illegal Wife by Accident by Andy Whitte

Chapter 1 First Love

Danica Waylon started feeling nostalgic as soon as she looked around the familiar surroundings after getting out of the airport.

Welcome home, Danica, she told herself and glanced at her eleven-year-old brother who was ecstatic to be back in California after being gone for three years.

Danica couldn't help but smile at his excitement. Seeing the suddenly confused expression on his face, she ruffled his dark brown hair and said, “Aziel, you don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. I know how to get to our old place.”

Crossing his arms against his chest, Aziel frowned. “Why can’t I remember where we lived before? It was only three years ago, so I shouldn’t have forgotten our hometown.”

Danica pursed her lips, not bothering to answer him immediately. She pulled the luggage along with her and headed towards the cab. Aziel ran ahead and blocked her way with his small frame.

“Why don’t I remember, Dani?” he asked again with an undercurrent of disappointment in his voice.

She sighed and replied before opening the cab door, “Aziel, you were only eight at that time.” Aziel pouted but got in the cab nonetheless, like the obedient kid he’s always been. "Just focus on enjoying your summer here.” Danica hopped in as well and rolled down the windows on her side, blocking the scorching afternoon sunlight.

“Dani, you haven't forgotten my birthday wish, right? You will help me fulfil my wish, won’t you?” he asked with hopeful hazel eyes.

Glancing at him, Danica nodded her head. Aziel grinned in happiness and placed his head on her shoulder. She started to pat his head lightly as she started pondering how she would possibly be able to grant this one wish. The smile on her face dropped as soon as her brother closed his eyes, a cold and distant look took over her face instead.

Danica had decided to come back to California after three long years, just to try and help Aziel get his wish and she was absolutely clueless on how they could go about it. On top of that impossible situation, coming back to their hometown brought with it a lot of happy memories which are now painful. It was her decision to return, yes, but now what?

She sighed, something would come to her, it just had to.

###

“Hey, my Stones! How have you been doing? Welcome back to Troy's Reels. If you are new to my channel, let me tell you why I call y’all Stones. It's because you guys are my rock. Without your support, I am nothing. So you guys mean the world to me,” Troy Kingston said, facing the camera kept on his table, recording his new WhyNTube video. WhyNTube was a hot, up and coming social platform where people could upload different videos and gain popularity. “Today I had planned on doing a vlog and it will start with—”

“Troy, I am going to ChocoVivo Café. Want to tag along?” Hernan called out after barging into his bedroom without knocking—as usual.

“Wherever there's free food, you will find Troy Kingston with his camera. So is the food free?” Troy asked. He turned off his camera and looked at Hernan Matias, who was one of his best friends and a WhyNTuber just like him. The eccentric name of the café was enough for him to decline the offer, but that wasn’t the real reason he did not want to visit that place—it would remind him of someone he did not want to remember.

Hernan narrowed his eyes at Troy and let out, “No, but it will be helpful for your vlog. At least your fans won't think you are a social shut-in who rarely goes out and keeps making the same old vlogs which include nothing but your exercise regime and what kind of takeout you prefer.” Troy snickered at the last sentence. He lost his interest from the moment he heard there wouldn’t be any free food. “And who knows? If you are lucky, you might just bump into one of your crazy fans whom you can include in the vlog,” Hernan suggested.

Twitching his lips, Troy thought for a while before giving in, “Fine, give me two minutes. I'll change into something better.”

Hernan chuckled, looking at his current outfit, which almost made Troy look like he just got out of bed. “I'll be waiting in the parking lot then,” Hernan announced and made his way out of the Rose mansion—a mansion where an exclusive group of young celebrities lived, who just so happened to be close friends since their middle school years.

###

“Stop,” Danica let out when her eyes fell on a certain café. The cab driver hit the brakes at that instant moment and peered at the brown wavy-haired girl through the mirror. “I need to grab a cup of hot chocolate from here, if you wouldn’t mind stopping for a minute.”

The driver smiled and glanced at the coffee shop, which was famous for its special hot chocolate. Aziel was sleeping peacefully in the car, so the driver, who looked like he was in his mid-forties, assured, noticing Danic was skeptical about leaving Aziel alone in the car, “Get your cocoa. The kid is safe here.”

Pushing a few locks of her brown hair behind her ear, Danica got out of the cab. She straightened the light wrinkles that formed on her white top and dusted her mid-thigh length denim skirt before walking inside her favorite coffee shop. She stood in the long line, patiently waiting for her turn to come.

While she was looking around, her heartbeat thrummed all of a sudden. Danica huffed and wished for the line to move faster. She knew that when her heartbeat sped up, it was because something was about to happen—good or bad, it didn’t matter. Given the kind of life she was leading, she didn’t expect anything good to happen to her anymore. Even smiling wholeheartedly was hard for her nowadays.

Was it a good decision to get out of the cab just for a cup of hot chocolate? She had no idea, but at least she could keep the cab in her sights while she was waiting.

Fortunately, the line began moving faster, and before she knew it; she was standing in front of the barista.

“One ho—”