ELLEN We sang the birthday song for Sophie, and I could feel Oliver’s eyes burning me. Dante might have convinced him to come here and support me, but I knew he came here for other reasons. But I will not humor him. I was his contractual wife and not his servant. My phone buzzed as everyone enjoyed themselves. Lily was pouring wine for the guys and Sophie, as pecky as ever, was chattering with Alejandro and Jerry. Whatever they were discussing was out of my ear reach. I looked at the screen and saw Tony’s message. Call me. How could he just text me whenever he wanted? What if this phone was with someone else? I had thought about that so instead of saving it with Tony, I saved it with Kennedy 2 so that everyone thinks it was my brother. I excused myself, making sure no one noticed. I will call him quickly and know what he wanted, then I will get back to the party without hassle. I started to dial his numbers when I got to the balcony. Tony should
OLIVER “Bullshit! That is bullshit! You thought me to always stick to the fucking plan. I do not want you here...” A burst of soft giggles made my words trail, and I walked out to my balcony. My eyes locked on the little girl Sophie laughing heartily while Miss Knight tickled her on the lounge by the pool. Her laughter resonated with genuine happiness, and I found myself staring and forgetting the anger caused by my father early this morning. I watched them with enthusiasm, forgetting about my father still on the line. Their laughter rose with the morning sun as they played around the pool. I wondered why they were so happy this morning and I pictured them as Sara and my unborn child. If only Sara was alive, our baby would have been as adorable as Miss Knight’s child. Her birthday night, she caught me off guard and I never imagined I would play and laugh that much. There was this burst of happiness kids transfer, but it would have been better if it was my kid.
OLIVER “There is nothing special about her except that some years of her life are missing. She was born and brought up in Houston, Texas, and that was where she grew up. Her father was a banker while her mother was a teacher. Her father died when she was younger and her mother was diagnosed with asthma, so she stopped working.” “What else?” Dante pushed the laptop towards me. “There were no records of the college she got admitted to and she transferred to NYU for the last two years of her program, but dropped out after a year because she got pregnant.” “Her baby daddy? No records of him?” Dante shook his head. “No record of him.” I rubbed my temple. Could it be a coincidence that we met, or should I be wary of her? The latter was more likely. I do not believe things happen coincidentally. Why are the records for two years of her life missing? Who is Sophie’s father? What is her mission? Now I know why Dante was getting close to her. He was seeking inf
ELLEN I followed Oliver and Dante up, holding Sophie in my hands and asking her to keep mute and walk on tiptoes. Sophie obliged and played along. I carried Oliver’s mug of coffee with me just in case he caught me eavesdropping on them. When Oliver pushed the door to close, I did not let it close well. I stuck my leg between it. I listened to everything they said about me and was careless enough to let the spoon from the coffee mug fall off. I quickly dragged Sophie away from the door and put my finger between my lips. She nodded and handed her the mug. “When he comes, tell him he forgot his coffee. I was never here, alright?” Sophie nodded like the good girl she was, and I ran off and went into the Kitchen before Oliver came out. A few seconds later, he was in the kitchen asking me about it. I snapped to cover up my nervousness, also because he kept bringing Sophie into this. I did not like it at all. We had our own fit that morning and got a little too perso
ELLEN I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I did not know how many seconds or minutes passed us there. But his deep voice jerked me out of my silent reverie. “Miss Knight, did you forget that you stay here in my room now?” He left my hand, turned his back to me, and sauntered toward the luxurious bed in his room. I heaved a deep sigh and tried to calm my racing heart. He was in his pajamas already and there was no need to freshen up again, so he lay down on the bed and drew the blanket to his chin. “Leave the lights on when you come to bed,” he said. “I cannot sleep with the lights on.” “You should adapt,” was his reply before he turned to the side, shutting me off. I inhaled and puffed out the air. Do I need to sleep here tonight? “I think I will manage the guest room tonight until your father comes.” “You are sleeping here tonight.” He muttered in a tone that indicated he was not interested in the conversation I wanted to have
OLIVER My father was a pain in the ass. The way he cast glances at Miss Knight made me wonder if he knew something about her, I did not know, or if he wanted her for himself. No doubt the woman was beautiful. I saw her struggling to remain firm in his presence. Pablo Moreno has that effect on people. He always sets people on edge with his bizarre looks and comments. But most times, his comments were true. But asking Miss Knight if she wears makeup was an unnecessary question and even asking her to put on makeup always was weirder. Since I met her, she has never been on makeup, and I did not care about that. I could understand when he said she looked familiar; I had the feeling when I saw her in my office. There was something about her that was off. But if anyone should find out about it, it should be me, not my father. Speaking about her child looking like me and a Moreno. I think he was only right in one suggestion. She had a Moreno look but not my look. I
ELLEN Oliver did not come back that night and I got worried. I saw him leaving his father's office in a fit of fury yesterday and almost bashed his car into the gate while leaving. I did not know what got him so upset but I knew it was something his father said to him about Sara. Could it be his father found out who killed Sara? Was it Tony? I was agitated and curious. I did not see Mr. Pablo Moreno throughout that day too. The house was quiet. It was usually quiet, but there was an aura hanging in the air that made it eerie. I wanted to speak to Tony because I do not know what I got myself into. I do not know how deep this thing ran. I was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Mr. Moreno the senior already suspects me. I had to make sure he did not already have something on me. I went into Sophie's toilet and sat down. That was the only place I could trust in the house. I was scared that Oliver tapped everywhere in his house. I did not want to continue th
ELLEN Oliver looked like a mess. There was a shiner around his left eye, his lower lip was cut and his hair which was ever so sleek looked disheveled. A drunken grin was plastered on his face. Dante gave me a sympathetic look. "What happened?" I asked again, inching closer to them and helping Dante to lead him to the bed. "He got a bit of bad news and he got drunk and got into a fight." I stared at Oliver who was now lying on the bed, on his back, mumbling some nonsense I could not understand. His shirt was stained with something crimson. I stared at it for a while hoping it was not blood. "I can take him to the living room instead of bothering you with his mess." "No, do not worry. I am his wife, I should clean up after him," I said, emphasizing 'wife.' Oliver began to whimper as if he was crying. I looked at him and shot Dante a curious stare. Dante hiked his shoulders. "He is hurt. But he is definitely going to regret this in the morning. Please, just try and underst