Maddy's pregnancy was progressing nicely. She was exercising, eating healthy under the guidance of Andre.
Philip was a proud papa, he hired several assistants for Maddy and as the wedding date neared, he was apprehensive. He had received threats against him and Maddy and he decided it was time to cash in some chips. "Andre."
"Sir?"
"I have to see her." "Philip." Andre warned.
"We can't find out where these threats are coming from, I can't have our valued cargo in danger. I don't know who to protect her from." Philip was frustrated.
"This isn't a good idea."
"I know my friend, if I had any other choice, I would not do this." "Okay but promise me, you won't…"
"I would never stoop that low. I have Maddy now."
"Okay but if I suspect any folly, you know I will burn that whole place down. Maddy has become a sister to me, mess with her, you mess with me."
"Let's go, Maddy is at Dalton, two bodyguards are with her."
Andre drove Philip to St. John and as they pulled up to a huge house, the man at the guard hut, looked into the car, frowned and pressed the button to open. "Mr. Kilian, Andre." The man greeted them.
"Nathan." Philip said without looking in the man's direction. They parked and Andre helped Philip out of the car.
As they went inside Philip felt a sense of dread. The place looked the same as the last time he left there for good.
"Philip Kilian, Andre, it's nice to see you again. What would you like to drink." The voice of a well-dressed woman greeted them.
"Suzie." Philip said as he clenched his fists. Andre did not respond.
"Come now, don't be so business like with me. We go way back the three of us."
"Let me get to the point. Someone is threatening my fiancée and me and I want to know who it is."
"I'm the one who is threatening you."
Andre drew her gun before Suzie finished her sentence." Philip raised his hand and Andre lowered the weapon but kept alert.
"Why?"
"You told me you would never fall in love after me, you told me you didn't want children and you would never get married but here you are doing all three things and NOT with me."
"You can't be serious Suzie! ALL we did was SLEEP together, there was no love between us. What the fuck are you playing at?"
"I am going to take her from you Philip, I am going to take your baby away from you and then I will watch you fall so far, you will never recover."
Philip smiled. Suzie frowned. "You don't know me Suzie, you think you do."
"I know enough Philip. Now, leave my house. I will call you in a few days and give you some instructions. Follow them to the letter or I will cut that child from her stomach and make you watch. Get out."
Back in Nate's Car
"Sir, what do you want me to do? I can go back and snuff her life out."
"I know Andre, all these years, I didn't think she cared about me, but this… is below the belt. She is not going to stop, so I have to stop her. Call Broos, have him pull up Suzie's accounts, all of them, prepare to empty them. Tell him to also leak, that she was the one who shot Vicent's son, Paul's father and Charles's wife. With photos." Philip frowned as he thought about anything else he could do to let that bitch know not to mess with him.
Maddy was in a restaurant having a light lunch, her morning sickness had passed and she was always hungry. "Good day miss, it's full in here can I sit with you?" A soft feminine voice came from behind Maddy's back.
"Sure, let me clear the space for you." Maddy picked up her laptop, closed it and put it in her bag. She shifted a few things to allow the lady to have her space.
"Thank you. Your face looks familiar." "Oh, I used to work in a club as a dancer,
and I work at Dalton Corp now." "You are Mr. Kilian's fiancé?"
"Yes, and you are?"
The lady motioned to someone behind Maddy and two men grabbed her and took her out to a waiting car. She didn't struggle or scream, she didn't know these people and she wasn't willing to put her baby in danger if she could help it. As she sat in the car, her worries increased.
"So, you are the bitch Philip knocked-up. Never thought he had any swimmers. He never got me pregnant when we were together."
Ah, now it made sense. This was one of Philip's former lovers and she had an axe to grind. They drove for half an hour, Maddy remained silent the entire time, caressing her belly every few minutes, trying hard not to let her fear show.
Maddy smiled. Philip always had her back. He told her someone was threatening them, and he would do his best to keep her safe, but she must pay attention to details.
"Look Maddy, I have nothing against you, but Philip lied to me, he told me we could have a future, he made promises he never kept, then he broke off all contact and left me, that pissed me off."
"You love him." Maddy said with much disdain.
"Who wouldn't? He is everything a woman should want in her life, a protector, someone who goes all out for his woman, good in bed."
Suzie sighed. This part would hurt Maddy, but she needed to hurt Philip where it mattered the most. He gave this woman everything he had promised to her. Without another thought, Suzie pulled an envelope from a drawer and handed it to Maddy. "This is the man you love; I have no need to lie to you.
I will be back in half an hour with food and some clean clothes."
Suzie closed the bedroom door and left. She knew Philip was a storm she could not control but Maddy needed to see the real Philip, and not the watered- down version. Maddy took a bottle of water from the side table and sat down on the bed.
From the first photo, Maddy felt dizzy. She could not believe what she was seeing. Philip was standing in front of a man who was bloodied and battered. What
want to throw up was that Philip held the knife that inflicted the wounds on the man. She forced herself to keep going through the photos and she felt
worse. There were several photos of Philip with two women, one was sitting on him with her head back, clearly enjoy the act. The other woman was sitting in a chair looking on, touching herself. Maddy felt her stomach heave and she began to tremble. Again, she forced herself to look at all the images. By the time she was finished, she really wanted to throw up. She hurried to the slightly open bathroom door and slumped over the toilet bowl.
Fifteen minutes later, she got up, washed out her mouth and splashed water on her face. She went back into the bedroom and sat on the bed.
