Mark carefully knocked on the study room and was invited to come in.
“When do you plan to get married?” Sebastian asked immediately.
Mark was surprised to hear the old man.
He sat in front of the old man and sized him up.
He wanted to see the sincerity behind his words.
“The soonest possible”
“Does it mean you already agree?” Mark asked in disbelief.
“Of course not” he scoffed.
“No one deserves my daughter, especially someone who casually spreads his seeds” he smirked at Mark.
“That was even before I met her” he explained himself.
Sebastian just raised his eyebrow in doubt.
“If you want to get married soon, you need to work with me. I’ll give you a month” the old man said.
“I’m listening” Mark replied.
“You need to convince her to accept her responsibilities to her people”
“Not really, he just mocks my donation and challenged me to a poetry recitation” Mark lovingly smiled.“He did that to you too?” Amanda chuckled.“Yeah, well it’s all fun”“He said he agrees to our marriage” Mark pretended to be excited.“If you will agree to his request”Amanda felt her world stopped after hearing his last sentence.How could she agree to such demand?“Did you ask Papa what he wanted me to do?” she tried to calm her voice.“Hmmm, I did not enquire.”‘Technically, I did not enquire. He just told me. So, I’m not lying, am I?’ he defended himself.“I thought it should be between the two of you” Mark could feel the hesitation in her eyes.“Darling, now that Penny is safe. I need to go back to the city to handle some matters”“Since the kids a
Back at the Golding villa.Amanda was feeling conflicted to let Mark go.She’s having a feeling that if he leaves now, they would not see each other again.“I will come back next week. What are you worried about?” he hugged her lovingly while he prepared his bag.“I will miss you that’s all” she hugged him like she doesn’t want to let go.“Jack, daddy will go back to the city for a week. Take care of mom and Penny, okay?”“Yes, daddy.” Jack nodded.“But is it true? You will bring a lot of babies when you come back?” he asked excitedly.Mark felt nervous at little Jack’s comments.He also doesn’t know what would happen if there are more ‘Pennys’ in the whole country.“Haha. Don’t listen to grandpa. He’s just kidding” he hugged the little guy then turned to Penny.“Penny, sweethe
“Deal” she changed to a work clothes and went back to join her father and the body guards.After driving for some time, they reached the guest house.As soon as she saw the artwork, her mouth fell in admiration.It was a depiction of a mother who embraces a lot of children with more children running towards her.The woman was very simple looking but the warmth in her smiling eyes give comfort to the street children.They found home in her arms.Amanda felt like crying while looking at the wall-sized artwork.“Can you share the inspiration behind your work?” she suddenly got curious about the boy.The young man shared how his family moved to the Northern province for better opportunities.His father is a skilled farmer but they had no land in the Eastern Province.When they moved here, they were immediately given a piece of land and were given a target to produce every year.His fathe
After bathing the kids, she put them to bed and checked if Mark called her.When she saw no missed calls, she decided to take a quick bath before calling him.She filled her bath tub with warm water and soaked her whole body.While looking at the ceiling, she suddenly felt the tears falling from her eyes.For the first time in many years, she feels her feet on the edge of a cliff.And one wrong move would mean falling off to her death.When she accepted being a single parent, she knew there’s only one way to go.So, she endured moving forward.Now she has been presented with a lot options but she doesn’t know how to decide.It seems like the more option you have, the more difficult it would be to choose.The state of the common people in her land has disturbed her emotions.She has never seen this side of Northern Province before.She thought their land is perfect like in a fairy-tale.
