Chapter 4: Hey sweetheart, missed me?

Amara

I paced back and forth in my bedroom. The incident from the night before continues to play on my mind like a loop.

How could he be here, of all places? And how is he connected to the Harveys?

A lot of questions swarmed in my head like bees swarmed over flowers for nectar.

A knock at the door broke my thoughts.

“Come in.”

Chloe came in and wished me good morning.

“Madam. I was told to inform you that Mr. Harvey has asked for every family member's presence in an hour for breakfast.” She said,

“But Luke isn't home,” I asked because I was pretty sure he was considered a family as well.

“About that. Mr. Luke called the residence and informed us that he would be here before breakfast.” She replied. Her face was twisted in confusion.

Must be wondering why he, my husband, didn't call me but called the house phone and informed the servants of his delay.

I sighed and told her that I'd be there.

After she left, I got involved in my daily morning routine and got dressed for the day.

I hadn't even realized until she came in that it was already morning.

The dining table was still mostly empty, with only three people present.

From what I knew, Luke's grandfather has three children, two sons and a daughter.

His daughter is married into another elite family and lives somewhere in Italy with her family.

Grandpa's eldest son, Dylan Harvey, met with an accident in his late 20s, and since then he has been in a wheelchair as he is paralyzed from the neck down.

His younger son, Colin Harvey, is my father-in-law and his wife is Julie Thomas. They both together are both parents of Luke, their eldest, and two younger daughters, Elizabeth and Caroline Harvey.

Including Grandpa Harvey's daughter's family, there are a total of eleven members in the Main branch of the Harveys. Excluding me. And since she is not here, there should be seven members of the family present. Eight, if you count me.

Yet, I see only three of them here at the dining table.

Colin Harvey and Julie Thomas, my father and mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law, Elizabeth.

I greet them, but only my father-in-law responds.

For some reason, this mother-daughter pair seems unfond of me. They don't say anything, but it's not like it's needed when their indifferent behavior already speaks volumes of their dislike for me.

As if I care.

I discreetly roll my eyes and take a seat.

A minute later, the front doors open and Luke walks in. He doesn't even lift his eyes to look at anyone and just takes his seat beside mine.

At least he knows how to behave in front of his family.

He passes on a cold ‘Good Morning’ before asking the butler for his newspaper.

Behave; he knows. Respect, he doesn't.

Soon the patriarch of the family, Grandpa Arthur Harvey, walks into the dining room, dressed in a pair of tracksuits.

For a man in his late 70s, he looks more radiant and in spirits than his children.

As soon as he sits, everyone greets him, including me.

He looks at me with a smile and asks, “Child, did you sleep well last night?”

I refrain from choking on my spit when I hear his question.

The scenes from last night invade my head again, making me feel their presence in the most crucial way, as I can't help but remember the touches from last night that ignited my being.

A shudder passes through my spine, and I pinch my thigh to keep my emotions in check.

I turn to Grandpa and smile, “Yes, Grandpa. I slept well.”

“I'm glad you did. They took more time than usual to turn on the generators. I was afraid it would be an inconvenience to you.” Grandpa said and laughed.

I just smiled at him in return, and from my peripheral vision, I saw my mother-in-law frowning.

“Anyways, the reason I called you all here for breakfast is that Sam returned last night from his trip, so I thought it would be good to have breakfast as a family after so long. I also needed to introduce him to the new addition to our family,” Grandpa said, calling for the butler to send him to get Sam, whoever it was.

But after his announcement, I sensed a sudden, uncomfortable silence around me. Luke was holding his newspaper a little too tightly.

My mother-in-law was shifting in her seat as if the chair were burning her back, and she just wanted to get up and leave.

Ella, or Elizabeth, was glaring daggers at her plate.

I don't think Grandpa noticed it, because if he did, he did well hiding it.

He was either really oblivious or was so used to this scene that he chose to ignore it.

And from what I know of him in the business field, it looked more like the latter to me.

“Sam!! Come here, my boy! Let me introduce you to your sister-in-law.” Grandpa exclaimed, and I turned my head to my right to see this, Sam.

And yes, it was Jason. Walking towards the table while pushing Mr. Dylan's wheelchair. And beside him was Caroline, in her typical poised self.

“Amara, child, meet Sam, or Jason Harvey, as the world outside knows him. My eldest grandson and Dylan's kid.” Grandpa introduced him with such enthusiasm, which told me he favored Jason.

And maybe that was the reason my in-laws were upset.

Brushing all that aside, I stood up and held out a hand towards him. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Jason.”

He looked at my hand and slowly took it in his hand, gently shaking it.

“It's nice to meet you as well, sister-in-law. And please, just Jason is fine.” He replied, and although the people around us couldn't detect anything from his voice, with the way his index finger stroked my palm as he withdrew his hand from the handshake, I knew it was an indication of something I wasn't sure I was going to like.

After the tense breakfast, of which Grandpa seemed just too oblivious to care, I was called in by Grandpa in his study along with my father-in-law and Luke and Jason.

“Amara, I heard from your grandfather that you were exceptional in your studies while you were studying in Europe,” Grandpa asked.

“Yes, Grandpa. I graduated high school early, so I applied to Oxford and just recently graduated with my business degree from there.” I replied with a smile. My studies were something I was extremely proud of.

I felt eyes on me and turned to look at Luke, who was looking at me with a surprised expression.

What? Did he think I was just some rich bitch who didn't study and just planned on spending her family's fortune or something?

“Excellent! You are a bright youth, and I don't want your knowledge and passion to go to waste, so I want to offer you something. If you are willing, of course, to work for the company with us, or if you want to start something of your own, I'll fund it. Just make a choice.” Grandpa asked with a smile. His tone was both serious and kind.

This man helped my family in such a tough situation, and now he was saying that he was ready to fund my business if I ever wanted to start one.

I had always wanted to start something of my own, but in the situation I was in, it felt wrong, but I also didn’t want to sit idly at home.

“Grandpa, I'd love to work for the company. I think it would give me the necessary experience needed to sharpen my skills.” I answered as humbly as I could.

As soon as the words left my mouth, Luke spoke, “Grandpa, I don't think she is eligible to work for the company. She's young and inexperienced. We didn't open the company for people to gain experience, but to make use of the experience and skills people possess.”

I was about to refute, but another voice interrupted me, “Then maybe the first person we should remove is you. From what I've heard, the French project is still not halfway through, and we are only a couple of months away from the deadline.”

I looked at Jason. He had spoken the words as if they weighed nothing. He was sipping his coffee in a white polo, and my dirty mind instantly started thinking of how charming he'd look doing me in those.

For fucks sake!

“Luke, when you joined the company, you were a novice as well. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the mistakes you made back then.” Grandpa spoke, and his authority-filled voice was strong enough to pull me out of my dirty daydream that involved his grandson. Not the one I was married to.

“But Grandpa It's the family's business, and I'm part of it,” Luke exclaimed.

“And so is she!” Grandpa replied.

Luke was about to rebut again, but his father glared at him to shut up. He did so immediately.

“Amara, don't mind his words. He's a fool. The marriage was sudden, and he is still adapting to it. He will come around. Meanwhile, be ready to get on board tomorrow. Jason will guide you.” Grandpa said. His initial sentence made me happy, but the last part, not so much.

I bid him goodbye and left the study.

I was about to cross the hallway to the main room when I was suddenly pulled into a room.

Before I could scream, my mouth was covered with a hand.

Ocean blue eyes, dark as the same, stared down at me.

Thin lips pulled in a smirk.

And with his body pressed against mine, was Jason.

“Hey sweetheart, missed me?”