Matt inwardly cursed the luck that made him run into Candace that afternoon as he returned to his hotel suite, where Gemima was waiting for him.
He didn't want to think about her. He didn't want to miss her, and he definitely didn't want to worry about whether or not she had seen Gemima kiss him.
Why did he keep feeling like calling her just to let her know there was nothing going on between him and Gemima? It wasn't like he was cheating on her. She had been the one who rejected him, so why did he have to feel guilty for trying to move on?
Perhaps he was going about moving on from her the wrong way. Matt mused as he opened the door and walked to the bedroom.
He paused by the doorway when he saw Gemima positioned sexily in the middle of the bed. She was dressed in a black fishnet teddy that reminded him of what Candace had been wearing the first night they met.
She was wearing high-heeled sandals and sipping from a glass of wine, "I've been waiting for you," she said with a sultry smile, and Matt sighed inwardly.
This was the reason he had asked her to join him, so why was he feeling so annoyed and irritated by it all now? Matt mused as he walked over to the table where she had left the bottle of sparkling wine and poured himself a glass.
"Are you alright?" Gemima asked as she got off the bed and approached the couch where he was now seated.
"Have you ever been in love, Gem?" Matt asked, and she looked at him with a blank expression for a moment before smiling at him.
"I'm not caught out for love, Matt. I've been beaten once, and now I'm twice shy. Why do you ask? Do you fancy yourself in love with me? Is that why you asked me over?" She asked, and Matt snorted.
"I'm in love with someone else. Not you. I'm trying to get over her. Hence I want to see if I can use you to keep my mind off her," Matt said, and Gemima's smile transformed into a scowl.
"That's not a nice thing to say to a lady," she said with disapproval as she set down her wineglass.
"You don't expect me to be nice to you, do you? Not after you approached me on purpose, wanting to get involved with me only so you could create a scandal to promote yourself," Matt said, and she sighed.
"I had to do what I needed to climb the ladder of success. I'm sorry you got hurt but don't forget that things were good between us. All you had to do was ignore the fact that the scandal was deliberate," she said defensively.
"In exchange for having great sex with you, all I had to do was let you ride on my coattail," Matt said with a nod.
"It wasn't a bad deal, was it?" Gemima asked softly as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It wouldn't have been if I didn't find out the truth. I'm not getting back with you, Gem. All I need is your company. And it's going to be on my own terms," Matt said, and Gemima sighed.
"Alright. So, who is she? Is she a celebrity? What is she like? Why are you trying to forget about her?" Gemima asked as she took off her sandals since it was obvious that Matt wasn't in the mood to be seduced.
"She isn't a celebrity, and she doesn't want to get involved with me," Matt said, and she looked at him incredulously.
"Is she crazy? Why would she not want to get involved with a Mr nice guy like you?" Gemima asked, and this time Matt laughed easily.
"I said I don't want to think about her, Gem. You are supposed to be taking my mind off her, not talking about her," Matt said, and Gemima moved closer to him and rested her head on his chest.
"I have no idea how I'm supposed to do that. Do you want us to have great sex?" She offered, and Matt smiled.
"I like you a lot, Gem."
"I know. And I like you too. And if it makes any difference, I really regretted using you the way I did," Gemima said softly.
"It's fine. I've forgiven you for it. You taught me not to get involved with celebrities," Matt said, and she sighed.
"Do you really plan to give up on the girl? I mean, if you love her, shouldn't you try to get her? Maybe if you tell me about her, I can help you," She offered, and Matt groaned.
"I don't need your help, Gem. Especially not after she must have seen you kissing me. Now, can you not talk about her? I really don't want to think about her. Seeing her today was bad enough," Matt pleaded, and even though his statement only made her more curious, she decided not to press.
"Okay. Let's just drink, gossip, and have great sex then," she suggested as she refilled her wineglass and clinked it with his.
Away from there, Sara paced around her hotel room with her phone pressed against her ear as she listened to Amos.
"Are you sure about that?" She asked, her heart beating excitedly as she listened to Amos.
"Yes. I received a visit from one of the sisters at the orphanage home. They called asking for Jade, and I attended to them," Amos said excitedly.
"And they told you they've been able to locate my daughter?" Sara asked, trying not to sound too eager.
"Yes. They gave me her phone details and home address. I haven't called her yet. I wanted to report to you before doing that. And I heard she is over there in Ludus. You are still in Ludus, right?" Amos asked, and Sara thanked her good luck since her flight was supposed to leave in two hours.
"Yes. I'm in Ludus. Send me everything you have on her, and I will reach out to her myself," Sara said before hanging up.
She was glad that despite the fact that she had started the day on a bad note with the useless news about her and Harry, she was going to be ending it on a brighter note.
She was curious to see her daughter and find out what she had made of herself. Was she as successful as Harry? Did she look just like her? Was she as bold and driven as she was? Sara mused.
She turned to the door when she remembered her assistant was still standing there, "Cancel our flight. We won't be leaving today as planned," Sara instructed as she walked over to look outside the window of her hotel.
Sara enjoyed watching the comings and goings of strangers. Especially those who were beneath her, and we're struggling to make a living. It made her feel powerful and successful.
