The Girl He Craves

Aiden’s pov
I’m marching down the lengthy staircase, cursing every living thing I can think of.
I’m frustrated. I’m confused. I’m hurt.
Thad not expected something like this from Sophie. Not the innocent girl I painted in my head years ago.
But then I remembered how she abandoned me in jail and then I realized Sophie was never the innocent girl I portrayed her to
be.
I opened the old door, shouldering a woman who was just entering. I’m too angered and frustrated to apologize. She curses me
and I ignore her as I march over to the SUV waiting for me.
Mitch is ducked in a way that you’d not notice him at first glance. And though the sight is rather amusing, I don’t laugh nor smile.
The only thing I feel is anger. Towards Sophie. Burning rage.
Mitch notices me and fixes himself on the seat and unlocks the door. I open the door and got in. I’m breathing heavily and literally
breathing out fire.
Mitch looks at me through the rearview mirror and looks confused and worried. “Are you okay Mr. Xavier?”
I ran my shaky hand through my nose and looked at the apartment. I shake my head in disbelief.
“I have a son.” I breathed out slowly in disbelief. Now saying it out loud, I can’t help but think that maybe I had gone mad.
Maybe I didn’t have a son and this was all an illusion.
I shake my head. That was impossible.
Ashton was as real as anyone. I felt him, I held him in my arms. He’s mine. He’s my son. He’s not a hallucination and a fragmen
of my imagination.
He was real.
I groan in frustration and anger. Him being really made it all the more hurtful that Sophie didn’t tell me about him.

“Pardon Mr. Xavier?” Mitch asked, looking at me confused.
I shake my head and passed a hand over my face. “I have a son Mitch. A f**ing son that I didn’t know about.” I groaned.
Mitch looks stunned by my revelation and then winces. “You
didn’t know about him?”
I shook my head no. “I didn’t. She kept his existence from me.”
Mitch shakes his head. “Well that’s not good. What are you going to do about it, sir?” He asked and then rushed out. “If you don’t
mind me asking sir.”
I shake my head and looked at the apartment one last time and then looked at Mitch. My eyes met his but they also met the
familiar old car that she owned through the mirror rearview mirror.
It’s so old that the poor thing looks ready to collapse at any time.
There is no way in hell I’ll have her driving around with my son on that old death trap everywhere.
I’m getting her a new one tomorrow morning as soon as possible.
Maybe by tomorrow or tonight, I’ll have a functioning brain and know what to do. Because right now, all I want to do is punch a
d**n wall.
“I don’t know. All i know is that I’ll never let her keep him away from me any longer. Whether she likes it or not, I’m now in my
son’s life. And there’s nothing she can do about it.” I said and after a few more words passed between us, I told him to drive me
over to the closest hotel from here.
Sophie’s pov
Tears are trailing down my cheeks like a river. Ashton’s head is on my shoulder and by the soft little sounds that came from his
lips, I knew he had fallen asleep.
I would’ve been a sobbing mess if I didn’t want him to have that nap. When I’m sure he had fallen asleep completely, I put him to
rest.
He shifts a bit but goes right back to sleep.

My heart aches.
Aiden was right, I was a demon for keeping Ashton’s existence away from his knowledge.
My fear of him rejecting Ash the same way he rejected me and hurt me messed me up enough to make the worst decision in my
life.
And now I was about to pay the price.
It was clear that Aiden would try to take Ashton away from me. He had the money and clearly, he had the links to do whatever he
pleased.
I can not compete with him. He was superior in every way.
I was nothing compared to him and I’ll lose the case. Not only was I clearly not financially stable enough to care for Ash and me,
but I also couldn’t afford a lawyer.
I sobbed lowly, playing in Ashton’s soft curls.
My baby boy.
My heart.
My everything.
Would your father be this cruel to take you away from me?
Flashbacks of how Aiden treated me when we were still in high school rang through my head like a storm.
My heart is tearing apart the more I realized that Aiden could be this cruel enough to not care about me and take Ashton away.
“Soph?” Mila called out softly.
I lift my head at the sound of her voice and turn toward the door. She’s standing in the doorway, her gaze on a sleeping Ash in
worry.
Ria creeps up behind her, peeking behind her head to look
around.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered, shaking my head. “I’m sorry you two had to hear all of that.”
Mila’s brows raised in shock. “You’re apologizing?” She gasped as if in disbelief that I actually was. She steps into the room and
walks over to me. She crouched beside the bed, her hands going to my knees.
Mila shakes her head. “You have absolutely nothing to apologize for Soph. If anything, Ria’s the one who should apologize to
you for allowing that as*hat to enter our home.”
Mila turns around to give Ria a pointed look.
Ria is quick to defend herself. “How was I supposed to know he was Ashton’s dad? The guy was brooding and Ash is cuddly and
cute. I didn’t think they could be related.” She waved her hands at her sides frantically.
Mila’s eyes narrowed on her face. “The two look exactly alike. You’d be a fool to not put two and two together quickly Ria. Ash is
the exact replica of Aiden.”
Mila rolled her eyes over Ria’s frame and snorted. “Then again you were always the dumbest one out of the three of us. I’m
guessing his handsome features distracted you enough for you to not use your brain the correct way.”
Ria blew out a breath, leaning against the doorframe. “Stop s**t shaming me Mila. Sure I found him handsome but you’d be
f**ing blind to think otherwise. In fact, I’m more than a hundred percent sure even a blind person can see how hot Aiden is.”
Ria turns to face me and then narrows her eyes. “You really didn’t look like the kind who could fall for that bad boy type Soph. I’m
not going to lie, you surprise me.”
“What are you implying here Ria? That Sophie can’t score a guy like Aiden?” Mila seethed lowly.
I rolled my eyes. Great. Those two will be at each other’s throats in a few seconds. In fact, they already were.
“Of course not you prude! All I meant is that Sophie gives off that innocent and doll-like personality. She’s cuddly like Ash while
Aiden seems.....cold and calculating. It’s strange she’s with him.” Ria shrugged.
“I was never with Aiden Ria. And you two need to stop your arguing. It’s not going to help the situation.” I sighed heavily.
“And I don’t blame you for letting Aiden in Ria. At some point, I

should’ve known that my karma for doing this to him would catch up to me. I just didn’t know it would be this soon.” || sighed,
moving my eyes away from the two of the girls to stare at my little boy
I thought I was protecting his fragile little heart from his father but turns out I had made him miss out on that special bond with his
dad.
What would he feel or say when he grows up and hear of what I had done? Would he resent me for ruining his chance with his
dad before it even began? Or would he understand that I thought I was protecting him?
I shook my head.
I should not have been so hasty with my decision to not have told Aiden about Ash.
Maybe if I did, things would have been different than how they are now.
“So what you’re going to do now Soph?” Mila whispered, squeezing my leg.
| sighed heavily not knowing how to respond.
How can I when I don’t know what happens now?
Aiden being Aiden has already started the game of chess with me. I didn’t know his next move which had me terrified. How can I
counter his move when I don’t know where he’ll move first?