by T. R. Iyer
“Oh, Mom, I’d love to, but I just don’t have it in me right now to talk and act like I’m okay. I am sorry.” She couldn’t fight back the tears as they started rolling down her face. She didn’t want to sound rude or ungrateful; she just wanted some time to take a breather and gather herself.
“No, no, love. Come here.” Ana hugged her daughter and rubbed her back as she sobbed her heart out. “I am so tired and so lonely, Mom. What did I ever do to deserve such treatment?”
“You haven’t done anything wrong, Ornelia Dawson. Never think that you were responsible for the way that man treated you. You’re an angel, and anyone would be lucky to have you.” Her mother wiped her eyes and kissed her forehead. “Now go on and get some rest.”
Ornelia gladly obliged.
She walked to her bedroom and crashed into her bed. After an agonizing day, all she wanted was some sleep and maybe a warm bath. She still had to call Emily and tell her everything, but that could be done later.
Emily and Jake had moved to London to work with Jake’s father. Both her friends had gotten ahead in their lives, while there she was, still unemployed. She’d tried for different places for four months, but all her efforts were in vain. No one was hiring. To kill time, she took a few short courses. At least she had those certificates to validate herself of her productivity.
Everything had been miserable. She had no one to talk to, and she felt like she’d drifted away from both her friends. They barely spoke to each other, but she didn’t want to tell her parents about that, as it would only make them worry more. They were guilty about things as they had been, and whenever her father blamed himself, it broke her heart. She knew he was only doing what he thought was right at that time. He hadn’t known he would bash into the Kings.
With all those thoughts running wild, she closed her eyes and finally gave in to her exhausted body’s need to shut down.
I am never going to see him again.
Chapter Twelve
Ornelia was sitting at her desk, going through the history of her next client.
It had been four years since that day, the last time she saw him. Her mother and father couldn’t believe their ears that someone so rich and popular would ever act the way he had (but then again, being rich and popular doesn’t make anyone a better person).
She was at fault too. If only she hadn’t given in, things would have ended differently. However, buts and what-ifs would not give her definite answers anyway.
Ornelia had stayed with her parents for a few weeks before a great opportunity presented itself at her doorstep in the form of Emily.
Emily and Jake had successfully set up a mental health clinic in London with Jake’s father’s help, and they were looking for therapists and psychologists. Ornelia had applied for a postgraduate program in one of the finest schools in London.
She was now a therapist, on her way to becoming a psychologist. She had achieved the second goal from her plan of action. Even if it took her a little while—with all the obstacles that came along her way—she was proud of where she was as a person, and career-wise.
Jake and Emily had been with her each day after she came to London. They’d helped her find a place to stay in and even helped her pay the rent for the first few months when she struggled with job and school.
Ornelia was eternally grateful that they showed up in her life when she needed someone the most. They became her family in London, and she loved them as much as they loved her, if not more. The couple had a hush-hush wedding back home in California.
“Emily, hi. Do I have any more clients for the day?” Ornelia asked her friend, who now handled all the appointments and administration in the clinic.
“Hi, Nell. Nope. You’re done for the day, although we have an investor meeting in fifteen minutes. Do you wanna join?” Emily asked, gesturing to the conference room.
“Investor meeting? Who’s investing?” Nella queried, curious about this new investor. She knew Jake had been looking for an investor for almost a year to expand the business. She was happy someone finally agreed to invest in their little clinic.
“Jake won’t tell me. Seems fishy, but I am not pushing it,” Emily said.
“Alright. No harm in attending the meeting, right?” Nella smiled as both of them made their way to get a cup of coffee.
There she was—in her black pencil skirt, pale pink shirt, and four-inch peep-toe heels. Her hair was up in an elegant bun, some naughty tendrils gracing her face. Maximus had to stop himself from going toward her although he’d longed to embrace her and hold her tightly so that she would never leave again.
He had somehow managed to get through with Jake to let him invest in his clinic. As adamant as Jake was about protecting his friend, he was also in need of the investment Maximus and Ethan could give him.
He stood there, looking at his gorgeous wife through the one-way glass wall of the conference room. The divorce that he’d promised her never made its way, although Ornelia made it clear that she didn’t want anything to do with him when she sent him the papers a year later.
Max knew he’d made a mistake that night. He was too quick to judge her. He believed that those women who came from poverty were after only his money. Well, Ornelia didn’t exactly come from poverty, but given the circumstances, he had assumed they weren’t very well-off either.
He had wronged her, but he was ready to grovel to correct his mistakes and ask for her forgiveness. He was a better man now. Maybe four years was too late, but he was there for his wife, to treat her right. He wanted her in his life, and he just had to convince her of that.
Chapter Thirteen
“You,” Ornelia murmured. She grew pale, her breathing becoming shallow. This was like the day her parents announced she was going to be married off, exactly like that—the same feelings, the same face.
“Hello to you, Ornelia,” Maximus said, carrying around that handsomeness he always had with that same ease. He still reminded her of the horse though.
“What are you doing here?” Nella finally mustered the courage to ask.
