This Phase is Done, Let's Move to the Next
The door to the office was pushed open, and Jane exited. From her face and mood, Mr Wellington could tell, she had cried a lot. Jason was next to exit the office. His left hand was inside his pocket and his face carried no expression. It was difficult to tell how the conversation went reading both of their reactions.
"I will be heading home," Jason said to Mr Wellington, who nodded in response.
"I will walk you to the door," Mr Wellington offered and Jason nodded.
The two walked to the door leaving Jane in the living room. Before Jason exited the apartment, Mr Wellington decided to apologize to him.
"I was wrong to have kept the news of your mother being alive from you. Forgive me. I was hurt by what she did, and I believe I acted selfishly with my decision," Mr Wellington apologised.
"I don't judge, Dad. I believe you had a good reason why you kept it from me. I was not happy with the prank calls she was giving my wife. I must say, I was shocked to find out she was alive and I never knew," Jason expressed.
"Prank calls?" Mr Wellington repeated, his brow joining at his forehead.
"Yes, I believe she just wanted me to know she was alive," Jason said. "I will be on my way now," he added and walked towards his parked car.
"Jane, what are you up to?" Mr Wellington thought as he returned to the living room after Jason's car drove out of his compound.
"Can I stay here for just tonight? I am staying with my friend and it's a long journey back to her place," Jane said.
"You leave first thing tomorrow morning," Mr Wellington said and called one of the servants to prepare the guest room for Jane.
At Jason's apartment, Julia was in the living room watching the news channel, while holding the baby in her arms. Mary was sitting on the sofa adjacent to her. Jason strode in and greeted them.
"Mary, take the baby. Julia, please come with me," Jason said after greeting them.
Mary took the baby and Julia followed Jason upstairs to their bedroom. He closed the door behind him gently and pulled Julia in for a hug. She got momentarily confused. In the morning, Jason was very angry and now he feels all broken.
"I am sorry," Jason said and kissed the top of her head.
"It's okay," Julia said softly.
"The strange caller happens to be my mother," Jason informed her pulling away from the hug and Julia frowned.
"Your mother is alive?" Julia repeated with widened eyes.
"Yes," Jason confirmed and walked her to the couch.
"So, where has she been all this while?" Julia asked as they both sat down.
"Benjamin Taga held her hostage in the same basement where he kept you, except in a different room," Jason said.
"Wow, for all these years?" Julia expressed. "In the dark place. Is she alright?" she asked.
"If you are concerned about her health, she is fine. Too fine, for someone held hostage in a dungeon with little to no light for twenty-four years," Jason said, with the last statement being a thought running through his mind. "Most importantly, I just want to apologize for cutting short our honeymoon. I will make it up to you," he promised and Julia smiled forgetting the last sentence of Jason's statement.
At Mr Wellington's apartment, Jane took a shower and put on her bathrobe. She exited the guest room and headed for Mr Wellington's room. She knocked gently and tried opening the door when she heard nothing.
"What do you want Jane?" came Mr Wellington's voice, accompanied by his angry face as soon as the door opened.
"I am sorry. I took a shower, and I don't have anything to wear," she said rubbing the exposed skin around her neck region.
"Jane, I know what you are trying to do. I am sixty-one now. I have lived thirty-seven years of my life without a woman, mourning your death. It won't work," Mr Wellington said sternly.
"Get your mind out of the gutter. I sat in a dungeon for twenty-four years of my life, praying for you and my son. I didn't come here for that," Jane retorted. "I was just hoping you could lend me some of your sleepwear for the night. I would have come prepared, but I didn't anticipate it would take this long," Jane explained sounding honest.
"Fine," Mr Wellington said and moved away from the door.
Jane seized the opportunity and walked in. As Mr Wellington entered the closet to get Jane some sleepwear, Jane started going through his things inside the bedroom. She opened the drawer to the study desk as she stole glances at the closet door. She didn't have to search for long when her eyes fell on what she was looking for. She walked to the bed and took a picture of the medication on the table. She hurried back to the door and stood there staring at the open closet. Mr Wellington finally came out and gave her a new sleepwear.
"Thank you," Jane appreciated.
"You can keep it," Mr Wellington said as she exited the room.
Back in the guest room, Jane put on the pyjamas which looked big on her. She lay down on the bed and sent the picture of the medication she had taken to Maria. She received a message within five minutes.
Sure looks like your husband has blood pressure issues. That is good. We can use that to our advantage. This phase is done, let's move to the next.
Jane read the message and deleted it before going to bed. She knew what the next stage was, get James and Mrs Haward out of prison. James and Mrs Haward, plotted against Jason multiple times and failed. They needed the lessons from their failed plots to plan a better one.
At Henry's apartment, Mirenda was still feeling Fiona was hiding something.
"Sweetheart, just let her be," Henry tried to talk her out of it.
"I want to, but my instinct won't let me. Today, I saw her at work, and she looked like she had just had a baby?" Mirenda said making Henry laugh.
"A pregnant woman will show some signs. A woman in labour will show some signs, but there are no obvious signs aside from physical examination that will tell you a particular woman had just had a baby," Henry said, a smile playing on his lips.
"I understand. I took a good look at Fiona when she reported James had raped her. I was the one with her at the hospital when she claimed to be pregnant. Well, we got to know she took some medication to fake that, but she looked different today. Her chest looked a little bigger, and when she walked into my office, I could smell milk on her. She was masking the scent with a strong perfume, but my nose picked it the smell of the milk on her. She also looked like she had lost weight a little," Mirenda pointed out.
"Okay, all the other signs you mentioned may not link to having a child but the smell of milk could be," Henry said, but Mirenda cut in.
"I thought she would rejoice when James was put behind bars, but she had been moody since. I see all her joy, smiles, etc, to be faked," Mirenda complained.
"Look, I know it may seem like I am probably overthinking, but Jason and Julia had been through a lot in the hands of my mother and James, I don't want Fiona starting something," she added and stared at Henry.
"Aww, that is cute. You looking out for Jason like that. Come here," Henry said and pulled her in for a kiss but tickled her instead making Mirenda giggle
Henry wanted her to relax as he felt Mirenda was stressing herself up, and it was only a matter of time before she starts reading meaning into Fiona's actions. He just wanted her to slow down on her suspicion of her.
"It's late. You have work tomorrow. I will get someone to monitor Fiona just so we are sure we are not getting any future surprises," Henry assured, and Mirenda nodded nestling into his arms.