"What are you doing?" Adrian sighed as he looked at his wife. She was trying to enter her son's house illegally.
"He's my son," Pen replied and tried hard to open the door with a pin. The door was suddenly opened, hitting her head in the process. Abi began to panic when she saw she had hit her mother-in-law in the face.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am," Abi apologized profusely.
"Oh!" Pen quickly regained her senses and brushed off her apologies.
"She's not really hurt," Adrian butted in, only to receive a glare from Pen.
"Leo is around," Abi said quickly. "He didn't go to work on a Wednesday morning? That's so weird."
Pen and Adrian exchanged glances swiftly.
"Weird?" Abi asked. There were few times her husband would stay back home to work, so how was that weird?
"Can we…," Adrian began, but Pen pushed him away and stormed into the house like she was the owner or a visitor they'd been expecting.
"Hehehe. She's so happy to see her son," Adrian laughed in embarrassment and followed after his wife.
Abi shrugged and went out of the house to do what she was going out to do. Adrian turned back to look at her, but she wasn't there anymore. He stomped his feet on the floor and walked into the house.
"Leonardo!!" Adrian could hear his wife's yell while she was still in the passage.
Adrian looked around while his wife walked into the house like she was the owner. That was the second time he'd be at his son's house in his life. The first time was when he had first moved out of his parents' house in anger.
Adrian had thought he would come back home after begging and apologizing, but he never did. He started living on his own after that.
"What are you both doing here?" Leo's voice boomed from a corner in the living room. He was picking his teeth with a toothpick.
"Is that your way of saying 'good morning' to your parents?" Pen hissed.
"What do you want?" Leo ignored her and asked sharply.
"Can't your parents greet you anymore?" Pen fired back.
"What do you want?" Leo raised his voice as he repeated his question.
"We're not here for you," Adrian answered and sat down on a chair. Leo raised his brow and stared at his father with a smirk on his face.
"Then should I say that you're here to marry one of my maids?"
"Leonardo!!" Pen yelled.
"Don't damage my eardrums. You're not welcome in my house!!" Leo yelled back.
Abi quickly stepped into the living room with her mother behind her.
"These are his parents," Abi whispered to her mom.
"And this is—" Pen and Adrian exchanged meaningful glances.
"This is my mother-in-law," Leo stood up to greet Whitney warmly.
"How have you been, mother?" Leo walked to Whitney and held her shoulder to direct her to a two-seater sofa.
Jealousy was burning in Pen's eyes as she watched the close intimacy between her son and another woman. That should be her!! Why the hell does he smile warmly with someone else and be cold around her all the time? She's his mother!! His one and only mother! His biological mother! The one who has been with him ever since he came out of her womb!!!
"So, you're Abigail's mother?," Pen declared with a high pitch.
"Yes," Whitney said proudly and added, "You don't like my daughter for your son?"
'This woman is too blunt,' Pen thought in her mind. She soon had a wide smile on her face and replied, "That's not true. Your daughter is the best woman for my son. I like her so much. I came here so early because I miss her so much."
Adrian let out a loud cough immediately after Pen finished speaking. Pen glared at him immediately and frowned due to his actions.
"I thought so," Whitney smiled and began to discuss with the parents. Leo heaved a sigh and stood up after a while. Abi was nowhere in the living room. He was worried all of a sudden. The incident that happened last night rushed to his head again, and he began to develop a headache.
"Hey," Abi smiled at him immediately he embraced her from behind.
"Let's stay like this for a while," he told her and kissed her cheeks.
"Stop. I need to serve your parents and my mom some refreshments," She said.
"Where are the maids?" Leo asked.
"They already left," Abi rolled her eyes.
"I'll make sure they leave in the evening—"
"It's fine," Abi cut in. "Can you let go? I need to serve—"
"Why are you sending me away? Don't you miss me?" Leo pouted.
Abi turned around to glare at him, but he leaned in and kissed her immediately. She blushed and hit his shoulder.
