Woke Up Married

40

Illegitimate Child

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.

The previous day had been very stressful for Jason as he needed to act fast to resolve the issue with the company in Washington. He was able to identify the root cause, and it was fixed. He had to meet his clients who were affected to save the partnership for the business to continue. He had just returned to the hotel to rest when Julia's call came through. He stayed awake to ensure she was okay and proceeded with a flight back to Florida that same hour after everything was settled. He drifted off to sleep.

Jason was the first to wake up, and his movement woke Julia up. He got out of bed in silence and went to the bathroom after checking the time. It was an hour past 9 a.m. He returned to the bedroom to find Julia curled up in bed.

"Are you alright?" Jason inquired, his voice gentle, and Julia opened her eyes and nodded in a 'yes'.

"Would you like to go to work, or do you prefer to stay at home?" Jason asked, but Julia quickly sat up upon hearing the options presented to her.

She could not stay at home as the fear of the previous day's incident was still fresh in her memory.

"James lives here too. What if he comes back? It will just be her and James. She was sure Jason's mum and sister would not do anything to help if James attacked her again in the absence of Jason," Julia thought.

"I will go to work," Julia replied and got out of bed quickly.

Jason was a bit surprised Julia wanted to go to work but said nothing as he wanted her to decide on what would make her comfortable.

"Okay," Jason replied.

They both got ready for work. Jason had Veronica pick up a dress from Julia's wardrobe for her. Meanwhile, the spoiled doors were being fixed under one of the guards' supervision.

Jason and Julia had their breakfast served by Veronica on the 7th floor, which they ate in silence, after which they both left the apartment. Julia was escorted to the car by one of his guards while Jason went to the 6th floor to check up on Grandpa. He entered the 6th-floor living room and went straight to Grandpa's room. He knocked and entered upon hearing Grandpa asking him to enter.

"Grandpa, how are you?" Jason asked.

"I am good, but what is this I am hearing about Julia and James?" Grandpa inquired.

Jason immediately knew the news had gotten to him. He didn't want him to know just yet.

"I didn't know James was the attacker when I called the police to come over," Jason explained.

"Hmm," replied Grandpa.

"I found out a few minutes after the police arrested him. They called back to inform me. I could have had him released immediately, but I was worried about Julia's safety. I have already spoken to the general this morning. James would be released in a couple of minutes," Jason explained.

"Hmm, I can understand, but this won't end well," Grandpa said, getting out of bed.

"I will fix it, Grandpa," Jason promised, and the old man nodded.

"I am going to work now. I will see you in the evening," Jason said, and the old man hugged Jason before letting him go.

Jason exited Grandpa's room and entered the living room. He heads for the front door but runs into Mirenda.

"Good morning, Mirenda, how are you?" Jason inquired, but Mirenda chuckled and ignored him, moving towards the dining area.

Jason understood she was mad at him for putting James behind bars, but as typical as it was with Jason, Mirenda's tantrums did not affect him. He proceeded to leave but decided to let her know James would be home soon.

"James has been set free," Jason said, and was about to open the front door when Mrs Haward called out to him.

"You put my son, a Haward, in prison because of some trash you call a wife," Mrs Haward began, with lots of anger in her voice. "So, he wants to play, is that enough reason to put him in prison?" she questioned, and Jason frowned.

"She should even be grateful that such a fine handsome man, like James, took interest in her," Mrs Haward added, and Jason's face darkened.

"Mum, firstly, she is my wife. We are legally married. I am not sharing my wife with my brother and I would appreciate it if you didn't call her name. Again, rape is a serious issue in this country, and it can land one in prison for many years. Aside from that, James could have any woman he wants, so why Julia?" Jason questioned.

"So just because my son took an interest in your trash, suddenly, she is important?" Mrs Haward asked.

"Mum, please don't call her that. How would you feel if Mirenda told you her husband's brother tried to rape her?" Jason asked, trying to keep his anger under control.

"Jason, you can't compare human beings to trash," Mrs Haward replied.

Mirenda, who initially was angry with Jason for putting James in prison, started thinking about what Jason said just now. How would she feel if she was in Julia's place and her husband's brother did that to her? Hearing James had been arrested, and it was Jason who sent him to prison, she got angry and did not bother to find out what James did that got him arrested. Hearing Jason's question to her mother, Mirenda understood James had gone too far.

"James is probably on his way back here. I didn't intend to keep him in prison," Jason replied. "But mum, this is not right," he added.

