"Is this ruby?" I asked Gareth brushing my finger over the red gem on the ring he gave me.

"Yes." He answered. "Ruby and diamond."

"Why the hell did you buy such an expensive ring?" I faced him as he was sitting beside me on the bedsheet we had spread on his terrace.

Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he pulled me closer. "You are Gareth Wilbrose's fiance, honey." He said arrogantly and I smacked him on his shoulder making him chuckle as he pressed a kiss to the side of my head.

I gazed up at the sky and I felt him staring at me. A moment passed and he called my name in a serious tone. "Harper..."

I looked at him."Yes?"

"You are a blessing to me. Did I tell you that?" My heart warmed with love.

"Nope. You didn't tell me." I said playfully.

He smiled softly. "Well, I am telling you now. You are a blessing to me. You took away the loneliness from this house. You brought life to it."

Leaning closer I kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

In return of it, he kissed my cheek. "No. Thank you."

"If I have to, I can lay my life for you." He stated firmly, with a genuine promise that almost made me emotional.

"Oh, please do." I teased. "So, that all your money could be mine."

He laughed at that. "I'll make sure I die first so that my lovely fiance could get all my money."

I laughed along with him but when my laughter subsided, I placed my hand over his. "Gareth...you are not going to leave me, are you?"

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"You better. Because if you ever did, I will hunt you down and kill you with my bare hands." I warned.

"I'm sure you will do that." He chuckled.

I smiled placing my head on his shoulder and he rested his head on top of mine as we both became silent.

A minute passed by when I asked. "Have you thought of any names for the child?"

"Didn't you say that you will name the child?"

"Well..." I said sheepishly. "I'm open to suggestions."

He let out a small chuckle and spoke. "I did think of a name. For a girl."

"What is it?"

"Leona."

"Leona. Where did you find that? Google?"

"It was your mother's name." He whispered softly, looking at me waiting for my reaction.

"I'm sorry...what did you say?"

"I...um...well you said your mother died while giving birth so...I did a bit of digging and found out that your mother's name. Leona. She was just twenty."

My mouth had fell open and his eyes roamed my face waiting for me to say something. When I didn't, he start to ramble. "I'm sorry. I should have asked you before finding out all this. I thought you might like to know your mother's name since you didn't know anything about her and--"

I pressed my lips on his cutting him off as usual. He reacted a moment later, kissing me back slowly and softly.

Biting his lower lip gently, I pulled back. "You ramble a lot." I whispered.

A tint of pink coated his cheeks. "I'm sorry. I panicked."

"Thank you. For finding about her." I told him, tears welling up in my eyes for what he did.

He kissed my forehead brushing away my tears. "Anything for you, honey."

"Leona..." I whispered testing that name. "Do you like it?"

He nodded smiling. "I love it."

"And what if it is a boy?"

He shrugged. "I haven't thought of it."

"How about Beckham? I really like this name."

"Sounds good."

"Leona Wilbrose..."

"Or Beckham Wilbrose..." He added and captured my lips for a long kiss.

.

.

.

"Gareth." I gasped as my eyes shot opened. I was breathing heavily, my chest heaving up and down. I was on a bed, the surroundings unfamiliar. I noticed the IV tubes connected to my arms.

What happened?

Suddenly, everything came crashing down to me. "Gareth." I whispered.

Gareth. I remember Isaiah shooting him.

NO.

I sat up straight, my head spinning due to the sudden action. There was no one in the room. I was about to get down from the bed when the door opened and Aeryn walked in, her eyes wet with tears. She gave me a small, sad smile on seeing me awake and walking closer to me engulfed me in a tight hug.

Wrapping my arms around her body I cried as she rubbed small circles over my back. "It's alright..." She tried to console me.

"I didn't even get to confess my love for him..." I sobbed. "He told me he loved me...and he left me..."

At that Aeryn pulled back and cupped my cheeks. "Hey...look at me..."

"He died because of me, Aeryn...he died..." I cried.

"No. He didn't."

My head snapped to her. "What?"

"He isn't dead, Harper. He's still alive."

"No. Don't joke with me, Aeryn. Don't give me false consolation."

"No! I am serious. He's alive, Harper. He's still alive."

"How can he be alive?! I saw him die! Isaiah shot him in the heart!"

Aeryn shook her head. "No, he didn't."

"What do you mean?" My brows knitting together. "How is this possible?"

"Did you know that Isaiah had a nervous disorder?" She asked and my I replayed the time when he told me about it. I nodded and she said. "When he lifted the gun to shoot him, his hands started to shake and his aim wasn't perfect. He didn't get shot in his heart but a few inches away from it. Matthew Hamilton and his men luckily reached there on time as Gareth had planned. You had fainted as Matthew told us."

"He's not dead?"

She shook her head. "He's alive but currently being operated. Prayers are what he needs."

My head started to ache with all this information. He's alive. Is this a miracle?

"I want to see him." I told her.

"Harper, he's being operated. You can't see him."

"I want to see him!" I raised my voice but as tears fought their way back to my eyes, my voice became low. "I want to see him... please..."

She kissed the top of my head. "He's alright, Harper. You need to rest. Then you can meet him later, okay?"

I nodded my head, my eyes falling on my belly, placing my plam over it, I looked at Aeryn and she answered my unasked question. "The baby is okay."

I nodded in relief and she made me lay down on the bed telling me to rest.

And she left and soon sleep consumed me.

.

.

.

I woke up to someone stroking my hair, I slowly opened my eyes and Aeryn's face came into view.

"He wants to see you." She said softly.

"He's okay?"

