Woke Up Married

39

Jason Returns Home

Julia, on the other hand, had remained locked up in the bathroom, clutching the phone in her hand, soaked in sweat and tears. She had still not recovered from what just happened.

The guard informed Jason about the damage to the door and the damage done to his bedroom door lock. He went further to inform him Julia was still inside the bedroom. He acknowledged the feedback with a "hmm" and disconnected the call.

Jason stood in his hotel room for a while staring at the phone in his hand. When Julia's scream for help came through his phone, his heart skipped multiple beats and the only thing on his mind was how to protect her from harm. He did not expect the attacker to be his brother, but knowing James, that was not surprising. What he didn't quite understand was why their mother supported James's nonsense.

"Would he have moved the same way to help any other woman outside his family circle?" Jason thought and the word 'family' rang in his mind.

"Family. How does he feel about his family?" Jason thought. "He cares about them," his gaze went to his phone and he unlocked it lighting up the screen.

Julia's name was in his recent call activity as a call he had received a couple of minutes to an hour ago.

"He sees Julia as part of the family," Jason concluded, and dialled Julia's number.

Julia was sitting on the floor, hiding behind the bathtub, still crying. There was nowhere to run to, and she could not tell how long it would take before James broke down the door to find her. The phone in her hand rang, making her jump in fright.

She answered the call and brought the phone to her ears.

"Help me, please, help me," Julia cried.

"James is gone. No one is going to hurt you," came Jason's deep voice, but Julia was still sobbing.

"Where are you?" Jason inquired.

"In…, in ...in the bathroom," Julia stammered amidst her sobs.

"Okay," replied Jason, and he ended the call.

Jason didn't know how to coax Julia on the phone. He gets things done by sending guards and never has to coax anyone in any situation, not even his own family. He had never had a reason to show affection towards anyone. He will always ensure the right thing is done, but that is just him carrying out his responsibility. It is only with Julia that his decisions are not made based on responsibility, but rather a desire to protect her. Keep her safe. He dialled a number and waited for the call to connect.

"Keep me up to date on everything at the company and let me know if anything changes," Jason said and disconnected the call and dialled his guard's number.

"Get ready, we are going back to Florida now," Jason said, and disconnected the call.

He packed his stuff into his travelling bag and in half an hour they were in the helicopter coming back to Florida.

Back in Florida, Mrs Haward was in her room making multiple calls to ensure James did not spend even a minute in the police station, but none of the people she had called had been able to do anything to help get James out. Through those calls, she had now come to know why James was arrested. She groans in frustration after her last call didn't yield any positive results. Mirenda sat in front of Mrs Haward waiting to hear some positive news.

"Stupid people, they are all saying the same thing. This Jason son of a bitch, who the hell did he call to arrest my son," Mrs Haward yelled in frustration." My son can't spend the night in a prison, no that can't happen," she said under her breath. "The idiot's phone also keeps going to voicemail," she complained.

"I am going to kill this Jason idiot with my own hands. He sent my son to prison because of that garbage," Mrs Haward yelled.

"I think it's time to send Jason away. I will find someone to manage the business in his absence. I had wanted James to learn a thing or two before I sent Jason away, but getting my son arrested tells me if I don't act now, Jason will do worse things," Mrs Haward said and turned to look at Mirenda.

"Get me, anyone, from the media, it's time they knew the heir of Haward's fortune schemed his way to that position," Mrs Haward said "He is a false heir," she added.

"Mum, aren't you forgetting something?" Mirenda alerted her.

"Forgetting what?" Mrs Haward yelled.

"You will announce he is not your son. How do you explain allowing him to take up that position in the first place? He has to be a Haward to take up that position," Mirenda said.

Mrs Haward frowned, but she started smiling again and Mirenda was confused.

"That is a perfect idea. I shall tell the media; I didn't know he wasn't my son. I found out recently when I was cleaning his room. I found a document on his table with this shocking revelation of his true identity," Mrs Haward said and smiled.

"Let me see the logic of this. You had a child, and took care of the child only to find out he wasn't your son when he was an adult?" Mirenda questioned.

"My baby died, and a swap was done at the hospital," Mrs Haward added and Mirenda pursed her lips.

Mirenda was surprised by how quickly her mother was able to come up with such an idea. She would play innocent and make it look like Jason knew he was not a Haward.

Jason arrived at the apartment at 3 a.m. and went straight up to the 7th floor. He saw the broken door which was still on the floor and the guard was also there. He walked towards the stairs and up to his bedroom, and he saw the almost removed door lock.

He pulled the lockout and opened the door. The whole room was a mess. He looked around and walked towards the bathroom and tried opening it. It was locked. He knocked on the door and placed his ears to the door. All he heard was Julia's continued cry, as she pleaded to be left alone.

"Was she still crying?" Jason thought and stood straight and knocked again.

"Julia, open the door, it is me, Jason," Jason said.

"Jason?" Julia repeated.

'Yes, it is me," Jason confirmed.

Julia unlocked the door and opened it, hearing Jason's voice. Jason looked at Julia standing at the entrance, her face red and covered in tears. Her hair was dishevelled, and her pyjamas clung to her body as it was soaked in both sweat and tears. He could see some bruises on her neck and her hand. Some buttons were missing from the shirt she was wearing. He felt a pain in his heart that he could not understand.

He held out his hand to Julia, and she slowly placed her hand in his, and he pulled her closer and hugged her. He did that because it felt right. Julia hugged Jason and cried some more. He just hugged her even though he was not sure if that would do anything. He just felt he should hug her and, surprisingly, it helped. Even though she further broke down into more tears, her trembling and tension eased. Julia stopped crying, and Jason led her out of the messy room to the room downstairs.

Once inside the room, he locked the door and made her take a shower, getting her new comfortable sleepwear to wear. He made her lie down on the bed as he went to take a shower. He changed into something comfortable and also climbed into bed with her. He pulled her into his arms, almost like hugging her from behind. Images of James touching her flashed in Julia's mind, making her tense and making sleep impossible even though she felt exhausted.

After lying in bed with her eyes wide open, she eventually falls asleep with Jason protectively hugging her. She felt safe with him around.

Jason had his arms wrapped around her, but he could not sleep as his heart ached when he saw her and that made him boil with anger inside about what James did to her.

James is his brother, and he loves him, but he has crossed the line this time. Someone needed to teach James a lesson, but for the sake of the family, he decided he would let them release him in the morning. He made a decision that James would have to find a different place to stay.