Chapter 31

JAYDA

Jayda smiled as soon as she felt someone showering her face with kisses. She knew it was Sebastian.

Since she refused to get up or open her eyes, Sebastian decided to tempt her with a passionate kiss on her lips. She returned it.

Before things got too heated, Sebastian pulled away and whispered in her ear, “It’s time for breakfast, my love. Please get up and have some food.”

Jayda opened her eyes, and he helped her sit up.

“Good morning!” she greeted him.

He reached for the tray of breakfast and placed it on her lap.

“Sebby!” she chuckled. “This is too much.”

She referred to the eggs, bacon, waffles, bread, and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice on the tray.

“You’re eating for two,” Sebastian reminded her.

“I know, but it’s still too much.” Jayda smiled.

“Okay, eat what you can.”

“I will only eat if you join me,” she proposed.

SEBASTIAN

Sebastian was not used to having breakfast. For him, coffee served as his morning meal.

He’d woken up early to make breakfast for Jayda because he knew every meal was compulsory for her and so she would take her vitamins afterward.

“Okay,” Sebastian said as they both dug in. He ate almost nothing but tricked Jayda into eating over half of what was on the tray. He even made sure she took her vitamins.

JAYDA

She thought of a question she’d been meaning to ask him. “So, Lily said you know a number of languages.”

“Yeah, just a few. Spanish, Greek, Italian, French, and of course, English. My mom is half Italian and Greek, so she taught my siblings and me how to speak those languages when we were little.”

“That’s impressive. The only second language I know is Spanish, and that was because my dad imposed it on me. But I love that he forced me to learn it. Will our baby learn all those languages?”

“I’ll teach our little one, and you,” Sebastian promised.

She leaned to kiss him, loving that she’d woken up in his bed. He was taking such good care of her.

“I have something for you,” Sebastian reached for his wallet on the nightstand.

Jayda shook her head. “You’ve done too much already!”

He sighed. “I know you are an independent woman, and I love that about you, but Jayda, I also want to be involved financially.

“You are not only the mother of my child but the love of my life, and it is my duty to protect the two of you and provide everything you need.” He opened his wallet and searched through the credit cards until he finally came across the one he was looking for. The black card had Jayda’s name on it.

“Sebastian…” she groaned as soon as he handed out the card for her to collect.

“Please, accept it,” he pleaded.

“You don’t have to give me this. I promise I’ll be fine, and if I need anything, I will ask you,” Jayda said.

She didn’t want it to seem like she was taking advantage of him. He worked so hard for his money and he should be the one spending and enjoying it. She didn’t want to be anything like those other women.

After a minute of staring at both Sebastian’s pleading eyes and the card, she reluctantly accepted it.

“It’s not for decorating your purse,” he warned when he saw her giving the black card a strange look. “Make sure you use it for everything you need.”

Jayda smiled when she saw her picture in his wallet. “I think you’re very obsessed with me,” she teased.

Sebastian smiled. “You have no idea.”

***

JAYDA

Sebastian and Jayda had the best weekend of their lives in his apartment. They had so much fun and also made love countless times, trying different positions. Sebastian pampered Jayda so much that she made a promise to always spend the weekend with him.

Monday morning came, and they both had to return to work, but the duo did not fail to call and text each other every time. They were already addicted to one another, and Jayda found herself not only opening up to Sebastian but trusting him also.

SEBASTIAN

On Tuesday afternoon, Sebastian was going through some documents when his phone rang. He smiled and answered the call when he saw that it was his mom.

“Hi, Mom,” he said cheerfully.

“I hope you’re good, son?” his mother replied. From her response, Sebastian could tell all was not well.

“Mom, is anything the matter? You know you can tell me about it? Are you and Dad cool?” Sebastian could not help but ask.

“We’re fine. I just want to tell you to stop by the mansion this evening. Amelia said she has something to discuss with us all, and she specifically requested your presence.”

“Is everything okay with her?” Sebastian asked.

“I don’t know, son. She refused to say anything to your dad and me. She did not go to work today. She has been in her room all day. I just have a feeling that what she wants to tell us may not be what we really want to hear.”

“Okay, Mom, I’ll be there by six.”

“Okay, son, we’ll be expecting you. Olivia didn’t take her car today. I’m thinking you could stop by the firm to pick her up, and then the two of you can come home together.”

“Okay, Mom, we’ll see you later.”

***

SEBASTIAN

After hearing what his mother said on the phone, it was hard for Sebastian to concentrate on work, but he did after assuring himself that everything was going to be fine.

At 5:30 p.m., Sebastian left his office and headed straight to pick up his sister.

“Hey, I’m downstairs,” he said to Olivia over the phone.

“Please, can you give me ten more minutes? I’m rounding up some work for Jayda. Come up so you can say hi to her. She will be so happy to see you,” Olivia suggested.

“Okay, I’m coming,” he ended the call.

Sebastian went directly to Jayda’s office. The last time he’d shown up there, she’d turned him away. This time, she would be so happy to see him.

He knocked on Jayda’s door to get her attention. She sat behind her desk and was on a phone call.

She smiled as soon as she saw him. She gestured for him to come in.

Jayda ended the call and rose to greet him.

JAYDA

“You didn’t tell me you were coming,” she hugged him and gave him a quick kiss on his lips, ignoring the fact that people were passing by her office. She didn’t care if they saw her and spread rumors. She was in love and wanted everyone to know it.

