The young man pointed his phone in Nidia's direction and filmed her secretly. He wanted to show Theodore he had completed his end of the bargain. Just as he was about to send the recording to Theodore, a chat notification from Dylan popped up.
Louis was the type of person who had the ability to type with his eyes closed, as he was on his phone 24/7. He didn't pay much attention to who the recipient was, and thought that he was still texting Theodore.
He chose the video he just took and sent it.
Meanwhile, Robert analyzed Nidia's case. "Well, Miss South. It doesn't matter whether you're married or not. Both parents have the right to gain custody of a child.
Usually the court gives custody to the woman, whereas the child's father has to pay a certain amount to support the child's needs."
Nidia's eyes brimmed with hope. She added, "Oh, right. I forgot to mention that the person I'm fighting child custody with is Jackson Cunningham. That wouldn't be a problem, right? We'll surely win, right?"
Although Robert was usually very calm and collected, he almost spat out his coffee at Nidia's words.
Robert looked at Nidia, and scanned her up and down. His eyes seemed to be fixated on her face...
He wanted to see who this woman really was. How was she able to give birth to The Tycoon's child?
"Miss South, you're trying to fight custody with Mr. Cunningham?" Robert asked.
"That's very unrealistic."
Nidia felt as if the fire in her eyes were extinguished in just a few seconds.
"Why is that unrealistic? He's human too! You said the court will be on my side, my baby still needs me to breastfeed him! You said the law was just!"
Robert didn't want to further crush Nidia's hopes, so he said softly, "I'm very sorry, Miss South..."
Nidia was now extremely infuriated!
She stood up and decided to leave, saying, "Thank you, good bye." Since Robert was recommended by Theodore, she didn't want to cause a scene.
Robert could tell that Nidia was furious, and he didn't dare to offend The Tycoon's woman. He immediately followed her to send her off. Even though she had only spent a night with Jackson, she was still his woman.
Nidia walked into the elevator the moment it arrived on her floor.
Robert stopped the elevator door from closing and explained, "Mistress, our law firm had been bought by TF Co. with 13 million dollars half a year ago. You want me to sue my boss, Jackson Cunningham, for you? How could I?"
Nidia didn't know what to say.
She felt she was the unluckiest person alive. She had genuinely hoped that someone from this firm could help her. Much to her utter dismay, she realized everyone here was working under Jackson Cunningham.
Jackson Cunningham was everywhere!
She could feel herself getting a headache.
"Just pretend I've never been here. Oh, and don't tell Theodore this happened. He just wanted to help." Nidia said, pressing the elevator button.
Just as the doors closed, Nidia could hear Robert call out to her once more. "Stay safe, mistress!"
Mistress my ass!
Ain't this some bullshit?
When Nidia reached home, she saw that her grandmother wasn't home yet.
She decided to take a shower and extract more breast milk for her child. Just as she was placing the bag of milk into the fridge, her phone, which was on the sofa, started chiming. It was a call from Dylan.
Nidia picked up her phone, unnerved. She was worried something had happened to her baby. "Hello?"
"Miss South, are you at home? The young master only has enough milk till tonight."
"Yeah, I'm home." Nidia replied instinctively. Right after blurting out these words, she felt something wasn't right.
"Wait, are you coming to get the milk? Wasn't I supposed to go over to check up on my baby? Couldn't I just bring it over then?"
"Miss South, we'll talk more later. I'm driving now..."
After a beep, the call ended.
Nidia changed into clean clothes. Suddenly, she remembered that her grandmother was going to come back home any second now. She didn't want Grandma to bump into Dylan. Were he to expose everything, Nidia would be ruined.
Nidia found a plastic bag and took out the bag of cold breast milk, deciding it was best for her to wait for Dylan downstairs.
"Ah, so I'll just call you Jackson. Here, come on in..." Grandma's loving voice could be heard from outside.
Just then, someone was unlocking the door with the keys.
The door swung wide open. Nidia stood in place and stared at the doorway.
Grandma was entering the house, carrying a bag of groceries. Behind her stood a tall and beautiful man. He wore the same black coat and white dress shirt, his tie looped neatly around his collar. For someone who carried such a perfect image, he seemeout of place in this crude little apartment.
His fairly defined features made his calm expression difficult to read.
....
"Come on in, Jackson. Make yourself at home." Grandma was very welcoming. She even gave Jackson, who was still standing outside, a nudge.
Nidia was surprised. Her initial reaction was that she was worried what Jackson might have told Grandma on the way here.
Grandma hadn't realized the change in expression on her granddaughter's face. She opened the shoe rack and placed a pair of men's flip flops at the door.
"Please bear with us. This is a new pair of flip flops Grandma bought last month.
Back when Nidia's grandpa was still alive, I would buy him a new pair of flip flops every season. Although he's no longer with us now, Grandma would still buy a new pair. It feels as if he's still with us."
The pair of flip flops were black in color and fairly new.
"Thank you, Grandma." Jackson's voice was mature and deep as always. Unlike his usual cold demeanor, he seemed to be very respectful when talking to Grandma.
"Have a seat..." Grandma said lovingly.
Jackson entered the apartment and sat on the sofa against the wall.
Nidia glanced briefly at his direction. The man's tall build made the sofa seem cramped.
"Why are you here? Dylan just called and said..." Grandma interrupted her. "Niddie, come here and help me out with this switch!"
Nidia was dragged away by her grandmother.
Grandma closed the kitchen door and whispered, "How could you treat the child's father like that? He's helping you take care of Bubsy, but you aren't grateful at all!
