Chasing His Rejected Wife
Chapter 39 -

Aiden's POV

"I promised to respect her final choice." My appetite was suddenly gone and I laid down my fork with a heavy sigh, my head aching at the thought of Jessica leaving me. "I suppose I'll just have to keep my word."

"But what about your child?" Elisa leaned forward, eyes wide in alarm. "What if she decides to take your baby away like she originally planned to do? What then? You're just going to let her walk away?"

"I'm hoping it won't come to that." I stood up, feeling restless and crossed to the window again. I thrust my hands in my pockets, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "But if she does decide to cut me out of the baby's life, frankly there's nothing I can do about it. And it'll be no less than what I deserve. But, like I said, I hope we can come to some arrangement where I can be a part of my child's life, however small that part might be."

This was something I'd been thinking about over the last couple of days. I wasn't stupidly delusional in thinking that Jessica would conveniently forget all the horrible things I'd done to her and come back to me with open arms. The lines I'd crossed were too much and too far to just overlook simply because I'd promised to change.

Hell, if I were in her shoes, I wouldn't choose me either. The fact that she'd given me this much of a chance was a testament to how good of a person she was. Different from her mother.

And I intended to use the next three months to show her that she would not regret it if she gave our marriage a second chance.

"Aiden!" Elisa gasped in shock. I heard the scarpe of a chair being moved and seconds later she stood by my side, a hand on my shoulder. "You don't mean that, do you?"

I turned my head to look at her. "I do."

"But..." She shook her head in disbelief. "Have you forgotten Julian's terms? Especially now that there's a child? If Jessica goes on with the divorce and takes the child with her, you'll lose Skylark."

My teeth set on edge at the mention of the contents of Julian's last message to me. The one he'd kept safely hidden in the safety deposit box Jessica had given to me on the day of Julian's funeral.

The box had contained a tablet, the only content saved on it was a video recording. I had watched it in mounting horror and disbelief, every word had sounded like a death knell in my heart.

Whatever last respect I held for the old man had vanished, replaced by a burning fury and disappointment. He had done something so horrible all those years ago, and had made Jessica and I pay for his mistakes. When he had confessed that he had lied when he'd told me, two years ago, that Jessica had been aware and complicit to the fact that her mother had blackmailed Julian for years, it had felt like the world I knew had just been pulled out from under my feet, leaving me in a black void of nothingness.

The meeting with White Memorial had just ended and I was about to leave the conference room with the hospital administrator, when my assistant handed me my phone.

If you're loving the book, nel5s.com is where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you!

"Mr. Holt is on the line." She explained in a low murmur as I took the phone. I nodded in understanding and held it up to my ear.

"Hold on a moment, will you, Vince?" I said unto the receiver. I heard a long suffering sigh from the other end of the line, stifled a smile and put the call on hold.

I motioned to Elisa, who had decided to attend the meeting with me and she nodded, rose and smoothly inserted herself next to the portly administrator.

"Would you like a tour before we leave for the hospital, Mr. Jolly?" She asked, steering the group towards the elevators. I knew she would keep him busy until I was through with my phone call and join them once more.

I settled back in my seat at the head of the long table and took the call off hold. "Hey, still there?"

After a short pause, Vincent replied. "I was just about to hang up, you bastard. Put me on hold one more time and I'll fucking delete your number."

I chuckled, unfazed by his threats. "Sorry, Princess, I had no idea you were so touchy. I was just wrapping up a meeting when you called."

He replied with a few choice filthy words that just made my mood lighten, a grin splitting my lips. In the background, I could hear the usual sounds that indicated he was at the hospital, which would explain his grumpiness. "So, what's up?" I asked, getting comfortable. I knew there had to be a reason he had called during working hours, especially if he too was at the hospital, otherwise he'd have just texted.

I heard him sigh at the other end. "I met up with Jessica this afternoon."

The grin slipped from my lips and I sat up straighter, my senses suddenly on alert. "What?"

"Yeah," Another sigh and I could easily picture him running his fingers through his hair, a habit the two of us seemed to adopt. "Listen, bro...I think it's way past time the two of you seat down and have a long, serious chat."

I narrowed my eyes, feeling too agitated to remain seated, I got up and began to pace. "What did she say to you? And how the hell did the two of you meet?" Far as I knew, even though Vincent had a soft spot for Jessica, he never actually went out of his way to seek her out or vice versa.

"She texted me last night and asked if we could meet." Vince explained and I felt my eyebrows shoot up in surprise. I'd been with her until around 2am last night, and she'd even gone to bed much earlier than that, claiming she was exhausted. So when had she sent him the text?

Unless, she hadn't actually been sleeping. Had she lain in bed, listening and waiting for me to leave? Maybe she'd claimed exhaustion to avoid having to spend time alone with me. The thought left a sour taste in my mouth, especially when I recalled how uncomfortable she had looked earlier today when I'd tried to touch her.

It didn't bode well for my hopes that she would choose to stay married.