"Since I'm your idol, can you make me some Crêpes? Oui? Though you're a terrible cook, you make a handful of delicious meals!"
Adriana: "..."
"Go put the twins to bed." Usually, Adriana would have rejected the request right away after Cristy mentioned her horrible cooking skills.
But since she knew Cristy was not feeling like herself today, she made an exception.
Sighing, Adriana made the late-night Crêpes.
When Cristy came back, she served them for her.
"Ma'am!" When she heard Ralf's voice as she put away the dishes, she removed her apron.
She had not called Ralf over, and this meant he had things to report last minute.
Wiping her lips with a napkin, Cristy narrated in a low voice.
"When Adriana Price noticed Ralf had arrived with important information, her business model was immediately activated. She walked towards her study room and with an understanding, Ralf followed behind her. Meanwhile, her neglected best friend painfully clenched her shirt, feeling her heart shatter into a million pieces."
Adriana rolled her eyes, and meeting Cristy's eyes, she closed the door of her study room.
Sticking her tongue out, Cristy picked up her food again.
When she felt the sweet taste on her tongue, she moaned.
"God, I love her food."
****
"What is it?" Adriana asked, taking a seat on the couch and rubbing the side of her head.
Ralf took his seat and started his report, "News about Mrs. Brooklyn's attempt at murder to someone who had witnessed her relationship with an underaged boy are circling the media."
"I never asked you to release that information. How did it happen?" Adriana asked.
"I'm not sure. My theory is someone is helping you in the dark or someone holds a grudge against Mrs. Brooklyn too."
"Hmm, I planned to keep it a secret but now that it's rumoring around I might as well take advantage of it. Since they don't know who it is yet, wouldn't it be shocking if I appear on the day of her trial and tell my piece?"
"That is why I have a feeling someone is trying to help you. If they did a deep investigation, they would have known you were the person who Mrs. Brooklyn tried to kill. Which means they kept it a secret for a reason."
"What else?" Adriana changed the topic, making a mental note to consider it as a possibility.
"President Preston doesn't seem to have any intention of helping the situation."
Adriana furrowed her eyebrows. "I need him to help her. What the hell is he waiting for?"
"Ma'am, may I ask why?"
"I need him to give Briana false hope, of course! After all, despite knowing the truth of her parent's relationship, it is more convenient for her to clear her mother's name than to stick with her father."
"I see."
"Damn it, just when you need him he goes idle." Adriana cursed him.
Ralf held back a laugh as he watched her curse Noah's name repeatedly.
"Is something amusing to you?" She suddenly surprised him.
Swallowing, Ralf shook his head.
"Investigate how the news got out and tell me if Noah finally makes a move," Adriana ordered and dismissed him.
She then sighed, remembering his grandmother. Did he talk to her yet?
She decided to text her to see if Noah was around before deciding to video call her.
"Cristy!" She yelled.
"Yes?"
Adriana raised a brow when Cristy stormed inside the room immediately.
"What are you pretending to be? The flash?" Adriana scoffed.
Rolling her eyes Cristy asked, "What do you want? I'm still not done eating don't you dare quick me out."
"Let's facetime someone" Adriana answered.
****
It was almost 5 pm in New York and Noah made his way to his grandmother's house.
Yes, she had been discharged finally, and he had brought a property in a gated community on the outskirts of the city.
After working and thinking about his situation regarding Adriana and Aria, he visited her. He had not talked in person with her for a few days anyway, and he missed her.
Thankfully, his grandmother's health had improved shortly after she started talking with Adriana. Maybe it was because it motivated her to take care of her health. It would be a lie to say his grandmother never considered Adriana as her own daughter. So she must have felt delighted to hear Adriana was alive and yet somehow resentful.
After all, Adriana did live 7 years without informing them she was alive.
But since nobody had brought that up, they must have been considerate and understanding that what Adriana experienced was probably no simple thing.
That was honestly reasonable.
Anyway, when he finally arrived, he parked his car and headed inside.
"Sir!"
Tali Sheree, the nurse in charge of reporting his grandmother's condition, greeted him and immediately told him where his grandmother was.
He walked towards the garden and found her sitting down with a cup of coffee, desserts, and a chess set.
He smiled, and his face immediately softened.
Walking towards her, he hugged her.
"Oh! Look at you, why didn't you tell me you would arrive?" She patted his arm with a warm smile.
A smile that never failed to make Noah feel loved.
"Surprise." He grinned and took his seat in front of her.
"Alright, what advice do you need now?" His grandmother took a sip of her coffee and continued studying the chessboard.
"It's not that." Noah shook his head, stretching his hand and picking up a chocolate chip cookie.
"You see this?" His grandmother pointed to the queen on the chessboard.
"She's gotten better…. I think she could beat your grandfather if he were still here." His grandmother chuckled.
"Who?" Noah asked curiously, nodding in agreement with her words.
Looking at the position of the pieces, his grandmother was defeated cruelly in the game and was probably studying how her opponent managed that.
"Adriana, of course. If you had come a few minutes earlier, you would have seen. She video called me, oh and her friend Cristy too. I played a few rounds with her, she must have been taught by Adriana as well. Now, look at this!"
"She must have been practicing a lot." His grandmother looked amused.
Noah fell silent.
A set of memories come rushing back.
On a picnic outside his grandmother's estate, Adriana and Noah were learning chess from her.
His grandmother had never been a fan of the game because she thought it was boring, but her husband had taught her everything he knew. He showed her his love for the game and when he passed and his grandmother met Adriana; she passed on all her knowledge to her.
Well, to both, but his grandmother seemed more fond of his girlfriend.
That... well, because he was "A brat" according to her and Adriana was a "Beautiful fairy princess."
"Help…" Adriana nudged his shoulder and whispered.
