Twenty Six
JANIS’ POV
I straddled Jerome in my hands, planting kisses all over his face whilst he giggled and tittered repeatedly.
I didn’t know how long I had been in here with him but I was too scared to walk out of the room. I just want Jerome to be by my side at all times like this.
I wanted to hold him in my hands and kiss him daily whilst assuring him of my protection and desire to keep him.
I wanted Jerome to know how much I loved him. I can’t let Jax have his way and separate me from my son.
The fear of loosing Jerome to Jax was so terrifying that I could not even drop Jerome down for a nano-second .
I was too mortified whenever I recounted Jax’s threat. He wasn’t bluffing and neither was he going to back down.
I can’t afford to loose this battle.
Never.
A rapid knock on the door startled me and had the hairs on my body standing. My breathing hitched in my throat and my heart skipped a beat.
Could it be Jax.
No.. absolutely not. I waved the thought off. He wouldn’t come here so quick and unannounced.
I stood up with jelly feet from the bed and hauled Jerome more tighter towards my chest.
“Who is that?” I questioned with apprehension before going over to the door.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
“It’s Stravis. Open up now” came the vain reply of my younger sister.
I rolled my eyes with a huff. What the fuck does she want now?
Sighing, I went over to unlock the door for Stravis before ambling towards the bed.
Laying a playing Jerome on the bed, I turned my attention to Stravis.
“I can see you’ve been worried sick and crying” Stravis tried to stifle in a chuckle but it still escaped her lips and she laughed out at me.
“What do you want?” I asked with a frown morphing on my face.
“Just to check up on you and see how you’ve been faring” she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Since when did you start checking up on me and start caring? Because I know you care about nobody else but your fucking self” I scoffed with a disparaging smile on my lips.
“Just fucking leave. I want to be by myself” I added.
Stravis chuckled darkly and nodded. “Of course you know me so well. Well don’t think I am concerned about your predicament because I am not. The only reason I’m here because mum forced me to come not because I care about what’s going on in your life. I don’t give two fucks”
“Ofcourse I knew you would never be considerate and empathetic to other people’s pain” I scoffed at her and diverted my eyes back to Jerome.
“Well you’ve seen how I’m faring right now so can you just leave Stravis? I want to be alone with my son” I requested in a much more serious tone.
Silence raided the atmosphere for a while before Stravis began laughing hysterically.
My brows pulled in confusion as I watched her laugh. What is funny?
“Why are you laughing?” I asked irritated at her.
Stravis tried calming down her laughter before sighing and shaking her head at me.
“You are so pathetic Janis” she smiled maniacally.
I was taken aback by her statement and I felt triggered and angered. “Excuse me?” I begged to differ.
“You heard me well dear sister. You are so pathetic. Like I can’t believe you went to sleep with a low life uber driver…” Stravis began in such an acrimonious tone.
“And so? Is my personal life and choices your concern? Atleast I have people who want to be by myside unlike you. You’ve literally chased everyone away with your disgusting character. Nobody wants to even pretend to be your friend” I retorted back causing Stravis to glare at me.
She stayed silent for a while, probably thinking of a comeback before speaking again.
“Atleast I didn’t sleep with a lower class man. I have dignity and self respect. I can’t be seen amongst people of the lower class because I know the sort of prestige my family carries and I would not want to taint the picture of this family. But you Janis? You had and you still have no fucking shame” Stravis spat and mocked me.
I was hot under my collar and my knuckles balled up as I listened to her belittling speech.
“Like out of all the rich and wealthy men in this city, you chose an uber driver, a pauper to sleep with. You carry yourself around like some sort of queen yet you act so disgracefully. Didn’t you think of the consequences of your actions before allowing that low life fuck you? You want to drag the family’s name to shame and turn us into a laughing stock but I won’t let you. I suggest you don’t show yourself anywhere near the premises of the company”
“And why is that? Who gave you the right to make such decisions concerning me?! Have you forgotten I’m also your elder sister?!” I instantly bolted up from the bed in anger, fuming with anger and giving her dagger glares.
“It’s not about who gave me the authority or who is the oldest between us. This is common sense and this is the practical thing that any sensible human would do!” Stravis shot back.
“Are you insulting my intelligence? Huh? Stravis you are far too high handed and you are really crossing the line here!” I yelled, the veins in my neck throbbing.
