A little while earlier, Jayden had quickly walked away, pretending to be hurt by Deborah’s ‘betrayal.’ He also noticed a reporter following them closely, which meant Marie had paid someone to record everything happening to create a scandal around their breakup.“Jayden...” Marie called out as she ran to catch up with him, grabbing his arm.“Marie, seriously... I want to be alone,” he said, stopping to look at her, trying to hold back tears.“No, my love, don’t cry. That woman doesn’t deserve it,” she said, moving closer to touch his face and trying to dry his tears.This close moment was discreetly photographed, just as Marie had planned. She continued playing the role of the supportive shoulder for her beloved.“But I loved her, and... and I thought the three of us...”“If what you want is a family, I can give you that,” she said, taking his face in her hands.“What...” Jayden looked at her, confused.“Yes, Jayden, you know, all this time we’ve been apart, I never stopped th
After adjusting her clothes, Marie tried to cling to Jayden’s arm, hoping to tempt him with her body.Unfortunately, she noticed that he wasn’t interested or reacting to her flirting; he was just staring out the window, which frustrated her a bit... but she wouldn’t give up. She was determined to make him forget that woman and become the only owner of his heart.Jayden, on the other hand, was holding back the urge to push her away because he was disgusted by women like her, especially when he knew the real reason behind her sudden persistence.To distract himself and ignore Marie, he kept his mind busy thinking about Deborah, knowing they should be on their way to the key point where the police were waiting to arrest those women. Roger had better protect her, or he’d have to answer to him.Just then, he received a message, which he discreetly checked, noticing it was from Caroline with a picture of James playing with Christian and two stuffed animals. The image was accompanied by a
"No, of course not.""Then... why are you so insistent on being with me when you know I already have my own family?""But she's betraying you with her ex, and...""Whatever, that's not your problem," Jayden declared, standing up."Of course, it is, because I love you," she said desperately, grabbing his hands. "I care about you, and that's why I stepped in—I don't want to see you suffer.""And what about the suffering I went through when you left me over a tantrum? Doesn't that count?" he asked, pulling his hands away from hers."That's exactly why I want to protect you and—""Protect him, or the Cooper fortune that could save you from bankruptcy?" At that moment, a voice startled Marie.When she looked toward the entrance of the house, she saw Deborah walking in."You... what are you doing here?""Obviously, protecting my husband from a gold-digger like you," Deborah said."And also making sure you don't get any ideas about my family's money," Samantha added as she entered
As they watched Marie being arrested, everyone let out a sigh of relief.“Finally...” Samantha said. “It’s over.”“Yeah... unless...?” Deborah began, turning to look Jayden in the eyes.“What?” he asked, a little nervous.“There aren’t any more crazy ex-girlfriends, are there?”“Don’t worry, there aren’t,” he replied, taking her hand and pulling her into a hug. “After her, I didn’t get involved with anyone else. I wanted to focus on my studies and my passion for construction.”“That’s true, dear, I can confirm that,” Samantha added.“Well, in that case, yes... it’s finally over,” Deborah said, lifting her face to kiss Jayden on the lips.“By the way, how did they behave?” Jayden asked.“In the end, it was clear that Isabelle was out of her mind. She didn’t hesitate to throw her grandson to the ground,” Deborah said with a grimace.“What...” Samantha said, horrified. “But... why?”“For a narcissistic reason.”“What do you mean?” Samantha and Jayden asked.“She said it was b
“Really?” Deborah asked, confused.“Yes,” Samantha said, amused.“And I’ll help,” Caroline added excitedly.“Hey! What are you all hiding from me?” Deborah demanded, realizing she was the only one not in on the plan.“You’ll find out tomorrow,” they all replied in unison.This made Deborah a bit nervous, but then she laughed, seeing how everyone had gone to great lengths to keep the surprise from her.Since the weather was nice, they decided to stay at Caroline and Christian’s house that night to celebrate finally giving those women the lesson they deserved.They ordered food and called Eric and Nicholas to join the celebration.Since they ended up staying late, Jayden and Deborah decided to spend the night at Nicholas’s to avoid moving James. It was also so that the little one could spend his first night at his grandpa’s house.The next morning, Deborah woke up a bit late, noticing she was alone in the room. When she went out to look for everyone, she didn’t get any answers.
