Six months later, Jacob received unexpected news from a hospital. His mother had already passed away because of cancer. Since he blocked his mother’s phone number, he didn’t know that Tanya was ill.
He went to the hospital to receive her corpse. When the administration staff knew Jacob came to bring his mother’s body, a nurse approached him.
“Mr. Jacob Jefferson?” the nurse asked.
“Yes, I’m Jacob Jefferson, and you are?”
“I’m Cindy Randall. I’m a nurse who accompanied and checked on your mother.”
Jacob nodded. “I see. Thank you for helping my mother before she passed away,” he said calmly.
When Emily heard about Tanya’s funeral, she wanted to come. No matter what happened between Jacob and her, she was engaged to Jacob back then. Tanya also treated her well, so she felt it was necessary to come to the funeral to give her last respect.However, Harold was against her. “Baby, you will invite problems by coming to the funeral.”“What do you mean?” she asked.Even after marrying him, his wife was still so naive. He let out a sigh. “When Jefferson sees you, do you think he will let you go?”Tilting her head to the side, she creased her forehead because she disagreed with Harold. “He doesn’t have any other choice. I’m a married woman.”
It was nine thirty a.m. when Emily prepared to go to the funeral. She wore a black silk dress. Harold shook his head when he saw her.“What?” She raised her eyebrow.“You must wear a mask.”“A mask?” she asked. “What for?”“So Jefferson won’t recognize you.”Emily let out a sigh. It’s a good idea, but wasn’t it too much? She was startled when Harold took a black veil and gave it to her.“Wear it, love. So, you can give your respect there while not attracting attention to yourself.”She wore it without protest. He groaned inside because
It had never crossed Jacob’s mind that Emily had found out about his secret identity. Since she lived a sheltered life, he didn’t have a clue how she could know about it.So, he lowered his voice and asked calmly, “How could you find out about it?”Emily bit her lower lip because she didn’t want to make Viona in trouble. Yet, judging from Jacob’s reaction that he didn’t deny it, she knew it was true.No matter what, Jacob would know about it eventually. It was better to come clean with him, so it avoided any future complications. But then, would it be worth it to put Viona in trouble?His assistant didn’t treat her well from the first time she met her. But she also didn’t want to get the assistant in trouble bec
Jacob deliberately wanted to provoke Harold, so he turned Emily’s body to face her husband while he hugged her waist from behind with a hand. He even kissed her neck while staring at him.“See? Emily wants to be with me, but then she doesn’t want to divorce you. Isn’t she too kind?”“My dear?” Harold approached Jacob and Emily.Emily tried to remove herself from Jacob’s embrace, but he was too strong. She shook her head in her attempt to get her husband’s attention. “No! I don’t want to be with him.”“Jefferson, are you trying to get killed? I’ll approve it if you don’t release my wife in three seconds.”Emily gasped be
Emily hugged Jason’s shoulder, and then she called Mia, “Sweetheart, come to Mommy, please?”The little girl strolled toward her mother while she still glanced at Jacob. When she was before her mother, Emily hugged Mia, too. She took a deep breath because it wouldn’t be easy to explain it to the twins. However, they deserved to know the truth.Before Emily could say something, Harold also approached them and hugged the mother and the twins. “Let’s go. The explanation can wait. We’ll go to the zoo, and later, Mommy and Daddy will explain everything at home. Okay?”Jason nodded and took his father’s hand. “Daddy, let’s go back to the car. Tom has been waiting a long time there.”“Yes, Son.&
Harold’s eyes were wet, but he brushed them quickly with his hand and cleared his throat. He patted his son’s head fondly, and they walked side by side, saying nothing else.Jacob observed everything happened with jealousy because the children should be his. He wanted to be close with them, but he was clueless.Jason told Mia what Emily said, and both agreed to give Jacob a chance to get to know them. So, it was Mia first who approached Jacob.“Mr. Jefferson?” the little girl said.“Yes, young lady?” Jacob smiled at Mia.“What’s your favorite animal in the zoo?”Mia’s question surprised him, but he looked arou
He shifted to sit next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist while whispering in her ear, “Then the third option will be the best one to take. Think about it.”She said nothing because she needed time to think. Harold was right. She regretted attending the funeral.He kissed her shoulder. After taking a card from his wallet, he left it on the table. “Text me a month from now about your decision. I need your number too.”She mentioned her phone number, and he saved it in his phone. “Please don’t call me. Just send a text message. I don’t want Harold to be mad at me.”Afterward, he left her. She took his card and read his phone number. It was still the same old number he used. She couldn’t tell Harold about what s
The next day, Jacob sent a text message to Emily because he wanted to meet with his children. ‘Emily, I want to meet with Jason and Mia. Can I buy them ice cream?’ At first, he only wanted to use his children to approach Emily, but after interacting with them, he liked Jason and Mia and wanted to build a relationship with them.Yet, Emily didn’t reply, so he waited for a half hour. Still, she hadn’t replied yet. So, he called her number. In the second ring, she picked up the phone.“I told you to text me! Why do you call?”“If you replied to my text, I wouldn’t call you.”She groaned and talked to herself in her mind to stay calm. “Fine. I’ll read your text and reply.”
