Although we had not been actively telling our children about their rtionship with the mafia, it wasn’t like we thought that we could hide it. As a result, we never bothered to hide it. We let them learn through their rtionship with the boss, Harris, Luka and even other members of the senior management of the gang.


    Although our family was no where close to being a standard and normal one, we were extremely happy to be together. Harvey, Amelia, the boss, and everyone else were always supportive of our family and what we wanted to do. Hayden and Harvey remained close even though Hayden no longer helped out with the gang’s business anymore.


    …


    If I had to choose, I would say that the family that I managed to build with Hayden is my greatest life achievement thus far. However, that didn’t mean that I didn’t have other achievements to be proud of in my life especially when it came to my career as an artist.


    "We would like to award our amazing artist friend, Malissa, for her outstanding achievement in supporting the local artmunity especially for her work in supporting new and aspiring young artists. Please give a round of apud for Malissa and may I invite Malissa up here to share a few words with us please," the event’s host announced.


    The auditorium exploded with the sounds of people pping and cheering. I turned to smile at Hayden and my children as they smiled and pped for me. I kissed Hayden on the cheek softly as I whispered my words of thanks into his ear.


    "Thank you…for always supporting me…" I thanked him wholeheartedly.


    "Congrattions, Wife. I’m so proud of you," Hayden replied before he kissed my cheek in return.


    I waved to my kids as I got up from my seat before making my way towards the stage. My legs shook a little as I struggled slightly with the stairs leading up to the stage. Honestly, I saw this awarding. That didn’t mean that I thought that I deserved or wanted this recognition to rain down on me. However, when you talk to many people, you tend to hear the rumors going around.


    This award didn’te purely as a surprise but that didn’t make me less excited about it. On top of that, giving a public speech in front of this many people wasn’t something that I was very used to.


    The host presented me with the award before we posed next to each other to get our photos taken. Then it was time for me to delivery my short award-eptance speech.


    "Thank you. I am extremely honored by this award, and I can’t thank everyone enough for your continuous support. Instead of talking about the past, I would like to focus more on the future. There are still many things that needs to be done to better support and develop the young and new artistic talents in ourmunity.


    None of this could have happened without the help of our sponsors and reliable and generous partners. Hopefully, we can work together more in the future to support even more aspiring artists to reach their dreams. Thank you so much…" I said before I shed a bright smile at the army of cameramen gathered right in front of the stage.


    Then, I smiled in the direction where I knew that Hayden was sitting with the kids. The intense lighting from the spotlight that was on me made everything look like a bright blob of white light. I couldn’t see beyond the first few rows of the audience so I couldn’t see Hayden of the kids either. I put a hand up and waved before making my way off the stage.


    Although I could be pictured, Hayden and I were extremely careful not to let the paparazzi get snaps of our children. We also never went out to these events without a proper security team with us. Hayden was still extremely cautious especially since I became pregnant with our first child. When we had our second baby, the security only tightened.


    With Harvey holding the reins of the gang and with the partnership with Silva still in ce, things have stabilized between the gangs. There was very little risk of violence; however, I didn’t me Hayden for being cautious. As for me, I didn’t want my children to befall any kind of danger.


    Memories of when I was kidnapped still made me feel ufortable and I never wanted my children to suffer a simr experience.


    "Show me the award!" Henry shouted loudly when we got into the car.


    "Here you go…" I passed the small trophy to him.


    "Is this all you get for working so hard?" Henry asked with a disappointed look on his face.


    Of course not. I didn’t work hard to get this trophy or any trophies. I worked hard to make my own dreamse true and also to see the dreams of various artistse true as well.


    "Definitely not. I work hard to see my dreamse true. So should you…" I replied before pulling Henry into a hug.


    "Dad works hard too…" Henry muttered.


    "I guess we should go on a holiday together soon. All of us…" I suggested brightly.


    "Yes!" Henry quickly agreed.


    "What do you think Le?" I asked.


    Le just nodded her head while she smiled her sweet angelic smile at me. Le’s light pink puffy dress only made her look even more like a little princess. She still held Hayden’s hand as she leaned on his arm. Just like she was attached to the boss, she was very attached to her father as well.


    After arriving home, the maids helped us take care of the children. After the kids took their baths and we changed into rxing clothes, we joined each other again in the dining room for a not-so-peaceful family dinner. I paid attention as the kids chatted excited about the event that we had just attended.


    It wasn’t very often that I took the kids out to public events with many people like this due to security reasons and also because the kids were still young.


    "Finish up your food," Hayden said sternly.


    "Ok…" the two of them mumbled.


    --To be continued…