Even More Strange

My mind and thoughts were up in twists as I slowly absorbed the shocking revelation I had received from Ma Nana. I went back through all my time and experiences with Jordan, and as I went over it, every single thing began to make sense to me.

The reason why Jordan had agreed to such a ridiculous request from his half-sister, the reason why he had been so brutal towards me, and most of all, the reason why he hated me so much, especially as he believed I was a gold digger. As I thought about it, I remembered that he had mentioned to me about having personal experience with gold diggers. Back then, I had thought that he was probably talking about all the ladies who flocked around him because of his wealth. I never knew that he was talking about his mother! Jordan's mother was the gold digger who had given him an ugly experience.

It was wild to think about, but then I could understand why he and Helena were so sensitive about this. Helena had had her family ripped apart by a gold digger, and Jordan had to live with the guilt and trauma of his mother being that gold digger. I could see why he would not forgive himself, even though he it was not exactly his fault.

I was also surprised to find out that Jordan had such an active conscience. I guess I had judged him too quick as someone who didn't care about anybody or anything. Or maybe, his conscience only came to play when it concerned his sister, Helena.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt sympathetic towards Jordan, until I began to feel a little guilty. Even though I was not a gold digger as Jordan had judged me of being, the fact that I had been mistaken for one and by that, brought back ugly memories, that made me feel guilty.

But even while I was feeling guilty and sympathetic towards Jordan, I still couldn't excuse Helena for the horrible scheme that trapped me in Jordan's net. I could make excuses for Jordan and say he probably was misinformed, and acted on the wrong information.

But Helena? She was fully aware! She knew that I had left her son after she warned me. I had broken up with Daren! But it was he who got obsessive and stalked me. I was the victim, and yet, I was the one getting punished. This made me mad all over again.

Just then, someone knocked on my door. I waited, thinking it was Ma Nana or one of the other maids announcing their presence.

"Come in." I announced, when the person did not open the door. But instead of the door opening up, the knock came again.

Could it be Aggela? I wondered. But then, Ma Nana had assured me that she already left that morning. Besides, Aggela would never be that polite.

I got on my feet and walked to the door. Pulling it open, I found Jordan standing there.

He looked fully dressed in a black shirt and plain black pants. I wondered if he was going off on a trip again, and the thought made my heart sink in a way that I didn't expect.

"Can I come in?" He asked gently. I was taken aback for a moment by the softness in his voice.

"Just yesterday, you were gallivanting the room, showing your authority and ownership. Since when did you need permission to come in here?" I asked, raising a brow.

"Can I come in?" Jordan repeated, maintaining his gentle tone, but the gaze in his eyes seemed impatient.

I stepped away from the door and turned my back to him.

"It's your mansion. Do whatever you like." I said as I made my way back to sit on the bed.

When I looked up, Jordan had come in, shut the door and was leaning against the closed door, with both his hands in his pocket. He was staring at me with a piercing gaze. I shifted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at him. But it was hopeless. Jordan's presence in the room seemed to fill up the entire space. I looked back at him, and he was still starring at me as if he could see into my soul.

"What?" I asked.

Jordan leaned away from the door and walked towards me.

"Did you recruit my Koumbara to fight your fight?" He asked.

"What?" I asked.

"Maîa Dimitra. Did you tell her to scold me?" He clarified.

"Why would I do that?" I asked.

"I don't know, you tell me." Jordan shrugged. "I have known Aggela for years now, and my Koumbara has never had a problem with her coming around, nor has she ever cared if  if we spent the nights together. So, why does she suddenly care?"

"I don't know. Did you try to ask her when she was scolding you?" I shrugged, glaring at him.

"She looked like she would chew me up if I dared to ask her. Whatever you told her had her really riled up." Jordan retorted, maintaining his calm.

"Well, I didn't tell her anything. If she is mad at you, maybe you should question yourself." I said.

Jordan remained quiet for a while. Then he spoke again.

"I told you to stop acting weird. All this acting out is making me wonder." He said.

"I owe you no explanation. If your conscience pricks, then maybe you've done something wrong." I replied.

Jordan threw his head back and laughed aloud.

