"Mama! Mama!!!" Luke shouted.
Bianca turned her head and saw a little boy yelling while running towards her. She was both surprised and baffled specially when he suddenly hugged her legs. She was currently spraying water onto some delicate flowering plants when the boy pounced on her and she almost lost her balance. Aya who was sitting on a bench some distance away from Bianca was also startled.
"Mama! You came back for me?" Luke asked as he look up to see Bianca's face.
"I'm sorry little boy. But I think you're mistaken." she replied.
With the Luke of disappointment, Luke let go of Bianca. He lowered his eyes and stepped back. She looked like his mama but she didn't sound like her. The woman's voice was different.
"Luke, come here!" Aya worriedly called the child. He turned around and slowly made his way to his grandma. "That's Bianca. She works for us. Do you find her similar to someone?" she tried to soothe the child.
Luke nodded a little and then paused before shaking his head. The woman was similar to his mom but also not similar. Aya caressed the boy's hair as she felt pity for him. He was probably missing his aunt Jienna right now.
"Luke..."
Luke turned when he heard Charmaine calling him. She and Leo was walking towards them and seeing their concerned expressions, the boy failed to hold back his tears as he went running towards his mommy.
Charmaine picked him up and carried him in her arms. Luke buried his face in her chest and cried hard. The poor child, he didn't cry this much when his mom passed away. Why suddenly wail like this now?
"It's alright Luke. Mommy will always be with you." she said as she patted his back. Charmaine glanced at Leo checking on his expression. She wondered if he noticed anything just now. Maybe she shouldn't hide the truth from him anymore. After all, they are already married.
"Let me hold him." Leo told her. "Luke, come with daddy, alright? We need to talk about something."
Luke nodded and allowed Leo to carry him away. Charmaine on the other hand turned to her mom and explained. "Looks like Luke mistook her for Jienna. Who is she mom? Is she a relative?" Jienna was actually her cousin in blood. This new woman looks like her so she was thinking she might be a relative.
"No. She's a new helper." her mom answered.
"Are you sure she's not related to us?" she whispered. "After all there are twins in your family and you're a twin yourself."
Aya glanced at the woman who was busy doing her chores. "No." she replied. "She couldn't be Jienna's twin. I'm very certain Maya had a singleton pregnancy."
***
Leo put his son down on a bench and then he kneeled in front of him to meet his eyes. "Luke, look at me..." Leo told the child. "I know who you're missing right now. I also know you're sad. I just want you to know that we are here for you. I know it's hard but Jienna has already left us. We can't bring her back." he explained. He was uncertain though, if Luke could understand his words.
Luke lowered his head and then nodded. "I'm sorry. I thought she was... " Luke cut his words and raised his head. "Do you have a mother, dad?" he suddenly asked. "Why don't I see her?"
Leo stood up and then occupied the empty space beside the little boy. "Of course I have a mother, but she's not with me. When I was eight, my mom divorced my father and she moved to France after that. She's now in Germany after she remarried a German lawyer several years ago."
Luke stared at his father's face. So, they're just the same? His mom also left him? "Why did she divorce your dad?" he asked.
Leo shrugged his shoulders. "Because he's a cheater." he said matter-of-factly. During his father's youth, he was entangled to a lot of woman. When he married his mom, she thought he'll stop messing around. She believed in him for ten years until she found out that Joel Ji, his father has been having an affair with a woman he met during their honeymoon in Bali. How absurd was that? They even had a son-Jun who was a year older than Leo. She couldn't forgive him and so she divorced him that same year.
"Will you cheat on my mommy, too?" Luke asked. "If you do then she'll divorce you too."
Leo turned to his son and ruffled his hair. "Of course not. We will never get a divorce.... because I will never cheat." he promised.
Luke nodded. They really better not divorce or he'll share the same fate as Leo. Charmaine being not his first mom, they will surely take him away from her, and he didn't want to lose his second mother this time.
***
"Leo, I heard of what happened. I just couldn't believe you were reduced to nothing in just a single day." James commented when they all gathered at the drawing room.
The drawing room has two sofas facing each other. Leo and Charmaine occupied one while Aya and James sat across them. Luke on the other hand was crawling on the carpet, playing with Aya's two shi tzu puppies.
"I'm sorry about all the trouble. Rest assured I'm now working on it." he replied.
Charmaine gave Leo a side glance. Working on it? Yeah, right. She hasn't seen him working on anything though.
Leo chuckled when he noticed Charmaine's meaningful glance. He hasn't explained the situation to her, yes? Maybe he could reveal a little right now? He held her hand and look at her parents way. "The truth is... there's been an attack going on against me lately and the perpetraitor is someone in the Ji family. When they heard about the Aikens taking interest on me, they decided to launch their attack all at once to stop it. Grandpa had no choice but to enforce punishment against me according to the family rule. I'm still gathering evidences to clear my name but I assure you it won't take long before I can get back to my rightful place." Leo declared with confidence.
James turned to Aya with a knowing look. So that's why Chairman Ji was very anxious that day. Charmaine and Leo's marriage could have stopped all this. It could have cemented Leo's position and provided him additional power in the Ji Group. What a pity.
Charmaine also sighed. She didn't know things were so serious. "I'm sorry." she mumbled.
Leo squeezed her hand when he heard those words. "It doesn't matter. Do I look like I'm bothered? As long as I have you I'll be alright."
The Song couple who caught their intimate exchange looked at one another. Aya then turned to Leo with a look of surprise. "You're together now?" she asked.