by Monica James
“I’m here to tell you the truth,” I say cautiously.
Jasper’s fingers are still on my skin, but he doesn’t remove them.
“Ha! As if you know what the truth is!” scoffs Danielle, storming over to where we’re standing and crossing her arms, glaring at me.
I ignore her and only focus on Jasper when I speak.
“I understand you’re mad at me, and you have every right to be. But I need you to listen to me. Whatever I say, please just let me finish. Can you do that for me?” I ask, searching his eyes.
Jasper cocks an eyebrow, looking totally confused, but he thankfully nods.
“Jasper, this is ridiculous! Everything that comes out of her mouth is a lie. You have no sense when it comes to her!” Danielle says, her tone beginning to rise in hysteria.
Jasper ignores her and so do I as I continue. “Jasper, did you read the paperwork your mom asked you to sign?”
Jasper’s brow furrows and he looks totally puzzled, but he answers, shaking his head. “No.”
“Have you signed them?” I ask, my voice never wavering.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Danielle begin to shuffle uncomfortably. I know she’s just waiting to see where I’m going with this.
“No,” Jasper replies. “What’s going on, Ava?” he asks, his grip on my waist tightening.
I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“What’s going on is that SHE is a bitch!” screams Indie, pointing at me and turning red.
She is the ugliest person I have ever met, inside and out.
Still in Jasper’s arms, I shift to the left so I’m able to make eye contact with her. “Don’t worry, Indie. Yours is coming,” I say ambiguously, and that shuts her yapping.
“Ava?” Jasper asks, adjusting his fingers so he has a firmer grip on my middle.
I return my attention back to his confused eyes.
“Jasper, your mom… Your mom is using you. The document she wants you to sign has nothing to do with your dad’s death. It’s got to do with money. Your money,” I add softly.
Jasper’s eyes search mine, not understanding what I’ve just told him. And why would he? I can’t even get my head around it, and I’ve been plotting this for days.
It would be easy for me to show him the proof that lies in my bag, but not yet. I want him to believe me without any proof. I want him to believe me because I told him. If we are to get through this, then I need to regain his trust, and I’m hoping this is the answer.
“What?” Jasper asks, stunned. His hands drop to his sides.
I hate that we’re no longer touching, and I’m afraid I’ve already blown it by not taking it slow.
“Jasper, she’s a liar!” Danielle screams, her blue eyes livid.
Crossing my arms over my chest coolly, I shake my head. “No, Danielle, you are the liar. You are the one who would use your own son, you sick, evil bitch. I thought I knew what evil was when I nearly got beaten to death, but you, you bring a whole new meaning to the word evil.”
“Jasper, don’t listen to her,” Danielle says in a panic, grabbing his arm, willing him to believe her.
He looks at his mom, his eyes narrowing, confused by her desperation. This is really too easy.
He turns to look at me and I meet his eyes, making it clear I’m not lying. After a pregnant pause, Jasper asks, “What money?”
Danielle yells hysterically and shoves her way between us, clasping Jasper’s cheeks in both of her trembling palms.
“Jasper, son. Don’t listen to a word that comes out of her deceitful mouth. She lied to you about your baby. You saw the proof, Indiana showed you. She is the liar, son, not me. I’ve only wanted what’s best for you. But she,” she sneers, turning over one shoulder to glare at me. “She lied to you about the baby you wanted so much.”
I see Jasper flinch at the mention of our baby. What a low blow. But she doesn’t stop, not even when the pain is clearly reflected on Jasper’s face.
“She did it to entrap you, to make you hate me. Don’t let her poison you again, Jasper. There is no money, I promise you.”
Danielle grabs him by the shoulders, shaking him lightly. Her actions are that of a desperate woman. I can’t help myself as I begin clapping loudly.
Danielle turns to me, baffled by my reaction. I spare a look at Indie, and somehow, she knows. She knows what I’m about to say. Well, who would have thought, she isn’t as dumb as she looks.
