LOGINChapter 83Aria Blake ~•~ “Y—you were the reason why I lost… lost my job?” My voice came out broken as I confronted Samuel. Samuel blinked and he stared at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. “Aria, what are you talking about?” I let out a bitter scoff. “He is your friend. You promised to get my job back but you didn’t say anything about it anymore,” I replied, struggling to hold back my tears. “And that was because you were the reason why he fired me in the first place.” A wave of guilt flashed across his eyes. “Aria…” “No,” I cut him off. “Don’t even try to deny anything right now.” He let out a sharp exhale. “I’m not denying, I just want to know where you heard it from.” I dragged a hand through my hair. “Does it matter? Is it my source you’re bothered about?” I asked, unable to hide the irritation in my voice. “I just need you to tell me if you were the reason or not.” He took a while before he responded. “Yes and no.” My face twisted in disgust. “What
Chapter 82Julian Cross ~•~ “I don’t know what to do anymore, Mom. Aria is being so difficult and I can tell she’s doing it on purpose.” My mom let out a wistful sigh. “Stop pacing around. Take a seat,” she said, pointing to the empty couch across from her. I dragged a hand through my hair before sitting down. “Do you have a solution for me? It’s like the kids hate me more every day because they haven’t seen their mom.” She was silent for a beat. I wondered what was going through her head. Was she trying to come up with a solution? “Mom, say something,” I probed. She folded her arms. “I don’t think we can do anything here. The only way to get out of this mess is if Aria decides to come back to New York on her own terms.” I rubbed my lips. “So what do you think it’ll take for her to come back here?” I asked, my breathing heavy. My mom shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe offer to give back the kids.” Without hesitation, I shook my head in disagreement. “No, I can’t do that,” I co
Chapter 81Aria Blake ~•~ I froze mid-bite, the burger suddenly tasting bland in my mouth. “What?” I demanded, my voice crackling with disbelief. “What did you just say?” My voice came out hoarse and barely above a whisper. She looked pained, like she regretted opening her mouth. But it was too late to take it back. “I’m not sure about it. As I said earlier, it’s just a rumor, I don’t know if it’s actually true.” I dropped the remaining piece of the burger on the plate. “Why would Samuel make me lose my job? How did he do it?” It didn’t make sense because he was the one who promised me that I would get my job back. So was he lying to me when he told me he would talk to his friend? Had he been the reason why I was unemployed all these while? My chest tightened at the unanswered questions. “I don’t know how he did it. But he was the one who told the boss to fire you when he opened up his concerns about you to Samuel.” I took a deep breath to calm myself down. “What concerns?”
Chapter 80Aria Blake ~•~ It had been one week without my kids. One week without my job. One week living with a man who was slowly detaching from me even if he would never admit it. My life was falling apart. Everything was so exhausting. And I couldn’t do anything about it. The car horn behind me snapped me back to reality. I hadn’t realized that the traffic light had changed. “I’m sorry,” I muttered under my breath even though the other driver couldn’t hear me. Then I started the car and continued driving. Soon enough, I arrived at the cafe. Sophia asked me to go out with her because she didn’t want me to continue sulking at home. I protested at first, but she tried so hard to convince me. I knew I needed the distraction, so I agreed in the end. She was already there at the cafe. I parked the car and went inside to meet her. “Hey…” She smiled as she saw me, then she stood up immediately and pulled me into a warm embrace. I forced a smile. “Hey.” We settled down and th
Chapter 79Aria Blake ~•~ “Mommy, I don’t want to stay here,” Isla cried through the phone. “Please come and pick me up.” My chest tightened. I wasn’t comfortable knowing that my child was crying and I couldn’t do anything about it. “Why don’t you want to stay there?” “This place is strange and I miss you. Please pick me up,” she continued, sniffing back her tears. “Baby, just sleep. I’ll pick you up later.” That was a lie but I had to say it because I wanted her to stop crying. “You’re lying to me,” she spat. A sigh left my lips. “Isla, come on.” “Mommy, please. I’m begging you. I don’t want to be here.” “But can you just sleep tonight? Just for tonight?” I asked, my voice soft. She let out a sharp exhale. “Okay, mommy. But I won’t sleep here tomorrow.” “Good girl. Now give him the phone.” Julian took the phone back from Isla. “Are you going to sleep now?” Julian’s voice sounded from the phone. “Yes,” Isla replied. I stayed on the phone and waited until he tucked he
Chapter 78Julian Cross ~•~ I tucked the kids into bed. As soon as I turned off the lights, a loud cry broke through the silence. My heart skipped. They were okay a few minutes ago. Who was suddenly crying? I turned on the lights and saw that Isla had sat upright. She was crying profusely. I crouched down to her level and tried to wipe off her tears, but she pushed my hand away aggressively. “What’s going on?” I asked, my voice careful. “I don’t want to sleep here,” she replied in between sobs. “Oh?” I muttered under my breath. “Do you want to sleep in my room?” She shook her head. “No, I want my mommy.”It was already late and I couldn’t get her to Aria. From the way she was crying, I didn’t think she would stop until she got what she wanted. I let out a sharp exhale. “Your mommy is at the hotel. But you have to sleep now and I’ll take you to her first thing in the morning,” I replied, hoping that would calm her down. But it didn’t. She only increased her voice. “I want
Chapter 77Aria Blake ~•~ “Are you still at his house?” That was the first thing Samuel asked me when he answered the phone. Not how is your health? Not how the kids are doing?I let it slide. He was still upset because I left Texas without telling him, and probably still mad that I went to Jul
Chapter 76Aria Blake ~•~ As soon as I checked into my hotel room, I dropped my luggage on the bed, changed out of my clothes, and got into bed. I reached for a pillow, pressed in against my face, and let out a blood-curdling scream. Throughout the ride back to the hotel, I’d fought back my tear
Chapter 75Julian Cross ~•~ Monster. The word echoed in my ears longer than it should have. Aria really saw me as a monster. And she threatened that she would make sure the kids knew who I was if I didn’t let her leave. I didn’t think I was a monster, and I couldn’t let her leave the house wi
Chapter 74Aria Blake~•~ “Harper, please leave.” Julian walked towards her and tried to push her towards the front door. But Harper didn’t move an inch. I was still confused about what was happening. “Julian, can you stop?” Harper exclaimed. “I came back to pick up my son.” As those words lef







