One Wild Night

Chapter 450: The Petersons

Lucy paced to and fro the length of Harry’s office door as she waited for the father and son to finish their discussion inside the office.         

    

She wasn’t sure she had ever felt as anxious or restless in her life as she did at that moment. She wished she could at least hear what they were saying.     

With each step she took she prayed that Harry would react as reasonably as she believed him to be and wouldn’t be too harsh at Aaron.     

“Calm down, Lu,” Tom, who was seated on the waiting chair, called out to her when he got tired of watching her pace to and fro. Watching her one would think she was standing outside a delivery room and waiting for a pregnant woman to put to birth or something.     

Even though he had a series of meetings on his schedule which he needed to go for, he had asked Harry’s secretary to reschedule them as this was more important.     

He needed to be here for Harry and Aaron. Although he trusted Harry enough to know that he wouldn’t be too hard on his father, he knew Harry well enough to know that he would be hard on himself.     

“I’m calm. I just can’t sit still,” Lucy said, and fearing that if Lucy remained there much longer she was going to suffer a nervous breakdown, Tom rose from his seat and went to her.     

“You are not calm, and you’re beginning to make me feel anxious too. One of us has to be calm,” Tom said as he ran his hands down her arm.     

“I’m sorry. I just can’t help it. I’m worried,” she said with a worried frown, and Tom kissed her forehead.     

“I understand. Maybe you need to take a break. Check on Jamal and see if he is okay. I’m sure he will be happy to see you and he will help you relax for a bit and take your mind off this. I will be here until Aaron comes out,” Tom suggested as he led her to the door despite her protest.     

“I can’t leave. I promised Aaron…”     

“I will call you immediately he steps out of the office,” Tom promised as he paused to pick up Lucy’s handbag before escorting her to the door.     

Lucy sighed wearily as she took the handbag from him, “I won’t be long,” she said before walking away from there and heading for Tom’s office to check on Jamal as he had suggested.     

She was going to spend only a couple of minutes to relax and then she would return. She needed to be there for Aaron.     

Just as she got to Tom’s office and was about to open the door, her phone started ringing and she paused to take it out. She raised a brow when she saw that the call was from Jade, and the first thought that crossed her mind was whether Jade had found out about her relationship with Sara.     

“Hello, Jade! Good morning,” Lucy greeted once she received the call.     

“Good morning, Lucy. I’m sorry I’m calling so often lately,” Jade said apologetically.      

“There is no reason to be sorry. It’s not like we are strangers to each other. What’s up?” Lucy asked curiously without going into Tom’s office since she didn’t know what Jade wanted to discuss and she didn’t want Harry’s secretary to overhear their conversation.     

“I hope I’m not calling at a bad time. I was hoping your offer is still open and you wouldn’t mind sending me the picture of Harry’s mom,” Jade said hopefully, and Lucy’s brows pulled together as she tried to figure out why she was asking for it now.     

Had she changed her mind from thinking it was a coincidence that Candace looked like Harry’s mom or… Lucy’s eyes widened in surprise when it occurred to her that Jade might have put the puzzle pieces together now that Sara was in the picture.     

“Lucy?” Jade called, breaking into her thoughts.     

“Yeah? Oh, sure! Sorry, I got distracted. I will send it to you at once,” Lucy said, and Jade thanked her before hanging up.      

Immediately, Lucy returned to meet Tom in Harry’s office, and Tom looked at her incredulously when she walked in, “You can’t possibly tell me you’ve seen Jamal already.”     

“I just received a call from Jade. She wants me to send her a picture of the photo frame. I think she knows now,” Lucy said as she went to sit beside Tom.     

“She didn’t ask you any other question, did she?” Tom asked, and Lucy shook her head.      

“Then send it to her. I’m sure she will give me a call if truly she has figured things out,” Tom said, and Lucy gave him a nod as she did as he had said and sent the picture to Jade.         

    

Less than two minutes after Lucy sent it, Tom’s phone started ringing, and they both exchanged a look when they saw that the call was from Jade.     

“Are you busy right now, or can you talk?” Jade asked in a tone that was somewhere between excited and urgent.     

Tom glanced at Harry’s office door and then at Lucy, “I will be back,” he mouthed to her as he stood to leave, and Lucy wasn’t sure whether she wanted to follow him and hear what Jade had to say or wait there for Aaron.     

Lucy sighed as she watched Tom leave, and thankfully she didn’t have to spend too much time worrying about Tom’s conversation with Jade as the office door opened at that moment and Harry’s gaze settled on her.      

Lucy looked at him curiously, trying to figure out what he was thinking or what was going on as she looked past him into the office to see if she could catch a glimpse of Aaron.     

“Lucy, please join us,” Harry said with a blank expression on his face and he held the door open for her to go in.     

Lucy stood up, and without saying a word to him she walked into his office, and Harry closed the door behind him.      

Immediately after she got into the office, Lucy’s gaze moved to Aaron, and she relaxed briefly when she saw that he looked okay.     

Not sure why she was asked to join them, Lucy went to sit beside Aaron, “Have you told him everything? Why am I here?” Lucy asked in a whisper, and Aaron smiled as he gave her a nod.     

“Harry wants to know about your discussion with Sara,” Aaron explained as Harry joined them.     

