201Chloe"If I had killed you, what exactly would I have gained? Taking you away worked quite well for me, didn't it? Mary couldn't give birth, we couldn't have a daughter to give off in marriage to the Benjamins. Taking you away from your parents gave us the chance to be inlaws with Carolina's best! Until you blew it off and ran away like a coward!" Tristan yelled the veins that lined his head popping in anger as he spoke. "You're a cruel man," I spat. "As if taking their company wasn't enough, you took their daughter and pawned her off for your benefit," Tristan laughed again. "Oh Chloe, Chloe, you are such a little girl, aren't you? If I do not fight for my benefit, who will? Nobody else I assure you. The world doesn't care about the grunt, they care about the cream of the crop. I am determined to be that cream no matter what." "And I guess killing me is part of whatever you need to do, right?" He nodded, pursed his lips then spoke up. "I do not have to kill you, Chloe. I did
202 Chloe We ran like hell. Ran like our asses were on fucking fire. Since Tristan had gone out to check the source of the noise, Addison and I dashed through the opposite end of the building and raced out into the woods. For a long while that was all we did. We ran like crazy. After finding a large tree to hide behind, we stopped there to catch our breaths. "H-He would... He would have noticed we left," Addison wheezed, bending over to breathe easy. I panted, breathing heavily through my mouth as I peeked behind the tree. There was no Tristan in sight. That didn't mean it was safe though. As long as the police weren't here yet, we weren't safe.David! I remembered the alarm. My hands reached into my pocket to bring out my phone and... "Shit!" I swore, straightening immediately, my eyes wide with fear. Oh shit! Shit! Shit! I waa such a fucking fool! I had forgotten entirely about the phone. "What is it?" Addison asked breathlessly, her hair was stuck everywhere, matted t
203NathanMy knees knocked together rapidly as I sat on the metal chair. The door next to me had a plaque on it that read DNA center. I knew what this looked like. Like I didn't trust Lily. And we'll, to some extent, trust Lily. When I had first met LiLy, I had recently left mom and Dad's company. I wanted to step out of Noah's shadow as the second child. I wanted to make a name for myself. My own name. And well, for some time it worked. Nathan Industries was just starting up. We barely had a few employees and a woman taking interest in me at that time felt pretty good. She had felt like the only thing going right for me. But, there was a clause. I didn't want a relationship. I just wanted the sex. Relationships were messy and I didn't think I had the time or commitment to have handled one back then. Of course I had made this clear to Lily. I tried to. And she agreed. She had dropped into my world like a hot gift and my life never remained the same. That wasn't even an exaggerati
204Nathan I walked at the pace of a mad man. My feet hit the ground rapidly, walking as fast as I could to Lily's ward. ...You are not the father...I had been tricked. All along, I had been fooled by all the women in my life. They had made me believe something else entirely. Chloe had deceived me. She had gone to shake hands with Eduardo behind my back despite knowing who that despicable man was and what he did to me! And now Lily? My feet rounded the a corner, and I wished it would.propel me faster than that. I couldn't run in a hospital , there were sick and old people lying about. Knocking anyone of them down would definitely slow my plans. In my back pocket, my phone vibrated with a call and reluctantly, I slowed my steps to bring it out, yanking out the device with so much force. Cameron. Ah fuck , what now?"Hey man," Cam's voice reached my ears and I merely grunted in reply. "How's Lily, didn't hear from you, that's why I called?""Lily is fucking fine. So damn fine,"
205Nathan"Hey," Lily smiled tiredly when I stepped into her ward. She sat up on her bed, leaning against the headrest and rocking the baby's cot beside her. To give her the much needed rest and privacy she deserved, I had reserved a private ward for her and the baby. Noah's baby. The bitterness I thought I had managed to tamper down surfaced again and I felt angrier. Angry at sight of her smiling at me as if all was fucking well. As if she hadn't just deceived me and tried to foist my brother's baby on me. "Have you seen him?" She asked, placing a hand on the baby cot beside her, gently rocking it. "Isn't he adorable?" I almost laughed. Was she trying to fucking spite me? Or did she really not see the resemblance between her baby and Noah. I couldn't be the only one who saw it. Unless she was blind or some shit. "Hmm," I hummed while walking to the baby's side. He was asleep and yeah, he still had that knowing smile on his face. I didn't hate the child. Oh he was innocent. The
206What?!"What?" I echoed my thoughts, feeling my anger get replaced by shock as I stared at her. She sniffed, her hands coming up to cover her face as tears rolled down her cheeks. Fucking great, another fucking pretence. Didn't she ever get tired? "I... I know it was wrong. I had just agreed to be your mistress and I was fine with it. One day while.you were at work, Noah came looking for you at home. I hadn't left after our night together so he met me." She sniffed again and I could swear that it fucking irritated the shit out of me. "We talked-""Talked? Talking certainly didn't produce that baby, I would know that.""We just talked. It was three years ago Nathan!""I don't care how.long it was. Hell was the baby from three years ago even mine?! The one you miscarried?" Her eyes drifted down to the bed."Fuck," I whispered. I had no idea why I was still surprised. Lily had been deceiving me all along. "It wasn't mine either?" "There was no baby," She mumbled. "I just got so
207NathanIgnoring the loud sound that permeated the entire hospital and the voice of the woman yelling from the reception desk for doctors in the emergency, I made my way towards the exit. I had to get out of there. Hell I had to get to the bar, have some whiskey and drown myself in alcohol. I felt so damn tired, I wanted respite from my roller coaster of emotions. I just wanted to get away. Forget everything. Chloe, Lily, Adele- I stopped in my tracks. No no not Adele. Not my daughter. Perhaps I could fight for custody. Chloe most likely hated my guts already, that much was evident from her joining forces with Eduardo. But I couldn't abandon Adele. I was never there for the first two years of her life. I wanted no need to be present for every single day afterwards. With renewed determination coursing through my veins, I stomped towards the exit. The hospital was in a frenzy for some reason. A doctor rushed past me like he was the flash and bolted for the door. For a minute I th
208 Nathan The hospital was a mess. I watched the nurses and doctors run around the hospital panicking as they attended to Addison and Chloe. My eyes remained glued to the theater door, waiting, expecting, hoping. I hoped I wasn't hoping against hope. I hoped that Chloe would be fine. I would live a life of regrets if she did. How was I supposed to make amends for all the foolish decisions I had made? How would I show that I was sorry? That I didn't care what ever it was that she had with Eduardo, I just wanted her back? How would I ever make it up to her? I sat still, like a log of wood on the metallic chairs in the hallway. I was tired and so damned exhausted. It had been a while since Chloe was rushed in and frankly I had no.plans to leave. Not now. Not until I knew she was fine. A loud beeping sound reached my ears and that woke me up out of my emotional trance. Doctors ran down the hallway towards the theater, their white coat billowing behind them. "Chloe," I said, j