Maybe things would have been better for her had Aaron not bounced back. Had he been poor and Harry been broke, she wouldn't have had to do too much.
Well, she hoped her daughter wasn't doing so well for herself. She would like to sweep the girl off her feet and fly off with her to get her surgery so she can also get rid of her before Aaron or Harry gets wind of her existence.
She looked at her phone when it vibrated with a text message notification, and she clicked on it.
Well, it did seem like the girl wasn't doing so well for herself, Sara thought with a satisfied smile when she saw the home address, which wasn't situated in an upscale area.
A couple of minutes later, Sara was comfortably seated in the rental car and on her way to pay her daughter a visit.
She had it all planned out in her head. She was going to take the girl for a DNA and blood test and then spend the next couple of days fraternizing with the girl while waiting for the result to be out.
She would do her best to win her heart, and once she was certain the girl was her daughter and the girl was a match, she would convince her to donate part of her liver to her, and in exchange, she would be the one to inherit all she owned.
Of course, she knew that the poor girl would be very willing to do that. If she agreed, they would get the surgery done, and afterward, she would get rid of the girl.
If she refused, she would just have to get the liver harvested by other means and still get rid of her.
Sara snapped out of her thoughts when the car rolled to a stop, and her assistant turned to her, "We are here."
Sara rolled down the window and looked at the neighborhood, which looked like a place where druggies and hoodlums lived.
"Wait in the car," Sara said as she got out of the car and headed to the area where a group of young people was gathered, chattering.
"Hello!" Sara greeted with a pleasant smile meant for those beneath her.
Everyone ignored her and continued talking as though they had not heard her voice, "Please excuse me," Sara repeated, the pleasantness gradually seeping out of her smile.
"I'm here to see Crystal. Do you know where I can find her?" Sara asked, and this time everyone stopped talking, and all eyes turned to her.
"Why? Did she cause you any trouble?" One of the ladies asked.
So Crystal was a troublemaker? Sara mused.
"Not at all. Can you point me in her direction?" Sara asked, and the lady smiled.
"I'm Crystal," she announced, and the others laughed while Sara took a closer look at her.
There wasn't much resemblance between them. She did have brown eyes and gold curly hair, but that was as far as the resemblance went where she was concerned.
What had she expected? That the girl would be the spitting image of her? Of course not! Her beauty was unmatched.
Her daughter was nowhere halfway as beautiful as she was. Not even a daughter of hers could compete with her on that. Sara thought with a smirk.
While Sara assessed her, Crystal decided on the spot that she didn't like Sara. She recognized the haughty look on Sara's face. She knew people like Sara who thought that they were better than everyone else.
And that smirk on her face, whatever it was she was finding amusing, the joke would be on her at the end of the day.
She could understand why Harry and Candace would want to do something like this to her, and she would enjoy nothing more than to rip the woman off her money, Crystal thought as she tried to maintain a curious and confused face as she stared at Sara.
"Well? Are you going to stare at me all day, ma'am? When do you intend to state the purpose of your visit?" Crystal asked rudely, still acting like she had no idea who Sara was.
"Oh! I'm sorry. Is there someplace decent around here where we can sit down?" Sara asked, and the others with Crystal snickered since they all shared a common dislike for haughty rich folks.
"Depends on what we are sitting down to talk about," Crystal said and then turned to her friends.
"I'll be right back," she told them as she led Sara away.
"Who are you? And what do you want?" Crystal asked after they had put a distance between them and her friends.
Sara took a deep breath, "My name is Sara Walker. Did you grow up in an orphanage home? Sacred Heart, to be precise?"
"What's that got to do with you? Everyone knows I'm an orphan. It isn't news. Since you're obviously not here for business, we have nothing to talk about," Crystal said and turned to leave, but Sara grabbed her hand.
"I think you are my daughter. I'm your mother!" Sara announced.
Crystal turned to look at her with disdain, "You think, or you know? Don't come here spitting shit, ma'am! I'm an orphan. I've always been one. I have no reason to believe you're my mother, and even if it turned out to be true, I have no intention of accepting you in my life after living as an orphan all these years, so scram!" Crystal hissed at her as she jerked off her hand, leaving a perplexed Sara. She hadn't anticipated such a reaction.
This was only a temporary setback. And she had been wrong to come without a gift. She would go shopping tomorrow and surprise Crystal with gifts that she wouldn't be able to reject. Sara decided as she headed for her car.
Crystal had a smug smile on her face as she walked back to join her friends.
Silly woman. If she thought this was going to be easy for her, she had another thought coming. If Sara was anything like Harry had made her believe, then she was going to enjoy playing this game with her.
eaglesnovɐ1,сoМ Harry had said Sara could be dangerous? Well, they had no idea what she was capable of herself. If only they knew.
Crystal waited until Sara's car had disappeared before walking away from her friends to dial Harry's line.
"Game on. Sara just left here."
"How did it go?" Harry asked as he headed out of his office in a hurry to go home so he could freshen up and go pick Jade up for their date.
"It was smooth," Crystal said with a sly smile.
"You can't make any mistakes. And don't forget that you can't have my number saved on your phone or call me randomly," Harry reminded her.
"You have nothing to worry about," Crystal promised.