A ray of light falling on Jason's face made it impossible for him to continue enjoying his sleep. Squinting his face, he turned, but he felt something behind him preventing him from lying on his back. He turned the other way to allow him to see what was behind him and was surprised to see a half-naked woman sleeping in his bed. He quickly got out of bed and realized he was not wearing any clothes.
"What the hell happened?" Jason thought.
Confused, he left the bedroom, entered the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, looking at his reflection. He tried to recall the events of the previous day but remembered nothing.
"Who is she? And why is she in his bed?" Jason thought and ran his hand through his black hair.
His eyes fell on the gold ring on his finger. He quickly turned his hand and looked at it closely. He removed it from his finger and read the initials engraved inside it.
"J.H"
"What does that mean? Jason Haward?" Jason thought.
"Looks like my initials," he thought.
"Why do I have a wedding ring on my finger?" he thought, and remembered the lady.
"Maybe she put it on my finger," he thought.
Back in the bedroom, the lady, Julia, had just woken up but held her head in pain. She tried to recall what she did to give her such a terrible headache.
Julia attempted to sit up but quickly realized she was naked. She covered herself with the sheet but felt some discomfort between her legs.
"Where am I and what the hell happened?" she thought, realizing the strange environment.
"O no, what did I do this time?" Julia stared in horror at the blood stain on the bed when she finally got out of bed.
She had lost her virginity and yet had no memory of how that happened. How could she have lost her virginity like this? She wanted a memorable experience for her first time, yet she had no recollection of how this one happened or even how it felt. Just when she was lost in her thoughts, the door opened and a tall handsome man with blue eyes and black hair stepped into the room.
"Who are you?" Jason asked in his deep voice.
"I should be asking you that question. Who are you and how did I get here?" Julia questioned, moving backwards, away from the king-size bed.
Jason's gaze shifted to Julia's hand, which was holding the sheet she had wrapped around herself with part of it sweeping the floor, and he saw she also had a ring on her finger. He walked towards her and she was startled by his sudden advancement towards her. She started moving backwards and he kept advancing towards her.
"Don't get any closer or I will scream," Julia threatened.
"Scream all you want, like someone is going to hear you."Jason retorted.
Julia's back hit the window and he grabbed her hand roughly.
"How did you get this?" Jason questioned, drawing Julia's attention to the ring on her finger.
Julia looked at it puzzled and could not answer him. She had no idea how she got it but she loved the diamond stones around it because they were very beautiful.
"Are you hearing me, woman?" Jason yelled at her, tightening his grip around her wrist and shaking her violently.
Julia winced in pain and her face quickly became red.
"I don't know" Julia replied, her voice trembling.
"You don't know how you ended up in my bed?" Jason yelled at her.
"I don't know," Julia cried and tears rolled down her cheeks.
Jason threw her to the ground out of annoyance.
"Get out of this room before I get back," he said and heard his phone ringing.
Jason scanned the entire room following the sound and finally saw it lying on the bedside table. He walked back to the bedside and picked it up. It was a call from his brother.
"Hello James," Jason said.
"Hello Jason, what time are you coming over," James asked.
"Coming over for what? I have some things to do at the office. So, whatever you want to say, spit it out quickly," Jason replied, annoyed.
"Brother, it is Saturday. Dad came home sick last night; we sent him to the hospital. Mum called you, have you forgotten?" James reminded him.
Jason stood frozen. He had no memory of that. He thought very hard but nothing.
"Sure, I am coming over" Jason replied calmly.
Jason ended the call still trying to recall things, but could not recall anything. He placed the phone back on the table but his eyes caught sight of the stain on the white sheet.
"Is that blood?" Jason thought, knowing exactly what that meant.
"Does it mean I am her first?" Jason thought, turning to look at the woman covering herself with the sheet still standing in front of the window.
"F**k!" Jason exclaimed, understanding he had to take responsibility, but he was not ready for that.
"What is your name" he questioned, but was met with silence.
"Answer me dammit," Jason yelled, causing Julia to jump out of fright.
"Julia Harrison," Julia replied, trembling.
"Julia, get out of my house now," Jason yelled.
"I don't know where my clothes are," Julia said in a trembling voice.
"What size are you?" Jason asked in frustration.
"What?" Julia replied, not understanding what he meant.
"Your clothes size" Jason repeated.
"8" Julia replied.