‘access to a lot of information’‘your action would say so’“Speaking of the heads of families, why are you not representing the province?”“The mayor said they could not get a new budget because you’re not representing them?” she accused her father.“I just don’t like it. They’re debating up to the last cent, Amanda.”“Do you know how insulting that is?”“I’ll just give them my assets so everyone would shut up. Saves me time” he started walking towards the garden.Amanda wanted to cry.She tried to control her voice but she wanted to burst out.“Pa, no matter how rich you are, you cannot always use your money to fix things”“There are policies that normal people need to adhere to because they don’t have millions to fall back on” she explained.“Look at you, you see
The next morning, Mark was already working in his office when Adam came in for his morning report.“Any news about the registration?” he tried to hide his excitement.“Oh, that. I didn’t know you have a very active sex life boss?” Adam tried to make fun him.“And you’re bouncing all over the country” Adam did not hold back his laughter.Mark just gave him a confused look.“Well based on their initial interviews, you had a one-night stand with all of the women and their children were the product”“So far I have a tally of close to 1000 registrations”“I let them draw blood to avoid suspicion but not to proceed with the comparison”“It would just be a waste of resources”“I wonder how many families will be broken if the husbands find out about their wives’ one-night stands with you” Adam playfully roll a pen in
While the kids were taking their nap, Amanda was busy in her project proposal.Sebastian was right, it’s not enough to know that something was wrong.She must also equip herself with data to make sound proposals.Her workload was overwhelming until she finally fell asleep due to her fatigue.It was almost dark when she went out of her room.When she reached the living area, she was welcomed by Penny’s loud cries.She just wanted to go back to her room and let the servants deal with it but Penny already saw her.“Ma-man, eeeeeeeee” her loud squeals were making her head ache.“What happened?” she asked Jack silently.The little boy was playing in his computer tablet.“I don’t know” Jack said not raising his head.“We were drawing oranges suddenly she cried because orange is not an apple” he said defensively.She thought she was lucky tha
They found Jack in the garden resting under the big tree.“Jack, we want to talk to you about something” Mark started.Jack started crying as soon as he finished his words.“You found your missing kids and you don’t want me anymore. Is that it?” Jack said in between sobs.“No, of course not” Mark objected.He wanted to hug the little guy but Jack avoided his hand.“I don’t care. You can go to your kids.”“And mom can marry young master Mills.”“But no one gets Penny.”“I will take care of my sister and we will stay with grandpa Seb” he said with determination.“Go, go, go away. Both of you” he pushed the two adults.When they didn’t move, Jack ran away to the direction of the stables.Mark immediately caught up to him and carried the crying Jack.“Jack let’s talk”
Just as announced, the Golding-Mills wedding will be held on the first day of Spring.Since Amanda’s body was still very weak, they decided to hold the wedding in a private ceremony in the Golding estate.Only the big four families were present.The Henleys, the Smiths, the Mills and the Goldings.Valerie came back from abroad as a maid-of-honour while Monica, Fiona and Brenda were tasked as bridesmaids.In the groom’s entourage, Dexter Henley is the best man while Jake, Simon and Adam were groomsmen.Jack carried the ring while the cute little Penny showered the aisle with flowers.Amanda looked like a goddess in her white dress.Her hair was adorned with flowers matched with a simple make-up.When Penny saw her, she immediately ran to her mommy and walked beside her.Jack looked confused and also wanted to join the girls but he knew this is an important event.He went to the girls and led Penn
The guards immediately secured Harley and Meredith and the whole household was turned upside down.When Amanda opened her eyes, her arms felt numb.There was an IV drip attached to her left arm.She tried to sit up but she felt dizzy instantly.When the door opened, John Fields came in with a food tray with a big smile on his face.“You, my lady, should eat more healthy foods.”“I heard you’ve been nibbling on bacons when you’re bored?” John smiled at her warmly.“Oh John, help me call Mark. I have something important to tell him” she said excitedly with a weak body.“John, I think Mark is Jack’s real father”“I know it’s a long shot. But it’s worth to run a test” she thought she said her words properly.Harley’s blurred words were echoing in her mind.‘Tattoo on lower abdomen’‘Jack of d
