When the Night Falls

JASMINE

I sighed as I held the papers in my hands. My gaze went to Thea, who was sleeping peacefully with her mouth opén.

They were the examination papers that I had been correcting. I needed to give them to Summer the next day so she could create the students’ report cards.

I leaned back against the sofa as I looked at the doors. Thea’s birthday party had been a success, except for the part where Lana came into the picture.

It had been a week…a week in which I hadn’t seen Theo or heard a word from him. He left a letter saying he would be busy and he didn’t know when he would be back.

Whenever he did get back, he would be at least answering a few of my questions. I hadn’t heard anything from Talia or Christopher and I was dying to know about Lana.

I couldn’t pinpoint it, but I felt like I had seen her somewhere before.

I finished up my work and called Mi ck to help me with Thea. He placed her on the bed while Sherry stood in the bedroom doorway.

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“You guys can take the night off. I’ll stay with Thea. It’s been a while since you two went out,” I

told him.

“Are you sure? We don’t mind staying,” Sherry said.

“Nope, it’s fine. The other b*dyguards are on duty. You guys need a break. Go on a date or something. Spend some time outside.”

Mi ck and Sherry looked at each other before Sherry nodded.

“See

you two in the afternoon. Don’t hurry back in the morning. Come back whenever.”

“Okay, good night, Jasmine,” Sherry said.

“Good night, Jasmine. Call us immediately if something happens.”

“Yup, good night. Drive safe,” I said, waving at them.

After they left, I went into the bathroom to change into my pajamas. I checked my phone to see if I’d received any messages from Theo.

When I didn’t see any messages from him, I set the phone on the nightstand before getting under

the sheets.

I looked at Thea, who was still sleeping peacefully and hugging her doll. I smiled before closing

my eyes.

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I tried to move my head, but my hair felt stuck. Moving only hurt my scalp. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Theo’s face.

I blinked. I was sleeping in his arms while some of my hair was underneath his arm. I gently pulled my hair out from under his arm.

I turned my head to see Thea sleeping. I looked at the digital clock on the wall. It was 3:09 in the morning.

I didn’t know when Theo got into bed beside me. I hugged him as I yawned.

I went back to sleep knowing he was with me…beside me, with his arms around me.

***

I set the last pancake on Theo’s plate and handed him the syrup bottle.

Thea had already had her breakfast and gone out to play football with Sherry and Mi ck.

“Do you want anything else?” I asked.

“No.”

“Okay.” I’d had my breakfast with Thea. Theo had woken up late and now he was having his breakfast.

“I can make your juice.”

“No.” I waited for him to finish his breakfast. I was eager to ask him the questions that had been on my mind since Thea’s birthday.

He finished his breakfast and stood up with his plate. I watched as he wandered toward the basin, washed his plate, and set it on the counter to dry.

“Let’s go to my office,” he said. I followed him there.

I closed the door behind us as he sat in his chair. “Is there something you wanted to talk about?” I asked.

He nods, then sighs, closing his eyes. “Jasmine…I know you have a lot of questions.”

“You need to know about everything since you’re part of my life. I shouldn’t be hiding things from you,” he said.

“I don’t know where to start, but I’m sure you have questions. Start asking me the questions.”

Me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay…” I took a deep breath as I looked at him. I did have a lot of questions that I wanted to ask and I was worried that he would be offended by them.

“You won’t be offended by my questions, right?”

“No, I won’t be offended. You have to know the truth. You are my partner and I can’t hide things from you if I want you in my life. So you have to know the parts of my past life.”

I nodded my head before licking my l*ps.

“Who is Thea’s mother?”

“Lana Satre. You met her on Thea’s birthday. She’s her biological mother.”

“What is your relationship with Lana Satre?” I asked him carefully.

“She is my sister-in-law,” he replied, and I looked at him in confusion.

“She is your

sister-in-law? I mei

how?”

“I had a younger brother who fell in love with Lana. She was his classmate. They got married when they were young, then Thea was born,” he said.

“I… I don’t understand. You had? What happened? Why is she not allowed near Thea?”