You keep giving him attitude!"
Nidia couldn't figure out the right words to say.
She felt as if she had just dug her own grave!
So now she was the bad guy and Jackson's the victim who required Grandma's help?
Grandma took out the groceries from the bags one by one and ordered, "Help out in the kitchen. He's a guest, after all. It's only fair we cook him lunch!"
"Grandma, I don't think he needs to stay for lunch!" Nidia lowered her voice, visibly annoyed.
Grandma tried convincing her again as she placed some vegetables in front of her granddaughter. "Oh, my little girl... you should be more mature. If your relationship with him goes bad, then you wouldn't be able to see Bubsy anymore, right? Jackson has remarried and the child is being taken care of by his stepmother.
What if she turns Bubsy against you? How will you handle that?"
'There's no stepmother!' '...At least, not for now!' Nidia sighed deeply and started preparing the ingredients for lunch.
However, Grandma was right. If Nidia damaged their relationship, she wouldn't be able to see Bubsy as much. This was her situation right now.
Grandma walked to the living room and placed a bowl of washed strawberries in front of Jackson, saying, "Grandma just bought these strawberries, they're organic and very sweet! Have a few!"
"Thank you, Grandma. You don't need to do all this for me." Jackson said, standing up. He did not take the strawberries.
Nidia observed them from the kitchen. From what she could hear, and by looking at his facial expressions, it would seem Jackson humbled himself in front of elders. It didn't matter how powerful he was.
Respecting the elders. This may be the only virtue he has?
Grandma switched on the television for him. "Please, be my guest. If you're not busy, you should have lunch with us before you go."
"That's alright, Grandma." Jackson said, glancing at the kitchen. He then added, "I have a meeting later."
Grandma sat him down and said, "You seem like a busy man, but you're still making time for your family and Bubsy. Nidia has really wronged you."
Jackson decided to stay silent.
"Grandma didn't teach her properly. You guys were dating just fine, and you were going to marry each other! She was wrong to break up with you when she was pregnant. So reckless! She crossed the line on this one, so Grandma won't be biased towards her own granddaughter."
....
Grandma's wrinkly eyes gazed lovingly at Jackson, who sat on the sofa in his well fitted suit. Based on his physical appearance alone, Jackson was definitely the best man Grandma had ever seen in her whole life.
He was tall too, which was a bonus!
Then it came down to his personality.
Grandma admired this type of people!
Most importantly, it seemed his wife didn't mind him bringing in his love child with Nidia. How open minded can this woman be? For her to be so open minded, it must've meant that the child's father was an impressive man.
It's a shame this young man couldn't be her grandson-in-law!
This was all because her granddaughter didn't know better!
Grandma now only wished Jackson would manage his schedule well and spend more time with his wife. It would be wonderful if he could spend time with Bubsy, but he shouldn't prioritize the child over his own wife.
"Grandma doesn't understand why you two broke up back then, but it's too late now! Jackson, what I'm trying to say is... Don't pressure yourself too much. I know it's hard on you, so you can let me take care of the child. You and your wife shouldn't have to deal with this any further..."
Nidia was still preparing lunch in the kitchen, so she did not want to interrupt. From what her grandmother was saying, it would seem that Jackson had not told Grandma much.
Well, what was she expecting...
This cold hearted man would never open up to Grandma. Since Grandma assumed Nidia's made-up story to be true, she talked to Jackson about it.
Jackson remained calm and collected. "My wife and I have a very good relationship.
She doesn't care about the past."
Thank god, he had not exposed her...
Grandma seemed to want to say something, but Nidia came out of the kitchen and said, "Grandma, I've prepared all the ingredients."
"Ah, I will be making lunch now. You two can talk a little!"
The man was now the only one left in the living room, sitting on the sofa. The television was playing a new program, and the noise from its speakers were fairly loud.
Nidia knew that Grandma would overhear their conversation if they were to stay in the living room. She called out to him, "Hey, come over..." Her bedroom was quite distant from the kitchen. If they were to close the door, it would be soundproof.
Nidia's bedroom wasn't big, furnished with a simple single bed. The colours of the bedsheets were slightly washed away, bearing a hint of freshness. The whole room was filled with a sweet aroma, the same scent as her body shampoo.
It was a scent unique to her. Jackson was surprised he could still remember it.
His gaze studied the small and narrow room, and then fell on her desk. He approached it and spotted a picture frame. It was a peach coloured frame, with an old photo inside.
A young girl was wearing a light blue pleated skirt, a beautiful red bow tied around the collar of her white short-sleeved blouse. Her long silky hair was let down, paired with a fair little face and cherry-colored lips. She had on a sweet and gentle smile.
Jackson picked up the frame.
"Don't touch my stuff." Nidia lunged towards his direction, about to snatch her picture frame back.
He raised the frame above his head and turned towards her. Her face crashed into his hard and warm chest.
Jackson lowered his head, staring at Nidia, who had bumped into his chest from lunging at him. He wasn't sure whether it was the sweet aroma on her body or the fresh lemon fragrance from her hair, but her myriad of scents overwhelmed him.
She wanted to take back her frame, but he had raised it too high for her to reach it.
In that position, it was natural for her to bump into his chest and fall into his embrace.
Veins popped out of the arm that Jackson was using to hold up the frame. He held the frame tighter in his hand, and lowered his head once more. The sight of her eyelashes fluttering like butterflies sent him gulping, his Adam's apple bobbing upwards.