“What...” Deborah was stunned, taking a closer look at the place and noticing that the unknown man was the judge.“I think this is the best way to celebrate the closure of our pasts, don’t you think?” Jayden said, taking her hand.“You’re right; it’s the perfect way to celebrate.”“By the way, you look stunning,” he said, giving her a flirtatious look.“Thanks,” Caroline replied, making the couple laugh.“Darling...” Christian scolded her for interrupting the romantic moment.“What? I put all the magic into Debbie’s outfit: the clothes, accessories, makeup, and hairstyle,” Caroline declared proudly.“And she’s right,” Jayden said, making her smile.James cooed at the sight of his mom’s earrings and tried to grab them.“No, darling,” Deborah said, pulling away a bit and holding his little hands to kiss them while listening to his laughter.“He’s drawn to the color,” Samantha noted, seeing him try to grab them again.“Yes,” Deborah said, smiling.“Ahem...” the judge cleared h
“Got it,” Christian said.“Are you ready?” the judge asked. When Jayden and Deborah nodded as they approached him, the judge said, “Then let’s begin.”Nicholas, Eric, and Samantha also approached, handing the necessary documents to the judge for the registration. After placing their signatures and seals, the registration was complete.“Well, young man, you are now officially James Cooper,” the judge declared, looking at the little one.“Yay! I’m officially your dad now,” Jayden said, lifting his son slightly and kissing him on the cheek, making James laugh.“And this calls for a celebration,” Samantha declared.“Congratulations, sir and madam,” Max and Danielle said, clapping and setting off a confetti cannon.James was thrilled to see the colorful pieces falling from the sky and tried to catch them with his hands.“Thank you very much, Judge,” Eric said, approaching to shake his hand while taking the documents to store them safely.“And now let’s go have a celebratory brunch,
When the press found out about the big event, they grew excited and eager to learn the details of the civil wedding.They wanted to know everything, from the clothes the couple wore, the guest list, where it took place, and everything that happened that day... but unfortunately, no one knew anything as it was a discreet wedding.This saddened the entertainment reporters a little, though their sadness didn’t last long because a little birdie informed them after the private ceremony, there would be a grander celebration open to a larger crowd for the reporters to cover if they wished.With that explanation, everyone was now excited, trying to find out any details to satisfy the curiosity of the gossip-hungry audience. But so far, they haven’t had the chance to interview the newlyweds. Still, they didn’t lose hope of getting some details in advance.Perhaps it was just their luck that there was a lack of action leading up to the day of the grand celebration—Jayden rested at home, and
Extra 40: A Happy and Perfect Life Part 2That promise came to an end for one of them three years later, as Nicholas was the first to go due to his heart, which began to fail until it simply stopped beating one cold December morning.Despite the immense pain she felt, Deborah fulfilled her father’s last wish… so they buried him with the diamond pendant that had belonged to her mother and grandfather.It was a very sad time, and everyone came together to keep Deborah from falling apart, as she now felt alone, as though she had lost her family again.But her children reminded her that she wasn’t alone, and because of this, they tried to distract her by having her organize the Christmas party.The days continued to pass, and just when they were preparing for James’ wedding, Eric and Samantha Cooper passed away due to old age.That was news that covered all the media outlets, with the headline telling a beautiful love story, as they had gone to sleep together and passed away to the n
Extra 40: A Happy and Perfect Life Part 1Time began to pass quickly, bringing good, bad, and sad moments that gradually changed the family.One good thing that happened was that after much reflection, Roger managed to make peace with his father, asking for forgiveness for all the stupid things he had done when he was younger. He also apologized to his little brother for being such a jerk.Even though he didn’t want to, Elliot reluctantly accepted the apologies because his wife convinced him that holding onto grudges wasn’t healthy.Unfortunately, the Peterson family only got to celebrate being united for a short period of time because two weeks after that reconciliation… George passed away of natural causes.That was a tragic moment for everyone, one that shook his friends, reminding them of how precious and short life is. Those who suffered the most from the loss of their Grandpa George were Howard and Fiona. But their parents, uncles, and maternal grandparents showered them wit
Extra 39: Deborah and JamesAfter lunch, and taking advantage of when his father taking his little siblings to their extracurricular activities, James sought out his mom to talk with her.“Mom,” he called out when he saw her in her study, reading some papers.“Hey, come in,” she said, looking up and setting aside the documents for a moment.“More work?”“Not exactly. These are the reports of the current buildings for sale in the city.”“Huh… are you already looking into that?”“Well, son, your sister graduates next year, and a year is not a lot of time to start a company from scratch.”“Will it already be furnished for her?” he asked, taking the documents to read them.“Yes, that’s why I want to buy a warehouse to remodel or a vacant lot so you and your dad can work your magic to build it and make it just like Elizabeth wants.”“It’s a project I can’t wait to start,” James said excitedly.“Your little siblings are also helping me, looking into sewing stores to buy industrial
