Chapter 2
4 years later at the airport, Victoria was a different woman. Her father wanted her to stay away for 2 years, but she decided to stay for 2 more years so she could finish her studies. She was now a highly sort jewellery designer. She was head hunted by the company back home. While waiting for her luggage Victoria met an old lady who kept starring at her and her two fraternal twins, Maya and Luke. The old lady just couldn't take her eyes of the adorable duo and their mother. Although other people passing by were looking at them and whispering, this particular lady attracted her the most.
Old lady Mrs Chadwick went up to them and introduced herself, she figured the young lady may be a single mother, otherwise why was she alone with such young kids? She reminded the old lady of her younger self. Vibrant and full of energy, her beauty and radiance attracted Old Mrs Chadwick.
She wished she met this young lady sooner, maybe she could have been her granddaughter in-law. Even though she knew her grandson, Christian was probably not into women, because he had never brought any lady friend home. Old Mrs Chadwick was drawn to Victoria in a way she couldn't understand.
She asked Victoria if she could be her goddaughter, She just wanted to get close to this young lady even if it's not my her being her granddaughter in-law. They exchanged numbers and Victoria promised to visit the nice old lady after she settled down with the kids.
They parted ways and Victoria found Serena waiting for her at the parking lot, very happy to finally see her dear friend after four years. Seeing them now felt so real, it wasn't the same at the video calls, every other day. They went straight to the hotel Victoria was booked at, curtesy of the company that head hunted her, She was head hunted by a jewellery design company when she was abroad.
She decided to catch up with Serena while she still have a week left before she could go back to work, Serena had offered to help her look for a house back home since she decided to cut ties with her family permanently. She had no desire to go back home. " Did you hear that your sister is getting married to some hot shot? I wonder what he saw in her" Serena said , rolling her eyes .
Vicky was not interested at all about her family affairs, so she cut her friend before she could continue talking about them. But unfortunately they found out she was back and summoned her immediately back to the house. She settled in, she left Maya and Luke with Serena, and she was very happy to spend time with her godchildren.
As soon as she entered the house Mara came up to her to show her a huge diamond ring on her finger. " You decided to get pregnant before getting married, huh? Do you even you even know the child's father? Mara didn't know Vicky had twins. She just heard rumours that she was seen with a little girl at the airport, no one mentioned they boy.
She was called home so she could attend her sister's wedding to safe face, but they actually wanted to cut ties with her, because to them she was an embarrassment. Mara was to be married to Christian although He did not like her, and her vibe, hr had promised his grandfather that he will marry Helena's daughter. Old Mr Chadwick didn't know that Helena had a step daughter. He met her while they were both being treated for cancer at Hope hospital, Helena was like a daughter to him , she told him about her daughter and how adorable she was. There and then old Mr Chadwick decided to make her his goddaughter. He was wanted nothing but for his grandson to marry his goddaughter's child.
Christian had a feeling his grandfather loathed Mara, because every time she would visit their house he seemed to be exasperated, but he didn't couldn't speak because he had suffered a major stroke, which also made him wheelchair bound. He had just decided to make him happy because he was afraid hold me Chadwick would die of a heart attack if he ever defied him. He had never even let Maya come close to him, all he wanted was for his grandfather to get better and soon. " Of all people why would grandfather choose such an ill mannered girl to be my wife?" he had always wondered.
Christian made Mara sign a 3 month contract just to appease his grandfather. His grandfather was not in good health and had refused treatment if Christian didn't get married and make him great grandfather. Christian was deeply in love with the woman he met that night, but he couldn't find her, if he could, he would just ask her to marry him. He looked everywhere for her but couldn't find her. He knew his grandfather may have set him up and drugged the wine in his hotel. Unfortunately that girl also drank it. They couldn't control themselves because they were drugged.
Victoria went to her home for the first time in 4 years. She was very healthy and beautiful, which made Mara even more envious of her. She greeted her mother and acted like her father and sister were not in the room. This made Mr Underwood, very angry. But he had already decided to cut ties with Victoria for good after the wedding. He just wanted to safe face for now.
Helena asked Victoria to her room to talk. She missed her daughter so much, she had lost so much weight and it broke Vicky's heart. Her mother was a shell of what she used to be. Although she looked happy and at peace to see her daughter alive and well it still broke Vicky at how her mother looked like a walking corpse. " Mom, please move in with me. You can't keep living here like this, I know Mara and dad are not treating you well" said Victoria.
