When Joel left, he waited at the car park for two hours before his wife showed up. He had deliberately refused to go back to the office. His mind was in a plight of frustration and anger. Now that Anthony was aware, he had to hasten his plan. He couldn't afford to lose a day. As soon as Estelle sat in the car, he sped off.
Joel was not the kind to discuss sensitive matters in the car. He could always bottle it all up till he got home to his destination. Estelle felt slightly guilty and mistook his silence for anger. In such a case, it was better for her if she kept her mouth shut. Indeed, it was the antidote to the solution at this point. Joel was satisfied with the silence. Somehow, it was comforting.
For the first time in months, they had dinner together. After dinner, Estelle wanted to play with Jolene but the girls seemed to have her own agenda. She started whining when her mother picked her up and kept pointing to her toys.
"Let her down. She doesn't wan
Joel listened silently as she continued to curse incessantly till words began to fail her. "Jerk, I should have known it was too good to be true. You couldn't just accept me like that. You moron. You- " when Joel had heard enough, he sealed her lips with his. She tried defeatedly by pushing him away but he only tightened his grip till she completely relaxed. Slowly, he pulled away "How can you even think that I will leave you? Do you think Anthony will continue playing the good guy if he sees the effects of the documents you made him sign? And what makes you think that I will chase you, woo you, and love you all these years just to let you go because of the incessant greed of an awful scambag, who holds no value for moral standards?" "Use your brain, Honey. I am sending you overseas with our child for your safety. I sent my mom and dad off yesterday. You know what I mean?" Naturally, she knew what he meant. The biological father of the baby in her belly is An
When Joel steps out, he uses the stairs instead of the elevator. When he was halfway through, he cut out the power supply in the building. It will take them at least twenty minutes to resolve it, which buys him enough time to get to the train station.He sees a teenage boy at the station and handing him a few notes, he uses the said's, pass to enter the train. Once he arrived at his destination, he joined the next flight to meet his wife. By the time realization hit Anthony, Joel was untraceable and so was his wife. He looks through the company account, only to realize that all his father's hard-earned money had been transferred to an untraceable account.Anthony's face turned ashen. He was burning red. He felt so many Unpleasant emotions at the same time, but the most dominant of all was rage. His mind was in disarray. He wasn't experienced enough to handle such things and had no idea how to do so.He called his father and explained everything, hoping his fa
Somewhere in a faraway land, Joel lived happily with his family. It's been fifteen years now and his business has picked up very well. Jolene has grown into a fine young woman, being the perfect embodiment of a female version of Joel. Estelle gave birth to her bastard son, whom Joel claimed as his. He was named Joel Junior and affectionately called JJ by his parents. JJ has grown into a male version of Estelle, but taking up Joel's characteristics of Sweet, caring, mature, intelligent, and smart. Not for a day has he thought that Joel's blood did not flow through his veins.Jolene is now fifteen and has already joined the cheerleaders in high school. She is remarkably smart and beautiful. Unfortunately, she has been slightly over pampered by her parents whose only thought is on giving both children the best in life. It isn't also surprising that JJ has become extremely protective of his sister, not giving her the breathing space of even dating. One will think that he was the e
Joel and Estelle left for their vacation as planned. Before leaving, they left a tall list of dos and don'ts. It was depressing for JJ to even look at it, judging from the length. So instead, he ignored it and went by his own rules.Naturally, he was responsible and caring so he didn't have any negative agenda up his sleeves. He is just relieved of his parent's presence. Together with his sister, they go through their normal activities from school to rehearsals and home. The only difference is, Joel doesn't allow Jolene to drive. He prefers driving her to and from school. Sometimes, he will drop her home before going back to college for practice.At school, Joel made sure to keep guys away from Jolene even though she was one grade ahead of him. He will find ways to threaten guys who got close to her. It wasn't difficult since he looked taller and stronger than most of the senior guys, thanks to constant practice.Everything was smooth as the days went by till JJ wa
A few blocks to Joel's House, JJ was in a state of rage. He abused and cursed his parents verbally. He had no intention of going home anytime soon but the man who was Joel's age cajoled him to go back to retrieve certain documents.JJ did not have it in him to pretend that everything is alright if he goes back to that house. He felt betrayed by the people he called his parents.Two weeks ago, JJ dropped Jolene home and headed in the direction of his school. He was stopped a few yards away by a man. The man was not violent. He wanted a little of his time to speak with him. He has been watching him for a long time and even though JJ had Estelle's features, He had this man's brown eyes. Character-wise, he exuded more of Joel so the softness in him gave way to the subjection of true wisdom.He followed the strange man willingly to a two-bedroom luxurious house. There was a maid and a few guards. His car was parked in the man's garage.After settling down, t
On a fateful evening, JJ returned home to his family. To avoid too many questions, he went in the evening but Jolene who has had sleepless nights because of his disappearance was wide awake and heard the door to his room open.She went hurriedly out of her room, following the sound to JJ's room. She screamed in surprise, waking Estelle and Joel who couldn't sleep deeply. He sneaked into the house without security noticing. His car was parked a few meters away. Maybe he wanted to sneak in and take the documents, and then return as if nothing had happened.Jolene's appearance at the door startled him. He was shocked to see Jolene's face swollen and red from tears. It struck a glint of guilt in him which was quickly replaced with indifference.Jolene ignored his indifference. She was excited. "JJ, where have you been? We've been searching everywhere for you."His voice was cold. "I've been around. Let me sleep."Jolene was never used to this part of him. B
Joel who had remained quiet suddenly erupted like a volcano. "You spent the days with Anthony, not caring about how worried we were. Since you discovered he is your father and believed everything he told you, why did you come back? Why come here? Did you suddenly grow tired of him or you came to revenge on us?"JJ was quiet. He has messed up. Now his plan has backfired. He feared Joel might hurt his father. Estelle is outraged to hear that Anthony is behind it all."Honey, what are you saying?""Why don't you ask your son?" Joel said, not hiding the irritation in his voice.Jolene is awestruck, just gawking as revelations are being made. "Mum, Dad, what are you talking about? JJ isn't my brother?""He is your brother," Joel said. "I have never made a distinction between both of you even though he is not from my loins. I have always loved him as my own.""Liar. You never loved me. You are only doing it to please mum. You are living on my father's m
The worst stupidity in life is thinking yourself a lion when you are merely an ant. That is the state in which JJ found himself. He cowardly recoils into an ant upon the sudden revelation. The man who loves him unconditionally is the one he betrays and falls for the scam.His envisionment becomes a bitter pill as he thinks of himself as f unworthy of the love he enjoyed over these years. How can he make amends? Joel will never forgive him and right now, he feels poisoned by the blood that runs through his veins. That stupid thing called DNA has caused so much havoc.This time, his anger is directed towards his father. "You, you lied to me. How dare you do this to me?" He yells.Indeed, Anthony is remorseful. "I am sorry son, I never meant to. I didn't know. The original documents were in his name. I have copies. I never knew he changed it. I was only fighting for your interest." His voice envisions genuine regret but JJ remains unmoved."Just stay away from m