Meet Athena Alessandra Lopez, a resilient young woman kidnapped by her envious aunt and sold to a married couple, plunging her into a life of torment and abuse. But at 18, she escapes, rebuilding her life with strength and determination. Just when s...
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The faint light of the moon shone on my face as I turned to see my wife on the other side, looking beautiful as always.
Her light brown hair was poking through the soft white fabric of the silk pillow as her angelic facial features showed that she was relaxed without a problem in the world.
I pulled the fluffy white comforter over my body, careful not to wake Valentina.
It was a good thing she was a heavy sleeper.
The cool breeze hit my body as I heard the weak crying grow louder, I moved closer to it, only to find it coming from the room right in front of us. The room where my youngest children slept.
My babies. Why is someone crying?
When Ezra and Athena sleep together, they don't cry. They always have each other to soothe the other when they wake up, but right now, the crying baby kept going and was just one person.
When I reach the room, I open the door, the cold metal turning slowly as it makes contact with my skin, to make sure it doesn't overwhelm them too much. I furrow my brows as I watch Ezra's small body sobbing in his crib, his chubby little fisted hands pounding and wiping away his tears at the same time. My heart strings tugged at seeing my son like this.
But where the hell is my fucking daughter?
"Where is ale, ezra?" I whispered, hoping it would calm him down a bit, slowly lifting his small frame up, cradling him in my arms and wiping away the wet salty tears, his usually light stormy gray eyes red and puffy at this point. It broke my heart to see him and his sadness at his angelic baby features that he received from his mother. And my mind was running in circles, my two year old daughter was missing at night.
He slowly replies, "atnt twoook ale," his hiccups made it harder for me to understand what his baby's voice was saying, but I made it work, and having 5 kids before him made it so much easier.
[aunt took ale,]
Why would Avery take Athena?
Confused as to why Avery hasn't returned yet, I call Avery, my wife's youngest sister and the children's aunt. Suddenly, a bright light goes out in the room along with a quiet ringtone and I turn around to see Avery's phone in the big purple bean bag in the corner of my kids' room.
I quickly start to panic for my daughter's safety, running as I scroll through my contacts, trying to find the seconds head.
I find the number to press it while he picks up the third ring.
"Do you know if anyone is on the ground or has left the ground?" I ask, worry and anger tying my voice.
"Yeah boss, Avery Fox left about 10 minutes ago." There comes a harsh response, nervousness and fear in his voice.
