A Lovely Obsession ( Billionaire Romance Novel )

Chapter 33

Nora's POV:-

"Kevin insisted on paying the girls' tuition? That's unbelievable! I bet Jonathan told him to."

"Jonathan is out of the country. He wasn't even picking up any of my phone calls. The last time we spoke, he said something about going abroad for treatment. I feared that maybe he was dead already and Kevin might be hiding it. The last thing he would want is another person to claim a share of the inheritance. I don't know if I should tell the girls the truth." Grandma sighs.

"I think you will have to tell them. Though I am scared of Nadine's reaction. The girls are already so stressed because of... everything that's been happening." I run a hand through my hair. "Did Jonathan want Nadine to know he's her father?''

"The day he told me he was her father, he only talked about his illness and leaving something in his will for her. I should have asked, but I was too stunned by what he told me. So much has happened since then that I didn't have time to think about anything else."

"I don't want her to know that we are not her biological family but she needs to know the truth. She will learn about it at some point. She should hear it from us instead of someone else." I whispered into the receiver in case someone was eavesdropping on the conversation.

"It will break her if she knows that her entire life her parents have lied to her, and that she was the product of an adulterous affair whose real father didn't want to raise her. How will I tell her he's also dying from a terminal illness and has disappeared to God knows where? Ever since Derek took you away, Nadine has not been the same. She doesn't eat or sleep properly. I am worried she wouldn't be able to handle more shock." Grandma's voice wavers.

"Jonathan should have spoken to Nadine, or at least let us know what he wanted us to do about this situation. How can he be so irresponsible? Then again, what should we expect from a man who cheated on his wife and left his daughter to be raised by his friend? No wonder he has a son like Kevin." I hang up.

I head downstairs, looking for Derek. Besides the men who guard the entrance to the penthouse, the place is mostly empty. Sometimes in the morning, I see staff cleaning the rooms, and whenever it's time for a meal, a middle-aged woman serves us with a young girl to assist her. I met the latter on the first day I came here when she brought food to my room.

I come across her again.

"Do you know where Derek is?''

"He's on the roof, ma'am." Her eyes are trained on the floor and she twists her hands like she's nervous.

"What's your name?"

"Christine, ma'am."

"Thanks, Christine." I smile at her, trying to put her at ease. She reminded me of myself when I first started working at Theo Georges. Except she was even more timid than me. Did Derek do something to her, too? I think as I climb up the staircase.

The roof is mostly one gigantic swimming pool with a space on one side for pool lounge chairs and end tables placed underneath umbrellas. But it's not where my gaze lingered.

It was on the man leaning against the edge of the pool, his eyes closed. He looked like Poseidon in the flesh. Derek was even more ripped than he appeared on the internet. He was the only man I knew who looked as intimidating out of a suit as he did in it.

I think of leaving. It feels too intimate talking to him when he's half-naked. With the depraved mind I have, I might start drooling over him mid-conversation. Before I can turn back, Derek opens his eyes and stares straight at me.

"I want to visit my family," I say before he can ask me any questions.

"They can visit you here." He shrugs.