NIKAELEON**Luckily, Sophia was shorter than the bed so she couldn’t immediately see us together after exiting the bathroom. And as she climbed on the bed, we had already separated.“Aren’t you going to work, daddy Nik?” She asked as she climbed on the bed and sat between me and Aina.“Why do you ask, princess?”“Because, when I wake up everyday, you’ve already left for work. But you were still sleeping when I woke up today. Do you have a holiday from work?” She asked me.“I decided to take the day off so we can have some fun because you had a nightmare last night. Aina will be coming with us.” I replied to her.Aina looked at me with an arched brow, and a glare because I hadn’t informed her of this and she hadn’t agreed to it before I told Sophia. The look in her eyes said that we would talk, which I already knew was inevitable. I had come up with this plan late last night after receiving that message.“Where are we going?” Sophia asked excitedly.“Yes, Nik, where are we going?” Ain

NIKAELEON~"I don't care what you say, Uriel. I already told you that it's a surprise for Sophia, and you're not invited." I said to her."But you invited that woman. What does she have that I don't, Nik? How is she better than me?""Uriel, you're the one making comparisons, Uriel, not me. I don’t want you to show up here just to try and annoy me because you weren’t invited.” I said to her.I had to lower my voice as I spoke so Sophia wouldn’t know that I didn’t want her mother anywhere near me. Despite her shortcomings, and the fact that Uriel was a pain in the ass, the only thing I could trust was her love for Sophia. And Sophia loved her mother too. She deserved to grow up thinking her mother is a superhero, she already had a major change in her life by discovering that I’m her father. I didn’t want to ruin her childhood.And I knew that Uriel wouldn’t even be able to get to the venue even if I told her the address because she had no ship or plane to get her there. I just wanted t

NIKAELEON***“Thank you.” I said as I moved forward to hug him.Sophia gasped and I turned to face her.“Daddy, is this your daddy?” She asked as she tugged on my hand to pull me closer to her.”Yes, sweetie.” I replied to her and her nose scrunched in a cute way.“If he’s your daddy, then he’s my grandpappy, right?” She asked.“Yes, I am.” My father answered and she smiled.“Is he the surprise, daddy?” She asked me.“Yes, honey. And also the island too, I know you’ll love it here..” I said to her.“Now, come give your grandpappy a better welcome.” My father said as he crouched and spread his arms.Sophia squealed as she let go of my hand and ran into his. He laughed as he nearly toppled over from the force of her hug, then stood and twirled her around. Sophia shrieked and Aina chuckled.“I don’t remember much about my own grandfather, but I remember that he used to do this to me everytime we went to visit him, then he would toss me in the air several times and catch me. I always lov

NIKAELEON***We walked into his study and he went to sit behind the desk while I sat on one of the two seats opposite him. He reached for the decanter and two glasses on the small side table beside his desk. He poured two glasses of the vintage whisky he always keeps in his offices, and then leaned back in his chair. I held on to my glass and watched him drink his slowly, deliberately taking his time so he wouldn't say why he called me. It was an intimidation tactic he taught me when he was training me to take over from him. It was supposed to make me anxious, and if I was guilty of something, I would have the compulsion to fill up the silence and inadvertently expose myself. But he had also taught me how to beat the game with patience so I wouldn't be a victim so I wasn’t moved by the silence.I drank from my glass and continued watching him like I had all the time in the world to waste. After several minutes of drinking in silence, he finally spoke."So you actually got her to agre

NIKAELEON~When Monday came around, I was relieved. I wanted to just get the custody battle over with and make it official. Uriel had left the day before of her own volition, without being coaxed or coerced. She didn’t try to guilt trip me into extending her stay, nor did she attack Aina when she saw Aina playing with Sophia. She seemed so calm and level headed now, but I just had this niggling suspicious feeling that seemed to never go away as I woke up this morning. Something wasn’t right, and though I didn’t know what it was, I had learned to always trust my instinct. Maybe something bad would happen, maybe it was just nothing. Either way, I left Sophia at home just in case.Usually, the child is supposed to be present in cases like these, but with my influence, I would just make a good excuse to the judge and jury concerning her absence. No one would force a sick child to appear in court. So, it was just me, Aina and Manolo, who was my legal representative that would be going to