Chapter 32: Chapter 32

Chapter 32 Not all days are Sundays “Protect the family!” Inspector Michael instructed immediately and all police officers surrounded the family of five, taking out their shields to protect them.

The gunshots were so sudden that they had no idea where the shooter was.

Tessa’s eyes were almost popping out of their sockets. She was frozen on the spot and her mouth was on the ground as she stared at the three bodies of the kidnappers lying in a pool of blood.

They had been shot in the foreheads by a sniper! Had they been thrown under the bus by their leader? Tessa could only wonder.

This was clearly a move to shut them up. Whoever did this didn’t want them to disclose his name or his filthy secrets. But there was nothing hidden under the sun.

1 “W-what just happened?” Tessa’s lips trembled as she asked gingerly.

She could still hear the continuous ringing in her ears from the loud sound and her heart had jumped to her throat.

“It’s ok, Tessa. Do not be afraid. I’m with you. There’s someone with a gun out there and we need to leave this place at once,” Aaron said.

It was only when Tessa heard Aaron’s voice that her heart began to reduce its erratic speed. She noticed how his presence made her feel relieved, otherwise, she would have still been scared witless.

They were escorted to the car. Tessa and Aaron got in the back seat, while a police officer got into the driver’s seat.

“The military is already after the sniper. They will catch him soon. He must be the mastermind behind the kidnapping and the human trafficking. There are a lot of women and men in that container.” The officer stated as he started the car and sped off.

Tessa held Willa to her chest and felt relieved that they had found the kids. When she thought about how they were almost shipped off to God knows where. She felt like a thousand ants were crawling inside her skin, eating her from the inside out.

Her brows furrowed as she thought about it. Who could have tried to do something as evil as human trafficking?

No matter how much she wracked her brain, she couldn’t come up with a name for the potential mastermind.

All the people she knew were kind and righteous.

No one was capable of performing such atrocious acts. Or so she thought.

She was deep in her thoughts when Aaron’s words made her heart drop.

“Why aren’t the kids waking up? Their bodies feel hot too’

Panic crept into Tessa as she just realised the child she was holding in her arms was burning up. Her eyes widened into saucers as her heart galloped wildly.

She had been caught up in feeling relieved that she didn’t realise how abnormally quiet the kids were. They had slept through a gunshot sound. Tessa couldn’t help but worry.

“Officer, let’s go to the hospital. It’s an emergency!” Tessa exclaimed as tears brimmed in her eyes.

“Is something wrong with the kids?” Aaron asked anxiously.

He had never fully taken care of kids before, so he didn’t know what was normal and what was not.

One thing was for sure though. He knew a high rise in temperature and not waking up was something serious.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the children’s hospital. The kids were instantly hooked to machines and taken into operating rooms.

“What’s wrong with my kids, Doctor?” Tessa asked hoarsely.

She had lost her voice after crying for hours straight. Even though she was tired to death, there was nothing she could do but stay strong.

She was a mother.

The little ones depended on her to survive. She couldn’t afford to rest or relax until she was sure of their health and safety.

The doctor narrowed his eyes down at Tessa. He didn’t know the whole story so he pointed at Tessa and scolded, “How can you overdose your kids with sleeping pills? What sort of irresponsible mother are you?”

Those words hit Tessa like an avalanche, threatening to take her under.

“I... I didn’t. It wasn’t me-”

“Please. Stop making excuses! If you couldn’t manage to keep them, you could have given them up for adoption. Now the poor kids would have to have their stomachs pumped to clear out the drugs. In the meantime, I’m calling the police. Mothers like you need to be caged!”

The lump in Tessa’s throat felt bigger as she tried to swallow it down. However, it was too painful.

A sliver of irritation rushed through her as she furrowed her brows. This Doctor didn’t care to find out the reason the children were like that and just started pointing fingers at her.

She was about to respond when Aaron’s voice sounded on top of her head.

