Ella sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the wall, her thoughts racing. Grace is Fabian’s daughter. The revelation played over and over in her mind like a broken record. She felt as though the ground beneath her had shifted, and she was now standing in a new, treacherous landscape, one she had never anticipated.
How long had Tania and Fabian really know each other?
Ella stood up and walked to the window, gazing out at the city below. The bustling streets and the distant sounds of life seemed so distant, disconnected from the turmoil inside her. Tania had not only stolen Ethan from her but had also hidden this massive betrayal in plain sight. But Fabian Ella’s supposed friend, her rescuer, her confidant had been just as deceptive.
Does fabian know he has a daughter? Every interaction with him now felt tainted, every kind word he had spoken to her wrapped in layers of deceit. Was it all a game to him? Had he ever truly cared about her and the twins, or had his loyalty to Tania always come first?
Ella’s mind swirled with questions. When had it all started? She wracked her brain for signs she had missed. Had Tania been seeing Fabian while she was still married to Ethan? How deep did this web of lies go? Ella felt her chest tighten with the weight of her own ignorance.
“How could you, Fabian?” she whispered to herself, her voice trembling. “How could you betray me like this, I trusted you?”
She thought back to all the times Fabian had been in her life, the moments he had watched over Leo and Liam, the times she had trusted him implicitly. She had never imagined he could have been entangled with Tania, and even less that he was Grace’s father. But now, everything she thought she knew felt uncertain, clouded by betrayal.
Suddenly, Ella’s phone buzzed, jolting her from her thoughts. She glanced at the screen and saw an unknown number. With a furrowed brow, she hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Ella speaking.”
There was a brief pause, and then a low, distorted voice crackled through the line. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll back off. Stop digging into Tania’s life. If you don’t…”
Ella’s heart skipped a beat as the voice continued, the words cutting through her like ice.
“… your boys won’t be safe. You’ve been warned.”
The line went dead.
Ella stood frozen, the phone still clutched in her hand, her pulse pounding in her ears. Threats? They were threatening her children now? A deep sense of fear gripped her, but it was quickly overtaken by a surge of anger. Her eyes blazed with a mixture of fury and resolve. Whoever was behind this whether it was Tania, Fabian, or someone else had just made a dangerous mistake.
She was not going to back down. Not now. Not ever.
Ella quickly called Derek, her voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
“I just got a threat. They’re going after Leo and Liam if I don’t back off.”
Derek’s voice was sharp. “We’ll handle it. Don’t worry, Ella. Stay strong, and whatever you do, don’t show them that you’re scared, and please ensure you guy don’t leave the safe house and if you do make sure no one is following you Ella”
But Ella wasn’t scared. She was done being scared.
She was ready to fight.