Alexandrea's P.O.V

Axel Black is not your biological father.

The words just kept repeating in my head like a music on replay. I felt a mix of emotions within me, anger, pain, relief hurt and mostly satisfaction. I was satisfied because at least I knew he hit me so much because I was not his child. But I am hurt too, hurt because my mom never told me. What else don't I know? What else is she keeping from me? But who am I kidding? I didn't tell her my dad- No! Axel did not just hit me, he did way more than that.

"Alex, I'm sorry for not telling you. I didn't know how you would feel about it. I didn't want you to get hurt and I didn't want us to fight again because it seems like that's what we've been doing lately" My mom said breaking into tears while holding my hand. I was just seated on the couch, still and with no expression on my face.

"What happened? Who is my real dad?" I said, staring at the wall.

"When I was in my teens, about your age, I believed totally in there love. That can't come for me easily considering I was the only daughter of the rich Mr and Mrs Dwayne. I never had true friends because I was quiet and kept to myself and those that wanted to be my friends either wanted money or fame. Like other students, I hated school but I studied hard so I could leave with nothing to bring me back. Every day, after school, I always headed to a Cafe before going home to cool my head and take coffee" she said and I raised my eyebrow at that. She ignored me and continued.

"One day, as usual, I entered the Cafe and sat down then heard a male voice ask for my order. I ordered for black coffee, the usual without looking up from my homework and when the waiter came back to give me my coffee, I collected it from him then took a sip which I spat out the moment I saw him, Duncan Bridger. His beautiful hazel eyes were cover by long eyelashes with thick black eyebrows. Part of his long dark brown hair fell over his face as he used his index finger to brush it back. His smooth tanned skin made me want to lay in his strong arms and never leave and his-"

"-Okay, okay, I get it! He's hot and really good looking" I cut her off getting weirded out by the fact that my mom was describing this to me.
She just rolled her eyes at me and continued.

"Anyways, after I realized that I just spat coffee on him, I grabbed a napkin and started to wipe him while apologising frequently. He said it's okay but I kept on wiping his stained shirt. He grabbed my arm and I froze as I rose my head slowly to meet his pair of hazel eyes. He said something but I didn't catch it because I was memorizing his face, every freckle, every curve. And his lips-"

"Oh my God!! Mom!!" I said and she chuckled at me.

"So we parted ways that day and I couldn't stop thinking about him. We met up every other day after that to just talk about random things and life in general. Eventually, he asked me on a date and I gladly said yes. In the night, after the date, things went a little bit out of hand and we both got drunk. In the morning, I was naked under the sheets with no one beside me and there was a tray of black coffee and a letter apologizing for what he has done. It was the sweetest thing ever. We started seeing each other again and I learnt that he was the only male of four sisters from a poor background so he has to do numerous jobs to pay for his education. We started dating and I kept our relationship a secret for good reasons" she paused and took a deep breath as I reached for her hand and interwine it with mine.

"A few weeks later, my dad's business started to increase in number of losses. He decided to get support from another successful and strong company which was owned by the devil, Axel Black. In return for helping my dad, he wanted me. I blatantly disagreed and blurted my secret relationship with Duncan in the process and pleaded to get married to Duncan instead of Axel. My dad disagreed and said he would never go allow me to be in a relationship with someone from a low background then he told me that I was getting married to Axel whether I liked it or not. I threatened to run away with Duncan and the following day, Duncan was found dead in a car 'accident'. The car driving lost control and crashed into a truck, so they reported" my mom said in a shaky voice as she tightened her grip in my hand. I gave her hand a little squeeze and rubbed it gently.

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to" I said , getting worried.

"No, you need to know. " She shook her heads and took a deep breath "At first I believed it and I cried for days but then I gave it a second thought because I knew Duncan hardly took cabs, he always preferred buses and I knew my parents would go to any extent to get whatever they want. I eventually agreed to the marriage. Axel never touched me, he would buy me flowers and chocolates and leave me cute letters and I thought that maybe the marriage isn't that bad but little did I know it was the beginning of hell for me" she stopped again and wipe the tears that was running down her freckled cheeks. I used my other hand to rub her back while trying not to cry as well.

