Chapter 4

• When Sia finally woke up from her slumber, it was almost
• noon the next day.
• But she was in no hurry. She had created her best
• wedding dress to date and at the cheapest rate possible. She was happy that she
• was able to meet the demands of the underprivileged couple who will be starting
• their life together shortly. She sat up slowly and stretched, relieving the
• tension in her arm muscles. She hadn’t trusted anyone else with her designs
• this time, considering how the wedding season was in full swing. Employees are
• often tempted to sell designs to more prestigious companies who would charge a
• far higher rate for the gown she’d created, satisfying their own greed over
• bringing a smile on a woman’s face.
• Sia had learned that the hard way when the company she
• had been working for as an intern had stolen her design, and the man she
• considered her guru had taken full credit for the work. So through gritted
• teeth, she waited until her internship was over. After that, she gave a big “fuck
• you” in reply to the offer of working as the man’s assistant and started her own
• company. He laughed at her then, believing that she wouldn’t be able to make it
• far in the industry. But eight years later, she was steadily climbing the
• ladder of success while her so-called guru was facing his downfall because of
• poor, declining quality products sold at higher rates.
• Sia got out of bed and went to take a warm shower. She
• then dressed herself in one of her favorite sundresses, a blue knee-length
• dress that had a white belt and three-quarter sleeves, pairing it with white
• slippers and pearl earrings. She liked to keep her style minimal.
• When she was done, she went downstairs for breakfast.
• “Good noon, Sia!” Mrs. Stackhouse welcomed her into the
• kitchen and placed some bread, ham, and cheese for her on a plate along with
• some freshly made lemon tea. Sia loved the aroma of lemon tea in the morning.
• She ate her meal and drank her tea in comfortable
• silence. She wasn’t surprised when her mind went back to her encounter with
• Julian Turner. She was glad she had chosen him. He might be a womanizer, but he
• had brains. In an instant, he had figured out a strong lead behind the attempts
• on taking her life as well as her son’s: the attacks were a part of a revenge
• plot and not a usurpation scheme. Although the news he delivered was unnerving.
• There was only one person she could think of who would
• do such a thing, but surely, he wouldn’t, would he? She had her doubts, but she
• knew she must speak to Julian about her past no matter how hard it might be.
• She thought she was finally free of it; after all, it’s been ten years. But
• psychopaths rarely forget their obsessions, no matter how much time has passed.
• The sound of shoes padding on the marble stairs brought
• her attention back to the present. She looked toward the source of the noise
• just in time to see him jump off the last few stairs and land gracefully on his
• feet.
• He was wearing blue basketball shorts and a white-and-orange
• striped sleeveless hoodie. His light blond, almost white hair was still damp
• from his shower, and his amethyst eyes looked directly at her, the excitement in
• them barely contained. With his straight nose, full lips, and boyish but
• strikingly handsome face, her son would make any woman go crazy over him in the
• future. Leonard Stone was the spitting image of her, except for the eyes and
• hair. He was still a bit on the leaner side but boys his age usually were. She
• knew his body would fill out when he got a bit older, once he hit puberty.
• “Good morning, Mom!” he exclaimed happily as he reached
• the kitchen counter and bent down to kiss his mother’s cheeks.
• “Morning, Leo. Ready for practice?” she asked him, happy
• to get her mind off of serious things.
• “Yup. But I won’t have that much time since finals are
• coming up,” Leonard or Leo as his mother called him answered. “By the way, what
• are we having for lunch?”
• “Now, that’s cheating, Leo!” Mrs. Stackhouse scolded
• him. “You know Sunday lunches are always special, but that doesn’t mean I’m
• going to reveal the items before lunchtime.”
• “Martha!” Leo whined, making both Sia and Martha grin.
• “That’s not fair!”
• “Life’s not fair, my boy!” Martha sighed dramatically.
• “You know I have a nose, right?” was Leo’s comeback.
• Leo was in his final year of middle school, and soon,
• he’d be in high school. Apart from his studies, Leo was also a great basketball
• player, and despite his young age, he could take on boys older than him. Sia
• had loved basketball ever since she was a kid, and she was happy to see her son
• share the same passion. In fact, she was the one who taught him how to play
• basketball. She made sure that even while she was struggling to make her mark
• in the fashion industry, her son would never feel neglected as she had once
• felt while growing up.
• She was about to cut off Martha and Leo’s bickering when
• she heard a car pull up her driveway. She looked at the clock in the kitchen
• and saw that it was exactly noon. Right
• on time, she thought as she finished her tea and stood up from the stool.
