As soon as Chris stepped out, Chase shaking his head, he said “Uh-uh…I need a DNA test,” suddenly handing the baby over to Valerie as if it had burnt his palms. Barely a minute before he had taken the baby from Chris and asked him to step out. Even though Valerie was still weak and in immense pain for her Caesarean, she somehow found a bit of strength to sit up on the hospital bed, her eyes wide open in disbelief of what she had just heard. “A DNA test? I’m sure it’s another one of your childish tricks to just get attention because we both know this baby is yours,” Valerie told him calmly, holding her baby. “No! I don’t know that. This baby could be Chris’. That’s what I have to be sure of , if this baby is mine or Chris’ or somebody else,” Chase claimed.“Have you completely lost your mind? Chris has been nothing but …”“You know what the tragedy is, Valerie? You just forget too soon. That’s your problem! I rescued you from Chris’ snipers when they had almost killed you. It is
As Chris held the door handle, he suddenly heard a loud gasp. Valerie’s eyes fluttered open and Chris’ heart skipped. He had been by her side, holding her hand, and praying for her recovery. Now, as she gazed up at him, he felt an overwhelming rush of emotions. “Oh, Valerie,” Chris whispered, his voice trembling with joy. He rushed back to her. “I thought I’d lost you. I was so scared.” He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as tears of relief streamed down his face. She weakly raised her arms and caressed his cheek. “ Lost me? You saved me, Chris. I could hear every word you said. I think I might have been crossing over but…you brought me back,” she confessed. Valerie’s weak smile lit up the room. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”Chris’ grip on her tightened. “You never have to apologize to me, Valerie. I’m just grateful you’re back.” He paused, his voice cracking with emotion. “I love you, Valerie. I love you so much.” Valerie’s eyes locked ont
“She has not regained consciousness yet and the doctor said her chances of waking up are low, they said she has four hours to wake or she will never wake up again,” Gracie said, crying.“She will wake up, don’t lose hope, ” he said and hung up.“No! Valerie! You can’t do this to me, Valerie,” he said as he recalled the dream he had had the previous night. He drove off to Grange hospital. He saw Gracie sitting on a bench, eyes swollen. She was a mess.“Sir?”she said, tears rolling down.“Valerie will be fine, pull yourself together,” he said, trying to comfort her.“How can l pull myself together, Chris? It’s only hours she has to wake up or she will…” she couldn’t say it. She couldn’t say that Valerie will die.“Let me take care of the situation here, go home and freshen up,” he said.“No l can’t! I need to be here for her, ” she refused.“Gracie, calm down and look at me…you’re a mess. Please go and rest. Valerie will wake up, I promise,” he said. She finally agreed to go hom
The audio stopped playing, followed by a mocking silence. He froze. His heartbeat stopped. Everything still. Chris felt his tears coming out. “Damn me! Damn it, Chris…damn you!” he argued with himself. “I should have at least checked on her, l should have tried to…aaah damn!” he shouted angrily at himself as he threw a fist on the wall. Since Chris had left, he had never called Valerie again. She would occasionally drop in a message asking where he was and when he would be back, but he never replied. Knowing now how much danger she was in, he blamed himself for leaving without a second thought, without considering that she was pregnant and she needed all the care she could get. Without sparing another second, he grabbed his car keys and paced to his car like the world depended on it. The sports car roared, tyres screeching and it took off at the speed of light. For about three hours Chris drove the car as fast as he could. Finally, the high rise buildings started to show and he slow
Days became weeks and gradually months without Chris’ return. He still kept his location a secret. Frankly, Valerie’s life had become a misery, a living nightmare. Despite being financially well off, she was emotionally and physically strained. Her life became a basic routine of prenatal appointments and work. It wasn’t long until she realized that living without Chris was so much worse than she thought. She eventually found a friend in Gracie, one of her workmates, she found her very entertaining.One Tuesday afternoon as she sat in the office lost in thought, she suddenly heard a bang on her desk, it was Gracie.“Gracie?” she shrieked, surprised.“Jesus Christ! Where the hell are you?l got in here and I called you a million times already. l was right in front of you but you were just…frozen,” Gracie complained. “Valerie, are you alright, darling?” “Oh? Yes l am fine.l just got a little off-guard,” Valerie said, rubbing her eyes.“A little off guard?” Gracie asked dubiously.
