****
As soon as Kiandra managed to make it out of the hotel, she was faced with the reality that she didn’t have any money or phone as it was in a bag which she had left with Samantha.“Umm, excuse me, can I use your phone?” she asked a passerby. Thankfully, the person was nice enough to give Kiandra their phone.She and Samantha had mastered each other’s number in case of situations like this. She quickly dialed her best friend’s number, and the latter picked up on the second ring.“Hello Sammy, it’s me, Kia,” Kiandra informed her friend.“Kia!” Samantha exclaimed. “Where the hell have you been? I have been worried sick about you. I’m already headed to the police…”“Sammy, you can talk to me when you see me face to face. I’m at the hotel where the club is, please, come and pick me up,” Kiandra requested.“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Samantha said, and she hung up.“Thank you,” Kiandra said to the passerby and they left. She then made her way over to a bench, and she sat on it waiting for Samantha to pick her up.Just like the latter had said, she arrived in twenty minutes with Tate. She got out of the car and rushed to where Kiandra was sitting.However, before Samantha could say anything, Kiandra spoke up. “No words please, I’ll explain when I get home.” Samantha thankfully understood and she didn’t say anything else.On getting back to Samantha’s house, Kiandra found her mother waiting for her with some police officers. “What’s going on?” Kiandra probed.“Your mother here came to file a complaint that you were kidnapped by these people,” one police officer said.“That’s not true, sir,” Kiandra immediately debunked the false allegation. “I’m eighteen and I chose to move out of her house,” she added before her mother could say anything.This was the moment she finally accepted that her mother was a terrible woman who would never change and she was done with her.“That’s not true, officer. This girl’s father came to my house and pointed a gun at me, so he could kidnap my daughter.”Kiandra laughed, shocking her mother and everyone there. “Officer, this woman is wasting your time. If anything, she and her boyfriend have tortured me in her house and I’m sick of it. Is there a way I can file a complaint against her, so she goes to jail for what she has done to me?” she asked.“What are you saying?” Her mother asked her while secretly glaring at her not to say anything more.The officer who was smart immediately put two and two together and he had come to figure out what was going on. “Yes, you can.”“That’s good then,” Kiandra said, and she started to walk inside her house, ignoring her mother’s scream and she was being arrested for wasting the police’s time.“Good morning, Nana,” she greeted Samantha’s grandmother. She was expecting a scolding for making everyone worry, but she was shocked when she was pulled in for a hug by the old woman. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Nana said.Samantha entered the house at this point and she locked the door. “Now, are you prepared to tell us what happened?” Samantha asked.“You were there sitting at the bar one minute and in the next minute, you were gone.”Kiandra took a deep breath, as it was going to take a lot of courage to relive all that had happened to her.“Oh my goodness, it’s all my fault for taking you to the club,” Samantha said as she broke down in tears after Kiandra was done.“No, you were just trying to cheer me up. I should have been careful about what happened.”“So, what do you intend to do now?” Nana asked Kiandra calmly. There was no point in getting mad at the girl.If anyone was to be blamed, it was her granddaughter for forcing the girl to sneak out to go to the club when Samantha clearly knew that Kiandra was naïve and innocent and her not keeping an eye on them.“I just want to forget about the entire ordeal. I’ve already lost my virginity to Lucas Valencia, and there’s nothing I can do about that. Let’s just move on,” Kiandra declared.“Nana, are you going to tell dad what happened?” Samantha asked in fear.“So he can kill you?” Nana scoffed. She knew her son-in-law well enough to know that he wouldn’t spare his daughter.As loving as he was, he wasn’t soft when it came to discipline, as that was the lifestyle of those who belonged to the Army. She didn’t want to imagine what he would do to Samantha if he found out about this. “Let this be our little secret.”Samantha heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing what her grandmother said. “So it’s decided we’ll not speak about this incident ever again. In fact, it never happened.”The three women all nodded in agreement as they immediately closed what had happened to Kiandra out of their minds.Little did they know that life had other plans in store for them and that no matter how much they wanted to forget all that had happened, it would never happen as Lucas had left an unforgettable piece of himself inside Kiandra.