I nearly jumped out of my skin at her sudden declaration. “Sure!” I giggled. “You’re going to have to become really powerful so that you can protect not only yourself, but everyone you love, okay?”
“Yes, Mommy! I will!” Summer promised with all the passion and optimism in the world, as if she truly believed that she was going to transform into a superhero any moment now.
I just grinned at her, desperately wishing from the bottom of my heart that her wish would one day come true.
There was no mercy in this world. The only way you could protect everything you loved was by becoming stronger and stronger. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could protect my kids for, so I prayed every day that they would be able to defend themselves after I passed away eventually.
After sending Summer home for Lois to look after her, John and I left to meet Jared.
We sat in the most obvious seat in the café. Just as the waiter was serving us our ordered drinks, the glass doors slowly pushed open, and Jared walked in.
Our eyes met, and I finally saw for myself how much he had changed since I last saw him.
His face had gotten much rounder, and he was growing an unkempt beard. His eyebrows had also been purposefully dyed light grey, probably in an attempt to mask his identity. If he hadn’t headed towards us and sat down at our table without an ounce of hesitation, I would have never noticed the similarities between this man and the angular-faced, pretty boy that I used to know.
What quickly followed my feelings of shock was an overwhelming sense of disdain.
All Jared had lost after three years of being in jail was some of his physique and good looks, whereas Summer had nearly lost her life. Everyone else who had unknowingly gotten involved in his schemes and became sick due to chemical pollution had also had their lives ruined because of him.
God, you truly are unfair and unjust.
“It’s been a long time,” Jared broke the silence first. His voice was now low and gravelly, I spotted the vague hints of the cruel, cynical humor in his eyes.
I had been lied to and manipulated by him so many times before because of this exact innocent appearance.
“I wish it could’ve been longer,” I replied curtly.
He hung his head in shame, smiling wryly in self-deprecation.
How could he laugh so casually even after committing so many evil acts? I couldn’t believe that the past me had allowed him to interact with my daughter for such an extended period of time.
“I’m warning you. Don’t ever come near Summer again,” I growled out through gritted teeth. My fingernails dug into my palm as I clenched my fists at the memory of Summer’s pained cries that resurfaced in my mind.
My rationality was telling me that I had to get rid of Jared from our lives, no matter what his intentions were.
He leaned back against the seat of his chair, fixing me with a calm stare. “Don’t you think you’re being too ridiculous? I’m her father. Does it make sense for me to not be with her?”
“No, you’re not.” Rage flared up within me like a wildfire. “She is Anthony’s and my daughter. She has no relation to you.”
“Oh, really?” Jared chuckled. “We’ll see what the court has to say about that when I send both our DNA for a paternity test.”
My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach.
He had a point. After going undercover at Summer’s school for so long, it would have been extremely easy for him to get ahold of a strand of her hair or a piece of her fingernails. He knew that he would be exposed one day, so he’d made prior preparations in order to legally be able to get near her.
Knock, knock. John’s knuckles rapped on the tabletop to get Jared’s attention. “You better watch your mouth,” he threatened, his stare was aggressive. “This isn’t J City nor the prison. There’s no one to protect you here.”
John had never been a kind man, and he could look so intimidating that children would burst into tears at the sight of him if he wanted to. But Jared seemed unbothered, turning his head to meet John’s gaze head-on with a mocking grin. “I understand. You have endless connections at your disposal in K City, and you have the power to make anyone disappear off the face of the earth.”
Even after three years, his unnerving smile made my breath hitch in my throat and my eyebrows knit together in disgust.
The rough, hard days of being in prison had failed to teach him a lesson in humility. If anything, he had come out even more unscrupulous and evil than he’d been when he first went in.
John hadn’t expected his intimidation to not work on Jared, his face fell slightly and he became irritated. The two men just stared at each other while the tension around them grew thicker with every passing second.
Not wanting to waste any more time in Jared’s presence, I spoke up, “Cut to the chase and tell us what you really want.”
Only then did Jared turn to stare at me, silently pondering for a moment before saying, “I never wanted to be your enemy, Sienna, so don’t act so hostile towards me. All I want is to watch Summer grow up and correct my past mistakes.”
“You’re wrong. You became my enemy the moment you included Summer in your plot of revenge,” I instantly retorted. “You’ve gone mad. What right do you think you have to sacrifice so many people’s lives and happiness for the sake of one deceased person?”
He took a deep breath as his expression turned solemn. “I’ve already paid back everything that I owed those people while I was in prison. The Crest family is also doing their best to help compensate for anything that I’ve yet to make up for. Why is it your place to decide that I deserve the death penalty all because of that one mistake I made?”
