C H A P T E R 3 : T H E N I C E B A C K R U B A N D C H I L D H O O D M E M O R Y
J A V I E R S U M M E R S
It would not be Summers’ dinner if there was no drama especially with the return of their long lost son, Draven. Ten years ago, at seventeen years of age, Javier had willpower bigger than anyone else’s. Draven had been framed and regardless of how many times he had tried to explain, no one believed him. No one except Javier and his mother. To make things even worse, their grandfather had written Draven’s name off of his will which could only mean that he was no longer a part of the Summers family. Being one of the older siblings, Javier had tried to talk to both Thornton and Piers, but Thornton had sided with Piers and their grandfather and deemed their little brother as ‘an ungrateful, entitled asshole’. Javier had been the only person who had secretly helped Draven to secure a place and a job in London. They had kept in touch albeit not as often due to both of them being busy with life and work.
A few days ago he had invited his little brother to join their family dinner. Everyone would attend including their mother. However, no one would know that Draven would attend. They all thought that it was a family dinner to celebrate Javier and Ella’s becoming parents.
Javier would let it be a surprise but somehow he felt that he should give Piers a heads up, after all, Piers had been the reason Draven ran away from home, the one that had pushed him over the edge. Sighing loudly, he took his phone and decided to dial Thornton’s number. Thornton was their oldest brother and he had been aware of Draven’s return. He could give his opinion on this.
“Yes? What is it, Brother?” answered Thornton on the second ring. It seemed that his eldest brother was not occupied. Most of the time, he would not answer his phone and let it go straight to voicemail.
“Tony, I need your second opinion.”
There was barely any pause. “On?”
“I am inviting Draven to tonight’s dinner.” When Thornton did not say anything, Javier put his phone away to check if the connection had been lost only to find that it was still connected. “Tony, are you there?”
“Yeah. I am thinking,” his brother replied with an exasperated sigh. “Did he agree to come?”
“Yeah.”
“How did you get him to agree?” asked Thornton curiously without any accusatory tone.
However, since Javier was still hiding the fact that he had been the one helping Draven the entire time, he felt like he was being accused. “He is our brother. He will come around eventually.” In the end, he replied without giving an actual answer.
“You have heard him yourself. He said he is not a Summers, he chose Cromwell.” Thornton sighed again. Although he would not admit it, he was brokenhearted by his little brother’s rejection. “Anyway, you have invited him. So why would you need my opinion?”
“I have not told anyone else about this. Do you think we should tell Piers?”
“To be frank, I have not told our siblings either. I know I should tell them that we have found Draven but he is being unfriendly and not welcoming so I do not know if we should tell our brothers and our little sister. I feel like it would put Mom in an odd position. What if Dad finds out that Mom has been helping Draven this whole time? Dad hates the Cromwell for making Mom sad by cutting the ties.”
Javier understood his brother’s view on this. “But sooner or later, they will learn the truth, Tone.”
“Oh, I know. Still does not make it any easier.”
“Back to my question,” said Javier with a sigh. “Should we tell Piers then?”
“I think it might be best to inform him beforehand,” Thornton agreed. “I think he misses our little brother too.”
“Yeah, I do hope they will make up. I wish Declan is here with us instead of being on the other side of the globe.” Javier pondered for a minute if he should call Declan, who was also Draven’s twin brother and let him know about his return. Declan had blamed himself for being weak when Draven had run away from home ten years ago. It had taken years before he could finally let it go but even Javier doubted that Declan would ever forgive himself. “I will give him a call.”
“I am pretty sure he will catch the first flight from China to Washington once you called him,” commented Thornton. “Family reunion would not be completed without him.”
“True. I will give Piers a call now. Thank you, Brother.”
“Anytime,” said Thornton before he ended the call.
Javier stared at his phone screen for a few heartbeats, thinking about how life would change now that Draven had returned. He could not help but worry as there were so many lies and hidden truths about what had happened ten years ago. Right now, he could only hope that it would not break the family apart. As he closed his eyes for a short while, he let his mind take him back to all those years ago when they all were kids, laughing freely in the spacious garden in their family mansion. They had been young and free. They never had any attachments to anyone else except for their family and there was no material or money being involved. Life had been easy back then and he missed it. He missed the simplicity of it quite terribly. Once he reopened his eyes, he dialed Piers’s number and waited until his older brother accepted his call.
