TARA'S POV

"W-what are you doing here?" I whispered in disbelief, not believing the scene that was unfolding before me.

His eyes bore into mine for nearly a minute, not saying anything before suddenly yanking me towards him.

"Why did you run away from me?"

I stiffened slightly and began to look everywhere else in the room apart from him.

The room had gone silent with the guests all watching the unfolding drama.

"Answer me, Tara!" he demanded, shaking my shoulder roughly.

Fear slightly crept up on me as his eyes grew shades darker and the aura around him thickened.

"I-I didn't run away from you."

"But you never returned any of my calls or messages for all these years!"

My eyes widened. Asher had tried to contact me?

"I did not receive any—"

Before I could finish my statement, my mother suddenly let out an ear-splitting cry and raced towards us to separate me from his grip.

"You monster! What have you done to my daughter's husband?" my mother glared at him.

It was probably a product of my imagination, but I could sense his mood changed at her last words.

Asher moved close to Gary, who was struggling for life on the floor, and crouched before him.

As if analyzing a science experiment, he seized him by his neck and moved his face to the right and to the left again.

"You really have no taste, tsk."

Was he referring to me or my mother?

My mother flared up instantly at his words and pointed at him.

"How dare you?"

An amused smirk played at the edge of his lips.

"Do you want me to give you an explanation for what I said? You really planned to sell off your daughter to this wimp?"

Unconsciously, I disentangled from my mother's grip and took a step back.

What the hell was really going on?

"Yes, I did that, and how is it any of your business?" my mother finally lost her temper.

I wanted to open my mouth to speak; to tell Asher to leave and never come back again, to never let me sight my eyes on him again. Who gave him the right to storm in and out of my life as he wished and cause chaos… but in the end, I could say nothing.

"You really have no shame," Asher snorted, barely paying attention to my mother but to Gary, who he seemed intent on snuffing life out of.

My mother did not take lightly to this, however.

I watched as she retrieved an object from her inner dress and suddenly lunged towards him.

Asher's growl of pain and anger followed next, and he began to bleed from where my mother had just stabbed him.

She repeated the action thrice.

Commotion ensued. Every one of the guests began to leave, remaining my father and Asher's men.

"Natalie!" my father yelled out my mother's name to stop her.

"Mom! What have you done?" I finally snapped out of my daze.

My mother stood there with the bloodied knife in her hands, trembling, but there was still rage in her eyes.

"Asher!" I called, kneeling before him.

He made no move or answered.

"Asher!" I called again, now crying.

Oh no.

My mother had just murdered someone. We were going to spend the rest of our lives in jail!

I glared at my mother and, muttering a prayer under my breath, placed my ear close to his chest for any sign of his heart still beating.

Thankfully, I heard something faint.

I went on my knees quickly and began to perform the little knowledge I had of CPR on his chest.

My eyes closely scanned his face and fell down to his lips. He'd grown really more handsome over the years.

Those feelings in my heart I had for him, I thought were long gone, suddenly began to resurface.

"Snap yourself out, Tara. Do you want to get hurt a second time?" a voice whispered in my head, snapping me out from my delusions.

Without warning, Asher suddenly rose up, making me fall backwards and land on my butt. He advanced towards my mother and seized her by her neck.

"What the hell did you think you just did?" he growled, his eyes flashing red.

I gulped the saliva in my mouth and got up on my feet to go separate them.

To my surprise, Asher pushed me back roughly and pointed a finger in my face. "You stay away from this."

I was shocked.

My father had been pinned to the ground by Asher's men, and he could only do nothing but curse and growl.

"You know what you did years ago, Lucy," he hissed, calling my mom by her name. "But I do not plan to go into details about it today."

How did Asher know my mother's name? And what had she done years ago that he didn't want to go into details about?

"I will not allow what happened then to repeat itself again, and so that peace might reign, I would advise you and your husband to cooperate with me," he said coldly, mentioning the word 'husband' with contempt.

I could swear there was a secret war going on between him and my father at this point.

He glanced at me briefly before dropping the bomb.

"I'm taking Tara along with me home today," he announced, enunciating every single word.

"No-no. You cannot do that. It's not—" my mother choked, trying to speak, but his tight grip around her neck prevented her.

My father tried to stand up, but he was headbutted with a pistol by one of Asher's men.

"Do you both have any objections?" he snickered, glancing at my parents.

"Of course not." He gave a dry, shrill laughter that sent fear through me.

"And you… going behind me to get married with a child in you. Don't you have no shame at all?" he jarred, pointing at me.

My face reddened in embarrassment.

Wait a minute... How did he know I was pregnant? Oh my God. Things were not looking good at all.

Asher let go of my mother, and without sparing another glance at her, he walked towards me and said casually:

"Let's go."

Just like that? To where?

"Mom! Dad! What exactly is going on? What did Mom do years ago?" I finally found my voice.

"If you really love us, honey, just go with him." My mom had a defeated expression on her face.

"How can I follow someone I barely know? I demand an explanation of what's going on right now!" I yelled, my voice choking with emotions.

"Honey, they are going to kill me!" my father suddenly cried out, and truly a man had a pistol pointed to his forehead, ready to pull the trigger.

"I am going to give you every detail you require later. Just go with him, please."

I sighed in defeat and gave my parents one last glance. "I'll go."

My mom's expression changed into that of appreciation. "Thank you so much. We're going to miss you, honey."

"Yeah, whatever."

I glanced at Asher casually and spoke. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go."

He stiffened momentarily but immediately regained his composure and responded, "Of course, let's be on our way."

I couldn't explain whatever the hell just transpired, but one thing I know for sure is that a new phase had just been opened in my life.

In our lives, rather… including that of my unborn child's.