~SIERRA~I woke up to the sound of my alarm. I had set an alarm because I knew I would oversleep. I walked straight to the bathroom. I absentmindedly removed my clothes and went under the shower. My mind was on Gilbert—he confessed to being in love with me last night. How did I miss all that over-respect in the name of professionalism? It was right in my face. How could a man be this kind and loving towards me and my children? He always loved me, but he was never honest about it.I was now done with the shower. I dried my body with a towel, then walked to my wardrobe. I didn't bother checking the time as I was not running late; I only wanted to get to the office to escape Gilbert. I couldn't face him after his confession.
~SIERRA~I pulled my hands out of Nana's hands and said, “I have to go.” I didn't want to have this conversation.“I know, you will go once we are done, it will just take a few minutes,” she said, and I couldn't be crazy and insist on leaving.“Nana…”“Listen to me first,” she said then took my hands. “Gilbert told me he loves you,” she said, and I shook my head. "I mean, I've always known the day in the hospital—on your labor day, the way he acted gave it away, he behaved like he was the father of the kids,” she spoke with a smile on her face."Nana, please, Gilbert is a good friend.”“That's what he disguised himself to be, as he knew telling you would make him lose you.”"No, I...” I stood up.“Listen to me, Sierra,” Nana stood up too. “I know you've been hurt, that's why you built that around yourself.”“I didn't build anything around myself.”“You know what I'm talking about, Sierra. Because of the way Damian treated you during your marriage, you believe men are the same.”“I can
~SIERRA~He smiled and said, “You look surprised to see me.” He played with the pencil in his hands.“How did you get in?” I asked and walked towards him.“The secretary asked me to wait for you here,” he said, “and this was the only comfortable seat.”I cleared my throat and said, "Okay, Mr. Fosters, right, if you are here to discuss the contract, then it's Mr. Winters you should be talking to or Ethan; I'm just a shareholder,” I said, hoping he would understand. I didn't have the energy to
~SIERRA~Damian scanned Alejandro before he turned to me, then to Ethan.“Mr. Winters, good morning, I’m actually...”“Didn’t Ethan tell you? Ethan, you didn’t tell him?” Damian turned to Ethan.“I did, he’s not here for the contract.”“Then why is he here?” Damian sounded cold. Well, I wanted to see what Damian was capable of doing—I mean, here he was acting all jealous when in our years together he never cared. Well, I don't know, as I never got a chance to go out without him.“I’m here to see Sierra,” Alejandro said.“You call her by her name?” Damian sounded surprised."Well, it’s what we used to call her back in school until she became this lady, sorry, I meant Ms. Reid.” Alejandro sounded stubborn."Well, this is an office, if you want to talk to Ms. Reid, then you should wait for her and not near my company,” Damian said. I noticed the frowns on his forehead."Oh, come on, is it that you have a little crush on her too?” Alejandro said, I could see Damian’s hands, which formed i
~SIERRA~I knew if Bruce saw me, he would tell Gilbert about Damian because, with the way Gilbert talked of Bruce, they seemed to be buddies—maybe even closer than Damian. I couldn't let Gilbert find out I was Damian's ex-wife, so I thought of an excuse, but Ethan ruined it."Hey, I'm still here. Can we go for coffee?” He shouted, and Gilbert heard it.“So that's why you pretended to be in a hurry, you could have told me you were s
~SIERRA~I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Ethan seemed to be a good man, there was no way he would do such a thing, so I cleared my throat and said, “It might be a misunderstanding, talk to him about the employee, let’s see what he says.”“Oh Sierra, don’t tell me you are falling for him already,” Lily chucked.“What?”“You’re trying to find the good in him, Ethan might be an accomplice, but your brain just refuses to believe it,” she said, suspiciously looking at me.I cleared my throat. “All I’m saying is we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions now,” I said, standing up."Okay, sorry,” she said, raising her arms.“It’s okay,” I said and picked up my phone—it was time for me to start carrying a handbag, I thought to myself.“Is that why you’re leaving? I mean, it’s too early.”“Oh no, I have a dinner date.”“Uh…”“With Gilbert, my fiancé,” I said, as she sounded surprised.“Oh, alright, have fun, but if it’s dinner, isn’t it a little early?”“Oh yeah, it is. I want to have lunch with
~SIERRA~Maybe it was just in my head, with everything going on, I would understand—everyone was dangerous in my head, so I started the car, and surprisingly, the man didn't start his. I turned to Gilbert on the road and asked, “Where should I drop you?”“Back to the Winter's company, Lily wanted to talk to me,” he said, and I nodded. I drove back to the company, and even when I was sure the man was not following us, I still kept looking at the back. The ride was silent and only took us ten minutes to get there."Well, here we are,” I said as he looked lost in thoughts."Oh, thank you,” he said, and I nodded. “Can I get a hug as a goodbye?" He asked, and I shook my head. "Okay, that's fine, I'll see you tomorrow.”“Bye,” I said, and he got out. He waved as I drove out of the company parking lot. On the road, I couldn't help but think of the man at the cafe. It might be a coincidence, but from what the detective told me, it might be another person who wanted to hurt me. It might be him
~SIERRA~I didn’t know what to say. I looked at Gilbert, who was now in a thinking position—as if putting the pieces together.“Please tell him, Mommy, Uncle Damian looks like him.” Ingrid held my arm. I turned to her and sweetly smiled.“What did I tell you about people looking alike, Ingrid? It’s a coincidence,” I said, and she nodded."Yes, Mommy, but what I’m saying is that he looks like him just like I look like you, do you think he’s Nathan’s daddy?” "Okay, that’s enough, let’s eat.” Nana took Ingrid and helped her to her seat. I looked down, shocked and scared to face Gilbert. “Wow, this smells delicious,” Nana said, and looked up: “Oh my God, I didn’t know you could cook.”“Oh yes, I learned to cook because my parents were in love with food, so as soon as I turned six, they started teaching me how to cook,” Gilbert answered.“Does that mean you will teach us how to cook once we turn six?” Ingrid, being outspoken as usual, asked. She was sitting next to me, so I turned to her