"My name is Bella, I'm 26years old, I'm a single mother, I have a beautiful daughter, but her father doesn't know about her. I have a fairly good job and I'm able to cater for my daughter, well I'm not rich like her father.

I was once married to my daughter's father but differences tore our marriage apart, leaving me emotionally drained, financially shattered and pregnant. I managed to survive, living hand to mouth for a few months before a nice couple took me in, registered me at a nearby hospital for pre-natal care.

I ran into my husband yesterday, while running an errand for my boss. He is still as handsome as I remembered, it took all my willpower to resist from touching him.
He, on the other hand, stared at me in contempt, his pupils going dark in anger. He walked past me without a greeting, his PA hurried after him, her heels clicking on the linoleum floor.

I bit my lower lip in embarassment and walked out of the building. He still believes that the abrupt end of our marriage is my fault... Well maybe it is and maybe it is not. You decide".
***********************
"My name is Josh, I'm 29 nine years old. I am the only son of my parents, I was married for a few months to the woman whom I thought loved me as I love her, but I was wrong.

She betrayed me, I was warned but I didn't heed to the warning. My marriage ended abruptly and she left my house without glancing back. I was hurt and I believed I was going to die, but miraculously I lived.

I ran into her yesterday at the Sunshine Hotel, I was giving instructions to my PA about the conference we came for when I felt a prickling sensation of being watched, I turned around and my eyes met hers.

She looked so beautiful in her monochrome pencil skirt, white blouse and black heels. I almost forgot the reason why we are no longer married when she smiled coyly at me, I started to smile back when my PA whispered to me that she just got a notification and the conference is about to begin.

I drew in a breath and gave my ex-wife a fierce look, walked past her like she didn't exist, but not before I caught her bit her lower lip, she always does that when she's embarassed.

I felt sorry for my action. Seeing her brought back all the memories I thought had been blocked".

Source:www.ellablogpedia./tempted

CHAPTER ONE

The rain fell lazily as the clouds gathered threateningly, It didn't seem like dawn, as there were a few pedestrians and motorists using the highway. Bella sighed as she turned away from her bedrom window, which overlooked the highway.

She was glad that it was weekend and she didn't have to bother about work and taking her daughter to the daycare. Speaking of her daughter, she walked to her daughter's crib beside her bed and gazed down at her.

Bella smiled as she stared at her sleeping daughter, who looked so much like her father. Bella sighed sadly as she thought about facing the constant reminder of her ex-husband for the rest of her life.

Pearl, her daughter, is thirteen month old and the resemblance between father and daughter is undeniable. Pearl slept peacefully, she wasn't a fussy baby except when she is hungry, dirty or bored. Bella stroked Pearl's right cheek affectionately, Pearl fussed sleepily and rubbed her nose. Bella withdrew her hand, pulling the blanket over her daughter's sleeping form. She left Pearl to sleep, opening the door quietly and walking out of the room, she closed the door behind her and headed for the kitchen.

Bella opened the refrigerator's door, plucked a banana from its bunch and closed the door. She sat on the counter top, peeled the banana and began to munch slowly, while her mind replayed yesterday's scenario. She sighed as she took the last bite, she wished she could have spoken with Josh yesterday. He needs to know about his daughter, she thought.
*************************************

Josh opened his eyes slowly, fixing his gaze on the ceiling. He blinked and sighed, rubbing his eyes with his right hand. Bella, he whispered. He wondered what she was doing at the moment, he was able to deduce that she is living well after taking a good look at her while sitted in his car, she seemed to have put on some weight and she looked too good.

Josh sighed and sat up in bed, he told himself that he shouldn't be thinking about her, he should be thinking about the new woman in his life. He tried to conjure her image in his mind's eye, but it was Bella's face that popped up. Josh grunted in frustrastion, shoving the bed cover off his body, he stood up, walked to his into his bathroom and shut the door.

His mobile phone began to ring, the shrill noise erupting the stillness of dawn. The bathroom door opened and Josh stepped out, he walked briskly to the bed and picked his phone, he stared at the phone screen displaying the caller Id. He sighed deeply, swiped the phone screen, "hello" he said.


He listened patiently as the caller spoke at a breakneck speed, Josh raised his right eyebrow in amusement. He took the phone away from his ear as the call ended abruptly, dropping the phone on the bed, he returned to the bathroom closing the door behind him.

***THREE YEARS AGO***
Bella smiled blissfully as she opened her eyes, she couldn't believe she was finally married to the man she loved. She sighed contentedly as she snuggled into her husband's embrace, he mumbled incoherently and held her securely in his arms as he slept.

She needed to use the toilet, but she didn't want to wake her husband, he looked endearing as he slept peacefully. Bella giggled silently, her husband turned sleepily, forcing an eye open he glanced at his wife. "Morning" he murmured. Bella inhaled sharply, raised her head to stare at her husband's face "good morning" she whispered shyly.

