Chapter 628 Time Will Tell
Lucy took a deep breath as she parked the car in front of the company, and she turned to Tom, "So, do you plan to go back? You said you weren't done with your business over there yet."
Tom looked at her, knowing that his response was very important to her. Although, his original plan had been to put some distance between them by staying out of the country so that she could miss him and realize how much she wanted to be with him, but with this new development there was no way he could do that. Especially not after knowing how scared and worried she was already. If anything, he needed to be closer to her now so he could reassure her that regardless of the DNA result, she was who he wanted.
As usual Harry had been right when he said he couldn't go back there. It wouldn't be safe for his relationship with Lucy. He didn't want her to be any more bothered by this than she already was.
"Initially, I planned to come for the dinner party and then go back to take care of things, but I don't think so anymore. However, if for any reason I have to, you will have to come with me," Tom said, and although he half-expected Lucy to argue about not leaving her job to travel with him, he was surprised when she gave him a nod.
"If it turns out that she is yours..."
"We will all work out a suitable arrangement. She can come live with me or visit me often," Tom cut in, and Lucy nodded once again.
"Your family. You're going to have to tell your parents about it. Can I be there when you tell them?" Lucy asked, and Tom looked at her incredulously.
"Of course. I expect you to be there with me," Tom said, and Lucy drew in a deep breath.
"Alright. Let's get back to work. It's good we are closing by noon today. I have to stop over at yours to pick up my dress before leaving," Lucy said, and Tom glanced at his wristwatch.
"Let me know when you're ready to leave and I will take you home," Tom said as he leaned forward and kissed her softly.
"Alright. See you later. I love you," Lucy said as they both got out of the car.
"I love you more," Tom said as he took her hand and they walked into the building together.
"You haven't had breakfast yet, have you?" Tom asked as he glanced at his wristwatch, and Lucy shook her head.
"It can wait until noon," Lucy said, and Tom eyed her with disapproval.
"I will ask Samantha to prepare something for us. Let's eat together at home," Tom suggested as they got into the elevator.
After Lucy got off on her floor, Tom rode the elevator to his floor and instead of going into his office, he went to Harry's.
Without knocking, he opened the door and Harry grinned when he saw him, "I can see it in your eyes. You missed me," Harry joked, and Tom chuckled.
"Of course, I did!" Tom said as he took the seat opposite Harry.
"I suppose the conversation went well with Lucy?" Harry asked hopefully.
"I suppose I owe you for that?" Tom asked, and Harry shook his head.
"No, you don't. She seemed really upset when I ran into her, so I just had to try to calm her. And when she asked if I knew about Kimberly, I couldn't lie to her," Harry explained.
"What exactly did you say to her?" Tom asked curiously.
"Nothing much. I told her this was about you, not her. And if she loved you, she would prove it by showing her support," Harry said reasonably and Tom sighed.
"We took the DNA samples to the lab," Tom said, and Harry nodded thoughtfully.
"That's good. So, what's the plan? I think we should plan towards her being your child. If she isn't, there's nothing to be done about it other than rule it as Kimberly's mistake. But if she is, there's so much you need to do," Harry said and Tom rubbed his eyes.
"Yeah. I know. I don't think I might be able to take care of the business over there as planned," Tom said, and Harry nodded in agreement.
"I understand. You don't have to worry about it. I will take care of it," Harry assured him.
"Let's just find someone else to go over there. Mr. Moore assured me he will handle the government. All that is left is restructuring of the management. We need to find someone we can trust to handle it," Tom said and Harry thought about it for a moment before giving him a nod.
"I will look into it. You look exhausted," Harry observed.
"You would too, if you suddenly found out you might be a father. Have you been able to find anything on Kimberly?" Tom asked, and Harry shook his head.
"I'm afraid she might be telling the truth. According to the guy I asked to look into her, her last relationship ended in a devastating heartbreak four years ago, that was a couple of weeks before the hotel was opened. He jilted her on their wedding day. And since then she hasn't been in any serious relationship. It's more like she swore off love," Harry said, and Tom sighed.
"She did mention that she was in a bad state emotionally when we met," Tom said as he pinched his nose.
"I saw the pictures of the little girl. She does look like you in a way," Harry said, and Tom nodded.