Why is he here? Doesn’t he know he is not welcomed?
“Investing,” he replied.
Ornelia turned to look at a guilt–stricken Jake and a furious Emily. She turned back to look at Maximus. He had an annoying smirk perched on his tempting lips. Ornelia caught herself before her mind went any further on Maximus’s tempting trip.
“Well, looks like we don’t need your investments, Maximus. I am sure Jake can find some other investor for us,” Emily spit out, still glaring at Jake and Maximus.
“Too bad, I’ve already invested. No takebacks.” Maximus passed the snarky remark.
“Jake, give his money back right now. We don’t need it!” Emily was now yelling at the top of her lungs.
Ornelia thought that was the right time to intervene.
“Guys, stop it. Maximus, can you give us a moment, please?” she requested.
Maximus shrugged and made a move to stand outside the conference room. As soon as he closed the door behind him, Emily was ready to pounce on Jake for his insolence.
Ornelia had to step in and let them know her opinion about the situation. “Guys, enough. Stop it, you two. I need to let you know how I feel about this. Please, sit down.”
Jake and Emily sat as far as they could from each other. Jake was still sulking, while Emily was looking daggers at him.
“I see you have gotten my ex-husband in front of me, Jake,” Ornelia began, as Jake sank more into his chair. He didn’t have any words to say. “But I also understand how important this clinic is for you,” she continued.
Emily was ready to jump in and comfort her. Ornelia lifted her hand up to stop her.
“No, Emily, it’s okay. Jake, you made the right choice as an owner. As a friend, maybe not. As your employee, I am very happy for you, but as a friend, I want to punch you.”
Ornelia playfully punched him on his arm and then gestured Emily— who by the way was still poutin
g—to also come closer.
“Come on, you guys. At least give me a hug.”
They went for a group hug when Maximus peeked into the room through the door.
“If you are done with your mushy bullsh*t, I have some plans that need to be discussed with Jake.” Emily shot another glare at Maximus as they made their way out.
Ornelia gave him a short, cordial smile when he grabbed hold of her hand.
“Ornelia, would you like to get a cup of coffee someday?” Maximus asked, his hand still holding her wrist, the other in his pocket.
She was taken aback by his audacity.
She composed herself quickly and freed her hand from his. She shot him the fakest smile she could muster up. “No, thanks. I have work to do. Bye-bye.”
Maximus King was not going to ruin her life again. He was not going to show up out of nowhere and try to instantly get friendly with her. She was not going to let that happen.
He can take his horse shit somewhere else. Get it? Horse shit, because Maximus, the horse? No, never mind.
She had other things to worry about. She could work on her pun game later on. She had other priorities—her clients including young children—who needed her help and needed her to be attentive at all times. Besides, she had someone special in her life that she dearly loved and cared for. She was not going to let him ruin that, not now, not ever.
Maximus King can go kiss up a horse’s ass. Hah! Get it now? No? Hmmph.
Maximus knew what her reaction was going to be when he asked her to have coffee with him. He didn’t expect anything different, yet it felt like a thorn piercing through his heart. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to get her to go out with him, given the fact that their last encounter wasn’t really filled with rose petals and candle-lit dinners. However, he wanted to do it the right way this time around. He wanted to court her and gain her trust. He knew he had been an assh*le to her, but he was ready to make things right. That had to count as something, right? He tried.
***
He made his way to his penthouse suite, which was an epitome of luxury, after discussing the expansion plans with Jake. One thing had changed about him after Ornelia left him was his need to chase money.
He saw her expensive wedding band (he’d always had it with him) on his night table. He realized what an idiot he’d been. Any other women would have simply taken the ring and sold it, but not Ornelia. She had time, and again, made it clear that she didn’t want his money, yet his stubborn heart and mind refused to believe her.
The credit card that was in her name, the one he’d left with his housekeeper for her expenses, remained untouched. Maximus only came to know about this when he asked his accountant to check all his cards and how much was used. To his surprise, his wife had not spent a single penny from it.
His trust issues and opinions had gotten the better of him, but not again. This time he trusted her, and he wanted her to trust him just as much as he did. He knew it was going to take time, but he was ready to invest that much in her, in their relationship.
He wanted her. Maximus wanted Ornelia.
Chapter Fourteen
It had been an exhausting day. Ornelia was aching to go home, relax, have dinner, and give her darling some loving.
Seeing Maximus had been a surprise she wasn’t expecting. She wasn’t sure if it was a good surprise. She felt threatened by his presence. His being in London and so close to her posed a huge threat to whatever walls she’d built up around herself. Her life there was very private, and she would have liked to keep it that way.
“Kaykay, baby, I am home,” Ornelia called out as she entered her small apartment.
Her place wasn’t that big, but it was enough for the two of them. She’d learned how to maintain a low profile and live a minimalist lifestyle. Her living room had a coffee table, a couch, and a television set. The kitchen was small but equipped. The bedrooms were cozy and painted with warm colors. She loved her new life and her apartment.
Ornelia was met by her neighbor in the living room. “Sofia, hey. How are you today?”