They didn’t explore Santorini further because they were too busy with each other. A week passed swiftly, and they only spent most of their time in the hotel room.She giggled and shook her head. “What should we tell Mom and Dad if they asked what we did on our honeymoon?”“They won’t ask because they once were young too.” He chuckled.“But we must bring some souvenirs for them and also for the children. I also want to buy something for Pauline. You, too, should buy something for Al.”He closed his eyes, pretending to let out a sigh, but then he opened his eyes again and grinned. “Fine! Let’s hunt for the gifts!”Later, Nikos drove them to Fira, the capital of S
They finished the ceremonies, and some guests already left because they would have a wedding reception at Hoffner’s Hotel. Jacob booked the hotel for the reception, and Samuel gave him a special price.They met with Samuel and Amy’s children: Shane, Melanie, Sammy, and Vivi. Later, the children played with Jason and Mia.Amy hugged her distant cousin. “Congratulations on your wedding.”“Thanks, Amy.” Then she whispered, “At first I was insecure with you since I knew Jacob still loved you. But now, I know he already got over it.”Amy shook her head and smiled. “He didn’t have any feelings left for me.” Then she whispered, “Look how he stares at you? It’s the sign of a man who loves h
The musician played the hymn “Amazing Grace”. It was the sign for the wedding ceremony to begin.Elsa nodded at Mia. “It’s your time, sweetheart.”The little one smiled and nodded. “Yes, Grandma.” She walked to the back of the aisle then started stepping forward through it by spreading the flower petals, following the song.The guests smiled to see the adorable little girl. Jason, who glanced at his sister, also raised his thumb and smiled to support her. Mia kept smiling and looked to the right and left as she walked and spread the flower petals.After the song finished, it changed to another song “Second Chance” by Trisha Yearwood. It was a song that Pauline chose because she knew what the wedding meant
When seeing the ladies, Jimmy, Jacob’s driver, smiled and opened the limousine door for them. Meanwhile, Jacob, Al, Jason, and Daniel were already waiting at church.All the Cleaner Gold leaders were there. Some of Jacob’s staff from JJ’s Properties were there too.Jacob and Al stood outside of the church on a terrace. They could see the parking lot and the church door clearly from their place.He glanced at his wrist many times to see the time. Then he gazed at the parking lot to see no limousine had already arrived. Later, he took a deep breath to calm himself.Al chuckled and shook his head to see his friend’s obvious nervousness. “She’ll be here soon. Don’t worry, Bro!”&ldq
A week swiftly went by like flying as they were busy with the wedding preparation. Finally, it was four a.m. on the wedding day.Two makeup artists and a hairdresser already arrived at Emily’s house. They prepared the living room for working.Now, they were busy putting makeup on Emily, Pauline, Elsa, and also Mia. For Mia, the makeup artist only applied powder and lip gloss because Emily didn’t want her daughter to put on makeup while the little girl was still too young for that.Two hours later, the hairdresser and makeup artists finished their work. They left the house and went to the church because they prepared if anyone needed a makeup or hairstyle redo. It was because Jacob wanted everything to be perfect today.Then Elsa and Pauline helped
Emily stared at Jacob and the ring. She bit her lower lip because she didn’t know what to say.Jacob took a deep breath because he wasn’t ready to accept a refusal. Then he forced a smile. “It’s okay if you don’t want to marry me now. Maybe you want to enjoy your time alone first.”But then Emily shook her head. “No.” She held both of his hands. “I want to make you the happiest man, Jacob. So, it’s a yes.”Jacob immediately stood and put the ring on her finger. Then he kissed her lips and hugged her tightly.He laughed and shook his head. “I thought you would say no. I don’t know what I would do if you refused me.”She giggled and cupped his f
Jacob, Jason, and Mia went to a Chinese food bistro. Jacob already ordered by phone various dumplings for them all, wonton soup for Jason, then salt and pepper chicken, stir-fried beef with ginger, Peking duck, and seafood fried noodles.The service was fast. After they arrived, in five minutes, all the food was served. Mia frowned because she didn’t have the wonton soup either.“Dad?”“Yes, sweetheart?”“Why I don’t get the soup?”“It’s because your brother has a cold. Do you want the soup?”The little girl glanced at Jason’s bowl and nodded. So Jacob raised his hand.
Soon after the meeting ended, Jacob entered a room next to the meeting room and pressed the button from Harold three times.Then, after a minute, Harold called him. “Well?”“We have agreed. The offer is fifty trillion with fifty years of credit and a trillion of payment each year and a trillion for the down payment,” Jacob said.Harold whistled to hear the number, but he knew with various businesses the Gold Cleaner had, fifty trillion was a reasonable price. “Anyone in your team want to enter our boat?”“Nope, they are happy with us.” He was smiling when saying it. “So, it will be purely a facility, land, building, systems, and the networks we will sell and transfer to you.”
Warning: violent scene. Please proceed with precautions for readers sensitive to violent scenes.“You called him too, Al?” Jacob asked. “I also called him back then, but he didn’t pick up the call nor called me back either.” He let out a sigh. “Now we know why.”Al said nothing, but his eyes glared at Stanley. It was an unforgivable act because Stanley’s betrayal cost Art’s life.Jacob’s eyes were chilly when he gazed at Stanley. “You told us earlier that Gold Cleaner is your family and will stay like that. You even said you didn’t want to work under Montgomery and the Silent Syndicate.” Then Jacob added slowly to emphasize his words, “Now we all know it’s all just bullshit!”