"Oh, koukla. It is not the pricking of my conscience that I worry about. It is the fluttering of my heart. To think that you may be jealous, I worry that my heart will flutter. Could it be that you are jealous, because you are falling into me?" He said, leaning into me, his eyes holding mine captive. I felt every single breath escape from my lungs, as I feared that if I took even one more breath, Jordan would hear my heart pounding wild in my chest. "That is what I wonder, June moù." He added with a sly smirk.

I glared at him long and hard.

"Do you always have to be a bastard about everything?" I asked through gritted teeth.

Jordan scoffed.

"If you knew me well koukla, you would know that I can never not be a bastard." He shrugged.

As soon as the words left Jordan's lips, I remembered Ma Nana's revelation, and I felt guilt creep up my chest at the thought that Jordan might be referring to that. I immediately regretted my choice of words and quickly looked away.

"Koumbara thinks I should apologize to you." Jordan said, leaning away. "But if you won't tell me what makes you angry, I wouldn't know what to apologize for. Either ways, I don't think you would take my apology if I did tender one." He said.

"I'm sorry." I blurted out. Jordan was shocked. He looked down at me clueless and amazed.

"For what?" He asked.

I sighed reluctantly, and remained quiet, hoping that Jordan would get impatient and leave. But he stood there, patiently waiting for my reply.

"For everything. For calling you a bastard. For acting weird and confusing you. For giving you the misconception that I am a gold digger. Because I am not! I really am not a gold digger!" I said, holding Jordan's eyes. A small softness touched his eyes as he stared back at me.

"No. No you are not a gold digger. I figured that out already." Jordan said softly.

I gasped in surprise as hope blindly filled my heart.

"Then if you know I'm not a gold digger, why won't you let me go? Why do you still keep me here?" I cried, rising up to my feet.

"Because I made a promise to Helena.

I sank back into my bed. Jordan's damn loyalty to his sister! I had forgotten so easily. It was even more hopeless now that I understood how much loyalty Jordan had towards his sister, and why.

"And because you need to stay as far away as possible from Daren." Jordan added.

"Daren?" I flared up, rising to my feet again. "I need to stay away from Daren? It is Daren who needs to stay away from me! He was literally stalking me after I broke up with him." I cried.

"That is why I had to take you away." Jordan said.

"What?" I asked.

"Daren would have never let you be. He would have stalked you forever, as long as he knew where you would be. He would have found you and keep stalking you." Jordan said. I pondered briefly.

"But why?" I asked.

"Because he is sick." Jordan said. "Helena always knew there was something wrong with him, he showed signs of being dangerously obsessive over things he took a liking to, even since his childhood. When he was sixteen, Daren had a crush on a classmate. When she kept turning him down, Daren stalked her everywhere.  Even when her parents moved to another city, Daren found her address through a mutual friend and followed her there. He abducted the girl, but never harmed her. Instead, he held a gun to his head and threatened to shoot himself if she turned him down again. It took us so much to persuade the girl's parents to not press charges, and lucky for us, they were more than willing to disappear when we offered." Jordan paused for a moment, looking into my pale face. "If you had just listened to Helena, we would never have gone this far. But you were too stubborn." He accused me.

I didn't care about his accusation. I was more worried about what he had just told me.

"Shouldn't your sister be getting help for Daren instead of making people disappear?" I asked.

"She would if she could." Jordan said.

"Why? I know for sure that she can afford intensive treatment for Daren." I said.

"These are sensitive times. Daren is supposed to take his father's place as the Rockshire heir, but there's a plot to overthrow him. If it gets out that Daren is that sick, his competition would use it against him. Helena saved that company from bankruptcy. Her father's wealth saved them when they were about to go under. And now, they are against her. I can't let her loose everything. And if I have to sweep Daren's illness under mountains for now, I will." Jordan said with resolve.

I felt my heart breaking all over again. This time, not just for Jordan, but Daren and even Helena too.

"Poor Daren." I sighed.

When I looked up, Jordan was glaring at me.

"Do you still care about Daren?" He asked.

"Am I not allowed to?" I retorted.

"No. No, you are not allowed to." Jordan said, with a stern note and his face hardened with seriousness.