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Sequel to chasing my estranged wife; I want you back. ******** " You promised me!'' I screamed. "You promised that you wouldn't hurt me, you made the vows that you would stand beside me, Ryan, and what did you do? You broke me into smithereens. I don't want anything to do with you anymore. When I said we were done. I meant it!" Falling in love with him had come in a whirlwind, she couldn't account for how exactly it had happened but what she knew was that she didn't want to let go once she was in. For Ryan, when he made a vow, he had meant it, but nothing had told him about marriage, that it wasn't just a bed of roses, but it had thorns in it as well. When secrets piled up between them and vows broken, they had no choice but to let go of each other, but years later, he wanted her back. Like the air he breathed, he chased after her, but she was gone. Left with the remnants of his actions, he is torn between getting her back and damning all consequences or letting go of her and his children, which would it be?
Nina's POV
" Mrs. Ryan," I waited with anticipation for what the doctor was going to say. My heart flipped when she held my hands, enclosing them with hers.
" You are finally pregnant with twins." The air stilled around me as the bag I was holding dropped to the ground, crystal welling up in my eyes, ones that I pushed away before asking in a hoarse voice.
" I am pregnant?" I asked again, just to be certain that my ears hadn't been playing tricks on me. That, indeed, I was getting my gift after all of these years when I thought all hope was lost, that it had come at the time when I needed it the most.
" Yes," she bobbed. " You are pregnant; you are in your early trimester, so you ought to be careful. Your husband would be delighted"
Squeezing the paper in my hands, my feet traipsed out of the office while I sank deeper in thought. Maybe, perhaps, this was what I needed to fix our relationship, mine with Ryan.
***************
My hands clustered around my phone while I watched the rain drizzle against the windowpane while I waited for Ryan to come home.
It was a milestone anniversary, and even though we had grown distant, I knew that he would come around and that today would be different because I had news he would love.
My heart soared when a piercing tone punctured through the air, and leaning my phone against my ears, I listened.
" Nina, I am leaving town tonight, and I won't be back, you should sleep in. I wouldn't be coming back in weeks."
I squeezed my eyes shut, my eyes moving swiftly to the spread on the table as I reminded him when the beeping sound greeted my ear.
" But it is our anniversary." I clenched my gown while my legs gave way underneath me.
I let the silence sob rock through my body before forcing myself up, not wanting to show weakness before the maids who were staring all about, sympathy coating their features.
Donning a firm expression, I sauntered through the foyer, the ring on my finger burnt so hard while I stared at the mirror in the room.
My eyes were sunken, and I had nightmares, nightmares of him telling me that I was never enough, nightmares of Ryan letting me know that what we had was a mistake, and although I tried so hard not to think about it, it drenched my thoughts, filled it until I couldn't think anymore.
With hallowed eyes, I flickered at the shelf that held the divorce papers, ones that I had seen, and I had hoped it wasn't for us even when the names on it burnt so bright that I was unable to think of anything else that would be possible.
The realization that Ryan had wanted to let me go and wanted to get divorced drummed in me until I couldn't breathe, but I thought everything would change when he came home tonight, and I handed the test report over to him. Let him know that I was finally pregnant with our child.
My heart pulsed while I waited for him, sitting on the couch, the bed forgotten. I couldn't say when exactly he had kept getting withdrawn, but everything had changed barely a year after our marriage. Everything had crumbled down to plain dust, and I had been left heartbroken with nowhere to go.
A shrieking sound resonated through the air, my eyes flickering to the phone, batting my eyes. I made sure that I was fine before leaning it against my ears.
" Nina, where are you?" Reina's voice came across. A scream stumbling through my face.
" I have been knocking at your door forever, and no one is answering, where are you? We ought to be outside celebrating, and you know that so what is going on?"
I sniffed in. " I am fine. Just tired. I have been sleeping, and I just woke up, but I am fine"
She snickered, and I could imagine her already standing at the door while piercing her gaze at me. Her love with Richard had seen hell, but she had come out unscathed with Richard obsessed about her.
"I said I am at the door, and you are supposed to come over, what is going on?"
Pushing myself up the couch, my eyes flickered through the room while I shoved anything that would give it away.
