LOGINSerena Dr. Nwosu cleared his throat and came forward professionally. "Mrs. Ashford. Good to see you more alert.""Thank you," I said.He began his checks. Blood pressure. Temperature. He asked me questions about the pain and I answered while Ethan set my foot down and turned to face the doctor with the particular expression that meant questions were coming."Why is she still in pain," Ethan said. Not aggressively. Just directly. The tone of a man who expected complete and accurate answers.Dr. Nwosu didn't flinch. To his credit he had found his footing with Ethan somewhere in the last several hours."The stomach discomfort is expected," he said. "The body absorbed a significant amount of the toxin before treatment began. The pain will reduce progressively over the next twenty four to forty eight hours. It is not a cause for concern at this stage. It is the body finishing its recovery.""And the pregnancy," Ethan said."Both babies are stable," Dr. Nwosu said. "Heartbeats strong. We w
SerenaI woke up to pain.Not the sharp tearing kind from before. This was duller. Deeper. A steady ache sitting low in my stomach that made me lie still for a moment before I tried anything else.I opened my eyes slowly.The room was quiet. Warm light coming through the curtains. Equipment humming softly beside the bed. The steady beep of the monitor that had become the background sound of my world in the last several hours.There was no Ethan in the room.I looked at the chair beside the bed. Empty. His jacket wasn't on it.He must have stepped out. Gone to get something. Or handle something. With Ethan it was always one or the other.I tried to push myself upright.The pain in my stomach pulled tight immediately and I stopped halfway, pressing my hand against it and breathing through it slowly.I rubbed small circles against the swell of my stomach with my palm.Easy, I thought. We're okay. We're still here.The thought of what had almost happened moved through me like cold water.
DaveI watched Marcus walk back through the gate.Then I looked down at the blood on my hand from my lip.I wiped it slowly on the side of my trousers and stared at the gate long after he had disappeared from view.This fool.This fucking idiots had the audacity to walk to my house. Through my gate. To my front door. And put his hands on me.Because of that whore.I went back inside and closed the door.The anger sitting in my chest was the particular kind that doesn't burn hot and fast. It burns slow. Steady. The kind that makes you very quiet and very precise about what you do next.Marcus Wellington had just made a very stupid decision.He should be thanking me. He should be on his knees somewhere thanking God and whatever else he believed in that I didn't press charges against that woman for what she did to me. Taking advantage of a man in a drinking stage. But no.Instead he wanted to show up at my door with his fists.I pressed a cloth to my lip and sat down.Four years.I had
MarcusDave Harrison lived on the quieter side of the city.The kind of street that wasn't rich exactly but was comfortable. Wide enough. Clean enough. The houses set back from the road with small front gardens and cars parked in the driveways.I found the address without difficulty.The gate was open when I got there. No security. No intercom. Just an iron gate pushed back against the fence like it hadn't been properly closed in a while.I walked straight through.The house was modest from the outside. Two floors. A short path leading to the front door. Curtains drawn on the upper windows.I knocked.Waited.Nothing for a moment.Then footsteps from inside. Unhurried. The footsteps of someone in their own home with no reason to expect anything unexpected.The door opened.Dave Harrison was tall. Broader than me across the shoulders. The kind of build that came from actually using your body rather than a gym. Dark skinned, clean shaven, with sharp eyes that took in information fast. H
Marcus Three years of holding that boy. Three years of feeding him and sitting beside his bed when he cried in the night and watching him learn to walk by gripping my fingers. Three years of hearing him say daddy and feeling like that word meant something real and permanent.All of it.One night that she never told me about."How could you do this to me?" I said. My voice came out strange. Hollow and thin. "After everything I gave you. After everything I did. You looked at me every single day for three years and you let me love that boy and you never once..."I stopped.My throat was too tight to finish it."I'm sorry," she whispered. "Marcus I'm so sorry. I was scared. I didn't know how to tell you. I thought maybe it wouldn't matter. I thought...""Sorry." I laughed. It came out wrong. Nothing like a real laugh. "You think sorry covers this? You think sorry gives me back three years? You think sorry fixes what it felt like to sit in that hospital and find out from a doctor? From a
Marcus She ordered food to the room before we left.Eggs, toast, and tea.I sat across from her at the small table and looked at the plate and tried to eat. My stomach rejected the idea almost immediately. I managed half a piece of toast and three sips of tea and gave up.My mind wouldn't stay in the room.Twenty four hours.His voice saying my mother's name.My sister's face."You're not eating," Nadia said."I know," I said.She didn't push it.We left the hotel twenty minutes later.I stepped out of the entrance behind Nadia and stopped immediately. Scanned left. Scanned right. The street was ordinary and morning-busy. People walking. A bus pulling away from a stop. A fruit seller setting up his cart on the corner.Nothing obviously wrong.I kept scanning anyway as we walked to her car. My eyes moved constantly. Every face that came too close. Every vehicle that moved too slowly. Every shadow in a doorway.Nadia drove without asking for directions at first. Just pulled into traffi
Ethan Ashford My jaw tightened.How could a man leave his wife… and act like this in public?I knew it's none of my business but... It's annoying.“Where is your wife?” I asked suddenly, my eyes fixed on Marcus.The smile on his face vanished.The room changed.Margaret scoffed. “That woman? She’s
Ethan AshfordI stood there, still smiling like an idiot, watching her walk away.I didn’t even realize I was smiling until my face started to hurt.God… she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.And that scares me.I’m not the kind of man who loses sleep over a woman. I’ve built my life on
MarcusI woke up with a heavy headache, the kind that sits behind my eyes and refuses to leave. I didn’t sleep well all night. I kept turning from one side to the other, my mind restless and my chest tight for no clear reason.I sit up slowly and rub my face. This house has felt strange since Sere
SerenaI sat on the leather couch with a glass of wine in my hand, my eyes fixed on the large screen in front of me.The CCTV cameras showed the entrance of the hall. One by one, the guests arrived. Expensive suits. Shining dresses. Fake smiles. Big names.This was Lawrence Global’s annual gala.B







