Chapter 53- Family outing
“Has she agreed to marry you?” Elena asked Aaron. “No. I haven’t proposed to her yet. I wanted to get your blessing before asking her,” Aaron replied with bated breath.
His stomach was in a knot and his heart was racing as he waited for Elena’s response. Aaron felt like a kid waiting anxiously for his parents to scold him for something he had done.
Elena sighed and responded, “I think you should ask her to marry you first. When she accepts, then you will have my blessing. At the end of the day, it has to be Tessa’s choice. I can’t give you my blessing minus her agreeing to your proposal.”
Aaron nodded as he reflected. He understood Elena’s point because whether she would give them her blessing or not was dependent on what Tessa wanted. He glanced at Elena and said, I’ll make the necessary arrangements, Aunt. Don’t worry, I’ll treat your daughter well.”
Elena kept quiet for a few seconds. She recalled her daughter’s state when she returned to the countryside five years ago. Her heart ached when she thought about how depressed Tessa was at that time. However, she had also noticed how happy Tessa and the children were since Aaron came back into their lives. This was why she didn’t want to interfere but she wanted to caution Aaron just in case he changed in the future.
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Narrowing her eyes at Aaron, she warned, “About that… I hope you don’t hurt my daughter again, Aaron. I never want to see her losing herself the way she did years ago.”
She proceeded to tell Aaron about how Tessa was when they broke up. The way she seemed like the world had ended. She couldn’t eat sometimes and for a while, it seemed like she had
lost her will to live on.
Guilt crept into Aaron when he heard that. He felt like a huge hand was squeezing his heart.
“I promise to never make her cry unless they are tears of joy,” he declared.
“I trust you, Aaron. Since you’ve said you love my daughter, I’ll leave her in your hands. Take care of her. Love and cherish her. Be considerate. That’s all I ask of you,” Elena pleaded.
“I’ll devote my life to making her happy,” Aaron promised.
When they returned inside the mansion, Tessa pulled Aaron to the side and asked, “What did you talk about with my mother?”
“It’s a secret,” Aaron responded.
“Really? Are we keeping secrets now?” Tessa questioned with a quirked–up eyebrow.
Aaron shook his head and grabbed her hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed the fingertips as he said, “I was asking for forgiveness for hurting you and assuring her that I will take care
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of you.”
Tessa’s lips curled into a smile as she glanced at him. She remarked, “As much as I love you for doing that, you don’t need to keep apologising for the past, babe. I’ve already forgiven you.”
“I know. But your mother was hurt too. A mother would be hurt if her child is in pain. I needed to apologise for that,” Aaron responded.
Tessa’s eyes gleamed. She wrapped her arms around Aaron’s neck and stood on her toes to peck his lips. She looked into his eyes and asked, “What did I do to deserve you?”
Aaron coiled his arms around Tessa’s waist. He smiled warmly and replied, “You didn’t need to do anything but just be you. I’m the one who is grateful to you for taking me back because I know I don’t deserve you. Being with you… holding you in my arms like this, I feel so content and happy.”
The next day, Aaron was following up with the police investigations about who was sending Tessa the threats.
He was in the inspector’s office with Enock, his assistant, listening to the report.
“We’ve been working together with the military but even then, we haven’t been able to track the person behind those calls and texts. I wanted to find out if there is anyone who has a vendetta against Miss Hilton. An old enemy perhaps. At least if we have a name, we can know where to start from,” Inspector Michael reported.
Aaron frowned. He crossed his legs and stroked his chin in deep thought. A name flashed through his mind and he asked, “What are the possibilities that Harry Winston could still be alive? I know some of his shredded clothes were found in the sea but what if he just staged his
death?”
Inspector Michael nodded, saying, “Actually, I’ve been suspecting that as well. We’ve continued a search for his body in the sea. I think we can only be sure that he’s dead when we find his body. Has Miss Hilton received any more calls and texts in the past few days?”
“No. It has been quiet since last week. The stalker has no intention of attacking now, otherwise, he would have already made his move. Please, keep searching. I need to get to the
bottom of this,” Aaron said with a serious face.
“Yes, we won’t stop until we find the culprit,” Inspector Michael promised. He cleared his throat and added, “The reason I called you here is because of Miss Winston. She has been showing signs of psychosis. She has been acting really weird and hurting her inmates so we moved her to a solitary cell. However, it’s been getting worse so I was thinking we should transfer her to a psychiatric hospital-”
“Are you sure she’s lost her mind? Or she’s pretending? Don’t be fooled, Inspector. The Winstons are cunning. And if you do anything that would put my family in danger, I’ll get you
fired,” Aaron said curtly in a low dangerous voice.
When he left, Inspector Michael got to his feet and drove to the correctional facility. He then walked to Serena’s cell and found her seated on her small bed. He let out a breath and said, I’m sorry, I tried. Mr Wentworth won’t allow you to get released. I might also lose my job. You’re not worth it.”
”
Serena’s heart dropped. When she saw Inspector Michael, she thought he came bearing good news. After she had been sentenced to prison, she suffered a lot. The food was horrible and there was no good sanitation in the cells. For a person who had been raised by rich parents, there was no way she could survive that. She endured but only for a while.