"What if they see us?" She asked, blushing.
"What? We're couples!" Leo reminded her with a smile. He loves the way she's blushing.
Abi said nothing to that. She just continued what she was doing.
"How was the food I made?" Leo asked all of a sudden.
"It was a bit salty and lacked a little bit of pepper and …" She was really teasing him, but his mood suddenly turned sour.
"I'm kidding," She laughed as she stared at him.
"Has he cooked for you before?" Leo asked with a low voice.
"Who?" Abi asked.
"That jerk," Leo rolled his eyes. "Julian does everything because he doesn't know what you would really love. You really like those little things," Abi blushed.
"I know. That's why you asked me to join you to play silly games this afternoon," Leo hissed.
"You should go back. I'm busy," Abi was beginning to get annoyed. How dare he call her game silly? How is playing games silly?
"I'm sorry," He kissed her cheeks. "Stop," Abi was dying from embarrassment already.
"Why? Does your stomach hurt?" Leo was beginning to get worried.
"Of course not. I never knew you were so clingy. You're thirty!!" Abi rolled her eyes.
"Am I?" Leo asked no one in particular and went on to open the refrigerator to eat some grapes.
"Let's go shopping later," Abi told him.
"Sure," Leo nodded.
***
Michael stared at Ava as if she had said something that seemed like a taboo. He was holding her hand so tight and looked like he was pleading with her over a matter.
"Let me go," Ava glared at him.
"I swear it's not my fault," He kept saying.
"Then whose fault is it?" She fired back.
"You weren't able to give me what I want," Michael continued. "I asked you all the time, and you said you weren't ready. Barbara was always ready for me, so I had no choice…"
"You bastard," Ava gritted her teeth and flung his hand away. "I can't believe I fell for someone like you. I must have been so blind to see you're a jerk."
"Jerk?" Michael laughed.
"Yes, jerk. That's what you are!" Ava shouted.
Some students passed beside them quickly. Michael had to let out a beautiful smile to let them know all was well between them.
"I'm not dating her," Michael announced.
"Who asked?" Ava retorted.
"Come on, Ava," Michael tried to hold her hand again, but she flung it away in anger.
"Like I said, Michael, we're over," Ava declared and stood her ground.
"I don't think we were something in the first place. You were always busy when it came to me. Who knows? You were busy fucking Barbara when I needed you."
"That's not—"
"Save it. I'm going to find myself someone better than you. I should have listened to my mother. It's good I didn't shed a tear for you. If you die tomorrow, I would say a lot of bad things about you and thank the heavens that you are gone," She fired at him.
"Ava Marshall!!" Michael yelled.
"Fuck off!" Ava pushed him away and marched ahead.
Michael stared at her as she walked away. He ran his hand through his hair after a while. A frown settled on his face immediately he realized he was not alone.
"Is she that angry?" Barbara asked with a smile.
"What are you doing here?" Michael asked her angrily.
"Can't I come to you anymore?" She asked back.
"It's over between us," Michael told her.
"Oh! That's good news," She smiled and took his hand.
"Get the fuck off," He pushed her away and went in the same direction Ava went.
"Horny bastard!" She muttered and touched her wet pussy through her shirt and skimpy skirt. "Aargh! I need Evans to fuck me now," She bit her lips and ran into a room.
***
Matilda kept sighing in her room. She stared at her computer and began to cry with her hands over her face.
"I'm dead," She kept muttering to herself. "How could I do this? What the fuck was I thinking? Are you so foolish, Matilda?"
She read the information on her computer again and picked out the key words to lay emphasis on.
"Singapore. 1999. Kidnap and forced sexual assault on children, including Leonardo Grey," She read and began to cry.
She cried because she was the one behind it. No, she didn't orchestrate the kidnap and all, but she was the one who managed to break the code and allow the people to get to Leonardo Grey and other children - innocent or not.
"Matilda. Are you there?" Matilda cleaned her tears immediately and let out a smile when she heard Cedric calling for her.
