Joseph carried the sleeping Christine to the guest room. A maid came running to open the door for them. He gently put her on the bed, making sure not to wake her up. It was already past 11 in the evening and he knew that Christine did not have any decent sleep yet after her grandfather died.
Another maid came in carrying Christine's luggage, hand carry bag and shoes. Joseph signaled the maids to leave which they followed immediately and closed the door behind them.
He then found a pair of pajamas in Christine's luggage. He took the liberty to undress her and put the pajamas on her. After tucking her in bed, Joseph sat on the side of the bed, leaning on the headboard and lovingly looked at the sleeping beauty beside him. He caressed her cheeks and tucked some strands of hair at the back of her ears.
"Welcome home, love", he said dotingly and just stared at her. He noticed that Christine had matured but she still has that innocent vibe in her. Her skin is so soft and white like a porcelain. He knows for a fact that smoking is bad on the skin but he is amazed of how she is able to maintain her flawless and healthy skin. He had seen her smoke a couple of times already. First was on Jolo's birthday party and the night before he sent her away. Second was when he went to pick her up after her grandfather's burial. Who knows how many cigarettes she puffed, he was not there to look after her.
God knows how he wanted to to be there and take her back to the mansion. Had she asked him that day not to send her away, he would have taken her back regardless if her mother disapproved. At a young age, he was trained by his dad to manage their business and when he died, he was at her mother's side in running their business. At age 22, he officially took over their businesses even when Celine married Jackson. He was only forced to send her away not because his mother told him but because Christine gave him no choice. But she did not ask to stay and willingly went back to her grandfather. From time to time he would check on her and that is why he was aware when she became a commercial model, he even recorded every commercial she made.
'How can she still look so innocent? He died a thousand times just thinking of how many men have shared the bed with her? how many men have touched her?' His expression turned grim and his eyes darkened with anger.
'I promise you that you will never look for another man from now on. You will never leave my sight and I will be here to satisfy your every need in bed until you beg me to stop', he whispered and lightly kissed her cheeks.
He then stood up from the bed, pulled the comforter up Christine's chest, and when he tried to reach to turn the bedside lamp off, her bag fell on the floor. All the contents scattered on the gray carpet. And when he picked then up, he saw a brown envelop. By the looks of it, it was old due to the crumpled edges and the color started to fade. The envelope was not opened, the seal is still there and the name and address written is that of Cristine's, it came from Jackson and was dated 5 years ago.
He opened the envelope to see what is inside why she left it unopened. The documents inside are from the bank, stating that Jackson has opened a trust fund for her worth five million that would mature when she turns 20 years old. With the current interest rate of 15% a year, it has now compounded to a little more than ten million. Joseph remembered that there was a time when Celine, he seldom call her mom because Celine insisted that he call her by her name, and Jackson had a huge fight over Cristine even after he sent her away. He had no idea what happened but after that, Jackson stopped mentioning his daughter's name specially in front of Celine.
Joseph was confused on why Christine did not open the envelope. With this amount of money, she could have easily paid her debts. This means that she did not know that she is actually rich when she turned 20 a month ago. It seemed that there are things that he needs to investigate. He looked at Christine with a confused expression and decided to leave. He turned off the lights and left taking the envelope with him.
Christine was still sleeping like a baby, oblivious of what is happening. She was in dreamland. In her dream, she was carrying a child, a very lovely child. She was heading toward the garden full of colorful flowers. She doesn't know where she was and who the baby is but the place seems so familiar to her. There was a swing in one corner of the garden. She was glad to see it and hurriedly went near it. She sat there with the baby. The baby seemed to like the swing as well. She was mumbling and smiling at her.
Then she saw a man slowly walking towards them. He came out of nowhere. She can only see his silhouette since his back was facing the afternoon sun--he is tall and masculine like someone who just came out of a fitness magazine. He was carrying something she could not figure out. She just stared at the man approaching, anticipating and waiting to see his face. The baby seemed to recognize the man and was happily jumping up and down while clapping her hands. She can almost see his face when suddenly Celine just came running from nowhere toward the man. She threw herself at him happily and kissed him on the lips. The man was Joseph?
Christine was twisting and turning in bed. She was soaked in sweat. How can this be?