Josh smiled, "how was ur night?" He asked, Bella closed her eyes briefly and smiled. Josh sat up, chuckling, he turned to glance at the bedside clock, his eyes widening in shock. "Oh my God!!!" He uttered, he pushed the bedcover off him and raced to the bathroom. Bella laughed at his antics, "its not funny" josh yelled from the bathroom. Bella got out of bed, she straightened the bed cover and arranged the pillows. She hummed to herself as she left the toilet, and walked out of the room closing the door quietly behind her.

Bella met Josh during her youth service, she had been posted to Abuja. She had felt uneasy about going to an unfamiliar environment, she had moved in to live with her aunt and her family after the untimely death of her parents in a ghastly car accident.

Her aunt loved and treated her like one of her daughters. On the fateful day that she met Josh, she had been assigned the duty of presenting an advert campign for a prestigious client, it turned out to be that the prestigious client was actually Josh's company.

Bella was nervous and worried about screwing up, she paced the length of the balcony overlooking the highway, taking calm breaths and exhaling hard. Unknown to her, she had captured the interest of an audience.

INTERESTING.

nimat158:
INTERESTING.

Thanks for reading

UPDATE: OPENING DATE: 1ST DECEMBER 2015.
DEADLINE: 5th FEBRUARY 2016
ABOUT NAWOT:
The Nelson Adeyeye Writers Of Today(NAWOT) is an online competition that is organized by Sandra Adeyeye C.E.O of Eminent Creators in honor of her late father Mr. Nelson Adeyeye as a way to encourage the writing and reading culture of the Nigerian youth.
This competition promises to be an exciting and uplifting showcase of well-laid out Prose that promotes creativity at it's peak.
AWARDS:
There shall be a selection of the best twenty stories by our judges. These shall make up our anthology other prizes to be won include but are not restricted to:
Best writer Romance Category - 15,000
Best writer Science Fiction and Fantasy Category - 15,000
Best writer Mystery and Horror Category - 15,000
Best writer Action and Thriller Category - 15,000
Other consolation prizes, a copy of the anthology and other books shall follow.
RULES AND REGULATION:
In order to be eligible, participants are to note the following guidelines as regards submission of entries.
1) Participant must be a Nigerian youth between the ages of 16 - 30 years.
2) Participant must send a mail containing a black and white passport photograph, age, sex, phone numbers, email and facebook i.d in a separate mail from the mail bearing his entry.
3) Entry to be submitted must be Prose, original work of participant and must be an unpublished work, not submitted for any publication during the period of this competition.
NOTE: entry should not bear author's name on it. Just the title and the word count.
4) Entry must be between a 1,500 (minimum) - 2,500 (maximum) word count. Entries must be complete, concise and bear a comprehensive plot, i.e a beginning, middle and an end (no season). Entry font should be Arial size 12 and double spaced.
NOTE: subject of mail should signify what category the author is entering his story. No entries in PDF format will be accepted.
5) Participants can compete in four categories during this competition. I.e every writer is entitled to four entries per competition. Science fiction/fantasy category, mystery/horror category, action/thriller category and romance category.
NOTE: each entry attracts a fee of #1,000.
6) Every entry must have an attachment of the scanned bank draft which has the title of the submission boldly written on it.
Account name: Eminent Creators
Account number: 0201029142
Bank: Gtbank.
7) Every entry must be in English language, with minimal usage of vernacular; and if unavoidably used, must be explained as a footnote for better understanding.
All entries must be submitted to nelsonadeyeyewritersoftoday@gmail.com on or before 5 February 2016 (late entries will attract an extra fee of 500). Date for the prize-giving ceremony shall be communicated to participants via mail.
MODE OF SELECTION:
Participants will have excerpts from their stories displayed on our blog and Facebook page for voting by our public audience within a span of two weeks. Excerpts with the highest votes/comments within that period shall scale through to the next stage of selection.
Final announcement of the winners shall be left to the jurisdiction of the competition's in-house judges whose decisions shall be Binding and Final.
Finally: Writers retain the rights to the stories they submit for the NAWOT competition. The twenty winning stories are published as an anthology and open for purchase after the launching. After that, the winning authors are free to publish anywhere, as long as due credit is given to the NAWOT competition and/or Eminent Creators. Eminent Creators staff and NAWOT team members are not eligible to participate in the competition.
Good luck.

Signed:
Hillary Zita Successa
For the competition department.



For more information, send a message to nelsonadeyeyewritersoftoday@gmail.com or like our page on facebook. https://m.facebook.com/Nelson-Adeyeye-Writers-of-Today-NAWOT-1536651376625288/?ref=context_row or visit https://eminentcreatorsblog./ for more details. Thanks.

CHAPTER TWO

Josh looked up from his ipad, sighing wearily. He took a quick glance at his wrist watch, noting that it was thirty minutes to the commencement of the presentation.

He stood up from the uncomfortable seat in the conference lobby, he told his PA he was going out to get some fresh air. Josh walked out of the lobby, heading for the balcony when he noticed the lone occupant, she had her profile view to him and Josh thought she was fairly beautiful.

He watched her pace the balcony floor and smiled to himself, she really was working out some nervous energy. He headed to the balcony and stopped a few metres from her, " I don't think pacing is going to burn the nervous energy" he said, standing at ease and tucking his hands into his trousers' pockets.

