Mark 's POVI resisted the urge to smirk when Sydney chose to merge her shares with mine.If only she knew.I smiled as I gauged the sympathy in her eyes, the crease of her eyebrows as she looked between Lucas and me.I turned to the other shareholders with a straight face and announced my sovereign rein. If they thought they could easily get rid of me then they were wrong, very wrong.It had all been thanks to a little bit of patience. Lucas wouldn't have revealed his true intentions to everyone if I hadn't remained patient, sit back and watching him play us all.Ever since Lucas came back, I had been keeping an eye on him. I wouldn't have cared at all about a random man that dropped down the sky and started to claim to be my fucking uncle but it turned out that the two women in my life adored him.Grandma Doris, I could manage but Sydney? Nah. It was infuriating how Sydney was all over him that night and then afterward I ceased to exist to her or matter as a person at least. Not tha
Sydney 's POVI frowned when I checked the time. I hadn't thought that Lucas would be involved in the family matters discussion until the door was jammed close with Lucas' back at me.I decided to wait at the door of the conference room. I paced up and down the hallway, loitered at the door but he still was not outside yet.Suddenly, the door was forcefully pushed open and Lucas stomped out. He seemed angry as he was walking with so much force."Lucas," I called but he didn't stop.I ran after him. When I was at an arm's length behind him, I reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Come on, stop walking."HeHe stopped walking and I quickly walked around him to stand before him. He had an indifferent gaze as he looked down at him and my heart skipped a bit in fear. Fear of what?"I'm sorry, I didn't choose to support you.""I told you to remain silent and we agreed that you would," his voice was tinged with a mix of betrayal and confusion.Well, I did not agree to remain silent, he instr
Sydney 's POVMark seemed to have gotten frozen on the spot. His hand that held the lighter remained poised at the tip of the cigarette that was still stuck in between his lips as he looked at me… or rather, as he gaped at me.His hands fell to his side. His words were heavily coated with disbelief. "You're not joking."I gave him a blank look. When did we become such buddies that I would make such a joke? I thought. He must be thinking the same because he shook his head and we just stared at eachother like that for a while.Suddenly, Mark seemed to now understand me as he quickly put away the cigarette and lighter away in his pocket.He looked alarmed, slightly panicked as he took a step closer, his gaze monetarily shifting from the hallway to my face. I wondered, slightly amused in the midst of all these emotional turmoil, if he was going to run. Does the mention of a baby or the sight of a pregnant woman scare him so much?Instead he took a step forward and asked, sounding concerne
A FEW MONTHS LATERSydney 's POV"Welcome to this world, Aiden. Mommy loves you so much," I whispered into his tiny ears and he squinted at me before closing his eyes again. And I wondered if he heard me, I wondered if he could feel and tell that he was in his mother's arms.My eyes watered, filled with tears of joy as I stroked the cheeks of my son. Just the thought that he was mine made my heart swell with so much love and happiness. Gosh. He looked so innocent. Too pure for this world.Without any complications, I had successfully given birth to a bouncy baby boy in the same hospital where I had found out that I was pregnant.I smiled. The past few months had been a lot; it was a month that was filled with a rollercoaster of emotions, a month where I had received support and love, even from people I hadn't expected it from. Infact, these past few months have been one of my favorites.Grace sighed again, her gaze glued to Aiden in my hands as if he had hypnotized her. "He's going to
Sydney 's POVMark must have noticed that I had turned my gaze from Grace's retreating figure and pinned it on him because he looked up from Aiden and blurted, "What?""Are you seriously asking me that?" I scowled at him.He smiled and asked softly, "Come on, what's wrong? Did I do something to upset you?"Since I made my decision to have Aiden, Mark had unfailingly been there for me. Grace and I were surprised and I kept holding my breath…I kept my fingers crossed, thinking that someday he'd get tired of either pretending or just get tired of tending to a woman that wasn't his and leave. But he stayed. He stayed all the way through.He offered all the help he could; whenever I felt alone or any tinge of pain and I couldn't reach Grace, I'd call Mark and he'd immediately come running. I remember one time - I think it was my fourth month - I had this severe contraction and I was just so scared that perhaps my baby was on the way when I was not yet due. In panic, I shot several calls to
Sydney ’s POVGently, Mark moved closer to the baby cot and lowered Aiden who had fallen asleep in his arms I to it.He covered him well with the blankets and still patted him for a while before he pulled away.He flexed his shoulders and rolled his neck and arm, that must have gone sore from carrying Aiden for so long.Then he casually perched at the foot of the bed, his hands briefly grazed my feet before he placed his hands on his thighs."Why are you so keen on finding Lucas, though?" He asked as he faced the pole that was at the foot of the bed. He turned to me and his shoulders lifted in the briefest shrug, "I mean, it's been so long since he contacted you or tried to reach out to you. He hasn't made any attempt since he left.""You can not say that," I felt the stupid urge to defend him and I did. "What if something happened to him and he's unable to reach out to anyone? What if he's scared if reaching out?" I shrugged, "There are lots of what ifs, you know."Mark bobbed his he
TWO MONTHS LATERNAPLES, ITALY.Sydney's POVMy lips stretched into a smile and the warmth spread to every part of me as I watched dthe videos, my heart getting more filled with love for my boy.Since I got here, Mark and Grace created a WhatsApp group and they made it a habit to always send me short growth videos of Aiden and random picture they either took of him or either of them with him. Sometimes, it was even like they were competing on who spent more time with Aiden or who had more special moments with him.Mark had been the one to send the video I was currently watching, he captioned it, 'Grace's been away for a week which made me the first to witness the miracle.'Mark was at a park with Aiden. He had dressed Aiden in a cute bright blue onesie that made his eye color pop. Mark placed Aiden on the picnic mat he had set up and scattered toys around him.Then he did a thumbs up to the camera and walked about sis steps away from him."Hey boy!" He called and I laughed softly when
Sydney's POV"Lucas," I called in a shaky voice. "Why are you pointing a gun at me?" I know I should feel less terrified of the guns that were pointed at me because Lucas had showed up but it was quite the opposite. I felt even more terrified at the sight of him.My eyes pricked with tears as I looked at the man before us. He was a total stranger, nothing about him seemed Iike the gentle demeanor of the man I fell for.Lucas didn't even register my presence or act like he had heard my question. He just turned to Luigi, his lips twisted unpleasantly in anger. He took a menacing step toward him and Luigi took hesitating steps back, preferring to have the gun pressed more firmly to his nape than be close to Lucas."What her you doing?!" His clenched fists shook as he finally bit out harshly. He wasn't facing me or talking to me but I flinched back in fright. I wondered how Luigi still managed to be in one piece there, he hadn't even blinked at Lucas' shout. I guess he must be used to it.