Chapter 505 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Nah. That won’t be necessary anymore. Aaron already said his late wife was an orphan. Call me crazy, but you won’t believe that for a moment I was thinking that Candace might be related to Harry’s mom,” Jade said, laughing at the foolishness of her thoughts.

Celsie’s heart skipped a beat, “Candace?” She asked in surprise as she tried to remember Candace’s face to see if she truly looked anything like Sara.

“Yeah. I know it’s crazy…”

“Can you tell me why you thought so?” Celsie asked, and she listened as Jade explained how she had seen the picture in Harry’s bedroom and had thought she looked familiar but couldn’t place her face until she was reminded earlier that day that Candace had the same hair and she realized that was why the lady had looked so familiar.

Candace? Was it possible? If it was true that Candace looked so much like Sara why didn’t her mother say anything when she met Candace and Jamal? Celsie mused as she tried to organize her thoughts on all she knew about Candace thus far.

Jade had just confirmed Candace’s age. She was exactly the same age as Harry. She looked like Sara. Unlike Jade, she knew for a fact that Harry had a missing twin sister, so even if Jade thought she was crazy for linking Candace to them, Celsie didn’t think so.

“Celsie? Are you still there?” Jade asked when Celsie didn’t say anything after some time.

“Yeah. I’m here,” Celsie said with a frown.

“Just now you said this concerns you. How? Did you find out something?” Jade asked curiously, but Celsie couldn’t bring herself to tell Jade what she knew.

Aaron had told her that his wife was an orphan and Jade believed that Harry’s mom was late. She couldn’t tell Jade otherwise. As far as she was concerned this was Harry’s and Aaron’s family business and it wasn’t her place to tell Jade about it.

She could comfortably tell Benne because aside from the fact that he was her lover and Harry’s best friend, and he was also aware of her reason for staying with Aaron, she also had Aaron’s permission to tell Benne about it, but she couldn’t tell Jade.

The fewer the people that knew about this, the better for Aaron since Harry would be even more angry when he gets to know the truth and also finds out that others know about it too. She knew that from experience. She had felt like a fool when she realized that not just Benne, but Harry, Jade, and Bryan, had been in on Benne’s deceptive game.

“I’m taking care of Aaron. Your call seemed to upset him a lot so I needed to know what you both talked about,” Celsie said, but Jade could tell that she was hiding something.

Her tone had sounded too urgent and serious for it to have merely been out of concern for Aaron’s health, “By the way, why did you ask for the picture? And how come he let you snap it?” Jade asked curiously, wondering what Celsie must have told Aaron.

“I asked him if it was okay if I snapped a picture of it and he let me. I wanted to send it to you since it seemed like you were unable to ask him for it,” Celsie explained, and even though Jade wasn’t entirely convinced by her explanation, she decided not to push it.

“Where is Candace right now? How is she?” Celsie asked, and Jade sighed.

“She is at the hospital looking after Jamal’s dad,” Jade said, and upon Celsie’s further inquiry she told Celsie what had happened to Jero.

“I hope she’s fine,” Celsie said, and Jade agreed.

“Benne said you wanted him to help you find out about Candace’s childhood and how she ended up at the orphanage?” Celsie asked, trying to keep her tone light.

Although she had been of the opinion that it would be wrong to dig into Candace’s past as they might bring up upsetting revelations that would do more harm than good to Candace, Celsie was beginning to have a change of heart.

Candace was around the same age as Harry and if it happened that Candace was Aaron’s missing daughter, it would bring more joy to both Aaron and Candace than harm. The only harm would be that Candace and Aaron would be hurt by the knowledge of what Sara had actually done.

“I guess it’s true that lovers don’t keep secrets from each other,” Jade said in amusement.

“Do you think Candace will be okay with that?” Celsie asked, and Jade rolled her eyes.

“Celsie, I know you might not exactly approve of this, but I hope you won’t try to dissuade Benne from looking into it. I care about Candace, and I consider her a friend, and that is why I need to find out what happened. Something about how she ended up at the orphanage smelled fishy to me and I intend to look into it whether or not you’re comfortable with it,” Jade said in a blithe tone.

“Fishy? How?” Celsie asked, ignoring Jade’s tone.

“You have suddenly become awfully curious about a lot of things. What had changed?” Jade asked curiously since she remembered Sonia telling her that Celsie was usually the type to mind her business, and she had observed it too.

“You can call it a side effect of being so closely attached to the Delgado family where no one minds their business,” Celsie joked, and Jade laughed.

“I agree. It’s a Delgado trait not to mind our business especially when it concerns those we love,” Jade agreed before telling Celsie what Candace had told her.

So Candace had been abandoned at an orphanage home by a wealthy man claiming to be the brother of her adopted parents who had died? Was it possible the couple Sara had sold her daughter off to died, and the brother of the man dumped the child in an orphanage?

There was only one way to find out if Candace was Aaron’s missing daughter. She needed to do a secret DNA test. If a DNA test confirmed that Candace was Aaron’s daughter, then there would be no need for further investigations.

All she needed to do was get something with Aaron’s DNA. She was sure she would find something with Candace’s DNA at Benne’s place. That would be the easiest and fastest way to confirm her suspicion.

“Wow! She must have been through a lot,” Celsie said when Jade finished her story.

“Yeah. I feel so bad for her,” Jade agreed with a sigh.

“Alright, I have to go now. Thank you for answering my questions,” Celsie said, and Jade giggled.

“Do you realize that this is the longest we’ve ever spoken?” Jade pointed out, and Celsie laughed when she realized it was true.

“The call would have been much longer if Sonia was involved,” Celsie said jokingly.

“Yeah! Speaking of Sonia, I should give her a call to find out how she is doing today. Perhaps the three of us can have a conference call tonight if you’re not too busy?” Jade asked, and Celsie smiled.

“Sure. That will be great,” she said, and they talked for a few more seconds before hanging up.

Celsie sighed once the call was over. Now she had to give Benne a call. Just as she started to dial his number, his call came in.

“Hey, Jewel! How are you doing? Are you free to talk right now? Are you out of there?” Benne asked immediately after she received the call.

“I’m alright. I was just about to call you,” Celsie said as she stood from there and approached the guest bedroom which she had gone into the other time to use the restroom.


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.