NORA'S POV
I had contemplated on how to break the news to Aiden. I wanted to end it through text but thought of how cruel that would be, he didn't deserve to be treated that way, so I sent him a text stating that we needed to talk.
The next day after work, I sat at our usual spot at my favorite coffee shop as I waited for him. About twenty minutes later, I sighted him from afar. My heart broke into a million pieces as I watched him walk up to me.
I had cried myself to sleep last night becsuse of what needs to be done. I need to end things with him just as his grandmother wants.
"Hey baby, I'm sorry for being late.....I was in a meeting" he apologized as he pecked me on the lips.
"Hi" I greeted him with a forced smile.
"Why haven't you ordered anything yet?" He asked
"I'm fine, I don't feel like eating anything " I replied him as I stared at him. This was probably going to be the last time I would see him and be this close with him.
I looked away as tears began to form in my eyes.
I was very anxious and was looking for the best way to bring up the topic. If only I could just tell him everything that his grandmother said, if only. But I knew better than that. There's absolutely no way that I would want to put myself in between a grandmother and her grandson.
"Are you okay? You don't look too well" he stated as he took my hand in his.
I took that as an opportunity to spill the beans.
" I found out about your PhD offer, when were you going to tell me about it?" I asked bluntly
He paused with a surprised expression on his face.
" How did you find out about that?" He asked
"How I found out doesn't matter, what matters is that you didn't tell me about it!.... Aiden you're leaving in two months...... how on earth do you think that makes me feel?" I asked him, I tried to appear as upset as I could.
"Okay first of all, I apologize for keeping the information from you but I want you to understand that I haven't even made a decision yet" he replied
"We both know the decision you are going to make eventually...." I said to his face
"C'mon babe, don't be like that....I was going to tell you " he defended
"Aiden....I understand that this is a great opportunity for you, I would never stop you from pursuing your dreams " I said to him
"Aiden... why are you calling me by my name?" He asked with a confused expression on his face.
I sighed deeply and then replied him "I don't want to be the one to hold you back on your dreams, there is no point in dragging this, this relationship was bound to come to an end eventually " I blurted out
He was startled by my words.
" What the fuck are you talking about ?" He asked. This was obviously the last thing he was expecting to hear from me. I knew I was breaking his heart but I was left with no choice.
"We are from two different worlds Aiden....we both knew this from the very beginning.... there's no way that we would last long.....I'm surprised we made it to 8 months" I explained
" I know what you're doing, and I am not going to let you have your way" he stated bodly and then tightened his grip on my hand. " I am never going to break up with you Nora.....I don't care what ever insecurities that you're going through right now but I am not going to let you end this " he added
" Aiden.... please let's end this now that we haven't gotten too deep..." I tried to explain but he cut my words short.
"Before we get too deep?.....Nora has this just been a joke to you? Is 8 whole months a joke to you? We are already too deep for the love of God!" he blurted out.
I could see the pain in his eyes. My heart was breaking but I tried as hard as I could to stay strong, not to let him see that I was falling apart.
"I'm sorry Aiden..... but we need to end this" I said to him and then released my hand from his grip.
" No.....I refuse to accept that we're over! ...... you cannot end this because of the offer that I got.....Nora we can work something out, I promise" he tried to persuade
" You are going to be a thousand miles away, there's no way this would work." I said to him
"Okay....I need you to calm down, where are these thoughts coming from? Have you even thought it through?" He asked
"I wouldn't have come to a conclusion if I hadn't thought well about it.....I am not asking for your permission to break up Aiden, I am breaking up with you " I blurted out.
I was surprised with the way I was able to pull through. I saw the tears that gathered in his eyes. I wanted to pull him close to me and explain everything that is going on. I wanted to scream to him how badly I want this to work, but I couldn't. I just couldn't.
Gloria Hart had already given me an ultimatum and there's no point in fighting a battle that I had already lost.
" Did you ever love me?" Aiden asked
I looked at him with a heavy heart. I wanted to confess to him how much he means to me, to tell him that it was killing me to end things between us and that I was carrying his child. But I couldn't .
"Does that even matter anymore? It's not going to change anything Aiden" I said to him as I avoided his eyes. I couldn't bear to lie to his face.
"Just answer me" he said
"I did. But it's not going to change the fact that we need to end things. I was already tired of dating in secret, do you know how exhausting that is?" I asked
"Do you think that it was easy for me too?" He asked me
"It doesn't matter anymore. It's over between us Aiden and the earlier we accept this, the better it would be for us. I am not going to stand in between your way of success as you are going to be the future CEO of the company " I said to him
I watched as he wiped off the tears that rolled down his face. My heart ached for him. I was hurting the man that I love.
"Nora.....why are you trying Soo hard to get rid of me? It's up to me to decide whether to leave or not. Besides who says long distance doesn't work anymore?" He asked all at once
I stared at him in silence.
If only I could just tell him that his grandmother was behind all of this, if only.
I shook my head and faced him.
"I'm Sorry Aiden, but I have made my decision" I said
"Don't I even have a say in this? This is soo cruel of you Nora, how can you just wake up one day and decide to end things between us?" He asked
"I have been thinking about it for awhile....." I replied calmly. I was obviously lying.