****The light finally hit Lucas'face to a point where he wasn’t able to ignore it anymore.This made him groan as he wanted to continue sleeping, but he couldn’t. He slowly opened his eyes and stretched his hand to look for his phone.When he was unable to find it, he lifted his head. Looking at the bedside clock, he jerked up when he saw that it was already twelve o’clock in the afternoon.What the heck?! Why did he sleep for so long? And why didn’t Liam wake him up? They were supposed to leave for home two hours ago.Lucas immediately got up and that was when he discovered he was naked. He instinctively turned to the bed to look at the girl he had spent the night with, but to his surprise, she wasn’t there.The memories of what had happened the previous night hit him, and he sighed. They both had been drugged and so they couldn’t control their urges and they got intimate.He cursed himself for not having self-control, as he had ended up taking the girl’s innocence from her. Wanting to clear his head to think of what he would do next, he headed into the bathroom to wash himself.After clearing his head, he got out and got dressed. As soon as he finished getting dressed, he heard a knock on his door. He didn’t have to guess to know who was at the door. Liam was like a fly who always hovered around him and refused to let him go. “You’re finally awake,” Liam said after Lucas had opened the door.“You were here earlier. Why didn’t you wake me up?” Lucas asked. He had thought he was dreaming when he sensed Liam staring at him but it appeared he was not.“It’s one of those rare days when you actually sleep in. I couldn’t wake you up,” Liam shrugged casually.“Looks like you had an eventful night,” He commented with a smug look on his face as he was referring to what had happened between Lucas and Kiandra.“I was drugged,” Lucas informed Liam, and the look on Liam’s face immediately turned to a serious look.“I thought we agreed not to drink anything at the club, so what happened?” He asked and Lucas narrated all that happened.“So, what are you planning to do with the girl?” Liam asked curiously.“I don’t know. It would have been easier if she had stayed back and asked for something in return for her silence, but she didn’t,” Lucas replied.If Kiandra had tried to cause a scene, then he would have threatened her and then offered money for her silence or he would have killed her if she wanted to be difficult but she did none of those things and he wondered why.He too, just like Liam, was baffled at the fact that the girl he had slept with disappeared before he woke up. This was a first and so he didn’t know what to do.“What about the guy who drugged her?” Liam asked out of curiosity.“He’s probably dead and surely not my problem anymore,” Lucas replied, and Liam chuckled.“But seriously, what are you going to do about the girl?” Liam went back to the pressing issue at hand.“If she left before I could wake up, it’s because she wants nothing to do with me, and that’s more than fine by me!” Lucas finally came to a decision. He already had a dysfunctional family. The last thing he needed was another trouble in the form of the girl.“I’m closing this chapter and erasing her from my mind. She, just like the others, never happened.” And just like that, just as he had said, he removed Kiandra from his mind and out of his life.“Well then, let’s get going. I want to return home,” Liam said cheerfully.Life, however, had other plans. While the two people had decided to let it go, there was someone who wasn’t on the same page as them****The guard rushed to a quiet place, as he didn’t want anyone to hear the conversation he was about to have. He was none other than the guard who had taken Thomas out.He was one of the guards hired to protect Lucas and Liam upon reaching the city.He had, however, received another offer from an unknown woman who offered him half a million to keep an eye on Lucas Valencia. Seeing that such a big thing had happened, he knew he had to inform the woman.He brought out his phone and made a phone call. The receiver picked up on the first ring.“What did he do there? Has any woman gotten into his bed?” The receiver asked straight to the point.“One woman, his former girlfriend Lola, drugged him and tried to sleep with him, but she was unsuccessful. Mr. Valencia has taken care of her,” the guard informed the receiver.“Anything else?” The receiver asked impatiently.“There was another woman who, however, pretended to be a damsel in distress and she managed to make her way into his bed,” the guard informed her.“Damn it!” The receiver cursed. “Lucas is mine, and only mine. Find her and kill her. You’ll get another half a million,” she instructed the guard, and immediately disconnected the call.The receiver, after disconnecting, then broke the phone and gave it to one of her men to get rid of it.“Lucas Valencia belonged and had always belonged to her. She had gotten rid of everyone who had caught his attention, and this woman wasn’t going to be an exception.”