Chapter 1
My heart was racing! “What did you just say?”
“I want a divorce!” Nickolas repeated.
I was stunned and shocked. Just last night we had made love and slept in each other's embrace, and now this evening he is asking me for a divorce. “Why?” I demand.
Nickolas reached into his briefcase and pulled out an envelope. He slid it across the kitchen table that had been separating us. I reached out with a trembling hand and retrieved it. As I opened it to see the words Divorce Agreement. Again I looked at him in shock. “Why? What happened?”
He sneered at me. “Aria, are you so dumb that you wouldn’t think I would find out?” And then he stormed off.
I fell into the chair and stared at his retreating figure. I don't know how long I sat there, but the sun was down and the house was dark. I finally wiped my tears off my stained cheeks and climbed the stairs to our room. I had hoped to find him there so he could answer me, but all I found was emptiness, just like my heart.
After glancing at the clock, I noted it was 2 in the morning. Somehow I found the courage to pull a suitcase from the wardrobe and fill it with my clothes. Nickolas and I had been married six months, and in that time I hadn’t spent his money on clothes, so I packed the ones I brought with me, leaving behind gifts from him.
I went to the jewelry box and removed every last piece he had bought me, I was wearing, except my wedding band and engagement ring. I was having difficulty with them.
Nick and I had grown up together. I was eight when my parents brought me to a party and I met him. He was ten and that afternoon we became fast friends. All through school he and I were always together. He was my life, my very reason for breathing.
When my mom passed away during my first, year at university, Nick’s grandfather asked my stepdad for a marriage contract. At first he said no, wanting Nick and I to find love on our own, but as fate would have it, Nickolas had already bought me a ring and was more than happy to get engaged.
After we both graduated and started work in our companies, we finally set a date and became one. On our wedding night, I gave myself to him for the first time and sealed my love for him. For the last six months, our marriage was perfect. Or so I thought.
As I stood looking at my ring, I called my husband, but was heartbroken when a woman answered his phone. Was that why he wanted a divorce? Had he found another woman? Was I not enough for him?
After I caught my breath, I signed the papers, crossing out any settlement between us. I wanted nothing but the rings on my hand. I even left my phone, the very phone he gifted me on our wedding day with the papers.
I took a taxi away from the villa and ended my marriage. I was in so much pain as I booked a room on a cruise line that morning. I figured no one would think to look for me on a boat. “Goodbye my love,” I whispered as the shore disappeared.
Eight years later
Aria Williams POV
“Nicky, stay right here while I wash Lexi’s hands,” I said to my son. We were in the family bathroom at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. “Liam, don’t you dare open that door!” I called out as my most mischievous triplet decided he wanted to leave.
Before I could stop him, both of my boys laughed and ran out the door. I turned the water off and picked Lexi up with one arm and grabbed the small takeon bag with the other. I raced out of the door, scanning the area for my little terrors.
“Nickolas! Liam!” I called out, but couldn’t see either of them. I started to panic and found a worker to call security for help.
Meanwhile elsewhere
Nicky and Liam weren’t paying any attention and were chasing each other through the crowd. The twins decided to play tag and were pushing and shoving each other as they caught one another. Nicky turned to dodge his brother and collided into a man in an elegant suit, spilling his coffee over his white shirt.
“What the,” the man started to say but quickly caught his words seeing two young boys.
“Mister Alexander,” Martin Jeffries said as he pulled the cup from his boss's hand. “Are you okay?”
Nickolas Alexander stood perplexed as he studied the miniature versions of himself. “Are you boys okay?” He asked, staring at them.
Liam nodded and shoved Nicky. “We are sorry Mister,” both greeted the man. Then looked around for their mom.
“If you forgive us, we will go find mommy now.” Nicky said and stepped away.
Nickolas followed the boys with his eyes and his feet soon followed. He kept a distance as the boys worked their way back the way they came. He stood near a pillar as a woman holding a little girl dropped to her knees engulfing them.
“Nickolas and Liam Williams, you are both grounded for running off like that!” I exclaim in relief. I looked at the security agent. “I found them, thank you for your help.”
