THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Fatima woke up early, feeling fantastic. The night before, she kissed Grian and it kept her awake all night because of how flustered she was. She only slept a couple of hours before waking up early in the morning to prepare breakfast.
Philippe is going to school today since every other time that he was supposed to go, things get chaotic so he couldn't go to school. Nonetheless, the teachers in his school understood the situation.
After she was done cooking, she looked at the clock and noticed it was 6:30 in the morning already. She was about to call Philippe to get ready but he soon came out of his room while yawning.
"Isn't it too early for you to get up?" he asked while rubbing his eyes and she shrugged.
"You need to get ready for school, now go," she ordered and he groaned.
"Do I really have to? I'm still so tired," he complained and she placed her hand on her waist before staring at him before nodding. He groaned loudly before stomping his way to her as he sat down on the chair.
Fatima sighed before walking to Timothy's room. She opened the door and saw that he was still asleep. She walked towards him quietly before sitting on the bed. She rubbed his back, slowly waking him up. "Tim, we're going to drop off your brother at school today," she whispered.
Timothy groaned, still half asleep. "We'll enroll you in your school too," she said.
"We'll get ice cream after," she said after. It was like the word ice cream was the magic word. Timothy opened his eyes and turned to his sister.
"Really?" Fatima nodded while smiling.
"C'mon, go get ready," she said and he groaned before getting out of bed.
After the two brothers got ready, she received a call from Grian. She tried not to get all flustered before answering the call and keeping her cool. She cleared her throat before greeting him. “Good morning,” she said with a smile.
“Good morning, sunshine,” he said in a rough and deep voice and her eyebrows raised.
“Did you just wake up?” she asked and he breathed heavily before yawning.
“Yeah.. I’m exhausted,” he explained and she nodded.
“If so, go get more sleep. Why’d you call?” There was a quick pause on the other line before he answered.
“To get some energy from my sunshine, of course,” he answered with a smirk and she froze before her cheeks started heating up. He chuckled when he noticed she wasn’t talking.
She wrinkled her nose before clearing her throat. "I- uh- need to uh- yeah, I gotta go. I need to take my uh brothers to school," she stuttered, telling him her excuse before ending the call. She didn't even wait for his answer.
She breathed heavily and held her heart before shaking her head. She shook her body before going out of her room and saw the two boys sitting in the living room. She took a deep breath before smiling. "Let's go?" she said.
HANNAH WALKED DOWN THE hall with her black high heels. She walked with confidence while having her chin up. Upon reaching the visitation room, she opened the door and saw the man he was looking for. She smiled before walking in and sitting down.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" she asked with a smile and he looked up before eyeing her.
"Why are you here?"
"Why wouldn't I be? You're my fiance after all," she said while grinning and he scoffed.
"I already called off the engagement, Hannah," he said before sighing.
"Hmmm, I miss my Christopher," she said lovingly and he scoffed before glaring at her. "Are you here to mock me?" he asked and she shook her head.
"I love you," she said and his eyebrows furrowed.
"I'll wait for you to get out of here then let's get married," she said before smiling and he was unbelieved.
"You're crazy," he said.
"I guess I'm no longer engaged to a CEO, but I'd still want to be engaged with Christopher Denver. Despite what you did years ago that was purely an accident, I still want to be with you and you can't stop me," she said, determined with what she wants and he can only look at her in disbelief.
She stood up from her seat and before leaving, she said, "My sister would like to visit you." He stopped before looking at her.
"What?"
"She told me she wants to meet you."
"No."
"The least you can do is give her closure, Christopher!" Hannah raised her voice and glared at Chris. She breathed heavily before sighing.
"She's going into court right now to testify against her mother if she should even be called a mother."
IN THE COURT OF JUSTICE, there stood Fatima, William, and Philippe to testify against their kidnappers. Everyone testified and it was Fatima's turn to talk. She sat down at the front as she was interrogated by the lawyers.
"She- or they, wanted to sell me to a rich man," Fatima exclaimed calmly.
"And whom can that be?" the lawyer asked while walking back and forth in the courtroom.
"I don't know, but I met him in the bar I worked in. He wanted.. he wanted me to go in a private room with him and despite the knowledge of me refusing, he tried forcing me to go with him. Up until my former friends helped me get out of the situation," she explained before looking down, remembering Christopher.
"As you can see, your honor. That man is clearly a predator just from their first encounter with each other. When she refused, he then decided to kidnap her for his own pleasure!" The argument in the court started against the old man.
"Who were the people that orchestrated the kidnapping, do you remember?" the lawyer asked Fatima again and she nodded.
"They were…" She looked over at William before looking at the judge. "William's mother and the person I considered a mother as well."
"What do you mean, Miss Fatima?"
"After she kidnapped me, she admitted to not being my biological mother." The crowd started gossiping to each other after hearing what she had said while the reporters took down notes since they didn't allow cameras in the courtroom.
"Just because she wasn't her biological daughter, she decided to sell her daughter for a fortune, your honor. Despite accepting the responsibility to take care of her and her brother after marrying their father, she refused to do so. She is an irresponsible mother, but not only that. She has been jailed for countless crimes throughout the past 6 years, your honor."
The case continued for another hour before it ended. The judge dismissed everyone and they will return for the next hearing. Fatima sighed heavily and looked over at the woman she considered as a mother to be taken away by the police, back to her cell.
Fatima felt like her body was going to collapse as she walked. Grian walked up to her and held her shoulder. "Are you okay? It's over now, I'll take you home," he said and she nodded.
"I'm having a hard time breathing," she said as she tried catching her breath and he immediately grabbed a water bottle and handed it to her. "Drink some water first," he said and she drank a little before giving it back to him.
"Phil- Phil!" Fatima called and he walked to her with questions on his face.
"Are you alright?" she asked and he nodded. He sighed before holding her up. He guided her outside the courtroom before walking down the halls to exit the building. Once they reached his car, everyone got in.
"Can you put on your seatbelt?" Grian asked and she nodded. She tried but failed. He removed his seatbelt before leaning towards her and doing it for her. She stopped breathing for a moment because of how close they were to one another.
Once he was done, he put on his seatbelt. She let out a deep breath before closing her eyes as her heartbeat faster. (He is not making my heart calm down,) she thought to herself.
Once they were driven to Fatima's house, she went to her bedroom and laid down. Philippe also rested in his room while the two men talked in the living room while Timothy was watching cartoons on the television.
"How are you holding up?" Grian asked Will and he shrugged in response.
"I'm doing fine, don't worry," Will said before chuckling. Grian patted his shoulder before sighing.
"It's been crazy, hasn't it?" The two sighed in unison as they drank some beer.
"Do you need any financial assistance after this whole wreck?" William shook his head and instead pulled out a card from his wallet.
"Just visit my new bar. Give it some recognition so I can get customers," he said with a smile, and Grian's eyebrows raised before he nodded.
AFTER A LOT OF court meetings, the fugitives were finally sent to prison. Fatima and her family will now live in peace. They got a lot of attention from the media but soon enough, things settled down. Two weeks passed and things seem to have changed for the better.
Philippe and Timothy are now going to school without any worries while Fatima is getting ready to set up the coffee shop. Since Fatima doesn't have any other work, she will manage the coffee shop again and be the manager while it's owned by Grian. Grian on the other hand is busy with company affairs.
But right now, he wants to ensure that Fatima will be his.