It was never yours
"What is happening here?" Mrs Haward asked placing her hand on the wall for support as she stared at the scene before her in shock. "What are you two doing here? Ain't you supposed to be..." she began but Jason completed her statement for her.
"In prison? Yeah sure. Let's save that conversation for later. Let's talk about why I am here," said Jason.
"You never cease to amaze me. I wonder how you keep getting away anytime I think I have you. This won't last for long," Mrs Haward said.
Earlier, she had fallen into a state of total shock as she was not expecting to see Jason and worse he was in her new office.
"Whatever," retorted Jason. "I need my office," he said and Mrs Haward laughed hysterically.
"You want what?" Mrs Haward asked still laughing as she spun the chair in front of the desk around and sat down.
"Jason, Jason, what makes you think you still own this office," Mrs Haward questioned with her leg crossed but Jason kept on a cold expressionless face.
Peter was sitting down on the sofa watching as Jason engaged Mrs Haward.
"Mrs Haward, I am politely asking you to leave," Jason said with no expression making Mrs Haward frown.
"Look Jason, if you are done with your jokes, you can grab your boy toy and leave my office. Yes, you heard me, my office, signed over to me by Mr Wellington," Mrs Haward said and Jason stared at her with an eyebrow raised.
"Huh! I take it you didn't know Mr Wellington signed the place over to me as the new CEO," Mrs Haward said. "Oh, yeah right," she slapped her forehead.
"How will you know, you were on your way to prison by then. I don't know how you got out but whatever scheme you used to set yourself free I am going to make sure you go back and not return,"
Mrs Haward said and grabbed her phone.
She dialled a number and brought the phone to her ears. Jason stood waiting for her.
"Hello," Mrs Haward said but frowned hearing the strange voice. "Who is this?" she asked with a frown.
"That doesn't matter but just so you know, the owner of this phone you have just called has been relieved of his position and oh, your son, James Haward is behind bars," reported the person.
"What!" Mrs Haward exclaimed but the person ended the call.
"Oh, we forgot to tell you about the new trending news," Peter said laughing inwardly.
"You are doing all this to put me down. You put my son behind bars again, this time for what?" Mrs Haward asked and Jason looked at Peter briefly over his shoulders.
Peter knowing what Jason meant quickly got up and gave Mrs Haward a brown envelope. She looked at him for a while before collecting it and looking inside the envelope content curiously.
"What is this?" Mrs Haward asked holding the envelope in hand.
"Why don't you find out for yourself," said Jason.
Mrs Haward brought out the content of the brown envelope and her eyes widened as her hair stood on its roots.
"My son, my beloved, my everything, you dare lay these allegations against him? Fraud, rape, kidnapping, fund embezzlement, money laundering?" Mrs Haward read out the accusations levelled against James.
"Which funds, what money, what fraud, rape? really? Jason," she questioned.
"Take a look at the documents you are holding very well. It's not a printout from a print house," Jason pointed out and Mrs Haward took the brown envelope off completely.
She saw the police seal on the documents and she looked at the dates and realized it dated back to the time she was busy trying to take Paradise Hotel. Her skin paled immediately. She had taken her eyes off her son and the company to take Paradise Hotel from Jason. She moved all her resources, there was no one watching her back. She lowered her head and her gaze fell to the ground. Jason watched her skin colour change and her confidence level drop. Peter turned on the TV drawing her attention to the news.
"We just received this shocking news about the Hawards. It appears Jason Haward was wrongfully accused as his brother James Haward was the real culprit in the committed crimes. Speaking to the police, evidence gathered against him clearly states the multiple crimes he had committed. Money laundering, fraud, embezzling funds from the Hawards company and a piece of new evidence levelled against him is rape and abuse of women. It is very sad what some of his victims are saying," came the voice of the reporter
Peter changed to another channel.
"Jason Haward was wrongfully accused as the crimes levelled against him were committed by his brother James Haward. What is our country coming to if officers of the law are being bought with money to commit crimes instead of protecting the country? News has it that James did not work alone, but we are happy the police from the head office stood for what is right. We have four other officers arrested in connection to James and one suspected drug dealer by the name of Mori," the reporter reported.
"Mori," Mrs Haward whispered her name.
Peter changed the channel again and the news was the same. There was no mention of Mrs Haward's name as all the crimes were indeed committed by James. She only shielded him helping him to always get away with it. She pushed most of James's crimes to Jason making it look as if Jason committed them.