“Oh, finally you’re home. Our day was pretty normal. We didn’t do much. Just watched some shows. That’s all,” Sofia replied.
Meanwhile Nella heard little feet thudding on the carpeted floor.
“Mommy, Mommy here,” her handsome little man exclaimed out joy, as he wrapped his small hands around her legs.
“Were you naughty today, Kayden? Did you cause any trouble to Sofia?” she asked a little sternly.
The little actor’s eyes glistened as he started confessing what he had done throughout the day to the best of his ability, given his limited three-year-old vocabulary.
“Mommy, I cuz no twebble. I just wun cuz showu noo.”
“Did you run away because you didn’t want to shower? What have I told you about showering, baby? We have to, even if we don’t like it, or else we can have germs crawling on us. Do we want that to happen to us?”
He just bowed his head and shook it twice.
“Are we going to apologize to Sofia and tell her we’ll shower and scrub properly from tomorrow?” Ornelia urged Kayden to speak to Sofia.
“Swowy, Sofi. I showu next time,” he said while hugging Sofia.
Sofia patted his head and gave him a little peck on his cheek.
“He is, honestly, the loveliest boy I have ever met. I’ll see you soon. Good night. Good night, Kaybu.” Sofia made her way to her apartment, opposite their own.
Kayden was her little bundle of joy, her sweet three-year-old son—the love of her life. When she first came to London and was living with Emily, she found out that she was pregnant, and her pregnancy had complications. Kayden was a miracle baby.
When she was on her twenty-sixth week of pregnancy, she had an intuition that something was wrong, so she immediately booked an appointment with her ob-gyn. They figured that the baby had a nuchal cord. Dr. Patrick told her that it was difficult to detect such even through an ultrasound, and as to whether it posed a risk to the baby, they couldn’t tell. He said that she did not have to worry too much because in most cases, the cord would unravel before birth. However, Ornelia could not help it. She got worked up and often lost sleep, feeling anxious all the time.
Eight weeks before her baby was supposed to be due, Ornelia went into labor because of obvious distress. A fetal heart rate monitoring was done and showed that her baby had a dipping heart rate. The doctor and his staff suspected a tight nuchal cord—which added to her distress. It was a serious emergency, so an immediate C-section was ordered.
Dr. Patrick had come as an angel in her life, and she was beyond grateful to him for saving her child.
They had kept Kayden in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for a while, until he was healthy enough. He was much smaller compared to other babies then. Ornelia had promised herself she would protect this miracle with all her might and grit.
She sighed, as she remembered all she had gone through for her son. She wasn’t about to let Maximus King waltz in her life as he pleased and disrupt everything. Maybe she was being selfish since Kayden was also his son, but she just wanted to protect him from the bitterness his father came with. She’d vowed she would give Kayden a very normal life. She wouldn’t let Maximus hurt him like he had hurt her before.
“What do you want for dinner, sweet child?” she asked her son. She picked him and carried him to the kitchen. She sat him down on the counter before she rummaged through her fridge.
“Spaghetti or mac and cheese?”
“Spaghetti wiz meatbaws, pwease!” Kayden exclaimed as Ornelia started making dinner.
This was her life now, and there was no place for a man in it.
Chapter Fifteen
The alarm went off. It was 9 AM, not that it mattered. Ornelia was already up before the alarm rang. She’d woken up at 7 AM. An early-morning start gave her enough time to work out and prepare Kayden’s breakfast and lunch.
She shut off the alarm and shook Kayden a little
. He was an alert sleeper just like her. He would wake up as soon as his name was called.
Kayden slowly climbed into her arms, his eyes still closed. She carried him to the bathroom to get his teeth brushed and give him a bath. Her baby boy was a water baby. He enjoyed bathing and playing in the bathtub. But he also had his days, where he’d just refuse to enter the bathroom.
She quickly dried him off and dressed him for school. She had to drop him at his school since Sofia had some work she needed to tend to. Usually Sofia would pick him up after breakfast and drop him. She also picked him up and stayed with him until Ornelia could make it home. She had been a great help since the very beginning. Sofia was a few years older than her, and the woman loved her son as her own. Ornelia couldn’t ask anything more from her.
“Whew’s Sofi?” Kayden asked while stuffing his mouth with the pancakes.
“Sofi has work, baby. Mommy will be dropping you at school today. Is that okay?” Ornelia asked while packing his tiny school bag. She packed him a small lunch box full with fruits and a small bottle of water.
“Mhm,” he replied as he climbed down from his high chair and stood on his toes to get his plate on the table. Ornelia followed him to the kitchen to pull the stool out under the sink so that he could climb on it and put the dish in the sink. Once he was done, he quickly washed his hands and jumped off the stool, beaming up at her as he held her hand, ready to go to school.
Thankfully, Kayden was a no-fuss child. He liked going to school and barely cried. He made things easier for her, always.
Ornelia quickly dropped him off at the school before making her way to the clinic. Her first appointment wasn’t until eleven, but she hoped to catch up a little with Emily. They hadn’t gotten a chance to talk about the previous day’s events, and she looked forward to chatting with her for some while.