Jason picked up his phone and dialled a number.
"Bring me a female dress, size 8. You have 15 minutes," Jason said and disconnected the call.
Jason entered the bathroom, leaving Julia in the bedroom.
"Who the heck is that guy and why is he so mean?" Julia thought.
She started looking around to see if she would find her clothes but there was nothing. A knock on the door startled her. She stood frozen, not sure what to do. The man came out of the bathroom.
"What? You didn't hear the knock or you didn't know how to answer the doors?" Jason asked annoyed.
He walked to the door and opened it. Collecting the dress bag from the young man at the door. He closed the door without a word. He took two steps and threw the bag at her.
"Get dressed and get out before I come out," he said and went back to the bathroom.
Julia opened it and put on the straight blue dress. She wasn't wearing any underwear and had no shoes on either. She quickly made her way towards the door and opened it. She stepped out and closed it shut by banging it, making a loud noise.
There were lots of people working in the house all wearing uniforms. They all turned to look at her. She quickly turned white as a sheet.
"I am sorry," Julia apologized and looked around her and ran towards the staircase.
She descended the staircase but was not sure how to get out of the house. She saw a lady carrying a tray in one direction. The aroma told her it was food.
"Please how do I get outside," Julia asked, standing on the last stairs, and the lady pointed her in the right direction.
Julia quickly ran in the direction the lady had shown her and was soon out of the house after descending a never-ending long staircase. She looked behind her to see the huge eight-storey beautiful building she had just exited.
She walked barefoot on the wet pavement, indicating it had rained the night before. She raised her hand to stop a cab and realized she didn't have any money and she was not familiar with the area either.
"O God, I need to stop clubbing and drinking. How did I end up with that handsome ass, and here?" she thought as she looked around in frustration.
Julia had no phone to call anyone. She continued walking down the street. She was not sure how long she had been walking when a Bugatti Chiron slowed down close to her.
She ignored it and continued walking. The car honked at her so she stopped to see who it was.
"Get in" came the deep familiar voice.
It was the man who had yelled at her earlier in the Storey building.
Julia ignored him and continued to walk. A man got down from the front in a black tuxedo wearing sunglasses. He walked up to Julia and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her towards the car.
"Let go of me, I am going to scream," Julia threatened as she struggled to free herself.
"Go ahead, like anyone will come," replied the gentleman as he continued to drag her towards the parked car.
He opened the door to the back seat and threw Julia into the car. She fell onto the seat but quickly collected herself and pushed herself backwards till her back hit the car door. She was trembling as she was very terrified.
"Listen, woman, when I say something, you listen and obey. Get it?" Jason said in a deep calm voice.
His eyes were fixated on his phone as his fingers typed away. Julia pushed back further as if she wanted to go through the door and end up outside.
"Where to?" Jason asked, still looking at his phone.
"Belle glade," Julia replied, trembling.
Jason shifted his gaze to look at her briefly and could see how terrified she was, but he was not bothered. He turned his gaze back to his phone and gave the instructions to the driver to drop Julia off at the destination she mentioned. Julia sat in the corner of the car with her back pressed against the back seat door, with her head lowered all through the journey till they got to her destination.
Upon reaching her destination and the door unlocked Julia jumped out of the car.
"Thank you" Julia managed to say and moved away quickly.
She kept looking back occasionally and realized the car had left.
"What a rude man," Julia thought as she continued walking down the street towards her home.
