Chapter 7″ New life
Hours later, the plane finally landed on the soil of Whitpalm City and Tessa let out a sigh of relief.
It was only when she got down from the plane that reality sank in.
“I’ve really left. I’ll never see Aaron again.”
A wave of pain rippled through her heart. It surely wasn’t easy to leave someone she’s loved for two years. Unlike him, she had true feelings for him and she didn’t expect to get rid of them overnight. It will hurt… for a long time.
She made to walk forward when she suddenly swayed on her feet and a pair of manly arms held her, preventing her from making an embarrassing fall.
She looked up and found herself looking into a pair of golden-brown eyes.
Harry had rushed to her aid just now.
“Careful,” he murmured, his voice raspy.
Tessa blinked several times and straightened herself up hastily. Glancing at Harry she awkwardly said, “Thank you.”
She then caught up to her mother who gave her a knowing smile. “Tell me the truth, Tessa. Is he your boyfriend?”
Tessa’s eyes grew bigger than dinner plates at her mother’s insinuation.
“Not at all! I don’t even know him, Mom. He’s just a good samaritan.”
In the meantime, Harry’s lips twitched when he heard what Tessa labelled him as.
‘A good samaritan? He sneered silently. ‘Oh, baby girl, you have no idea.’ .
He glanced at his hands and rubbed them, recalling how an odd sensation rushed through him when he held Tessa just now. It was as if he could still feel the softness of her skin on his palms.
His eyes trailed to her frame and something flickered through them. She didn’t really look like his sister. In fact, apart from the hair and colour of their eyes, there was nothing similar about them.
Where his sister was proud and obnoxious, Tessa was kind and humble.
Aaron didn’t know he had a gem with him. But since Harry’s sister’s happiness was at stake, he had to do
everything in his power to make sure Aaron never sets his sight on Tessa again.
A thought flashed through his mind and he smirked as he followed the two women. ‘I think I can work from Whitpalm City for a while.”
Tessa’s eyes widened when Harry took them to an apartment he had leased for them. It was a simple modern three-bedroom apartment but it looked expensive.
She turned to face the man and shook her head. “This is too much, Mr Winston. A one-bedroom house will do
for us.”
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Harry was already helping a great deal. She didn’t want to owe him a lot.
“Don’t worry about it. Everyone in the program has an apartment like this. And please, Tessa, call me Harry,” Harry stated, flashing her his killer smile and she felt her ears burn.
Why did she suddenly feel like Harry was being more than friendly to her? Still, she bit her lower lip and looked around the apartment.
“I still think-”
“Tessa, the gentleman said this apartment is part of the program. Don’t make it difficult for him,” Elena suddenly said, advising her daughter.
After all, she wasn’t born yesterday. She could tell that this handsome and rich man was interested in her daughter so she wanted to give her a hand.
She might die soon if the clinical trials don’t go well so it would be better if she knew her daughter was in good hands.
Oblivious to her mother’s thoughts, Tessa sighed and nodded. “Ok. Since you like it, Mom. We can stay.”
Harry was quick to take their luggage to the rooms and when he came back, he told them there was food in the kitchen and they could cook or order something.
“Why don’t you stay for dinner, Harry?” Elena cheerily offered, making Tessa internally groan.
“Mr Winston has somewhere to be, Mom.”
However, Harry smiled and went to sit on the couch. “Actually, I’m free tonight. I would love to stay for dinner, Mrs Hilton. Thank you,” he then glanced at Tessa and said, “I said you can call me Harry. We shall be more like family since we will be seeing each other often.”
An hour later, they were all seated at the dining table when Tessa suddenly retched when she grabbed the bowl of fish.
She frowned and pushed it away from her. “Mom, didn’t you notice that this fish had gone bad? It smells so horrible!”
Elena’s smile froze. She stared at her daughter and then at the innocent bowl of fish which smelled normal to her. Her eyebrows creased as she fell deep in thought.
“I must have missed the scent since my sense of smell has become worse lately. You can try the beef instead. Here, I cooked your favourite. It’s liver-”
“Oh, my G o d!” Tessa retched violently and pushed her chair back, clamping a hand over her mouth and rushed to the bathroom where she vomited everything that was in her stomach.
Elena’s hand that was holding the bowl of liver was still frozen in the air as a sense of dread washed over her.
Her eyebrows creased. ‘These symptoms… is she…”
She awkwardly glanced at Harry and forced a smile. “She must have eaten something bad on the plane.” (1
Harry did not respond. He had an inkling of what could be wrong with Tessa and he was so irritated that he
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wanted to lash out. But his aim was to keep the family in Whitpalm so he kept calm.
He couldn’t afford to make a wrong move, lest she goes running back to Aaron and destroys his sister’s plans.
Meanwhile, Tessa’s stomach was in a knot when she was done vomiting and had cleaned her mouth. She made calculations in her head and realised she had missed her period for a week.
She also recalled how Aaron had told her to get plan B pills but she was so disorientated after he dumped her that it slipped her mind.
Her heart sank deeper and deeper into the pits of her stomach. She hoped what she was thinking wasn’t true.
But her hope was crushed when she took a pregnancy test the following day and found that, indeed, she was pregnant with Aaron’s baby. 1
Back at Ashford City.
“What the heck is wrong with you man, you look like death!” Tony Hendrix, one of Aaron’s friends asked the moment Aaron walked into the private room looking like he had just lost his world.
Aaron had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. He had spent the last month searching high and low for Tessa.
