Chapter 22: Chapter 22

“Jake, I don’t know… if I am ready for this,” Myra said, twirling a loose strand of hair that remained out of her ponytail. Jake halted the sports car just before a red light before attending to her.

“There’s another thing, Myra. Your father’s failing businesses. If we undergo this union, for once, you can save them. YX will be willing to lend you financial assistance. At no price.”

At the green light, the sports car moved again. Jake focused his attention to the road, driving swiftly in the absence of traffic. It was not a busy day today.

Myra hid her trembling fingers under the folds of her dress.

“Jake, I don’t want to bother you so...much. What if I… think about it? And you think about it as well?” She pleaded with her adorable doggie eyes.

He looked at her with an unbelieving look. “Are you sure, Myra?”

She had to admit that he was right. If she lost this chance, many other women would be pursuing a chance with V City’s hottest and most eligible bachelor. But she needed some time to be frank with Hart about it and explain why she was deserting him because she had no other resort. She was just a second-year university student. Furthermore, her father would need a lot of money to treat his stroke.

“Give me some time, Jake. Three days. I’ll definitely give you an answer.”

“My father wants to meet you tonight to discuss this. He’s worried as well, about your father’s predicament and the businesses. Even if you’re your father’s flesh and blood, it’s a heavy duty on your shoulders. My father is willing to help, if you accept.”

She nodded. “I will join you for dinner tonight, Jake. But about my decision, I hope you can keep it to yourself. I don’t want to displease your father.”

He manoeuvred the car into an empty parking lot at a deserted shopping centre.

“Myra, that depends on how well you convince my father that we are a couple. I promise you, I can stop any ‘couple activity’ from happening between us for now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t accommodate it if it comes willingly from you. But if you really want to continue your relationship with that man without my knowledge, what I can say is that you have to tread with caution.”

“What do you mean, Jake?”

“That means, once we go through the doors of the Marriage Bureau, you are mine. Your body and heart will only belong to me. You can treat this as a political marriage by all means. But once you sleep with another, you have committed adultery. And for your information, it is a violation of the terms of the marriage agreement. YX can withdraw their financial assistance at any time for that.”

She gulped. Again, it was so complicated.

“Let me see the agreement, Jake.”

“I will let you see it tonight, after dinner.”

“Fine.” She scrunched her lips, annoyed.

“I have to add, this agreement was not written by me, but by our fathers. I am in no way prejudicing you. But if you want to save your grandfather’s legacy, this is what you need to consider.”

“Jake Yu!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. He put his fingers to her mouth, silencing her immediately.

“No matter how loud you shout, nobody is going to pay any attention.” He grinned wildly. Unbuckling his seat belt, he leaned towards her, while her seat belt still restricted her movements. The second their eyes locked, she found herself lost within his galaxy again.

“Myra, I really regret what happened between us in Bali.”

She gasped, feeling the touch of his big hands on her petite frame. Let me go, she wanted to say, but her heart softened at the emotion in his eyes. Sooner or later, she was going to be burned to ash for playing with fire.

“Give me another chance, Myra. You know you want it. I want you too, Myra. We can change the past, if only you wish to. Think about the future, Myra. Our future.”

Her eyes dampened with tears. Why had he only after so long, told her this? But even if they got married because of the promise between their fathers, what about Yuna and his unborn child? Was he going to neglect them because of her?

“And what about the child? Are you going to leave them?”

“I will give Yuna a magnificent settlement. I have already made it clear, I am only with her because of the child. It was a childish mistake of mine in the past. I don’t understand how she even got pregnant. I have always been careful with her. The only times I didn’t use protection was…”

He stopped. He hadn’t bothered with protection during their time in Bali and also during the unprotected sexual encounter they had while they were both drunk in that place that held their childhood memories. He knew what he was doing despite all that alcohol in his system. He even called for a taxi to take her home, but nobody answered the door, so he resorted to pulling the keys from her handbag and helping her into her room. It wasn’t difficult to notice. Her room stood out very well from the other rooms and was painted in her favourite colour. She had liked pink a lot since her childhood, although she had some items in her second favourite colour, baby blue.

When he laid her on her bed, he wasn’t inclined to leave her just yet. He had watched over her for a long time, before he finally left. By then, it was already past midnight and he was sure Sierra would be back soon. Five minutes after he started his car downstairs, he saw the familiar shade of Sierra’s car turning in the driveway. Jake never forgot a single person nor the car belonging to that person in his life.

He heard her call out his name in her sleep. Why hadn’t he noticed how beautiful she was when she slept?

Again, he had missed his chance. He was not going to miss it this time.

“Let’s not think or talk about the past,” he quickly corrected himself. Myra shrugged.

“I still need time to think about it. Marriage is no child’s game.”

The laws in their country were somewhat strict. If a couple wished to divorce, they had to live separately and not have any sexual intimacy for two years. Then they required a written statement which would be used as evidence in the courts to support their divorce petition. This involved hefty attorney fees. For this reason, she didn’t want to rush into marriage given their young age.

Still, she was left with little choice. Jake, even as the CEO, could not take out large sums of money to lend her financial assistance, since every decision he made would go through a board of directors. Their union was the only possible way she could prevent her father’s businesses, including herself, go into bankruptcy. Though she was still in university, her father had listed her name as a business partner long ago, involving her personally in the indemnity of the businesses.

Alfred Yang’s reasoning was simple: his businesses could not fall into the hands of strangers. Any successor of his would have to be blood-related, otherwise his son-in-law. When Alfred had stated that, Myra hadn’t thought that he already had his prospective son-in-law in mind.

“Okay, I’ll give you the time you need. I trust you will make your best decision. Although, I hope that you will not underlook the fate of the fruit of your grandfather’s hard work.”

She firmly nodded to indicate her understanding. “Thank you for your concern, Jake. I didn’t see that coming from you.”

He took her hand warmly. “In the past, I was an idiot. Now, you can take my words for it. I’ll mend things and make you happy.”

“Jake.”

Everything was happening so quickly, that she didn’t know how to cope with it. She let Jake take the lead and quell her with his skilful lips. Like at the hotel, he stopped abruptly, stroking her cheeks gently to make his care for her known.

“It’s getting late, Myra. We should not keep my father waiting.”

It would be a good two hours’ drive to reach the mansion Jake stayed with his father. Jake retained his composure as he walked her to the main door. She voluntarily linked arms with him, remembering how he had asked for her to convince his father.

Now was not the time for her to think about unnecessary things, she reinforced herself and gathered up all her strength to enter the house, keeping her fingers crossed in her mind for the best. Uncle Marc was her only hope in knowing about her father’s condition and perhaps through him, she could know how the agreement came about.

Grudgingly, she took a step forward, but the scene that unfolded after entering the house was one she had least expected.

“Myra…” Jake gulped, realising her face was as pale as a sheet.