That means the two of you are now cool, right?”
Fatima went on and told Ryan how, even five years ago, Madelyn had tried to force herself on Nicholas.“I don’t know, but I think she was only with you because you’re Nicholas’s cousin.”“She was celibate before meeting Nicholas.”“They just hooked up in a club,” Fatima clarified, because he was starting to make excuses for her.“Yes, and you know how she is. She probably got attached.”“After one night? Listen—”“I’m sorry, are you the reason Madelyn is in this condition now?”“Huh?” Fatima was confused.“Maybe you found out about the hookup and—”“You know I’m not that kind of person. What are you trying to say?”“Well, to think of it, Nicholas was the first person arrested for her accident. She said she saw him, so maybe you’re trying to cover for your baby daddy?” Ryan sounded serious as he raised his eyebrows.Fatima remembered the last time he had even called the police on her. She knew he didn’t play about Madelyn.“You know what? It’s fine.” Fatima realised she would just be w
How the hell was that even possible? Being in love with two men at the same time? Both jerks? What was wrong with her? She wasn’t some teenager. She was twenty-eight, for goodness’ sake. What in the world was this?Okay, Fatima decided she had had enough of talking about her messed-up love life. She dismissed the conversation before her therapist could dig any deeper, said goodbye, and promised to call back soon.Right then, a knock sounded at the door. It was Mrs. Wilson and Bonnie.“Mommy, why is she here?” Bonnie asked as soon as Fatima opened the door.“Honey, it’s business.”“She still works with Daddy?” Bonnie sounded judgmental. She didn’t want Leslie anywhere near her mom. “And why was she asking for you?” Fatima looked at Mrs. Wilson, whose facial expression clearly showed she agreed with Bonnie.Yeah, Leslie had been rude to her kids before. Fatima still remembered that day when Leslie insisted she would rather Nicholas take her to the hospital than drive the kids to school.
***“Yes, teeth checkup for Bonnie and ear checkup for Wave,” Nicholas said, his eyes on Fatima, who shook her head. “The mother would accompany them,” he added, and Fatima scoffed.“Wow.” Fatima didn’t know what to say as Nicholas ended the call.“What, you’re not free anymore?” Nicholas mocked. “
Fatima watched as Ian spoke with his man, Dante. They had confirmed that the target was her and not Madelyn. She listened closely, but they seemed to switch into a language she didn’t understand.They had moved away from the door into another private room, away from Ryan. They didn’t want him to he
Violet kept paging through the file, her shock growing with every page. By the time she reached the last one, her hands were trembling. She closed it and turned to Fatima.“You can’t post this,” she said. “This will destroy my family.”“Then you have a lot of work to do.”“Anything but taking the k
Fatima didn’t wait for her sister to recover from the shock. She ended the call and, after casting one last glance at Julia, who was now splashing water on Ashley’s face, she turned and headed for the stairs.She walked straight back to Ian’s room, the path already memorised. That was how fast her







