تسجيل الدخولSARA'S POV The day broke normally, the complete opposite of what my life now represented.It was as though nothing had happened before and essentially, that was how life was made to be.No matter how broken I felt inside, life would still go on. The sun would still rise as always, the harmonious symphony of birds would still fill the air and people would still breathe.I knew this feeling of heaviness and sadness would pass, eventually, but at the moment, I carried it with me.I woke up quite early today. That wasn't even the appropriate thing to say, it would make much sense if I'd slept the night before.Falling asleep had proven torturous and I had given up on sleep around dawn. Instead of wallowing in bed, I headed downstairs to prepare breakfast after freshening up, simply wanting to do something to distract myself from the thoughts that had plagued my mind all night.Now, I was done making breakfast but all I could do was stare blankly at the dining table and the dishes laid ou
THIRD PERSON’S POV Derek held her gaze but still gave no answer.A lump welled up in Sara's throat and she swallowed hard but it still didn't ease the tightness.“Why are you keeping tabs on a woman you don’t even love?”Wouldn't it make more sense for him to keep tabs on Alyssa? For a couple of minutes, she waited for an answer but none came.A while after, she let out a shaky breath then pushed herself up from the couch and stood on her seat.She didn't move towards him, didn't walk away, and just remained standing where she was, staring piercingly at him.“What was the plan?” she demanded. “What were you going to do with all of this?”She gestured toward the folder.“Collect data? Monitor me forever?”Her voice rose.“Or was there an end goal?”Derek’s silence only made it worse.Sara laughed again. This time, her laugh was filled with bitterness. "Was this whole marriage a part of it?"She had always wondered why Derek had given into his grandparents pressure and married her eve
THIRD PERSON’S POVThe question hung between them, unanswered.Derek didn't look like he was going to answer either while Sara watched him with an unwavering gaze, even as her fingers trembled slightly."I need a response, Derek. Answer me," Her voice rose a notch higher.Derek looked away for a while then returned his gaze to her and inhaled slowly, looking like he was debating the response to give to her.Finally, he muttered, "Years."Sara sprang to her feet, stunned. "Years?"What was that supposed to mean? A year, or two? Her brain refused to process how long he meant."How long is that supposed to mean?" She spoke slowly, as though she couldn't quite get her words out.Derek kept his gaze on her, and then his lips parted again, "Before we got married."Sara sank back into her seat, stunned speechlessly.Before they got married. That meant that she had been under observation for a total of five years. How in the world had he managed to do that and how couldn't she have noticed a
THIRD PERSON'S POVThe road blurred in flashes of white and gold streaks of light but Derek didn't slow down.It wasn't just his car that raced, his heart did too.His knuckles that gripped the steering were pale, as though they had been stripped of color because of how tightly he was holding onto the wheel.All he could think of was getting home, to his house, his study, to his desk and the file he had carelessly left lying on it.For him, mistakes like this were rare. He had never ever made this kind of mistake but tonight, and the days before, he had been too focused on the Ford's family gala that he had eventually forgotten something so significant.He replayed what happened earlier today in his head, trying to think back to how he could have forgotten something so important.The memory returned to him, of how he had been in his study after getting dressed for the gala. That was in the afternoon, before he left for Alyssa's home to pick her up.He had brought the file out then and
SARA'S POV My brows furrowed the instant I opened the folder."What's this?" I muttered to no one in particular when my eyes landed on the first page.It was filled with numbers, columns and dates that I couldn't understand.Convincing myself that it was probably one of those corporate reports, I moved to set it down.My hands stilled mid-air again. For some reason, I found that I couldn't just drop the folder like that and this time, it had nothing to do with just curiosity.It was because I realised or rather recollected that I had also worked in the corporate space. For five years, I had managed affairs in Derek's company without any major or irreparable hitches and not once had I ever come across a file quite like this.I knew then that it had nothing to do with business and was probably more personal.That thought pushed me to want to know more and instead of setting it down like I had planned on doing, I flipped the next page open.The first line etched boldly on the page caugh
SARA’S POV“Yes, Mommy!”I immediately dropped to my knees, bending low so our eyes were on the same level. I pulled her in for a hug then pulled away and smiled at her, "Baby, that's incredible."She beamed with pride, showing me a gummy smile. "Mommy, I read really well and I studied really hard. I answered all the questions too."“I can see that.”I brushed a strand of hair behind her ear then smiled again, “I’m very proud of you.”Her smile softened slightly at my words.“Really?”“Of course, I'm very proud of you."She hugged me again then began to recount how she had aced all of her subjects, how someone had failed a subject and how she felt really bad that Clara had gotten a B in one subject."Mommy, Clara was sad but I gave her my chocolate and she cheered up again. Uncle Alaric won't be mad right?"I imagined the scene Danielle had painted then smiled. She really was maturing."Uncle Alaric will be very proud of her too."Danielle exhaled with relief when she heard that, as th
THIRD PERSON'S POVDanielle was woken up in the middle of the night by an urge to urinate.She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes groggily, feeling the burn in her bladder. "Mommy," She turned to her side, wanting to wake Sara but her hands froze mid air when she saw that mommy was fast asleep.No,
THIRD PERSON'S POVAfter Sara took Danielle downstairs, Derek and Bethany headed to his study.His mother had taken the lead first and forced him to come along, saying she wanted to speak to him out of earshot.Derek could already imagine what it was she wanted to say to him but that wasn't what cr
SARA'S POVA mirthless smile crossed my lips, "What I mean is that Derek and I are getting divorced."Bethany's face turned a shade paler and her mouth parted as though she was ridden with disbelief.For a second, even Derek who was always so stoic lost his composure and was taken aback before he c
THIRD PERSON'S POVSara froze when she met Derek's eyes.Her hands that had been idly resting on the counter tightened for unknown reasons. The air that previously was riddled with emotions while she conversed with Danielle turned sharp and so did her gaze.Derek didn't move and she didn't speak ei