When I have Danielle’s full attention, I stop clapping.
“Nice performance,” I faux yawn. “A few tears would have made it a little more believable,” I sarcastically add.
She begins shaking in rage. “Leave my home, now!” she screams, pointing to her front door.
I shake my head stubbornly, my hair swishing with the momentum. “Not until I give you your birthday present. They have waited a long time to see you,” I reply, making it clear her present is in the shape of a who, not a what.
Danielle’s eyes widen as she takes three steps backwards, and I can see it all click into place.
“No,” she gasps, her hands flying to her gaping mouth. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Baby, tell me what’s going on,” Jasper pleads, willing me to explain everything.
He called me baby and my heart expands at the term of endearment. He believes me, he really believes me.
I take a deep breath, and no matter how many times I prepared myself for this, it still doesn’t make what I’m about to tell him any easier.
“Jasper… your dad—”
Danielle lunges for me like a bat outta hell and I stumble, bumping into the edge of the sofa, trapped.
“Shut your mouth! You shut your mouth!” she yells, storming over to me with her fists clenched.
I drop onto the sofa because I have nowhere to go and no time to move.
Jasper is following in hot pursuit. “Mom, stop!” he screams, as Danielle is about to slap me, but I don’t cower.
I face her and dare her to touch me.
“Enough!”
Danielle pauses, her face turning a deathly white when she hears a voice from her past. She spins in slow motion, and is confronted by a pair of cerulean eyes. But those eyes don’t belong to her son. No, they belong to someone who has impeccable timing.
“Hello, Danielle,” Jeremy Blackmore says, his arms crossed over his broad chest.
Danielle gasps and her eyes are about ready to roll out of her head.
She slowly turns to me, mouth wide, and the biggest grin I have ever smiled in my entire life paints my cheeks as I say, “Happy birthday… bitch.”
“Wh… who are you?” Jasper stutters, while looking at a spitting image of himself.
There’s dead silence, and I can’t stand to see him looking so plagued, so I whisper, “Jasper… he’s your father.”
Jasper spins to face me so quickly I’m surprised he hasn’t fallen over.
“My who?” Jasper gasps, begging me with frantic eyes to explain.
But I don’t have to.
Jeremy Blackmore takes a step inside and softly closes the door. I stay seated on the sofa arm, grateful I’m sitting as my legs feel like jelly.
“Jasper, my name is Jeremy Blackwood, and Ava is right, I am your father.”
Jasper turns to face the man who is about to change his life.
Jeremy clears his throat, taking a visible breath before he begins his tale. “Will you let me explain?” he asks, his eyes never leaving Jasper’s.
Jasper slowly nods, while I hear Danielle sniffle, but surprisingly, she remains quiet.
“Your mother worked for my family as a housemaid, and I fell in love with her the moment I laid eyes on her. But your mother was engaged to William, and your brother Stephen, he was only a baby, so I knew I could only love her from afar. Your mother,” Jeremy pauses, looking off into the distance with a faraway look in his eyes. “Your mother, Jasper, she was beautiful. Full of life and spirit. She could light up a room with just a smi
le.”
Looking at the horrible woman Jeremy is speaking so fondly of, I find it hard to believe she had any redeemable qualities. But I stay silent and allow him to continue.
“She came into work one day with a black eye, and when I asked her what had happened, she broke down and told me how unhappy she was. William had a heavy hand with her when he was drunk, which was most of the time, and she was afraid for her safety, and that of your brother. I told her I would do whatever I could to help her, and if she needed any assistance moving out, I was more than happy to lend a hand. But she declined, saying William would kill her if he found out she had spoken to me about their situation. I think in her own way, she really loved him and never wanted to leave.”
Jeremy takes a deep breath, and I see Jasper watching the man before him closely.
“What happened next, son, I’m not proud of. Your mother and I, we grew closer, and we began having an affair, and she got pregnant… with you. The day she told me she was carrying my child was the happiest day of my life.”
