chapter 3

ESMERALDA'S POV

"Charlotte Hernandez, 35 years old. She was only 20 years old when she found out that she's pregnant with her child, Clara, and decided to get hitched with her ex-husband, who also the father of the child. They were happy for a few years until the mistress from the Grinda household summoned her son back into her care, and he just ignored his wife and child all together." Jacob explained to me while I stuffed myself with food.

"Why do you need to know all of this? What kind of ideas do you have in mind?" He asked. I swallowed hard the food that's inside my mouth before smiling at him.

"Create a contract that favors her. Once we get a divorce, she may have some of my wealth." I said with my mouth full. I'm pretty sure that Jacob was just judging me hard right now.

"What do you mean by that? Do you want to ask her to be your contract wife?! Are you mental? What if your family knows about this? Not to mention your grandparents will cut you off from the will!" Ugh! Does he have to remind me all the time?

"No one will know if those who know about this deal just shut their mouth. Jacob, I'm not ready to settle down yet. I want to have fun without worrying about my partner waiting for me at home, and I don't want a husband that keeps on calling me to come home so he could put a baby inside me to secure his future. That's just not how I live my life. I want my freedom." Jacob was about to retort back when he received a call from someone.

"That was our representative from France. They required the exact date of when we will announce the new cruise ship to the announce publicly." Huh? What's with the rush?

"What's wrong? Why are they annoying me to announce the new cruise ship? We can't simply announce them without proper inspection. Passengers' life is at the edge of the hill in this business. I don't want to repeat the same mistake as the titanic." Jacob shrugged his shoulder.

"I'll handle the office affairs for now. Just focus on getting yourself better. About the contract you mentioned, I'll ask our lawyer to prepare them. But are you sure you want to make a contract that favors her? What if she said no?" If she does say no, I'll make her agree to my condition.

"It's easier to make a pact with someone in need of money. Besides, why would the doctor disagree with my condition? Whether she wants it or not, she should pay for my money back. I'm nice by asking her to marry me." Jacob sighed.

"Esmeralda, know you're using someone who's in trouble. How low can you go?" I smirked.

"As low as I need to be. Anyway, about the announcement of the new cruise ship, let me have a talk with my father about this. But I'm sure he will say the same thing as I did. In this business, we can't chase wealth and profit. We need to make sure they follow the safety measures properly before anything." Jacob looked at the time before excusing himself.

"Are you sure you want to stay here instead of your family estate? What if you need anything? The maids are not here now. They will only be here by tomorrow morning." I waved him off.

"I'm fine. Just go." After Jacob went home, I went to my bedroom sitting area to watch some movies. As I indulged myself in the film, I received a text-

Wait, Charlotte?!

"Is the chairwoman of my hospital, your sister in law?"

Huh? How did she know? Did my sister go to see her?

I replied, saying yes. And told her that the chairwoman is my eldest brother's wife. She answered a few seconds later. That was fast.

"Are you a Hawthorne? What are you going to do with me? How am I supposed to pay you back? How much was it?"

This woman is funny. I sent her a laughing emoji before telling her to wait until the day we met for dinner.

"Did you asked your sister in law to required my work schedule? Isn't that a breached of privacy?"

So she's going to use the law to avoid meeting me? Nice one.

I replied, saying, not really, I asked the nurses that worked for you. There was a double tick, but she didn't answer me back after that. I smiled while watching a horror movie. I couldn't help it. Then something occurs in my mind.

"I wonder if she has social media?" I said to no one in particular. I went into social media and typed in her name. True enough, she does!

Should I ask for a friend request? Or is that too soon? I should establish a proper introduction before doing something like this. Gosh, I'm like a stalker right now. I scrolled down her feed and was surprised to see a picture of her with her daughter.

Gosh, I even stalked her daughter's social media. Hmmm, there was a picture of her with her father when she won a soccer match. They seemed happy, and from this child's expression, she couldn't even imagine that her father, which she thought as her role model would be such a dick.

Felix Grinda.

What kind of person would leave their wife and kid just for wealth?! Just look at how beautiful his wife and kid!

How stupid can you be? What an idiot.

Maybe I should stop stalking their social media. Even I feel creeped out by doing this. I turned off my tv and went to bed. After putting on my white noise machine, it didn't take long for me to drift into the land of dreams.

"It's time to wake up, young miss." I stirred when I heard someone opening my door and a voice telling me to wake up.

