Mr. Blackwood's gaze was glued to the endless ribbon of asphalt as his car glided through the gates of the Forbes Mansion. Thirteen years. It had been thirteen long years since he last set foot on this opulent estate, a monument to old money carved into the heart of Las Vegas.He remembered the imposing iron gates, now adorned with gleaming biometric scanners that whirred to life and let them pass without a fuss. But he didn't need fancy technology to recognize or enter his childhood home.Even from afar, the mansion held a powerful presence. Nestled amidst sprawling lawns dotted with ancient oaks, it loomed like a grand old king, its white facade gleaming under the desert sun.Tall, arched windows peeked out from ivy-covered walls, whispering secrets of past parties and laughter. The driveway stretched on for what felt like an eternity, each twist and turn etched into his memory with the vibrant colors of childhood summers.Tall pines, silent sentinels, lined the path, their scent fi
The busy city air was very different from the quiet comfort of Mr. Blackwood's home, where Annabel had been spending the last few weeks. She missed the familiar buzz of the publishing house, and the clatter of keyboards. Although he didn’t approve of it, Anna decided to show up at the office today. She was the CEO and didn’t necessarily need to show up but she still had friends there, Alia and co; her new position would not rob her of that.Annabel had come out with one of Maxwell’s cars, it was his least expensive car and she had also not mentioned it to him. Of course the servants had no problem with her taking it, but Anna knew they must have informed him. Too bad she had turned off her phone, so he wouldn’t be able to reach her on time, she would be at the office before he could do anything about it.As she arrived in front of the publishing house, Anna pulled the car over by the roadside. She came down and walked to the back door with her back to the main road, she opened the bac
Anna’s concentration was interrupted by a knock on the door, that was when it called to her attention the time. It was past 6pm already, she needed to be on her way back from the office. With a little sigh, she closed the computer screen and stood up.“Who is there?” she muttered, wondering if she had really heard a knock or it was her ears deceiving her.There was no response and so she had to go check for herself. Annabel walked down to the door and slowly opened it. She looked from the left side of the hallway to the right but there was no one there, it was silent like a graveyard. Anna was confused, she was quite sure she had heard the doorbell ring.Ready to step back inside and round things up for the day, her eyes caught something of interest. There was a package at the foot of the door and an envelope beside it. Her heart skipped and she looked around again to be sure.“Hello? Anyone there?” she muttered, but no response came from the empty hallway.Annabel first picked up the
“Marshall, I am sorry if I…”“No! No!!, it is fine, I was just… never mind, I will tell you.” he smiled.Now Jennifer was curious. What was it about his mom that had him so stressed? Why had she never met his mom? Was she late?“My mother was very young when she got married to my father, their marriage was never going to happen if she didn’t get pregnant with me, it was supposed to be just fun between a boy and a girl. She was from a respectful home, so to avoid having her character questioned, she had to get married to my father.”“Oh,” Jenny mouthed, not exactly how she expected this story to start.“I know, pitiful. A marriage brought to be by lust, there was no love and they both knew it. Somehow, they managed to stay together for twelve years, at that point it felt like they were bound for life now; you would say they had no more reason to separate after being together for so long. But that would be wrong, because just before my twelfth birthday, mom eloped with another guy. They
“So… Do you like stay alone?” she asked as he opened the door to his bedroom for her to walk in.“Yes, my father lives in the heart of the city. I on the other hand prefer the isolated quiet neighborhood,” he chuckled.She huffed and went in, taking a quick glance towards his bed. “Hmm,” she muttered, once again impressed. She never heard brothers but she thought keeping things in order was alien to boys.“There is the wardrobe, pick anything you like.” He offered as he stood behind.“Okay.” she smiled, walking slowly to the shelf.Jennifer searched through his closet and she soon found a matching hoodie and pants. “This? Hope you don’t mind?” she asked and turned to face him, holding up the clothes.“Of course not, you are free to pick anyone you like.” He replied with a warm smile.“Okay then,” Jenny uttered and walked to the bed. She tossed the clothes on the bed and began to take off her gown by slowly unhooking the arm.Marshall turned his back to her immediately and she huffed.
Maxwell and Anna stepped out of the second hospital; they had both submitted their samples at the hospitals and were asked to return in three days for the results. It had cost quite a fortune having a DNA test done twice by different hospitals at such an early age, and Anna now understood why couples hardly opt for that when a child’s paternity is questioned.Utilizing the opportunity, Maxwell had also insisted that she run an all-round test to ensure that she and the baby were fine, with all the stress and fear of getting unalived in the past few days, he thought it was necessary.Fortunately, the test results had come out looking good. Both she and the baby were in good shape, and Anna could credit that to the good life Maxwell had given her since she moved in with him. For some reason, her old landlord was yet to contact her since the fire and that was so unlike him, not even a message from his lawyer.As they got to the car, Maxwell opened the passenger door for her. Annabel wond
Three days had passed and the long awaited day had finally come, the tension leading up to this day between the two parties was so high that Maxwell decided that they should not open the results in the hospital.They first visited Anna’s choice of hospital and from there, they drove to the second hospital in the heart of the city. The whole time, Anna was anxious, she kept glaring towards the envelope, curious yet scared to know what it said. Maxwell as usual appeared confident but within him was turmoil, he was however worried for different reasons.Unlike Anna, Marshall already knew what those results would say and he had dreaded this day for so long, he had purposely delayed this test because he feared what would happen after the truth was out.After picking the second result, they drove home in total silence. Anna would not stop fiddling with her fingers and breathing nervously, it felt like her final exam day all over again.Arriving at home, Annabel and Maxwell went straight to
“What do you mean failed?” Maxwell queried the Doctor.“I know how it sounds sir, but it is the truth. It happens very rarely, for some reason we can't explain, your Vasectomy has failed, the scan results show that the surgery failed, however I will suggest you undergo the reversal process immediately for better results at child bearing.”“Are you kidding me? You assured me that this was permanent and I could never have babies unless I initiated the reversal of the surgery. I didn’t intend to have any children until the next two to three years at least, so why did this happen?”“I am sorry, Sir… But things like this happen once in a blue moon, it is not supposed to be that way but it is not in our power.” The Doctor announced.Maxwell Blackwood sighed and got up from the chair, he was frustrated. He had no idea a Vasectomy could fail or he would have never reacted the way he did with Anna, now he had hurt her feelings unintentionally and instead of planning for the party ahead, he wou