Chapter Seven

The Frightening Visit

Maria's PoV

“Are you sad, momma?” Nathan, my intuitive four year old, asked me this question a second time.

I forced a smile on my face and picked him up and kissed all over his face while tickling his body. He loved it when I did that.

Then I hugged him tightly and inhaled his baby scent. “Momma is happy, munchkin and momma loves you a lot.”

“I ‘ove you too, momma.” He mumbled on my chest with his baby voice.

“Momma needs to rest now, baby. You should go play with your toys in the toy room and I will join you when I am done resting, yeah? We'll build a gigantic house this time around.”

“Yeah!” He pumped his little chubby hands in the air excitedly and I couldn't help but smile with delight.

This is one part of my life that is very much intact and I cherish this part with everything in me.

“Emily will take you now, darling. See you later.” I kissed his chubby cheeks and handed him over to his nanny who came in and carried him to his toy room just as Helena came back from work.

She took one look at my face and asked. “What happened, baby girl?”

I folded my lips together to keep from crying then raised my head and blinked tears back.

Helena dropped her briefcase beside the sofa and took off her blazer.

She didn't say a word because she recognized that I needed a few moments to get my acts together.

I finally took a deep breath and said. “I may have done something irrational.”

“Okay?” She said carefully, not really asking any question but encouraging me to keep talking.

“Here.” I said simply and handed her my phone.

She took one look at message I sent and rushed towards me. “Oh, Maria. This whole drama must be taking a toll on you.”

She pulled me into her arms and her warmth did me in. I started crying again.

I cried quietly in her arms for a few minutes and she didn't say a word, encouraging me to release emotions as much as I could.

After a while, I pulled back then pulled a sheet from the box of tissues and cleaned my face.

“I think you should wash your face, honey. Nathan could come in anytime and you know how intuitive our boy is.” Helena advised.

I laughed and stood up to head to bathroom. “He already asked me if I was sad, twice.”

“He hasn't replied since you sent the message? No calls? Texts?” Helena asked as soon as I came back after washing my face.

“There has been no form of communication from his end, and that made it all worse. I don't know if his silence means that he agrees.”

Helena sighed sadly as she looked at me again. “I am very sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” I wondered as I looked at her guilt-laden face.

“I pushed you into this. You were not interested but then I convinced you that it was a great idea.”

“You think you convinced me to do all this?” I asked and laughed. “Lena, you know no one can make me do what I don't want to do, not even you. I agreed to the marriage proposal because I saw sense in what you said. I am only doing this for my company.”

She stood up and started pacing. “So what do we do now? How can we fix this? Before we plan all that, I have a question for you.”

“Shoot!”

“Why did you send that message in the first place? I mean, just last night you indicated that you will still go ahead with the wedding and now this, so why?”

I sighed and slumped down on the sofa. “I meant every word I said last night and I still do mean them but then I woke up this morning and decided to take a break from work today so that I can rest but then my head was filled with all the craziness from last night. I was so sad and in a moment of irrationality obviously, I just picked up my phone and sent the message.”

“Maria, I know you are a successful woman in your own right but then you have to understand that Sebastian Bolt is a very powerful man, not just that, but he is also a public figure and saying yes to him is like saying yes to the world.”

“Yeah, I get that part.” I interjected.

“That's not all, darling. There's your shitty family to be added to the equation now. They are coincidentally and indirectly tied to the man who wants to marry you and would seek to make your life miserable unless something is done. Are you still with me, Maria?”

“Yes, Lena.” I answered grudgingly.

“You have to be strong and stand firmly against this. This is not like all those years ago. You can't run anymore. You have to stand and face them squarely this time and trust me darling these people are so cruel they will bring out the dirtiest trick from their arsenal so you have to be ready. Again, you have to be strong.”

As Helena talked, I rushed into her arms and hugged her again.

I have never been called a weakling and have never considered myself as one but then this whole situation was starting to take a toll on me.

I had the company to worry about. I had also spent the last few months chasing off investors who wanted to take my company away from me.

A solution finally arrived and I hesitantly grabbed it but now it had led to this, a confrontation with my past.

Cruel, painful past I never wanted to encounter again.

While I was still in Helena's arms, my phone beeped and I pulled away from her reluctantly.

I opened the message and my eyes bulged as I saw that it was a message from Sebastian.

It simply read ‘Where are you?’

“What is it?” Helena asked as she watched my expression.

“It's a message from Sebastian, take a look.” I said as I handed her the phone.

She looked at it and answered. “Well, reply him.”

Before I could reply the message, another one came from him.

‘I just left your office building and your personal assistant informed me that you didn't go to the office. Where are you, Maria?’

“Oh my! He's on the move Lena. He could come here.”

“The door man will inform us if he comes here then you decide if you want to see him or not, simple as pie.” Helena shrugged.

As we contemplated, a loud knock sounded at the door and we froze.

“What do you think?” I asked Helena softly.

“We'll check the peephole and confirm but it can't be him. The door man would have informed you or me.” Helena reasoned and went to the door.

She peeped once, shook her head and peeped again, then she turned slowly and faced me.

She didn't have to say anything as the look on her face already confirmed my thought.