****Three months later.“I can’t believe we’re going to start college soon,” Samantha said in excitement.“Hmm,” Kiandra replied distantly.“You know, I’m so glad that we both managed to get into the same college. Our dream is coming through. After this, we’ll find men get married, have children together and grow old,” Samantha continued.“Hmm,” Kiandra replied in the same distant tone.“I’m a dragon with six heads,” Samantha stated, to see if Kiandra was listening to her.“Hmm,” Kiandra said once more. At this point, it was obvious that Kiandra wasn’t mentally there.Samantha walked up to Kiandra and touched her on the shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts. “What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”“Nothing important,” Kiandra answered.Samantha was, however, not buying it. “I can tell that something is wrong. You’ve been acting distant for the past few days and you keep on zoning out whenever we have a conversation.”“Oh,” Kiandra reacted. “I didn’t realize.”“What’s going on?” Samantha asked once again.“Well, I don’t know how to explain it,” Kiandra started, and she scratched the back of her head nervously.“Just put it any way you can,” Samantha urged Kiandra.“I haven’t seen my period for three months now and I feel dizzy and sick sometimes, especially in the morning,” Kiandra voiced out.It took Samantha a few seconds to realize what Kiandra was trying to insinuate. “Are you kidding me?” she asked Kiandra, and the latter shook her head. “This is bad. You can’t possibly be pregnant.”“He didn’t use protection that night,” Kiandra informed Samantha, and she bit her lips as she realized that the situation was bad.“Shit!” Samantha cursed as she realized that she should have made Kiandra take the morning-after pill, but with Kiandra asking her not to bring up the incident again, she let it slide.“We have to be sure whether or not you are pregnant,” Samantha said. “You wait here. I’ll rush to the store to go get you a pregnancy test kit.”Samantha stood up immediately after she said this and she headed to the store to get a pregnancy test. She did so as fast as she could and she returned to Kiandra.“Here, I bought two, so we can be sure,” she said, handing over the packages to Kiandra. “Now go use it!” she urged her friend.Kiandra felt her heart pounding in her chest as she walked into the bathroom. She desperately prayed to be wrong about being pregnant.She couldn’t even take care of herself. How was she supposed to take care of a baby? There was no way she would be a good mother to the child. On getting to the toilet, she tore open the packet and followed the instructions written on it. Meanwhile,.Samantha anxiously waited for Kiandra to come out and tell her what was happening. The door opened after ten minutes, and Kiandra came out. Samantha quickly rushed to her. “Well, what did it say?” she asked.“That I’m pregnant,” Kiandra answered in a distant voice as she was still trying to come to terms with reality,
Samantha quickly rushed to Kiandra who had lost consciousness and she froze when she noticed blood coming from Kiandra’s legs. Samantha got out of her shock and she rushed to the phone to call an ambulance. After speaking with the officials, she rushed back to Kiandra. “Everything will be fine. The paramedics will be here soon. Just hold on,” she said, even though Kiandra couldn’t hear her…****“It’s been a week already, why haven’t you woken up?” Kiandra heard Samantha say to her. What was her friend rambling all about? She wondered as she opened her eyes.“Kiandra, oh my God, you’re finally awake,” she heard Samantha squeal. “Hold on, let me get the doctor,” she said and ran out of the room. There was silence after and Kiandra tried to sit up.The door opened once again and Kiandra heard footsteps approaching the bed where she was laying on. “Please don’t move,” she heard a doctor say and he started to check her vitals.“What happened?” she asked in a hoarse voice.“You were unco
“So, what do you want to do when we get home?” Kiandra engaged her daughter as she started to walk out of the airport.“Do you want to see our new house?” Kiandra continued to speak even though there was no response from Zendaya.“Taxi!” Kiandra flagged the car down.“Park,” she heard her daughter say after they entered the taxi. The voice was like a whisper, and it was as though she was compelled to speak.People who didn’t know Zendaya would think she was mute, but she wasn’t. She just only spoke whenever her mother was around, as she felt most comfortable with Kiandra.“You just got there. Don’t you want to rest?” Kiandra asked, and Zendaya shook her hand.“I want to go to the park,” she repeated. "Not now, honey, you'll go some other time," Kiandra told Zendaya before giving the driver instructions on where to take them.When they got to her apartment, Zendaya entered and immediately went to lie on the couch and she sighed loudly. Kiandra rolled her eyes as she could tell that
