Chapter 0004

•GISELLE•

“Laura!” he called behind me on my way to the parking lot, and I stopped outside the company’s entrance and rolled my eyes.

“What do you want, Noah?” I sighed, folding my arms across my chest.

He leaned close, and Alex tried to push him away, but I told him to let him be.

“Are the kids yours?”

“Yes, they are mine. They are the same kids you told me to abort because you didn’t want to be with me anymore. Dr. Ashton and I agreed I won’t go ahead with the abortion.”

“You should’ve told me if you didn’t go ahead with the abortion. I deserved to know if the kids are mine instead of keeping me in the dark and sending me a video later to spite me.”

“I didn’t send you the video to spite you.”

“You sent the video to spite me because you knew you’d be coming here today. On top of that, you changed your name and made me feel like an idiot when I called you by your name. Isn’t that spiteful?”

“Ugh, whatever, Noah. Think whatever you want to think. Anyway, I have to go.” I attempted to walk past him, but he blocked my path.

God knew what I could’ve done and given for my babies to be okay. I couldn’t even stand Noah. I felt repulsed when I thought he might be the only one who could save them.

It made me sick to my stomach that I had to stand there and face him because I didn’t want to tell him straight up my children had a life-threatening disease and needed his help to survive.

If I could give my life for them to live with no need of his help, I would do it in the blink of an eye.

“Where were you, and why did you hide the kids if they are mine?”

“Listen, Noah, I won’t stand here and ask you to be a part of their lives. You made it clear when you booked an abortion appointment that you didn’t want them.”

“Who said I don’t want to be a part of my children’s lives?”

“Do you want to be in their lives?”

“If you can prove they are mine. We both know we could’ve known if you were pregnant with twins, so this might be your plan to get back at me for what I did to you. You’re trying to sabotage me and my business by sending me a fake video.”

I couldn’t believe his nerve.

“Do you think I would’ve come here and invested in your company if I wanted something from you? I don’t care about you, Noah, or what you think,” I sneered, leaning closer to him. “If you want, we can end this deal right now, and I’ll take my money elsewhere.”

I closed the gap between us until his face was only a few inches from mine. I could smell the cologne he had been using before I left.

“If that’s the case, you and I should put this behind us. You’re my business partner and the most important investor of Blackwood Express, and I don’t want to ruin that.” He extended his hand for a handshake, and I scoffed and shook my head.

Noah hadn’t changed a bit, just like before. He still sacrificed everything for money. The only thing that mattered to him was making a profit and nothing else.

It made me wonder why I ever thought he could love me when his only obsession was money.

I looked at him and sighed. “Fine. Our relationship will be professional, and I hope you won’t be the one to cross the boundary.” I shook his hand before I slipped my hand from his and went into my car.

“What do you want me to do, Miss Sullivan? If Noah Blackwood refuses to acknowledge the children as his, we should do something.”

“Let’s leave him, Chloe. I’ll do everything I can to ensure my kids don’t need his help. I’ll pay a million dollars to anyone who has the same HLA profile as my twins.”

Chloe nodded as she scribbled on her notepad before the car drove to the villa.

I was looking forward to seeing my kids and giving them extra kisses and hugs after being away from them the entire day.

I wanted to tell them they didn’t need their father. That I would always be there to provide and protect them with everything I had.

When I got home, Connor’s car was in the driveway with Dr. Randall’s car. I was a bit surprised because Dr. Randall’s clinic was in New York, and I didn’t know when he had arrived in California or at my villa.

I furrowed my brows as I walked into the villa and looked for them. When I found them in the living room with the twins lying on the couch, my heart almost stopped.

The twins were on the couch, not moving at all, and they had oxygen tubes in.

My entire world crumbled around and beneath me. My knees grew weak, and I felt my chest tightening, and my vision grew blurry as tears filled the corners of my eyes.

“What’s wrong with my babies? What happened to them?” I rushed to their sides and grabbed their hands.

They were fine in the morning when I left, and to return home and find them unresponsive broke my heart more than anything could.

“The condition of the twins is worsening. If we don’t act now, they might not survive another week or two. The blood flow to their hearts is being limited, and they’re too young to survive strokes or heart failures.”

“No, please. There must be something you can do. I can’t lose my babies. Whatever money you want, I’ll pay it, Dr. Randall, but please save my children,” I cried, feeling as if someone was ripping my heart open from inside my chest.

Connor leaned toward me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Elle. The twins are stable, but we need Noah as soon as possible. He’s the only one who can save them now, or the twins will die.”