L"We are almost there." I said from where I was sitting next to the taxi driver in the Uber we had booked for the trip. We had been on the road for the past one hour and 30 minutes, and we were finally arriving at the affluent scenery of Montgomery County—the same county where I was told my mother was born and had grown up. I took in deep breaths as I tried to re-invoke little clips of childhood memories I had of the place. Though I never got to see my mother in real life, the little time I spent here during the first three years of my life, was enough to convince me of the kind of person my mother must have been, a gentle person. This county was a place for the gentle. Then, I guess at that time my father was not so much of a zealot, he would bring me here accompanied by Vivian who was still my nanny at the time, I still remember myself being tied to her back bouncing back and forth whenever she strolled through the gullies, and some other memories of me running with some of my pla

Elliot POVWhile I was still busy working myself up over the dinner date event, which did not go well according to plan, And all that had happened that day between myself and Olivia, with me also bothering myself with how to reach Sophie's kids.I did not know I would get so lucky just the next day.Sophie had not come to work that morning, so in the afternoon, I tried reaching out to Joseph to get an explanation for why she was absent. He told me that none of them were at home by the time he came to pick them up for school and work, and my heart sank."Had Sophie indeed made good on her threat? Had she secretly eloped with the kids to another company like she had threatened to in the past? But I thought she had accepted my apology."I heaved a deep sigh, wondering how I was going to cope if indeed my suspicions ended up being true. Thoughts of my new friends—her kids—also crossed my mind."You know what? Keep an eye on the build

ELLIOT POV It was Sunday, and I sat in my parents' sitting room, waiting to hear my father's footsteps descending from the stairs anytime soon. I looked around at the targeted portraits hanging on the luxuriously painted walls like it was my first time seeing them like I was a stranger who was just visiting the apartment for the first time. I crossed my legs to look confident, but I still feared that it was an overdone posture and that it still did little to mask the anxiety I was really feeling.In my head, I had tried pre-selecting several lies to tell him, but after the encounter with Sophie yesterday, the lies no longer felt like lies, and even when I considered telling him the truth, I realized that at this moment, even the truth was obscure; there was no truth yet; all that was available was a possibility, and the purpose of my meeting with dad was not to discuss possibility but rather truth or facts."What would I tell him now?" I reasoned aloud, realizing myself almost immed

GENERAL POV It was past noon, and the golden glow of evening lingered.Joseph dropped the kids off at their estate. After they climbed out, he partially stuck out his head from the car window as usual and yelled sprightly."Going off to get your mom now; we’ll be right back just soon.”“Okay.” They responded uniformly.Waving at him and watching him drive back out in reverse motion. Owen and Nathan went to lock up the gates.‘I’m so famished.” Isabella complained to herself from where she stood.Owen and Nathan broke into a run on their return from the gate."What happened? Where are guys dashing to?"Isabella asked with her eyebrows raised and her little hands fixed on her waist."We've got just about two hours, Bella." Owen tried explaining with a quick voice while still on his heels, darting past her as he raced into the house.The confusion remained smothered on Isabella’s face.“Two hours to what?” She asked further, but Owen was already far gone; it was Nathan, who was behind h

SOPHIE POV "Look at you, Sophie; you’re shining like the sun. Still as beautiful as ever, if not more now."Edison remarked cheerfully after disengaging from the hug we just shared, flashing his extra-white teeth pleasantly.I smiled and looked away. "Enough with the sweet talk, Eddie. You're not looking bad yourself." I complimented him.He put a hand on his chest to signal his appreciation, and then I added inquisitively, "Is it up to two years now since we last met?""Yeah," he affirmed, raising his voice exuberantly."It's actually about two years and four months now. I remember we saw you last precisely at Professor Nicholas's book presentation at that Los Angeles conference where I bumped into you with your kids.""Oh my God, you're right." I agreed, nodding."Such a long time indeed."The last statement he made appeared to trigger his curiosity, so he started to look around."What is it?” I inquired, watching him.“Your kids, I just remembered. Where are they? You didn’t come