Novel Palace
Chapter 54
54 You Made Your Bed...
(Jayden)
On the one hand, I'm super pissed for Winona, On the other hand, I'm glad he's out of her life,
My uncle. Who knew? I don't know what the history is but I'm staying cool. I'm waiting to see what else he has. Mother must have known about him. She's never uttered a word of him to.me.
Father never mentioned having an older brother. I recall him saying he had no brothers or sisters. I wonder if there are anymore Brennans lurking out there,Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
I've heard of Nexus Global, I mean it's like Microsoft, of G****e, or Apple. Unless you live under several rocks, you've heard of it.
My brain works overtime. Why has he stepped up now? Why not when Father died? Why not when I was recovering from my accident? Why not when I'd lost my memory? He knows so much other stuff, he must have known that.
But now, now everything is finally coming back to me, he turns up, making himself CEO. Making changes. Attacking everything I've built up. A smiling assassin. Two can play at that game. Let's see what else he's got.
"Lance Collins. Chief Financial Officer."
"Yes, Sir."
I can see Lance is worried. It can't be his work, that's exemplary.
"You're great at what you do. You are a man I would not hesitate to employ as a part of Nexus Global."
"Thank you, Sir."
"But..."
I see Lance's smile disappear.
"Loyalty, Mr. Collins." Gus shakes his head and clicks his tongue. "You did a thing, didn't you?"
Lance glances at me and looks down, nodding his head.
"Would you care to share that with your best friend?"
I stare at Lance. Fuck. No. Lance would never betray me.
Then Lance looks at Ashlyn.
"It was one time. I was drunk. I swear. I wanted to tell you.....
"Jesus. You're my best friend. Why?"
"I don't know, it was stupid. She was just there, wanting me too. You know how I am with that sort of thing...I'm so sorry, Jayden. I should have told you right away."
My focus is now on my wife. My wife who carried on about me kissing Winona. "When did this happen?" I demand.
54 You Made Your Bed
"It was ages ago. We weren't even together," Ashlyn says defiantly.
"That's not true. She had sex with me to make sure she got pregnant. I realize that now."
I glare at Ashlyn. "So the baby isn't mine?"
"Of course, the baby is yours. It was once with Lance. We had sex a lot."
I glance over at Winona and she's watching on, a blank look on her face.
I turn to Mother. "Was this your doing?"
"No. It wasn't."
"Bullshit, you told me I needed to get pregnant right away. You told me i I was the only way he'd ever 'marry me."
"Well, you're married, aren't you? I never, ever suggested you cheat on my son. You said you loved him more than anything."
My blood is boiling when I begin to realize the extent my life has been controlled. "I swear, Mother, you keep out of my life. I make my own choices. I will wipe you from my life if you don't stop this ridiculous behavior. I should have done it years ago." "Mr. Collins, your payout will be transferred to your bank account. Your tenure with Brennan Industries has now ended."
Lance looks broken. Winona gets up and gives him a huge hug, "I'll call you. Go see Lisa. Tell her everything, she'll understand."
He nods and walks into the elevator. The doors close and I sure as hell don't know who I can trust now.
What a nightmare!
"So, this brings me to the paternity of the baby."
I stare back at this man. How the hell could he know that?
"Yes, it's quite possible to tell paternity through a blood test from the mother, 99.9 percent accurate by isolating the baby's DNA from the mother's. Ashlyn, you had a blood test to confirm pregnancy at around ten weeks. I had them test that blood."
I look at Ashlyn. Tears are pouring down her face. Is this baby mine? She knew she was pregnant before we married. Lance was my best man. He should have come to me as soon as he heard she was pregnant. This is almost a bigger injustice than the sex itself. "You got lucky, Ashlyn. Jayden is the father."
"Oh, thank God. I knew it. I just knew it." Ashlyn looks relieved. But does she seriously think I can pretend nothing has happened between her and Lance and that she would never have said anything.
"So, as a Brennan, you have married her. You will stay married and make sure she has all she needs and the baby is healthy."
I jumped up from my seat. "I don't need you telling me what to do."
"Actually, you do. Unless you can take control of your life and have regained your full memory, you will
54 You Made Your Bed
never be fit to be CEO here or Nexus Global."
"Really?" I say with sarcasm.
"Yes, really. You are my second in command. You will relearn how to be a powerful Brennan. You will gain confidence again. You will stop being afraid to remember things that hurt you." How dare he? "You can't just waltz into our lives and tip everything upside down."
"I can when it threatens my reputation, my family, my empire."
"You never cared about any of that till now. Why?"
He chuckles. "Well, we'll get to that. So, you've gotten married and she is pregnan
with your baby. You
forced Winona to divorce you so you could marry Ashlyn. Now you have what you demanded so badly."
"But-
"No buts." He directs his attention to Mother. "Judy, would you care to advise Jayden? I'm sure you remember clearly enough."
I look at Mother but she doesn't look at me.
She simply stares into space and says, "you made your bed, you lie in it."