For a while, Chris felt clenched in the fists of unrequited love. He knew he had to let go of his toxic sexual encounters with Valerie before they drove him insane. One Monday morning, when he could have been preparing for work or rather focused on his laptop in his office, he was in bed instead, staring at the crystal chandelier that hung from his ceiling. His mind was far away, drifting from his dry love life to his resentful relationship with his twin brother, Chase. His love life was nothing but a joke, from Tasha fleeing from him right from the altar after it had been revealled Tasha was pinning a baby on him that wasn't his, to being rejected by Valerie, the woman he loved the most. His twin brother, Chase! Oh, how he hated Chris with a passion. Chris wondered if the chandelier wouldn't just fall on him and end his misery. Suddenly, he stepped onto the floor and pulled away the blanket. He spread his bed neatly, walked to his closet and reached for a big suitcase. His mind w
Valerie watched as Chris walked out of the office and banged the door behind him. She was unmoved, her eyes cold and devoid of emotion. All Valerie could think of was how immaturely Chris had misunderstood their sexual encounter the previous night for love. Her clarification was they were two starved adults and they had found a mutual ground. That’s all it was. Or that’s all she wanted to believe. Frankly, by then Valerie had grown much fond of Chris. She could feel her heart slowly creating space for him. Nevertheless her worry and fear made perfect sense to her. It had only been a few months since she had gotten over Chase, and she felt unprepared to give her heart to another once more. She didn’t want to be quick to give in. Valerie wasn’t ready for the attention, the complications and the possible betrayals and heartbreaks love came with. She admitted Chris was good, better than Chase, best of them all and she too could not have enough of him. Whatever the misunderstandings, she kn
Valerie’s half-open eyes took a glimpse at the clock. It read half past nine. Alarmed, she jumped out of bed. A note by the bedside caught her attention. She grabbed it and read, while her lips revealed a gorgeous smile. It read: Take a day off. You’ve been thoroughly… occupied. “How naughty!”, she mumbled to herself.Although she knew Chris would allow her a day off, she had a presentation she badly had to prepare for. She hurried out of Chris’ bedroom and rushed to her own. Rushing to the bathroom, she took a warm, quick shower. Afterwards, she moisturized her body and reached for the first clothes her eyes fell on in the closet; a grey formal, pencil dress and black loafers. She paced down the staircase, hurried to the garage and hoped into a Mercedes-Benz CLA. She sped off , headed to Global Nexus Company.As she drove off, her mind drifted to the previous night. At first she had been embarrassed by the office encounter, but her body still shook with intense desire, she wanted mor
Chase sat on the polished, exquisitely made bar stools in his mansion, barely able to hold himself. He looked at the bar, his sight blurry, searching for another strongest drink there was. Unanswerable questions swirled in his mind, “Why does Chris always have a way to take everything that is mine? Why is my twin brother so wicked? Why is he snatching my woman away from me?Fairly though, Chris wasn’t taking Valerie from him. Chase had messed up big time, treated Valerie like trash and was quick to discard her. Now he understood more the depth of her pain, seeing the one he desired in that ungodly position hurt him to the core. “So is this how Valerie felt when she found me in the act with Dora? Did the pain have to hurt so bad?”, he wondered. He’d been unapologetic, he’d snapped at her, reminded her that his house was his and he could bring anyone he wanted to. Still, Valerie had been willing to make things right.However, he went on to break up with Valerie and chose Dora, but all t