Silent, unforgiving and strikingly gorgeous, Rylan Parker is a cold-hearted businessman. An intimidating CEO, perfectly fitted in tailored suits and with a soft side reserved only for his little daughter.
He can't afford to fall for anyone and defin...
"Bye, Mom!" I hung up and sighed. Everytime I talked to mom and dad, some part of me felt guilty about having the thing about our marriage hidden. Initially I had thought that after the one year would be over, I would let them know everything. Now that things had changed completely, I didn't know how to come clean.
I put the phone to charge before remembering that I hadn't seen Ava for some time now. It was a Saturday, so obviously we were at home but not Rylan. He had some meetings.
Deciding to check up on Ava, I made my way to her room. I stopped at her door and watched her as she struggled with her hair. Each time her attempt would fail, she would let out a huff. This went on for a few minutes before she noticed me.
"Mommy?" I walked in and gently combed her hair with my fingers.
"What are you up to?" She looked up with a troubled expression before holding up the brush for me.
"Can you do my hair?" She said, pouting a little.
"Of course I can. Come here." I sat down on her bed and she stood in front of me.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked while properly brushing the soft brown waves of her hair.
"Something cute. I want to look pretty." She put both of her hands on my lap.
"You are already so pretty, sweetheart." I said while parting her hair. This caught her attention as she looked up, excited.
"Really?" I nodded big.
"Really." Throughout the time I was doing her hair, she had an adorable grin on her face which automatically made me smile as well.
"There you go." I said, pulling out a few strands from the band. She ran to the mirror and by her face I could tell she was totally impressed with how she was looking.
"You look even prettier!" She let out a giggle before turning around. I felt like she wanted to say something but was hesitating.
"You want to ask something?" At my words she slowly walked back to me.
"Mommy…." I picked her up and placed her on my lap.
"Do you think Aiden will like me?" Okay, I wasn't expecting this. I stared at her for a second before smiling. Her cheeks had a pink tinge.
"Aww, does someone have a little crush?" Embarrassed, she stuffed her head in my chest.
"He is cute." She mumbled and I laughed at that. Yep, definitely a crush.
"Your Dad is not gonna like it!" I could imagine Rylan with a big frown plastered on his face on hearing about her innocent crush. Only thinking about his reaction made me chuckle.
"What?" She looked up at my face.
"Nothing, sweetie." Just then Rylan came in. I furrowed my eyebrows on seeing him. He was supposed to be back before lunch but not so early.
"Daddy! Look at my hair." Ava climbed down from my lap and did a little spin for her Dad. He crouched down in front of her and flicked her nose.
"You look beautiful, darling!"
"Mommy did it." At that he looked up and a slightly troubled look fell upon his face.
"Elena." He gestured with his head to step outside with him before leaving the room.
"Are you going to draw something?" I asked, looking at Ava who had by then taken out her sketchbook. She only nodded in response.
"Okay, then I'll leave you to it." I closed the door behind me and came outside where Rylan was impatiently pacing.
"What happen—" Well, I didn't get to complete my question.
"Liliana's here." I could only blink in response. Liliana, who?
My brain took some time to process and I was totally confused. Was it sudden or did I forget that she was coming today?
"What?" Rylan closed his eyes and sighed before grabbing me by the wrist.
"Come with me." I let him drag me down the stairs and to the hall where I saw a lady waiting. On hearing our footsteps she stood up and boy, was she gorgeous! She had green eyes which looked perfect with the olive tone of her skin. The brown waves of her hair fell graciously on her shoulders.
"You must be Elena. I'm Liliana." It was when she spoke that I realised that I had been staring at her.
"Hey! Uhh…I didn't know that you were coming today." Well I wasn't trying to make her uncomfortable. I was just confused because it was like two days back that Rylan told me all that. So I had failed when this meet-up just got planned.
"Yeah, I—It wasn't preplanned. I—I couldn't wait to meet my daughter." I successfully prevented myself from scoffing at her words but couldn't hold myself back from blurting what was on my mind.
"You waited six years." I saw her take in a breath at that.
"And I didn't want to wait anymore." She stared right back with a guarded expression.
"You don't mind me coming here, do you?" She asked with a softer expression.
"No, of course not. You're welcome here." I passed a small smile.
"Mommy!" We all looked up towards the stairs and saw Ava descending down them.
"Carefull!" Rylan warned as she took hurried steps down.
"Mommy…." She trailed off when her eyes fell on Liliana. Walking at a much slower pace she came and stood in front of me while looking at her.
"Who are you?" Ava asked Liliana while leaning against my legs. Liliana crouched down in front of her.
"I am Liliana. I—uhh I'm your dad's friend." I pressed my lips together, not quite understanding the sudden nervousness I was feeling.
"I'm Ava." She said after a few good seconds and took one step towards her.
"You're very pretty." Liliana said, smiling at her, almost grinning.
"Thank you. Mommy did my hair." My heart skipped a beat at that. It wasn't the usual happy feeling because she called me mommy. I felt guilty, somewhere, a little part of me felt it. I saw Liliana gulp before smiling again, this time a little forced. I stared up at Rylan on feeling his eyes on me. He was trying to assess me.
"Mommy?" I returned my attention back to Ava who was now tugging at my hand.
"Yes, sweetie?" I bent down to adjust the height difference.
"I was drawing this but it looks like a potato." She brought forward her sketchbook and from my guess she was trying to draw someone's face.
"Will you help me?" I couldn't help but smile at the cute pouty expression she had on her face. I definitely wanted to spend some time with her but it would have to wait for now.
"Sure, Sweetheart but not now. We have a guest at home and she is here to meet you." Ava quickly stole a glance of her and looked back at me with a frown on her face.
"But we met." Rylan too crouched down beside me.
"She's here to spend some time with you." Ava looked between both of us with an unsure expression.
"Will she play with me?" I looked at Liliana waiting for her to reply which she did.
"Of course I will play with you, sweetheart." Ava turned around at her words while Liliana took out a huge box of chocolates from the bag in her hand.
"Look what I got you, sweetheart." Ava's face lit up at it.
"This is my favorite!" She exclaimed while taking it from her.
"This is my favorite too!" Ava looked delighted at her words. As I felt a hand on my back, I looked up to see Rylan staring at me. I smiled and nodded at him. Was I giving him some kind of assurance, when I wasn't actually too sure about things any more?
*************************************
So my semester exams just got over and I've got some free time. Next update coming within 24 hours!! Enjoy this chapter till then! ❤️❤️❤️
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
