Chapter 545 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Without wasting any more time thinking about it, Jade took out her phone from her handbag. She paused when she unlocked her screen and saw that she had some unread message notification on her screen and she clicked on it.

The messages were from Sonia, and they contained a short text, [The information on the internet is limited, but here is what I found] followed by a summary of all she had found concerning Sara Walker on the internet, and some pictures both from her early modeling days to the more recent ones.

Jade absently scrolled through the messages, and then she paused when she came across a younger picture of Sara Walker. Her heart skipped a beat when she took another look at the picture and she recognized the face on the screen.

Was this not the same person she had seen in the photo frame on Harry’s bedside? Harry’s mom?

Aaron was a single father and Harry was his only son. Harry’s mom looked exactly like Sara Walker who had abandoned her husband and son after losing her daughter. Candace often reminded her of Harry.

If she thought about it this way, and put all these pieces together it made sense, but Aaron had said Harry’s mom was an orphan and she was dead.

There was no way all of this could be a coincident, could it? Was it possible that Aaron had lied to her about Harry’s mom? Did Aaron lie to Harry? Jade’s heart skipped a beat as the thought crossed her mind.

Without wasting any more time thinking about it, she dialed Celsie’s line when she remembered that Celsie had said she had the picture of Harry’s mom on her phone now and had offered to send it to her the previous day.

Once she took another look at the picture and confirmed that it was the same person, she was going to have to tell Benne about everything.

Celsie paced to and fro the length of Harry’s office door as she waited for the father and son to finish their discussion inside the office.

She wasn’t sure she had ever felt as anxious or restless in her life as she did at that moment. She wished she could at least hear what they were saying.

With each step she took she prayed that Harry would react as reasonably as she believed him to be and wouldn’t be too harsh at Aaron.

“Calm down, Celsie,” Benne, who was seated on the waiting chair, called out to her when he got tired of watching her pace to and fro. Watching her one would think she was standing outside a delivery room and waiting for a pregnant woman to put to birth or something.

Even though he had a series of meetings on his schedule which he needed to go for, he had asked Harry’s secretary to reschedule them as this was more important.

He needed to be here for Harry and Aaron. Although he trusted Harry enough to know that he wouldn’t be too hard on his father, he knew Harry well enough to know that he would be hard on himself.

“I’m calm. I just can’t sit still,” Celsie said, and fearing that if Celsie remained there much longer she was going to suffer a nervous breakdown, Benne rose from his seat and went to her.

“You are not calm, and you’re beginning to make me feel anxious too. One of us has to be calm,” Benne said as he ran his hands down her arm.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t help it. I’m worried,” she said with a worried frown, and Benne kissed her forehead.

“I understand. Maybe you need to take a break. Check on Jamal and see if he is okay. I’m sure he will be happy to see you and he will help you relax for a bit and take your mind off this. I will be here until Aaron comes out,” Benne suggested as he led her to the door despite her protest.

“I can’t leave. I promised Aaron…”

“I will call you immediately he steps out of the office,” Benne promised as he paused to pick up Celsie’s handbag before escorting her to the door.

Celsie sighed wearily as she took the handbag from him, “I won’t be long,” she said before walking away from there and heading for Benne’s office to check on Jamal as he had suggested.

She was going to spend only a couple of minutes to relax and then she would return. She needed to be there for Aaron.

Just as she got to Benne’s office and was about to open the door, her phone started ringing and she paused to take it out. She raised a brow when she saw that the call was from Jade, and the first thought that crossed her mind was whether Jade had found out about her relationship with Sara.

“Hello, Jade! Good morning,” Celsie greeted once she received the call.

“Good morning, Celsie. I’m sorry I’m calling so often lately,” Jade said apologetically.

“There is no reason to be sorry. It’s not like we are strangers to each other. What’s up?” Celsie asked curiously without going into Benne’s office since she didn’t know what Jade wanted to discuss and she didn’t want Harry’s secretary to overhear their conversation.

“I hope I’m not calling at a bad time. I was hoping your offer is still open and you wouldn’t mind sending me the picture of Harry’s mom,” Jade said hopefully, and Celsie’s brows pulled together as she tried to figure out why she was asking for it now.

Had she changed her mind from thinking it was a coincidence that Candace looked like Harry’s mom or… Celsie’s eyes widened in surprise when it occurred to her that Jade might have put the puzzle pieces together now that Sara was in the picture.

“Celsie?” Jade called, breaking into her thoughts.

“Yeah? Oh, sure! Sorry, I got distracted. I will send it to you at once,” Celsie said, and Jade thanked her before hanging up.

Immediately, Celsie returned to meet Benne in Harry’s office, and Benne looked at her incredulously when she walked in, “You can’t possibly tell me you’ve seen Jamal already.”

“I just received a call from Jade. She wants me to send her a picture of the photo frame. I think she knows now,” Celsie said as she went to sit beside Benne.

“She didn’t ask you any other question, did she?” Benne asked, and Celsie shook her head.

“Then send it to her. I’m sure she will give me a call if truly she has figured things out,” Benne said, and Celsie gave him a nod as she did as he had said and sent the picture to Jade.

Less than two minutes after Celsie sent it, Benne’s phone started ringing, and they both exchanged a look when they saw that the call was from Jade.

“Are you busy right now, or can you talk?” Jade asked in a tone that was somewhere between excited and urgent.

Benne glanced at Harry’s office door and then at Celsie, “I will be back,” he mouthed to her as he stood to leave, and Celsie wasn’t sure whether she wanted to follow him and hear what Jade had to say or wait there for Aaron.

Celsie sighed as she watched Benne leave, and thankfully she didn’t have to spend too much time worrying about Benne’s conversation with Jade as the office door opened at that moment and Harry’s gaze settled on her.

Celsie looked at him curiously, trying to figure out what he was thinking or what was going on as she looked past him into the office to see if she could catch a glimpse of Aaron.

“Celsie, please join us,” Harry said with a blank expression on his face and he held the door open for her to go in.


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.