“They say that it’s takes a village to raise a child” General Mills said meaningfully.“It seems like you need the whole country to raise yours” he roared with gritted teeth.This is not acceptable to him.He was initially fond of Amanda and he really likes her but this action is really serious.She should not play with people’s lives no matter how repulsive they seem.“Feel free to take her” Sebastian said while scratching his head.He also doesn’t know how to save his face right now.Even though they are good friends with the Mills family, everything can be put aside if it concerns a person’s life.The old men were still bantering about Amanda’s action when they heard Mark laughing from the guest room.“I told you she’s getting bolder” he said to the old master Golding.“She’s, she’s done this before” he s
The next day Amanda woke up in a happy mood.She rang her bell and ordered the servant for her breakfast.“Get me Nellie” she said when she was greeted by a new servant.“My lady, I’m afraid Nellie won’t be able to serve you anymore” the servant said with tearful eye.“Why?” she asked in confusion.“She’s being punished my lady, in the garden” the servant could not help her tears anymore.“She will be beaten to death if she did not reveal who ordered her to assassinate young master Mills” the servant said pleadingly.“A-a-assassinate?” she said in shocked.How could it be?She only ordered Nellie to drug the young master and to sleep with him.She never ordered for an assassination.Is it possible that someone wanted to murder young master Mills?She could not be implicated, but she could not let Nellie die beca
“Meredith could not bear a child; I always knew your eggs would come in handy”“We hired a surrogate to conceive the child”“The father comes from a rich family.”“Either family, we could ask for support for the child” Harley said shamelessly.“Why use other person’s sperm then? If you want to have a child with Meredith why use other people?” she asked in disbelief.“Believe it or not, I don’t want Jack to know that he has half-siblings” Harley tried his best to show his sincerity.“Half?” she scoffed.“Why? Are your offspring only consist of upper or lower part?”“How could you call someone ‘half’?” her hatred is visible in her cold stare.“I know you don’t want to believe me. Anyway, I’m not from a rich family” he said self-deprecatingly.“But for our s
Mark felt goosebumps in his arms.He looked inside the house wanting to curse at the old man.“I asked grandpa to bring me” the little boy said defending the old man.“Well, he shouldn’t. Not without me or your mom”“Whatever Harley said to you, just ignore it. Don’t let it affect you, okay?” he hugged the little guy tighter.“It’s okay, dad. I just looked at him.”“We didn’t have any resemblance at all” he said while kicking the ball up and down.“Does mommy know?” Mark doubted Amanda would agree to this meet-up.“No, she said she would stay in her room until the announcement has been cancelled”“Knowing her, she won’t come out anytime soon” he chuckled at her mom.“Jack, what does he looked like? How did you feel when you saw him?”“Were you excited?” he som
“Would you like to send a reply?” Jack enquired referring to the letter.She scribbled some notes and passed the paper to Jack.“Let the servant send it. You don’t need to go there yourself” she reminded him.“I want to go. Unless you want to play ball with me?” she just grins at Jack.Jack knew she wouldn’t play outside with him.“When are you coming out of your room?” Jack was about to leave when he turned around to ask her.“When they retract the marriage announcement” she said honestly.Jack just shrugged his shoulder then close the door.He went directly to the old master’s study room and knocked.“Grandpa, can I meet Harley today? Mom doesn’t want to leave her room until the announcement is cancelled” he started.“She said that?” the old master wanted to confirm.Although he has expected Amanda
She hasn’t finished her slice when she heard a knock and her father came in.When he saw what she’s eating, he immediately ordered the servant to take it away.“Where did you get this rubbish?” the old man asked.“This is not from the kitchen. Who gave it to you?” he looked around and found the open letter.When she still did not reply, the old master summoned Uncle Ben.“Fire the servant who brought her food” Uncle Ben immediately nodded his head.“I-I-I bought it. The servant has nothing to do with it” she would not allow the poor girl to get fired.“Fire the whole kitchen staff” Uncle Ben again nodded his head.“You still want to lie to me?” Sebastian challenged her and started reading the letter.She could only press her lips in defiance.“Mark sent it for me” she admitted instantly when she saw Uncle Ben pulling ou
“Golding? Mom, are you related?” he asked in confusion.“Yes” both Goldings replied casually.“We already tried to trace it before haven’t we Sebastian?” Mrs. Mills recalled their relationship.“Yes, I think our common ancestor is 10 generations back. But then, who cares” Sebastian agreed.“Your mother treats me more of an enemy instead of a relative, anyways” he just shrugged his shoulders.“Don’t worry son, everybody is related to everybody in Diamond Country” General Mills added.“That’s why it’s important to handle your matters cautiously” the general sighed.“Dad, I need to talk to Meredith. I need to know if there are other people who used my seeds” he explained.“No one used your seeds. I made sure that the clinic would seal your donations and not to release it before”“Tsk, wha