Still

19.

Chapter Nineteen

Maia's heart began rapidly pounding the more Lauryn read. At this point, she felt sick to her stomach at the thought of anyone tying Jourdan to a child.

Lauryn was confused. "What the fuck would that be about? Jourdan hasn't told us about a child?"

Malik shrugged. "Sounds like a lie. We literally know everything about that nigga. Sounds like a groupie trying to have a come up."

"But, these are adoption papers," Lauryn reasoned. "Eli, I'm sending this to you."

Maia sighed, knowing that she was only using his status as a lawyer to verify the documents, when it should've been her to do so. "Wouldn't I be more credible to do that?"

Lauryn glanced over to Maia, not liking her tone right now. She didn't seem like she was as concerned about the news. Without another word, she began scrolling through her contacts to find someone's name.

"Who are you calling?" Maia asked. She already had her phone out, going through social media, as well.

The minute the call answered, she knew it was Jourdan. Lauryn didn't give him a chance to talk, before asking him a series of questions that he was having a hard time answering, because every time he tried, she'd ask another question. "Lauryn, I love you to death, but right now, shut the fuck up. Where is Maia? I need to talk to Maia."

"But," she spoke up, only to be halted by Jourdan once more.

"I. Need. To. Talk. To. Maia." His words were clear and firm. It wasn't unusual that he was only wanting to speak with her, seeing as back then, she was the only one that he opened up to.

The room was dead quiet and all eyes were on Maia. She looked around at her friends, but turned her attention to Zakari. He knew that she was yearning for his reassurance. He understood her position and didn't have any concerns. He gave her a gentle smile and began helping her up, careful not to awaken Olivia, who was asleep near them.

Elijah couldn't help but laugh at the exchange. He was always cool, calm, and collected, so seeing someone have to shut Lauryn's extra ass down always warmed his heart. When shit wasn't going right, Lauryn went into true mother panicking mode and blew everyone.

Lauryn rolled her eyes and handed the phone to Maia. Knowing that he needed to speak with her privately, Maia excused herself away from them and went upstairs. "How are you?" She asked him.

Jourdan pursed his lips together, attempting to gather his thoughts. Rumors as a celebrity could either make or break you. Having a baby always left people wanting to meddle in things that they didn't need to meddle in. They dug and dug until they hit a goldmine and sometimes it was just the wrong road to take. This was the wrong road to take. "I don't understand this shit, baby girl. I'm so lost."

Truthfully, Maia felt a bigger responsibility, because Jourdan had no parts in the adoption process. He had never laid eyes on the baby. "The adoption story isn't true," she told him. "Your name was never brought up in the actual process of things. Are the new parents aware? Yes, but they only had your government name and you weren't known then."

"So, what is happening?" He asked her. "How do you know they didn't put two and two together? They know you?"

"Yes," she answered. "They know me. I saw the paperwork that was posted and it's not the real document. Your name is not on any of documents. You can't give up parental rights that were never established." Her voice was numb. Right now, she just wanted to go and hide out somewhere and not have to deal with this. Her irrational choices were coming back to bite her in the ass.