"I thought so too when I first saw her picture. This is all so messed up, Harry," Tom said, and Harry smiled.
"Yeah, I know. But it could have been worse," Harry said, and Tom raised a brow.
"How can it possibly get any worse?"
Harry chuckled, "She could have given birth to twins. Or five different women could have shown up with kids for you," Harry said, and Tom glared at him.
"How can you joke right now?" Tom asked irritably.
"I suppose being a father has made you lose your sense of humor," Harry said with a chuckle.
"I'm glad to know you're enjoying my misery," Tom said, and Harry smiled.
"I have to enjoy it now. Knowing you, I'm very positive that the moment the result confirms our suspicion and you get over this phase, you're going to torment me with the fact that you're a father. I can as well torment you now," Harry said, and Tom sighed.
"Do you really think Lucy will stay?" Tom asked, and Harry gave him a nod.
"You need to trust her, Tom. You know what she told me earlier? She said she was only thinking of herself and maybe she was more selfish than she realized. Lucy might be a bit slow when it comes to making up her mind on things, but her heart is in the right place. She cares about you and is very scared to lose you," Harry said, and Tom wiped hand over his face.
"Thanks."
"I heard about your visit to Director Anderson's office," Harry said with an amused smile.
"Already?" Tom asked with a slightly raised brow and Harry chuckled.
"I have ears and eyes all over place. It must be fun to be you. So many drama going on in your life at the same time," Harry said, and Tom sighed.
"I will be happy to share some of the drama with you..."
"No, thanks. If I wanted any drama I wouldn't have waited this long to have my first girlfriend," Harry said dryly.
"What has been going on? Anything I should know about? What's up with the arrangement for the dinner party? Is there something I can do?" Tom asked, changing the subject.
Harry quickly brought him up to speed on all the arrangement that had been made and told him all he needed to know, "...And you should know that Rebekah Miller made an attempt on Jade's life yesterday," Harry said, making Tom's heart skip a beat.
"What? Is Jade alright? Did anything happen to her?" Tom asked as he rose immediately.
"She is fine. We were a step ahead," Harry said, and explained all that had happened.
"I'm beginning to think sending her to jail is too good for her," Tom said with a frown.
"Jade is involved," Harry reminded Tom, in case he had forgotten that his sister was a lawyer.
"I don't know what I would do without you," Tom said and Harry smiled.
"Let's hope you never get to find out," Harry said as he rose too.
"Yeah. Yeah. I know. I didn't say we should do anything now, did I?" Tom asked with a grin and Harry chuckled.
"By the way, Jade told me about Bryan and Sonia expecting a baby," Harry said, and Tom groaned.
"I'm yet to give Bryan a call to congratulate them," Tom complained.
"I'm sure you can do that in person now that you're back," Harry said, and Tom nodded.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can do around here?" Tom asked, and Harry shook his head.
"Everything is in place. You look dead on your feet, Tom. Go get some rest. It's going to be a busy night," Harry reminded him.
"Are you putting Eric to use?" Tom asked, and Harry smiled.
"How else do you think I managed to get everything done?" He asked, and Tom rose.
"I don't know what I would do without you," Tom said and Harry smiled.
"Let's hope you never get to find out," Harry said as he rose too.
"If you need me, I will be in my office until noon," Tom said as he headed for the door.
"I won't be needing you. Go home and get some rest," Harry said with a dismissive wave as he sat down and returned his attention to his laptop.
Away from there, in Lucy's office, she sat behind her desk with her laptop in front of her as she thought about the events of the morning.
No matter how much she tried to focus on the designs in front of her, her thoughts kept drifting to it.
After a moment's hesitation, she let her curiosity win over her despite the fact that she had work to do. There was no point pretending to work when her mind obviously wasn't in it. She would only end up doing a clumsy job.
Work could wait, Lucy decided as she typed the name 'Kimberly Moore' onto her laptop's search engine, and almost immediately her profile came up.
If Sonia was here, she would probably say she was acting like a crazy ex stalking her man's present girlfriend, Lucy thought in amusement as she slowly looked through Kimberly's profile, and read most of the articles she could find on Kimberly online.