The photos were scattered on the bed and she began to cry. She cried so hard. Who was this man she was about to get married to? The man in the photos was cruel, heartless and without a soul. NO! This was not her Philip. He was gentle, loving, caring, always there for her. The door opened and Suzie walked in with bags and put them on the dresser. She looked at Maddy, frowned and then smiled. Jackpot. "Ahh I see the wheels turning in your mind. You are questioning the Philip in the photos and comparing to the Philip you know now. He has not changed; he is just dormant, and I plan to provoke the bear and watch him self- destruct. You see, for you to see the true Philip, you have to be willing to let him go and he will come back to me." "You are delusional Suzie; Philip loves me and he will fight for me and our baby." "Oh I'M the delusional one? Dear girl, look at the photos
closely, Philip and I lived the high life, we did everything together. He misses that life, I Dunno
what you did to him to make him switch to such a melancholy bitch. He was a man when I knew him now, he is this sentimental home maker. No this will not do. I want my man back and I will take him. If you try to stop me, I will make you suffer by making you watch him leave you and come to me."
Maddy said nothing, she was confident that Philip would always choose her.
Back at Dalton Corp, Philip was furious. "Philip, what are you going to do?" "She has to die; I don't care how." Andre flinched.
"This is exactly what Suzie wants, she wants to show Maddy who you were." "Don't you think I fucking know that Andre? You know I left that life behind after my accident but how do I protect Maddy from a bitch witch like Suzie?" "She will make you choose Philip, and the options will be so awful, you will choose Suzie just to save Maddy, it is gonna break her heart!" "I know Andre. We will leave in an hour."
Suzie brought Maddy from the bedroom and put her to sit in the living room. Philip was already there with Andre. Maddy's head was down and she looked like her soul had left her.
"Maddy honey are you okay?" Philip asked softly.
She didn't respond but the look on her face told Philip everything. She had seen the photos. He suddenly felt ashamed of his past. "Aww look, Maddy doesn't want to talk, poor thing. Now, Philip, time to make your decision. Stay with me, or Maddy and the baby die."
Andre's body went rigid. No, this will rip them apart. Philip hung his head, what could he do?
"Maddy, look at me." Philip said firmly as he raised his head again.
Maddy raised her head. Seeing him made her heart soar and fall all at the same time.
"Remember what I told you." Maddy lowered her head.
Her mind was filled with images of Philip and Suzie and the woman making love. The expressions on their faces would stay with her forever.
"You see Maddy, he has left you already, don't worry, eventually he will forget you and the baby." Maddy's heart hurt. She let out a sob. Why was this happening?
"Do you wanna know why I am doing this Maddy? I fucking hate you! Look at him, his heart is breaking because I hurt you. I could cut him up into little pieces and watch him bleed to death and he wouldn't care but noooo, I show you his life before you and all of a sudden, he wants to erase OUR past so you don't get hurt. He NEVER defended me. So, I am going to watch his world fall apart by his own words and actions."
"Maddy, just remember what I said."
"Right! So Philip, make your choice, me or her and the baby." "I choose you Suzie." Philip said with no emotion.
Maddy gasped and her head came up quickly to look at him. Philip refused to look at her now, he was looking at Suzie as if he wanted her. Would he make love to her? Have children with her? Get married?
"GREAT! Andre, take Maddy back to Philip's house, he doesn't need anything from there. Philip, come to my bedroom let's get our relationship on the road. Maddy, nice to meet you."
Philip rolled away and followed Suzie without looking back.
"Philip! Please don't go with her!" Maddy screamed as Andre gently pulled her away. Philip didn't look back, he held Suzie's hand and disappeared.
"Let me GO! PHILIP!"
"Maddy, he made his decision to save your life and that of your child, we need to go, now." Maddy sobbed hard and she almost fell to the floor if not for Andre holding her up. She helped her into the car and drove back to the house.
Andre got her settled into the living room. "Would you like something to eat Maddy?"
"I have soup in the fridge, I will get it later." "Okay, if you need me, I'm across the lawn." "Why did he leave me Andre?"
"Maddy, Philip needs you to be strong for you and the baby, please."
Maddy didn't respond, she just lay down on the sofa and covered herself with a blanket.
A cell phone pinged. Maddy reached out and took it from the table. She saw an unfamiliar number, but she answered anyway.
Before she could say anything, the message that came through was a link to a live feed. She clicked on it and was immediately sorry.
It was Philip and Suzie on a bed. "Oh God no."
She had seen him less than an hour ago and he was already making love to another woman. Maddy felt horrible. Did she ever mean anything to him at all? How could he just jump from their bed to Suzie's?
She forced herself to watch and listen. She refreshed the link and hit record on her cell.
"Yes Philip, harder!" Suzie's voice echoed from the phone.
"You like it hard don't you?" "YES!"
Philip pounded into her and she was enjoying it. For the next few minutes, Philip and Suzie writhed, moaned and screwed each other's brains out. When they climaxed, Suzie looked towards the camera and winked. The feed went dead.
Maddy put the phone on the table and went to the bedroom, she packed a few things, checked to see if Andre's light was on and left.
Back At Suzie's
"Come to me Philip." "You are joking right?" Suzie looked confused.
"What, you thought you could humiliate and threaten the life of my unborn baby, and my woman, insult me and THINK that I would sleep with you?"
"If you don't, she and the baby will die and for spite so will Andre."
Suzie was sitting on the side of the bed at just the right height. Philip had been rolling over to her slowly and before she knew it, his arms reached out and he wrapped his hands around her throat.
"Andre, I'm heading back, how is she?"
"She was asleep when I left her, I will check on her in a minute." "Okay, I will be home in half hour."
"Maddy?" Andre thought she was in bed but when she nudged the door she wasn't
there. Andre frowned and checked every single room in the house. Maddy was gone. Crap.
"Sir, she's gone I can't find her." Andre shouted over the phone as she went room to room checking for Maddy.
"Get everyone up and FIND HER!" Philip shouted and hung up.