“He commited suicide. She is not allowed near Thea because she tried to kill Thea when she was an infant. We weren’t able to prove it legally, but she agreed to stay away from Thea.”

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My eyes widened in horror as I heard that. I felt my heart start beating wildly against my ribcage. How could she try to kill her own child?

I thought of Thea, of how innocent she was. Just the thought of something bad happening to her made me angry.

“But why would she do that? Why would she try to kill her own daughter?” I asked him.

“Lana never wanted to have kids, but my brother did. When he died, Thea was a month-old baby. Lana didn’t want her baby, and she wasn’t in her right mind. She was angry and sick.”

“Who was your brother? And why do I feel like I have seen Lana somewhere?” I ask him.

“Rio… Rio Jefferson.”

Why was that name so familiar?

“They both graduated from the same university you did. My mom was a board member at the university.”

My eyes widened in surprise when I suddenly started remembering. Rio Jefferson and Lana Satre

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were the power couple when I was at college.

They were from different departments, but they were popular. “They…they both were popular and so in love. What happened to them?”

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, a distant look on his face.

“They were in love – or should I say my brother was in love. Lana loved him only because of his surname and the fact that he was the second prince of the Jefferson business empire.”

“He didn’t know Lana’s true self; neither did we. I had only met Lana twice. Rio spoke highly of her, so when he said he wanted to marry Lana, we didn’t say a word.

“We respected his decision and I didn’t try to stop him from marrying so young.”

“Rio never wanted to join the business. He wanted to lead a simple life. Lana didn’t take his feelings seriously. When she started forcing him to join the business, things between them changed.

“I don’t know what exactly happened between them, but they fought all the time.”

“Rio couldn’t handle it. He was a sensitive person, and he found out Lana was having an affair but she was pregnant with his baby. He didn’t want to leave her or the baby.

“Lana started to torture him men tally…

but

“Rio commited suicide. We took things to court, but Lana knew better and the court refused to believe us without any proof.

“We didn’t win custody of Thea, but Lana agreed to leave Thea with us when we gave her a share in the company.”

“But I know she is planning something and she’s good at playing games. I hide Thea from the outside world because I know Thea’s biggest enemy is her own mother.”

I took a deep breath after hearing the story. It was too much to take in. I didn’t want anything coming near Thea.

“But why would she try to harm Thea?” I asked,

“Lana loved her lover. He ended things with her when she became pregnant with Thea, Lana holds a grudge against my brother and Thea, because she believes she lost her true love because of them.”

I shook my head. “What will happen now?”

I watched as Theo stood up from his seat and wandered over to where I sat. He placed his hand on my head and started caressing it.

“Don’t worry, nothing will happen. I will take care of this. I will never let Lana come near Thea

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“Don’t worry, nothing will happen. I will take care of this, I will never let Lana come near Thea

or you.”

“But how?”

“Later, I have my lawyers working on it. Don’t worry, things will be fine.”

I nodded and leaned in to hug him.

I thought about what he had said. If Rio and Lana were my seniors and Talia was a board member I would’ve recognized them immediately.

But I didn’t because I never concentrated much on what was happening around me.

Then it suddenly struck my mind that Theo told me that he saw me six years ago and knew me that long. Did he see me in college?

“Do you have something to ask? Your face is full of questions,” he whispered.

“Did you see me six years ago at the university?” I asked him.

He blinked. “Yes, I saw you at the university.”

“But why didn’t I see you? I never knew that Rio was your brother, and I don’t remember Talia as

a board member.”

“Mom rarely visited the university. Only when there were board meetings.”

“Then when did you see me? If I saw you, I would’ve remembered you,” I said.

“Should I tell you now?”

“Yes.”

“You were the scholarship student. Every year on University Day, they issued special scholarships for the selected merit students. I saw you onstage for the first time.”

“Maybe you don’t remember me because I was different then. I never spoke to you, but I handed you the scholarship certificate onstage once. You were in your second year of university.”

“Wow…”

“No more questions. We’ll talk about this later.”

I had a lot more questions to ask, but I know this is not the time.

When the Night Falls