• “Are we expecting someone, Mom?” Leo asked, peeking out
• the kitchen window.
• Sia looked at Martha, who nodded, indicating that the
• guest room was ready.
• “Yes, hon. We are having a visitor,” Sia replied. “You
• remember I told you about our new bodyguard?”
• “Julian Turner?” Leo raised an eyebrow at his mother. He
• felt a surge of relief when his mother nodded yes. In truth, he was extremely
• worried after hearing about the incidents that had happened at his mother’s
• office and the burglary attempt.
• He wasn’t at home that night. He was at his friend’s
• house for a sleepover, but he felt extremely helpless when he saw the stab
• wound on his mother’s arm. He could feel her pain. And then came those people
• who chased him around town in a van that had tinted black windows, trying to
• catch him while he rode his bicycle home. He had been extremely lucky that day
• and had managed to make a narrow escape when he took a detour through an
• alleyway. It was a good thing that no one had followed him on foot after that.
• He hadn’t been allowed to go to school after, and although he hadn’t admitted it
• to his mother, he had been shaken up badly by the incident.
• But today, hearing that there was someone finally here
• to help protect them, he felt extremely relieved. And knowing that the task at
• hand was dangerous, he also felt a great deal of admiration for the man who was
• willing to risk his own life to save theirs.
• *           *           *
• Julian sat in his car for a few more seconds, taking in
• the house in front of him.
• The property wasn’t huge. It was what he would like to
• call decent or small compared to his previous clients’ houses, but there was
• something about the house that intrigued him.
• It was a two-story white house with specks of green and
• lavender on its walls. On the ground floor was a room with walls made entirely of
• glass. The drapes were drawn so he couldn’t see inside, but he was sure the
• view from those rooms would be wonderful. There was a fountain in front of the
• house, and the road twisted around it and led back out the front gate. It was
• simple but very . . . welcoming.
• He finally got out of the car and took out the bags he
• had brought from the passenger seat. He then locked his SUV and headed to the
• front door.
• The door opened before he could even reach it, and
• standing in front of him in a blue sundress was none other than Sia Milton. He
• took in her long, lean legs for the first time and a scorching desire slammed
• into him so hard and fast that he felt like taking her in his arms and having
• her right there and then on the front porch. The image of her naked and under
• him, those sexy, long legs wrapped around his butt, was too enticing to bear.
• But he brought his desire under control before he could do anything stupid.
• “Mr. Turner, you came right on time.” Sia managed a
• smile. Was it possible that the man
• looked even more handsome than he had yesterday?
• “Julian, please, Ms. Milton, and I’m always on time,” he
• replied back politely with a small bow.
• “Well, please do come in, Julian. And it’s Sia.”
• She managed a friendly tone. To be honest, Sia felt extremely nervous. Someone
• wanted her harm, and on top of that, she had to tell Julian about her past, one
• she had managed to escape from—and never go back to even in the form of a
• narrative—with severe difficulty.
• He smiled at that and followed her into the house as Sia
• began giving him a tour of the house.
• The living room was spacious with plush couches huddled
• around a small glass table in front of them, and small vases of freshly plucked
• flowers adding a fresh accent to the cream walls. There was a long dining room
• for special occasions which had a bit of a Victorian theme with the long table
• in the middle and twelve chairs around it. The room had huge windows draped with
• deep violet silk fabric and light violet walls.
• The kitchen was right next to it, small but spacious. He
• was introduced to the caretaker of the house, Martha Stackhouse, who was a
• plump, old lady with a kind heart. She had coffee ready for them as soon as
• they entered the kitchen. Then there was the guest room. It had blue-and-white
• walls, an en-suite bathroom, closet, and a king-sized bed. The windows were
• draped with blue silk embroidered with silver floral designs. There was also a
• room for Martha at the back of the house, before the exit to the backyard. And
• finally, there was Sia’s office which was where she worked on her designs.
• He was told that the rooms upstairs consisted of Sia’s
• and her son’s bedrooms and another guestroom. The security guards had a room
• right at the front, outside the main house, next to the front gate. There were
• two guards in total who had failed to stop the burglar from hurting their
• employee.
• Julian was given the guestroom downstairs where he was
• left to unpack, while Sia returned to the living room. He did his unpacking
• quickly since he didn’t have that many clothes with him and moved to the living
• room, eager to be close to Sia. But there was also something else he was
• interested in.
• It was time to meet Sia’s son, Leonard Stone.