Even though I have heard this story before, I can’t help the tears that fall down my cheeks, as it reminds me so much of when I told Jasper he was to be a father.
“She wanted an abortion, but I begged her not to kill my boy, because I knew,” he says, looking at his son proudly. “That we had created an amazing baby boy.”
Jasper clears his throat but he doesn’t move, his eyes are glued on Jeremy.
“She promised to keep the baby, only if I married her, and of course I agreed, as I wanted nothing more than to have Danielle as my wife, and raise you as my son. Danielle told me she had left William, but didn’t want to get married until after you were born, and I believed her. I mean, why wouldn’t I? I insisted she come live with me, but she declined, saying she wanted us to be married before we lived together. I told her I would marry her in an instant, but she wanted a white wedding, and she couldn’t really have that while pregnant. Looking back now, I realize how stupid I was to believe her.”
Jeremy takes a big breath and continues. “I paid for all her medical expenses, baby supplies—anything she wanted, it was hers. And everything was perfect, up until the day you were born. I was the proudest dad the day I got to hold my son,” he says, tears pricking his eyes. He wipes them away so he can finish his story.
“But I only got to hold you long enough for the midwife to take a photo, and then you were gone. William arrived, demanding security escort me outside as I was bothering Danielle. I pleaded with her to explain what was going on, and she looked at me with such cold eyes, like she didn’t know me. She had told William he was your father, not I. Security didn’t have to throw me out. I left a broken man, not understanding what was happening. I refused to believe Danielle was using me this whole time,” he whispers.
“I tried weeks after you were born to contact Danielle, but she wouldn’t speak to me. Little did she know, the day you were born, I opened a trust fund in your name, hoping that one day I could give it to you.” Jeremy sniffs.
Jasper wipes his tears away with the back of his hand, and my heart breaks. But I don’t console him, he needs to know the rest.
“I tried everything, Jasper. I tried pleading with your mother, I begged her to marry me so I could take care of you and Stephen, but she would hang up on me, never giving me a chance. I became incessant, calling almost every day, and when she finally understood I wasn’t giving up, she begged me not to call because William was home, and she would call me instead. She never did. When she finally got around to contacting me days later, it was because she wanted money. She promised she would use it to look after you, as William wanted nothing to do with you, because she had told him you were my son. But he wouldn’t let her leave, threatening to make her life a living hell if she left him. She promised me, Jasper, that she was leaving him, but she was just waiting for the right time. And I believed her because I wanted so badly for it to be true. This went on for three years. Your mother played me all those years, keeping me sated by allowing me to see you for the first year or so in secret. When she claimed it was too dangerous, she kept me sated by giving me pictures of you. But occasionally,” Jeremy pauses, looking ashamed. “Occasionally she kept me sated in other ways.”
No guessing how so.
“I was a fool,” Jeremy concludes.
“Three years?” Jasper gasps.
“I know it’s a long time, Jasper, but I knew what kind of man your father was, and your mother was that good—I fell for her empty lies.”
I have to bite my lip to stop a string of profanities flying her way.
Jeremy continues. “The whole time, your mother had no intention of leaving William. She was using the money I sent her to feed her and William’s gluttony. It took me three long years to realize this, but when I did, I had no other option but to hire the best lawyers in the country to work my case, and try to gain full custody of you. It took months, but finally, the day came when they told me I had a good case, as they discovered that William was not only an alcoholic, but also a drug user. Your mother had told me William had stopped drinking, and that he was clean. I am so sorry, Jasper. Only now do I know he was hurting you, and I’m so very sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
Jasper nods, his face contorting in pain.
“When you were three and a half, your mother came to see me, begging me to call off the lawyers as they were building a strong case against her. I told her no, absolutely not. I would fight for you until my last breath. She begged me, offered to sleep with me, she tried everything. But when none of her pleas worked anymore, she used something I could never say no to.”
Closing my eyes, I bite my lip because my heart is breaking.
“What?” Jasper asks, barely above a whisper.