Coming up with a plan to pretend as if she was mad, she finally got a chance to talk to the inspector and then she seduced him. Luckily, Inspector Michael was just like other dirty men who got swayed easily. She managed to have him wrapped around her fingers.
From that time, her meals were better. She had her own cell which had a toilet and bathroom. There was a small TV which helped her catch up with the latest news about her family and Aaron. Someone had even slipped her a burner phone.
Hatred brewed within her every day. All she wanted was to escape and take revenge on Tessa for destroying her life.
But now, her only ticket to freedom just told her she couldn’t be released because Aaron stopped him. Anger ripped through her like a tidal wave.
“You stupid ugly man! Do you think I liked sleeping with you? How dare you say you can’t help me after having sex with me?” She hissed while glaring at the inspector.
“I’ll let them keep you in this cell for the services you gave me. However, you won’t be able to escape until you’ve served your sentence.”
Those were the last words Inspector Michael said before leaving a very livid Serena in her solitary cell.
A vicious look marred Serena’s face. She took out the burner phone she hid under the mattress and dialled a number. The call was picked up and Serena said, “The fool failed to get me released. Just make sure you deal with Tessa. I want her dead. She doesn’t deserve to be with Aaron. If I can’t have him, no one else will.”
The week passed by in a pleasant blur. Aaron was taking the kids and Tessa out on a family outing.
They all wore matching outfits. Aaron wore a white–fitting golf t–shirt with black jeans. Tessa wore a feminine white golf t–shirt with black jeans and the children matched their parent’s outfits. They looked cool and took a few photos before getting into the car.
“Where do you want to go?” Aaron asked the children while they were seated in the backseat
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of his silver Bentley.
They had returned to Tessa’s apartment so he had to pick them up from there.
“I want to go to an amusement park!” Willa chirped.
“I want to go to the zoo!” Reagan requested.
“I want to go to both!” Nia chimed in.
Aaron chuckled and said, “Ok. We will go to the amusement park and then we will go to the ZOO!”
“Yay! We are going out with Daddy! Mommy, are we on a date with Daddy?” Willa asked, making Tessa laugh.
She whipped her head around from the front seat to look at their youngest daughter and replied, “Yes, sweetie. We are all on a date with Daddy.”
The family of five arrived at the amusement park. Aaron and Tessa followed the children when they ran around the park excitedly. There was so much to do.
They got on a swing and asked their father to push them and Aaron gladly did. He took them to try out the bumper cars which they were very happy to ride in.
When they were tired, he took them to an eatery and got them some food.
Willa saw someone making cotton candy. She tugged at her father’s pants.
“Daddy, I want that,” she said, pointing at the cotton candy.
Aaron smiled and nodded, “Ok.”
He went to the person selling and got two pink and one blue cotton candy for the kids.
Tessa shook her head when she saw this. She remarked, “Don’t buy everything they ask for. You’re spoiling them.”
“Let me indulge them for a while. I haven’t been able to spoil them for years. I won’t always spoil them, don’t worry,” Aaron replied as he stared at the adorable triplets with a doting look
on his face.
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After they were done having fun, they went to the zoo to see some animals. Reagan saw some kids being lifted on their father’s shoulders. He tugged on Aaron’s pants and demanded,‘ Daddy, I can’t see. Carry me on your shoulders.”
Aaron smiled and lifted his son, placing him on his shoulders. He grabbed his little legs and asked, “Can you see that son? What animal is that?”
“Wow! It’s a lion! It’s so big!” Reagan said with a huge grin on his face.
He was happy to finally be carried on his father’s shoulders just like the other kids at the zoo.
“I also want Daddy to carry me,” Willa pouted.
“Me too!” Nia chimed in.
“Let me carry you-”
“No! You always carry us, Mommy. I want Daddy to carry me,” Willa refused when Tessa offered to carry her.
Aaron chuckled and said, “I’ll take turns carrying you all. Don’t worry, you will all get an opportunity to be on my shoulders.”
He put Reagan down and glanced at Tessa before winking at her and mouthing, ‘I love you.‘
Tessa blushed and her stomach fluttered with butterflies as she watched Aaron take turns.
carrying the kids on his shoulders.
Warmth spread through her and a smile curled on her lips. She let out a satisfied sigh, thinking, ‘Life is perfect.‘
They took a tour of the zoo and saw a variety of animals. The triplets even made some friends and couldn’t wait to show off their parents. Each time they made a friend, they would introduce Tessa and Aaron proudly, “This is our Mommy and this is our Daddy. Daddy loves our Mommy.”
It was getting late and the kids were tired. Tessa noticed this and presented, “I think we can call it a day.”
Aaron had balloons and teddy bears he had won for the kids in his hands. He glanced at Tessa, smiled warmly and agreed, “Yes, the kids look worn out. It was fun! I love playing with the kids.”
“I know,” Tessa replied.
They were about to head to the parking lot when Aaron’s phone rang. He frowned when he saw that it was Enock, his assistant, who was calling him. He picked up but he received shocking news.
“Sir, the Chairman has collapsed! Something happened to the company!”
