The life she has lived

Chapter 1

    Aliyah POV

    After working myself out writing a new book yesterday night, I slept off quite late and woke up this morning with all my body hurting like hell, but still, I knew I had to get myself up from the bed and go get my daughter ready for school. It was Monday today, and I had a lot on my plate to deal with, which was getting Nancy ready for school, dropping her off, and going to Jaxon Empire to submit the manuscript they demanded.

    Waking up to my five years old Nancy sleeping peacefully beside me on the bed, I couldn't help the smile that laced up my lips. Although the last few years have been rough for me, seeing Nancy has been the only therapy I needed and the only thing that has kept me moving all this time.

    It all started seven years ago when I just turned twenty. I met Liam during my last year of college. It was supposed to be a relationship filled with love, and we only dated for three months before we got married. I thought we were going to live the best couple's life ever, but everything changed after I got pregnant and told him about it. I don't even want to think about the horrible incident that happened, but that was the end of our relationship. Liam left me to take care of myself and my unborn child. At first, I wanted to go for an abortion, but I realized I would be hurting an innocent child, and guess what? I'm the happiest single mother on earth, and even during my trying times, I never regretted keeping the baby.

    My name is Aliyah Sanchez, twenty-seven years old single mother that has achieved success, being a best-selling author in LA (Los Angeles). How did I become an author, you would ask, but I think that would be a talk for another day.

    "Wake up, baby," I picked Nancy gently from the bed, and she slowly opened her eyes, revealing her pair of innocent brown eyes. Her long blonde hair was scattered on her head with some strands on her face.

    "Mommy, is it morning already?" She asked as she finally opened her eyes, and I felt bad for waking her from her deep sleep, but then, she had to go to school.

    "Hmm. Good morning, my princess. Did you sleep well?" I asked as I carried her into the bathroom.

    "Yes, mommy. Are you going out today?" She asked me as I lowered her gently into the bathtub, and I nodded my head.

    "Yes, baby. I have a lot of work to do today," I replied to her, and she nodded her head.

    After I bathe her, I got her ready for school very early, and since I still had much time, I went to the kitchen to make breakfast for her, and once I was done, I fed her and went to get myself ready. You can imagine how hard it was for me, right? Being a single mom and handling things all by myself was really hard, but what could I do? I couldn't even hire a maid because of the fear of getting my little girl's life in danger. 

    "Are you coming over to pick me up later, or are you sending the driver?" Nancy asked me as I drove her to the school later, and I glanced at her through the visor, since she was sitting in the backseat. 

    "I don't know yet. My schedule is a bit tight today, but I will try to come to pick you up, and if I won't come, I will let your class teacher know before I send the drive to pick you up," I replied to her, and she only nodded her head before she looked out through the window.

    After Liam left me, I spent the next months of my life in pain, trying to survive since I barely had no one to take care of. After I gave birth, life was even worse for me. It felt like the whole world was against me. I have tried to get a job in places but always got rejected because they believed I couldn't do anything with a child. At some point, I felt like taking my life, but I had only one reason to stay alive. I had to endure all the pain life threw at me because of my baby, and here we are today. 

    Nancy was just two years old when I decided to use my talent as a writer, and although it was hard in the beginning, I managed to pull through the hard time. Being rejected, had many of my works flopping, having bad experiences with different editors, until I was finally able to make a name for myself, and soon, I became one of the best-selling authors in LA after I won a contest in a platform I write for. Success, as they say, can't be achieved in a short time, I could say that mine was a living testimony. I now have a house where I live comfortably with my baby, and different cars of my choice. 

    "Be a good girl, and don't play around, ok?" Those were my last words to Nancy before her class teacher took her away, and I set for the day's work. 

    I drove to Jaxon's Empire, an entertainment company. The CEO of the company reached out to me that he liked one of my books, and wanted to adapt it into a movie, so he wanted to discuss business with me.

    After the meeting with him which ended well with us concluding everything there, I finally left the company. 

    As I drove back home minutes later, my phone suddenly beeped with a message popping up on the screen, and I pulled over at the side of the road to check if it was a work-related text, but it wasn't.

    'Can we have lunch together?' I sighed frustratingly, seeing that the text was from Mr. Jeffrey Cooper, CEO of Cooper publishing house. Jeffrey had been on my neck for quite some time now, asking for me to give him a chance to be in my life, but I resent men so much that getting involved with any was the last thing I wanted. At least, not after what Liam made me pass through in the past. I knew what it took me before I could get over the pain.

    'Alright,' I still replied to his message, regardless. 

    The next few hours before lunch was I sitting in front of my laptop and typing since I had daily updates to do, and by lunchtime, I was done, so I uploaded the chapters I wrote before I finally left the house to the restaurant where he asked me to meet him.

    The drive to the place didn't take much time, since it was a bit close to my apartment, and when I walked inside the fancy restaurant, I found him sitting elegantly. Mr. Jeffrey was a handsome man, down to earth with his dark hair, perfect height, chiseled face with sharp jawline, brown eyes, smooth skin, and a charismatic man any woman would want to spend the rest of her life with, but definitely not me though.

    "Hi," I said to him as I pulled out the chair in front of him, and sat on it.

    "You're here... I'm sorry for calling you out. I just wanted to have lunch with you. I had no idea what you'll like to eat, so I didn't order before you came," He uttered confidently.

    "No, it's fine. I'm not hungry. I will just take a glass of water," I cut him off, and he nodded his head. I needed no one to tell me he called me out here not because he wanted to have lunch, but because he wanted to talk about something, which I was sure he would still get the same answer from me.

    "Aliyah... Can you give us a chance, please?" He asked the same question he has been asking me for months now. One thing I liked about Jeffrey is his confidence and his straightforwardness.

    "I will take care of you and your child, I promise. Please give us a chance to be together," He further said, and trust me, I could see the sincerity in his eyes, but I wasn't going to fall for that. My heart was already closed, I wasn't going to love any man after what happened. I just wanted to be with Nancy in the little world I created, exploring it, and giving her all the love I could. 

    "I'll say this again... I am not interested, Mr. Jeffrey. I prefer we keep our relationship within work, and nothing else. If you are thinking you will ever win, then I'm sorry, that will never work. Excuse me," I replied to him before I stood up and grabbed my handbag that I dropped on the table when I came in earlier.

    "I will give you some time to think about it," He said to me before I left the restaurant. If I was going to accept her, I would've done that for months now, so isn't it time he stopped trying his luck?