Chapter 75
Veronica’s POV
A Remote Apartment
Though Lena’s safe house had five bedrooms, and was beautifully decorated, it still felt like a cage.
I stood in front of the frosted window pane, trying to watch as the afternoon rain but all I could see were shadows of the drops on the window pane.
Seven years ago, I left Jonathan and took Janet along as I was shielding my broken heart from what I thought was his betrayal towards me, and my thought of protecting him.
And yet here I am, just when I thought my family could be united, I’m stuck in this safe house. I could see Janet was sleeping in the adjacent room. Her breathing was steady and peaceful as she was oblivious of what was going around her.
I should be more focused on her, but my mind was far away on Jonathan.
Even now I could recall his haggard, pain-filled expression when I came back home. He spent seven years living with a ghost family he loved more than his own life. In a world that was created by the Harmon’s, and a family given to him by the Harmon’s.
Suddenly I adjusted my sweater’s cuffs as a profound unshakeable restlessness took over me.
“Jonathan.” His name slipped out of my lips naturally.
A sharp, muffled voice from the next room pulled me out of my thoughts.
I walked quietly towards the door slowly pushing it open and overhead Lena speaking to Jonathan’s lawyer, Vance over her satellite phone.
“Vance, you have to strengthen the legal perimeter around Rollings Designs and make sure it’s absolutely impenetrable,” Lena urged in a sharp professional voice.
“If Fredrick’s or Imelda’s associates trace the birth of DNA reports back to you, they won’t take a second to destroy them p>
I leaned closer as my breath was catching in my throat as Vance’s grave voice cracked through the phone.
“Don’t worry,” he said.
“Jonathan is no longer on defence mode. He has original digital copies safe with him. The timeline clearly shows Imelda allegedly gave birth to Adrian barely four weeks after that claimed night. A total biological farce. He’s already preparing a catastrophic criminal fraud, emotional assault lawsuit against her. Not only will her status be stripped, but her remaining assets, freedom. She’ll spend the rest of her life with Fredrick p>
His words struck me like a lighting bolt.
Four weeks delivery timeline?
I pressed my hand against the cold doorframe to steady my knees as the sheer revelation was overwhelming for me.
Jonathan didn’t make out with her. He didn’t choose another woman over me. He was calling out to me, he meant it. He didn’t willingly break out marriage vows.
That night he was drugged, stripped, and forced into a nightmare for seven long years by a woman who used a fake DNA report to prove her illegitimate child was his.
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
For seven long years, I carried the suffocating weight of being inadequate for my husband in believing he discarded me over his love for Imelda.
And, all along it was nothing but a calculated move. A sickening basic math that Imelda cooked because she knew her wealth could buy compliance.
Anger was flaring inside of my chest. A hot, sudden, and entirely cleaning anger that burnt away any lingering self-doubt within me.
I walked back to Janet’s room.
“Janet, honey pack up. Time to go back to Daddy p>
Janet didn’t question and began promptly as I walked back to my room completely frozen in a blanket of pure determination.
Lena came over immediately after hanging up her call to my room.
Seeing me pack my suitcase, she walked over.
“Veronica, what’s going on p>
“Its not safe out there yet,” she continued.
“Imelda is brewing up trouble. This is the only safe place we have where she can’t harm you or Janet p>
“Lena, I thought hiding would be good,” I said in a steady voice, devoid of the fear that defined my life for seven years.
“Jonathan is staging a full-scale legal war against them to expose them. He shouldn’t have to carry the weight alone in that courtroom when his wife, I, Veronica Rollings is here. He’s already suffered seven years without me. I won’t let him suffer another day in isolation fighting alone for our family’s dignity p>
Lena searched in my eyes for a long brief moment.
I knew she was looking for the fragile woman who collapsed at the station seven years ago.
Now all she was going to find was an ironclad resolve.
She let out a slow defeated sigh as she pulled her car keys out of her jeans pocket.
“Veronica, you truly have changed,” she murmured as a faint glint of pride touched her eyes. “You’re no longer the woman who looked at the world from the party kitchens p>
“Lena, Imelda gave my life a tragic end. It’s time to step up and write my own happy ending.” I said as I clasped the buckles.
“Okay, if you are going back, you’ll go with full security. We can’t take any chances with them anymore p>
I didn’t argue and just nodded.
Apartment – Four Hours Later
The key turned smoothly into the lock of our front door. As I walked in, a sense of normalcy washed over me.
It might be a small apartment, but it’s the first place I could call my home as I was an orphan who lived in foster care or dorms at the time.
It was the foundation of our love and the place our love got born in; Janet.
I hung my coat as an unshakable calmness returned to my chest.
Jonathan was seated at the kitchen table, illuminated by the single warm overhead bulb.
No grand pretense, just quiet realization of our shared history.
I set my bag down near the sofa as Janet ran to hug her father.
“Daddy, I’m back p>
“Hey, baby.” He kissed her warmly on her forehead.