She soon confirmed that Harry was right when he said Kimberly was from a solid background. She seemed pretty loaded herself. So, why would someone like her lie about such a thing? Lucy mused as she scrolled through Kimberly's photos.
She easily recognized her as the lady who had been in the club picture which Cora had shown her.
Kimberly was a beauty. She looked so classy and stylish that Lucy felt tiny pangs of jealousy.
When Lucy saw a link to Kimberly's instagram handle, she clicked on it, and her breath caught when the first picture her eyes fell on was a photo of Dawn.
Lucy's gaze was transfixed on the photo as she stared back at the adorable kid who she now believed was unmistakably Tom's.
The resemblance was obviously there. But God, the little girl was such a beauty to behold!
Lucy found herself smiling as she looked at more pictures of Kimberly and Dawn rocking similar outfits with Dawn trying to replicate her mother's postures.
her interview with Alicia. It was the part where Sonia and her were being interviewed.
She scrolled past Kimberly's personal photos in search of more pictures of Dawn, and she mistakenly liked one of the pictures which she quickly unliked.
She scrolled further down, and froze. Her brows pulled together in a frown when she saw a clip of her interview with Alicia. It was the part where Sonia and her were being interviewed.
[I don't think anyone deserves to have their personal business out in public in this manner. It is very annoying that both friends had to relieve such painful memories this way simply because someone stupid decided to cause trouble. I hope they both heal.]
Lucy noted that it had been posted on the same day of the interview. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, not knowing what to make of Kimberly Moore.
She seemed like a nice person, but she had thought the same of Anita, had she not?
Was Kimberly really a nice person? Was she going to cause any problems for them? Lucy mused as she continued her search for pictures of Dawn.
Lucy soon discovered that Dawn had her own Instagram page, so she switched from Kimberly's account to Dawn's, but frowned when she realized the account was on private, and she needed to follow the account before she could view the page.
Without thinking, Lucy let her curiosity get the best of her once again, and she clicked on the follow button.
She kept refreshing the page impatiently as she waited for her request to be accepted so that she could get access to Dawn's account, but to her surprise an Instagram message notification came up on her screen.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that the message was from Kimberly Moore, and she hesitantly clicked on it.
[Hello! I guess your boyfriend must have told you about Dawn. Hi, I'm Kimberly!]
Lucy's brows pulled together as she looked at the message, wondering whether or not she should respond. Had Kimberly been monitoring the account?
It was better for her to talk with Kimberly now, and determine whether she was friend or foe.
[Hello! I'm Lucy. I was sort of curious. I'm sorry if it offends you.] Lucy sent back, her heart beating fast as she waited for Kimberly's response.
Kimberly sent a laughing emoji [You don't have to apologize. It's completely normal. I have to say I'm genuinely surprised and impressed that he told you about it so soon. I asked my social media managers to let me know if or when you checked out our handles. I was going to reach out to you, but I thought it might be considered rude, so I decided to wait until you did so first. I hope you don't mind?]
Lucy pressed her lips together as she read Kimberly'a message. What was Tom going to think if he found out she was chatting with Kimberly? She mused.
[It shouldn't be a problem. Your daughter is very pretty.] Lucy texted back.
[Thanks. I wanted to reach out to you because I figured I owe you an apology. I know the news must have upset you. If I could raise Dawn without letting him know, I would. But I thought it wouldn't be right for him not to know.]
Despite the fact that she was touched by Kimberly's message, Lucy frowned, still not sure what Kimberly wanted.
Perhaps it was because of her dealing with Anita, she was very wary of people now. Especially females. Most especially females involved with Tom.
[I don't think you owe me an apology. And I don't think you were wrong to inform him about it, if truly she is his daughter.] Lucy texted back.
[She is his daughter.]
[The paternity test will tell. I suppose you would want him to get married to you since you have his kid?] Lucy asked the question on her mind.
To her surprise, Kimberly sent a rolling eyes emoji, [Is that what you want me to do? I don't think so. The man is yours. The only reason I'm having this conversation with you is because I don't want you to misunderstand my intentions like you are already doing. I want nothing from your man. You might become my daughter's stepmom if he accepts his child, and I don't think we should be on bad terms. What do you think?]
Lucy took a deep breath, [I think time will tell.]
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