The Billionaire's Runaway Wife

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Iris Williams

I waited for a reaction in their faces, how they slowly looked towards him and stared. Maybe they were trying to match up how he was their father despite the fact that they looked identical or maybe they were too shocked to react. Or then again, maybe they didn't really understand. Jacob tilted his head to his left to get a better view at Liam.

I saw Hailey walking away, giving us some privacy and I could only mouth a thank you to her.

"Hello, I'm Jamie. The second brother." Jamie introduced himself and extended his hand. I felt eyebrows furrowing at how they responded at the news, but at the same time, it was adorable.

"And I'm Jacob, the youngest." Jacob followed also extending his hand. I turned towards Liam and he looked just as stunned as me, but I smiled at him, encouragingly. I watched as his hands slowly took Jamie's and Jacob's hand and shook them.

"And I'm Liam Parker, your father." he said in such a explicative way, and smiled at them. He sounded nervous, and unsure of what to do next. "Can I get a hug?" he asked, surprising me. Can I get a hug? Seriously? The two quickly lit up and smiled widely as they threw themselves at him. "Ouf, easy now, boys." he said. I detected a happy tone in his voice and his smile was genuine, but then I quickly dismissed that thought.

Has anything he has ever shown me genuine? What if he's just being forced to help me? Forced to interact with the two boys? Was the smile he was carrying real? Or was it just one of his Oscar-worthy acting?

"Are you really our daddy? Cause we never had one. Mrs. Anderson said we don't have one cause mommy doesn't have a boyfriend." Jamie asked, his light eyes brimming with innocence. Liam's smile turned to an amused chuckle as he looked at me. I felt my cheeks reddening at Jamie's sudden comment and I could only resort to shaking my head defeatedly.

"You're definitely a Parker." Liam said, messing Jamie's hair.

"But mommy, daddy won't meet Jace." Jacob reasoned and the feel of impending doom was again shredding my heart to pieces. I felt my smile fading away and my mind flew to all that happened yesterday. I wonder if Jace is alright, if he has even eaten anything? If Jace was here, how would he have reacted to meeting his father?

"Don't worry," I heard Liam say right beside me as he stood up picking Jacob up on his arms. "I'll bring Jace back." he said confidently and so firmly that it's impossible not to believe him. That's right, Liam will find him...

Jace will be safe now, right?

As if he was in his own home, Liam guessed his way to the living room while carrying Jacob on his arms. Jamie and I followed right behind as the two were conversing with him. Standing from afar, I started wondering.

What if I never left? What if he was there from the very beginning with the triplets? Would Jace ever be abducted? Would I have been still a fool, clinging onto him despite knowing the truth? Would we have been a happy family?

Those are the thoughts that always kept me up at night and now that I'm seeing him with them, my what ifs are being answered. I felt a bit teary-eyed, and once again, my mind filled with Jace's smiles and I had to rush to the bathroom to wipe my tears. His disappearance has engulfed my heart, and although I know that I still have Jamie and Jacob, I simply cannot live with this void. It's been a day, I know, but those hours being apart from him is agonizing. Heck, I don't even know if he's alright.

I wiped my tears and washed my face with the coldest water. I can't keep on crying, I need to be strong. I don't want to appear weak, especially in front of my boys. After trying to compose myself again, I made my way to the living room.

Jamie was in the middle of showing Liam his favourite car toy as I sat down the sofa beside them, observing. Liam smiled gleefully at Jamie and moved his eyes onto mine. His light green eyes that always seemed to pierce through me, always seeing through me. I hated it, and I hated the effect it had on me. He probably noticed my swollen eyes, but before he could examine more of my face, I looked away. I didn't feel too comfortable under his gaze because then, I felt my cheeks getting warmer.

Suddenly, his phone rang. Jamie stopped playing with his car toy and Jacob turned his attention to Liam who, in turn, fished his phone out of his picket and declined the call. However, in an attempt to put his phone back to his pocket, it started to ring again. I heard him groan lightly and stood up, setting Jacob on the sofa.

"It won't take long." he whispered in my direction and left the living room. "What the heck, Ezra? I'm busy." I heard him mutter under his breath before he could fully exit the room.

"Mommy, is daddy really going to help us find Jace?" Jacob asked, resting his head on his hand. I smiled and nodded.

"Wow! Is daddy going to beat up all of the bad guys?" Jamie brimmed with amazement. I chuckled softly before responding a "Yes."

"Then, he's like a superhero." Jamie continued. The triplets had an affinity with superheroes, which I think every kid has, at their age.

"Is that why, he hasn't been home? Because he's saving people?" Jacob seconded which kind of took me by surprise. What do I tell him? Do I tell him that the reason why Liam hasn't been here was because I ran away? Because I was hurt? Would he understand that? Possibly not, so I thought of a different answer. As I was going to open my mouth to change the topic, I heard footsteps from behind me.

"I haven't been home, because mommy and I..." he stopped to look at me before continuing,"are a bit in a fight." he explained so easily. I looked at him questioningly, and all he did was smile amusedly and shrugged, sitting back down beside Jacob.

"But mommy, you always tell us to make up when we fight. How come you and daddy haven't made up yet?" Jacob, again. His words made my blood immediately rush to my cheeks. Oh, goodness. Is he going to turn my words against me now? I heard Liam chuckled lightly as he patted Jacob's hair.

"Alright, that's enough questions, Jamie and Jacob. How about I go in the kitchen and cook something?" I said, changing the subject while eyeing the two. I decided to stand up and walk away from them. They need time without me so that they can get used to Liam.

I know that the two are probably still trying to comprehend all that's going on, but I hope they'll be able to come through one day...

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After eating dinner, the two played and spent some more time with Liam in the living room while I tried to clean up a bit in the kitchen. I brought some food up for Haley and Gabby, but they were fast asleep so I just left it in her work table and left a note.

While washing the dishes, I could hear the happy laughter of the three from the living room. Then my thoughts flew to Jace and the empty hole devoured my heart once again. My eyes teared up at the thought of my eldest son. Soon, the tears were flowing nonstop.

The pain engulfed the little happiness that I felt for Jamie and Jacob. The more I thought of Jace, the more the void became bigger. A sob escaped my mouth and I had to shut the faucet to wipe my tears, but that didn't help. My legs weakened as the scenes of yesterday replayed and at the thought that if only I was careful, if only I did a better job at watching over them, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Loneliness, longing, fear and worry won over my controls, and I suddenly found it impossible to calm down. The feeling of staying strong for Jamie and Jacob vanished and I felt so miserable and helpless. I feel like I'm going insane.

I cupped my mouth to prevent any sobs from escaping, but that probably didn't do much since the next thing I knew, I was spun around and pulled into a strong and warm embrace. 

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Hellooo again! I'm so sorry, I know I promised to publish a chapter like two weeks ago, but many things happened and I couldn't continue writing. Since I'm in my last semester, I have a lot of school work and I can't write and update as soon as I would like to. I hope you guys keep reading and don't forget to vote! ❤️