****“Where are we going?” Liam asked Lucas for the umpteenth time. The latter had called him over to the parking lot of their company only for Lucas to drag him into his car.“We are going to see someone,” Lucas finally answered.“Who?” Liam probed.“Justin Gerano,” Lucas answered, and he stepped on the accelerator."Ahhh!" Liam groaned as the beef between Lucas and Justin wasn't something he wanted to be a part of.The two men were egotistical idiots who were always trying to triumph over one another. Liam sighed as if it was his fault for introducing them to one another that fateful night in the bar.What had started out as a celebration turned out to be a competition as someone dared the two men to see who would pass out from drinking too much alcohol. It was a statement made as a joke but for Lucas and Justin who viewed everything as a competition, they didn't take it the same way.The end result was that both men had to be carried to their cars after consuming about six bottles
After leaving the park and boarding a taxi, Kiandra finally had the chance to examine her daughter for any injuries. To her relief, apart from Zendaya’s clothes which were soiled in the sand, there were no injuries sustained.Her daughter had a low immunity which meant that it wouldn't have been pleasant if she had sustained a cut which got infected.“I was only gone for ten minutes, so what happened?” She inquired from her daughter. It was still baffling to her as to how Zendaya ended up in Lucas' hold especially considering the fact that Zendaya didn't like to associate herself with strangers.Zendaya didn’t answer her mother’s question. Instead, she crossed her hands and with a frown on her face, she said. “I don’t like Jayden,” she pouted.“The young boy?” Kiandra probed and Zendaya nodded. “Do you want to tell me what he did?”“No.” Zendaya shook her head and Kiandra decided not to push it as she didn’t want her daughter to get further upset. The rest of the ride was silent until
“Daira,” Liam exclaimed and he moved to hug her much to her displeasure. “I’ve missed you so much,” he said, and she squinted her eyes suspiciously at him. “You did?” she asked.“Of course. I have no other bimbo to trouble in my life and so naturally, I’d miss the only one I have,” Liam responded, and he watched as Daira became red with anger.“Lucas,” she cried as she walked up to him. Lucas, who didn’t want to be touched by Daira, turned and went to sit down. This was one of the reasons Lucas concluded that Liam hated her. To every other person, she acted rude to them but to him, she acted like she was a damsel in distress who couldn't protect herself.Liam despised two-faced people and so he always tried to bring out her real nature in front of Lucas. “Ignore him. He’s annoying,” Lucas said and Liam chuckled.“Tell him to go. I have something important to discuss with you,” Daira told Liam.“Well, you better get talking, as I’m not going anywhere,” Liam said as he made himself
Kiandra turned and left as she didn’t want to be further humiliated. When she got outside the man's office, she saw all the employees who were present giving her a sad look.It seemed they had heard everything that had happened in there and this only added to Kiandra's humiliation. Deciding not to pay any attention to their looks, she held her head high as she walked away from them to the elevator.As soon as she left the building, she immediately brought out her phone and called Samantha as she needed someone to vent to.“Are you that free that you have time to call me twenty minutes after you resumed?” Samantha asked jovially after she answered the call.“I got fired,” Kiandra told Samantha. If she didn't, the latter would have spent minutes urging Kiandra to tell her about her experience and this would only add to Kiandra's already sore wound.“What?!” Samantha screamed in school. “How?” she demanded an explanation, to which Kiandra didn’t hesitate to give.“Why is that bastard he
After Kiandra left him standing there, his mood was ruined and so he decided to go home instead of the office.He had just come out of the shower when his phone rang. He checked and saw that it was Spider calling him.“I sent the information you requested for,” Spider told him, and Lucas hung up.He immediately got dressed and took his laptop, so he could read the information on Kiandra Aidan.Opening the file, he started to read it. There was nothing suspicious about her life prior to graduating from high school.However, Lucas found whatever happened after, suspicious. In the report, it says she traveled prior to her eighteenth birthday, and she somehow became pregnant with her daughter, Zendaya.There was nothing however in the report about who the father of Zendaya was. There were no pictures, no name, and no evidence of who the father was.The fact that Kiandra didn’t even have a boyfriend all through her high school days made it difficult to ascertain who he was.And what was ev