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.
Sydney's POVThose words ran in my head as if a sledgehammer was being slammed against the strongest iron wall in my head. Dong!The ringing wouldn't stop. I would have held my head but I was still bound.The forest was thrown into a fit of silence,even the music had drowned out. It was as if they were waiting for me to take it in.I started to think back to when Doris introduced Mark to me? Does Doris know about this? I wondered.Besides,how? How the hell was it possible that he wasn't Lucas. He looked like him,he spoke and behaved like Lucas, everything about him was as I remembered!I snapped my gaze to him and my voice quivered as I asked, "You must be lying!" I let out between gritted teeth at the both of them. "If you don't want me again,Lucas, just fucking tell me. Why come up with such a sick story."I could feel Luigi's gaze drilling into my temple and as I looked up at Lucas who was glaring at me, and a corner if his lips twitched from time to time."Look, it's okay, okay? I
At first, I flinched away, then I moved closer and flattened my palm on the small mound that I had thought was just a pile of sand. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I couldn't stop them from flowing freely.Now looking closely at it, I could see the weeds sprouting from the mound like they were mocking me. The sight felt like a dagger getting piercing into my heart.My chest hurt so much it was as if my heart had been wrenched out of it, and it was groaning from the loss of what it revolved around. That was exactly how I also felt, a hollow emptiness.All these years, I had been waiting for Lucas, hoping against hope that he was alive, and then he turned out to be...gone. I had fallen in love with him, allowed myself to be consumed by those feelings, only to start hating him again because I wasn't privy to the real truth— he had stopped existing a long time ago.The poor boy, Lucas, had only wanted to make friends and experience the simple joys that most take for granted. He wanted to
Sydney's POVDylan smiled smugly, his palm caressing my back until he stopped at nape. "Good girl…" he drawled. Then his grip on my nape tightened so hard that I almost winced in pain. He snarled, "And if it doesn't?"I smirked then as I bent to pick up the gun that fell, he had to release my neck. When he saw what I picked up, he growled, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" But that was all. He didn't attempt to snatch the gun from me. He just watched and waited to see what I was going to do.I held his hard gaze and took his hand. I placed the gun in it then I lifted my chin, baring my neck and made him press the gun to my throat. "I'm all yours," I purred, I pushed his hand so that the gun digs into my throat, slightly constricting my breathing, "If my love for you doesn't stand the test of time then do with me whatever you wish."He smirked and his eyelids slightly dropped as he trailed down my neck with the gun until his hands fell to his side. In an instant, he was grippi