"Young miss, it's best if you wake up now. Your parents and second sister in law is coming to see you soon." Can't I have some peace for a change? Alas, I got up to a sitting position and watched as the maids rustling around my room.

I winced when the lights from the outside are piercing through my eyes when they slide the curtains in my room.

"Young miss, please don't be lazy." They helped me up and guided me towards the bathroom. I smiled when I saw one of them prepared a rose bath for me. I need that so badly. They know what's best for me when I'm sick.

"Young miss, let me massage your shoulder while you soak yourself." Yes, this is life. I am soaking myself naked in the tub while being massaged. Yes, this is what I want. I've been working hard for the last few months. Maybe that accident indeed was a wake-up call for me.

"What time did my parents and second sister in law say they will come?" I asked while enjoying my massage.

"8 am. Your parents said they want to have breakfast together. Also, they want to see how young miss is doing. Anyway, how did the accident even happened? When Sir Jacob informed your family, everyone was worried sick." I smiled.

"I was just reckless." After the massage and my bath, I got up from the tub and went to my closet to get ready. When I glanced at myself in the mirror, it crosses my mind. Will this wound leave a scar on my forehead? I put on a light makeup on my neck to cover up the bruises, so it won't make me look like a total mess.

After I'm satisfied, I got out of the closet and went downstairs using the elevator. I'm just that lazy to walk down the stairs. As I strolled towards the dining hall, I noticed my second sister-in-law is on her way there as well.

I decided to surprised her by walking towards her sneakily and touch her shoulders.

"Boo!" And as always, she didn't even flinch.

"How come you always knew that I would do that?" My second sister in law smirked and pointed at the gold vase that I bought from her Middle East near the dining hall entrance.

"I could see you from a mile away. Blame your boujee decor for showing that you're trying to scare me. Anyway, thank you for the effort. If you have the strength to do such thing, meaning the accident was not that severe. To think that I even bake you your favorite blueberry muffin thinking that you're suffering." My second sister in law shakes her head.

"It's just a small cut. Jacob was just exaggerating about things. Anyway, when will Alain come home from his overseas trip?" My second sister-in-law and I sauntered into the dining hall where my parents are.

"Next week. Just before your nephew's birthday. He's excited to see what Alain has bought for him. That brother of yours kept on bragging his gift he had found in Germany. I just hope it's not a real life-size military tank again." I took a seat next to her on the dining table.

"I had fun learning how to drive that tank." I chuckled. My parents were surprised to see my wound.

"How did you even got into an accident?" My father asked. I explained to them the real situation and how did I end up in that accident.

"You were careless. Don't scare us like that in the future. So, how did the meeting with your grandparents?" My mother asked.

" I was asked to find a spouse and introduce them at the end of the month on Grandpa's birthday." My parents chuckled and so did my sister-in-law. Hey, are they not supposed to be comforting me?

Some family I have.

" Is this how you treat your youngest daughter? Well, I'm shocked." Mom was first to apologize.

" I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to laugh, okay. It's just that we have telling you to do the same thing." Mom smiled and dad cleared his throat.

"Anyway, of you need some recommendations, either men or women, I'm her to help." My sister-in-law said to me but I shake my head, no.

"I appreciate you willingness to help but I already have someone in mind and I will introduce her on Grandpa's birthday" my family raised their eyebrows at me.

"Her, huh? Well I don't mind. I just wish to see you settle down. You are not getting any younger,you know." I understand my mom's concerns.

"I know. Anyway, since you're here, daddy, I have a few questions regarding work. Would you mind?" My father shakes his head.

"Ask away, my dear. What is it? Did somebody ask for trouble? What happened?" I explained to my father about the whole ordeal with our France branch office. As I expected, even my father was skeptical.

"Did you asked why they want to know the exact date? In this business, you can't afford to rush into things. They need to go through a proper safety inspection before they even go into operational status. So if anything happened in the future, touch wood, we won't be blamed." Exactly! Even my father agreed with my reason.

"Do you need my people to investigate this matter? It's only one call away." I shake my head, no.

"No need. Jacob and I know what to do." My father nodded his head.

"Ah! I almost forgot to mention this. Your niece requires your presence at her first cheerleading competition this Friday. Since you're not working for a couple of days, why not come with me to see her compete?" My sister-in-law inquired. Oh! Interesting-

"Hmmm... I can do that. It's been forever since I last saw her." My second sister in law smiled.

"She's going to be happy to know that her favorite aunt is coming to see her." I know I am.