LOGINCRISTIAN The knock on the door snapped me out of my funk. I sat up from my chair, awaiting whomever it was. The door opened, and the maid walked in. “Good day to you, Sir.” She bowed.“Right. How's she doing?” I sounded gruff. Maybe because I didn't sleep a wink last night. And then morning came, and I stayed awake the whole day. So currently, I am both mentally and emotionally exhausted. I spent the whole day in this room, wallowing in my misleading thoughts. Hating Lacy. Cussing her out. Cussing out Leo Barkers. Caught between wanting to go after him and ignoring his existence for my daughter's sake. And then, when I saw the sun going down and it was getting darker, my anger morphed into a need. There was an intense craving for her. The intense desire to be with her. To go to her. We're in the same house, but I miss her so much. It's been almost 24 hours since I last saw her; since our last conversation. I wanted nothing but to have her in my arms. But my pride wouldn't let m
CRISTIAN “I’d argue you didn't hear me, but it's obvious you did. So staying mute isn't really a great idea right now, Lacy.” I cut in sharply. My hands were stuffed inside my pockets because I didn't want to be tempted to grab her angrily. I might end up hurting her, and I wouldn't forgive myself for that. She finally blinked after seconds of staring ghostly at me. She was quivering; straight up panicking. But my hard gaze stayed on her. I'd be damned to let her off the hook easily. I needed an answer, and I needed one now. “Lacy!” I snapped, and she flinched. “Could you please answer my question?” I was getting very agitated and frustrated. “I…I…he…he's a friend…”“A friend?” That fucking hurts. How the hell is Leo Barkers her friend?“Yes. He's been a family friend.” She replied, still shaking. Now I wasn't sure if she was shaking from her lies. Or if she was being honest, but she was shaking because she was caught off guard by my question. “Really? And what's his problem wit
LACY I've been awake for hours, staring at the chandelier. And then I'd toss to each side of the bed. Then I'd wonder where he was and why he wasn't coming to check on me. Or interrogate me. But then I realized maybe he was still cussing himself out for helping me. Maybe he didn't wanna see me. Maybe he'll send me away today, when it's eventually morning. Those thoughts stayed in my mind, keeping me anxious and fully awake.If he does send me away, where am I gonna go? I don't have any friends here. And I can't go back home. Mad Dog already forbade me from coming home until all this was over. As much as I feel very guilty about dragging Cristian into my mess, I still won't survive it if he throws me out. So yeah, these thoughts wouldn't leave my mind. They kept me awake until the sun came up and was infiltrating the curtains. There was finally a knock on the door, and it made me quickly sit up. My anxiety grew. I've never been so terrified of speaking to him. The door opened, an
Aaliyah I made my way out of the kitchen and was about to take the stairs when I heard footsteps.I rushed down to check who it was; hopefully it was my Daddy. “Hey, baby,” the two men approaching me smiled. It was my Daddy's friends, Michael and Chuck. Uncle Joe wasn't with them. Still, seeing them made me feel a hundred times better. I didn't even bother to wonder why they were here in the middle of the night. They actually come here anytime. So I don't feel weird about it anymore. “Hey! Thank God you guys came.” I rushed to them. I jumped into Chuck's outspread arms. He twirled me around a bit and then dropped me. Michael kissed my cheek. “How you doing, angel?” He asked. “I'm worried. Have you two seen my Daddy?”“What? He's not here?” Chuck asked. “We thought he was here. That's why we came. We have something very urgent to discuss with him.”“Does it have to do with what happened to Mr. Gerald?”“What happened to the biggest shark?” Michael asked. I think that's their nic
AALIYAH I let out an exhausted sigh for the thousandth time and shut the book in my hands. It was a fantasy novel and my little escape from boredom.Except my eyes have stayed on a single line in the last thirty minutes. It was becoming frustrating. So I might as well just drop it. For the first time, my fantasy novels weren't helping. Maybe because it wasn't boredom I was feeling. It was something more intense. Something more aching. Deeper.I grabbed my phone, sighing exasperatedly. There wasn't anything fun to do with it. So I ended up clicking on Lacy's number and going through all the unreplied messages I've sent to her since the holidays. Scrolling through them, I felt a fresh wave of sadness. She hasn't replied to any. I left her a ton of messages on Instagram too. Still no replies.Every day I see these unread messages, I always worry about her. I wonder if she's okay. I get the desire to go look for her if I can. I'm tempted to ask my Daddy to maybe search for her or so
CRISTIANI watched Joe drive in and shut off his engine. I watched him get out of his car, took a glance around, and finally headed to the front door. He barely knocked before I opened it. He came inside, and we did a bro-hug. “What the hell happened?” He asked, immediately I shut the door. “How could you disappear like that?”“Let’s talk in my study,” I said calmly, leading the way. “What are you doing alone in this house? Why didn't you go home?”Home, he meant, was my house with Aaliyah and my late wife. My home. Here was the house I usually brought Lacy to. My other home. I didn't answer him. I just kept walking until I got to my study. He walked inside and whistled. “Nah, this place is tight. I've never been here, right?”“No.” I poured him a drink. He needed it to stay chill for what I was about to say. He accepted the glass and gulped down the drink. I sat at the table, legs crossed and hands in my pockets. Looking as composed as hell while my heart and mind were in shamb
LACY“Madam Beatrice, I can't do this,” I confessed, still holding the picture of the man who hadn't left my mind since that Christmas night. “What?” Madam Beatrice gasped in disbelief and anger. She was the woman who came to see me at the café. I called her because clearly, I needed the money fro
CRISTIAN “There's your bitch.” Chuck whistled in a direction. We all looked and yeah, Aaliyah just came down the stairs with Lacy. They whispered something to each other and giggled. Lacy headed to the main kitchen while Aaliyah headed to the coffee counter. It's actually at the other end of the
LACY “Oh, my baby. You look so big now!” The older lady hugging Aaliyah wouldn't stop gushing. We just arrived at her Father's house and my God, I was still in shock. This place was like a villa or something. A lot of gigantic buildings and servants. The trees gave off country vibes, but the foun
CRISTIAN The knock on the door snapped me out of my funk. I glanced back as the door opened. It was my secretary. “Sorry to disturb you, Sir, but Mr. Joe just arrived.”“Send him in.”She bowed and left. Seconds later, Joe, my best friend stepped inside.“Hey man,” I greeted with all my gloomines