Donning a smile, which I had practiced against the mirror, I tried to hide everything so she wouldn't get worried. I didn't want her to know of the pain that I was going through, even though if she did, she wouldn't hesitate to help.
I yanked the door open to find her holding two bottles of wine, which she shoved on my face.
" Happy anniversary," she cheered happily before storming in, her steps halting in track at the dark room.
" What is going on here?" My hands ran through my hair.
" Why is the atmosphere so down, and what is wrong with you?"
If there was something Reina was good at, it was dictating emotions from miles away, and while I tried to come up with words to dismiss her question, my hands flung the drapes that pulled over from the top of the ceiling down to the side, letting the sunlight in.
" I instructed the maids not to. I needed to sleep in, and I had a lot to do"
Her hands were placed on her waist like she wasn't convinced by what I had just said.
" Ryan," she thundered, her feet picking up the pace while she stomped past me, making a beeline for the bedroom.
" Where is he!" She demanded. I moved, my steps quickening behind hers while they glided past to an empty room.
" Reina," I pleaded.
" Reina," I screamed again, stepping into the room only to meet her eyes on the bed, the test results all about.
" You are pregnant?" She revolved her eyes at me.
" You are pregnant, Nina," she said in a shriek, pushing me against herself.
" Yes," tears rolled down my cheeks while I held her hands. " I am finally pregnant, Reina."
Her eyes welled up with tears in them while she held me even closer to herself, her hands stroking my back in succession.
" Oh, Ryan must be so glad to hear of this, where is he, by the way?"
I swallowed the lump that had been stuck against the edge of my throat, slurping down.
"Work, he had something to attend to, and he would be gone for quite some time and..."
She shook her head when it dawned on her what exactly was happening.
" Hell no," she repeated. " There is no way he would do that. Richard is home, and he... Ryan...is in the city."
My heart plopped, my stomach twisted at the sudden word that I had heard, and my eyes filled with dots while I stumbled back.
Tears, scorching hot, burnt down my cheek, scaring my heart. Ryan didn't want to be with me. He knew he knew, but he would rather not be here. He didn't ... I shook my head when a hand held me firmly.
" Sit!" She ordered.
" Sit now!" Her voice came firmer than the last.
" The kids will not be hurt; you have to stay strong and tell me everything"
With my hands in hers, I relayed everything to her. Ryan's sudden change, his sudden silence, his withdrawal, and lastly, how he said he was on a trip and wouldn't be back.
" He wouldn't dare hurt you. He loved you even more than he loved himself," Reina sneered, standing to her feet when a voice spoke through the television, my heart tendered as it stroked my heart.
" We just won this case." My eyes burned holes through Ryan, who stood with hands wrapped around a stranger.
" My colleague and I have an announcement to make. We are in love, and we will be getting engaged soon. She has been a source of strength to me..." My throat parched as tiny needles jabbed my heart, blood spilling over.
" And I would rather not let her go," he added, and my vision darkened as Reina's cry echoed through me.
It is against the bro code to nurture feelings about one's friend's sister, but in the case of Josh, was that really it? For years, Lina has nurtured feelings for her brother's best friend, ones that she knew she had to keep at bay, but with them being in senior high, and with her feelings raging out, she found herself doing everything possible to get his attention, but would she be able to, when she suddenly found herself with a love interest? Josh had his well tucked in, tried so hard not to break bro code but all of his rationality seemed to have flown out the window when he found a pest lurking around Lina, and wanting to claim her as his. He had done everything to keep the pests away, but it seemed he hadn't done enough. With his obsession, and crave for her skyrocketing over the top, he finds not just his friendship with her brother threatened but his pack as well. What had held him back was a thin line threatening to snap at any time, but would he let it? What decision would he take? When odds are against him?