Extra 38: A Father’s FearsHonestly, it was a strange conversation for James, one he never thought he’d have… in fact, not even in his wildest dreams did he imagine having this kind of interaction with the man who was supposedly his biological father.After telling him a bit about his school life, James paid the bill and said goodbye to Roger, as he had to get back to the office; he didn’t want to be away from work for too long.When he entered the conference room, he saw his father talking to some other architects.“Great, we’re all set then,” Jayden said, dismissing them. “Son, how did it go?” he asked as James approached him.“Fine, but it was weird.”“So... has he started to feel his age?”“I think so,” James replied, making a face.“And what did he want?”“Well, he just started talking to me, apologizing for being absent, and now he wants us to meet up to talk because he wants to get to know me,” James said, scratching his head. “I don’t know… it seemed odd that he wants
Extra 37: A Late Talk Part 2“Wow, sorry for the confusion.”“Don’t worry about it. My family supported me, and thanks to learning the truth, I understood why we had three grandfathers.”“I imagine you became an architect because of Jayden.”“That’s right. My motivation was seeing how his drawings came to life… it excited me to the point where I wanted to do the same, and as the days went by, that desire grew stronger, so I decided to make it a reality,” he said, his excitement evident in his words. “Though I also saw that Uncle did something similar by turning his sketches into beautiful jewelry, but that didn’t impress me as much.”“I see, but didn’t my dad teach you the basics of the company?”“Yes, Grandpa showed me the trade,” James said with a smile. “In fact, I’m a good appraiser, and I know how to make jewelry because Uncle also taught me the basics of jewelry design and creation. But I see that as a hobby because the only jewelry I’ve made has been for my mom, my sisters
Extra 37: A Late Talk Part 1“I’ll ask you again. What are you doing here?” James questioned, frowning slightly.“James… I…” Roger stammered nervously, his words catching in his throat and refusing to come out.“Are you here to apologize on behalf of your daughter?”“Something like that,” he said, finally managing to speak, though he made a face. “Would you let me talk to you?”“To me?” James asked, confused, pointing to himself. “About what?”“Can I invite you for a drink so we can talk?”“What do you want with my son?” At that moment, Roger saw his longtime rival approaching and standing next to the young man.“Jayden, please let me talk to James,” Roger pleaded.The now platinum-blonde looked confused at his rival. It was the first time Roger had called him by his name, and he could see that Roger seemed genuinely sorry and defeated. Jayden let out a sigh. “James, go with him.”“What?” James looked at him, surprised and confused.“Are you serious?” Roger said, a note of h
Extra 36: Late Regrets Part 2The next morning, during breakfast, Roger was focused on his phone, determined to reach out to James and be the one to make the first contact.“Hey, Dad,” Cassandra called out, trying to get his attention, noticing he was more focused on his phone than his breakfast.“What is it?” Roger asked, looking up.“Well... hey, what are we going to do about last night?”“What?” he said with a frown.“Come on, Dad, aren’t you going to do something about Grandpa and—”“Casandra, enough... I think whatever happened last night should have made the situation clear.”“But…”“They no longer see me as family, and they never recognized you as such, so just forget about it because it’s only the three of us, no one else.”“No…”“Cassandra, enough,” her mother scolded. “I told you yesterday not to go, and all you did was humiliate yourselves in public,” she said, looking her daughter in the eyes. “Grow up already. You lost that boy because you chased something that
Extra 36: Late Regrets Part 1Roger didn’t return home for the rest of the night. He ignored the cries of his ‘daughter’ as he headed to the nearest bar to have a drink and try to clear his mind.Seeing his father defeated and exhausted had made him stop and think.While sipping his third beer, he raised his gaze and saw his reflection in the mirror behind the bar, realizing that an old man was staring back at him... which scared him. He now looked at his hands, which had more wrinkles than he remembered. When had he changed so much?His once beautiful hair was now streaked with gray, his face showed his age, and he had dark circles under his dull eyes.When had he gotten so old?And why did he look like this?He was supposed to age gracefully, but that wasn’t the case... because what he saw in that mirror was a shell of the successful man he once was.He thought back to James. That boy had surpassed him in height; he was the version of himself Roger had always wanted to be: ta
Extra 35: Total BreakElliot was furious to see Roger and his daughter at the party.“Why did you hurt my daughter?” Roger hadn’t recognized James and just wanted to help his princess. “Who do you think you are…?” Then he saw James and, how could he not recognize him? He was Roger’s spitting image, giving the latter the same hateful look Roger himself wore.“I should ask you the same thing, sir. Who do you think you are, crashing a private event?” James asked.Roger was about to respond, but…“What’s the meaning of this?” George asked, approaching them.“Grandpa, they attacked me, and…” Cassandra started to say.“Miss, don’t call my grandpa ‘Grandpa,’” declared Howard.“Tom, call security,” Eric ordered. “Get these two out of the party.”Among the guests, a blond young man recognized Cassandra but didn’t go to help her because his parents didn’t allow it. They didn’t want to end up caught in the middle of the problem and become collateral damage, nor did they want to fall out