After Tom's phone call he contemplated giving Kimberly a call but decided not to. He had no business with her and he definitely had nothing to say to her either.
His grandfather could relay whatever information to her, since they were both partners in crime.
If she was decent enough, she would give him a call to apologize to him, and if she didn't, that was not going to be his problem.
Instead of giving Kimberly a call, he dialed his mother's line instead, and after the fourth ring she received the call.
"I've been waiting to hear from you all morning," Evelyn said excitedly.
"Good morning, mom! Is dad there with you?" Tom asked as Desmond went to sit beside his wife so he could hear what Tom had to say.
"Sure, I am. How are you?" Desmond asked before Evelyn could respond.
"I'm alright. Good morning, dad. I'm calling to inform you I received the DNA result and it was negative. The kid is not mine," Tom said, and both Evelyn and Desmond sighed in relief.
"That's good to know," Desmond said and Evelyn raised a brow.
"I thought you were hoping the kid was his?" Evelyn asked and Desmond shook his head.
"When did I ever say that?"
"You were willing to take the kid's side over Lucy's…"
"I wasn't taking sides. I was stating facts. I hoped the kid wasn't his, but I said what I thought should be the case if the kid turned out to be his. Now can we not argue any more and focus?" Desmond asked and Evelyn scowled at him.
"Well, what do we do about the girl? We definitely can't let her get away with this. How could she try to pin her baby on you?" Evelyn asked, annoyed.
"We are not doing anything. She made a mistake, and now she will have to find the person responsible for her pregnancy since it's not me," Tom said, not wanting to tell them it had all been a prank.
"But…"
"You heard him. Let it go. There is no need to add to all the drama going on already. Besides, what do you expect him to do? Sue her?" Desmond cut in.
"How do you feel? I hope you're not disappointed?" Desmond asked returning his attention to Tom.
"Why would he feel disappointed?" Evelyn asked and Tom sighed.
He wasn't in the mood to listen to their endless arguments. Some days were like that with them. He wondered what must have set them off today.
"I should get back to work now. Talk to you later," Tom said and hung up, leaving them to bicker for as long as they liked.
Almost as soon as he hung up, his phone started ringing and he received the call from Kimberly.
"I know you must think I'm a bitch or something…"
"On the contrary I don't think anything. I haven't bothered enough to waste my time thinking about you," Tom cut in, and Kimberly nodded.
"That's fair. I get it. I'm just calling to say I'm sorry. I heard from Lawrence. I have no excuse for agreeing to go along with his plan, but if you let me I will make it up to you," Kimberly said, and Tom raised a brow wondering what she was up to.
"Make it up to me? Do you think that is something you can do?"
"Yes. We are both business people. So I will rather come to you from that angle. Why don't I help you resolve the issues you're having over here? My uncle told me about it. I can help you take care of it so you don't have to fly down, and in exchange you could forgive me," Kimberly offered.
"I can handle my business myself," Tom said and Kimberly smiled.
"I'm sure you can. But I can handle it faster and better. I live here. I'm well known here. Doors would open up for me faster than they would for you. I will meet with everyone you were supposed to meet with on your behalf and straighten out all ruffled feathers. It's the least I can do for making you leave without completely handling your business down here," Kimberly said and Tom thought about it for a moment.
Even though he was still very much annoyed, he couldn't just throw out her offer without taking it into consideration.
"You can think about it and have anyone get back to me," Kimberly said before hanging up.
Away from there in Harry's office, a minute before the clock struck noon, his secretary walked in to inform him that Mia was there to see him.
"Let her in," Harry said, and a moment later Mia walked inside.
"I thought you were not going to show up," Harry said as he jerked his head to one of the chairs for her to sit.
"You didn't leave me with much of a choice, did you?" she asked with a raised brow as she took the seat across from him.
"I wouldn't bother you if you weren't acting so suspiciously by avoiding me," Harry said, and Mia looked at him in confusion.
"Avoiding you? Why would you think that?" Mia asked, and Harry did not miss the fact that she wasn't acting timid or speaking very politely.
"For starters, you didn't attend the anniversary dinner party," Harry said, and Mia scoffed.
"And you assumed that was because I was avoiding you? Did it occur to you that there might be other people present there who I didn't want to see me?" Mia asked and Harry raised a brow.
"Who would those be?" he asked, wondering if he had made a mistake and should have just gone ahead to hire a detective to look into her.
Mia sighed, "I don't think that is your business. However, I will tell you what I think you want to know. Mia is not my real name. And yes, we met some years ago at my husband's office while I was still married to one of your foreign business partners," Mia said, and Harry's eyes widened ever so slightly as he finally figured out who she was.
"I thought you were dead?" he asked, recalling the news about her unfortunate accident shortly after their meeting.
Mia sighed, "I am and would like to remain so. I am not here to cause any trouble. I'm keeping my head down and just doing what I can to survive. So, I will appreciate it if you don't cause any problems for me by stirring things up. And I wasn't avoiding you. I only avoid gatherings that might put me in public view," she said and Harry looked at her for a moment.
"Are you saying you weren't avoiding me during the engagement party?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Alicia was taking a lot of pictures of the group. The only way I could avoid being in her pictures why by staying by her side and away from the line of her camera. I had to make her delete the picture she took of me speaking with Sonia. You can confirm from her," Mia said and Harry frowned.
"Why?" he asked, and Mia raised a brow.
"Why what? Why did I fake my death? Why did I leave my husband? Why am I working for Bryan when I'm wealthy enough to live my life without working for a day?" she asked and Harry nodded.
"I wanted to be free. I've lived all my life under my parents being the dutiful daughter and doing everything they wanted me to without any thoughts to myself. They made me get married to him when I was twenty-one without any thought to what I wanted. Every day of that marriage was a horrible nightmare. There was nothing I didn't endure in his hands. Every day was an emotional torture. Physical, verbal, emotional, and sexual abuse were the order of the day. I had two miscarriages. He beat me to unconsciousness once, yet my parents wouldn't hear of a divorce as it would ruin the merger of both companies and affect the company stocks," Mia paused and took in a deep breath as she swiped angrily at the tears on her cheeks.
As much as she was trying to sound detached from all she was saying, the thought of it was upsetting her again.
"They cared about their fucking stocks more than they cared about my life. Do you know how that feels? It was either I remained in that fiery pit and continue putting up with that bastard or I left. It was either I killed him with my own hands and spend the rest of my life in jail or I take my own life. What would you have had me do? Fake my death or take my life for real? Cause I would have done that," Mia said, meeting Harry's gaze now.
She had told him a lot more than she planned to, and seeing the apology and sympathy in his eyes, she felt slightly embarrassed.
"I'm sorry you went through all of that," Harry said softly as he released his hand which had been balled in a fist the whole time she was talking.
Mia laughed humorlessly, "I am too. I am sorry I endured all of that because I was too scared to walk away. I'm just trying to live a normal life now, Harry. Is that too much to ask? All I want is a life that isn't controlled by my family or him. I'd rather they keep believing I'm dead. I can't let them find me. I can't go back to that life, Harry. I can't. I'd rather die," Mia said as she swiped at the tears in her eyes.
"Now that you know this, if have a problem with me working with Bryan, say so and I will disappear," Mia said and Harry shook his head.
"I won't do anything. Your secret is safe with me," Harry promised, and Mia looked at him for a moment before rising from her seat.
"Thank you," she said and walked out of the office.
Harry sighed as he watched her leave. That wasn't what he had been expecting.
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