He didn’t even know why he was looking for her but he felt uncomfortable that she left just like that. He let go of her knowing she would always be at his apartment and under his protection. What he didn’t expect was for her to leave. It was as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth.
Now that he didn’t know her whereabouts, he felt lost and empty.
“F*k off,” he flipped Tony the bird and poured himself a glass of bourbon before throwing his head back, drinking it all in one shot.
c He did this continuously in a frustrated manner until his friends exchanged worried glances.
Victor Clinton who was from a wealthy family of Doctors grabbed the fifth glass from him and put it away.” You shouldn’t be drinking, man. Not in your state. Can you tell us what is wrong with you?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me!” Aaron snapped, angry that his source of reprieve was taken away.
Graham Thompson who was standing by the window to smoke frowned, turning to look at Aaron, he sought.” Is this about that former assistant of yours?”
Tony’s ears pric ked when he heard that. He stood up from his seat and rushed towards the window where Graham was standing.
“G, do you know something?” He asked eagerly.
Graham Thompson was in the military and he had just become a lieutenant colonel at the age of twenty- seven. He was from a family of military officers so he rose in ranks quickly. But he was deserving since he worked very hard.
Aaron frowned, he had asked Graham for help. But even with his military influence, he wasn’t able to find
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Chapter 7 New life
Tessa.
Tony poked Graham’s arm, probing. “Tell us. You know Aaron. He won’t say a thing.”
Tony came from a family of lawyers. His parents were judges of the supreme court and he had just started out in his career but he was one of the most excellent Lawyers in the City.
Naturally, he was always keen on finding out information about things.
“He fired his assistant. She left and now he’s looking for her like crazy.”
Just when Aaron thought Graham would keep his secret, he went ahead and told the whole world. Ok. Not the
whole world. Just their friends, but still. He didn’t want them to think he was interested in his assistant or
something.
Tony and Victor broke into fits of laughter but they quickly shut up when the temperature in the room went
down to zero.
“What’s funny?” Aaron questioned, his voice dripping with iciness.
Tony chuckled nervously. “Nothing. I just remembered something that happened years ago.”
However, Graham wasn’t afraid of Aaron. He snuffed out his cigarette and went to sit on one of the leather
seats, looking at him.
“What is it, Aaron? I thought you would be content once Serena comes back. Isn’t that what you wanted? Why are you looking for that innocent woman that you used and dumped once your first love returned?”
Aaron felt a weird sensation in his chest. Those words made him feel uncomfortable. He knew for a fact that
he had hurt Tessa.
‘But why would she leave so easily if she really loved me?’
Her dismayed look keeps haunting his dreams repeatedly and for some reason, he can’t seem to get her out of his mind. It’s like she had embedded herself deep in his soul such that the presence of the woman he loves did nothing to quell his desire to find her.
‘I have always loved Serena, right?” He asked silently, feeling frustrated.
“I think I know what’s wrong with him. He’s just realised he’s in love with Tessa but it’s too late. So he’s miserable that she left without a word,” Tony said proudly, happy with his conclusion.
Aaron’s frown deepened as he continued with his thoughts. ‘Is that true? Could it be that I’m in love with Tessa? No. She was always a substitute for Serena. How can I love her?”
Regardless, Aaron couldn’t fathom why he felt a wrenching pain in his heart when he thought about the possibility of not seeing Tessa again Besides, Serena was back but he wasn’t as happy or content as he hoped to be.
It really confused the hell out of him.
Suddenly, the door to the private room was opened and Enock, Aaron’s assistant entered, looking terrified. He then spotted his boss looking like he had drank the whole bar. Approaching him, he handed the phone in his
hand over to him.
Chapter 7 New life
When Aaron gave him a dirty look, Enock gulped before saying, “It’s the chairman.”
The space between Aaron’s eyebrows squeezed together and he grumpily grabbed the phone.
“Yes.”
“Aaron! Are you still my son? Why are you ignoring my calls?” An angry male voice echoed through the
speaker.
Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. “I’ve been busy.”
“You rascal! Being busy is one thing but how dare you neglect your fiancée?”
“What do you mean?” Aaron’s eyes narrowed dangerously and the temperature in the room became colder.
The man on the other side of the call was none other than Edmund Wentworth, the Chairman of the Wentworth group and Aaron’s father.
“Serena is here. She’s said she hasn’t seen you in a month. What are you doing? When are you going to
propose to her?”
Anger surged within Aaron like a tidal wave. What was Serena’s aim in going to his house to see his father? Indeed, it’s been a month since he saw her because he was busy travelling out of the City to look for Tessa.
“Dad, my personal life isn’t the Wentworth group to which you’re the chairman. You can’t get involved in my affairs. As for Serena, I hope she’s having a good time with you,” he said and immediately cut the call.
He hated being manipulated the most. What did Serena mean by doing this? Didn’t she have his number?
His phone rang again but he switched it off and scoffed. He won’t let her get her way!
Suddenly, Graham received a text on his phone and when he read it, his brows furrowed. He glanced at Aaron and called out. “Aaron, I’ve just received word that Tessa was just seen leaving the City.”
Hearing Tessa’s name, Aaron’s eyes flew open and he almost jumped out of his seat. “Where did she go?” He asked anxiously, his heart galloping faster than a racing horse.
Graham sighed, knowing he had bad news. “The records were suddenly wiped. No one knows what flight she got on or her destination but that’s not all…” He paused dramatically and continued. “She wasn’t alone. There
was a man with her.”
“What the hell?!” Aaron growled, his mind reeling with all sorts of thoughts as inexplicable jealousy crept into
his heart. 1
‘Did she move on already? So soon?’