"I started to notice signs like throwing up virtually everytime, fatigue and other signs. I shook them off as minor sickness signs but when I didn't see my period, I already knew that I was pregnant with Duncan's child since Axel never touched me, you. I even sneaked to the hospital when Axel wasn't at home. I hid it from Axel and it was easy because I wasn't allowed to work, so anytime Axel came back from work, I would be sleeping so he wouldn't notice. The signs started to become obvious and my protruding stomach started to get noticed by him. The day he found out was when all this begun but he never even raised his hands at me. He only tortured me by blackmail became if the media found out I was pregnant for someone else, I would be labelled a slut and my family will be disgraced. So I did everything he would ask me to do, he didn't even care that another human was inside of me, he still asked me to wash his cars and make dinner for him in the midnight. He started to come home drunk and he would push me from the stairs at times. Honesty, it was a miracle, how you survived all of it. He never hit me until you were born" she said and shook her head bitterly as I bit my lip nervously.

"Till you were one year, he took car of you. Everything you needed and acted sweet to you that to never even noticed what was going on. Anytime I pissed him off, he would send you to your grandma and hit me like there's no tomorrow. And by the time you're back, we would stand by each other faking like a lovely couple" she sniffed, both of us were crying by now.

"So all this had been going on till I saw him hitting you that day?" I said as my lips trembled.

"Yes! I was terrified when I was you coming towards me with a big smile but the smile dropped when you saw him hitting me. You were so confident and brave that you hopped on his back and he flung you on the floor. You came again and begged him to stop hitting me and he stopped, for a minute before dragging you up to his room. You should have never interrupted that day, we would still be a lovely couple in your eyes and you would have had a normal life. I'm sorry for dragging you into this. Please forgive me" she cried as I pulled her into a hug while rubbing her back comfortingly.

"You didn't drag me into anything, I forgive you" I sniffed and whispered "I'm sorry too" I'm sorry for not being able to tell you. I'm sorry for not telling you that Axel did more than just hitting me. He did more than that...

"Alexandrea Dwayne!!!" A familiar voice which belonged to none other than Bex yelled from the front door unaware of what was going on inside. We jumped apart and she left for her room, feeling drained out while I wiped my face to get rid of the tears and I went to get the door.

"I told you to stop yelling!" I said as I opened the door

"Jeez! what happened to you? Who do I have to kill?" Bex said as she came inside and I was about to close the door.

"No one and where's Zoey?"

"She's coming and we will talk about this in the room" she said and landed on the couch while I watched Zoey carry a couple of bags while breathing heavily. She walked inside slowly and collapsed on the couch beside Bex and shooting her a middle finger.

"What? We agreed that I would drive and you would carry the bags! Do you have any idea how hard driving is?" Bex said to Zoey and they started arguing. I closed the door and the bags which seemed to be eight and took them upstairs after dividing it to two and they were still arguing.

"Look! I've taken the bags so can we just go upstairs" I said with a scratchy voice grabbing the attention of my best friends.

"Whose bones do I have to break? " Zoey asked standing up while Bex rolled her eyes beside her.

"I'll tell you everything when we get upstairs" I said grumpily and walked up the stairs while they followed, whispering about how grumpy I could get during my strawberry week. I landed on the bed and Bex sat on the floor. Zoey let out a scream immediately she entered my room as she scanned it furiously. Bex and I gave her confused looks while she freaked out.

"What the hell?? You bed is so unmade, study table has scattered books!! And look at your closet! Are you even human??!!! Ugghhh" She groaned and went to my study table and started arranging the books there "Why are your pencils scattered??!!! There's a reason you have a pencil case?!!!". She grumbled furiously as she shoved my pencils in the pencils case.

"Okay....." Bex dragged and went over to where the bags were and started to check it out. She threw two bags and me and the content flew about and scattered on my bed as Zoey shot Bex a piercing glare. Bex shot up immediately and picked up the things that flew about , putting them back in the bag.

I checked one of my bag which was filled with two sunglasses, a New York City hoodie and an hairband. How did they even know I needed one? I folded the hoodies and placed it in my closet in fear of being killed by Zoey then wore the hairband around my wrist. I left the sunglasses in the bag and put them in the closet too.