"What a rude man," Julia thought as she continued walking down the street towards her home. She walked down the pavement and entered the porch of a house built with wood and painted white. She looked inside the house from the window, trying to sneak in. "Julia, come inside," came her mother's voice, "I know you are standing there. Julia squeezed her eyes and pursed her lips. She opened the front door, which was not locked, and entered the house. "Good morning, ma'am," Julia said with her hands behind her back. Her mother was sitting on the sofa reading a book with her eyeglasses on. She didn't lift her head to look at Julia standing almost behind her. "Where are you coming from?" Julia's mother asked, her eyes still fixated on the book she was reading. "Er...ma'am, I... I," Julia stammered, scratching the back of her neck. Her mother closed the book she was reading and, removing her glasses, turned halfway to look at Julia. She frowns and gets up to look at the dress Julia is w
"Leave grandpa to me," Jason said, and James left the hospital with their mother while Jason stayed behind and did the paperwork. James sat behind the wheel and drove out of the hospital compound with their mother, Mrs Haward, who would not stop crying about her dead husband, sitting next to him in the co-driver's seat. James just felt she needed to cry out as she appeared inconsolable. James remained silent with his eyes on the road as he drove back to the family condo. Jason finished the paperwork at the hospital and also headed for their family condo. Ten minutes after James arrived at the condo, Jason also drove in. Jason parked got out of the car, used the elevator, and went to the 12th floor. It was a huge floor with six bedrooms, two living rooms, and a well-designed balcony with a pool. The interior was shades of grey and white. They had some beautiful paintings hanging on the walls. Yes, they are a super-rich family. Jason entered the visitors' living room and was welcomed
Jason went up to the 6th floor of his apartment after instructing his bodyguards to pick up the people whose names Julia had given for interrogation. He had given the entire fifth floor of the apartment to be occupied by his security team. Just so they can intercept anyone coming to the sixth floor. He has security guards on all the floors except for the seventh floor. On the first floor directly above where Julia was being kept, Tilly, Julia's friend, was sitting on a chair surrounded by three fearful guards. She trembled with fear as the first question was thrown at her. "I ...I... I fell sick a few minutes later, so I left the place and went home. Julia was still at the club when I left dancing. Nothing, fishy," Matilda replied, almost stammering. After a few more questions, Matilda was sent away and Michael was brought in by one of the guards with his hands tied behind his back. The guard pushed Michael onto the to sit down and his hands were untied. Jason began questioning hi
Jason replied with a "huh," still thinking about the content of the letter. "What did he mean that he would understand later? Was there something about this family he needed to know?" Jason lowered his gaze, thinking and sank into his seat in a more relaxing posture. Mirenda and James looked at him surprised and Mrs Haward left the living room with a straight face, heading for her room. "Brother, why did you marry secretly?" asked Mirenda, trying to understand his reasons for such a silent marriage. "It wasn't planned, it just happened," Jason replied. "What did you mean by it just happened? Is she pregnant?" asked James curiously and he burst out laughing, knowing how distant Jason is when it comes to women. Mirenda looked at James, wondering what was funny about the question he asked, and Jason only lifted his gaze to look at him and lowered it again without replying. "Wait, wait, I am sorry," James said, trying to control his laughter, "Did she rape you?" he asked and st
Julia stood on the porch worried and not sure what to do. She was going to leave her home, and her mother to live under the same roof with a man whose family humiliated her. She had been taken away while in town twice already and none of the people passing by came to her rescue. It was like they were blind to the whole scene of her abduction. Her screams attracted no rescue from anyone. She recalled what Jason and his guards had all said to her; Scream, like someone would come. It was obvious people were afraid of this guy and his people and hence they would not interfere with anything that had to do with them. Julia sighed and wondered how her mother would feel if she went missing for days because she decided to ignore Jason and Jason sent his guards to abduct her. Julia exhaled deeply and made a conclusive decision in her mind. "For now, she will just obey Jason and figure out a way to come back home later. It's best if she tells her mother she is going to be away for a couple of d
With these thoughts in her mind, Julia's tears flowed uncontrollably down her cheeks. "Mummy," Julia cried and began to sob. Her sobs woke the servant who was fast asleep. "Ma'am, are you alright?" the servant asked in a calm voice, but was met with silence and the sobbing continued. The servant, Veronica, got up from the sofa, sat next to Julia on the bed, and rubbed Julia's back gently. Julia was lying on her side with both hands put together and her head resting on them. "Do you want to talk about it?" asked Veronica in a gentle voice, but Julia shook her head in a 'no' and sniffled as she controlled her tears. Veronica continued to rub her back gently. It did stop Julia from crying, but her eyes remained open as she stared straight ahead at nothing till the morning. "I will be back," Veronica said, and got up to leave the room, realizing it was morning. Veronica yawned and stretched as she walked down the hall towards the stairs leading to the living room. She had sa
