Julia's True Identity
Mrs Haward was smiling ear to ear as she went through one headline after the other, moving from one media platform to another.
"This is what you can do with money and power," Mrs Haward said laughing. "Mirenda, my dear, you see what power can do? When you have power, no one can ride over you and when you have money, you get all the respect you want," she added.
"I see. So you mean with money and power you bully others and get away with murder," Mirenda commented.
"Girl, you better watch your mouth. Who murdered who? Silly girl," Mrs Haward yelled at Mirenda angrily.
"James murdered Fiona and you are covering it up," Mirenda replied, unfazed.
"Mirenda, how dare you," Mrs Haward said, looking at her furiously.
"Mum, you always defend him even when you know he is wrong. I pity my brother when I see him. He is what he is now because you raised him like that. I don't care what Jason did, but he is ten times a better person than James, and I would prefer one Jason in our family than a million James," Mirenda said, and there was a resounding slap as she got struck by Mrs Haward, causing the driver to look at them briefly through the rear-view mirror.
"You can slap me a thousand times mum, the truth will always be the truth. Today is your victory, but remember James will be your doom," Mirenda said with a lot of emotion and turned to stare out the window with her mum staring at the back of her head, not knowing what to do.
Mrs Haward was angry, but her daughter's words rang in her mind and she knew Mirenda was right. However, she couldn't bring herself to be hard on James. He was the product of her passionate moment with the only man she truly loved. James looked so much like his father. He adores him. The rest of the journey back to the apartment was in complete silence. Mirenda left the apartment to Henry's once the car drove into the garage without even going upstairs.
On the other hand, Fiona was forced to flee from the city after the press conference. Her face was now going around social media with all sorts of accusations. James became the victim and she the perpetrator. She left Florida unaware of how life was going to change owing to the event.
In Croydon, things seemed to be going very well for Jason. Harry had tried setting traps that would make Jason break the company rules, but none worked. He had used women to get to him several times and it had all failed. He was unaware of Jason's distance from women and hence thought he only needed to find the perfect woman to turn Jason's head around.
The Borison brothers' housing project had already started and the designs which were updated by Julia were so much loved by the investors.
With Jason as the deputy CEO and now in charge of handling the negotiation of partnerships and new deals, the company was now closing more project deals and their revenue generation was looking good. Jason, who was barely six months old at the company, has been the reason the company is experiencing good days. Harry's hatred grows every day for Jason anytime his name is mentioned following an accomplishment.
"I need to get this guy out of this company. This is my glory he is taking away from me," Harry thought as he sat behind his desk extremely furious.
While Groupo Estate Agency was flourishing, the same cannot be said about Jason's relationship with Julia back at home. He was still the same distant person who would not let her into his world. Julia had become a tool for his comfort. He cuddles her to sleep and will occasionally kiss her, but it ends there. She can count the number of times they have been intimate since they got married eleven months ago. Jason is like a robot carrying out instructions.
Julia recalled the day he gave her her freedom. He asked her to go and live her life, but she chose to stay because she was in love with him and couldn't leave. If he had told her to leave a couple of months earlier that day, she would have gladly left. She had stayed because she loved him, and now she is suffering because of this love. Julia stood in the shower with the water pouring down her body washing away her tears.
Jason, on the other hand, was working very hard to bring himself back to his formal level. Julia was different and he liked seeing her. This is why he was happy when Julia chose to stay. To date, he still doesn't know how to describe his feelings for Julia. He likes holding her, he likes the taste of her lips, and he likes the feel of her body, but he doesn't know how to bring himself to love her.
Julia was getting used to his behaviour as the new normal even though she wished Jason would show her a bit of affection. She had fallen in love with him, but it looked like he had not fallen in love with her yet.
It was Saturday morning; Julia was in the kitchen cleaning after breakfast and Peter was keeping her company as they chatted. Peter was sharing with her something that had happened with a passenger he had picked up.
"So, I picked up this passenger from the mall, and he was heading towards home. Fifteen minutes into the drive, the passenger remembered he had forgotten to buy milk," narrated Peter.