When everyone was done doing their things, I realized that Bex owned three bags and Zoey owned two which was filled with pink clothes and materials. The last bag was filled with junk foods, sweets, chocolates, a bowl of ice cream which Bex and Zoey swore would never give me and gum.

"Let's start!" Bex clapped and bounced on my bed while Zoey and I joined her on the bed.

"I'm starting!" Zoey squealed as Bex and I focused on her. "So....Eddy and I talked and we kind of sort of....." She hung as she blushed.

"What did you do?" Bex squealed impatiently.

"You kissed?" I guessed and Zoey buried her face in a pillow meaning I was right.

"OMG!!! What happened then?" Bex screamed.

"I just ran away because.it would be really awkward" she explained, in a muffled voice. After a few girly screams, Bex said hers too.

"Remember the date? With Lulu? Luke?" She asked and Zoey and I nodded eagerly.

"So...the date was mostly filled with him asking questions about you" Bex said looking at me.

"What! Me?!" I said bewildered.

"Yeah, other than that he was so sweet and he kissed me on the cheek at the end of the date! He was so sweet!! It was the best date ever!!" She screamed as we screamed with her. When it was my turn I told them everything that happened today and yesterday. I felt like Zoey deserved an explanation so I told her what Bex already knew. She was quiet throughout and didn't interrupt me.

"I'm so sorry" she said at the end and I started to feel uncomfortable. Because noticed this and changed the subject.

"So let's finish the movie from the other day....um... 'Me Before You', I'll grab the junk" she said and grabbed the junk then hopped back to the bed. We completed the movie and I felt Zoey giving me looks and glances and I started to regret telling her.

"I'm really sorry, I'm just feeling guilty" Zoey apologized and I smiled at her.

"It's fine. You never knew" I said.

"Wait....so you went on a date with Nick, last night?" Bex asked teasingly and I rolled my eyes.

"No! It was a friendly gesture and besides I like Eli not Nick" I said as we laid on the bed. I remembered our brief encounter before Bex and Zoey came.

"Ooooooh, Eli huh?" Zoey nudged me playfully and the tips of my ear turned pink. I noticed Bex was quiet and I glanced at her. She was in deep thought about something that disturbed her because of how twisted her face looks. Few minutes later, Bex and Zoey had to go because they kept getting call from their brothers and parents. I bid them goodbye and checked my mom to see that she was already asleep.

I checked the kitchen and met freshly made tacos as I took them and headed for my room. I did my assignment and snuggled up in bed after eating the tacos. As Zoey and Bex promised, I didn't even have a taste of the ice cream. I grabbed a novel from my bedside table and stared at the title, 'BROKEN' by fabulot, what a weird name for an author...

I opened the first page and Bex's handwriting caught my eye, The ZOLEXANDREA'S COPY. I chuckled quietly and begin to read the book. I didn't bother trying to sleep because I was starting to get used to my new sleep routine which was from 3:00am. I know, not healthy but what choice do I have?

Unknown P.O.V

I am an average looking man with a rogued look as I leaned against the bar and watched my son walk over to me

"Has the package been delivered?" I asked him as soon as he arrived.

"Y-yes" He responded with a shaky voice, terrified of me which satisfied my inner ego. He had always yearned for fatherly love and he never got it but now that he has it, he won't miss the opportunity.

"I can't wait to see my princess again! I miss her so much and I'm sure she misses me too! Imagine her face if she sees me after a very long time" I grinned wickedly and let out a skin crawling laughter which my son joined in awkwardly.

"I will get you out of here dad, I promise" My son vowed looking at me before taking his leave. I gripped the edge of the table hard and let out another laughter. I'm coming princess, soon.

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Writer: Hello sweethearts,

How are y'all doing? The picture above shows how Alex's hair looks like. Thanks for all the votes and comments, they are deeply appreciated.

Alex: *flips hair* Long hair is the best!

Writer: *rolls eyes* whatever, I don't care. It's not even that long.

Bex: It kinda is....

Writer: it is! Besides hair doesn't matter! Hmph.

Zoey: it does....

Writer: Well I don't care! *Faces the audience* Don't forget to vote, comment and follow! Enjoy!

Audience: where are the boys?

Writer: oh. Right, they're at the hospital *winks and flips hair, then walks away*

Alex: Weirdo!

26/07/2020