A blast from the past

Jake's POV

Jake Green looks at his ex-fiance. She has become much more mature, and looking at Amanda, he can see that she has grown in character, and she seems much more than a woman than Amanda, who still acts and looks like a teenager. Amanda goes for facials and manicures, and pedicures the whole time. She even had some plastic surgery done on her face to stay young. It does not fit a woman her age. The clothing that she wears is also much too young for her age. That is why nobody is taking her seriously as an attorney. She also tries to use a look to influence the jury and judges in court, which is not helping our firm's reputation. She keeps flirting with our male clients, and it pisses me off. I cannot believe that Belinda has a child.

I am furious when Amanda calls Belinda's child a bastard. Chase Stone calls Belinda "Honey," and I am unhappy. And look at the little boy, and I look at Chase. I can see that it is his child, who has the same eyes and looks just like Chase. How long have they been having an affair? Because it seems like it must have been while I was still engaged to Belinda. Belinda starts choking on her coffee, and I wonder if it is because she is so angry or because of what Chase had to say. Then Belinda smiles up at Chase.

"It is okay, darling. I do not let people from my past upset me. Amanda, and Jake, please excuse us. We are having dinner with a friend. We do not have time to talk to you right now. Oh, I am sending somebody else over tomorrow so they can fetch Chase's files from you. You must understand that since we are together, I will handle all his business from now on. I hope you do not mind. It's just one client you are losing," Belinda says, but her eyes stay cold as she looks at Amanda and me. 

"Chase darling, you can't seriously change lawyer firms. You have been with us for so long, and we are the best firm in town. I do not believe you are in a relationship with my sister for one moment. Everybody knows you like your woman looking a little younger. I am sure there is a little misunderstanding here, and the little brat cannot be your child. Besides, how old is he? Is it possible that he is the child of Jake, my husband? They were together at that time," Amanda says. I roll my eyes as I can't believe what she is saying. I have not slept with Belinda after meeting Amanda. Still, I think Amanda only married me because I was engaged to Belinda. It is like Amanda wants everything that Belinda has. I know she will divorce me without a blink of an eye if Chase Stone is interested in her.

"For your information, Mrs Green. Belinda is not old. She is mature, and she acts her age. Unlike some people standing before me, they still belong in high school. I do not know why you add so much plastic surgery to look so young because a woman that grows older gracefully is much more beautiful than a wannabe teenager for life. For your information, I am not interested in schoolgirl wannabes. You also act like a bloody schoolgirl. If I were you, Jake Green, I would keep my wife in check. She cannot hold a candle to Belinda. She never matured, and she never will. She will always have this high school mentality. Mr. and Mrs. Green, if you will, please excuse us. We are busy. And yes, I am taking away all my business from you," Chase Stone says. 

"I will also be taking away my business from you. I must say, Belinda looks much more professional than the both of you together. If Chase is taking away his business from your firm, so am I," Nick Bradley says.

"Mr. Bradley, your father will never allow that to happen. You have been with us from the beginning. I will go and talk to your father tomorrow," Amanda says, glaring at Belinda. I wish I could slap her to keep her now shut.

"You are also wrong about that, Mrs. Green. You see, my father was a client of Miss Morris's mother. He only stayed at the practice because he thought Miss Morris would take over the practice one day. You have cost us a lot of money in lawsuits that you lost. We're a big business, and we know we can afford the money, but some people are intentionally targeting us because they think they can get money out of us as we are a big business. I think they can get away with a lot of money from us and never have to work again, but you are losing the cases these opportunists are making against us, and I am sure Mr. Stone feels the same," Nick says. They are a big brand in America. Some people visit their restaurants to see if they can get money from them by creating accidents. It happens all the time in America; unfortunately, it is how people think they can earn money. We have lost some of their cases, but not all of them.

"We will no longer bother you and talk business later. Come, Amanda, let's go. We cannot bother these people any longer. Besides, we have an appointment with your father this afternoon," I say, grabbing Amanda by her arm, and we march out of the restaurant.

"Don't touch me, Jake. Why are you allowing Belinda to take all our clients away from us? We have to fight for our clients, or our company is declining. We have already lost enough to her since she returned to town. At first, I did not believe Morris and partners were her firm. Now that I have seen her with my own eyes, I am starting to believe it. I do not know what we will tell Father because he will be furious with both of us for losing clients to her. I bet it is her partners that are so good and not her. I cannot believe that she can be a better lawyer than us. Well, I will show her the divorce case coming up. I have seen that Mr. Gray's wife is with Morris and Partners. I will ensure that Mr. Gray gets everything and Mrs. Gray gets nothing. He wants full custody of the children, properties, and money. He does not want to give her a dime, and I am sure we can win the case. It is not like Mrs. Gray has worked for anything. She just stayed at home. She contributed nothing to their wealth, and how will she look after the children if she has no money?" Amanda laughs.