“Just when I thought you have forgotten me, Brother,” teased Piers as he answered his call. “What’s up?”
“I need to tell you something. It is a matter of urgency.”
* * *
Ella could feel that Javier was feeling nervous by how many times he fixed his tie and glanced at the entry of the dining hall. Carefully she placed her hand on top of his on his thigh and he nearly jumped. “Relax. I know you are nervous but t is going to be alright,” she reassured him.
He turned to her and gave her a small smile. “I hope so.”
“Just enjoy your soup or else your family might think something is wrong.” She pointed at the untouched bowl of mushroom soup in front of him.
“Okay,” he replied as he picked up his spoon and started digging his appetizer. He glanced at his father at the far end of the long table with Tiffany, his mother, on his right, and Thornton, the eldest son, on his left. His father had been smiling the whole time as his brother was giving him updates on their family business. It had been five years since their father had chosen to retire and let the kids run his well built empire. Javier wondered if his father’s smile would disappear or turn into a grin should he met Draven.
Finally what he had been anticipating for the last one hour had come when a tall figure wearing a grey cashmere shirt and black pants walked into the dining hall. “It has been ten years,” said Draven with a hint of British accent and a sour smile, “I am unsure whether I should start with an introduction or jump in right ahead. Our butler, Jeremiah, nearly did not recognize me and almost ushered me out by the security. I think his age had finally affected him. Probably best to ask him to retire, if you ask me.” He shrugged, seemingly did not realize how everyone in the room had paused and stared at him this whole time. His eyes scanned the room before finally landed on Javier and he started to smile. “Here I am, Brother. May I offer you my congratulations?”
* * *
Dear Gentle Readers, thank you for your love and support! It has been this author's motivation the whole goddamn time and it has never gone unnoticed! Please take one minute to leave a review if you do not mind. Stay safe!
P.S. If you wish to know how the dinner goes, please read Draven's story: "Accidentally in Bed With The Wrong Brother" (;
Later that night, Ella lay in Javier’s arms, in the warmth of their bed and the soft glow of good sex and candle lights. She had gone with Damon and Tanner after work to get some shopping done and by the time she had arrived at her flat, Javier had been in an apron. Yes, Javier Summers, the CEO of Summers Entertainment Industry had been wearing her pink apron and standing in her kitchen cooking steak. It appeared that during her shopping with Damon and Tanner, he had arranged everything from the candlelight dinner at the balcony surrounded by her beautiful flowers and plants to the candlelight bedroom. In all honesty, Javier would have gone for a candlelight bath too but since Ella only had a shower and he had promised that he would not complain so he gave it a rest. With her back pressed into his chest, he ran his hand down her smooth arm to her wrist and subtly touched her engagement ring. “You know, we have never t
C H A P T E R 5 : T O L E A R N T H E H A R S H , P A I N F U L , A N D U G L Y T R U T HJ A V I E R S U M M E R S “Let’s just say that what you have been telling me so far was the truth, do you have any proof?” Javier asked while checking his emails on the computer. When Ella’s father had yet to reply, he added with a more pressing tone, “Please think very carefully as this might be our last conversation should you have no proof at all.”“There is no proof." The man let out what sounded like a mix of a grunt and a sigh. "I am afraid you just have to take my words for it, Young Man.”Javier gave it a thought. “Then I suppose I could not take you to meet Ella. Thank you for telling me your side of the
Ella stared at her trembling hands and clenched her fists. This was not happening. Just when her life was getting good and everything fell to the right place, life decided that she got off easy and created problems for her. A small tear slipped out of one corner of her eye and she quickly wiped it away. What hurt more was the fact that Javier had not told her beforehand. He had not asked for her opinion even though it was crystal clear that it was her past that he had been digging. He had no right to do that. He should at least talk to her, ask for her opinion. They were partners. They were supposed to sit down and discuss things over and yet he had made decisions on his own without consulting her. Would this be the course of their relationship? Him deciding things on his own based on what he thought might be the right thing to do or the best course of action. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the back of the seat and
The second Javier entered the house (Ella’s flat), he knew that she had been there and without even calling for her name or searching through the rooms, he also knew that she had left. The only question was where she had gone to. He started by eliminating places where she could be like the office and Damon and Tanner’s flat — because it was during working hours and there would not be anyone at their home. The next thing that came to mind was her mother’s place just right outside Seattle. He fished out his phone and sent a text to Ella, asking where she was. He wanted to call her but since he had seen her car was not parked, he assumed she was driving and he did not want to take her eyes off the road. With text, she could simply read it later. Then he dialed Eleanor’s number. The first call went to voicemail but Eleanor did pick up the next one. “Hello.” “Eleanor, this is Javier and I am wondering if Ella is there.”