It's been four days since Julia lost her mother, and she has neither slept nor eaten since. She looked very pale and was gradually losing her will to live. Veronica's words did get to her and Veronica's hug gave Julia some comfort. With her eyes closed, she finally drifted off to sleep. Veronica gently helped Julia lay down on the bed to sleep and covered her with a blanket to keep her warm. Veronica smiled, seeing Julia sleeping peacefully. She hoped this would be the beginning of a change and that tomorrow morning Julia might eat something. Veronica left the room, closing the door gently behind her. Jason was in the living room watching the news channel when Veronica walked past, heading for the kitchen. "How is she?" Jason asked, stopping her in her tracks. "She had finally fallen asleep, sir," Veronica replied. "Good" replied Jason, and he dismissed her, turning his gaze back to the TV. Veronica, after ensuring everything was in order in the kitchen, returned to the guest room
"Finally, I have people who are aligned with me," Mrs Haward thought and smiled as Mirenda could not see her face. Southwest Ranches City, Jason's apartment, Tilly was with Julia trying to get her to eat something, but she would not. Julia lay in bed, curled up like a shrimp, staring at nothing. Tilly looked at her very worried. Her friend looked very pale and, at this rate, Tilly knew Julia would fall sick and might probably not have the will to recover. Tilly placed the bowl of soup she was holding in her hand on the table and pulled Julia out of bed, making her stand on her feet. She held both of Julia's shoulders and shook her, making Julia stare at her face. "Hey, I miss her, she was my mum too," Tilly said sternly. "But do you think mummy is happy with what you are doing to yourself right now?" she scolded. "You will seriously accept defeat and let the people who caused you this pain walk free?" Tilly questioned Julia and, without waiting for an answer continued. "Beca
At the station, Mr Wellington, Dr Andesh, Henry, Mirenda and Jason decided to leave. The General walked them to the exit before returning to his office."Wait, does it mean you faked your health condition?" Jason asked still surprised by how Mr Wellington was walking around like nothing happened."Well, Dr Andesh here was able to identify the chemical and prepared an antidote with the help of a friend," Mr Wellington said."Jane did drugged me and seeing this needle mark, I knew she injected me with the chemical. It was not going to kill me, but I will be lying in bed like I am in a coma," he explained."How did she come by such chemicals?" Jason asked as they walked towards their cars flanked by some bodyguards."Jane has a basic knowledge of pharmaceuticals, but her friend Maria has more than basic knowledge in that field," Mr Wellington explained."Does this scene remind you of anything?" Mirenda asked Jason as they stood by their parked cars."Yeah, when we came to get you out of
At the hospital, James pleaded with the officers to allow him to see how his baby was doing. Seeing the honest look in his eyes, they agreed, but one officer went with him. James went to the unit where Lily was kept under close monitoring but she was not there. He started panicking as he scanned the whole room frantically. "No, she was here last night. Let me ask the doctor. Maybe they moved her to the nursery," James said and the officer stared at him wondering if this was just a trick to get away, but before he could say anything to James who looked very worried a doctor walked to the scene."Doctor, how is Lily?" James asked looking very anxious, and the officer stood there looking on."Mr Haward, I am sorry. It appeared the baby was given an overdose. We did our best, but we lost her," he announced and James dropped to the floor on his knees.The room suddenly felt heavy for him and his heart broke into many pieces. The first day he set his eyes on the child who looked so much li
"No, that is impossible. I checked all the accounts before I changed the ownership with the letter your husband signed," Maria said. ”It was from one of the accounts I paid the six partners from Haward’s International to council their contract and sign a new one with the Wellington company. I will be sending the prepared partnership contract to them today,” she added."Well, see for yourself," Jane said turning her laptop to face Maria.Maria flipped through the accounts displayed on the laptop and they were all empty. She picked up the phone and after looking through a file she dialled the finance department extension."Come to my office now," Maria yelled on the call."Ma'am, please where is your office?" came the finance manager's voice."Don't ask me stupid questions. Come to the CEO's office," Maria yelled."Forgive me ma'am, but which of the CEO's office, Mr Wellington’s or Mr Jason’s?" he asked and Maria was livid."Are you mocking me?" Maria questioned."No, ma'am. I just want
"And ma'am, a strange man came here a couple of nights ago. He gave me his name as Mark Smith. He said he was here to help Ma'am Fiona get her TV channel," he added and Mirenda's eyes widened."James," Mirenda whispered. "Fiona is in trouble. James got her. I knew it," she said."No, James doesn't have Fiona. James came for Ms Julia but we got her back. I was there with Mr Haward," Henry said."But you heard what he said," Mirenda said.Henry pulled out his phone and dialled Jason's number. He waited for the call to connect while Mirenda started looking around for anything that would give them a clue about where to find Fiona. She hoped Fiona left clues for them to follow as she searched the environment. She headed for the apartment."Hello, Mr Haward. We have a situation. Ms Fiona is missing and it is possible James may have come for her," Henry said."I am with the police now. I will alert them," Jason said and the call ended.Henry turned around and Mirenda was nowhere to be found.
