Chapter 35
“Are you sure about this?” Asked Jace.
“Yes, sir,” the man replied, hardening young Higginson’s face.
“We have been working for months now, and she’s not saying anything.”
“You can ask her to confirm, Mr. Higginson.”
“The boy’s name is Ace?” he asked, and the investigator nodded. Jace smiled, thinking Emerald named their son after him. “She will deny it, and I’m sure she didn’t want me to meet our son.”
“Yes, and here’s the DNA result and the photos of the boy.”
“How did you manage to get this?”
“Ms. Emerald went to a barber shop with the boy.” The man replied,
“That explains the new haircut,” Jace said, making the man smile as he touched his head. “Thank you, Ronnie.”
“No problem, sir.” Ronnie, the investigator Jace hired, said. After his parents told him about a child they met in the amusement park that looked like him, Jace couldn’t help but think about Emerald. In addition to that, Emerose’s visit, telling him about his wife being a nanny, added to his suspicion.
“Look for her nanny as well. I want to know what happened to her.” Young Higginson said before Ronnie got up from his seat.
“Copy that, Mr. Higginson.” The man replied and left his office.
Jace was left alone, thinking about what he should do now that he found out that he had a son with Emerald. Thinking she was pregnant when she left made him feel guilty, wondering what she had gone through all those years that she became a father and a mother to their son.
Even if it was like that, young Higginson couldn’t help but feel angry at Emerald at the same time because she hid the truth from him even after they met and were now working together. ‘Is that how much you hated me?’ he asked himself.
Because he already knew that his wife would fight him for custody, Jace sought his legal council’s help. He will make his wife give him custody of their son and, at the same time, make her come back to him.
‘It’s not that I am using our son; I just want to make things right and for us to become a complete family.’ he thought. Jace decided not to confront Emerald and wait until the court summoned her for his rights with their son.
***
“Oh, son, you wouldn’t believe it,” Jessica said as soon as she saw his son. They were at the poolside talking about the incident in the car store, and the two old Higginsons were debating whether they would tell their son about it. Jace sat on a chair and looked at his parents.
“What is it?” Young Higginson asked curiously. ‘Is there more shocking news than the one I was about to tell them?’ he asked himself.
“Your Dad and I met Emerald in the car store,” Jessica answered. Jace looked at his father, confirming what his mother said.
“I told you, darling. We can’t just believe what that woman had said.” Nick told his wife.
“What do you mean, Dad?” Jace asked impatiently.
“As I was saying, we saw your wife, and then there’s mother and daughter who were accusing her of having a sugar daddy,” Jessica explains.
“What?” Jace exclaimed. “That’s not true!”
“How can you be so sure? She’s been away for five years, and according to you, she has nothing. How come she came back wealthy?”
“I know my wife, Mom. And whatever she did while she was away, it’s all my fault. It’s because I hurt her.”
“Are you still going to try to win her back?” Nick asked, but Jace didn’t answer.
“Did she say anything after what that mother and daughter said to her?” Young Higginson asked.
“She didn’t say anything and just shrugged her shoulders. I mean, she knew that we were your parents because we met when she left your mansion.” Jessica answered.
“And you’re expecting her to act like she’s close with you or that she knows you well enough?”
“No, it’s not like that. I just thought, under those circumstances, she would try to deny their accusation and defend herself.” the matriarch said in a low voice, thinking Jace was angry at her while her husband held her hand.
“She wouldn’t explain it to you because she doesn’t care what you will think about her,” Jace said. “Because for her, I am nothing. And you being my parents, she doesn’t feel obligated to please or explain to you.” Jace added and sighed heavily before he continued. “Is this the father of the boy you saw in the amusement park?”
Nick and Jessica looked at the photo their son showed them. They looked at each other before they nodded. “Is this the boy that you are talking about?” Jace asked, showing them Ace’s photo.
“Yes, that’s him,” Jessica exclaimed while Nick had his stoic face. “But why do you have their photo? Don’t tell me”
“Yes, he’s my son” Jace said, “With Emerald.”
“What! But this man” Jessica exclaimed, pointing at Liam’s picture.
“That’s Emerald’s” Jace said but couldn’t continue.
“She let your son call this man Daddy?” Nick asked, and Jace nodded sadly. It’s another reason why he didn’t confront Emerald. Because he was scared that out of anger, he would do or say something he would regret, it was painful for him to know his son called another man his father. “So, what do you plan to do? Are you going to let her do what she wants?”
“I already talked to a legal council, and he will start doing his job. I want to claim my rights to our son and, at the same time, take her back.”
“What about this man?” Jessica asked, eyes on Liam’s photo.
“He’s in Europe right now, and he lives there. He’s working for the government and has been Emerald’s friend.” Jace replied,
“Just friends?” Nick asked.
“I’ll take care of it, Dad. They were more than friends, but knowing they are living separately, I don’t think Emerald is thinking of marrying him.”
“Still”
“Mom, let me handle this. I promise that you will be meeting your grandson soon.” Jace assured his mother, who nodded in agreement. After their conversation, the two old Higginsons were very happy and excited to meet Ace.
***
In Emerald’s mansion, she was with her son playing online games, but her mind was on the old Higginson couple. She wondered whether they believed Emerose and Merly. Although she didn’t like that, she still didn’t want to explain herself, thinking she didn’t need to explain herself to anyone.
She respected the couple, but she didn’t want to associate herself with them as much as possible, especially when she was planning on introducing Ace to them. Young Morgan didn’t want them to think she was taking that opportunity to get closer to them.
“Mom, can I ask you something?” Ace asked, making Emerald pay attention to him.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
“What is it, baby?”
“You said that you’re going to introduce me to my Dad. Does he have parents? Will I be able to meet my grandparents?” the boy asked innocently. “Sammy, my friend next door back in Europe, was always happy and excited whenever his grandparents visited their house because, according to him, they spoiled him.”
“Yeah, you have your grandparents,” Emerald replied, thinking about the two old Higginson and her parents earlier. She thought she couldn’t even introduce Ace to her family, but how much more could she introduce him to the Higginsons? But she also thinks that Higginson could accept the boy rather than with her family.
After talking to Jack, she realized that he was a good person and was confident that Ace would be welcome in their family. As for Jace, with their previous relationship and how he had treated her, knowing the reason why young Higginson did that to her alleviated her anger. “And I’m sure that they will love you as well,” she added.
Ace smiled at her and felt happy and excited about when he would be able to meet Jace. Although he treated Liam as his father, having to meet his biological father made the difference.
Three days later, Emerald didn’t go to the SoftWare Group because she had matters to attend at the ACEGame. She informed Nolan about it since Kyle is out of the country and needs to go to Indonesia earlier than scheduled. Young Morgan was in her office checking on the new offline game their company was working on when Daryl came in with an envelope.
“What’s this?” she asked, making her assistant shrugged his shoulders and replied,
“I don’t know, but that came from the post office,” he replied. Emerald creased her forehead and started to open the envelope and read its contents.
“That bastard!” she exclaimed.
“Why?” Daryl asked curiously.
“That bastard, Jace had filed a case against me for Ace’s custody,” Emerald answered angrily.