Chapter 89 Back to ivory city
Eva and her daughter, Havilah, boarded the private jet waiting on the tarmac, her blood had not settled when she thought she had lost her prize.
They were here on a short getaway, a quiet vacation meant for her daughter to open up a little. Havilah was too withdrawn, too silent for a child of seven. She rarely played or spoke unless spoken to. Always alone coiled into herself like the world was too loud, too sharp.
Her parents and in-laws thought she needed a change of environment, so she had chosen this place. Sun city she heard a lot about it.
Havilah settled into her seat quietly Killian took the one beside her, he had come with them as a guide, the Edward’s had asked him to come with, he had taken the opposite direction during the search, thankfully Eva found her. He leaned over and fastened her seatbelt carefully.
“Avi,” he said gently, “why did you follow those boys? You don’t follow strangers. You scared your mother.”
“They said they would take me to mummy,” Havilah replied softly, eyes lowered.
“I couldn’t find her.”
Guilt flickered across Killian’s face.
“Avi,” Eva’s voice cut in, sharp with worry masked as discipline, “I told you to sit there and wait for me. I just had… a few things to handle.”
“I’m sorry, Mama,” Havilah said quickly. “The crowd was too much. I got scared.”
Eva’s expression softened immediately. She reached out and brushed her daughter’s hair back. Her daughter was too innocent and far too trusting it’s bothered her some times
“It’s alright, baby,” she murmured. “Mummy isn’t angry with you, you know I have no one else but you, I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.” Eva couldn’t have more children; she lost the ability due to hemorrhaging after birthing her daughter.
The engines hummed quietly as the plane lifted off the ground Havilah leaned back, staring at the ceiling for a moment.
“Mummy?” she called suddenly.
“Yes, love?”
“Can we come back here again?”
Eva froze
Killian glanced at her, surprised.
Havilah never asked for things. When asked what she wanted, her answer was always the same home. She was always quiet and reserved.
“Why do you want to come back?” he asked gently.
Havilah smiled faintly, eyes fluttering closed.
“I want to thank Liam.”
The name settled heavily in the air.
Havilah’s thoughts drifted back to the boy fearless, sharp-eyed, standing in front of her like he’d been born to protect.
She had heard the curly-haired man call his name.
And she hadn’t forgotten it.
When they landed, a car with Richard's military crest was waiting for them, Eva was happy, he had come for them. The driver stepped out and opened the door when they entered it was empty.
“You said daddy was waiting, did you lie?” Havilah asked.
Eva’s tongue was tied. Maverick was supposed to come pick them but all the time never came. It irked Eva so bad. Her daughter wanted her father but he was detached, 7 years and he is still sulking over someone thrown deep in the ocean. That was how she had asked for her body to be disposed of that night so it can never be traced.
“Mum” Havilah called her, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Daddy has a lot going on at the base with work, maybe that’s why he isn’t here” Eva tried another excuse for Maverick.
The truth was uglier.
When Maverick discovered Eva had framed Heaven with the video, their marriage shattered into something cold and transactional, blocking roads in all her attempts to make him love her. She didn’t mind as long as there was no one else.
About how Havilah came about Maverick had come home drunk after his failed attempt on finding Heaven. In his haze mistook her for Heaven and it happened to him, Havilah's conception was a mistake.
Everyone was happy because it was what both families needed. Havilah was dotted on by everyone but she seeked attention from her father who barely gave her any.
He gave whatever she needed but himself.
“Let’s go see daddy, I got something for him.”
Killian who had been quiet fisted his hand. His jaw ticked but he chose to be quiet. He often wondered why he had helped the woman he loved strengthen a marriage that was already dead from the beginning. Not only did he neglect his wife but his child too.
\~~~~~~~~
The Johnson family gathered around the long dining table, celebrating Heaven’s achievement.
The house felt like a sanctuary warm, loud, alive.
Old Man Johnson Fabian’s father sat at the head of the table.
There was nothing old about him. The name was one he insisted on, a joke he enjoyed too much. In truth, he looked like a Russian mafia lord carved from steel. His second home was his gym taut muscles, broad shoulders, finely trimmed hair. In his fifties, devastatingly handsome, the kind of man who could pull women half his age and still leave them breathless.
Fabian had inherited every sharp angle of him.
A pouting Liam sat perched on his lap.
“Grandpa,” Liam muttered, “can I sit somewhere else…?”
Old Man Johnson answered by feeding him chicken wings to shut him up.
Laughter erupted around the table.
Rayan laughed the loudest.
Heaven’s gaze drifted slowly around the room.
Fabian.
Old Man Johnson.
Rayan.
Zaria.
All of them smiling. All of them genuinely happy for her.
She felt her son’s eyes on her even before she looked back. Liam was watching closely, ready to scold her if she got emotional again.
As always, Fabian kept piling food onto Heaven’s plate. It was something he’d done for years now, quiet, habitual, his unspoken way of caring.
Her chest tightened.
So many people surrounded her.
Yet there was still an ache. A hollow space she couldn’t name.
Seven years ago.
Fabian and Rayan had been fleeing Rodrigo when they reached the seaport, Heaven unconscious in Fabian’s arms. The first ship carrying Old Man Johnson and his girlfriend, Zaria, had already departed.
They took the second because Rodrigo’s minions had gotten a whim of where they were; it was a narrow escape.
They hid a pregnant Heaven for months while she lay in a coma, because they knew the old man would disagree with it.
Until Old Man Johnson found out.The day Heaven woke, his fury had been terrifying.
“She has to die,” he had growled.
“She could be a spy. What if Rodrigo planted her?”
“Does she look like a spy?” Fabian had snapped back.
“She doesn’t even know her name. She doesn’t know where she’s from. I hit her. I’m responsible for her.”
Then his voice hardened.
“And if you want her gone, I’ll leave this house with her.”
Rayan, kneeling in fear, had gone still. He couldn’t challenge his boss, the way Fabian could.
Old Man Johnson had raged at his son’s stubbornness. But Fabian knew his father. Old Man Johnson loved him beyond reason.
“Just until she gives birth,” Fabian had said quietly.“Before then, her memories will return.”
The old man had stared into Heaven’s eyes. Something in them had held him captive. His gaze dropped to her growing belly.
Reluctantly, he had agreed.
And now, here he was.
The same man who had once wanted her dead now loved her and her child as his own.
Old Man Johnson leaned back in his chair, studying her.
“Vera,” he said, using the name they’d given her,
“What’s next for you? Should I open a hospital for you?”
The table fell silent.
Every gaze turned to Heaven.
She remained quiet, fingers tightening around her fork.
Then she lifted her head.
“I want to go back to Ivory City.”