“I’ll go unpack p>
As she left, I stepped fully close to him. Normal, grounded, and exactly where I belonged.
I was ready to face whatever was there of our past and future.
He was hunched over a mountain of ledgers, tie loosened and shirtsleeves roller up to his forearms as he was aggressively annotating a document.
He spun around as he heard our footsteps. His hand instinctively moved towards his secure phone
His eyes locked onto mine as he froze entirely. The pen also slipped from his fingers and clattered against the marble floor.
“Nicky?” He breathed, his voice cracking with a mix of disbelief and immediate panic.
“What are you both doing back? Lena was supposed to keep you and Janet protected. Imelda’s eyes are on us every moment. If she finds out you both are here,” his arms reached out towards me as if to shield me from an invisible threat.
His protective instinct consumed him.
“I know about Adrian’s birth, Jonathan,” I said quietly as I stepped into his perimeter and placed a gentle, fully anchored hand against his chest.
He stopped moving frantically as his entire frame froze on seeing my hand, then back into my eyes.
The sheer panic in his eyes melted into a profound vulnerable shock.
“I overheard Lena’s talk with Vance,” I continued in a steady, unwavering voice.
“I know about the delivery timeline. I know she drugged you and that Adrian isn’t your son. I know you spent seven years carrying the weight of a deception that was physically and emotionally impossible for you p>
Jonathan closed his eyes as a shuddered breath escaped his lips.
It was the last remaining wall of guilt that completely crumbled before me.
And now standing before me was the man I fell in love with back in college.
“I was terrified that if you found out, even if I was drunk and didn’t remember anything, but that I betrayed you,” Jonathan whispered as his trembling hands came close to my face and cupped me warmly, his thumbs brushing against my cheeks.
“Call me dumb, but the DNA report had an official seal. That paper made me believe I betrayed you p>
I leaned into his touch, and slowly onto his chest.
As I rested my head against his chest, I could hear his heartbeat.
“She used fake reports to take you on a guilt trip. She knew you were a man of responsibility because she knew you were an honorable man. But her game ends now p>
“Lena said you’re preparing to sue her for Adrian’s matter and corporate extortion, right p>
He gave a slow, firm nod.
“Vance and John are finalizing the paperwork. Once they’re ready, I’ll dismantle whatever is left of her existence p>
“Fine, then we’ll do this side-by-side,” I declared, my tone dropped to an unyielding resonance that left no room for negotiation. Jonathan’s eyes widened slightly as his protective instincts were kicking in.
“Veronica, I don’t know about these seven years how you handled everything, but now the media is going to be vicious. They’ll drag you and Janet along with me into the mud. Imelda p>
He trailed off a bit.
“She has already started to buy them and is feeding them her side of the story p>
“I can’t risk you or Janet p>
“Let her do what she wants,” I replied in a cold, sharp voice as a smile played on my lips as I stepped back a bit.
“For seven whole years, she controlled us and made me live like a shadow. She knows as long as I’m a shadow, I can’t stand beside you. She forgot I’m the legal wife of Jonathan Rollings. When you stand in court to challenge Adrian’s birth in front of the judge, I’ll be there standing beside you. We won’t hide, we won’t retreat. We will fight together p>
A profound, quiet shift crossed Jonathan’s eyes. I smiled as I saw the left lingering shadows of those seven years of guilt had been replaced by an absolute and lethal confidence.
Jonathan pulled me into his chest, as his arms wrapped embraced me like a delicate flower, afraid might be crushed if he held tighter. His gesture spoke louder than words could. I buried my face into his neck as I breathed in the familiar breath that made me feel safe. I could feel his steady, rhythmic heartbeat against my own.
Today we were no longer those two broken individuals who didn’t have the chance to stand together.
Today, we were united. We were two bodies, one soul.
“Nicky, I’ll protect you with all I have.” he murmured against my hair, his grip tightened as if he would lose me if he let go.
“I know,” I whispered back, pulling away slightly so I could meet his eyes.
“And I will protect you the same way p>
We both stood embraced together there in the center of our living room, completely unaware of the game Imelda had planned to play along with us.
Then I looked at the files and smiled, and saw he was looking over at Janet’s room.
“I’ll make us some dinner. And, Janet will be home until this matter is over. John has already dispatched guards around the apartment. And Lena is keeping tabs on Janet p>
Jonathan smiled and walked back to the desk. Now his movements were fluid and charged with a dangerous, focused energy as he began to sort the details required for the master legal sequence.
After making the dinner I came over and sat adjacent to him and pulled a notepad and pen so I could help him in keeping a cross reference of the Harmon family’s old transactions.
We didn’t have an idea Imelda had already begun her countdown or that she was currently tracking our coordinates so she could launch a small attack on me.
The storm was coming and we were walking straight into it.
But this time it was not just a business war, this was a war to save our family, and we will win at all cost.