The Marriage Certificate
Mrs Haward did not know her husband had found out what she had done. In her mind, she believes Jason may have found out about his father's will. She was just looking for something to confirm her suspicions but little did she know that her husband had arranged Jason's marriage.
"Mum, look what I found?" Mirenda called out to Mrs Haward, snapping her out of her thought.
"What did you find?" Mrs Haward asked.
"It looks like Dad knew about Jason and his wife's marriage," Mirenda announced, showing her the marriage certificate which she had picked from Jason's room.
"If my husband witnessed this marriage, it could only mean one thing. He knew," Mrs Haward thought, her colour draining off her.
"Mum! Mum!" Mirenda called and shook Mrs Haward, realizing she was off.
"If Dad knew about Jason's marriage it could only mean it was an important decision he had to make," Mirenda said after careful thought, knowing her father very well. "Mum, what are you not telling me?" she asked, looking at her mother.
"You seriously think your father will get Jason to marry, so he will give the family fortune to him without first discussing it with me?" Mrs Haward asked.
"You tell me, I don't know?" replied Mirenda. "What I know is my father doesn't just make decisions. It is always to achieve something or prevent something. Mum, what happened? During Dad's last day, you two were not like before?" she pointed out her observation.
"Sweety, your father was not well during his last days. Jason had always had him wrapped around his fingers. I am sure he didn't know what he was doing. Jason did this," Mrs Haward said looking at Mirenda's face. "Have you forgotten the things he did as a child making you all look bad?" she reminded Mirenda.
"He fooled us all. Now more than ever we need to get him out of our lives. We need to expose him to the world. To keep him down and not come after us. I need to change the story about his adoption," Mrs Hawward said, and Mirenda frowned.
"My girl, one day you will understand. Put it back where you took it and make sure everything is in place as it was before," Mrs Haward said, and Mirenda returned the marriage certificate to where she had found it, and after checking the room one more time, she left.
At the office, Jason was back and Grandpa was resting in the resting area while he worked.
"Finally, you are back," came James's voice.
"What do you want?" asked Jason as he continued to look through some documents.
James sat on the chair in front of Jason's desk. "It's about the partnership conversation I raised the last time," he said.
"Brother, for companies to go into a partnership, it requires them to have something that could benefit both of them. So, for example," Jason said and relaxed in his seat.
"An insurance company will approach any company and make them an offer with their product. Affordable insurance packages for your staff. If the company agrees, they buy the insurance for their staff, which will become an extra benefit for their staff. Or it can be a loyalty reward for customers. This can help with customer acquisition and retention," Jason explained, but James understood nothing even though he was paying attention.
"So tell me, what benefits will be enjoyed by both companies in this partnership you speak of?" Jason asked James and he went silent.
"I will think about it and get back to you," James said, and got up from the seat and headed for the door.
James had just used that as an excuse to enter Jason's office. The main reason he had come was to see Julia. He had not been able to get her out of his mind since he saw her standing on the balcony. He thought Julia was going to be in Jason's office, but alas, Jason was being Jason.
"Where did he send this girl?" James thought, standing in front of the elevator on the second floor.
James didn't want to ask, because he knew Jason would find out about it. He entered the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. Just when the elevator door closed, Julia walked past. He saw her in a glimpse, and he started pressing the elevator button, but it was already moving.
"Shit!" James cursed.
When he left the company, he went straight to the club to have some fun, saving his plans for another day. The day went by and Jason, together with Grandpa and Julia, returned to the apartment.
In the dining area, Mrs Haward stared at Julia as she sat down next to Jason at the dinner table. Grandpa sat opposite Mirenda and Mrs Haward sat down next to Mirenda. James was still not home.
"So Julia, right," Mrs Haward said and Julia lifted her eyes and replied.
"Yes please?" Julia replied.
"So tell me, what made you marry my son? Was it for his money? Are you a gold digger?" Mrs Haward asked.
"No," Julia replied after looking at Jason briefly, who was fuming with anger but yet remained silent.
"Okay, tell me then why? You can see you don't fit here. Look around you," Mrs Haward said, and Jason looked at Mrs Haward.
"Matilda, leave the girl alone," came Grandpa's voice.
"I am sorry," Julia apologized, got up and left the dining area.
Jason's eyes followed Julia till she was out of sight.
"Mum, I told you to leave her alone," Jason said. "This is my house and I decide who can and can't live here and sit at the dining table irrespective of standards," he said sternly.
"Ha, you couldn't defend her while she was here. Now that she is not here, you suddenly decide it's time to defend her?" Mrs Haward asked, and Jason went silent.
"Jason, tell me the truth, what's up with you and that girl?" Mrs Haward questioned. "Where did you pick her from, really?" she asked.
Jason also got up and left the dining area. He was so angry he didn't even understand why. He had never felt like this before. What was happening to him was the thoughts running through his mind.
"Why was he suddenly defending Julia and why can't he do it without emotions like before," Jason thought as he climbed the stairs slowly.
The argument on the table did not stop Grandpa from enjoying his meal. Mirenda sat minding her own business as Mrs Haward continued to enjoy her food.
Jason, upon reaching the top of the staircase, walked towards Julia's room. He reached out to knock on the door but held his hand back. Standing close, he could hear Julia sobbing. He left the place to his room. He sat on the bed in deep thought. He needed to understand what was happening to him. Mirenda, after she was done with her food, left the dining area and went to knock on Julia's door.
"It's me, Mirenda, can I come in?" Mirenda said.
Julia wiped her tears and opened the door for her.
"I am sorry about what happened at the dining table. Please forgive my mum," Mirenda said, and Julia nodded.
"She has not been the same since our dad died," Mirenda said, and Julia nodded, remembering her mother.
Mirenda hugged Julia and tapped her back as Julia held back her tears. Mirenda left the room after that and Julia closed the door and climbed back into bed.
As soon as Mirenda entered her room, she quickly entered the shower, taking the clothes she was wearing off and throwing them into the bin.
"Mum, how can you assign me to do this," Mirenda murmured in the shower. "She is gross," she added.