Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

A Family's Dark Past

RyanFred stormed into the house, his intentions clear as day, and with me hot on his heels. I shut the front door behind me with the back of my foot and followed him into the foyer, where he'd placed the gift bags he'd been carrying at the foot of the stairs.Layne was nowhere to be found, but I assumed she might be somewhere in the house with the twins.He turned when he heard the sound of my footfalls, pinning me with a heated gaze, but I wasn't fazed.“How dare you show your face here after what you did to my daughter,” he seethed, his fingers balled into tight fists by his side, and I sighed.“Can we do this after dinner, preferably when we're alone and the kids won't walk in on us at any given moment?” I asked, my tone hinging on sarcasm, but that statement only seemed to rile him up even further as his face practically turned red with barely contained anger.“You don't—“Dad! You made it,” he was cut off mid-sentence by Julia, who stood by the top of the stairs looking down at

A Christmas to Remember

JuliaThe silence in the dining room was resounding as Ryan and I were seated side by side, while I was directly opposite my father.I stayed so still, almost holding my breath at the intensity of the unspoken words that seemed to hang in the air.Just when it thought the atmosphere was going to implode from the tension, Mom walked with the twins, who were now clad in a fresh set of warm clothes, their faces lighting up with smiles."Grandpa!" Lucien squealed, breaking my father's stoic gaze from us as he turned his attention to Lucien, who was barreling towards him with a wide grin as though he'd only just noticed his grandfather."Lucien, my boy, come here!" he chuckled, pushing his seat some inches back to open his arms wide. Lucien giggled in pure joy when he was tickled the moment he fell into his grandfather's open arms.When his laughter died down, Dad sat him down on the seat right next to his on his right. Meanwhile, Mom went ahead and settled on the empty seat next to Dad's

Rekindled Embers

JuliaI heard the front door slam shut after my parents left and the gentle hum of their car's engine as they pulled out of the driveway.I exhaled a slow, shaky breath, turning to face Ryan, who had sat with his elbows on his knees and his head in the palms of both arms.I approached him cautiously, my steps slow as though my feet were weighed down by lead. When I reached his side, I knelt by his side, the soft carpet beneath me cushioning my knees.Slowly I reached for his shoulder, and as my fingers rested against it, his muscle tensed underneath my touch, but he made no move to look at me, and that tore at the seams of my heart.“Ryan,” I murmured, my voice low and coated with the guilt that continued to eat at my insides.“I'm sorry, I should never have kept this from you.” I sighed, my gaze fixated on the floor and unable to look at him in shame. He slowly unfurled his fingers from his hairline, sitting back up to face.“You shouldn't have, but that is not what bothers me,” he m

Christmas Aftermath

RyanThe morning after Christmas felt warm, which was strange due to the freezing temperature outside, but I knew the fuzzy feeling of warmth that had enveloped me when I cracked my eyes open had nothing to do with the weather but had everything to do with the woman tucked into my side, her head lying on my chest and snoring softly.The last five years were a dreary and lonely one, filled with a myriad of despair and regrets. Even though I knew I would never give up the fight for my family, a part of me doubted whether I would ever feel the warmth of the woman I loved in my arms ever again, but here she was.The kiss we'd shared the night before brought back a rush of memories of when we had our first kiss. The tingles, the rush of adrenaline, everything was something I could never get enough of.We'd been talking, stealing a few kisses in between all night long until we both fell asleep right there in the living room on the couch.Leaning down, I pressed a soft kiss to her temple, wa

The Boy with the Haunting Gaze

JuliaThe ride to the hospital was tense as the kids kept asking where we were going, but all I could do was say it was a surprise until they finally fell asleep.Ryan offered absolutely no help in backing me up whatsoever, as he just gave side glances from his place in the driver's seat without saying a word.I rolled my eyes, adjusting the woolly scarf I had around my neck before focusing my attention on the passing scenery outside the window.“I also can't wait for the surprise love,” he grinned, and I could only roll my eyes in annoyance.“Oh, shut up,” I snapped, and he narrowed his eyes at me before focusing back on the road.“Don't roll your eyes at me,” he said, and I smirked, crossing my arms over my chest as I smirked.“And what are you going to do about it if I do?” I challenged, a cocky smirk curling at my lips.“Try me,” he smirked, taking a brief glance at the kids in the backseat; my eyes immediately went there too.“You wouldn't,” I responded, staring wide-eyed at him,