“That’s bullsh*t!” John blurted out. “The death penalty is exactly what you deserve! While you were kicking back and relaxing in jail for three years, Summer was in the hospital struggling to stay alive!
And even if she’s been discharged from the hospital now, she’ll need to live on medication for the rest of her life! That damage is something that you’ll never be able to compensate for!”
John had verbalized exactly what I was feeling. Summer had suffered greatly as a result of Jared’s actions, both physically and mentally.
Jared looked slightly upset at that. “I didn’t know back then that Summer was my child,” he lamented, staring at John with a frown. “My heart hurts, too. All I want is one more chance with her. I promise that I’ll never reveal to her my real identity, and that I’ll never make her remember what happened all those years ago.”
There was a brief pause. He held his hands on top of the table as he hung his head, staring at the ground. “I’ve also been going to therapy and counseling sessions recently. I’m aware that Summer has slowly learned to trust me, and that no one is more suited to be her private doctor than me. I’m confident that I can change her back into the innocent, naive child that she once was, if only you’ll give me some more time with her…”
“No thanks,” I cut in. I didn’t want to listen to him go on. “Let me ask you. If Summer isn’t your child, would you still be acting this way?”
I recalled very clearly how many children from families living nearby the chemical plant had fallen sick or had been affected in some way by the pollution from the plant. Even if Jared truly regretted his actions, Summer was not the only child that he had to compensate.
Jared looked surprised that I would ask such a thing, his eyes widened for a brief second. “There are no ‘if’ or ‘but’s about any of this. The fact that Summer is the flesh and blood of Macy and I is the truth. I can’t just give up on her. I know that you’ve started arranging for her to change school. If you’re willing to go to such measures to prevent me from seeing Summer, then I’ll have no choice but to take our paternity test results to show the court.”
There it is.
He’d finally shown his true colours after being all polite and nice, just like every other manipulative person I’d met before.
“Do you want to sue us? Go ahead and try!” John jumped to his feet, about to swing a fist in Jared’s direction before I frantically tugged on his shirt under the table, signaling for him to calm down.
Jared was completely undisturbed, not even flinching as he went on, “By the way, I forgot to congratulate you on giving birth to twins, Sienna. I’m really happy for you, and I’m sure Macy feels the same way up in heaven. But you must be busy with taking care of two babies, especially after having gone through a divorce recently. Summer is at the age where she loves running around and causing mischief, so it’ll be a challenge for you to look after her as well. Why don’t you let me take care of her and lift a burden off of everyone’s shoulders?”
“What rubbish! The Stanhope family has countless relatives available and willing to help take care of a child!” John rolled his eyes, breaking free from my grasp and standing up to tower over Jared. “Even if Letty and the maids are unable to look after Summer, she still has me as her uncle! And as long as I’m around, you will never be able to touch her!”
His sudden outburst of emotion had caused him to raise his voice, drawing the attention of the other customers in the quiet café.
If John went on like this, he might actually start a physical fight.
I glanced at Jared, who still appeared calm and composed. He hadn’t taken John’s threats seriously, or maybe this entire situation was completely within his control.
The rest of the café’s patrons were made up of small groups of two or three people who would occasionally look over at us. They were just being a little nosy, but there was nothing particularly strange about our surroundings.
Was this the calm before the storm? I had no clue what tricks Jared had up his sleeve, but I knew one thing for sure—being too reckless might cause more trouble than we needed.
After having come to that conclusion, I reached up and pulled John to sit back down in his chair.
I forced a fake smile onto my face, softening my tone as I spoke. “You said you wanted to take this case to court, right? I’ll happily agree to that, and I’ll make sure we see this to the very end. As a lawyer, I can tell you definitively that you do have primary custodial rights as Summer’s biological father. I also know that I have a huge disadvantage due to my marital status. I’m assuming your lawyer told you all of this, too?”
“So what if they did?” Jared shrugged, unlocking his clasped-together hands and spreading his arms wide in a motion of defeat. “I’m just a doctor; of course, I have to leave these sort of things up to a professional lawyer. I might as well let you in on a little secret—the country’s best child custody lawyer has already accepted my case. I won’t lose this time, Sienna. I suggest you turn a blind eye and back off, and stop preventing me from seeing Summer again. If not, you can’t blame me if you have to hear my lawyer reveal some particularly unpleasant things about you while in court.”
I let out a cold scoff.
The mere mention of a “professional child custody lawyer” wasn’t enough to scare me off.
“I don’t know who your lawyer is, but I already feel sorry for them,” I fluttered my eyelashes innocently. “They won’t be earning their legal fees this time.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
Leave a Reply