The guard excused himself after scolding the boys about strangers and the dangers of running away. I made Liam put his hand in my left jacket pocket and Nicky in my right before heading to the luggage claim.
Nickolas Alexander’s POV
I was just returning to Atlanta, Georgia after a business meeting in Dallas, Texas. ANLAW Tech had agreed to meet with my subsidiary tech group tomorrow and I wanted to meet the acquisition team in person. Just as I sipped my coffee I was blindsided by a set of twin boys who looked just like I did when I was little. I was stunned silent as they rushed away.
I had questions about who they were, so I followed them, thinking I might bump into a long lost cousin. To my absolute shock I spotted her. My wife was there tending to the boys and she had a little girl who was Aria’s mini.
I became speechless. Eight years ago, after I returned from a late-night meeting, I found Aria had signed the papers and left the mansion. When I noticed she refused my settlement I tried to call her to ask her what type of game she was playing. I was generous enough to give her ten million for each month we had been married and the house we lived in. If she wanted more she was sadly mistaken. I had torn up the papers and stormed out of the room.
When I called her, I heard her phone ringing and turned to see it on the table. It hit me that my gold digging, cheating wife had actually left. I rushed up to the master closet and saw all the gowns and branded suits I purchased for her were still there. I noticed the armoire open and contained every piece I had ever gifted her.
I called her assistant to discover that she had taken a leave of absence. So I instructed my staff to find her. Sadly she had disappeared.
Now today she was suddenly here and with children who looked like me. Could it be that she was pregnant back then? Did she run away because she didn’t know who the father was? The questions started to stack in my head.
“Martin, I want you to find out everything you can on Aria Williams. I want every minute of the last eight years of her life and I want it yesterday.” I snapped at the man next to me.
“On it, sir.” Martin replied.
If we had not been in the airport I might have confronted her, but I didn’t want my children, if they were in fact mine, to have a bad first impression of me. So I watched the family leave and get into an awaiting car. I left the airport angry and tense.
After I arrived at my penthouse apartment, I open a bottle of whiskey and called Jett, my best friend. I needed a friend right now to help me make sense of what just happened.
“Jett, it was her. She was there with three kids. The boys were identical twins that looked like me, and the little girl looked just like her but with my blue eyes.” I said as I paced in front of the floor to ceiling windows.
“I don’t know what to tell you, man. But now you can finally get divorced and propose to Selene.” Jett said in a reassuring tone.
Selene Johnson was the woman who my mom introduced me to eight years ago. I have no impression of her that makes me think I would be happy. My mom keeps urging me to commit, but I can’t. I keep seeing Aria kissing that man as he led her into the hotel, and I hear her telling him that she would have my money soon enough. It left me dead inside towards all women. If I couldn’t trust my best friend then how could I trust a stranger?
“How many times do I have to tell you that there is nothing between Selene and I.” I growled.
Jett raised his hands and waved me off. “Not according to her or your mom. They are picking out her colors as we speak.” Jett laughed as he patted my shoulder. “Tell me about these kids? Do you think they are yours?” Jett suddenly became serious.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and showed him the pictures I snuck of the kids. “You tell me,” I said with a sigh.
The more I thought about Aria giving birth to my kids and not telling me, the angrier I became. How dare she keep them from me!
“Damn, man. Those boys are you. You don’t need a DNA test to see that you fathered them.” Jett argreed.
“I called Paul Norman and set up a meeting with him for tomorrow. He is the best family law attorney in the state.” I nodded looking at Aria hugging my sons. I saw the relief in her eyes when the little ones appeared in front of her.
“What are you going to do?” Jett sipped his drink.
“I am going to divorce her and get full custody of my children. The heirs to the Alexander family will never be raised away from me. And I will make sure Aria never sees them again.” I was still angry that she hid my children from me.
“That is kind of cold,” Jett shrugged. “Maybe you should talk to her before you slam her with court papers.”
“Talk? Did she talk to me after cheating on me? Did she talk to me when she gave birth to my kids? Did she talk to me over the last eight years? No, Jett. The time for talking has passed.”