"And suddenly someone realized his mistake, but it's too late Jason," Mrs Haward said angrily.

"Mum, let's talk about this later, I am already late for work," Jason said and excused himself, but before he could open the front door, Mrs Haward's voice stopped him again.

"James is a legitimate child, a Haward. Who are you? Illegitimate child," Mrs Haward yelled.

Jason slowly turned to look at Mrs Haward in complete shock.

"Mum, why are you calling me that?" Jason inquired.

"I am not your mother, so stop calling me that. The man you knew as your father is not your biological father. How dare you? Ungrateful child. Your stupid parents abandoned you to die. We took you in and gave you a home and a family. James and Mirenda treated you like family and today, just because you inherited what is not yours, you sent my son, a true Haward, to prison?" Mrs Haward yelled.

Jason could not react to what Mrs Haward had just said, as the words 'illegitimate child' rang in his head. The yelling made Grandpa step out of his room to find out what was happening.

"What is going on?" Grandpa inquired once in the living room.

"Stay out of this old man," Mrs Haward yelled at Grandpa.

"Matilda, it's too early for your tantrums," Grandpa said.

"Tantrums? Has old age made you lose sight of what the Hawards stand for and who can and can't be the heir? Since when did the Hawards start making bastards heir of the family's fortune?" Mrs Haward questioned the old man.

"Matilda, stop it" Grandpa yelled.

"I won't stop. You knew something about it, didn't you? Anyway, you have never liked James, so for you, it's okay he went to prison," Mrs Haward said, advancing towards the old man as he staggered backwards.

Jason stood frozen trying to process what Mrs Haward had just said, 'illegitimate child'.

"You always support Jason and never James. Why, old man? So, you help Jason to inherit the family property even though you know he is not a legitimate child. How wicked can you be?" Mrs Haward kept yelling.

"I said stop it," Grandpa yelled, and his hand went to his chest.

"What do you stand to gain when you finally throw James out? So, he is different, and that is why you want to get rid of him. Is that it?" she yelled.

"I said, stop it," Grandpa yelled with his hand still on his chest and he immediately collapsed to the ground.

Mrs Haward stepped back, surprised to see the old man on the floor. She was angry and didn't pay much attention to what was happening.

Jason registered immediately what was happening and rushed to Grandpa's side and helped him sit on the sofa. He quickly pulled his phone out and called an ambulance, realizing Grandpa was unresponsive. Mrs Haward just stood there looking at what was going on. Mirenda was at a loss.

The ambulance arrived, and the paramedics carried Grandpa out of the house, but before they put him in the ambulance, Grandpa opened his eyes and stretched his hand towards Jason, who had followed them downstairs to where the ambulance was parked.

Jason quickly got closer as they put Grandpa inside the ambulance. Jason also climbed into the ambulance, leaving Julia, who had come out of the car following the ambulance siren.

"Take care of Julia, don't lose her no matter what," Grandpa said and his hand dropped.

"Grandpa!" Jason called out to him while the paramedics quickly checked him.

"There is nothing, no pulse, no heartbeat," reported one of the paramedics, but they still sent him to the hospital. Julia followed the ambulance in the black Maybach.

The doctor pronounced the old man dead after he examined him. Jason left with Julia and Grandpa was sent to the morgue.

They went to the office as it was the only destination Jason could think of. Julia was with him on the ride, but she didn't know what to say to him. They both used the elevator to the third floor. Once inside Jason's office space, Jason hugged Julia, and she wrapped her arms around him. He pulled away from her after a while.

"Are you alright?" Jason asked, understanding she was still recovering from the attack by James and now this.

Julia nodded and hugged him again. He pulled a key out of his pocket and freed himself from her embrace and placed it in her palm.

"Get some rest, I need to take care of a few things," Jason said and kissed her forehead.

Julia nodded and headed for the room and Jason went to sit behind his desk. He wanted to believe the woman he had known as his mother had said all of that to him out of anger, but then he could not ignore the fact she had never liked him since he was a child.

"Could that be the reason?" Jason thought.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled a number. He gave the person some instructions once the call connected and disconnected the call once done.

He received an email notification prompt after a few minutes, and he quickly opened his email and downloaded the attached file.

In the attached file was his birth certificate, which had the names of his biological parents. There was another document with details of the adoption. He was adopted into the Haward family and the man he grew to know as his father named him Jason Haward.

Jason stared at the document on the screen blankly in total shock.