She nodded. "Yes. He has been operated successfully. He wishes to see you."

I got up noticing that the IV tubes that were connected to my arm were already removed.

Aeryn helped me get down from the bed as I was still feeling a little weak. Taking my hand in hers, she took me out of the room and down the corridor to another room from which Everette and Carmel exited and they smiled on seeing me.

Everette side hugged and so did Carmel making me feel blessed to have them all in my life.

Giving them an assuring smile, I placed my hand on the door's handle. Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door and stepped in finding myself in a huge room.

I cried at the sight of Gareth on the bed, his left side of the chest all covered up in bandage. His eyes were closed, his hair all messy.

He opened his eyes as a sob left my mouth, his lips curling up in a small smile.

With all the strength I had, I ran to him and hugged him tightly, crying my heart out.

He wrapped his right hand tightly around my shoulder, my face buried in the crook of his neck.

"Harper." He crooned making me cry harder, tears falling from his eyes too as I felt my shoulder getting wet.

A minute passed by and I was still crying not believing he was alive after I saw him die.

Pulling back slowly he carefully shifted on the bed, making some place for me and gestured me to sit down beside him.

Hesitantly, I sat down beside him placing my head on his chest, his arm gently stroking my hair and he kissed my forehead lingeringly.

"I thought I lost you..." I cried again. "How could you do this to me?"

"Well...you could have got all my money. It was an advantage for you." He joked, lightning the mood.

I let out a small chuckle in between my sobs. "Yeah..."

"I love you, Gareth." I blurted out in a whisper and his hand stopped stroking my hair abruptly.

He sighed deeply. "I love you too, Harper." And my heart skipped a beat.

"Say it again. Please." I said softly.

"I love you, honey. More than you could ever imagine. I love you so much that it can't be put in words." He spoke in a saccharine tone.

"Now, this sounds good." I mumbled making him chuckle softly.

I lifted my head and gazed at him and our lips met slowly in a passionate kiss making my breath hitch and heart skip several beats. Placing my palm over his cheek, I kissed him as he smiled against my lips. Our tongues met briefly before I retreated. The kiss was brief yet long enough to pour our emotions into it.

He kissed my forehead mumbling. "I love you."

"I love you too." I mumbled back placing my head on his chest again.

His hand dropped down from my hair to my belly and he rubbed circles there. "How's my Leona doing?"

"She's good...wait a minute. How do you know it is Leona only? What if it is Beckham?"

He smirked. "I have a feeling it's Leona." He gave a cheeky wink.

"And I have a feeling it's Beckham."

He clicked his tongue. "We'll see."

"Yeah, yeah."

I gently brushed my fingers over the bandage. "Is it still hurting?"

"A little bit."

"I'm sorry. Because of me you had to--"

"Oh, shut up!" He scolded. "I love you, Harper. It was the least I could have done for you."

"Least? You almost died for me!"

"I just wanted you to be safe, Harper. I didn't care at what cost."

"And what about me? You think I would have survived without you? What about this child? You wanted orphan it?" Tears again fell from my eyes.

"No, Harper. That wasn't the plan. Isaiah called me there and said to come alone. I told Matthew to follow behind me but after 15 minutes. So, while Isaiah would be busy with me they all could sneak up behind him. I never could have imagined that Isaiah would shoot me. You fell unconscious and that's when they all came in." He explained. "I still need to thank him."

I sniffed back my tears. "Don't do it ever again or I'll kill you with my bare hands."

He laughed. "I wouldn't dare, honey."

Someone knocked on the door interrupting us and I got down from the bed and told the person to come in.

The door opened and an unfamiliar person stepped in. It was me who didn't recognise him because Gareth looked happy to see. "Matthew..."

Matthew gave me a small smile and said to Gareth. "You scared us all, mate."

"Thanks to you, I'm alive."

"Oh, no need of it, Gareth. I was just helping my friend."

"Thank you, Matthew. I really owe you." Gareth expressed his gratitude to him and turned to me. "And Harper, this is Matthew Hamilton, the CEO of the Hamilton Enterprises and my friend."

Matthew smiled warmly extending his hand for a shake which I accepted. "Thank you for saving our lives."

"Oh, drop it already." He said exasperatedly and then chuckled. "I'm tired of everyone thanking me."

We both smiled at him and after saying a few more things to Gareth, he left and I sat down beside Gareth on the bed. "So...um...what about Isaiah?"

Gareth's jaw clenched. "Matthew will take care of him. Don't think about him."

He took my hand in his. "Did he hurt you?"

I shook my head. "No. Instead he was kinda taking care of me. The place where he kept me was good too. Some penthouse, he made sure I was having food and all. But the day you arrived he took me away from there to that old, weird house in the woods."

He raised a brow at me. "He took care of you? Really?"

"Yes. I think he genuinely cared for me but he was obsessed with me so...that was the disadvantage."

"Is he mentally sick or something?" Gareth asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know...maybe... because he literally took care of me. Like, when I refused to eat, he picked up the spoon and tried feeding me himself."

Gareth had a frown on his face and he thought about something. "If he's mentally sick...and did all this because of his sickness then...he needs treatment. It isn't fair to throw him in the prison directly."

"Umm...maybe..."

Gareth asked me to grab his phone lying on the small table beside his bed and I gave it to him. He called someone which was Matthew and he told him to get Isaiah checked up first without taking any further actions.

At that moment, I just fell even more in love with him for his kindness and I hugged him suddenly surprising him.

"What?" He asked in surprise hugging me back.

"I love you." I stated making him chuckle deeply. "I love you too, Harper."