Chapter 368: KARMA
A few hours earlier when the boys had been kidnapped, Ethan quickly contacted Felix and asked him to track the boys from the tracker in their teeth, informing him that Jude had taken the boys away.
At first, they wondered why Jude had done such a thing. Before hiring her as the nanny of the boys, they’d done several background checks on her and everything was clean, especially her job which she’d been doing for close to a decade already so they concluded that Adrain and Felicia were back.
"We could have arrived sooner but something interfered with the tracker earlier. Seems like there weren’t enough signals but when the boys came out from that location, we were able to continue tracking them down," Erika explained, staring at Jude who was still baffled.
"I see." Those were the only words that Jude could manage to utter. She didn’t want to dive too deep by asking what had led to Erika’s and Adrain’s fallout in marriage so she kept that question to herself.
He was already in jail so there was no reason to bring it up and besides, she was already married to Ethan, with two happy, healthy children.
"It’s getting too late, I think it’s time to go home. The boys are getting sleepy," said Ethan, with the boys in his arms.
Erika nodded and stood up from the bench and Jude followed suit.
This was the most awkward thing she would face since she didn’t know if she was fired or if she would still be allowed to continue to work for them.
As if she was hearing her thoughts, Erika said, "Get inside."
Jude didn’t move immediately since she didn’t know if she heard it correctly.
"Mam?"
"Get inside the car Jude." Erika didn’t wait for Jude to react and entered the car while the boys were placed in the backseat of the car since they were already asleep.
Without wasting a second, Jude also got inside the car and they drove back to the house.
A MONTH LATER
"Who are we here to see, aunt?" A young boy, close to the age of five, with black hair with black eyes asks Erika. His eyes held curiosity in them as he watched the people in the jail interact with one another while the wardens stood nearby in case of any emergency.
Erika glanced down at Jake who looked just like his father, Adrain, and sighed.
"We are here to see someone, Jake," Erika replied and Jake looked up at her. Whenever she looked into his eyes, he would always remind her of Adrian but who was she to be angry at the little kid? He wasn’t the one who chose his parents.
Jake nodded and continued to stare at the people as they interacted with one another. Some people brought out food containers from their bags and placed them on the table and immediately, the other person wearing a yellow uniform would start munching on it, making Jake wonder if they haven’t eaten all their lives at all.
While his eyes were focused on the people in front of him, he didn’t notice the man who came to sit right in front of him.
Erika stared at Adrain’s bruised face and frowned but she didn’t ask him why he got injured. He was in jail after all, many things could have caused that injury to happen.
"How are you?" Adrain asked Erika, looking at her beautiful self that he hadn’t noticed since the both of them had been together many years ago. "I didn’t think you would come to see me, but look. You are here," he added smiling while the bruise on his lips bleed more. He wiped it immediately before he stared at the boy who had been looking at him since he started speaking. "Who’s this?" He asked.
Stunned a bit, Erika smiled at Jake before she called,
"Jake."
Adrain’s eyes widened when he heard the name. That name was the name of his son. He stared at Jake with wide eyes as he waited for Erika to continue.
"Remember when I told you that I would take you to see your father one day?" Erika asked and Jake nodded with his big doe innocent eyes. "This is your father," she introduced, and immediately, Jake faced Adrian.
Adrain’s eyes were already swelled up in tears which surprised Erika. She didn’t expect him to turn this emotional but in a way, she was glad he was emotional, it only meant that he’d missed his son.
"Jake, I haven’t seen you like forever and you are right here, all grown up." Adrain quickly wiped away those tears and stretched out his hand for Jake so that he could come to him but Jake was still rooted to his seat.
"Go ahead," Erika tried to persuade him to go to him but he didn’t move at all. He simply continued to stare at Adrain whose eyes held expectations.
After a few seconds passed, Jake finally moved from his seat and walked towards Adrian with slow but steady steps and when he was finally in Adrain’s reach, the latter quickly picked him up and hugged him tightly as tears streamed down from his eyes.
Jake was stiff against Adrain’s body, not knowing how to react to the hug but Adrain didn’t mind at all and held Jake very close to him.
"I’ve missed you so much," he said. "And I thought I would never see you again."
Tears brimmed in Erika’s eyes but she blinked them away immediately.
After releasing Jake from his hold, Adrain faced Erika.
"Thank you for bringing him to me. I know it must have been very hard on you but please, do find it in your heart to forgive me. It must be very late to be asking for that but I want you to forgive me, Erika," he pleaded which left her flabbergasted.
First, it was Mary and Juliet, then Viper, and now it was Adrian who was asking for her forgiveness. Juliet was still in jail and would be acquitted soon and she could only hope that she wouldn’t cause her trouble anymore.