Javier paced along the laminate floor of the waiting room, his fingers running through his messy hair. This was not the first time he had done this. His tie was discarded somewhere carelessly without a car. He continued to pace, probably burning a hole in the floor but he could not think of anything else to do. He needed to do something, anything. “Javier?” He jumped and finally stopped pacing as he glanced at Draven who was walking towards⁰⁰ him. Javier struggled to hold back his sob as he headed straight for him, his arms locking around his younger brother in a tight embrace. He nuzzled his face into his neck and fought his best not to cry right there and then. Draven locked his arms around his brother and held onto him tightly while muttering, “I am sorry. I came here as soon as I can. Do not worry, Brother. She is gonna be okay. Ella is going to be alright, Brother.”
“I know you do not trust me, Javier,” said Aimee once Nurse Jo had left. She was sitting on the sofa with her hands clasped on her lap while Javier was sitting on the chair next to Ella’s bed. “And I do not blame you after what has happened between us but you should know that this is work. I would never implicate anyone’s life or health.” When he did not say anything and still kept his eyes on Ella, she continued talking, “It has been ten years. You should forgive and forget about it. I have lost count of how many times I said that I was sorry. It was a careless mistake. I should not have done it. If that did not happen, perhaps—” she took a pause and let out a sorrowful sigh, “perhaps you and I are still together. Maybe we are even married and have one or two kids.” Without even looking at her, he muttered under his breath, loud enough for her to hear, “Stop talking.” Yet Aimee continued with her chatter as if she had
It felt like a dream. Except for the fact that he had not slept the entire night and even though the sun rose up, nothing changed. Ella was still lying on the bed unconscious. Javier had kept a close eye on her, watching her the whole night and hoping that she would move a muscle or even better, open her eyes, and yet there had been nothing thus far. He would have been worried that he had lost her if it was not because of the steady rhythm of her heartbeat on the monitor. Moving his gaze from Ella, he watched Damon and Tanner sleeping on the couch. Tanner was sleeping in a seating position while Damon put his head on Tanner’s thigh and occupied the rest of the sofa. Tanner had one hand over Damon’s eyes and forehead and under different circumstances, Javier would have laughed picturing Damon as a naughty brat and Tanner as his mother who tried to make him fall asleep. Ella had great friends. Javier was very grateful for their presence. He was not sure he could have gone through the
There was no day. There was no night. There was just darkness. Pitch black was all she could see. Well, now that Ella thought about it, she couldn’t really see anything. For all she knew, her eyes could just be closed, and she could be staring at her eyelids. Faint voices. She was not even sure whether they even were even voices at all. That was what she thought going on. They were so faint at times, it was like she couldn’t hear them at all. It was almost as if she was imagining it. But at other times, it was incredibly loud. So loud that she felt as if she were about to go deaf at some point. Yet she could never get the voices to be at a medium volume. She could not truly decipher what they were saying, or talking about. But what she was sure of, was that it was not just one voice or different voices at different times. It was more than one voice. Normally it would be a man’s deep voice, or two men’s voices, or sometimes even a woman’s voice and another woman’s voice but sounded m