Linda was pleasantly basking in Jeremy's attention and tenderness, she loved each second their lips remained interlocked, and so did Jeremy. Driven by his burning desire, he flipped her over on the couch, and soon enough he was on top about to unbutton her blouse when her phone buzzed. They tried to ignore it, but it buzzed again forcing Linda to chuckle, "Uhm, it could be important?"
"More important than this moment right here?", he teased
"It could be the guys coming to pick up the pieces". Jeremy gave in and passed her the phone, but that didn't mean he was going to stop kissing the other parts of their skin, while he was nibbling her ear, she suddenly got up, "I have to go to the mansion right now!", looking frightened out of her life. The mood instantly died off, and for a good reason, Linda's grandmother suddenly collapsed.
Worried about Linda, Jeremy helped her fix her clothes, since Jackson was not back yet, he offered to drive her to the mansion. He didn't stay long though because Linda insisted he went back to wait for the people coming to collect the pieces, "Everything has to be in order, please go home. I will pass by your place in the evening." Maybe it was because of the sudden shock, but they really did look like a loving couple, Jeremy even kissed her forehead before reluctantly turning to leave.
Linda made her way to her grandmother's bedroom where Dr. Brian was busy examining her. She was awake now, but as per usual, she was insisting that she was okay and didn't understand why everyone was fussing over a small fall. Hearing her say that made Linda snap, and she burst open the door, "A small fall?! Grammy, this is your second time in the space of a month", she said worriedly, she then turned to the family doctor, "Dr., what is wrong with her?".
The doctor led her outside, "Linda, is there anything that has been making your grandmother anxious lately? Her blood pressure is high, at this rate, it could end up being fatal, you know how fragile her health is."
Linda couldn't give the doctor the answers he was expecting because she didn't know either, she sighed in worry, "I don't know Doc, but I will make sure she takes good care of herself and stays away from anything stressful, even if it means hiring a nanny or move into the mansion myself."
Brian laughed, "You don't have to go to such extremes, just make sure she takes her meds in time and no stress." She nodded and they went inside her room.
Seeing her granddaughter looking so anxious broke her heart, "I am sorry honey, I didn't mean to scare you- I will take good care of myself from now on.", Lilly said as she held her hand. Brian said his goodbyes and left the room accompanied by Joseph leaving Linda with her grandmother.
Her face dropped, "Grammy, what is going on? The doctor said you were stressing about something. What is eating you?"
Lilly thought for a second 'I should tell her the truth', but just as she was about to say something, "We feel guilty because we pushed you to get married, and now you are tangled up with your uncle again. In our efforts to make sure you are not alone when we leave this world, we sent you straight to the arms of your enemy." Joseph said as he entered the room with a jug of water, "Here honey, the water for your meds..", he said while giving his wife an anxious look, he knew exactly what she was about to do, 'she must be really anxious', he was caught between the truth which could destroy their family and the health of his wife. He sighed at their dilemma.
"Is that true grandmother?", Linda asked not believing her grandfather, she had a feeling that they were not being truthful, if she wanted to, she could find out herself, but she wanted them to tell her.
Her grandmother's face dropped, "Yes honey. All we ever wanted was to see you with someone you loved and who also loved you. But out of selfishness, we got tired of waiting, and today you are engaged to someone who could potentially put you in all kinds of danger-"
"I love him, grandmother.", Linda suddenly admitted
They both looked at her puzzled, Joseph chuckled, "Honey, crushing on someone does not amount to lov-"
"No, I am serious. I miss him when he's not with me, I am happy when he smiles at me, I find myself longing for him even when he's across the room from me, and I get jealous when other women try to get close to him. If that is not love, then what is it?", she finally figured out her feelings for him, it took a lot of shock, but she finally knew what it was. It went beyond a mere crush, she had really fallen for him, why else was she risking everything to free him from her uncle's shackles? and she couldn't wait to tell him when she saw him later in the evening.
They both saw the sincerity in her eyes, their granddaughter was finally in love, but Lilly's worries grew even more. She looked at Joseph unable to hide her fears, but Joseph did not look worried at all, on the contrary, he looked pleased, was she missing something? This was the same man who was being used by their evil son to destroy their granddaughter, what was he happy about?