“Talk about F*ck luck.” Leonica groaned under her breath as soon as she had returned home and discarded her car keys in some weird corner of her living room.Now pacing back and forth, hands running through her hair every thirty seconds, she couldn’t help but ponder how lucky she had gotten today.Gabriel seemed almost too sure about the result, yet it had turned out this way. If he wasn’t smart to see what was happening despite his 158 IQ, then she was. It was obvious someone had tampered with the test result.No doubt.Now a few candidates came to mind, Angelina included, but as quickly as they had come, they all faded into black spots with no proof, leaving her with a sense of dread by not knowing if this person who tampered with the result was a friend or foe.The former, she hoped as she walked towards her phone and looked for her parents number. She found it relatively quickly, her mother’s to be precise.The phone rang for no less than a second before it was answered.“Leo, how
The next few days after her encounter with Gabriel had been blissfully uneventful.Seating in the confines of her parent's outer garden, Leonica gently sipped on the tea Benjamin had just brought back from Malaysia, while watching various beautiful butterflies hover around the flowers.Delightful, couldn't even grace how she was feeling. For the first time in a month and a half since Leonica had returned to Norway, she felt truly at peace.Gently sighing out, Leonica placed the tea cup down and smiled as she caught wind of small feet meandering down her way in a Sprint. It wasn't long before her lower body on the chair was engulfed by Ashely's hug."Mommy," The younger boy called out, tone somewhere between a whine and adoration for his mother."What have I warned you About running, Ash?" His mother asked, scooping him from the ground and into her laps. "Hm?""I...I wasn't running!" He quickly tried to defend.However, the moment those words left his mother, another figure stepped int
Arvan left shortly after his little speech of re*ssurance, promising to watch after the kids while she stayed back and settled a thing or two with Gabriel.Chloe was dismissed as he crossed over to the opposite side of the road to chase after the kids, and now that they were alone, Gabriel wasted no time in speaking.“So this is how you do it?” His gaze remained trained on the direction Arvan had gone and if not for the vague and confusing question he had just spoken, Leonica would also have been staring off in that direction.“What?” Her brows narrowed in confusion as her eyes found his side profile.It didn’t take Gabriel long before he peeled his gaze away from the empty spot, shifting his body so that he could face her completely.“Is that how you got to win your previous project? By using him? His connections?”“What?” Leonica repeated, even more confused now. However, a mental image of Gabriel’s words, or rather, a mental understanding of Gabriel’s words began to form in her hea
All at once, different thoughts filled Leonica's head, her eyes clouding with tears at the scene while her legs threatened to give out from beneath her.But she didn't give in to their urges, instead, she took shaky steps towards her unconscious son. Dulling out Daisy's cries for her friend and Arvan's voice saying incoherent words, she gently sank to her kneels, careful not to shake Ashely's body too much as she cradled him.In the background, Gabriel had just finished calling the nearest hospital and no less than five minutes later, an ambulance arrived at the scene, prying Ashley out of Leonica's hold, to which she bitterly allowed.Gabriel who was just as shaken up by the situation, turned his eyes away from the ambulance for a second, fixing it on Leonica who looked very much like she was about to have a panic attack and break down at the same time.His feet moved quickly, without his consent, even with his content, he wouldn't have stopped, and in seconds, he was beside her, cat
"From here on out, subsequent treatments would be carried out to endure the boy has a speedy recovery and for that to happen," Doctor Bailey glanced down at the clipboard in his hand, reading through the words of his superior, or better yet, the person who had carried out the operation and examination on Ashley, before facing Leonica, who was eagerly awaiting his continuation. "The hospital needs the boy's biological father to sign an agreement and be brought in for an examination."As the last of those words rolled off his tongue, Leonica's expression flat out fell."What?""An examination needs to be carried out on the boy's biological father, as well as he signing agreements approving the treatment. Your signature of course would also be needed." Doctor Bailey explained once more, unaware of the effects his words were having on Leonica.Ashely's father...oh cheery F*cking Christmas.First her son gets into an accident and now she has to involve his freaking father.Just the thought
"And that should round up the last of our examinations." Doctor Bailey announced as he stuffed the last of Gabriel's blood samples into a test tube and had it properly secured. Grabbing a clipboard, he nudged it in Gabriel's direction. "Now, all you have to do is sign here, here and here," He pointed at the different places, even having to flip the paper over at some point. "To prove that you gave your consent and permission for the treatments Ashely is going to be receiving."Gabriel rolled down the last of his sleeves and fixed his wrist buttons, before he reached for the clipboard and offered pen. Taking a brief moment to read through it, he lifted the pen and penned down his signature on the places Doctor Bailey had pointed to, after which he returned the clipboard to the waiting doctor."Perfect!" Doctor Bailey exclaimed as he received the signed agreement, tucking the pen in his coat pocket. "That's all for now. If anything were to come up, I'll be sure to contact you. You can l
“So,” Leaning back in the chair he was currently seated in, Gabriel fixed his gaze on Leonica who sat across from him, hands arranged neatly in front of her. “Where do you want to begin?”Leonica remained quiet at his question, gaze darting anywhere but where he sat. It had been like that for the past five minutes ever since they had entered the restaurant a floor below.Anastasia, being the kind soul she is, had offered to watch Ashley along with Christian, who was already in the child’s room, when Gabriel had demanded the two talk.And now, here they were, seating across from each other, one refusing to look at one in the eyes, while the other was sternly demanding explanation for several questions.If one didn’t know better, they could be mistaken for a couple going through a tough divorce period.“I have nothing explain to you.” Leonica finally spoke, but still refused to look Gabriel in the eyes.“Nothing?” He tilted his head to the side, catching her gaze. “At all?”“Is there so
Those words felt like a sweet, yet poisonous drink being served to her, because no matter how dreamy they sounded, in the end, she was going to end up getting hurt.Hurt by getting her hopes up.Hurt by believing his words.Hurt by allowing feelings she had buried resurface.But what if those words weren't fake?That one fleeting question caused a bug in her system to spike, freezing her in her thoughts.Gabriel who had been holding her in his arms, felt her back go stuff against his chest. Maneuvering so he was now standing in front of her, the Noirette gazed down at her stiff expression, certainly thrown off guard by his question.But he wasn't joking.He meant every last one of the word he spoke."What's your answer, Leonica," He pressed in a whisper like tone, hot breath fanning her face when he leaned in close. "Would you?"Hearing his voice so close had done a good job enough to snap her out of whatever bug malfunction was going on in her mind, but the same couldn't be said for