Chapter 370 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Desmond’s eyes softened when his gaze fell on Sonia and Celsie, “Thanks, girls. I suppose you’ve met Jade?” He asked, and they both nodded before he returned his attention to his daughter.

“I suppose you’ll be around for the next couple of days then? Cause I see no reason you had to spend a day at Harry’s just to surprise me and not spend that time with me,” Desmond said, and Jade kissed his cheek.

“I’m leaving tomorrow to wrap up an important case. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I’ll visit and spend time with you after it. I promise,” Jade said, knowing fully well that despite all the evidence she had against the cartel now, the case could still drag on for months if care was not taken.

While Jade and her father argued about the duration of her stay, the others around the table ate and engaged in small talk as Celsie’s parents told them all about their outing and how much fun they had, while little Jamal climbed out of Janet’s thighs to sit on Benne’s thighs.

Benne looked down at the little boy in surprise, wondering what had prompted him to do that since they both didn’t exactly have that kind of relationship, and then he almost chuckled when the kid reached for the tray of canapes closest to him and took a piece of spring roll.

He let the child remain on his thighs as they all continued with the small talk and food. Soon Candace brought in the cake with lit candles, and Jamal shrieked excitedly as he got off Benne’s thighs to meet his mother and the cake.

“Happy birthday, Desmond,” Jade said with a polite smile as she set down the cake in front of him, and Jade got off her father’s thigh to give him room to make his wish and blow off the candles.

“I had a lot of fun, mum!” Jamal told his mother happily as he embraced her legs, and she lifted him off the ground.

“You’ve had enough fun for one day, now come inside,” Candace said, wanting to spend some time alone with her son since she would be leaving him the next day.

“But I’ve not had any cake yet,” Jamal protested, wanting to get down.

“You will have some tomorrow. I’m sure you had lots of candies and chocolates and ice cream. That, my charming young man is enough sugar for one day,” Candace said as she held on firmly and walked away with him.

“I think you should tell them now,” Benne whispered to Celsie after his dad finished making his wish, and some of the household staff came to clear up the hors d’oeuvres and appetizers to serve the main dish, while Samantha took the cake to cut it into slices for dessert.

“Is it just me, or our girl doesn’t look fine?” Andrew whispered to his wife as he watched Celsie and Benne whispering to each other.

Initially, he had assumed she wasn’t eating and was wearing a false smile because she had a misunderstanding with Benne, but watching them communicate, especially with Benne’s hand covering hers in a supportive gesture, he doubted that whatever was wrong with her had anything to do with Benne.

“Yeah, I noticed too,” Janet whispered back with a concerned frown. After what happened to her, they had learned to be more observant when it came to the well-being of their children and to never ignore even the slightest changes in their mood, “Are you okay, darling?” Janet asked, “Are you okay, baby? How was work today?” Andrew asked, hiding his concern in an easy smile.

Celsie cleared her throat, “Work was fine. I need to speak with you,” Celsie said, and her parents exchanged a look. They knew that by ‘you’ she meant them since they had raised their kids to always confide in them together, but they were curious to know what it was that couldn’t wait until after dinner.

“In private or right here?” Andrew asked with concern.

“In private,” Celsie said, looking at Desmond and Evelyn apologetically, but they didn’t seem to mind.

“Let’s go talk then. Please excuse us,” Janet said politely as they stood up, and Janet turned to Sonia when she didn’t move.

“Why is Sonia not coming with us? Is this not a family discussion?” Janet asked Celsie, and Sonia stood up immediately and went with them.

“Did something happen between you two? Is everything okay?” Evelyn asked Benne once they were all alone, and Benne shook his head.

“Nothing happened. We are fine. But there is something we also need to tell you,” Benne said, and Desmond frowned when he saw the seriousness in all three of his children.

“It’s about me and Sonia’s scandal, and also Celsie’s,” Bryan added to get their mother’s complete attention, and she dropped the glass of wine she was holding.

“Thanks for letting me cut my cake before bringing this up. You should probably tell Samantha to hold off on serving dinner. There’s no need for us to waste the food,” Desmond suggested, and Jade nodded as she hurried away to deliver the message.

Once they were seated in the Den, with Celsie and Sonia sitting in the middle of the couch, while Janet and Andrew flanked both their sides, with Andrew seated beside Celsie and Janet beside Sonia, they looked at both girls.

“What is the problem, princess?” Andrew asked, cupping Celsie’s tiny hands in his large hands.

Celsie cleared her throat, “We found out the person behind the scandal,” Celsie announced, and immediately Janet’s usually calm eyes flashed with anger.

“Who did it? Is it someone we know?” Janet asked impatiently.

“You don’t know her. But she is also responsible for Bryan’s and Sonia’s scandal,” Celsie said, and that seemed to annoy both her parents.

“A lady was behind it? The same person? How did you both get to know a person like that?” Andrew asked in disbelief.

“She is Benne’s ex-girlfriend. Her name is Anita, and she is Rachel’s cousin,” Sonia blurted out.

Janet felt goosebumps spread all over her body as she looked from Celsie to Sonia, “You mean Benne’s ex-girlfriend was behind both scandals? And she is Rachel’s cousin?” She asked, wanting to believe that she had probably heard the wrong thing.

“Yes,” Celsie said with a nod.

“Just explain to us what is going on. Although I can see why she would want to mess with you, even though it’s crazy. I don’t understand what Sonia and Bryan have to do with any of it,” Andrew said with a puzzled frown.

Both Janet and Andrew listened patiently as Celsie explained everything to them about how she had met Benne (leaving out the part where she went home with him on the first night) and how he had started out deceiving her and pretending to be broke. If not for the seriousness of the conversation, they both would have had something to say about it, but they were more concerned with Anita’s part of the story.

“So because she wants Benne, she has to resort to something as despicable as this?” Janet asked, unable to fathom how a young lady could conceive such wickedness in her heart.

“It’s not Benne’s fault,” Celsie rushed to his defense.

“It would be stupid of us to blame Benne for this, Princess. We don’t think it’s his fault,” Andrew assured her, “What I will like to know is what Benne plans to do about this ex-girlfriend of his. Do we have to be concerned about your safety?” Andrew asked with a slight frown, not liking what he was hearing.

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