"I hope you have done your homework this time and are not just going in on his word. Have you researched their history? Are you sure that Mrs. Gray did not contribute anything to the wealth of the Gray family?" I ask. I know Amanda is very lazy to do her job and does not even go into the family's history before making any decisions or arguments in court. It costs us a lot, and she is not one of the best attorneys in town. I know Mr. Gray only uses her because he hopes to sleep with her. It will not be her first time sleeping with one of our clients, and I don't care. I should have never married her, but I was stupid young and in love. I thought Belinda was dull, but now Belinda is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Amanda still looks like the day I met her, and it is getting boring. Amanda also does not want to have children. I want children of my own one day, and I hope that I can have children. Perhaps, if I divorce Amanda, I can find a partner that wants children. I cannot believe Belinda has a son with Chase Stone. I know he cannot be mine because I have not slept with Belinda for a few months after meeting Amanda.

"Stop treating me like a child. I know what I'm doing. I know exactly what is happening in the Gray family. I have listened to the nannies and everybody. I know what is happening in that household. Mrs. Gray has never worked in her life. She goes shopping for her and the children and uses all Mr. Gray's money. They also say that the nannies must look after the children as she is never home," Amanda says, and I roll my eyes. She is going on gossip. I hope she realizes that Mr. Gray is probably behind the staff lying on his behalf. I'm not saying a word because the court case is tomorrow, and I do not feel good about it. I have a feeling that we will lose that case.

"Maybe you should ask to postpone the case till a later date so that we can do more research. How sure are you that all this gossip in his house is true? Have you checked into their past? I know court cases like this can take forever, but if we do not have a case based on facts, we will lose," I say.

"The case has been going on for 11 months, and Mrs. Gray doesn't stand a chance. She may have switched lawyers, but I do not believe the judge will side with her. She did not bring any proof that she was a good mother or had put any money into the marriage. Besides, I'm calling some of the staff in the household as witnesses. I know what I'm doing, and stop treating me like a child. Leave my cases alone and concentrate instead on yours. I know how to handle this case," Amanda says. I am not sure she knows what she's doing, but I will not intervene. Let her do whatever she wants to. If we lose the case, so be it. We still get money from Mister Gray. He still has to pay us even if we lose the case. We drive to Henry Jones' house. As we get there, Christine Jones opens the door. She is Henry's second wife and the mother of Amanda. I know they had an affair even before Belinda's mother died. But it's none of my business, and I won't interfere in their lives.

"Your father is furious. He's waiting for us all in the sitting room. He wants to know why he did not know that Belinda was back in town and that she opened Morris and partners again. He also knows that she stole many of our clients," Christine Jones says. We walk into the sitting room, and Henry Johns looks unhappy. 

"Why didn't I know about Morris and partners? I hear Belinda is an outstanding lawyer. I hear she is one of the best in America. I did some digging and saw that she has worked with some of the biggest firms in America. Everyone has just good things to say about her. Why didn't we know it was her? You two dumbasses should have known. I was so here that you lost a big case for Chase Stone and that he is taking his business to Morris and Partners. Do you realize he is one of our biggest clients?" Henry Jones shouts at us. 

"He thinks he has a child with Belinda, so he's leaving us, Father. It has nothing to do with us. We didn't lose all these cases. We won a lot," Amanda says.

"Bullshit! Belinda does not have a child. I would have known if she had one. You lost more of Chase Stone's cases than you won, so he is leaving us! Chase Stone will also not allow a woman like Belinda to catch him with a child," Henry says. 

"We saw the child with our own eyes, and he looks like Chase," I say. 

"The child does not look like him. It looks more like you. I wonder if Belinda's child is not yours," Amanda says.

"You are jealous that Belinda has the son of a billionaire. At the same time, you are stuck with me. You always wanted what Belinda had. I'm sorry, but you don't have half of what she has. She's beautiful. She's intelligent and does not act like a spoiled teenage brat. Henry, we made a big mistake. I should have married Belinda, and we would not have been in this mess that we are in now because your other daughter, Amanda, does not care about her job. And she only cares about flirting and trying to. Get into affairs with our wealthy clients," I say. I'm furious. 

"Amanda is more talented than Belinda will ever be. Amanda is also much more beautiful than Belinda, so stop talking nonsense. I will not let you insult my daughter like that. You are married to her, and you will stand by your wife. Belinda is just a little bit inconvenienced to us at this moment. We will get rid of her again. I will have to come out of retirement and come and help you at the office if we want to beat her in every case! We will show New York, who is the better firm," Henry says. I can only shake my head because I know we're in for a hell of a fight that we cannot win.