“How could you not tell me? How could you let me nearly die of embarrassment today?” Amanda screeched at her long-time best friend, Denise in anger. What added to her anger was the fact that Denise did not even seem remorseful, but was instead glaring at her with what suspiciously looked like irritation. Amanda took a minute to feel really sorry for herself. It was a pity that her life had had to come to this. If her father were still alive, she was very sure that she wouldn’t be treated so horribly by everyone who was supposed to love and take care of her. However, her father had decided to have a heart attack and die over five years ago, leaving her at the mercy of her wicked and heartless brother. Now, even her best friend, whom she had stood by through thick and thin all through these years, was beginning to act up. Actually, Denise had been acting up for quite a while now, but Amanda had chosen to turn a blind eye to that fact, hoping against hope that she was mistaken

Barry was finally discharged from the hospital after a long period of nearly two weeks. In that span of time, Derek nearly became a shadow of himself.It literally killed him to see the boy suffering so much and so needlessly. Thankfully, this new incident did not cause any complications in his condition. Derek could not help but feel guilty at having been the one to bring all of this upon Barry. Supposing he hadn't turned a blind eye to all the red flags that Denise had shown him in the past all in the name of being in love, then maybe the poor, innocent child would not be going through so much.He had had CCTV cameras installed in different strategic locations in his house so that he could monitor what was going on in there, and if possible, get some evidence against Denise.He’d be damned if he lost access to his son because of her, and he wasn’t above fighting dirty to get what he wanted. In the meantime, Denise had traveled because filming on the set had begun. Her being away w

The wind blew fairly strongly and ruffled Derek’s hair as he drove the five hours to the set location in his convertible. He could have flown down there, but he needed some time alone in silence, and this journey provided him with that.It necessary for him to be on the set, or even to show up at all, but he found himself making the journey anyway. He needed a break from everything and the long drive was giving him that much-needed break.However, deep within him, he knew the real reason why he had embarked on this trip, and it was because of Ava. For whatever reason, he could not get her off his mind, no matter how hard he tried and he had finally come to terms with this fact.His feelings for her grew stronger by the day, and were even now, much stronger than they had been after she disappeared.If she knew this, she would probably consider him a creep and make sure never to have to work with him again, which was why he was going to play it cool, at least for now.He got to the set,

That had been eight whole years ago and a lot of time had passed now, just as a lot of water had passed under the bridge. Derek was a stranger to Ava now, and that was all he would ever be, even if she ever told him about her daughter.“I have to go check out something. Later.” She said, making a hasty getaway from there before either of the men said something, thus leaving them alone together.It was the first time both men were alone in close proximity to each other in years, and the hostility between them was palpable enough for anyone watching them closely to feel.“So are you going to spend all day pouting? Come on. I’ll show you around.” Steve told Derek, extending his hand toward him, but Derek pushed the hand away irritatedly.“Stay the fuck away from Ava.”“And why on earth would I want to do that? She’s a lovely lady and she is exactly my type. I think that something may be brewing there.” Steve replied, his tone so mocking that it was all Derek could do not to drive his fis

"Look, it doesn’t matter. As I said before, it’s all in the past. Damn, you’re beginning to make me sound like a broken record.” Ava told him, making to walk past him, but he stepped in front of her, his gaze pleading.“Ava, please, tell me what you’re talking about. I’m not trying to justify my horrid behavior to you while we were married, but I also need to know what you’re talking about.”“It doesn’t matter,” Ava told him stubbornly.As much as she liked to think that she was over Derek … and she was actually over him, thinking about his betrayal and the callous way in which he had discarded her still stung a bit.“Please, Ava. I need to know.”“Fine, fine. Whatever. I’m talking about the text that you sent to me the night I caught you kissing Denise at the restaurant that night you asked for a divorce. It was your mother’s birthday and I organized a dinner date at the restaurant, but left early when we had a confrontation and I saw you and Denise ... well …” Ava trailed off.Derek