"What the hell am I supposed to do?"
"Useless! I'm about to lose." Adriana shook her head and when she finally lost, she sighed.
"This is all your fault." She blamed him.
"How is this my fault?"
"If you were paying attention to the game, you would have been able to help me, idiot." She glared at him.
"I'm sorry, love. I was too busy admiring your beauty." He apologized with a smug smile.
Adriana pretended to vomit, to tease him.
"Alright I'll forgive your cheesiness just because it is true I look beautiful today."
Noah blinked when he met his grandmother's eyes.
He was staring at him with an eyebrow raised.
"What?" He questioned.
"You chuckled. Just who were you thinking of?" She asked him with a smug smile.
"Tsk." Noah picked up another cookie and turned his attention to the garden.
"How do you like the place?" He asked.
"Very comfortable. It would be better if I had grandbabies. This is all your fault. I will never stop blaming you." His grandmother's mood seemed to have dampened at that thought.
"Sure it is, it always is, isn't it?"
His grandmother nodded.
"I told you to move around this area and live here peacefully with her. If you had listened, I might have grandbabies now." To his surprise, his grandmother started cursing.
Oh, and like a sailor too!
A habit she never got rid of.
"What if you do?" Noah suddenly interrupted her curses.
"Huh? Is that possible?"
"Hmmm."
"Explain." She demanded.
"I think I have a daughter." He answered.
His grandmother glared at him and picked up the tissue beside her. She then tossed it at him angrily.
"Did you cheat on her? You animal!"
"What? No!" Noah raised his voice, shocked.
"Why do you always assume the worst of me?"
"Humph! If Adriana had my grandbabies, she would have told me." His grandmother sighed.
"But what if she couldn't? Because It's unsafe or because-"
"Shut up and explain properly."
Noah took a deep breath in and unlocked his phone, opening his gallery and showing her a picture of Aria.
"What do you think?" He asked.
His grandmother looked stunned.
She looked up at him with unsaid questions.
"Adriana's daughter, she's 6 and her birthday is on June 16. Which means she was pregnant. Before we divorced."
"I thought she left you for another man. Is it that man's daughter?"
"You knew? And yet you still don't support your own grandson?" Noah's face fell.
"Well, obviously. I know that girl, if she left you is because you're useless or because you did something to her. She wouldn't cheat on you, so tell me…. did you cheat on her first?"
Noah: "..."
"We should get a DNA test, I don't think I'm really your grandson," Noah complained.
His grandmother once again tossed him napkins and tissues.
"I'm serious, tell me!"
"She didn't cheat on me, well she said she did, but she didn't. She simply went along with the lies and never explained herself, which is why I don't know why she asked for a divorce." Noah started.
"Well, if she didn't cheat, then this girl is obviously yours!" His grandmother continued looking at the picture, amazed.
"Ah! I always knew you two had excellent genes for some babies." A content smile made its way to her lips.
"I'm thinking grandchildren is all you care about."
"Obviously!" His grandmother replied, leaving him dumbfounded.
Shaking his head, he sighed. "I also think she's mine. It's too obvious, doe she thinks I'm some sort of blind idiot."
"You're though."
Noah: "..."
"You know something I don't, don't you?"
His grandmother smiled and didn't respond.
"Do you remember when you were young?" His grandmother asked, clearing the chessboard intending to experiment with him.
"I am young," Noah replied.
Rolling her eyes, his grandmother corrected, "When you were younger and were secretly being poisoned by your obsessive nanny."
Noah flinched at the horrible memory.
"Right, even till now it remains in your body. Therefore, you can get panic attacks and that toxin is activated when you are under too much stress. We have invited doctors around the world and yet no one can completely cure you. Not even your grandfather who died before he could finish curing you." His grandmother's words caused him to fall silent.
"Did you ever tell your wife that?"
'Ex-wife.' Noah corrected inwardly. He didn't have the luxury to call her his wife anymore.
"I did not." He responded.
"Why is that?" When his grandfather noticed he was not willing to speak, she sighed.
"Because you were afraid of how she would react. You were not ready to open up about that horrible experience and you still aren't. Son, just like you people also experience horrible things. They have a hard time opening up to others."
"Grandmother, tell me one thing. Did you know Adriana before that day at the cafe?" He asked.
"I did."
"These experiences you speak of aren't just about her past, but now as well, right?"
His grandmother nodded again.
"Since when have you known? Did you also know she was alive?"
"Not long. And no, I did not. Are you saying other people knew all along?" His grandmother returned the question to him.
"Yes." He nodded.
"Who?"
"Angel, amongst other people in our friend group."
"Hmm, do you know why they said nothing all along?"
Noah exhaled and leaned back in his chair, looking up at the sky.
"Because she planned it all along, everything. She must have something bigger…. there's a bigger purpose to her actions, isn't there? For her to put aside all other variables and focus on this one thing only, what she went through must have affected her life greatly."
"And it's my-"
"Alright, stop that nonsense. You always blame yourself for everything! Quit it, it's not all about you Noah!" His grandmother's lips twitched.
Noah rolled his eyes.
"Even if you are an idiot, it's not your fault that you two have such an ill-fated relationship."
"Is that really it, ill-fate?"
"What else could it possibly be? You two must have made grave mistakes in your past lives." His grandmother shook his head.
'Just sit back and enjoy the show.' She wanted to tell him, but it was not the right time yet.
"Grandmother, you two are really alike." Noah stood up from his seat and picked up one last cookie before walking inside.
"Wait? What do you mean by that?"
"You both like to appear harmless." Noah laughed before leaving.
"I am harmless…." His grandmother mumbled and shrugged.
"God, even I don't believe myself." She shook her head and continued to direct her full attention to the chessboard.