Jason and Julia were attended to at the hospital. Jason had his wound leg bandaged. Julia was given a laxative to pass the ring out of her system. Jason jumped on a call the moment the nurse was done with him. Julia was in the lavatory."Yes, you couldn't find him because he changed his face. He looked different now. Same voice, same mannerism but a different face," Jason said on the call."Well, my men lost the car, but we have sent our security agents to all the airports. We are strictly checking all flights booked within the last forty-eight hours," the general informed Jason."That is good," Jason acknowledged."Is it possible to get a perfect description of his current face to share with our men?" the general asked."Yes, have someone come over to the hospital," Jason said and the call ended.Jason sent the location of the hospital to the general and dialled Peter's number next. Henry had left to pick up Mirenda."Hello Peter, what is the current update?" Jason asked."After the
Jason dropped his gun to the floor and put up his hand in surrender. James smiled and tried to stand still with his gun aimed at Julia. He knew that was his only way of keeping Jason from attacking him. He saw just now how skilful Jason had become since he last saw him. Jason was already skilful in combat and realized he also had a perfect aim. He gunned down four men delivering a bullet into each person's skull."Now listen carefully. Kick that gun to me," James instructed and Jason did just that.James stopped the gun with his feet and quickly picked it up."Now, you are going to take a step back and keep going until I say stop," James instructed. "Keep your hands where I can see them," he added and Jason obeyed walking backwards but he kept his gaze on Julia."Good, you are doing fine," James said, briefly looking at his wounded shoulder.With the gun Jason had pushed to him, he shot the legs of the chair at the joint and broke it wounding Julia in the process. It was easy to kick
Outside, Jason's car was parked at the shoulder of the road. With him was just two guards. He had all the guards watching the house to ensure no one attacked his son"That road to the location you mentioned looks like a dead end," Henry pointed out."It is a dead end," Jason said."How do you figure?" Henry asked."The road ends in front of a warehouse. When my stepfather was alive, he worked closely with the man who owned this warehouse. I am not entirely sure what happened to that man. We woke up one day and he was nowhere to be found. Dead or alive no one knows. He sold the company overnight. My stepfather visited the place saying he had a home inside this warehouse. He thought he could find him here but the place was empty. We checked all the rooms except for one room that was locked with a huge padlock from the outside. It was the first and last time I visited this place," Jason narrated."Wow, you rich and powerful people have hidden stories," Henry commented."Hmm," Jason said.
"James cut this shit and let Julia go. I am the one you want. So come and let's talk," Jason said coldly."No dear brother. I think I have what I want right here," James said with a sinister smile as he stared at Julia who still looked unfazed."James," Jason called out to him.Julia kept her eyes locked on James and slowly moved her hand to her back. She removed her ring from her finger behind her back as she remained rooted to her spot with her back facing the elevator."I know what you are doing. Just stalking me so the police will get here. I will not give you that luxury," James said and ended the call.He threw the phone into the wall smashing it into pieces. In that brief moment, Julia put her wedding ring into her mouth and swallowed it. James shifted his gaze back to Julia and frowned seeing her squeeze her face."I will not make the mistakes I made in the past," James said. "Strip," he ordered with a serious expression."What?" Julia said."You heard me," James replied."I w
"What? What are you talking about? Who is Jason's mother?" Dr Andesh asked and pressed a button under her desk."It's an interesting story, but unfortunately, your people will start coming in and I don't want too many dead people in this room," Jane said and set the gun."If you are going to kill me, at least tell me who Jason's mother is?" Dr Andesh said and Jane smiled."The nanny who took him to the park and he got kidnapped," Jane replied with a smile, and Dr Andesh raised an eyebrow wondering how but before she could ask another question hoping to buy time for someone to come in, Jane pulled the trigger.Dr Andesh fell to the ground. Jane walked over to look at her lying on the floor behind the desk."You are Mr Wellington's right-hand person. You will make trouble with everything you know if I don't clear you," Jane said and pulled the trigger putting a bullet into Dr Andesh's chest.She walked out of the room and closed the door. She heard footsteps and she exited the place goi