Kathleen let out a soft chuckle. "So, you caught that too? I was so unfortunate to be caught on camera with that scumbug, and presently everybody sees us as the ideal couple. Can you imagine?"

"Well, you do know how to make headlines, sis. But what’s with the bitterness I heard in your voice? If you ask me, I also think you look great together," Jason teased.

"Are you still my brother or have you discovered another wandering sister out there?" Kathleen scolded feigning both anger and jealousy.

Jason’s laughter echoed from the other end of the phone. "Far from it. Although I had wanted mom and dad to give me two or more siblings in the past, I think I’m perfectly ok with only one sister, seeing what a handful you can be at times."

"Are you tired of me already? Just so you know, you are stuck with me for life, so don’t think of ever escaping or replacing me, BROTHER!"

"I wouldn’t dare, Your Highness," Jason promised with mock seriousness. "So what’s up with that picture of you and Shawn trending all over the place?"

Kathleen sighed with a mixture of frustration and amusement and said dismissively,

"It’s just the reporters doing what they do best— taking a normal situation and blowing it out of proportion," she explained.

After the judgment was given in my favour, and Mrs Beazell sentenced, she got incensed and attacked me all of a sudden. What you saw in the picture was Shawn saving me from her attack."

The corners of Jason’s mouth curled up in amusement, "That’s quite romantic, I must say, and I bet you were smitten silly by his heroic act," Jason resumed his teasing.

"Smitten my foot. For your information it’s not ever gonna work between me and him, especially after..."

"After what?" Jason urged, the teasing note still in his voice.

After waiting for a few seconds and his sister failed to continue with what she was saying, a thin line appeared between Jason’s brows. "Sis?" he called gently.

Hearing nothing, he knew that things were not as simple as he had imagined and before he could probe further, he heard a faint sob on the other end of the phone.

The sob was so faint that he would have missed it if If he didn’t have a sharp sense of hearing,

"Janice? What’s wrong? What did Shawn do to you?" Jason’s eyes narrowed as concern washed over him.

"Nothing, Jason. I think I have a cold," Kathleen quickly came up with a lie.

"How come you suddenly have a cold? it wasn’t there when we started talking," Jason effortlessly uncovered her lie. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Though they’ve spent just a few years together, he was more attuned to her emotions than anyone else. Maybe it was the telepathy between twins.

As a matter of fact, he had been having some strange feelings that he couldn’t explain for two days in a row, and it got to its peak yesterday. That was one of the reasons he had put several calls through to her yesterday.

When she didn’t pick, he had called Cheryl who assured him that Kathleen had been with her all day and only went out to see President Hudson who had somehow found out about Kathleen’s true relationship with the Wyatts.

So when he heard the faint tremor in Kathleen’s voice over the phone just now, he was instantly alerted.

"Janice, what’s going on? I can hear it in your voice. Don’t give me the "it’s just a cold" excuse. What’s really wrong?"

Kathleen hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether to share the painful truth.

"If you don’t want me to board a flight to Baltimore now, you’d better come clean and tell me what’s up," Jason threatened.

"Really, there’s nothing wrong. I promise," Kathleen insisted.

"Since you don’t want to tell me the truth, get ready to deal with me soon."

"Hey, you can’t be so impulsive as a President," Kathleen tried to make light of the situation, but sensing her brother’s persistence, and knowing he wasn’t kidding but would carry out his threat if she delayed, she finally decided to open up.

"Jason, Shawn found out about the kids,"

She started.

"Eh hen?" Jason’s response came almost immediately. It was long overdue anyway.

He had always looked down on Shawn for not discovering something that obvious from the beginning as a president with all his resources and abilities.

Infact, if he was as smart as he claimed to be, he should be living happily with his family by now and not tormenting his poor sister whom he could bet his life on still loved him with all her heart.

But he couldn’t tell his beloved sister all these before she will think he is taking sides with her enemy.

"He believes the children belong to another man and accused me of sleeping around. He said the most hurtful things to me, Jason, that I can’t even repeat."

Her voice broke and she did not bother to suppress the sob again.

"I left his presence angrily, and on the way, the accident happened."

There was a stunned silence on the other end before Jason’s voice, tightened with concern and anger, started firing one question after another in quick succession.

"What! Are you okay? What did he say? Why didn’t you call me immediately?"

Taking a shaky breath, Kathleen, recounted the painful details of the accident.

Jason was furious, "That’s unacceptable. I’m coming home immediately. No more excuses. We’ll deal with this together."

Kathleen felt a mixture of relief and fear and knew that her brother’s outburst was out of concern so she softly objected, "Jason, you don’t have to come over, I believe you have so much on your..."

"I’m not taking no for an answer," he interrupted her before she could finish her words.

"I’ll be home soon. No one can bully my only sister and get away with it, besides I won’t let you go through this alone like you did in the past." Jason declared with a note of finality that left Kathleen speechless.

She was sure she could deal with this little issue. She was not as helpless as she was in the past.

But since he insisted on coming, who was she to say no to him, afterall one could always use an extra loving heart in times like these.

"Alright then, but I could have ..."

"That’s settled," Jason cut her off.

"Just remember, next time when you’re making headlines, at least let me know in advance," he added as if he wasn’t the one spitting brimstone and fire just now,

Despite the seriousness of the moment, Kathleen couldn’t help but laugh, grateful for her brother’s ability to inject humor into even the most challenging situations.

"Sure, I’ll make sure to send you the memo before the next big scandal," she equally responded, rolling her eyes in the process.

"I trust you will," Jason chuckled before ending the call.

As Kathleen stared at the phone in her hand, she couldn’t help but feel grateful for having a caring brother who will always be there for her. Unlike in the past when she was all alone, this time things have changed.