He had been processing the kids’ admission at the reception and had just come back.

“Here’s a police report, Doctor. Our children were kidnapped and my wife is very devastated about the ordeal. Please, refrain from making such remarks. We are hurting as a family.” Aaron said icily The doctor quickly changed his demeanour and apologised to Tessa, “I’m so sorry, ma’am. The children will be ok.”

It was only then that Tessa realised she was no longer alone. Those times that she used to act as the children’s mother and father were long gone.

2/4 She didn’t have to carry the weight of raising, protecting and caring for the kids alone. Now, they had a father they could look up to and he loved them very much.

Aaron was like a pillar of strength that kept her aloft when she was about to fall. She let out a breath she was holding, thinking it wasn’t a bad thing to have him as the children’s father.

A protector.

That’s what Aaron was. He was there for her and the kids. Putting them first in everything. To be honest, that was all that mattered.

A few hours later, the kids woke up but they were still weak so the doctor advised that they stay admitted.

Since the killer was still out there, Aaron had brought in about ten bodyguards to guard the triplets’ hospital ward.

While seated by their beds, Tessa’s eyes blurred with tears as she gazed upon them with so much love in her eyes.

“Mommy?” Reagan said weakly the moment he saw her.

“Yes, I’m here, sweetheart,” she replied.

“Where’s Daddy? I want Daddy-”

“I’m here, son,” Aaron said quickly from the other side of the bed.

Reagan smiled but it came out weak. “I knew you would find us.”

Tessa’s heart clenched and she secretly wiped away a tear, not wanting her son to see.

She then looked at him and said, “Of course. We are your parents and we love you all very much. We will always come for you.”

Reagan nodded and drifted off to sleep. Tessa bent over and kissed his cheek. She also kissed Nia and Willa and sighed.

“Thank you for the bodyguards. They will be helpful,” she remarked as she cast a sideways glance at Aaron.

“I think you should move in with me. We can live in the mansion. That’s the safest place as of now,” Aaron suggested.

With her eyes flying open, Tessa shook her head at Aaron, saying, “Moving in with you is not an option. I love the way things are right now. You will have some days with the kids and then return them to me.”

Aaron’s brows slightly frowned. He didn’t understand so he asked, “Why don’t you want to move in with me? Even for your safety?”

Tessa sighed She briefly stared at the kids, wiped the sweat off their foreheads and then looked at him, replying, “It’s because I can’t move in with a man I’m not married to. I had done it before and it ended badly ”

‘Hadn’t we crossed that bridge already?’ Aaron thought, confused. He thought Tessa had been slowly opening up to him but guess he was wrong.

He was about to say that they can get married when a knock sounded on the door.

Enock came in and reported, “Sir, the container and the warehouse have been linked to Harry Winston. He owns a human trafficking business under the alias, Jacob Kent.”

Tessa gasped while Aaron clenched his hands into fists.

“Is that true? That container was linked to Harry? H-how? Was he framed? Harry is not such a person,” Tessa defended her friend, however, her voice lowered at the end.

Did she really know Harry? The opposite was true. He knew more about her than she knew about herself and it was terrifying.

Anger flared through Aaron at Tessa’s words. The information he had just received fuelled the anger and hatred he felt.

‘How dare he kidnap my kids?’

He felt like there was a tornado in his chest. Harry was like a thorn lodged in the soles of his feet and Aaron couldn’t wait to put him behind bars.

“How could Harry be involved in human trafficking? He helps people with cancer get treated. He’s a good man-”

“It’s clear that he’s a good pretender. It’s obvious he had framed his fiancée just to get a chance with you. He was like a thief...

acting badly in secret while giving you fake smiles openly. He thought he had everything under control, but not all days are Sundays,” Aaron reasoned.

At the same time, Tessa was in denial until Enock uttered the next words.

“The military went after him the moment they found out this information. Unfortunately, he’s gone. Harry Winston has escaped and no one knows where he is.