They had started dating recently. He had been so busy lately, and she too had been busy finding discoveries to the puzzle Leo had given her as her assignment.
She went to open the door and threw herself on him suddenly. She began to weep in his arms because she lost control. Control of everything.
"What's wrong?" Cedric asked her as he hugged her back.
"What do you mean?" Matilda asked him.
"Why are you crying?" He queried.
"Who said I'm crying?" She feigned ignorance and pulled away from the hug.
"I heard you crying," Cedric was sure that she cried.
"It's just that…I saw something sad online," She lied with ease.
"Really? Let me see," Cedric suddenly had interest in the thing she saw that made her cry so much.
"Don't worry about that," Matilda responded quickly.
"Are you the one?" Cedric asked after a moment of silence and hiccups.
Matilda froze when she heard that question from him. Why did he have to ask her that so seriously with that tone?
"Were you the one behind Leo's trauma?" He asked softly.
Matilda began to cry because she couldn't hide it anymore. Cedric knows about it already.
"Just tell him," Cedric encouraged her.
"What?" Matilda shrieked out.
"He'll kill me, even though I'm his wife's friend,"
"He won't," Cedric urged her. "Babe, stop,"
Matilda laughed. "Stop what?"
"Are you the one that's going to face him? You talk as if you're the one he's going to shout on and…and…an-," Matilda hadn't finished speaking when Cedric pecked her on the lips.
"Gosh," Matilda blushed, but he pecked her on the lips once more.
"We'll tell him together," Cedric proposed.
"Leo has been a better person lately, thanks to Abi,"
"I know, right? She's really trying," Matilda added.
"She is," Cedric concluded. "So, tell me everything you know about this."
"Okay," Matilda said and began to tell him what he wanted to hear.
***
Riley twirled in her chair and bent her head to rub her hand on her neck cape. She sighed when her eyes went to the piles of documents on her table. She never knew life would be so tough.
"Come in," She said to the person who knocked on the door.
Her assistant walked into the office hurriedly with a folder in her hand.
"Another document?" Riley hissed and rolled her eyes inwardly.
"No, Miss Riley," The secretary laughed. "This is information on the man who's outside."
"What do you mean? What man is outside?" Riley asked with a laugh.
"He says his name is Silas—"
Riley interrupted her and said sharply, "Just put the document somewhere. I'll go over it when it's time."
"But Miss, he said you should go over it now. He said he's leaving the country soon, and you might come looking for him," Her assistant emphasized.
"Me? Look for him?" Riley burst into a fit of laughter. "He's actually a handsome man—"
The assistant stopped talking when she realized her boss was shooting daggers at her.
"I'll be outside," The assistant said and dashed out of the room.
Riley's phone began to ring suddenly. She glanced at the caller ID and picked it. It was her sister-in-law calling.
"What's wrong, Helena?" Riley asked with worry.
"It's Charles," Her sister-in-law replied across the phone.
"What's he up to now?" Riley rolled her eyes dramatically.
"He's going to reach your place soon," Helena replied.
"Why is he coming here?" Riley began to get nervous.
"To beat some sense into you, girl. How could you chase Malcolm away?" Helena yelled from the phone.
"What do you mean by Malcolm? Malcolm drowned, remember?" Riley yelled over the phone.
"Is your memory that jumbled?" Helena asked her.
"He can't be Malcolm," Riley recalled again.
"Don't lose him again, Riley! Go after your man now!!" Helena yelled and hung up.
Riley slammed her phone on the table and ran to get the folder her assistant had dropped on the table. She read them so fast, like a flash, in a minute. Tears pulled in her eyes, and she began to sniff. She took her phone and looked for his number, but she didn't have it at all.
"Malcolm," She cried out and dashed out of her office with her car keys.
She rushed to her car, started the engine, and sped out of the parking lot. Her heart was racing with thoughts of Malcolm.
"Where are you?" She muttered to herself, driving recklessly through the streets.