“Ah… I imagine you didn’t accept it, right?” Jayden remarked, recognizing the subtle signs that Cupid had worked his magic.“Exactly. I told Erika that accidents happen and that I was fine,” Elliot said, glancing at the blonde. “Harry also swore he’d never do something like that again and promised to be more careful.”“Oh… so Erika worked her magic because now he’s not the idiot but Harry,” Deborah teased, noticing how Elliot blushed instantly.“Ugh… don’t tease me,” Elliot protested as they all laughed.“Ah… hahaha.”“James, you too?” he asked, hearing his nephew laugh, even though the little boy didn’t understand anything, but found everyone’s faces funny.“So, if the console was for her… does Erika like video games?” Jayden asked.“Yes! She actually likes the same game I do, and sometimes at night, we team up to take down other teams,” Elliot declared excitedly.“In fact, Erika is already important! She and her brother will be joining us for our New Year’s Eve dinner so they
The holiday season was a much-needed break for the couple as they finally got to spend several days with James without worrying about the office. Unfortunately, the vacation period eventually ended, and they returned to their regular routine. The only difference now was that sometimes James accompanied Jayden to the office since Deborah was too busy to bring him along due to the influx of new clients. Even Eric was swamped with paperwork, leaving no one to look after the little boy.At the construction company, preparations were already underway for the major projects planned out for the year. This meant Jayden’s vacation time was coming to an end, and sadly, he hadn’t been able to spend as much time with his beloved as he had hoped.That morning, Jayden had one of the rare days when he needed to go to the office to handle some pending matters. Since Samantha was busy, James had to tag along with his dad.“Ah... gaa...” James happily gazed out the window at the passing scenery.“I
“Good morning,” the deliveryman greeted as the door was opened. “I have a delivery for Samantha Cooper.”“Of course, come in, please,” the butler directed, allowing him to enter. “You can place it on the table.”“Thank you, and could you sign here, please?” the deliveryman asked, handing over the receipt while carefully setting down the arrangement. After receiving the signed sheet, he bid farewell and left to continue his deliveries.“And what’s this?” Samantha asked, noticing the arrangement of white roses shaped like a teddy bear.“It’s for you, madam, and it came with this,” the butler said, handing her a card and a blue leather case.“For me?” she asked, blushing slightly with surprise.“Hey, now I’m getting jealous,” Eric joked, approaching to see the gift while carrying his grandson.“My goodness, I feel like a twenty-something with a handsome suitor showering me with gifts,” she teased, opening the card. “Ah... how sweet. Thank you, my son,” she said, noticing Jayden app
“Wait, what? My daughter left a while ago,” her father said, surprised.“What? Where did she go?” Jayden asked, panicking a bit.“She went to the Crystal Hotel for a meeting. But—” He glanced at the wall clock. “If you hurry, you might catch her. They should be wrapping up soon.”“Thanks, Father.”“You’re welcome. By the way, would you like one?” he offered, holding out one of the liqueur chocolates he was eating.“No, thanks. But enjoy them for me,” Jayden said with a smile as he headed out of the office, eager to find his beloved.Even though he didn’t have a grand romantic plan, the goal was to spend quality time together, so he rushed off to find Deborah.When he arrived at the hotel, he headed straight to the restaurant area but couldn’t find her.“Excuse me,” he said to the host. “I believe there were two people here earlier for a business meeting.”“Do they have a reservation?”“Yes, under the name Deborah Cooper or Anderson Securities.”“Let me check,” the host said,
“Actually, that’s not enough,” the woman said with a playful tone, glancing at one of the guards. “Hey, you, bring the white box,” she ordered. One of the men quickly went to fetch it and handed it to Jayden. “It’s for you, and I hope you enjoy the place,” she added with a wink.Jayden was bewildered, but as everyone left him alone, he wondered, “What’s going on here?”This was definitely the strangest day he’d ever had, but he noticed a new address on the note.With a sigh, he headed to the new address. Besides, he had nothing else to do and couldn’t reach Deborah on her phone.By the time he arrived, it was already 3 PM, and he was feeling lonely and hungry.The address led him to a house, so he parked and tried to enter using the key.Fortunately, the door opened, though he felt a bit nervous as he stepped inside.“Hello...” he called out, looking around but finding no one. He ventured further in, carrying the gift box. “Um... courier?”He noticed a trail of rose petals on t
After that glorious Valentine’s Day, the days flew by with work, time spent with James, and the last details of the wedding being finalized.Fortunately, arranging for the music, DJ, photographer, and videographer was a breeze.The only hiccup came with Caroline’s dress, which needed some adjustments due to her noticeable pregnancy. When she tried it on, it was a bit snug, but David quickly resolved the issue by adding a lace panel of the same color to expand the dress.Now, only one crucial detail remained: James’s suit.At that moment, Deborah and Jayden arrived at the store where David was already waiting with the tailor to take James’s measurements.“Wow,” James exclaimed, his eyes widening at the colorful clothes displayed on the mannequins. Sparkling outfits were everywhere.“You’re going to look very dapper,” Deborah said, noticing the boy’s excitement as she admired the suits.“Welcome! You must be the Coopers,” one of the salespeople greeted as they approached the count
As the days flew by, we were now just 24 hours away from the big day.That afternoon, everyone gathered at the Cooper mansion.“Are we having the bachelor party here?” Caroline asked as she got out of the car with her husband’s help.“Looks like it,” Christian replied.“Welcome!” Samantha greeted them. “Wow, how far along are you?” she asked, noticing Caroline’s round belly.“In a few days, I’ll be six months along,” Caroline said happily, stroking her stomach.“Congratulations to both of you,” Eric said.“Thanks! And soon, James will have a buddy to race around this beautiful garden with,” Christian added.“You bet,” Jayden said, walking over to greet the couple.Just then, a car pulled up to the house.“Hi, everyone!” Elliot called out as he got out of his car.“Good afternoon,” George said.“Hello, everyone, and welcome,” Deborah said, stepping out to greet the guests while carrying James.“Well, we’re all here, daughter,” Nicholas said.“Are we going somewhere from he
Everyone eagerly scattered through the garden, following their maps to tackle their first challenges. The only one with a personal attendant was Caroline, who had a servant with her in case she needed help or a wheelchair.Jayden was the first to reach his assigned spot.“Let’s see…” he said, glancing at his map. “This should be the place. Ah, there you are!” he said, spotting David’s assistant standing next to a white table with some papers.“Welcome, Blue Team,” the assistant greeted, calling him by his ribbon color. “At this station, we only have riddles for the players.”“Okay, bring it on,” Jayden said, excited.“Here’s the riddle: Two ducks are in front of a duck, two ducks are behind a duck, and one duck is in the middle. How many ducks are there?”Jayden stood there, stunned. “What…”“Here,” the assistant said, handing him a card with the riddle written on it. “You have three tries, or you can ask for help.”“No, I can figure it out,” Jayden said, pouting slightly as he
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