Stanley Robbins was a single hot daddy. His wife left them when their daughter, Heather, was still a baby. They had never heard of her ever since. Leaving the responsibility of raising young Heather in the care of a first-time dad. Stanley had worked hard to give his daughter a bright future while establishing a reputable image in the city of Newark as its top businessman. Maxine Ballard was a simple girl living her simple life. She was living away from her family. She wanted to be independent. She hated complications. She wanted everything to be simple and smooth flowing. Until one day, a billionaire hired her as his daughter's mommy. How long can they pretend that Maxine was Heather's mommy? What if true love blossoms between the real daddy and the hired mommy? Can they escape what destiny had planned for them?
For Stanley Robbins, life had always been and should always be in perfect sync. Being a top businessman in the huge and bustling city of Newark, he knew that he should never waste his time on something not business-related. He would never let any business competitors take over his place. He wanted Robbins City Wide-his trading company-to always be in the highest position.
That was the plan Stanley was more than willing to do.
That was the plan until he had a baby, and his supposed-to-be wife left him-to pursue her acting career-to raise her all alone.
Now, he changed the plan. And that was to keep his company at the top for his daughter's future.
"Heather was looking for you when she woke up, Stanley. Now, she won't stop crying. Why do you have to leave that early? 4 am was unacceptable!" Lisa, his mother, was somehow yelling over the phone.
Since then, Lisa had been Stanley's main support and help in raising his child. Sure he knew everything about the business, but nothing about babies, their daily needs, and how to make them stop crying. He was a first-time dad, after all. Clearly, he wouldn't know what he would do if he didn't have his mother with him. And bringing Heather to the company wouldn't be the best option-obviously. So, Stanley was more than thankful for everything his mother had done for him and his now three-year-old daughter, Heather.
"I'm sorry, mom. My schedule for today was really tough. Please tell Heather that I love her, and I'll make it up to her when I come back," he said.
"Why don't you say it yourself?" Lisa complained as she turned the call into a video call. She then gave it to Heather, who was still sobbing.
"Heather, baby, daddy just needs to catch up on some things at work, okay? You do know that daddy is a busy man, right? And I'm sure you understand. I will come back later, baby. Please stop crying, and eat your breakfast. Daddy loves you." Stanley said in the most adorable way. He even gave Heather a kiss.
"I love you too, Daddy, and I miss you, and I- I will wait for you." Sobbing, Heather responded. She eventually stopped, too-she just really wanted to talk to her dad.
"Thank you," Lisa said to Stanley as she took the phone back.
That day, Stanley continued with his business errands. On the other side, Lisa and Heather decided to spend their time in the park. Heather was very excited, especially about the ice cream and the balloon.
"Heather, listen carefully to Abuela, okay? I will get your favorite ice cream on the other side of the road. I want you to stay still on this bench. This is the place where I will come back for you, okay? We're doing this every time we go here, and like those times, I want you to listen to me." Lisa had carefully instructed her granddaughter.
"Okay, Abuela!" Heather cheerfully responded.
Lisa immediately went to the ice cream shop to buy the ice cream. Heather, with the balloon in her hand, doesn't have a plan to disobey her grandma. Well, not when her red balloon flew in the air. She then tried to catch it by following it. But when the balloon was high enough, Heather sat on a different bench-a bit far from where she first was-and began crying.
"Abuela! My balloon!" She cried out loud. People in the park began to look at her with worried eyes, but none tried to approach the poor little girl, except for the young lady who didn't even think twice about sitting beside Heather when she heard and saw her.
"Why are you crying? Shhh, please stop." The young lady said in a nice and pleasing way.
It was really hard to make Heather stop crying. But this girl had easily made her loud cries into silent sobs. "My- my balloon," she said as she pointed to the sky.
The young lady then patted her head and smiled, "let me buy another one for you, okay? Come," she said. Heather smiled at her as she willingly went with the girl.
Lisa, on the other hand, was so worried when they found them-the young lady holding Heather's other hand. "Heather! Thank goodness you're safe!" She said as she approached her granddaughter, who was holding her new balloon in her free hand. Lisa pulled her away from the girl.
"I'm sorry. I just saw her crying and figured that she had lost her balloon, so I decided to buy her another one." The young lady explained when Lisa gave her a sharp glare. She then eventually went away.
"She was a nice girl, Abuela!" Lisa was shocked by her granddaughter's reaction toward the lady. She must be really kind. Yet, being in the park, you should never really trust anyone. Lisa knew too that she should never let Heather alone again. Leaving her on the bench to buy ice cream wasn't a great idea after all.
"She must be. But I told you not to talk to strangers, right?" Lisa said as they sat on the bench and handed Heather the ice cream that she had bought. She had expected Heather to be happy to finally have her ice cream, but clearly, she was not.
"What's wrong? Come on, eat your ice cream before it melts down."
"Where is she, Abuela?" Heather asked, looking for the young lady who had bought her her new balloon. Then, again, she began sobbing.
"But we don't know who she was, Heather... please don't cry," Lisa said, but the more she did, the more Heather sobbed. Looking left and right, Lisa couldn't find the girl anymore. Instead, she found a book on the other side of the bench where they were sitting. She grabbed it, assuming that the owner of it was the girl.