“Before you say anything, I want to apologize for lying to you yesterday. I hope this doesn’t affect our friendship or your friendship with Tom. I think you should know that it wasn’t our intention to lie to you or keep secrets from you. It just wasn’t in our place to tell you anything. And I hope you won’t stay mad at Aaron either. Keeping the secret from you wasn’t easy on him either,” Lucy said apologetically, and Harry noticed how his father gazed at her with pure adoration.      

Ignoring all she had just said, Harry continued to look at her with a blank expression, “Why did you decide to go with him to see her? And what did you discuss with her?” Harry asked calmly.     

Hearing his question, Lucy looked from Harry to Aaron as she wondered if this was the right time to tell them about her relationship with Sara and whether or not she could raise the issue of the missing daughter now. She wished Tom was in here with her.      

Away from there, in Candace’s bedroom, she couldn’t help feeling restless as she thought about everything Jade had told her while she scrolled through the internet pictures of Sara on her phone.      

This woman was her mother? Candace mused with disbelief as she eyed Sara’s pictures.      

During her early teenage years at the orphanage, she had always wondered what her birth mother looked like. She had been more curious about who her mother was and what she looked like than she had been about her father.      

That had been what prompted her to ask the sisters about how she ended up at the orphanage home, and then after she was told that her supposed uncle had left her there in their care, she had felt so heartbroken and sad by it that she had given up every thought of wanting to know her family background.     

Seeing Sara’s pictures now, she didn’t feel anything special for the woman despite the similarities she could see in their features. She was just not drawn to her in any way, and there was no longing to meet with her as she had thought she would feel if ever such a time came in her life.      

If she didn’t already doubt the credibility of the story, she would have begun to doubt it after seeing Sara’s pictures.      

Candace had been around fake people long enough during her time as a stripper to recognize one when she saw her, and as far as she was concerned, Sara was as fake as they came.      

Perhaps it was her own maternal instincts at play, but somehow the woman just didn’t seem like someone capable of being anyone’s mother. There was no warmth in her eyes, and Candace couldn’t imagine introducing someone like that to Jamal as his grandmother.      

She wondered if her father and twin brother were anything like Sara. She was just going to make up her mind on whether or not she wanted to meet with them after finding out who they were.     

Or better still she could use Sara’s money and influence to find Andy. If Sara was desperate enough to find her daughter, then she probably wouldn’t mind going any length to find Andy if she was told her daughter was kidnapped, would she? Candace mused.      

As she got off the bed wanting to go and discuss her plan with Jade, the envelope Jade had given her fell off the bed, and she sighed as she picked it up.      

Even though she had no interest in whatever Jero had possibly left her, Candace tore the top of the envelope open, and then poured out the content of the envelope onto the bed as she sat on the bed once again.         

    

Her brows pulled together when she saw different pictures, newspaper clippings, and documents.     

She picked up a folded white piece of paper that looked like a letter and her brows pulled together as she read it.     

[My Precious. My love. My priceless treasure. My obsession. If you’re reading this right now, I’m sure it’s because I’m no more.     

I know you may never forgive me for all I did, but I hope this gift makes life easier for you.      

I started working on this some weeks before my arrest, and although I was unable to complete it, I hope you will be able to continue from where I stopped and get all the answers you need, and find the happiness you truly deserve.     

Jero. Your fallen angel.]     

Candace’s brows pulled together as she wondered what he was talking about. Dropping the note, she began to look through the newspaper clippings.     

Her brows furrowed even more when she saw the headline on one of them “Tragedy Hits As Gregory Peterson Dies In Auto crash With Wife And Only Child.”     

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the picture beside the headline. It was a picture of a distinguished couple and a little girl seated on the man’s thighs with a teddy bear in hand.      

She recognized the teddy bear even before she recognized herself. She had given the teddy bear out to one of the kids at the orphanage after she turned fifteen and decided she was too grown to keep it.      

What was this? Jero had been looking into her past? Candace mused as she dropped that newspaper clipping and started scrolling through all the others.      

From all she could see, the couple was her adopted parents, and they seemed to have been very wealthy and influential. According to the news, the child had died weeks after the accident.     

Candace frowned when she noticed that Jero had scribbled some things behind some of the photos on the bed, and she picked up one of the pictures which were scattered on the bed.     

It was the picture of a man who looked like he was in his mid-sixties. On the back of the photo, Jero had written, [Wilson Peterson. Gregory’s only brother. Abandoned Candace at the orphanage home and stole everything from her claiming she was dead].     

The crease between Candace’s brows deepened. So this was the man who had abandoned her at the orphanage home? That meant she had been right, and he wasn’t the same person who had stolen her from Sara had birth.     

Did this mean that her adoptive parents had stolen Sara’s baby? They were wealthy so that didn’t make any sense. So what exactly happened? And how did Jero even find all of this information? She mused as she picked up another photo.     

It was a picture of a young lady who looked like she was in her early twenties and a young man around the same age. They were both smiling at the camera and her arms were wrapped around him possessively.      

Just as she started turning the photo to see what Jero had scribbled behind it, she paused when she recognized the young man in the picture. Who was she? And what was Lucy’s twin brother doing with her?      

Although she didn’t know his name because they had not really interacted much, she was good with faces and had shared the same space with him once or twice in Tom’s home to remember him.     

She turned the photo around, and her brow arched as she read Jero’s note, [Daughter of Wilson Peterson, Rachel Peterson, and her boyfriend.]