Chapter 546 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Celsie stood up, and without saying a word to him she walked into his office, and Harry closed the door behind him.

Immediately after she got into the office, Celsie’s gaze moved to Aaron, and she relaxed briefly when she saw that he looked okay.

Not sure why she was asked to join them, Celsie went to sit beside Aaron, “Have you told him everything? Why am I here?” Celsie asked in a whisper, and Aaron smiled as he gave her a nod.

“Harry wants to know about your discussion with Sara,” Aaron explained as Harry joined them.

“Before you say anything, I want to apologize for lying to you yesterday. I hope this doesn’t affect our friendship or your friendship with Benne. I think you should know that it wasn’t our intention to lie to you or keep secrets from you. It just wasn’t in our place to tell you anything. And I hope you won’t stay mad at Aaron either. Keeping the secret from you wasn’t easy on him either,” Celsie said apologetically, and Harry noticed how his father gazed at her with pure adoration.

Ignoring all she had just said, Harry continued to look at her with a blank expression, “Why did you decide to go with him to see her? And what did you discuss with her?” Harry asked calmly.

Hearing his question, Celsie looked from Harry to Aaron as she wondered if this was the right time to tell them about her relationship with Sara and whether or not she could raise the issue of the missing daughter now. She wished Benne was in here with her.

Away from there, in Candace’s bedroom, she couldn’t help feeling restless as she thought about everything Jade had told her while she scrolled through the internet pictures of Sara on her phone.

This woman was her mother? Candace mused with disbelief as she eyed Sara’s pictures.

During her early teenage years at the orphanage, she had always wondered what her birth mother looked like. She had been more curious about who her mother was and what she looked like than she had been about her father.

That had been what prompted her to ask the sisters about how she ended up at the orphanage home, and then after she was told that her supposed uncle had left her there in their care, she had felt so heartbroken and sad by it that she had given up every thought of wanting to know her family background.

Seeing Sara’s pictures now, she didn’t feel anything special for the woman despite the similarities she could see in their features. She was just not drawn to her in any way, and there was no longing to meet with her as she had thought she would feel if ever such a time came in her life.

If she didn’t already doubt the credibility of the story, she would have begun to doubt it after seeing Sara’s pictures.

Candace had been around fake people long enough during her time as a stripper to recognize one when she saw her, and as far as she was concerned, Sara was as fake as they came.

Perhaps it was her own maternal instincts at play, but somehow the woman just didn’t seem like someone capable of being anyone’s mother. There was no warmth in her eyes, and Candace couldn’t imagine introducing someone like that to Jamal as his grandmother.

She wondered if her father and twin brother were anything like Sara. She was just going to make up her mind on whether or not she wanted to meet with them after finding out who they were.

Or better still she could use Sara’s money and influence to find Andy. If Sara was desperate enough to find her daughter, then she probably wouldn’t mind going any length to find Andy if she was told her daughter was kidnapped, would she? Candace mused.

As she got off the bed wanting to go and discuss her plan with Jade, the envelope Jade had given her fell off the bed, and she sighed as she picked it up.

Even though she had no interest in whatever Jero had possibly left her, Candace tore the top of the envelope open, and then poured out the content of the envelope onto the bed as she sat on the bed once again.

Her brows pulled together when she saw different pictures, newspaper clippings, and documents.

She picked up a folded white piece of paper that looked like a letter and her brows pulled together as she read it.

[My Precious. My love. My priceless treasure. My obsession. If you’re reading this right now, I’m sure it’s because I’m no more.

I know you may never forgive me for all I did, but I hope this gift makes life easier for you.

I started working on this some weeks before my arrest, and although I was unable to complete it, I hope you will be able to continue from where I stopped and get all the answers you need, and find the happiness you truly deserve.

Jero. Your fallen angel.]

Candace’s brows pulled together as she wondered what he was talking about. Dropping the note, she began to look through the newspaper clippings.

Her brows furrowed even more when she saw the headline on one of them “Tragedy Hits As Gregory Peterson Dies In Auto crash With Wife And Only Child.”

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the picture beside the headline. It was a picture of a distinguished couple and a little girl seated on the man’s thighs with a teddy bear in hand.

She recognized the teddy bear even before she recognized herself. She had given the teddy bear out to one of the kids at the orphanage after she turned fifteen and decided she was too grown to keep it.

What was this? Jero had been looking into her past? Candace mused as she dropped that newspaper clipping and started scrolling through all the others.

From all she could see, the couple was her adopted parents, and they seemed to have been very wealthy and influential. According to the news, the child had died weeks after the accident.

Candace frowned when she noticed that Jero had scribbled some things behind some of the photos on the bed, and she picked up one of the pictures which were scattered on the bed.

It was the picture of a man who looked like he was in his mid-sixties. On the back of the photo, Jero had written, [Wilson Peterson. Gregory’s only brother. Abandoned Candace at the orphanage home and stole everything from her claiming she was dead].

The crease between Candace’s brows deepened. So this was the man who had abandoned her at the orphanage home? That meant she had been right, and he wasn’t the same person who had stolen her from Sara had birth.

Did this mean that her adoptive parents had stolen Sara’s baby? They were wealthy so that didn’t make any sense. So what exactly happened? And how did Jero even find all of this information? She mused as she picked up another photo.

It was a picture of a young lady who looked like she was in her early twenties and a young man around the same age. They were both smiling at the camera and her arms were wrapped around him possessively.

Just as she started turning the photo to see what Jero had scribbled behind it, she paused when she recognized the young man in the picture. Who was she? And what was Celsie’s twin brother doing with her?

Although she didn’t know his name because they had not really interacted much, she was good with faces and had shared the same space with him once or twice in Benne’s home to remember him.

She turned the photo around, and her brow arched as she read Jero’s note, [Daughter of Wilson Peterson, Rachel Peterson, and her boyfriend.]

“What’s up?” Benne asked Jade immediately after he got inside his office and could speak freely. The only audience he had was Jamal who was now seated on his seat and swiveling around in his chair while Harry’s secretary was in the outer office.

“Benne, you won’t believe what I just found out! This is going to blow your mind, I swear,” Jade said in a very excited tone, and Benne’s heart skipped a beat.


New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself

Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.