"But why didn't you say anything?... Why didn't you tell me that it was bothering you? We could have figured something out together " he said
" Like I told you earlier, I don't need your permission to end things between us. I am going to cherish the period we were together, those had been the best moments of my life " I said to him as I rose to my feet.
"Nora...." He held my hand
"I genuinely wish you the very best Aiden" i said to him and then pulled my hands away from him, leaving him heartbroken and breaking my already shattered heart into pieces.
I tried to hold back the tears in my eyes as I walked away from him.
NORA'S POV Being reunited with my son was the best thing that ever happened to me in a very long time. I have never been that scared in my entire life and heaven knows that I wasn't going to let Olivia go scort free for kidnapping my son. It's crazy how she thought Aiden was cheating on her because we never even shared a kiss not until after we were able to rescue Duke. The orphanage had been the last place that was on my mind to find him. Heck I was even scared that they would have taken him out of the country. But thankfully, the staffs at the organisation were able to recognize that he was the kid that wandered off during the volunteer period. They immediately contacted Sabastian who reached out to Jade. That was how I was able to reunite with my son.I lay in bed that morning as I began to count all of my blessings. Even though I lost my father along the way, at least I was able to reconcile with him and introduced him to his grandson. I was also able to meet my birth mother,
AIDEN'S POV It's been exactly one week since the whole rollercoaster of emotions. One week since the day we rescued Duke of being held hostage by Olivia. One week since I have been living in San Diego. I had moved in with Jason at least for now, until I am able to sort things out.Today was finally the day I'd be officially introduced to Duke as his father. Nora had texted me two days ago to explain everything to me. So here I am, in front of their apartment complex with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a bag full of flowers on the other hand.As I walked into the building, my mind went back to how we had rescued Duke. We arrived at the orphanage home a couple of hours later using the company's helicopter, we didn't have to time to book a flight to San Diego. Thankfully, Jade and Jason had already gone to get him. As soon as Nora set eyes on Duke, she immediately ran towards him as Duke did to her. My eyes immediately got filled with tears as I watched the emotional moment unfol
NORA'S POV It's been 2 days since Aiden and I got back to San Diego. That means two days since my son had been kidnapped by God knows who. I tried my best to stay as calm as possible throughout the flight from Del Mar....but as soon as we got back to the hospital, I freaked out. I couldn't believe that this was happening. It was as if someone literally placed a curse on me because it has just been from one bad news to another. First it was the meeting with Gloria Hart and how she had threatened me, then the accident that almost claimed my life and that of Duke's. Thankfully the driver in the truck didn't sustain that much injury. He was discharged the same day I left the hospital.And next, it was the news of my father's passing. I am still yet to recover from all of that and now Duke is missing? Can my life get any worse? Can it get any more pathetic?"I am soo sorry Nora...they tricked me with the call" Jade said to me but I was too anxious and scared to think straight. Aiden ha
AIDEN'S POV This was my first time in Del Mar, but sadly, instead of the reason for visit to either be for business or vacation, it was for a funeral. Nora's father's funeral - Mr Carl Simmons. The first person Nora introduced me to when we arrived was Magdalene. I had heard stories about her even as far back to when Nora and I dated 6 years ago. The middle aged woman had been excited to meet me although her excitement couldn't really show because of the grieve that was on going.It turns out that a lot of people had been patiently waiting for the day Nora would finally introduce Duke's father to them, this only made it better that I was the one who came with her and not Jason. Else they probably would have been rumours of he being the father to Duke. The apartment was filled with soo many relatives as Nora greeted and introduced me to them. Heaven knows that I couldn't keep up with the names anymore after the fifth person. And then, I met the step mother and half sister. Mabel an
AIDEN'S POV It's been 5 days since Nora told me about the passing of her father. It was also due to that incident that I got to discover all that she went through with her family after she got pregnant. How her father had cut all contacts with her and how she didn't have a choice but to keep my identity a secret. If I were in her shoes, I most likely would have done the same thing.And then, how it turned out that the woman she had thought was her mother was actually her step mother and how she had gone all the way to Missouri in search of her birth mother. It pained me for not being there for her throughout those period of hardship. Which is why I had volunteered to go with her for the funeral of her father. It was going to be held in Del Mar in the next two days. Although, Jason had wanted to go with her, but I persuaded him to give me the opportunity to be there for her. He already knows how I feel about her and now, I was looking for the perfect opportunity to have the conversa
AIDEN'S POV I walked into the family mansion and then approached the maid who I had sighted as soon as I entered the house. "Mr Hart.... you're here, it's good to see you" she greeted me like she didn't just see me last week Sunday for the weekly dinner we had with grandma." Where's my grandmother?" I asked her, going straight to the point. I wasn't in the mood for fraternizing." She's upstairs in her room" The maid replied.Without wasting any more second, I headed straight for grandma Gloria's room and then placed a knock at the door." Come in" she stated from inside. She was sitted in front of her dressing mirror, doing only God knows what but I knew that I wasn't interested in it. " Aiden? I was just about to call you" she started and then asked. " What is this I'm hearing about you skipping dinner with Olivia and her family? This is your in-laws from goodsake! Do you know how disrespectful that is?" She asked all at once I wasn't even surprised that she knows about this. S