The Stolen Child

Julia“Why is she here?”Kathryn's voice breaks me out of my shock-induced state, and I blinked, my gaze snapping up to meet hers.She wore a scowl of disgust as she looked at me, and that only seemed to fuel the flames to the embers of the fire that I had been trying to smother inside of me just because I wanted to be civil about this.“If you don't sit your ass down so we can discuss this, then you might as well leave.” Ryan beat me to it, his eyes blazing with fury, and she rolled her eyes, walking further into the room and taking the available seat and placing her bag by her feet.“What about him?” I asked, gesturing towards the boy, who was still glued to her, and she lifted him to sit on her lap as soon as I mentioned him.“He's fine with me; let's get this over with already.” She snapped, turning to face Lewis with a raised brow.Ryan nodded subtly at Lewis, who pulled out two papers from a file that was sitting on his desk. He carefully scanned the papers before handing one o

Betrayal and Bloodshed

Julia“Two!”Kathryn screamed, her eyes crazed and wide as her grip tightened around Adrien's collar. Fear pooled through me; I knew she was going to pull that trigger if we didn't do as she asked.My gaze snapped to Ryan, who was still standing in the way to the door, his fist clenched as he glared at Kathryn.“Ryan, please let her go. I'm begging you.” I screamed, and his gaze flickered to my pleading ones. He looked back at Kathryn, who had beads of sweat running down her forehead, before taking a slow, tentative step away from the door.The moment she saw an opening, she pushed Adrien forward so hard and dove for the door while I sprang into action, catching Adrien just in time before he fell to the floor.I turned just in time to see Ryan had followed Kathryn out the door, pinning her against the wall in the hallway as they fought for the gun.“Ryan, don't. Let her go!” I cried, clutching a crying Adrien to my chest as I watched Ryan on my knees trying to take the gun away from K

Picking Up the Pieces

RyanI came to at the sound of contact beeping; groaning, I tried to open my eyes, but it was a lot harder than it should have been.“Ryan!” came a low gasp that sounded so close that I winced at the intensity of it. “Oh my God, Ryan, can you hear me?” the frantic voice continued.I forced my eyes open, blinking rapidly when bright white light burnt my pupils. I blinked my eyes open after it adjusted to the lighting in the room.The first thing I saw was Julia's face, hovering over me. She had an expression that was a mixture of both relief and joy painted across her face.“Julia,” I rasped, my voice coming out scratchy from how dry my throat felt.“Yes, I'm right here,” she replied immediately, her eyes shining with unshed tears; it made me frown.I tried to sit up, but immediately I made the small movement; a jolt of pain in the corner of my abdomen had me gritting my teeth as I fought back the curse word at the tip of my tongue.“The doctor says you need a lot of rest before you ca

The Road to Justice

RyanThe next day, I was lying in bed, staring out the window. The sun was streaming in through the windowpanes and bringing colour against the stark white walls of the hospital room.The nurse had been in shortly to check on my stitches before she left, and Julia followed shortly after to get something outside.There was a firm knock on the door, causing me to look away from the window to face the door.It was pushed open, and Damon walked in clutching a briefcase to his side. His eyes turned into giant saucers the moment he spotted me lying on the bed; he burst into a loud sob and flung the briefcase onto the tiny sofa on the other end of the room as he rushed to my side.“I came as soon as I got your message. How the hell did this happen?” I asked, his eyes wide with disbelief as he gave me a once-over, and I rolled my eyes.“I'm fine, Damon,” I sighed, but he frowned, not buying a single word.“No, you're not. I can see the slight grimace you make when you try to speak, so no, you

A Deadly Reunion

JuliaThe next few days went by excruciatingly slowly, but the one good thing was seeing Ryan's remarkable improvement as he began to move about, but not for too long.When the new year rolled around, Ryan vehemently refused to stay cooped up in the hospital without spending the new year with the children.That's how I got him discharged, but of course with certain conditions attached, one of which was for him to rest and desist from doing anything strenuous that might cause his stitches to come undone.“Damon reached out to me,” Ryan murmured from beside me in the passenger seat of the car and my gaze flickered off the road to meet his eyes momentarily.“What did he say?,” I asked, focusing back on the road ahead.I heard him sigh as he raked his fingers through his hair, “Kathryn's first hearing holds tomorrow and I can't afford to miss that love,” he sighed.I understood exactly how he felt, having tried all he could to make her pay for all she'd done and when that is coming to fru

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