"Where is she, Abuela?" This time, Heather was crying so bad-completely forgetting about the balloon and her now starting-to-melt ice cream. Lisa had tried to call Stanley, but it seemed that he was too busy at work, and he turned off his phone.
"Shhh, please stop crying, Heather... we will find her, okay? Abuela will find her," she was forced to say those words even though she knew there was no chance of finding her again in that huge park-or city.
Thinking of what to do, Lisa accidentally dropped the book on the ground. When she picked it up, a picture inserted between the pages also fell. Upon getting it, she noticed how Heather immediately stopped crying. In fact, she was smiling, eyes directed at the picture.
When Lisa looked at the picture, she instantly knew who it was.
It was the girl Heather was crying and looking for.
She then let the child hold the picture in her hand.
"She was so beautiful, Abuela," Heather said with a priceless smile on her face.
Since they couldn't find the girl again, Lisa just decided to keep the book and the picture with them. Even she could not explain why that girl and her picture could give Heather such calm and ease. Why, when they didn't even know who she was?
"Careful, she was already asleep. You don't wanna wake her up," Lisa said to Stanley, who had just arrived home from work. "She fell asleep while waiting for you... good thing we have that picture to calm her down," Lisa continued.
"Goodnight, baby. I'm sorry, daddy's late." Stanley whispered through his daughter's ears as he kissed her on her forehead. He then turned his gaze to his mother. "What picture?" He asked.
Lisa gets the book and the picture of the girl in it. She then handed it to Stanley. "Heather loved looking at that picture, Stanley. She even called her mommy a while ago. It was weird, yet, I still decided to keep it and let Heather have it." She said.
"Do you think it's okay? We never knew who this woman was," Stanley suggested.
"I know, but Heather loves seeing her, and she will surely cry and look for it when we take this away from her. Maybe we can just let the child have it for a while. I'm sure, sooner, she'll eventually forget this just like her old toys," Lisa explained, to which Stanley agreed.
As years passed and Heather grew up, she often looked for her mommy. What made it more complicated was she assumed that the woman in the picture they kept in her room was her mommy.
"Will mommy gonna come to my birthday tomorrow?" Heather asked her grandma. Lisa looked up at Stanley and then at Heather. "Mommy was still busy at work, Heather. But she will come home soon," she lied.
"Okay, Abuela." She understood.
"Go to your room, baby. Your Abuela and I were just gonna talk about some things for your birthday tomorrow." Stanley said. When Heather was already inside her room, he faced his mother. "Things can't always be that way, mom. She can't see that woman as her mother. We can't let Heather forever believe in these foolish lies!" He then said.
"I know, but what else can we do?" Lisa asked.
"I will tell Heather the truth now. Years of believing that that girl was her mother was enough." He exclaimed.
Lisa nodded, "you are the father. You know what to do."
Stanley then turned his back to his mother and quietly went to Heather's room. However, upon opening the door, he didn't eventually come inside as he saw his daughter holding the picture and talking to it.
"I love you, mommy. I really want to see you soon. I hope you will surprise me at my birthday tomorrow. But if not, I wish you would take care of yourself wherever you are now. I can't wait to see you and hug you real tight," those were her innocent words before she gave the picture a kiss.
Stanley had heard everything, making him back away from letting Heather know the truth.
Chapter 1 The Picture that Captured Heather's Heart
02/03/2023
Chapter 2 Happy Seventh Birthday
02/03/2023
Chapter 3 I am Your Boss, You're My Employee
02/03/2023
Chapter 4 Who's Maureen
02/03/2023
Chapter 5 Catching Feelings
02/03/2023
Chapter 6 I Love You, He Said
02/03/2023
Chapter 7 Marry Me
02/03/2023
Chapter 8 Flashes of the Past
02/03/2023
Chapter 9 Flight For Two
02/03/2023
Chapter 10 To Have and To Hold
02/03/2023
Chapter 11 The Comeback
06/03/2023
Chapter 12 Two Mommies
06/03/2023
Chapter 13 Child of Our Own
06/03/2023
Chapter 14 Desperation
06/03/2023
Chapter 15 Unexpected Concern
06/03/2023
Chapter 16 Littlest Things and Slight Jealousy
06/03/2023
Chapter 17 First Step
06/03/2023
Chapter 18 Tame or Wild
06/03/2023
Chapter 19 On The Brink of Disturbia
06/03/2023
Chapter 20 Regret and Revenge
06/03/2023
Chapter 21 Protective
06/03/2023
Chapter 22 Swear
06/03/2023
Chapter 23 Just Hug me Instead
06/03/2023
Chapter 24 Goodbye, Maureen
06/03/2023
Chapter 25 When it rains, it pours
06/03/2023
Chapter 26 Shut up and Kiss me
06/03/2023
Chapter 27 Involved
06/03/2023
Chapter 28 Date
06/03/2023
Chapter 29 Bestfriend
06/03/2023
Chapter 30 Goodbye
06/03/2023
Chapter 31 Blushing
06/03/2023
Chapter 32 Happening
06/03/2023
Chapter 33 Nightmare
06/03/2023
Chapter 34 Hopeful
06/03/2023
Chapter 35 Close Friend
06/03/2023
Chapter 36 Happy
06/03/2023
Chapter 37 Never Lie
06/03/2023
Chapter 38 Broken Promise
06/03/2023
Chapter 39 Betrayal
06/03/2023
Chapter 40 Ignored
06/03/2023
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