"No way," expressed Julia.
"I drove him back to the mall; he bought his milk and I asked if there was any other thing he wanted to buy since we were back at the mall. He told me no," Peter continued.
"After driving 20 minutes away from the mall, he remembered he had forgotten to buy diapers," Peter said, and Julia laughed.
"You are laughing, it was very frustrating. I almost slammed my head on the steering wheel," Peter narrated.
"I drove back to the mall with him, and he got down again and went inside the mall. While I was sitting in the car, angry. I started making my list of household items," Peter narrated, and Julia couldn't hold in her laughter.
"Yeah, I had to," Peter said, equally smiling.
"Julia, can I see you for a minute?" came Jason's voice, interrupting their conversation.
"Yes please," replied Julia, wiping her wet hands with the napkin.
Peter decided to continue washing and cleaning the kitchen as Julia followed Jason out of the kitchen.
They both entered the bedroom, and he closed the door behind them as he was the last to enter. Julia was wondering why Jason had called her to the bedroom but, before her mind could wander any further, her gaze fell on the marriage certificate on the table.
"Have a seat," Jason said, pointing to the three-in-one sofa a couple of distances away from the study desk.
Julia sat down, and he also sat down on the sofa after picking up the marriage certificate. Julia alternates between his hand and the content of the marriage certificate.
"Tell me what you remember the night before you woke up in my room," Jason asked, trying to find out if Julia was already aware of who she was.
Earlier, Jason had received the full report from the person he tasked to investigate Julia's background. Jason now knows Julia is Johan Haward's missing daughter. Finding that out, he wants to help her go back to her family, but then she will have to leave with James and Mirenda. He thought of how they would receive and treat her in his absence. He wanted to know what Julia knew before he decided on anything.
Julia searched her memory, recalling when she left home to meet her friends for a night out.
"I left home to meet up with my friends for a night out. We went to a popular club nearby. Tilly left as soon as we arrived, but I stayed," Julia narrated as she recalled the event of the day. "I had a few drinks and I went to the lady's room. Someone also entered the lady's room a few minutes after I had been there. Next, I woke up with a headache in your room," she said, lowering her head.
"What else do you remember? Did you see anything suspicious, someone following you or anything?" Jason inquired.
Julia searched her memory for an answer, trying to recall what she could from the night at the club.
"No, aside from the person who walked into the lady's room, nothing. I also didn't take a look at anything. I was just there having fun," Julia replied.
"Alright," Jason responded, reading the honesty in her eyes.
He knew she didn't know anything.
"Are you trying to find out how we ended up together?" Julia inquired.
"Yes," Jason replied, and Julia lowered her head.
"What is going to happen to us when you find out?" Julia asked, wondering why Jason wanted to do that now.
She loved him, and she didn't want to leave him. Her eyes became waterer as she thought about it.
"Was he looking for a reason to leave her?" she thought, fidgeting with her hand as she held back her tears.
"Not sure yet. I need to understand why someone chose the two of us to get married," Jason replied.
"Will we get a divorce when you find out?" Julia went straight to the point, her head still lowered and her voice trembling, which Jason noticed.
Jason was not the usual kind of caring, loving man you will find due to his childhood incident, but he was unique in his way, something Julia didn't know yet.
Jason was very distant from the beginning, but he was slowly turning around. Julia knows one thing; Jason doesn't go to bed without hugging her. In as much as he executes such loving acts like they were tasks, she still finds herself in love with him.
Jason frowns his brow and does not reply to her question but rather stares at her. He had not given it a thought and hence did not know what he was going to do when he found out the answer he was searching for.
"If I remember anything else I will let you know," Julia added and got up. "I am going with Peter to do some grocery shopping. Do you need anything?" she asked with her head lowered.
"No, thank you," Jason replied and grabbed Julia's hand before she could exit the room.
He got up from the sofa and stared at her, lifting her head with the tip of his finger to look at her face. He saw the tears in her eyes and it broke his heart. He didn't know why, but he lowered his head and kissed her, making Julia respond with tears. It further broke his heart and he hugged her tightly even though he didn't know what to say to her.