"You have two adorable grandkids now, will you help me look after them, while I go to work?" she added. Helena couldn't even wait for her to continue, she was happy to look after her grandchildren so she agreed without even asking the burning quest of who the father of the twins were. She knew her daughter was a good person and there was probably an answer to all the bad things that Mara has been saying about Victoria. She decided to give her time to tell her everything.
Dinner time came and Christian came with one of his assistants, Colin. They brought dowry and all sorts of gifts for Mara's parent. Even though it was a sham marriage, He still wanted it to look real. Mara had invited her friends and relatives just to show off. Some of them hated her family but they were just there to curry favour from her family since she was marrying into the wealthiest family in the country. When Victoria and her mother came downstairs everyone was already seated, Christian was the first person to lock eyes with Victoria and he stood up right away. " Mr Underwood, I didn't know you had 2 daughters?" he asked Greg. Mr Underwood smirked and said " oh, you mean Victoria? She's not my real daughter, She's the daughter my wife came with" .
Christian was confused and amused at the same time. But a smile could be seen on his face while he was looking at Victoria. Mara got very angry and spilled the beans. " We are not related in anyway with this sore loser, she's like one of our maids, She even has a child and we still don't know who the father is" she said. This immediately picked his interest and he wanted to know more about Victoria.
What people in the room didn't know was that Victoria and Sebastian knew each other. Even though Victoria didn't look at his face properly the morning after their one night stand, she immediately remembered this face. She had been thinking about this man .Christian was intrigued, but on the other hand Victoria was disgusted by him. Anything it anyone that was touched by Mara was considered trash according to her. Even though he couldn't stop thinking about that night for four years all her feelings were extinguished as soon as they net and she realised "her man" as she has fantasised for so long was her step sister's fiancé. She was disgusted and heartbroken at the same time. She wanted to leave that place immediately.
She hugged her mother and said whispered goodbye in her ear, but her mother knew something was off because sh4 was trembling. She wanted to stop her but she didn't want to call attention to her daughter, so she just bade her farewell and said nothing more. Greg didn't even bother to look at Victoria. Mara was very happy because she thought, Victoria was jealous.
Victoria ran as fast as she could and stood beside the road to wait for a cab , but none appeared, she was cold and miserable. He tears pained her eyes. The more she tried to stop her tears the more they kept falling. What she didn't know was that after she left, Christian called off the wedding, without any explanation, he apologised and told the family he was sorry, something came up that needed his attention. He told Mara and her family that they should keep the gifts. The Underwood family was a laughing stock, even Mara's fake friend from high class were laughing at her. Mara was beside herself, she felt like a joke, yet she couldn't shout and scold Christian because she was scared of him. How could she not fear him it even his parents and everyone in the room was scared of the man. But since she thought he approached her because of his grandfather she decided right then that she will use the old man to make Christian marry her. A beautiful girl like her can get any man she wants, she just needed to use her charm to persuade him.
At the road side" I don't know it I should be happy or mad, In fact I should be the one crying " Victoria was startled by a deep voice next to her. When she looked up, she saw Christian looking down at her, but she couldn't read him. Was he mad? She didn't know what to make of his expression. Christian had so many questions to ask Victoria but he didn't know where to start, yet the question that came out of his mouth was " will you marry me ?" . Victoria shit his a look and laughed, not because she was amused, but because she couldn't get this man's audacity. He was engaged to be married to her step sister but here he was asking her to marry him. Did he think she was a toy to be played with? The nerve. So this man wanted her to be his mistress? What did he take her for? " she thought.
Although Christian was mad at this girl, he couldn't bring himself to shout at her, because he also couldn't contain his happiness. " please go back to your darling Mara, and stop playing games with me, you have no shame for a man who is about to get married. How dare you ask me to be your mistress?" Victoria shot back. Christian was amused by this little lady. For such a tiny body she sure had a temper.
"Anything or anyone that was touched by Mara is dirt to me ,just so you know." She continued. And if she sent you to toy with my feeling, you both will be very disappointed " she mocked. Even though she was livid, Victoria was happy to get a glimpse of the man if her dreams, this man has been evading her sleep for the past 4 years. She had never seen such a handsome man, he looked like a model straight out of a Elle magazine. " What a waste, why choose Mara of all people , such an evil woman?" She thought to look herself.
