122 WHEN WE COLLIDE RIEL’S POV While I was still holding them, Lukel and Janice both turned around to see Luke standing next to me. “Mommy?” Luke looked confused at the two little children. He slowly turned his eyes back on me. “Did they just call you mommy?” “Yes, we did. Because she’s our mother,” Janice responded. And why are you asking us that question? Who are you?” Lukel threw these questions at him. Luke took his gaze off Lukel and gave me his attention back. “Ariel, are these truly your children?” He asked, fixing his eyes on no one else but me. I refused to respond, taking my eyes downward, but then he had to harden his voice. I’m talking to you, Ariel. Are these two your children?” Lukel tapped my arm, looking up at me. “Why aren’t you saying anything, mommy? Tell him we’re your kids.” “I don’t know why my mother’s speechless, but just so you know, sir, we are her children. She’s the one who gave birth to us,” Janice spoke, crossing her arms. I leisurely fixed my eyes on Luke, realizing how he was staring at me, not averting his gaze. I sighed, finally getting the confidence to tell him. Why was I even scared anyway? “Yes, Luke,” I said beneath my breath. “These are my children.” “Wow.” Luke laughed a little—a painful one, though. His expression was not surprised, but I could tell that he was extremely shocked. In fact, it could be quite obvious that the feigned cast was not lying to anyone. “I see. And who’s the father?” I kept silent because there was no way I was going to tell him who the father was. “I asked you a question, Ariel. Who’s the father?!” “Don’t you dare yell at my mommy like that!” Luke reproached Luke. Luke glared at him immediately.. “Okay, I think the both of you should go inside. I’ll join you both in a minute,” I said calmly, squatting. “Alright, mommy. Don’t take too long,” Lukel told me. “I promise I won’t,” I responded inaudibly, fixing my hands on his cheeks. “Now the both of you, go inside, okay? Andre must be waiting for you two.” After my words, they nodded and walked to the mansion, leaving Luke and me. “Andre?” Luke chuckled while I slowly got to my feet. “So Andre’s the father?” He crossed his arms. “What?” I gave him an expression that made it look like he had gone nuts. “It’s very clear that Andre’s the father. I mean, he’s the one who took care of you these past few years. He also took you to his bed, didn’t he?” “Don’t you dare talk nonsense!” “Oh, please, Ariel. You don’t have to lie to me. I’ve always known you had this bond, this chemistry. And it’s quite clear that Andre fucked you!” I slapped him immediately. He had his face in another direction for seconds before he finally turned to me, his hands on his cheek. He couldn’t believe my action. “Did you just slap me?” He glared at me, still cleaving to his visage. “Yes, and I’ll keep on doing that if you continue to talk nonsense.” “I’m talking nonsense now? So you’re going to deny the fact that you had that man spreading your legs so he could hit you?” I gave Luke a harder slap, throwing him a dark look. He glared back at me, and I stormed off, not wanting to take another glance at his face. I was trying my very best not to let him have knowledge about my children, but he did anyway. So what to do now? Well, I would not let him talk about them or even get closer to them. I knew this was going to be a tough one, but it wasn’t new to me–my life had been tough from the very first day I got married to that psychopath. So, I walked back to the party, looking at everyone as they danced. I stood, still fixing my eyes on the people dancing and having a good time. These feelings of sadness had washed over me, really messed up, and could be somehow dreadful. Maybe–oh gosh, I don’t know. But one thing I knew for sure was that Luke’s finding out about my children was just the beginning of things getting complicated. I couldn’t let him get close to them. Hell no, I wasn’t going to let that happen. I took a sip of my wine, which had been handed to me by Lisa the moment I *stepped foot in the building. She was nice–something that I still couldn’t believe, but okay. I was still looking at the people around me as they enjoyed themselves, and then a walter approached me, offering me another glass. I politely declined, not wanting to get too drunk and lose control. Even though I had a lot of thoughts in my head right now, getting intoxicated was definitely not an option. The waiter insisted that I take the drink, and I wondered why. Well, I still refused, turning my face away. And just as I was about to walk away from this whole drink stuff, Manuel approached me. “Hey, Ariel, what’s wrong?” He asked, and concern was evident in his voice. I forced a smile and shook my head. “Nothing; I’m fine. Just enjoying the party.” Manuel gave me a knowing look, but he didn’t press further. He knew better than to pry into my personal life. I appreciated his understanding. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” he offered. Is there anything any of us can do to make you feel good?” I shook my head again. “No, really, I’m fine. Thank you, Manuel.” He nodded, still looking concerned, but he didn’t push the subject. I finished my drink. I didn’t see my kids around, so I excused myself, wanting to check if they were probably in one of the rooms upstairs. On my way to the stairs, Hannah approached me. “Hey, you’ve seen the kids, right? They walked in here moments ago.” “Yes, I saw them,” I answered. “Nice. Well, did you see Felix as well?” “Uhmm, no. They ran to me when I was outside, and there was no one by their side.” “Oh, I see. Then why hasn’t that big head been answering my calls?” She frowned at her phone and walked away. I laughed lightly. So, back to the main deal: I started to make my way upstairs. But as I did that, I scanned everywhere, hoping I might spot my babies. Those kids move fast with tiny feet. Suddenly, a little boy appeared in front of me, holding out his untied shoelaces. ” Excuse me, can you help me tie my shoes?” He asked politely. “Sure. Why not?” I smiled and crouched down to help him. As I finished, he thanked me and ran off. I chuckled to myself, thinking how kids always seemed to find me when they needed help. But two men in suits came up to me and interrupted my train of thought. They 123 WHEN WE COLLIDE A/4 had bald heads and muscular builds, and their serious expressions made me feel uneasy. By the way, they were both putting on shades. “Excuse me, ma’am. We need you to come with us,” one of them said. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. “Why? What’s going on?” “Don’t ask questions. Just follow us,” the other spoke coldly. And I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about this.
