LOGINOlivia Barnett POVI was surprised. I didn’t know that he was eavesdropping. What did he hear? Did he hear us talking about Daisy?“Josh!” I cried in surprise.But what was astounding was the way he copied my earlier reaction when I confronted Grandpa Jonathan.“What? Not being cautious today?”He even used the exact same word I used.He really did eavesdrop on us.My cheeks felt like there was an ongoing fire in there. I was stumped, frozen on the spot, unable to speak. Tongue-tied.There are certain moments in the years that I had known him that J
Olivia Barnett POV"Grandpa!" I cried askanced. "What do you plan for me to do?"Granda beckoned with his hand and I pulled my chair to lean closer to his bed."Make my grandson jump on loops." He whispered.I stared at him, trying to gauge his mood. His clear, direct eyes told me he was serious.My eyes grew a little wider in disbelief."You wanted me to make things hard for Josh? He is your grandson. Your flesh and blood."But nothing could dissuade Grandfather when he sets his mind unto a task."The triplets are also my flesh and blood. I want their father to be worthy
Olivia Barnett POVMy brows arched. “Five years? You only hurt me five years ago?” I tried to make it light. After all, time has a way of making us see the past in perspective. Besides, we had been arguing all day and all night about this. It’s time for a break. Josh seemed to understand where I was coming from. His chuckle made the whole situation lighter. Everyone felt relieved.Josh, and especially the children, looked relaxed, too.And my boy. Leo looked like he was the first person who needed a resolution from both his parents. Among my children, he seemed to be the most affected, having been born a male. He took it upon himself to grow up so fast. At four years old, he already understood the concept of protecting his siblings and me. “Right. I hurt you even before that.” He agreed, nodding his head.I nodded, too because if my memory serves me right, Josh hurt me long before he married me. But I can’t pin all the blame on him during those times. I believed I was partly to
Olivia Barnett POVSince I came back here with the children, he never failed to protect me. He had been proud in announcing to anyone who cared to listen who I am to his life. Not just as the mother of the children, but his wife.My breath hitched.Words got stuck in my throat.I stared at Josh and was shocked to find that he was staring right into my face.I bit my lip in a sudden attack of nervousness.Not because I was moved all of a sudden, but more because in all honesty, I really don’t know what to do or how to react.“Just kiss him, please, babe!” Lucy shouted from our table. She was smiling. Her ey
Olivia Barnett POVOur entire conversation had been cut off when Lucy called me.“Hey, the kids are dying for their ice cream, so I already let them order. What has been taking you so long?” The intrigue in her voice was unmistakable.She even tailed it with a laugh that was meant to embarrass me.“We’re coming,” I told her in a serious tone. My hand reached for the pull handle to open it. I hurriedly got out.I was already walking to the entrance of the ice cream house when I heard Josh’s footsteps behind me. He snagged my hand and linked our fingers together.I would have protested, but he was begging me. “Please. Just let me hold your hand for a while.”Something in his tone made me relent. We walked toward the entrance holding hands. It would have been just a normal act. Two people entered an establishment with their fingers interlaced, but I had forgotten that the man beside me was no ordinary man.He commands attention as the sole heir of the Sterling conglomerate.His face was
Olivia Barnett POVWhat is he playing at?Why is it that he was still in possession of my ring after all these years? Don’t tell me he had clung to it. For what? Remembrance?“Wow! The rock is big!” Zoe’s eyes grew large when the diamond twinkled in the light cast by the moonlight.“Let me see,” Ivy said and scooted closer so she could look more closely.“That is the ring I gave your Mommy when I married her,” Josh told the children, and they all looked awed.“It’s even bigger than the ring Uncle Zeke gave you.” Leo announced, causing his father to look at me with that hated smug smile of his.
Olivia Barnett POVSince we got out of immigration, I kind of felt queasy. I feel as if someone's watching me, but when I looked around, I saw no one paying attention to me. Everyone is busy and has their own concerns.Still, the feeling persisted that I had to clutch at my children’s hands tighte
Olivia Barnett POV“Mommy! I am hungry!”“Mommy! I don’t want the aisle seat!”“Mommy! I need to pee!”I looked exasperatedly at my three demanding children and sighed.I took a long, deep breath to calm myself.We had just gotten inside the plane that would carry us from London Heathrow to John F.
Olivia Barnett POVWhile inside Zeke’s car, I stroked my ring absent-mindedly. The pad of my thumb glided to the diamond. Until now, I could not believe that he would propose, and I would accept.Since I left New York five years ago, Zeke has become the one on my side.I remember another ring, my
Josh Morgan Sterling POVI raised my champagne glass in the air, faced the crowd of employees, investors, business partners, and clients of Sterling Enterprises over the years, and made a toast.“To all the years of success! To Sterling Enterprises!”The crowd chimed with me. There was a look of ad