“Someone is really excited to see me,” Sebastian chuckled, placing a kiss on her forehead.

Jayda ushered him to take a seat on the couch and sat beside him.

“So, what brings you here? You don’t have any legal work that you want me to do for you, right? Because if you do, I’ll be charging you a lot.”

Sebastian chuckled. “Shouldn’t I be getting a discount, instead?”

Jayda playfully rolled her eyes.

“My mom said Amelia wants to see all members of the family this evening so I’ll be going to the mansion from here. I just came to pick up Olivia so we can go together. She didn’t come with her car today.”

“And here I was, thinking you came to surprise me on a dinner date or something,” Jayda pretended to be hurt.

Sebastian smiled. “I promise, I’ll surprise you with one before the week runs out.”

Jayda nodded. “I hope everything is okay with Amelia?” Jayda asked, concerned. His family was now her family, even though they hadn’t met yet.

“I don’t know. My mom said she has a feeling it might not be good news, but I’m being hopeful.”

“It will be fine,” Jayda assured him.

“So how are you and my bambino?”

Jayda smiled. “We are doing great. I will also be leaving work very soon. Then we’ll go home, soak ourselves in the bath, and have some dinner.”

“It’s a pity I won’t be able to join you guys,” Sebastian frowned, and Jayda shrugged.

OLIVIA

They were interrupted by Olivia, who knocked on Jayda’s door. She had been standing there for a while. Watching her brother and Jayda interact brought so much pride and satisfaction to her. She had even taken a picture of them.

Jayda gestured for Olivia to come in.

“Sorry to interrupt you guys, but Mom just called me.” She directed her last statement to Sebastian before handing Jayda some papers.

Jayda took a glance at the papers. “Thanks, Liv.” She smiled at her.

“I’m glad to see my sister is learning from the best,” Sebastian said as he stood. Jayda followed suit.

“You have no idea how much of a lifesaver Olivia has been to me lately,” Jayda’s grin widened.

“No need to mention, Jayda, I’m always at your service,” Olivia blushed.

“Take care of yourself, my love. I’ll give you a call later in the day,” Sebastian hugged Jayda. He gave her a long kiss on her lips and a quick kiss on her forehead.

Olivia stood beside them, smiling like crazy.

“Don’t forget to be here on time tomorrow. We have to be in court by 8:35,” Jayda said to Olivia.

“Yes, boss!”

Jayda smiled and hugged Olivia before she and Sebastian took their leave.

***

SEBASTIAN

“You guys were so cute. God!” Olivia rambled as soon as her brother started the car.

“You should get married to her already. When do you plan to propose?” Olivia asked excitedly. She was sure she was going to be one of the bridesmaids, and of course, the wedding was going to be epic!

“As much as I wish I could get married to her right now, I really want us to take our time. I don’t want to scare her away,” Sebastian replied, and Olivia nodded in understanding.

“Do you have any idea what Amelia has to say to us? Is your twin instinct telling you something I should know?” Sebastian asked, carefully. Amelia had never called for a family meeting.

“I honestly don’t know, Seb. But for three days now, I noticed she’s been a little grumpy, she talks less, which is so unlike her, and she’s always in her room. She skipped dinner last night and said she wasn’t going to work today.”

“I just hope all is well with her,” Sebastian said.

“Same here,” Olivia mumbled.

What could be so terrible that Amelia had called a family meeting?

***

VANESSA

The Millers chose to have their emergency family meeting in the second living room downstairs.

Vanessa and Albert occupied a double couch, and opposite them was Sebastian and Olivia, who occupied another double couch.

Amelia finally joined them and took the seat beside Sebastian. The whole family was anxious and worried about what she had to say. Vanessa could tell it was bad news because she had never seen Amelia in this state.

She wore a pale dress that stopped right above her knee, and her hair was in a messy bun. She hardly looked into anyone’s eyes as she took her seat.

ALBERT

“We are all here now. Go ahead and tell us what we need to know,” Albert encouraged, even though he dreaded to hear what was about to come from her mouth. But at the same time, the suspense was killing him.

The sooner she talked about what was bothering her, the quicker they would solve the problem.

AMELIA

For the first time that night, Amelia looked at her family who were waiting for answers. She swallowed heavily and spoke.

“It was not my intention to hide it from all of you, but I had no choice because she promised me she was going to tell y’all herself.”

“She?” Vanessa asked.

Amelia nodded as she played with her hands. “Katie.”

Everyone gave Amelia a confused look. They wondered what Katie had to do with them. They only knew her because she used to be Amelia’s best friend.

Amelia cleared her throat and continued talking.

“You all know that Katie and I used to be best friends. Something happened, and that’s why she stayed away from me, and it’s also the reason why she has been avoiding all of you.

“After four years of not getting in touch with each other, I bumped into her at an event I attended three weeks ago. She was reluctant to talk to me, but I forced her to because I was eager to know why she cut me off without any trace.

“She gave different excuses, but I didn’t believe her. I’ve known her all my life, and I could tell when she was lying. I was desperate for answers.

“I wanted to know where she was or whom she ran away with four years ago, so I hired a private investigator. I paid a lot for him to get me all the information I needed.”

Amelia looked into Sebastian’s eyes with pity. “Katie stayed away from us because she was pregnant, and the child was yours, Sebastian.”