10. Daddy!!

ROSEI stepped into the conference hall with deliberate slowness, my heels echoing sharply against the marble floor. The room fell into an immediate, suffocating silence, except for the shrill voice of the one woman I had come here to confront and put a stop to her stupidity. The same one who had dared to call my child a bastard.“The meeting was scheduled twenty minutes ago,” Mrs Singh announced, smug and condescending.I offered her a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “I’m aware. I was running late… intentionally.”Gasps flickered across the room, and I could see as confusion clouded their carefully schooled expressions. But I didn’t care for their judgment. I wasn’t here to be liked. I was here to remind them who the hell I was.Before anyone could question me, I spoke again, my voice as sharp as broken glass. “I just stumbled upon an interesting rumor today. Or should I say, a steaming pile of bullshit?”I saw it immediately. The way spines stiffened, chairs creaked, and throats we

Last Updated : 2025-05-04

11. Tit for tat

ROSE “Rose, Michael is here!” Pops called from downstairs.Leaning out of the attic, I shouted back, “Tell him to wait!”“You’ve been holed up there for two hours. You need to eat something,” he grumbled. I could almost hear his displeasure in his voice, followed by the familiar lecture about how I should be taking better care of myself— for the baby’s sake.I knew it by heart by now. Every item on Pops’ to-do list for a healthy pregnancy had been carved into my brain like commandments.After taking back control of my life, well, at least pretending like I had, I’d finally been able to make a decision without falling apart over him. Okay, that was a lie. But at least I wasn’t sobbing anymore. Not all the time.I had called Pops.The moment he picked up, his voice had exploded through the receiver, laced with fury, fear, and pain. He berated me for not calling, for keeping everything from him. And then, in the same breath, he had asked me if I was safe. That was Pops, anger and love,

Last Updated : 2025-05-07

12. Do you have a wife?

RYAN“Daddy, do you think it’s bad if I hit someone?” Ana asked from the passenger seat, her eyes fixed on the Rubik’s cube in her lap.As her question registered in my mind, I went rigid. Completely, utterly rigid.God, I loved this little girl with every part of me. I’d lay down my life without question if it ever came to that. She was brilliant, beautiful, and only eight. But sometimes… sometimes she made my heart race in all the wrong ways. Like now.I swear the guy upstairs was having a grand laugh at my expense. Every damn woman He ever sent into my life had made it a little more hellish. And now, He’d sent me Ana, with all the fire and unpredictability of those women rolled into one tiny, terrifying package.I was afraid to ask, but apparently, I enjoyed living on the edge. “Who did you hit, Precious?”“Oh, no one,” she replied, nonchalantly clicking the final color into place before placing the solved cube back into the console. But I heard the silent yet.I tried again. “Who

Last Updated : 2025-05-11

13. Full of Yearning

RYAN “Ryan!!” My daughter turned first, but even before I looked, I already knew who it was. Shaking my head at my terrible luck, I turned around, only to be immediately enveloped in a hug that reeked of Chanel. “Allison,” I greeted tightly. “Oh, how are you doing? I hope you’re feeling better than the last time.” She leaned in and whispered dramatically, “And rest assured, I haven’t told anyone about your wife.” I clenched my jaw as I felt small fingers tighten around mine. But before I could say anything, my not-so-innocent daughter chimed in. “Hi, I’m Anayaah.” Then she proceeded to deliberately look at Alison from head to toe which prompted the woman to stand straight under my little daughter’s scrutiny and her hands went to her hair, nervously. I wonder where my eight year old daughter learned to have this effect on people. Sometimes, she makes me afraid. “Hello, Anayaah.” Alison said sweetly, extending her hand for my daughter to shake. Ana just looked at her ha

Last Updated : 2025-05-16

14. Welcome to New York

ROSE“Rose!!”I turned left, my stomach still churning from the hellish flight. Eight weeks pregnant and I hadn’t gotten any morning sickness up until now.But apparently as soon as we were high up in the air to New York, the tiny Ryan xerox inside me decided to throw a midair tantrum just as the turbulence hit. My first time flying and I was already cursing the man responsible for both the baby and the nausea.I hate Ryan Johnson.“Rose! Rose!” Arjun’s voice cut through the crowd, his hand flailing like a madman’s. The grin on his face was wide enough to split his head in two.“He looks a little unhinged,” Michael murmured beside me.I elbowed him sharply. “He’s just happy to see me.”“Of course, that’s why you gave him a heads-up, huh?” he replied dryly.I ignored him as we reached Arjun, who immediately crushed me in a bear hug. His cologne was spicy, too strong, and paired with my queasy stomach, it nearly pushed me over the edge. I held my breath so I wouldn’t have to search fo

Last Updated : 2025-05-20

15. Reclaim the power

ROSE“Are you sure?” Michael asked again, his voice laced with concern.I grabbed the silk robe draped over the chair and walked toward the bathroom. “Yup.” The word left my mouth with more confidence than I felt. Truth was, I wasn’t sure. Not even a little. I was a mess—tightly coiled on the inside, like every breath I took might be the one that made me shatter.I shut the door behind me and looked in the mirror. And faced the reality. I let my eyes wander over my body with critical eyes. Cataloguing my shortcomings. Every flaw, every curve, every imperfection catalogued under harsh, unforgiving lights.And my mind went back to the scene I created not too long ago.----“You..” The director had laughed mockingky. Then turning to his crew he'd said, “This almost size eight is here to shoot the 'End of Summer'.” Some of them laughed with him and some of them looked at me with sympathy in their eyes. Only the assistant director and his shadow had stayed silent. They knew who I was. Th

Last Updated : 2025-05-24