My Perfect Lady 96 All That You've Gone Through

He looked at Miya's face, a plethora of emotions rising in him as he saw how peacefully she slept. He held her hand in his, and it gave him a strange sense of relief too. The young master closed his eyes.

Leaning against the headboard, he began to think.

It was strange.

Last night had been strange.

And he accepted the odd turn of events, he just couldn't understand how to feel about them. There was a woman lying beside him. And a child beside her. Two groupings that he had never really liked.

Yet, when he saw these two, he was okay.

More than anything else, he was at ease. Almost as if he wanted them to be there. And not just because of the Hunter Corporation, but because of feelings he didn't know how to place.

The kiss flashed in his head.

His lips burnt from the sheer thought of it, his mouth went dry. Jim swallowed, cursing aloud. He was so f***ing glad he hadn't blurted out "I love you" to the missus in the heat of the moment.

Because things had somehow become clearer.

Miya had scared him senseless with her feat against Carver, but it had also made him realize. He had been standing behind a tree, hidden with a gun while the missus had been out on the battlefield.

That exactly, had made him grasp the huge difference that existed between them.

That, and the fact that he didn't know anything about her.

Still.

He had the reports from the investigations, and Miya's own word, both saying two different things about her very ident.i.ty. However, Rebecca's appearance had cleared a thing or two. For one, in Miya's ten years of 'disappearance', she had met Rebecca Freeman for a while and even stayed at her house. Also, when Rebecca and Jim had been preparing the script for Miya, that she was supposed to say word to word to Carver on the phone, Jim had taken his chance.

He had asked Rebecca about Ben's father.

She had confirmed, that this 'Kasu' guy was known to them both. And he indeed, was Ben's father. Which again had Jimmy confused.

Because Charlie Swan Park was a researcher of top cla.s.s.

How did she end up making that mistake? Or was it deliberate?

But… the Chairman too hadn't threatened him for his inheritance for quite some time. And he himself hadn't really heard any news about Amara. So either Charlie had made a huge mistake in her investigation, or she had let out false information on purpose.

Question was, who made her do it, if indeed the latter were true? If the Chairman was ready to hand over the Corporation to him, and he hadn't bought in Charlie, then who was the woman working for?

Or it could have been a simple mistake, on her part.

Jim didn't know what to believe.

There was also the matter of Simon Hunter being unusually interested in his wife. He was beyond kind to the girl, always smiling and cheering, even buying her stuff as he gave her lessons on pride and impressions.

Jim still couldn't point out what exactly it was, that the old Hunter was up to.

Lastly, Jimmy still hadn't given the wife a ring.

That were some of the problems he needed to deal with, right there.

Add to that the expansion he was planning into Country M.

The young master played with the girl's fingers absentmindedly, half wondering if he should simply slip the ring on her and let her be surprised in the morning. However, his gut told him that it wouldn't be a surprise to her. Rather, a shock. And not a pleasant one at that.

He sighed.

He was pretty sure the girl didn't 'love' him. He wasn't even sure that was exactly what he felt for her. He couldn't reason out why she had kissed him back, but nevertheless, his belief didn't waver that Miya would kick his face if he gave her a ring.

Jim began to rack his brain to give himself an idea on how to give his wife a ring. He even researched the internet on the matter. It was useless though, for everything was very flowery or s.h.i.+ny there. Nothing discreet.

Like delivering a ring without letting her know you want it delivered. Or if you were the one to deliver it.

It was when Jim was going through articles on the web, that a text message suddenly popped on his screen. Jim opened it up, only to be taken aback by the words.

[Thad Carver was shot.]

It was from Simon Hunter.

Jimmy was quick to reply back.

[Did he make it?]

[No.]

F***.

Jim knew it. Someone else was behind this entire deal the whole time.

When Jimmy had seen the video of Miya and Carver, he had realized that small, sweating man couldn't have been a drug overlord. Also, he didn't look like someone who would have had the guts to defy the Chairman at any point in his life, even if it had been thirteen years ago.

And Jim now had a fair idea of who it could have been. They had but one tall, standing enemy after all, and only one who had their hands deep in the dirt.

He added another pile to his heap of problems-to-do-away-soon.

Rebecca Storm.

How would she be incorporated into the company again? She had disappeared a long time ago, the Toby-Freeman Publis.h.i.+ng House had its roots in drug dealing now, even though it was considerably powerful, Rebecca herself had a history of substance abuse and couldn't be trusted, and there was a whole cartel being run in her name in over three countries.

They were going to need something solid to break through.

Jim's sigh deepened, and he involuntarily grabbed his hand tightly around Miya's. When the girl moved a little and frowned, he immediately loosened his hold.

Well… he had a plan. And it would be good to call in a friend.

Jim sent a quick text to Hartley.

He then slowly slid down the bed, until he was lying beside the missus. She was still facing him, and Jim's heart pounded a little at the intimacy he felt. He kept holding her hand as he lay, and looked at her childlike face.

He would really like to know about her. From her.

But the point was, would she tell him?

Almost in response, Jim's mind flashed back to the beach, when they had both sagged into their beach chairs and marvelled at the sunset. He remembered how Miya had called the scene b.l.o.o.d.y, and had asked about his worst memory.

"My father."

She had said.

Tao, wasn't it?

And he remembered the girl's face, her sincere yet cold eyes, that told him that she would have told him anything he asked. Only, he had been afraid to know. A strange dread had clawed up his throat right then, and he had backed out.

Considering it now… if he gathered up the courage, would his wife be willing to share?

All that she had gone through?

Jim let out another deep sigh.

He would have to wait until morning to find out.