BXBX NOVEL Chapter 428: Fishy Request
Chapter 428: Fishy Request
"Why are you so quiet?" Lucy asked as she turned to look at Tom who had been quiet since he started driving."How was work today?" She asked after some time, and Tom glanced at her.
"It was going alright until you told me about it, and after that time I could barely think about anything else," Tom said, and Lucy smiled sadly.
"I understand," she murmured.
"What about you? How are you?" Tom asked, and Lucy shrugged.
"It's just one of those days I want to come to an end quickly," Lucy said before looking at him with a serious expression.
"Harry didn't suspect anything, did he?" Lucy asked, and Tom shrugged.
"He would be an idiot not to. And we both know he is far from being one. Thankfully, he didn't press me to say anything. By the way, you didn't send me your recorded conversation with Sara as promised," Tom reminded her.
"Oh! Sorry. It completely slipped my mind. I will do so now," Lucy said as she took out her phone from her handbag.
"Instead of sending it, why don't you connect your phone to the car's Bluetooth speaker and we can just listen to it together as I drive?" Tom asked, but Lucy shook her head.
"I'm not sure about that. You are driving and the conversation might upset you," Lucy said, and Tom turned to spare a glance at her.
"You think I'm not already upset? What could I hear now that you haven't already told me? Connect it and let's listen to it together. Don't worry, I'm okay," Tom assured her, and Lucy looked at him for a moment before hesitantly doing as he had requested.
Tom said nothing as he listened to the conversation between Lucy and Sara, and Lucy was startled when he suddenly chuckled at the end, "What's funny?" She asked in confusion since that was the least reaction she had expected to see.
Tom looked at her with a proud smile, "You sounded really tough and sexy. I was just wondering why I'm never around when you show off all that hotness," Tom said as he stopped the car when the traffic light blinked red.
Lucy laughed softly, feeling embarrassed, "You're exaggerating. I'm sure either Sonia or Jade could have handled her better," Lucy said, and Tom shook his head.
"I think you handled her perfectly. You amaze me, Jewel. And I'm so lucky to have you in my life," Tom said as he gazed at her with a soft smile, and she smiled in embarrassment as she turned her face away from him briefly.
"I'm happy to have you in my life too. And you should know that I was that confident only because I know I have you behind me," Lucy said with a soft smile.
Tom smiled as he reached for her hand and kissed the inside of her palm, "I've got your back, Lu. All day, every day," he promised as he returned his attention to the road and started driving again.
"I know," Lucy said confidently, "That reminds me. What did she say to Harry in front of the restaurant?" She asked, referring to Sara as 'she' since she didn't want to utter her name or refer to her as Harry's mother either.
Lucy sighed after Tom told her about their exchange with Sara in front of the restaurant, "She is obviously self-centered and doesn't care about Harry. I doubt that she would be acting this shamelessly if her intentions were pure. There is no iota of remorse in her attitude. Shouldn't she be feeling too embarrassed and ashamed of herself to show her face in front of a son she abandoned?" Lucy asked, and Tom nodded in agreement.
"Yesh. Good thing Harry could see through her pretty face and make-up to see how shallow she and fake she truly is," Tom said, thinking how strange it was that Harry didn't think that way when he looked at his 'mom's' photograph, but felt that way when he saw her in person.
"By the way, is she really the same person in the photograph Harry has? Harry thought she looked familiar, but I could barely recognize her," Tom said, and Lucy explained what Aaron had said about her going under the knife several times.
"I guess Harry was right about her," Tom said, remembering how Harry had said he was certain she had undergone surgery to look the way she did.
Lucy arched a brow, "What did he say about her?" She asked, and sighed when Tom told her everything Harry had said about Sara.
"As sad as it is that he thinks of his mother that way, it's a good thing he already has that opinion of her. I only hope he doesn't feel too hurt when he hears everything."
"Are you certain Aaron is going to tell Harry everything after this weekend? I'm not sure how much longer I can avoid answering Harry's question," Tom said with a slight frown.
"You will have to keep avoiding his questions until Aaron is ready. You know how sensitive the situation is. Harry has to hear the truth from Aaron himself," Lucy said firmly, and Tom nodded.
"Yeah. I know. Can you give me her full name or phone number? Or anything I can use to look into her," Tom suggested, and Lucy gave him a nod.
"I have her phone number, but I don't think there will be any need to waste our time on that. We already know who she is and we have evidence we can use against her. What we need to focus on is finding Aaron's daughter and making sure Harry isn't too affected by any of this. If Harry is fine, Aaron would be fine too," Lucy said reasonably, and Tom turned to her with a soft gaze.
"I don't know what I would have done in this situation without you," Tom said, and Lucy sighed.
"Perhaps things wouldn't have happened this way if I wasn't in your life. By the way, I got some strands of hair from Aaron's hairbrush. When can you get the DNA test done?" She asked, returning to the subject.
"I could send it to them tomorrow, and by Saturday we would have the result," Tom said, and Lucy nodded.
"Let's do that."
"What are the chances that Candace might really be Harry's twin sister or related to him?" Tom asked, and Lucy pursed her lips thoughtfully.
"We both know that anything is possible," Lucy said after a while.
"If it turns out to be true, that would mean Jamal is your what? Second cousin?" Tom asked, and Lucy smiled at the thought that cute little Jamal might be related to her.
"No. That would make him my first cousin once removed," Lucy explained, and Tom's brows pulled together.
"First cousin once removed from what?" Tom asked in confusion, and Lucy giggled.
"It means we are separated by one generation," Lucy explained, and when it looked like Tom was going to ask more questions she shook her head.
"Let's not worry about any titles or tags yet. That's the least of the problem we have on our plate right now," Lucy said, and immediately Tom remembered his conversation with Barry.
