ANMELDEN(Hazel)“ I came as soon as I got your message. Why do you need me to play sick?” He asked Hudson in a breath.Our eyes turned to the only doctor in our midst for answers and he returned the question with lines I couldn't have imagined even in my sleep.“ The son of a gun would have been kissing your wife if I hadn't come sooner.”With Dominic around, I felt torn. And then there was Christian.“ Would you like the details?”“ There's a child here. Watch what you say.” I scolded, my voice hanging low like I'm afraid Christian might hear me.He's probably rolling his eyes at me, but that's alright.“ Can we step out?” Roman intervened, but Hudson didn't move. “ I need the cooperation of everyone here. First, you both are going to have an open quarrel.” He said to Roman and I. “ Then, you will go home and act sick. I will be there to treat you.”“ What exactly do you want to achieve with that?” Dominic gruffed, looking up from the drip where his eyes had settled.“ I need an excuse to m
(Hazel)One week later, Christian is still breathing under the sharp disapproval from Roman. First, for his interference in the wedding. Secondly, for holding back the secret of the century.I rubbed his shoulders, trying to ease the scolding he has been receiving from his father in the past week." Do you regret what you did?" I probed, with the gentleness of a mother trying not to scold her son after the father had done so.He glanced at me and frowned. " Should I?" I exhaled. " Well, since your father is annoyed at your behavior, I figured you might."He rolled his eyes and folded his arms. " That is fine. I can live with that."His lack of remorse irks me. " You mean you are not worried about your father's opinion..."" Mom," he called, tone high with exhaustion. " That is what you adults do. When you are sad...you say the opposite of what you mean. All it should take is a thank you. But he's welcome."I blinked once. Dazed. I called his name like it was a question of its own. "
90: While waiting for the results, he and I sat on a hospital chair on the corridor. Silence and the growing suspense kept any conversation from happening. Hudson walked out with the results and marched up to us. He pulls a smile. A wide smile. Nervous. Breath shaky. Eyes unsteady. I have never seen him bring so many times in a few seconds. He looks in my direction but his eyes barely met mine before he threw them off like he's struggling to mask something beneath his shuddering breath.“ This is not good.” I thought, getting up from the seat with the hesitation of someone with a load on the shoulders. “ Sit already. It's not as if he's about to announce your death.”I snapped my neck. “ Well thank you for an unsettling dark humor.” I snapped, feeling a coarse blend of nervousness and a quiet dread working its way to clog my throat. I can hear the thrum of my heartbeat. Every drum. Every note of anxiety, striking the chords to a looming flatline. “ You know I liked you better when
(Roman)It should be a joyful occasion for me. He's finally awake. As much as I want to scold him a better part of me wants to embrace him. But he wakes up, stares at me and blinked like he didn't recognize me. For the next one hour, I tried to make him talk. But every passing second produced no results. Not even a cough.“ Come on, man. You are scaring dad right now.” I clasped my hands together, seated on a ladder back chair right in front of him, waiting for Hazel's arrival.Hudson comes knocking, and the next second, Christian is up on his feet. “ Have you seen my mommy?”Eyes widened in disbelief, I stared puzzledly at him, weighing the attitude he had just given me. “ I'm right here!” I heard Hazel say, zooming in like a pack of wolves have been on her tail. “ I'm right here!” She sobbed, falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around him like he could disappear if she released him from her grip. “ How come?” Piper's deep voice snapped me out of a daze. I looked up to the
(Hazel)I got off the phone, and turned to meet Piper and Barn unboxing. But those aren't mine. “ Where are those from? They're not mine.” I inched closer to them. Both men shared a glanced and looked down at my belly, the maternity gown leaving a breathy space for me. “ Well you're not the only one who just moved in.” Piper said and lowered his eyes. I looked down at my stomach and folded my arms while they continued. Hours later, Piper was in the adjoining room, hammer pounding against nails, and wood scraping noisily against the floor. On the other hand, with gloves on, Barn and some men checked the walls for some devices Piper had instructed them to look for. He called it bugs. Once they were done, Barn supervised the next group to put up wall papers around my bedroom and repainted the sitting room. Coming out from the adjoining room, Piper lowers his head, wiping his hands with a small towel. “ I spoke with Roman. Once Christian wakes, he and his nanny will join you here. The
(Roman's POV)“ You're dying…you're not god.” Hudson's voice replayed in my head like a voice from a record put on replay. Every word he said dissolved and sank into my skin. I'm leaning against the head of the bed when he walked in. He puts his hands in his pockets, hiding away a cut below the rolled sleeves. “ What happened to your hand?” I asked, voice low and monotonous. My gaze lingers on the door, like a part of me is waiting for her to walk in. He pulled the hand out. “ Oh this! Saw it this way. No idea when it happened. It's still fresh so it must be from earlier.”“ And you don't think it should be treated?”“ Treated? What am I? A princess?”I briefly glanced at him, and threw my gaze away. “ About earlier…I know I crossed a boundary —”“ You have taken a great burden off my shoulders, Doctor Hudson. Whatever the outcome, I'm relieved. You don't have anything to be sorry about.”He narrowed his eyes. “ Who says I'm sorry?”I shut my eyes, exhausted. Misinterpreting him
“ Stephanie Ross?!”The name reverberated in my ears. “ What is she doing here?” I spoke calmly, recognizing the glow of fear in her eyes. “ She wants to speak with you,” the maid replied, shakily. With the way her legs knocked around the knees, I suspected she wanted to bolt.“ Tell Miss Ross tha
(Hazel)I sat across the hospital bed, where Roman laid. The extra bed in the room feels out of place. It wasn't here the last time I came, and the same applies to Diana.She clicks her tongue, staring down at me. Her eyes are colored with disdain, but beneath it was something I hadn't noticed befo
" I can't talk. Your phone is bugged."Echoes that refused to fade from my mind. Words that made my knees knock against each other. I didn't expect Dominic would stoop so low.My phone?Has he been monitoring my calls?Every call I have ever made since my arrival at his home replayed in my ears lik
I carried his response like a stillborn in my bosom, mourning on my way home. Dominic is so sure that I'm not a Sullivan. How's he going to react when he learns that I'm the true born child of the man who killed his father and kidnapped his brother? I and my sister, Diana.The man whom he has loath







