Within the walls of the living room, Aiden reclined on a couch while Alexa sat beside him, about to apply ointment to his wound.
"It will sting a little, bear with it," suddenly, she remembered he told her he had CIPA. 'Right, he won't feel pain,' she told herself and started to apply the ointment.
"You two," suddenly the old man's voice rang as he made his way down the stairs.
"Good afternoon, Grandpa," Alexa got up and greeted. Hands folded in front of her and the finger with the residue of ointment was stretched out.
"Mm... What happened to him?" the old man questioned when he got to the foot of the stairs.
"He– "
"I was careless and got burnt. Grandpa, Aunt Maya told me you were in the study room having a meeting again. I told you to take a rest," he stepped forward to support the old man but the man turned him down and stated.
"Don't tell me to rest when you can't take up my responsibilities. From now on, my granddaughter-in-law will help me around while you go to the company and learn how to run it."
"Grandfather, I'm not cut out for running businesses. Do you want the company to go bankrupt?" Aiden rejected the proposal with a smile, as usual.
"Shut up, you punk. You have a wife now. In nine months time, you'll be giving me a great grandchild. Do you think your wife and child would respect you if you don't earn your own money?" the old man sneered at him and then looked at Alexa, "right. You should talk him into going to work. He has to start making arrangements to learn how to live without me."
Alexa smiled and contributed intelligently to neither offend her husband or his grandfather.
"Don't worry, Grandfather. My husband will surely be motivated to work when his first baby is calling. But he should not be pressured, I can take up working in his stead." She smiled sweetly as she held the old man's hand and led him towards the dining area.
The old man looked at Alexa with warmth in his eyes. She reminded him of Aiden's mother. "Can you work at the company?"
Alexa's heart leaped for joy and quickly dug her thirsty fangs on the opportunity to introduce her intelligence and qualifications.
"Yes, Grandfather. I studied Business Management and did an internship for one year at Mobi Corps."
"Oh, that's good," the old man, with the support from Alexa, sat in the dining, "sit beside me, you seem interesting."
"Yes, Grandpa," Alexa smiles cheekily but her heart was in turmoil.
What if he asks her questions relating to her family, what would she do? As she sat beside the man, her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and saw it was Nora. She looked at the old man apologetically, indicating she needed to take the call.
"You can go ahead," the old man waved his hand. Alexa beamed and left the table.
She created a distance that she considered safe enough to maintain her privacy before taking the call.
"Hey, Nora... Yes, I'm good. No, not at all. Of course. We're about to have lunch. Yes, there's a party tonight. You should definitely be there. Alright. See you soon. Bye."
Alexa canceled the call. As she was about to join the two who seemed to be having a serious conversation on the table, an idea came to mind and she quickly dialed a number. After two rings, the call connected.
"Hey, Jerry. Please, not now... I need your expertise on forging an identity. No, trust me, it won't put you in trouble and I can assure you, my family will bounce back, at most in three months. Hmm, I want it on the internet with my academic excellence, the fact that I worked as an intern in my father's company for a year after college and the schools I attended should not be forged.. Yes, I know. I don't want to falter in those aspects. Thank you so much... Jerry, I told you, not now. And please, don't call me unless I asked you to.... Hold on, I want it real quick. I know it takes time, just make the necessary information available on the internet in less than one hour. My name should be Alexa Winnie Jonathan from Rain City... Get lost."
Alexa quit the call with a scoff, "Love, my ass," she rolled her eyes before heading back to the table. On arrival, she apologized for taking too much time.
"Have a seat. What do you like to eat? If it's not on the table, let Maya make some for you."
"I'm fine with the menu, Grandpa," Alexa scooped some rice, sauce, and salad on her plate. Seeing this, the old man shifted his gaze to his grandson. The young man was trying to get some protein for his wife. The old man nodded with satisfaction.
This was how he and his wife started. They got into an arranged marriage when they barely knew each other. She was repulsed to the idea of marrying him and he hated her guts.
Even so, she received his exceptional care, it tamed her fierce nature and she soon reciprocated in kind. She turned around and gave him love, which in turn melted Old Man Clinton's heart and an undying love brewed between the two.
With themselves as a perfect example of a successful arranged marriage which started from enemies-to- lovers relationship, they thought Wilfred and Aiden's mother, Chloe would also be mature enough to treat marriage with respect, but unfortunately, Wilfred, the reincarnated son of a devil, raised by devil himself, ruined everything and killed his beloved daughter-in-law.
In just a few weeks when his daughter-in-law's corpse had not fully decomposed, the son of a gun brought him a scheming bitch and wanted him to bless them.
How could he bless a marriage that was formed over the death of his innocent, loving, and compassionate daughter-in-law, whose only crime was to love the wrong man?
The old man sighed. If he had known, he wouldn't have kept the promise he made to his best friend on his dying bed.
Chloe's father, Aiden, was Clinton's good friend. They served in the Army together in their early years. On their last mission to eradicate a terrorist group, Aiden took a bullet for him.