Bella gasped audibly and whirled around to confront the intruder, her retort died on her lips when her eyes met his, her eyes widened in amazement. Josh's smile dimmed slowly as he got a close up look of her, he corrected his earlier judgement, she wasn't fairly beautiful.

Her beauty took his breath away... or maybe his sugar level was playing tricks with his sight since he was yet to have breakfast, well, he could also be short of breath due to asthma, but he hasn't had an asthma attack in years.

Bella slowly came back to earth and her first reaction was to frown at the intruder, Josh smiled sheepishly. "I saw you pacing" was all he could say. Bella crossed her arms, glared at him while rhythmically tapping her right foot against the tiled floor.

Bella gave a non-committal response, Josh stretched forth his right hand "I'm Josh". Bella slowly took his hand and shook it, "Bella" she replied.

***PRESENT DAY***
Josh glanced up as the sitting room door opened, he smiled when his childhood friend, Dominion, walked in. "Still in this world?" Josh teasingly asked his friend.

"Your head" Dominion replied, as he flopped on one of the sofa in the sitting-room. Dominion sighed contentedly as he got into a comfortable position on the sofa. "How far na?" Dominion asked, "I'm fine" Josh answered, dropping the T.V remote control on the coffee table.

"Where's ur chick?" Dominion asked, Josh gave a wry smile before responding. "She's on a business trip". "What's at home to eat?" Dominion asked, scratching his head absentmindedly.

Josh shrugged "nothing" he replied. Dominion sighed audibly "this makes me miss Bella more" he murmured. Josh's facial expression turned stony, "don't ever bring up her name in this house again" Josh warned.

Dominion sat up, "look, I'm sorry, I know how you feel". Josh absently rubbed the back of his neck "just let it be, man" he said. 
*******************
Bella sighed as her daughter, Pearl, refused the next spoon of cereal, Pearl, on the other hand, was simply fascinated with her mother's necklace. She makes an attempt to grab the pendant every time her mother got closer to feed her.

Pearl bent her head sideways and gave her mother a stare down, as if saying: "if you want to feed me, give me your necklace".

Pearl giggled and blew her mother a raspberry kiss, Bella smiled and shook her head at her daughter's antics. There was a knock at the front door, Pearl babbled inhocoherently. It seemed her daughter was expecting a vistor, Bella mused.

"Let's go see who's at the door" Bella said, lifting Pearl from her high chair and placing her on her left hip, Pearl clapped her chubby hands as Bella begin walking towards the front door. The knock came again. "Coming" Bella answered. She turned the door knob and opened the door, Bella blinked and blinked again as she stared at the visitor.

She believed she was hallucinating. She gasped in surprise when the visitor said "hi Bella". "Aaah" Pearl exclaimed, drawing attention to her, she didn't like being ignored.

The visitor took a good look at Pearl. She, in return, also stared at the visitor, raising her left eyebrow. "Oh my God" the visitor muttered, as recognition dawned.

The visitor turned to stare at Bella with raw anger. Bella drew a shuddery breath, "Josh, I can explain" she whispered.

CHAPTER THREE

"Oh! Can you? Josh asked in anger, he took a step towards Bella, "huh!!" Pearl exclaimed. Josh paused, stared at his daughter, while Pearl gave him a grin displaying her new set of baby teeth.

Josh felt his anger drain away as he stared at his grinning daughter, he smiled back and stroked her chubby cheek. Josh dropped his right hand from his daughter's cheek, he turned to Bella "I'm going to take her away from you and make sure you never see her again...that's my promise to you" Josh said venomously. Bella drew in air harshly, "j...j..osh" she stammered. 

Bella opened her eyes, she sat up suddenly "Pearl" she murmured. She stood up on shaky legs and walked unsteadily to her daughter's crib. She shuddered in relief as she watched Pearl sleep in her usual postion; she slept on her side with her arms wrapped around her favourite teddy bear.

"Oh God, it was just a dream" Bella said to herself. But it had felt so real, she thought. Bella closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around her middle, she sighed.

The door bell rang, shattering the stillness within the house. Bella opened her eyes suddenly, panic mounting. Pearl gave a short cry as she woke abruptly, Oh God! Bella thought... It couldn't be him, Bella tried to calm Pearl, who for an unknown reason refused to stop crying.

Bella panicked, she picked up Pearl and began rocking her, "shhh" Bella murmured. The door bell rang again, "huuhh!!" Pearl exclaimed, as she suddenly stopped crying, she pointed towards the door direction with her chubby finger, urging her Mother to the door.

"I know" Bella replied, sighing and hoping that her dream couldn't be happening. She left the bedroom and walked cautiously to the front door, exhaling slowly before turning the lock and opening the door.

"Oh my God!" Bella gasped audibly, Pearl stared at the visitor blankly and turned to stare at her Mother, her baby lips curved into a grin and she clapped her chubby hands. "You look like you have seen a ghost" the visitor said. 

Source:www.ellablogpedia./tempted-chapter three