“You.”
I can hear Danielle sob, and I know the only reason behind her tears is because Jasper is finally seeing her for what she really is. A heartless bitch.
“She went out to the car and came back with you. I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I hadn’t seen you in so long. You were perfect. But then Danielle… she asked you if you wanted to live with me. The look in your innocent eyes, that look will never leave me and will haunt me to my grave. You said no. You began crying when Danielle said you were going to live with me, and you would never see Stephen again. She was using you as collateral and it broke my heart. I couldn’t stand to see you in pain, so I agreed to grant her full custody, on the proviso that I could see you. She agreed, but she lied. I never saw you ever again after that.
“But I saw Danielle. She returned a few months later, begging me once again for money to help support you. I knew the money was to support her habit, as she no longer resembled the woman I fell in love with. I told her no, but your mother, Jasper,” he says, looking over at a sniveling Danielle. “She is a master manipulator and turned on the charm, and I fell for it—again. I’m so ashamed of myself for making the same mistake with her, time and time again. I mentioned the trust fund in a moment of weakness, and she wanted access to the money to buy you all the things she couldn’t afford. But there was no way I was giving her that money. I may have been in love with her, but I wasn’t blind.”
“I came to an agreement with her. You were to inherit the money on your twenty-fifth birthday. But if by chance you were to deny the funds, then your mother was entitled to all of it. If you hadn’t claimed the funds by your twenty-sixth birthday, then your mother was to become heir to one million dollars.”
Jasper’s mouth opens in disbelief, and I bet he never guessed the amount of money left to him was of such an astronomical figure.
Jeremy rubs his crinkled brow. “But there was a catch. She was only permitted the money if she told you about me. That’s why my lawyers stipulated that she needed your signature to release the funds over to her. If you wanted nothing to do with me or the money, then you were the one to sign it over to her.”
Jeremy meets my tear-stained eyes, giving me a gentle smile. “And she woul
d have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for Ava. She’s a smart young lady, Jasper. And she never lied to you. Your mother, however…” he says, giving her a pitiful look.
Danielle crumples onto the sofa near me, burying her head into her hands and sobbing loudly. Indie runs to her aid, wrapping her in a tight embrace, allowing her to cry her crocodile tears.
I don’t know what to do, so I get up, as I don’t feel an inch of pity for her.
Leaning up against the wall, I wrap my arms around myself, as I feel nauseous. Jeremy’s story the second time around, is just as painful as the first. I look at Jasper, who’s staring at the wall in front of him, blankly. I want more than anything to comfort him, but I know he needs time to process everything.
I watch Jeremy gaze at his son lovingly. The adoration he feels for Jasper is clear as day, and I can’t help the steady flow of tears that spill over my lashes, hitting my cheeks, as Jasper deserves at least one good parent in his life.
After a few minutes of silence, Jasper clears his throat.
“How could you leave her that money? After everything she did to you… how?” Jasper asks, trying to make sense of it all.
Funny, I asked the exact same thing.
Jeremy lowers his head in shame. “Because I loved her, Jasper. Deep down, I secretly hoped the young girl I fell in love with would do right by you and tell you about me. But I was wrong. I was a naïve fool. She never breathed a word to you about me, and pretended that pathetic excuse of a man was your father.”
Jasper runs a hand through his hair, his eyes searching his father’s. “How could you stop trying to see me? Fighting for me? When I was older, I could have made up my own mind,” he says, his voice breaking.
Jeremy nods and looks ashamed to admit his error. “I did try, Jasper. I tried and tried. But whenever the lawyers and I took a step forward, we then took three steps back, as taking a child away from his biological mother is not as easy as it sounds. The father doesn’t have a lot of rights, especially when he abandoned his child for the majority of his young life. I fought for you for so long, and then the day came when your mother told me you wanted nothing to do with me. She came to me with tears in her eyes, promising me that she had explained everything. But it didn’t matter; you didn’t want to know me. I wasn’t your father, and I never would be.”