Till We Meet Again | The Ceo's Absent Lover

44 | JANITOR

"No, I don't," Ketein replied, and with that, she left the bathroom.

Bella couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. The lady’s intense gaze had left her unsettled, but she tried to focus on the joyful chatter around the dinner table. Her parents were animatedly discussing their latest travel adventures while her children giggled over a shared joke. She brushed off the strange feeling and then went back to the table to have a meal with her parents and children.

When the meal was finished, Bella allowed her parents to spend more time with the kids. After a while, Bella called Adane and told him to send someone to pick up the kids.

Half an hour later, Stephan entered the restaurant and went over to the table Bella, her parents, and her children were sitting at.

He greeted everyone. Gretta and Johnathan became curious as to who Stephan was.

"Mom, Dad, this is my friend Stephan. He will be taking the kids home so we can discuss what needs to be discussed."

Bella's presents hugged their grandchildren one after the other and told them bye.

Stephan left with the kids.

As soon as Stephan left, Gretta asked, "Who is that man, Bella?"

Bella smiled, "I told you that he is my friend."

"Then who is the father of those kids?"

Bella cleared her throat, "Six years ago, I went missing. This was because I got pregnant."

"Is Carlos the father?" John asked.

"No, six years ago, five days before the wedding, I slept with a stranger."

"You did what?" Johnathan asked. You could see the veins on his forehead.

"I'm not proud that I did it, but at least I got five wonderful children from that incident." Gretta nodded. She was looking forward to spending weekends with her grandchildren. When she found out that Kay could not get pregnant, she was devastated.

"So you don't know who the father is?" Greta asked.

"I didn't get the chance to find out who that person was then," Bella
answered, not wanting to lie.

"But how could you? You knew that if that news was out, it would have damaged our reputation." Jonathon hissed. He knew that Bella cheated back then, but he didn't know that she did so with someone she did not know.

"It would have, but you concealed it back then, didn't you?" Bella asked.

Jonathon and Gretta remained silent.

"You also disowned me then, I'm sure Carlos and Kay told you what I did. You were so mad at me that you decided not to search for me. Now I'm back, and the company is in turmoil. Do you want me to fix it? How do you know if I'm capable of doing so?"

"W-we..." Greta trailed off. She didn't know what to say.

Bella showed a wry smile.

Bella turned to Johnathan, but he was silent, too.

"I knew that if I didn't run away, then you would have told me to abort those babies. So I went away. If it wasn't for the love that I have for you, I would not pay any attention to the Cain's company. So I'll take over, but it will be in a month's time."

"By that time, the company will be bankrupted due to the incident Kay caused," Jonathon mumbled under his breath, but it was loud enough for Bella to hear.

"I'll try and see if I can prevent that from happening."

They all stopped speaking until it became awkward.

Jonathon then broke the silence, "So, are you going to search for the father of your kids?"

"I don't know." Bella's response was nonchalant.

"The kids need a father in their life."

"Yeah, I know..." Bella acknowledged that they were right. She then continued, "Are you saying that I should get married before taking over the company?"

"...No...um... It's not that. We just want our grandchildren to live in a perfect family with the presence of both parents, right John?" Gretta nudged Johnathon.

Jonathon nodded, "Yes, we just want the best for our grandchildren."

Bella smirked. She knew that this was the first time her parents knew about the children. They just wanted her to get married to save face.

"I recently found out who the father of my children is."

...

In the car across the road, a man sat in the driver's seat smiling and looking forward to hearing what Bella had to say next. When Stephan came to collect the children, he placed a bug on the table where Bella was dining. This way, Adane could listen in on the conversation.

"Who is it?" Greta asked.

"We spoke a few times after I came back, and he seems like a pretty nice guy to spend the rest of my life with."

Greta was smiling, and so was Adane.

"Bella, why are you avoiding my question? Who is the father of my grandchildren?"

"He works at the headquarters for the AB group...he is a janitor there." Bella almost laughed when she said the last part of the sentence.

When they heard the latter part of the sentence,

The smile on Gretta's face froze.

Jonathon furrowed his brows.

Adane, on the other hand, had a livid expression on his face, 'she dares tell them that I am a janitor?'

Adane took up the speaker that he was listening from and threw it through the window, then drove off.

"You can't marry that man, how could you, he will be living from your money," Gretta exclaimed.

"You were the one that said my children need their father. Why should I not marry him so that they can live in a 'Perfect family'?"

Bella used hand features when saying, "Perfect family."

"We want the best for you and the kids. Will he be able to provide for you and the children?"

"What if I don't care if he can or cannot provide, I can provide for all of us, including him."

"Bella, you better listen to me now. You better not get with that man."

"You don't know him. And from the few times that we have met, I think he could be my husband."

Jonathon was angry, "Bella!" he shouted.

"Dad, mom, my decision is final, and since you insist that my children should live with both parents, I'll get married to him so you won't be able to lose face when you announce me as the CEO of the Cain's group."

Bella got up then continued, "... I'm going to invite him to dinner at your house tomorrow, I hope you don't disappoint."

Bella left the restaurant after telling her parents goodbye.

Jonathon and Gretta, we're left there feeling angry. How could Bella be so stubborn?

They decided that the following day, they would ensure that the so-called janitor of the AB group would not pursue Bella.

Bella returned to Adane's Villa. At this time, the children were sleeping.
Adane was in the study looking over some reports that were emailed to him in the evening.

Bella sneaked up to Adane and hugged him from behind.

"Honey, I missed you." She said coquettishly.

Adane remained silent.

"Are you okay, honey?" Bella asked, getting worried. That's when Adane spoke.

"I was just thinking of what life would be like if I was a janitor working at the AB group."