"Jalana ran out of the mansion," Jalana's nanny, Tessa reported.
Aryanna turned her face sharply away. She didn't want Tessa to see how her mouth was quivering.
"Do you know where she went?" She asked, in a strangled voice.
"No, she took a taxi outside the house and I don't know where she's headed. Jana isn't in a good frame of mind so I'm worried..."
"Okay, I'll look into it," Aryanna dismissed the nanny. She remained standing still in place, frozen with shock and a feeling of guilt.
Jalana and Clara were angry at her no doubt and with reason. She let her negative feelings get the best of her and ended up ruining all of their days.
Aryanna's fair face showed signs of strong agitation. She was deadly pale, her face had a strained expression, and her lips twitched nervously.
She thought of how to inform Sebastian that his baby sister whom she was tasked to look after ran out of the house, without informing anyone of where she was going.
She rang Jalana's phone repeatedly to no avail. Her sister-in-law refused to receive her calls. A half an hour later, she realized her efforts to reach Jalana seemed useless.
Aryanna felt defeated, left with no other option than to call Sebastian and inform him of all that transpired after he left the house.
The call to her husband was the most dreadful thing Aryanna has ever had to do. She sat by the front porch waiting for Sebastian to arrive, the wait felt like eternity.
Her heart skittered with fear at thought of his disappointment in her. The sunny room and delightful gardens felt dull as she dreaded losing sight of what was important with Jalana and Clara.
The immature way in which she handled everything came to her as the most serious of her drawbacks. She could not help brooding over it, the more she dwelt on the subject the more foolish she felt for how she reacted.
The gates opened and Sebastian's car drove in. A perceptible shudder ran down Aryanna's body as she saw her husband park the car. Her heart in her throat, pounding at the doors of hell to spare her from the eternal flames that was his wrath.
Sebastian alighted from his car. The chauffeur came to attend to the car keys, he was met with his boss's stern cold icy glare. "Where might I ask were you when my sister was leaving the house unattended?"
The chauffeur had no courage to venture a reply to Sebastian.
"You know perfectly well the trauma she went throught last night and yet you let her leave by herself," Sebastian's voice which had started off icily, was waxing more stern and wrathful.
Poor Aryanna carried a sore heart as she approached her husband. She nervously played with her fingers and took slow baby steps in her track. Prolonging and stalling her closeness to him.
"I don't know where Jalana went. I should've been more responsible, I'm sorry," Aryanna burst into tears.
Sebastian caressed her cheek, wiping her tears, he pulled her into the warmth of his chest and gave her a warm hug.
He rubbed his hands softly on her back. Hushing her cries and comforting her. "It's okay, Jalana is alright. You need not burden yourself with worry," he whispered assuringly.
Aryanna buried her head in his chest and cried out, she wanted to hug him back and hold onto him tightly. But when her hand lifted in the air to wrap around his back, hesitation lingered in her movements, she felt unworthy of it.
She'd let him down by failing at the simple task of taking care of his sister. Aryanna clenched her fists and helplessly lowered her hands to her sides. Her heart heavy with the burden of her failures.
"Let's go inside," Sebastian swept her off her feet swiftly and carried her inside.
Aryanna was inconsolable by the time Sebastian put her down on the bed. Hot tears streamed down her eyes, wetting her cheeks. She made a mistake and Sebastian had every right to be angry with her but he was being the most gentle and caring.
His tender love and care drew more tears to her eyes. Sebastian didn't shout or question her on her recklessness, he simply reached out to the drawers and brought her tissues to wipe her tears.
He sat silently by her side waiting for her to compose herself. It was unlike any treatment she's ever received, the people she knew never tolerated her when she was in the wrong.
They taunted her for her mistakes and brought up all past sins of her mother to make her feel worse.
She expected Sebastian to be the same, to scold her and blame her faults on her upbringing or the fact that she was a child born out of wedlock to a mistress. But her husband didn't do anything of the sort.
"Why...Why aren't yo..you saying any..anything?" She asked, in between her faint cries. "You should scold me. Something bad could've happened to Jalana and it would've been my fault."
"You've already recognized your mistake so I don't see any need to scold you. I just want to know what's wrong, what prompted you to be so harsh with Clara. I thought the two of you grew close at the gala, did she hurt you?" Sebastian inquired, his voice ever so gentle.
Aryanna shook her head and stared hard at the tissue in her hand. Her behavior was childish and bit uncalled for but she couldn't help it.
Her attitude flared up with jealousy and Clara stood on the receiving end of it. It was unfair to have treated Clara so and she was burdened with guilt for it.
She didn't have the courage to speak of the reasons behind her anger. Fearful that Sebastian wouldn't understand where she was coming from.
"I guess I was just on edge over what happened yesterday at the gala," she made an excuse.
"Are you sure that's the reason? From what Jalana told me, your retorts felt personal," Sebastian took Aryanna's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Trying to help her be at ease with him and open up about what was bothering her. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me. And you'll feel better to get it off your chest so tell me the truth, dear," he coaxed her.
Aryanna melted at the softness of her voice. The emotions she felt welled up and she burst into tears once again. She was completely embarrassed but the tears kept coming.
Sebastian pulled back and looked at her with a fearful look in his eyes. "Don't cry, Ari," he tried to soothe her.
"I didn't mean to snap at Clara...I was just...I just felt so jealous of her," her words were barely recognizable because she hiccupped as she sobbed.
"Jealous? Why were jealous of her?"
Aryanna composed herself and narrated the whole thing to Sebastian. Every detail of how things played out, how she felt and why, Sebastian listened keenly.
"I understand why you felt threatened by Clara's presence but you have nothing to be so worried about. No one can dethrone you from your position as my wife, as my mother daughter-in-law and Jalana's sister," Sebastian assured her, he bent his head down and began kissing the tears off one of her cheeks. "What you felt wasn't jealousy it was you being territorial. And I'm happy to hear you felt like that," he added and continued his soft kisses on her other cheek too.
"What? This makes you happy?"
"Yes, because it means you've accepted my family as your own. That pleases my heart, dear."
"But I messed up, with Jalana and Clara. I don't think they'll ever talk to me again," Aryanna muttered.
"Nonsense! Your mistake is nothing a sincere apology can't fix. Don't overthink things, okay," Sebastian dispelled her worries. "I'll help you patch things up with them. So calm down and give me a smile."
Aryanna wiped away her tears and calmed her nerves. She wrapped her arms perfectly about Sebastian's hand and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"What good deeds did I do in my past life to deserve a husband like you?"
"You must've saved the world from doom," Sebastian joked, they both chuckled. The dark cloud looming over Aryanna dispersed leaving room for her to enjoy the cosy warmth overflowing from her husband. Hi
s presence lifted her burdens and worries.
"I pray that nothing ever costs me you, Sebastian."