Christian could see that this little lady was angry, but he couldn't understand why she was even unhappy if she was the one who left him high and dry. " I have been looking for you for 4 years, with no luck. I am the one who should be angry by the way" he countered back. " Was I not good enough? Why would you just leave the hotel without saying a word, and even decide to disappear? Was I that horrible? He continued to grill her with questions.
At this point Victoria didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Because that night was the highlight of her entire life, she couldn't forget about this man even when she tried to. She told her heart to stop longing for this man but it didn't listen to her. She asked him why he chose to be with Mara of all people and the man laughed like he had the funniest joke. This made her angry and she decided not to pry any further. She stood up and started walking, leaving him to here. But he was not going to let her go again, afraid she was going disappear from his life again. He chased after her and grabbed, he hugged so tight. No one spoke, only their heart beats could be heard. It was like they were communicating with each other. Victoria knew she had to forget about this man, but right at this moment she couldn't let go, she didn't want to let go. She felt so safe, like she belonged there. This man was like her safe haven, how could she let go. Even if this was the last time she was close to him ,she just wanted to inhale his Cologne. He smelled so good and it was comforting.
Christian asked her to go somewhere private where they could talk because talking in the streets was not private enough and passers-by were starring at them like they were crazy.
He chose a quiet private room in a restaurant. He told her everything she needed to know, that he was forced to get married to Mara by his grandfather, but he found out today that she was not even Helena's daughter like she had been pretending to be all along. How he had been looking for her for the past 4 years with no luck. He had planned to make Mara sing a 3 month marriage contract just to appease his grandfather. But now he has finally found Victoria and even learned that she was the one his grandfather wanted him to marry. After Victoria heard all of this, she finally relaxed. She was over the moon , she couldn't contain her excitement but she didn't want him to see how happy she was.
She ended up crying in state, Christian was so worried thinking he had made her cry, but she told him to relax, that those were tears of joy. Without talking even more he took her hand and let her out if the private room, by now it was 8 pm and the sky was already dark, Christian told Colin that he was done for the day, and that he should go home. He opened the passenger door for Victoria to get in, he bucked her seatbelt before going around to get in the car himself. HE drove straight to city hall, Victoria asked " what are we doing here Christian? He simply told her they were there to get their marriage certificate.
Victoria was lost for words. She sat still and said " I would love to marry you, but we need to talk first, then you will decide after it you still want to marry me. We haven't seen each other in 4 years , and we don't really know each other, are we not making a mistake by getting married on a whim? Isn't it too impulsive? " Christian looked at her and smiled " as long as you want to marry me too, then we should get married, I know very well what I want, and it's you. I haven't stopped thinking about you since that night. You have been invading my thoughts for the past 4 years. I thought the moment I saw you I was going to kill you for abandoning me, but it was the opposite" he told her.
" There is something I need to tell you , I have 2 children, they are twins a boy and a girl. Their names are Maya and Luke. They are 3 years old, " Victoria couldn't even look at Christian in the eye. He lifted her chin so she could look at him, and asked " are they mine" . If they are not mine I will adopt them and treat them like my own. All I know is that I want to be with you and you and the kids will not lack anything."
Victoria wasn't sure if he was joking or not but she looked at him and told him she has never been with anyone but him. Christian was so happy after learning that he was a father, even though it painted him that he wasn't part of their lives for the first 3 years, he was still overjoyed. They went in and got their marriage certificate, but Victoria told him to keep it a secret for now. She needed to find a way to tell her kids about their father before they could find out about the marriage. And that meant they will be living in separate houses until then. She asked for a month to coax her kids especially Luke because he was territorial when it came to his mother. As he would normally tell them that he was the man of the house. It was not going to be easy to give up that position.
She finally thought she was impulsive by getting married without telling her kids first, what if they hated Christian. She wasn't worried about Maya, Luke was another story. She hasn't even told her mother. She thought she was irresponsible and blamed it on Christian even though she knew there were both crazy for getting married like this. She decided to tell them the very same day because she knew she will never tell them if she didn't do it that very day.
Yet when she got home she couldn't bring herself to tell them. She tried so many times but all they wanted to know was how the engagement party of their aunt was. And how their grandmother was, they couldn't wait to see her. They've heard so many stories about how sweet she was, and they thought she was as sweet as their mother.