" Don't say anymore word than you already have, don't..." I stuck a finger out at him, sauntering away on my heels when a hand wrapped itself around my arm. Breathlessly he whispered, "You know that I do love you and...fine, what exactly was I supposed to do?" "Protect me and stand up for me. That is what you do for someone who you claim you love!" ************ Out to spite her ex-boyfriend after he had broken up with her on her birthday, Daphne slept with a stranger who turned out to be his uncle while trying to rebuff his words that she was unwanted by others. Was she ready for the wild chase that followed when he found out years later that she had been pregnant with his heirs and that she had been hiding the truth all this while? Faced with the ruthless CEO, known as the beast, who wasn't ready to back down, Daphne does everything possible to make sure her kids wouldn't be taken from her, but what happens when love gets in the mix of it all? Would she be able to conquer these weird feelings and give in her all amidst her scars? And with how deadly he turned out to be? And faced with her ex who still wants her back, what choice is she going to make?
"We have nothing together, Richard, the moment I signed that paper, I made sure to cut all of our ties" I reminded him, a smile creeping on my face He chuckled, running his tongue on his lower lips, a glint in his eyes, "You will always be mine, Reina, because I am going to ruin any other relationship you intend on going in" *************** On a day meant to be the most important day of her life, Reina is left heartbroken when she is slammed with a divorce by her husband, left with no choice but to give in, she flees with her unborn children, going off to live a new life, all seems to be going well until he showed up years later, wanting her and his kids back, How was she supposed to know that her mischievous kids were going to side with their father? Thrown into a new world, they are forced to make things work, but would they be able to? With the arrival of her childhood lover? And how broken he had left her?
Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."
Iris grew from an orphaned child to the adopted daughter of the Stewart family at age ten, finding warmth in her nominal uncle Vincent's kindness. Seven years later, she became his secret lover. When Vincent's engagement was announced, gossip spread about the notorious playboy CEO finally settling down. But only Iris knew the extent of his cold, two-faced nature. Iris fell for Vincent and, through tears, begged, "Marry me," only to be met with his frosty refusal. Defeated, she accepted a lawyer's proposal, sparking public excitement. Then, on her wedding day, Vincent pleaded desperately, "Don't marry him…"
Betrayed by her mate and sister on the eve of her wedding, Makenna was handed to the ruthless Lycan Princes as a lover, her indifferent father ignoring her plight. Determined to escape and seek revenge, she captured the interest of the three Lycan princes, who desired her exclusively amid many admirers. This complicated her plans, trapping her and making her a rival to the future Lycan queen. Entwined in jealousy and vindictiveness, could Makenna achieve her vengeance in the intricate dance with the three princes?
Janice, the long-forgotten legitimate heiress, made her way back to her family, pouring her heart into winning their hearts. Yet, she had to relinquish her very identity, her academic credentials, and her creative works to her foster sister. In return for her sacrifices, she found no warmth, only deeper neglect. Resolute, Janice vowed to cut off all emotional bonds. Transformed, she now stood as a master of martial arts, adept in eight languages, an esteemed medical expert, and a celebrated designer. With newfound resolve, she declared, "From this day forward, no one in this family shall cross me."
Brenna lived with her adoptive parents for twenty years, enduring their exploitation. When their real daughter appeared, they sent Brenna back to her true parents, thinking they were broke. In reality, her birth parents belonged to a top circle that her adoptive family could never reach. Hoping Brenna would fail, they gasped at her status: a global finance expert, a gifted engineer, the fastest racer... Was there any end to the identities she kept hidden? After her fiancé ended their engagement, Brenna met his twin brother. Unexpectedly, her ex-fiancé showed up, confessing his love...
The day Lilah found out that she was pregnant, she caught her fiancé cheating on her. Her remorseless fiancé and his mistress almost killed her. Lilah fled for her dear life. When she returned to her hometown five years later, she happened to save a little boy's life. The boy's father turned out to be the world's richest man. Everything changed for Lilah from that moment. The man didn't let her experience any inconvenience. When her ex-fiancé bullied her, he crushed the scumbag's family and also rented out an entire island just to give Lilah a break from all the drama. He also taught Lilah's hateful father a lesson. He crushed all her enemies before she even asked. When Lilah's vile sister threw herself at him, he showed her a marriage certificate and said, "I'm happily married and my wife is much more beautiful than you are!" Lilah was shocked. "When did we ever get married? Last I checked, I was still single." With a wicked smile, he said, "Honey, we've been married for five years. Isn't it about time we had another child together?" Lilah's jaw dropped to the floor. What the hell was he talking about?