"It's a good thing you never taught me anything as a child and abandoned me if not I would have turned out like your beloved son James and we would both be behind bars," Jason said coldly. "You have overstayed your welcome," he said and Mrs Haward frowned and got up from her seat.
She opened the drawer and threw the documents that made her the owner of the company to Jason's face. Jason did not bother to pick up the documents but rather looked at Peter over his shoulders again and he handed her another envelope.
"What is this?" Mrs Haward asked as she refused to take it from Peter.
Peter opened the envelope and brought out the documents inside and held it up in her face. Her eyes widened to the size of two big moons and the colour drained out of her.
"What is this, this Hotel is mine. Mr Wellington gave it to me," Mrs Haward said and fetched her phone to call Mr Wellington.
She knew with Mr Wellington she could make everything go away but the memory would remain with people. The news going around means James can not be rescued a hundred per cent as he will have to go to prison for being ignorant. This way people will not see it as the system being manipulated. She decided it was time to call Mr Wellington to save what she could.
"It was never yours," came a familiar voice making her turn to look behind her.
Standing in the doorway were Mr Wellington and two officers.
"Thank God you are here I was about to call you," Mrs Haward said and Peter couldn't hold back his laughter.
Peter quickly covered his mouth with both hands. His outburst of laughter made Mrs Haward turn to look at him.
"I didn't know you were this blind. Jason is my son and you think I will help you destroy my son?" Mr Wellington said and played a voice recording of her request for her to freeze Jason's assets.
Mr Wellington played another video where Mrs Haward requested his help to reduce Jason to nothing. Her breathing immediately became unstable. She staggered backwards and almost fell but she placed her hand on the wall for support.
How stupid can she be believing his words rather than looking at the evidence before her? Mrs Haward was blinded so much by her evil plans that seeing Mr Wellington; having a partnership with him was the only thing on her mind. She was bent on using his position to destroy Jason.
"A mother losing a dear son is enough torture so I will not send you to prison even though we have evidence against you. Now get out," Mr Wellington said sternly.
She grabbed her bag and left the office. Upon reaching the ground floor the employees were all gathered at the reception. She bowed her head in shame as she read the mocking smiles on their faces. As if that wasn't enough, upon reaching outside reporters were waiting for her.
"Mrs Haward earlier you had confirmed to Jason being a criminal, did you know it was James. Haward who was rather the criminal?" asked one reporter.
"As a mother who raised his son with all the love and attention, you mentioned earlier, does it mean you never realized what James was doing all along?" asked another reporter.
Mrs Haward struggled but forced her way out of the reporters and sat in her car. The guard was nowhere to be found. She found the keys and started the engine driving towards the apartment. Upon arrival, she was refused entrance into the compound as the man at the gate refused to open the gate.
"Open the gate you idiot, what is wrong with you?" Mrs Haward yelled irritated and not ready to tolerate his nonsense.
The small gate opened and she was surprised to see Mirenda.
"Mum, you are no longer welcome here. This place was never yours and we have claimed it for the true owner. Here, this is for you," Mirenda said and threw an envelope onto the car bonnet.
"Now you have up to 6 p.m. to leave Ms Julia's property else I will have the police arrest you for trespassing," Mirenda said and folded her arms across her chest.
"Mirenda, have you forgotten you are my daughter?" Mrs Haward questioned.
"What, you? You can never be my mother. I am still your bad omen, can I be your daughter?" Mirenda said and turned to the security man. "If she is still here past 6 p.m., call the police," she instructed and went back inside.
As Mrs Haward was sitting in the car wondering how all of this happened, two guards walked up to her opened the car door and dragged her out. One sat behind the wheel and drove the car inside throwing her bag out the window as the other guards held her preventing her from entering the compound. She saw two more guards holding three suitcases which they placed in front of her one after the other and left her standing outside the gate. She called a taxi, put her bags in and asked the driver to go to the nearest hotel. Upon arrival, she tried to book a room for a couple of nights. She gave her card to make the payment but it was not successful
"Ma'am you don't have money to the tune you wish to pay," reported the receptionist.
Mrs Haward gave the receptionist another card and realized it had been cancelled. She called the bank.
"Ma'am you signed everything to Julia Haward," reported the customer service person after checking the system.
"What?" she exclaimed.