Woke Up Married

45

The Live Stream

Jason alternated his gaze from Julia to Peter, giving their suggestion some thought.

Back in Jason's apartment in Florida, Mrs Haward had assembled all the guards on the balcony.

"Where is Peter?" Mrs Haward inquired.

"Ma'am, he left with the boss," replied one of the guards.

"What do you mean, he left with the boss? James is still in bed," Mrs Haward questioned.

"Ma'am, he left with Mr Jason," replied the guard, and Mrs Haward frowned deeply.

"He is not your boss. He is a thief. I don't want to hear that name in this house again, do you hear me?" Mrs Haward warmed.

"Yes ma'am," replied the guards in unison.

"James is your new boss for now, and you will be reporting directly to me, do you understand?" Mrs Haward instructed.

"Yes ma'am," the guards replied in unison.

"You can all leave," Mrs Haward dismissed them and one after the other they exited the balcony back to their positions.

Mrs Haward picked up her phone and went online to read all the harsh comments from the public. The corners of her lips curled upwards, happy everything turned out the way she wanted. "I know you are very hard-working, with your image destroyed, let's see how you rise from the ashes," she thought and her smile widened.

Back at Orland, the presses were still at Jason's compound, refusing to leave. Jason nodded to the suggestions of Peter and Julia. He headed upstairs, and Julia and Peter followed him.

Jason stood in the small corridor between the end of the stairs and the bedrooms, using the window at the end of the corridor as the background, he faced Peter's phone camera.

"We are live, boss," said Peter.

"Greetings to you all. I know a lot of you will be surprised to see a live video of me streaming online and probably waiting to hear my side of the story on the subject. I am sorry to disappoint you. I am not here to justify myself or call the woman who raised me bad. Some of you have had a personal encounter with me, and some of you haven't. The news is out there. If you want to believe it, that is your choice and I will not judge you. We are all entitled to our opinions based on the evidence we have. It was great to work with some of you. My absence will not affect your work relationship with the company. Thank you," Jason said, and walked away from the camera, to the surprise of Peter and Julia.

To Peter and Julia, they thought Jason was going to tell them he was innocent. With such a message, he just gave people more reason to believe the lies. Peter ended the livestream and stood there looking in the direction Jason had left. Julia followed Jason to the bedroom. She entered and closed the door behind her, watching Jason standing in front of the window and looking outside. She slowly walked towards him, unsure of what she was going to say to him. Jason turned and faced Julia when she was just inches away from him. He pulled her in for a hug and immediately felt calm in his spirit. Julia just hugged him back, saying nothing. Peter went online and was surprised to read the comments coming from people after Jason's livestream video.

'I thought he was coming to defend himself,' posted a commenter.

'Mr Haward is just being Mr Haward. He will leave you to find the truth yourself' came another commenter.

'I don't want to interfere with matters of the Hawards," another commenter posted.

'I had a chance of meeting him a couple of times. The man is very strict but honest in all his dealings. This news is rather hard to believe. Someone wants to destroy him' came another commenter.

Within a few minutes, there was a balance between those against Jason and those for Jason, as people who had worked with him shared their personal experiences online.

Mrs Haward saw Jason's live stream and hearing what Jason had put out there, she didn't expect, it would turn things around so much, that the whole conversation had now turned into a discussion. The people who were posting harsh comments earlier are now trying to find out the truth. Those who spoke for Jason were now rejoicing. Mrs Haward picked up her phone, dialled a number and brought the phone to her ears while standing in the living room.

"Post the video online," Mrs Haward said, and ended the call.

"Mum, why are we doing this to Jason?" came Mirenda's voice and Mrs Haward turned to face Mirenda.

"He may be adopted, but his actions prove we are wrong about him. He didn't steal any money, Mum, and you know it. So why are we framing him up?" Mirenda asked, feeling bad about how they treated Jason.

Mirenda recalled days when Jason had defended her from people who wanted to harm her. He helped both her and James with their homework when their mother did not have the time. Jason treated both of them with respect and like his siblings. Mirenda had not expected her mum would put false information on social media about Jason.

"This is why I never liked you. You always have a soft spot for Jason," Mrs Haward thought, but still kept a concerned expression on her face looking at Mirenda.

"Mum, can't we forgive Jason for his mistakes? He returned everything. If we wanted compensation, he bought this house with his earned money. He didn't take it from us. Is that not enough?" Mirenda asked with concern.

"My darling, the reason why mistakes and crimes have punishment is to deter others from doing the same in the future. No sin goes unpunished," Mrs Haward replied and cupped Mirenda's face in her hand, looking into her tears-stained eyes.

"Anytime someone sins or commits a crime, it takes a lot from the victim. It doesn't end with the perpetrator saying I am sorry or giving up what they took. How about the psychological pain? Does it heal? The emotional damage, does it repair?" Mrs Haward questioned and hugged Mirenda.

"I can understand how you feel because you grew up together and never knew he was not your true brother. You loved him wholeheartedly. You still consider him as your brother and this is why you feel this way. The question you should be asking yourself is, did Jason feel the same way and think the same way about you when he was planning to throw all of us, including you, out on the street?" Mrs Haward questioned.

Mrs Haward held Mirenda by her shoulders and, looking into her eyes, continued, "No. That love you feel in here," she said, pointing to Mirenda's chest, "for him because he is your brother, he didn't feel that when he pulled all strings to take everything from you. If I had not intervened, things would have been worse. Did you know he framed James, so he could put him in prison?" she said, and Mirenda was surprised.

"Wait, I thought James went onto Julia?" Mirenda asked, surprised.

"No, Julia seduced him?" Mrs Haward said and unlocked her phone, showing Mirenda some messages. "I may defend James, but it doesn't mean I don't chastise him. He showed me these messages from Julia," she said, and Mirenda's eyes widened reading the messages.

Text 1

Julia: Hi James, how are you?

James: Hi Julia.

Text 2

Julia: I am sorry, I framed you in the office incident. I was just scared about how Jason would react if he knew I was the one who came onto you.

James: So, you thought framing me was the better way out?

Julia: I am sorry, let me make it up to you. I will find a way.

James: Okay.

Text 3

Julia: Hi, I told you I would find a way to make it up to you for the last time.

James: Hi Julia, yeah.

Julia: Jason is not around. You can come to the 7th floor; I will leave the door open.

James: You know you are tempting me, right?

Julia: I know so come quick before I change my mind.

Mirenda couldn't believe what she was reading, and her mother played a video of the office incident to her. Mirenda watched in horror as the video showed Julia trying to kiss James, who appeared to be looking around to see if anyone was watching.

Mirenda stood there in the living room not sure how to react.