Dear Jolene

Chapter 11

Hey y'all!!! It's a little short but please bear with me.
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"Andrew," Theodore knocked on their 2nd Office's door as everyone was going off to sleep.

As soon as a 'Come in' was heard, Theodore entered the office and wasn't surprised to see Theon sitting there. The eldest Knight Grandchild was doing his best to prove to their father that he was worthy of leading the family business. 

"Hope I'm not disturbing," Theodore asked in a sing-a-long voice.

Andrew laughed and said, "You can never disturb me, Theo."

Theon smiled and stood up, "I'll take my leave, Goodnight", he looked towards Theodore, "Goodnight Uncle," and closed the office door silently on his way out.

"Yes Theo", Andrew smiled and motioned him to sit on the chairs in front of his table.

"I know it's your wedding night and all but I had to inform you that those men were sent by some neighbourhood gang, they call themselves 'Vipers', truly uncreative, if I may add", Theodore said rolling his eyes.

Andrew drew in a breath and sighed in relief. He knew it is going to be hard protecting his new family, but he had failed them on day one.

"You really love her, don't you?" Theo asked his elder brother after seeing Andrew lose his cool.

Andrew leaned back on his chair and said with a smile, "Yes, I do, I love Emily."

"And what about Jo?"

The smile instantaneously dropped, and Andrew's face turned emotionless. He asked Theo as he busied himself with some files. "What about Jo?"

Theo laughed in a humorless manner and said, "God, Andy, did you think I'm that dumb."

Andrew ignored his remarks and said, "Theo, if you have nothing else to say, get out, I want retire for the night."

"Oh yes, yes, don't keep the bride waiting," Theo saluted him and walked out of the office.

Despite being the capo, Andrew was the most soft-hearted sibling in the Knight family tree.

When he was selected as the next head of the family, Andrew had bury his real nature inside him. He became this stone cold man to fit into the role he was assigned, but today, seeing him react like that, Theo thought to himself how long this mother-daughter would take to crack Andrew.

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It was 2 in the morning, but Jo did not care. Right after Emily appeared with the tea, Jo had started unpacking. It took a lot of time to assure her mother that she was fine and literally pushed her out of the room.

Jo looked around and saw 2 more boxes to be unpacked. She noted that she will need a proper bookshelf to store all her books and a separate shelf for her candles.

She looked around for her phone and found around 4 missed calls from Dani and Karma.

They must have reached home by now, she thought.

Jo quickly clicked a picture of the mess she created and put it on her Instagram story under close friends. She plopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering how her life had changed drastically.

And now it would be a tad bit more dramatic with so many people around. She just hoped for a better life for Emily because she knows it in her bones that Emily only deserves the best.

A knock broke her out of her reverie. She quickly got up and opened the door, revealing a tired Theon. He gave her a small smile, but Jo could see how tired his eyes were.

"Hey," Jo greeted.

"Hi, um, I was just going to my room and saw your lights on. Are you having trouble sleeping?"

"Oh, no, no, I was just unpacking," Jo explained.

Theon gave a nod and asked,"Do you like the room?"

Jo smiled and said, "Yes, I like the room, Thank you very much."

He leaned on the doorframe and said, "You're welcome, Dad was crazy about how he wanted this room to be perfect. You should thank him and tell him about it. "

On hearing those words, Jo started playing with her fingers like she did whenever she was nervous, "I will."

Theon sighed and said, "Don't think too much, Jo, we are a family now, clean up or do whatever you want, then hurry to bed. I will expect you at breakfast, which is at 8."

"Okay, good night," Jo said.

He smiled and ruffled her hair and went off in the direction of his bedroom.

Jo closed the door and went towards her new study table. She pulled one of the drawers and took out an old diary, the cover half burned, and once white pages had turned yellow, but the pictures that were attached to the pages were clear of any destruction. Jo took out one particular folded picture and straightened it with shaky hands.

She stared at the old photo with a blank face, but her hands were shaky, the photo was clicked on the day Jo was born, it was a hospital room, Malcolm was looking at baby Jolene, with adoration and love who had here eyes closed. The lower half of the hospital bed could also be seen in the picture. The person lying on the bed had a tattoo of a butterfly on their left feet, right over the ankle.

Jo wasn't looking at Malcolm, her gaze fixed in the butterfly tattoo because she knew this person was to be blamed for what happened 5 years ago.

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Jo rushed to the dining hall for breakfast. It was 8:30, which meant she was late, and she did not like making a late entry because that meant people staring at your souks.

She could hear the noise getting louder and clearer as she kept nearing the dining hall. There was laughter, insults thrown here and there, normal talk about the food and the wedding, just a normal family morning.

Suddenly, Jo did not feel like entering. Why did she even think of coming down for breakfast? Because Theon said so, was she that stupid to believe his words about her and them being a family? She leaned on the wall next to the hallway to the dining hall.

Suddenly, she heard her name in their conversation.

"-ting for Jo"
"Why would you wait for her?"
"Breakfast is a family thing. Why would she be here?"
"Alexander, she is family."
"No, she is not."
"Do you see anyone other than us here? Even our grandparents and aunts and uncles aren't here. Breakfast is strictly for siblings and cousin-"

"Ma'am," a worker greeted Jo.

Jo looked up from the floor and smiled at the old man, "Good Morning, Sir."

The man smiled and said, "No need to address me like that Ma'am, I am the head Butler of the Knight Family, Demiris, would you want to have breakfast in the dining hall or in your room?"

Jo contemplated for some time and said, "In my room, please."

"Of course, is there anything specific you want in breakfast?"

"A cup of Darjeeling Tea would be nice, and also no pancakes."

Demiris bowed a little and said, "Please wait in your room, I will call you when your breakfast is ready."

Jo smiled and went back to her room trying to ignore his sympathetic gaze that followed her.

xoxo

Hey Humans!!!

<3

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See you later.

~maeve.