“If you show up in that company you would taint the imagine Janis can’t you see it! This prestigious image the Walter corporations have struggled to build and maintain over the years, your fucking scandal would destroy it and taint the reputable image of the company. The media would carry it and the paparazzi would pokenose in it. You won’t leave their tongues for days or even months to come. And as the CEO, it would be such a huge mess for me to clean up”
On hearing her lost words, I erupted into fits of laughter.
“And who made you the CEO Stravis?” I raised her a brow whilst taking predatorial steps towards her.
Stravis stood silent, unwilling to answer.
“You really have big plans for yourself in my company don’t you?” I asked rhetorically laying emphasis on the ‘my company’ as I spoke.
In a flick, the laugh lines vanished from my facial features and my face became doused in anger.
“Now let me make one thing clear to you…” I began with such a stern and serious expression.
“I am the CEO of this company. This is my company not yours. You would never be the CEO of my company so I suggest you clear off whatever fucking idea you have of yourself replacing me in that company because it will not work”
Stravis was livid with anger as I spoke and put her to her place–which was beneath my feet.
“You are just an ordinary manager thanks to my mercy so get that into your damn head. I would be resuming my office very soon because I can’t sit and watch you act like you own the business. You do not and the only right, power and position you have there is that off being a common manager!”
“You better focus all your precious time and power on trying to keep Jax away from Jerome. Worry about fighting for the custody of Jerome because Jax is so keen on getting him back and leave the handling of the company to me else you would regret it. You don’t want to loose your precious son to Jax do you?” Stravis gave an uncanny smile before pivoting and walking out on me.
Fuck. This girl was so much getting on my nerves these days. If she wasn’t my sister, I would have dealt with her brutally.
First was insulting Jax and making him hate me more then she comes to my room and mocks me. To add to it all she even ordered me not to step foot in my company.
Who gave her that right!? I will deal with her later but not now.
I had more pressing matters to attend to.
I had to think of a plan to keep Jax away from Jerome and win this battle against him.
*******
The blue sky turned into a dark windy night as the moon shun brightly on the surface of the earth.
I and Stravis walked down the stairs and towards the dinning area of the house.
We walked in silence but our silence spoke millions. Whilst my mind rummaged on how to outwit Jax in his devious plan, Stravis probably thought of how to assume the position of the CEO in my company.
Earlier on, our parents summoned us for a dinner meeting to discuss and gain knowledge of our welfare. With a beaming smile my mum stood up from the dinner table, walked over to us and embraced us gracefully.
“How are you doing Janis?” she asked cheerfully.
“I’m fine mum” I replied whilst reciprocating that same infections smile she had on her face.
“Stravis how about you? I hope you kept Janis company” she turned to Stravis and embraced her.
“I did” Stravis replied coldly.
We embraced dad as well as it was a ritual during dinner. After the greetings we sat at the dinning where our foods were already served.
The table was quiet as we all dug into our dinner.
“So Janis what exactly did Jax say to you?” mum asked whilst leaving her gaze on me.
She paid rapt attention to my every word as I began to give a brief summary of the whole issue.
“Don’t you think you should give Jax the chance to explain himself to you? I mean there has to be a reason he is so keen on taking Jerome from you, from us” Mum suggested.
“He doesn’t even want to listen to me, he had already said he would take his son without having me in his way. He would stop at nothing even if it means taking down our family” my voice became shaky and my eyes almost teary. Recalling the threats made me emotional.
“Don’t worry okay? I think we need to talk to him, heart to heart you know. I’ll speak to Jax myself, maybe a visit too” Mum assured.
“Really?” I asked. I was happy to see the unending support they gave. My parents are going to back me up and Jax won’t win the case.
Stravis chuckled as she ate her dinner, her attitude annoyed me to the core but I chose to ignore. She was the least of my problems. I just wanted my son safe with me by my side at all times.
“Yes and if he is still so bent on carrying out his plans to take Jerome, then we would fight back. I’ll hire one of the best lawyers and take the case to court” Dad added.
“One way or the other, either by peaceful resolution or by going to court, we will keep Jerome” Mum uttered confidently.
My eyes filled with tears listening to their unwavering support for me. Hapiness saturated all over my face and I felt this resurge of hope within me.
Jax won’t take my son away from me. He will never win.