Chương 26: Chapter 26

Damon arrived in his house feeling happier than he ever had in the last five years. He wasn't even this happy when his company finally made it into the international market. It wouldn't dampen his mood if Avery didn't let him take them to the zoo the next day, even though he vehemently hoped that she would.

He ripped his jacket off on his way upstairs and was about to open his bedroom door when he realized that it was open. His part time servants didn't work on weekends. Did his mother or grandmother take the liberty to invade his house and probably send some woman to his bed? He should remember to prohibit their entry.

He walked in and was preparing to kick whoever it was out when he caught sight of a woman cleaning his room. She flashed a smile when she saw him. "You are finally back. I almost grew grey hair waiting for you."

"Mabella?" He hugged her and chided, "What are you doing in my room?"

"Cleaning, as you can see." She rolled her eyes. "What a boring room. No wonder Avery dumped you."

He glared at her. "You know that she didn't dump me."

"Yeah. And I know that she will never agree to spend the night with you if you don't make your room a little more friendly."

He chuckled as she nit picked every single detail about his room. She was an interior designer and any tiny detail she thought was an error felt like an insult to her.

Since she was pretty much done cleaning, she tossed the rubbish in the bin and followed Damon to the cellar, where they sat across each other.

"How are matters with Vee, anyway?" She asked, referring to Avery. "Do you think she will let me play with my nephew?"

"Not a chance in hell." He hated to burst her bubble. The only thing Mabella loved more than making sure every room is perfect was kids.

It was in fact, her overflowing love for kids that made him find out he was a father. She had spotted an adorable toddler at the aquarium store where she was meeting a client and had wanted to befriend him like she usually did when she met kids. When she saw the toddler's face clearly, she was stumped.

She was yet to squeal about the boy looking so much like her brother when his mother took her hand to stop him from wandering too far.

That was how she found out that he and Avery had a son.

"I have to say, it's a good thing that I was yet to meet Avery officially, right? Otherwise, after meeting me, she would have fled the city before you got to her." She remarked.

He half-filled their glasses with red wine and sipped his. "I have to thank your scumbag for choosing that day to ditch you."

They both chuckled.

He hadn't known he had a sister until six years ago, when his father had a sudden heart attack. At the time, all his father's mistresses arrived like they had been summoned, bringing with them the kids they had been hiding away. It was amazing how many women wished him dead just so he would pass his estate to their children. Most of the illegitimate kids didn't even share a strand of DNA with the D'aboville family. Ferdinand had been cuckolded by his mistresses—he deserved it.

Instead of taking care of his daughter when he found out that he had one, he shoved her aside with the most ridiculous reasons. He called her an accident that should never have happened—as if it was possible for him to trip and end up inside a woman—and was vexed when his son got close to her.

Although the reason she was introduced to the family was unscrupulous and his reason for befriending her was to infuriate his parents, she was a kind woman and they hit off.

So, he had decided to introduce her to Avery. Alas, the day they were supposed to meet was the day she broke up with her boyfriend so she didn't want to leave the house. Who would have thought that it would be so helpful years later?

"She will kill me when she finally meets me. She will not let me play with my nephew." She dreaded, making Damon want to laugh at her.

"I'll bring you pictures the next time I meet Angel."

"Really? You're the best!" She cheered.

"Of course, I'll ask for her permission. If she says no to it, you can only imagine what he looks like."

She glared at him and looked like she wanted to rip him into pieces. "You did that on purpose. Give me back my compliment!"

He burst into laughter, earning a smack on his chest.

When her anger calmed, she asked, "You didn't tell me the real reason why you two broke up."

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Chương 27: Chapter 27

He glanced at her and chuckled before downing his drink. "Do I really need to say it out aloud? Can't you guess?"

She thought about it for a few seconds. It didn't take her long to come up with a plausible guess. "Our family?"

When he nodded, she scrunched up her face. "I thought it was her family who didn't want you to be together because her brother said bad things about you."

He shook his head. "I doubt her parents even knew she had a boyfriend." The thought of it made him hate them more than he already did. If they were a little more caring, she would not have suffered so much. They would have comforted her when his family harassed her and even told them off—but they didn't even know what their daughter was going through. They should have given her up for adoption when she was born. He was certain any random family would take better care of her as long as she didn't end up as his foster sister. That would not have made any difference.

Mabella didn't need any details to guess what must have gone down. When she did a mental walk through everything that had happened five years ago before Damon told her that he and Avery had broken up, she didn't want the details anymore. There must have been conspiracies worse than murder.

"I'll hold back from scolding them but that's only because they indirectly helped you get close to Vee." She rolled her eyes. He and Avery had found common ground in the fact that they were both members of unloving families.

He scoffed. "You're giving them too much credit."

She laughed as she nursed her wine glass. "Oh, by the way. I came to hide here because our jerk of a dad wants me to go home for a few days. My mother agreed."

He frowned at her complaint. "Aren't you like, twenty-seven?"

She shrugged. "I'll be seven in my mom's eyes until I'm married."

He smirked at her predicament even though he found it ridiculous. "Don't worry. Elder brother will protect you from them. You can stay here until you find a place of your own."

Mabella was overjoyed. She was not planning to overstay her welcome but having a brother to take care of her could never feel any better.

"Hey, give me your phone." She said out of the blue.

He knew from her slight slur that the alcohol was starting to kick in. "Why do you need it?" He asked.

She stretched out her hand. "Just hand it over. Humor me."

He had a weird feeling about her expression but he reached for his phone in his pants pockets and slid it over the counter to her.

"Awesome!" She happily entered his pass code—which he didn't remember ever telling her—and tapped on the screen frantically with a frown.

"Are you sending some crazy social media post?" He snatched the phone from her but he was probably too late since she let go without a fight. She must have already posted whatever she wanted.

He checked the recently used apps and his heart sank when he saw that it was his messaging app. She didn't send an embarrassing text to anyone, right?

He worked up his courage and was relieved to see that she had sent two mild texts to Avery.

[Please show the text below to Angel.]

[Hey Angel, did you have dinner?]

A smile formed on his face as he looked at his drunk sister. "Good idea. I owe you one."

She rolled her eyes and smacked him. "You idiot. That was so obvious. Send text messages for Angel to Avery's phone and you will have a legitimate reason to chat with her."

That was not exactly what he had in mind. He was thinking of something naughtier.

He smiled as he typed another text message. Well, a whole lot of them.

___

Avery's phone pinged with a text message when she and Angel were selecting a book for his bedtime story. She glanced at it and looked at him.

"Your papa sent a message for you." She spoke softly. He looked up from the small pile of books with colorful covers in front of him and waited in anticipation.

She was yet to tell him what Damon had sent when another text message came in. An entire flood of messages pinged one after another.

He read all of them and summarized the information to her son.

"He said you should get to sleep soon and dream about him, and that he loves you."

Angel scrunched up his little face as if he found it odd.

She chuckled. "I know. I found it odd too. But your papa is odd, so we are going to do what's best for our state of mind—choose a bedtime story and get some sleep."

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