"Yeah. You are right. Remember I spoke with Barry earlier?" Tom asked, and Lucy gave him a nod when she recalled that he had told her Barry was calling during their conversation earlier in the day.
Tom told her what Barry had said about Anita having recorded their conversation to make her look like the bad person who had snatched her friend's boyfriend, and Lucy shook her head.
"Too bad for her that I also recorded my conversation with her at the bar. She has nothing on me," Lucy assured Tom as he drove through his gate.
"Even if she has something on you, I doubt any major news agency would want to publish it. After the last incident, Harry sent out a circular to the CEOs of all the major news agencies, informing them that anyone who dares to carry any unverified news about you or our relationship again would have I-Global to contend with. They know better than to do something like that again," Tom said confidently.
"I'm relieved to know I don't have to be on the media for the wrong reason again. I don't want to add that to everything else I have to worry about right now," Lucy said with a sigh as Tom parked the car in front of the house and she gazed at the building in front of them.
"I feel anxious about the coming weekend and the week to come," Lucy murmured, and Tom took her hand and raised it to his lips.
"One day at a time, Jewel. Today has enough problems already. Let's leave tomorrow's worries for tomorrow. Now let's leave all the craziness of the day in the car before going inside. I need to have a normal evening with you to be able to face tomorrow," Tom said, and they both smiled when the door opened and they watched as Jamal stepped out of the house and ran in the direction of the car.
"Yeah. Let's do that," Lucy said. And putting on her most cheerful smile, she got out of the car to embrace the kid, who she was beginning to believe that her meeting with him wasn't a coincidence.
Away from there, at the restaurant section of the hotel where she was lodged, Jade sipped from her glass of wine as she watched her boss who was seated opposite her while waiting for him to tell her about the case and what he wanted from her.
Although, Amos was aware that he was taking a major risk by involving Jade in this case considering her brother's relationship with Sara's son, but he planned to use her as his and Sara's lifeline.
He would involve her in the case to the extent that if Harry and his father decided to expose Sara or him, it would also affect Jade, and for her sake, they wouldn't want to go too far.
"I believe I don't need to tell you how sensitive this case is, or how important it is that you keep whatever we discuss to yourself. You can't tell anyone else about it. Not even your family," Amos said, and Jade rolled her eyes.
"Why do you sound like I'm the one who asked you to involve me in this when you called me to do you a favor?" Jade asked, feeling slightly offended.
Amos cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, that is not what I meant. All I was trying to say is that you have to keep this between us. No one must know she has a daughter. You will be signing a confidentiality agreement before we begin. And you don't have to worry, you will be well rewarded," Amos assured her as he leaned forward in his seat and placed a cheque note in front of her.
Jade frowned at him without looking at the cheque, "Does that mean that she is going to keep hiding the fact that she has a daughter from the public even after she finds her? Why is she searching for her daughter if it has to be done so secretly?" Jade asked in confusion.
"It's a long story. She was married before going into modeling. She had twin children but lost the girl during childbirth. Devastated by the loss she abandoned her husband and son, and moved to another country. That was where she became a model. After all these years, she just recently learned that her daughter is alive, so she is doing all she can to find her. What do you expect her to do? Announce it to the world? What if she doesn't find her after everything?" Amos asked, and Jade's brows pulled together in a slight frown.
The story didn't make sense to her. "Didn't she see her daughter's body? How can you say she lost the girl during childbirth, and now you're saying she just found out the girl is alive?" Jade asked in confusion. How could a mother abandon one baby because she lost the other?
"The doctor gave her a dead baby," Amos explained, but Jade still wasn't convinced.
"So how did she learn that her daughter is alive? Shouldn't the same source lead her to her daughter?" Jade asked, and even though Amos wanted to swear at her for asking so many questions, he forced a smile.
"That is what we are doing. Our source informed me that the man who stole her baby abandoned the baby at an orphanage home. I need you to go there and find out what you can about the child. Here is a picture of the child and some information about her and the orphanage home," Amos said as he slid an envelope toward Jade, and she opened it and took out a picture of a four-year-old brown-eyed girl, dressed in a red dungaree and white turtleneck top, smiling at the camera.
"What about her father and brother? Are they aware..."
"Jade, take the cheque and quit asking so many unnecessary questions! Your business is with me and Sara, not the child's father," Amos snapped at her, and Jade raised a brow.
"Unnecessary questions? I'm sorry, Amos, but I don't think I want to get involved in something like this. We are lawyers for crying out loud! How can you come to me with such a half-baked story and expect me to buy it? Is this what she told you? And you believed her without questions because she paid you handsomely?" Jade asked, disappointment ringing clearly in her tone.
"You won't speak to me in that manner. I'm still your boss..."
"Have you forgotten that my resignation letter is ready?" Jade cut in angrily.
"You are still my employee until your current case is over and I can as well fire you if you disrespect me any further," Amos threatened.
"Then do so," Jade hissed as she stood up.
Realizing that he had gone too far and was about to lose his lifeline he quickly stopped her, "I'm sorry," Amos said before she could walk away.
"Please, Jade. I really need your help on this. You see how smart you are and how you asked questions I failed to ask Sara? That's why I need you on this case. Please help me," Amos pleaded, and Jade reluctantly returned to her seat.
She pushed the cheque back to him, "This is a favor to you, so I don't need any money. Also, I'm not signing any confidentiality agreement. It's either you need my help or not," Jade said, and even though Amos did not like that, he gave her a nod.
"Fine. Help me whichever way you can," Amos said, and Jade held his gaze for a moment before giving him a nod.
"I will let you know what I find," Jade said as she stood from her seat, picked up the envelope, and walked out of the restaurant.
She wasn't going to do it just because she wanted to do him a favor. Something smelt fishy about both his request and the whole story, and she intended to find out what it was.