Chapter 12; Chase’s regret

Jace glared at Chase. Will he now defend her before him? “Are you going to defend her now?” Jace was furious.

“I am not defending her. I just want to explain what happened to you. I hope you haven’t sacked her?” Chase asked, staring at his brother. He knows Jace like the back of his palm.

He changes employees like he changes his suit. His brother is good at changing employees but he is good at changing women.

“Arianna is out of the Hudson’s holding. And the next time I see her here, I will kill her” Jace declared as a matter of finality.

“You really sacked her, Jace? Arianna did nothing. I should be the one apologising to her, for taking her time all day. She was worried about what you would think of her and I promised to explain things to you” Chase explained hurriedly.

“Just shut up. That woman is sly. She’s a scheming bitch and she’s close to us for a reason. I almost killed her yesterday if I hadn’t applied the last bit of conscience in me. So to save her life, she wouldn’t dare come anywhere close to the Hudson’s holding” Jace explained.

“This is not you, Jace. You can’t do this to an innocent woman. Arianna had done nothing wrong. For the few times I was with her yesterday, I got a peep of who she is.

She’s an amazing woman, decent and with a sense of decorum. Calm, patient and easy to forgive…” Chase was saying when Jace interrupted him.

“Tell me, just a few hours of sex had made you know these qualities in a woman. That’s a camouflage. Those qualities are just there to blind your eyes from suspecting her reason for being in your bed.

I told you that I found the woman four years ago, right? Arianna Jason was the woman I had one night stand with. She forced herself on me and I slept with her. She disappeared before dawn and I didn’t see her for four years.

Suddenly she got a job here and you were the man she had sex with again. How can a decent woman have affairs with two brothers and it didn’t occur to you that she did it for a reason.

I was with her the entire night and she refused to accept the fact that she had sex with you. Despite you being with her at lunch time. I adopted a different method but she’s so stubborn and refused to accept it and I fired her right there” Jace explained.

Chase was dazed. He glared at his brother and shook his head. He thought so horrible about her and even fired her?

“What have you done, Jace?” the words slipped out of Chase’s lips. He couldn’t believe how his brother had become so ruthless. When did Jace become like this?

Arianna was a woman four years ago, okay, fine. But that is not enough for him to judge her. If she was with him that night for a purpose, she would have blackmailed him already.

No wonder Arianna was uneasy around him. She was worried about Jace’s reaction when he found out that she was with him. It’s all because she was a woman four years ago.

“What did you do, Jace? Arianna wasn’t the woman I was with yesterday. I was with someone else and left her in the cafeteria. I completely forgot about her when I was having fun with Rosalinda.

How can you judge her so wrongly? You are just being unfair to her, Jace. That woman is innocent. Just tell me what you did to her, Jace” Chase Hudson was disappointed.

Jace has always been the sensible one between them both. He’s the decent, matured and smart one. And thank goodness, he’s the eldest.

How can he jump into such a conclusion about a woman simply because he had a one night stand with her? Did he ever see her again or heard a bad history about her. Why?

Jace Hudson stared at his brother. Is Chase saying the truth or was he making up a story because he sacked Arianna? “Are you telling me the truth?” He asked.

“On my life, Jace. I wasn’t with Arianna in bed. After making love with Rosalinda, I remembered that I told her to wait for me. I came back to join her and we had lunch together.

Such a sweet woman was the one you fired? When you confronted her, did you merely interrogate her or were you hard on her, just tell me” Chase demanded.

He knows for Jace to say she refused to tell the truth, it means he was dealing with her in some ways. He knew how rascals Jace can be when dealing with an enemy.

Jace was quiet for a long time before saying “I almost killed her. Raped her and tortured her but she didn’t say otherwise” he confessed.

“You raped a woman, Jace?” Chase demanded.

Chase Hudson went back to his office. He felt sorry for Arianna. This was all his fault. She didn’t want to come with him, but he insisted.

He told her it was an order and she followed him. Being tortured and raped by his brother was all his fault. He smacked his hands on the desk and his eyes turned red.

He is a womaniser, he knows that. But he had never raped a woman. He would take them to his bed and lay them willingly but Jace did this to Arianna?

Meanwhile, Arianna stayed up late in bed. When she eventually got out of bed she took a bath, prepared breakfast and ate with Eli.

“Aren’t you going to work, mummy?” Eli asked. His mother would have got to work already. Why is she dressed in house wear?

“No baby. I will be home with you today and probably a couple of days” Arianna replied and kissed his temple. She’s glad her boy is one smart little kid.

After breakfast, she decided to switch on her phone. After Jace Hudson, that bastard tortured her, he searched her phone and after that, switched it off.

As soon as she did, a message popped in. It’s from Chase Hudson “if you are reading this, please I need to see you, Miss Jason”

Arianna’s eyes went moist. She placed her phone aside and sat down. Her tears run down her cheeks. She wasn’t paying attention to Eli and didn’t know he had walked over to her.

“Mummy, why are you crying?” He asked, climbing onto his mother’s thighs and gazing into her eyes, as if the cause of the tears was in her eyes.

“Huh, crying?” Arianna faked a smile. She cleaned her tears and said “I’m just happy that I have you, baby” Arianna hugged her and kissed his temple.

“You will always have me with you mummy” Eli declared and gently placed his head on his mother’s torso.

Arianna’s doorbell rang and she went to the door. She came back into the house with Genesis.

“Get dressed Arianna, I’m taking you out, we need to talk” Genesis declared. Arianna already told her she would be home that morning, hence Genesis came.

An hour later, Arianna and Genesis drove in her car. They arrived at the orchard, on the next street to Genesis’ parents house.

This is the spot where the two friends brainstorm, play, think, study together and it holds the memory of their bond and friendship. That place is somewhere special to the both of them.

Arianna walked into the orchard, holding Genesis’ hand. She turned to glance at her friend and their eyes met. They smiled and at the same time, their eyes welled up with tears.

“No tears”

“Yeah, No tears”

Both Arianna and Genesis said it at the same time. They both started laughing and cleaned their tears. They got down on a seat and held each other’s hands.

“I brought you here, because this place holds a long memory of our friendship. And I know, today I will know the truth that I have longed for, all these years.

I trusted you like life itself Arianna. But the day you were to be married to Ethan Rumero, I heard another description of who you are. I didn’t believe it, I assumed it was all lies, until recently..” Genesis trailed.

Arianna glanced at Genesis, her eyes red. She knew Genesis would definitely talk about Ethan Rumero. That’s a past she doesn’t ever want to remember.

She sniffled and sighed softly. Why is she talking as if she did something wrong, that it was Her fault that she and Ethan Rumero didn’t end up together.

“Until recently? What happened recently and tell me what you think about me and Ethan not being together?” Arianna asked, stilling her breath.

“Yes, until recently when I dismissed my opinion. I am forced to believe what Ethan said four years ago” Genesis paused and glared at Arianna.