Chapter 6

Zerah

After what felt like an eternity, the evening chill had already seeped into my skin when finally headed back into the house. 

Immediately I entered the living room I met both of my boys chattering,  the previous worry they showed before gone.

Warmth filled me at the sight, waves of love and anxiety.

 I couldn't lose them. They were my one reason for living, and my only consolation from the hurt of those years. 

Time passed quickly. Shortly after dinner, I tucked them into bed before heading into my room a heavy weight of exhaustion filling me as I collapsed onto the bed.

My heart still ached however, the memory of Ryker the incidents today filled my mind.

 This was all my fault. 

 If I had just declined Nathan's offer, I could have remained in City Z where my life was normal and safe. 

But I was here now. Back in a city with so many painful memories, and on my first day back, I had run into the one person I had hoped never to see again. And as it turns out, I worked for him. 

I couldn't help but smile bitterly at the irony. 

Of all the companies I could have been in, it had to be a subsidiary of the company he managed. 

At least I could ignore him most of the time, making sure to drown myself in work all day giving myself no free time to ponder over him even though it meant I was always exhausted at the end of the day, and spending time with Nathan was a big help. 

And now, this had happened. 

My eyes burned with tears, the reminder of his threat constantly repeating like a broken record.

Nausea filled me. He didn't care about them, he just wanted the children for his own selfish gains. There was no way in hell I was going to let that happen.

I wasn't going to let him use my kids as pawns for his personal interests.

 That was the last thought that went through my head before I fell into slumber 

….

“No…no.”

This couldn't be happening.

Standing in a courtroom,  The sound of his voice and the gavel echoed in my ears.

“I grant full custody of Micah and Ryan to Ryker Davidson.” 

No…

Tears burned hot in my eyes as I watched him take my children away. I tried to scream, to warn them, to take their hands, but I found that I couldn't move.

 I was completely, utterly powerless. 

Ryker’s smug smirk sent a piercing arrow through me.

“See? I warned you.”

No!

I jolted, sitting up and panting . As the cool air chilled my skin, m breath hitched. 

A dream. It was just a dream. 

As I came to reality I feel everything from the faint light of dawn ebbing through the window to the sweat that bathed all over me and the tears in my eyes.

Most of all, I could feel pure utter terror.

 Without hesitation, I grabbed my phone dialing my mother's number. She was still in the hospital but I had to talk to her. 

"Mom, I just had the most terrifying dream." I said after she picked up. 

"Ryker was taking the kids away and I could do nothing to stop him." 

“The kids aren't going anywhere. Ryker doesn't even know you have them." she said reassuringly. I could hear her voice, calm and reassuring on the other end yet all I could fill was a chill run through me.

"He does now." I said,

For the next few minutes, I explained the entire incident to her. She remained silent on the phone all through. Once I was done, the silence was even more deafening.

It wasn't difficult to tell how she was feeling. I felt the same way too. Ryker was powerful and if he started a custody battle, we'd almost surely lose. 

"Oh my baby girl,” My mother's voice cut through my thoughts, making me sit straighter.

“Listen. No matter what, nothing will happen to them. I promise we'll figure this out, okay?"

My heart sank from her words. How I wished I could rely on that blind optimism. Six years ago I had relied on that to enter into a loveless marriage with a man who didn't remember me and left heartbroken. I no longer had the luxury.

Ryker was powerful, a multibillionaire CEO heading over two companies. I'm comparison, we were nothing but chopped liver.

But I couldn't place that burden on her. Swallowing thickly, I forced back all the worries.

“Okay mom,” I breathed out, closing my eyes tightly, “You should rest now. I should stop bothering you. Goodnight.”

Immediately after dropping the call, I turned towards the clock. I still had about 2 hours before I had to get up for work. 

I should have fallen asleep, or at least tried to, but the nightmare had already taken its toll and the anxiety refused to leave. In the end, I lay in bed feeling lost, and helpless. Ryker had everything. His money, his reputation and the dear fiancée he always wanted. Yet, that wasn't enough for him.

Clutching the sheets below me tightly I shut my eyes. Like hell I'll let him take them away.

The next morning, I arrived at the office still exhausted from my interrupted sleep. The memory of yesterday was still very fresh in my mind. 

The thought of seeing Ryker at the office was dreadful. As hours passed by however, there was no sign of him. Just like always, he had most likely headed straight to the main company, meaning he wouldn't be here.

“Zerah!” I jolted, looking up to find Nathan. His smile was warm and I couldn't help but reflect it.

 "I hope you're doing better. What was the emergency?" He asked,

For a moment , I hesitated before forcing a smile.

 "It was my mom, she had a little accident but she's fine now." I said, brushing it off, even when it wasn't the truth.

Shivers ran through me at the reminder of Ryker's threat but I forcefully pushed it away. I couldn't let him interfere in my life.

“Good,” he nodded before jerking my head towards his office door. 

“Can we talk? It's about that company?” he askef.

It didn't take long to understand. Without hesitation, I followed him.

Throughout the waning evening light I remained in Nathan's office, listening.  Nathan was on a tirade about an important business deal  with a smaller which would help the 

In the five years I'd worked with Nathan, I knew several things about him, many of which he'd told me willingly. One of them was that he was content with his position. At times he shared about his family and this company. He had never held any ambition towards rising high or breaking out to start his own business. In his eyes, everything was for the Main branch and his family. 

I'd admired that simplicity in him, sharing the same sentiment to some degree. 

If only I knew then, that the company he was always referring to was this one.

 I listened attentively as he spoke about their production systems; the main reason he had been stalling the partnership. In the end I finally spoke.

"Well, why don't we help them with that?" I offered

 "We could propose and manage a restructuring of their production to better serve both our needs as a benefit of partnering with us." 

"Great idea Zerah. What would I do without you?" Nathan said with a huge grin.

 I laughed, enjoying his praise and packing up my files to return to my desk. Now that this was over, I could leave his tirade and go h-

"I can't wait to bring it up to Ryker." 

The files I was holding clattered to the floor. It took me a few seconds to realise that I'd dropped them. I silently berated myself for reacting when footsteps rang behind me.

“Zerah?” 

Looking up, I found Nathan staring at me, concern clearly in his eyes

“Are you okay? What's happened?" He asked.

"Shit, I didn't hold them properly. I'm fine, really." The lie flower through my teeth like venom. Guilt sank into me for lying to him, but I pushed it away. This was what I had to do to avoid suspicion. Nathan couldn't know about the past relationship between Ryker and I.

Nathan didn't look convinced, but before he could say anything else, his phone rang. 

Relief filled me as he turned away for a moment.

I'd  forgotten all about yesterday in the flow of work and hearing Ryker's name ignited the anxiety again. I shut my eyes tightly to shut it out.

Before I could leave however, Nathan returned, a serious look written over on his face.

 "We've been called for a stakeholder's meeting at Headquarters. Ryker said he wants us there so we have to go." 

My blood ran cold at the news. This had to be a trick of his. He was planning something. I felt my heart pounding in my chest as questions whirled in my head. 

What was his plan? Was he going to try and humiliate me again as a golddigger? Was this about the children? Did he want to make it known to everyone that they were his kids?