LEVI'S POINT OF VIEW.I watched as Auriela slept soundly on our bed, her brown hair all over the pillows as she snuggled the covers. She's pregnant. She's carrying my child....my mind could barely fathom it.The fact that I would soon be a father and a husband.Vanessa's breakup hit me hard, especially her betrayal of my brother. I knew Matthew hated me, especially after that day at the orphanage. Up until the moment he got arrested, and pleaded with me to take his case, I'd hated him, was scared of him, and desired above all else to be cut off from him. So when he sent the message from prison, about how he needed his brother, and his connections to come through for him, like I was not struggling with my debts at the time.Like he hadn't betrayed me.Like he hadn't treated me worse than an enemy after our parents died.His friends abandoned him, and Vanessa?She flew off the bat, making sure to escape to a place where no one would find her.Not that I ever searched.So the fact that
AURELIA'S POINT OF VIEW.The sound of water going down the toilet fills the bathroom, as well as my breathing and constant tapping of my fingers against the counter. I regarded the pregnancy test strip like it were acid, like it would come to life in an instant, and begin to rip me to shreds."It's okay, baby, whatever happens, we'll get through it together," Levi says, from behind me, as he rubs my shoulders in an attempt to ease my anxiety.I nodded, staring at the strip as we got to the last few seconds before the news would be released.Am I pregnant, or not?The alarm clock dinged from behind us, startling me, so I jumped into Levi's hands. He quickly turned it off, shutting its sounds and plunging the bathroom into silence again."It's time," I whispered.Walking to the counter felt scary, like every step was lava and I was melting, burning with each move of my legs.I picked the strip and turned it around, ready to face the truth even if it would feel like a sledgehammer.And j
SIX MONTHS LATER.AURELIA'S POINT OF VIEW.It all felt like yesterday.Like it was a few hours ago, my brother had gotten his name cleared of any charges, and like it was a few hours ago, the real murderers, Robert and Serbastian, had finally been apprehended and sentenced to life in prison.Like it was a few hours ago, Levi won the lawsuit against the state on behalf of me and Desmond, granting my brother over two hundred dollars in compensation.It was barely enough for all he had been through, but it was something. Levi fought tooth and nail for us.For me.It felt like it was just yesterday that Levi took me to his private island for a vacation, as a reward treat of my passing the bar. He proposed to me there, under a beautiful candlelight dinner on the beach.The same way I'd dreamt of, and mumbled to him just before I slept.I don't even know how he remembered that. I said it once!It felt like yesterday that we had peace., quiet, no form of abuse or trouble, especially not from
AURELIA'S POINT OF VIEW."We'll take the deal. What do you want?" Grandfather had let go of me after his outburst and was already seated. He sips his brandy, looks up at me, and directs his eyes to Levi. It felt like forever, till he finally said;"You and your brother will maintain a relationship with me. You will include and involve me in everything that goes on with you, up until your wedding, childbirth...everything. You and your brother will accept my inheritance and oversee my businesses. Once you're done with law school, you will return to the hotel as the CEO. Everything I trained you for? You begin to act on it."He said, and without hesitation, I nodded.He pulled out the document and shoved it forward.Of course, Grandfather would not do anything without it being signed and sealed.I signed on the dotted line, my name in cursive.Desmond's life depended on it; I couldn't disagree."You should know this, though." Grandfather said, before I could walk away. "Your mother isn't
AURELIA'S POINT OF VIEW.Stunned.That was the expression on my face-on our faces as we stared at my grandfather, the elderly man who stood behind his desk, a smirk on his face like he knew something we and the rest of the world did not know."What are you talking about?" Levi speaks on my behalf, stepping away from my embrace and moving us closer to him.My grandfather sits on his chair, and rests his cane on his table, before opening one of his many drawers--the compartments that have always kept me in fear and shock for as long as I can remember. He pulls out three things.A file.A recording.And a laptop."This is what the police and all of America have been looking for for the past decade. If you want it, it's yours...however, there's a price." My grandfather says, a vicious smirk on his face.Levi and I narrow our eyes at that. My grandfather doesn't do anything for free, and when he takes a price, it's usually very heavy."How do we know it is real?" Levi asks, his jaw clenche
AURELIA'S POINT OF VIEW.He walks in like a man ready for war, uncaring about the fact that my very dangerous grandfather stands in this very room, the owner of the house he just barged into.He has no idea, but he just breached one of Grandfather's rules.My house is my fortress. No one comes in or out, not without my permission and approval.His voice drones in yet again, reminding me of another lesson from years ago. The sight of Desmond's broken fingers is on my mind. One of his friends from college had followed him here, unknown to Desmond, and grand grandfather punished him for two things.You were unaware of your surroundings.You let a stranger into my gates without my approval.That requires a lesson,I remember standing there, fighting tears at the sight of my strong brother, hunched in pain and anger. The promise of pay back clear in his eyes, and my grandfather saw it."That fire in your eyes, keep it burning. The day it goes out, I snuff you out as well.""Vale! To what d