"See what you have caused." Lauren threw Kathleen an accusatory look.

"I have turned into a vampire in the blink of an eye. How will my godchildren ever be comfortable around me in the future?"

"That’s your business. Settle it yourself. Who told you to have designs on my brother?"

"Heartless!"

"Thank you," Kathleen said with a grin.

"Eleanor, darling," Lauren called and shook her head after getting a weak "Yes?" from Eleanor.

"Like your brother said, I was only joking. I can’t even bite into my meat properly, talk less of a human. I won’t suck your uncle’s blood."

To further buttress her point and convince Eleanor, she added, "In Fact, I hate the sight of blood with a passion and that’s why I refused to be a medical doctor like your mother."

"Is that true mummy?" Eleanor turned to her mother to confirm Lauren’s claims. As far as she was concerned all what Lauren said was subject to her mother’s judgment and she knew her mother wouldn’t lie to her.

"She is telling the truth. She is actually hematophobic," her mother confirmed.

"What does that mean, mommy?" Eleanor asked with a puzzled look.

"Hematophobia is a term used to describe someone who is extremely afraid of blood. In her own case she faints immediately she sees blood."

"So you see, I cannot be a vampire because vampires love blood whereas I hate blood," Lauren declared triumphantly.

She had never thought a day will come when her phobia would be able to bail her out of a messy situation. Should she be grateful for that?

"I’m happy you are not a vampire, godmother." Eleanor was relieved as the explanation sounded reasonable. It would have been so scary having a vampire around her all day.

"Mommy, when did you say uncle Jason will be back?" Eleanor asked excitedly, finally back to her usual self.

Everyone, "???"

"Why are you glaring at me like that?" She turned to the only person she knew she could scold conveniently.

"That’s because you have a short memory. How old are you that you are already suffering from dementia?"

"Mom!"

"Elvis!"

"I’m sorry," Elvis mumbled, then bowed his head meekly.

"That reminds me," Kathleen said excitedly. "This weekend, I will take you somewhere to see a special set of people."

"Where is that mommy? Are we traveling?"

"No, it’s here in Baltimore. If I guess correctly, your friend Sophia might also be there."

Eleanor’s eyes lit up instantly and she asked,

"Really mommy? Are other children from the kindergarten also coming?"

She searched her memory but couldn’t remember the teacher saying anything about them going out on the weekend no matter how hard she tried.

"I don’t think so, but I’m sure you will meet several other children there. All you have to do is to be nice to them because they are special."

Elvis, who has been quiet after being reprimanded by his mother, spoke at this point.

"Is it an orphanage, Mom?" he asked. He could vividly remember that when they were in Luxembourg each year on the week of their birthday, their mother would always take them to the orphanage to spend a day with them and she would always remind them to be nice to them.

"Not really but something close to that. The difference is that these ones actually have their loved ones around them, so they are not orphans."

The rest of the journey was spent discussing the forthcoming visit to a place their mother refused to be specific about, but they were still very much eager to go.

******

As Kathleen and her team were having a hearty discussion on their way to Fairview Villa, Johnson was reporting his latest findings to Shawn at the president’s office in Hudson Corporations.

"When was that?" Shawn’s face was as dark as the sky on a rainy day.

"According to Officer Smart, it was yesterday afternoon around 6pm. That should be about the time you came back from your appointment with Madam."

From Shawn’s calculations, it should be shortly after she sped off angrily from the restaurant’s parking lot.

"Is she OK? Did something happen to her?"

"According to officer Smart, although she did not suffer any injury, she was visibly shaken and might have an emotional trauma after the accident," Johnson reported.

"Quick, get the car, we are going to Wyatt Corporations now."

He was a hundred percent certain she got into another accident because of their argument? ’If anything happens to her I will never forgive myself.’ 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Yesterday, after Steffan left his office, all his anger and resentment also left. He was able to reflect on his actions clearly and knew that he had gone too far this time again, just like he did more than six years ago.

Even if she had a child with another man, the circumstances under which the child was conceived was still not known, so he had no right to judge her without any solid fact.

He was the same person fighting those who tried to defame her just yesterday, yet turned back to do the exact thing to her.

At Wyatt’s Corporations, as soon as Shawn showed up with his assistant, Maya, the receptionist instantly put a call through to Ariel.

The president seemed to be calling at the company more often these days. And each time he comes, he appears more handsome than before, except that there was a seemingly unfriendly air about him today.

"Ms Stanford, President Hudson is here to see the boss."

"All right, I’ll send them up immediately." After hanging up, a professional smile adorned Maya’s face as she turned to Johnson, who was always the spokesman.

"You can take the elevator to the President’s floor, her assistant will receive you there."

"Thanks," he replied and followed her instructions to the elevator.

Before they arrived, Ariel had already put a call through to Kathleen informing her that Shawn was in the office.

She couldn’t help but remember parts of President Hudson’s conversation with her boss after he snatched the phone from her hand yesterday.

"President Janice Wyatt, or should I say Dr Janice or better still Ms Kathleen Crawford." Which of the identities of my awesome wife should I be blessed to refer to you as," he had attacked with a sneer.

"You know damn well what I’m talking about." He had snapped after getting her boss’s response.

"Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?" He had requested in anger.

To say she was shocked after hearing the word, "wife," was an understatement.

She never imagined that kind of relationship existed between them. It perfect explains why they had children together but the reason they were not living together was still a mystery to her.

Moreover, her boss seemed to not like the handsome President who everyone in Baltimore is clamoring to get at least a glance from.

It was after she witnessed the one sided exchange between President Hudson and her boss that she knew she had made a big blunder.

She was still surprised her boss was yet to call and give her a query for what she did.

But for the meantime she dared not act recklessly again after the big slip of yesterday.

The elevator door opening on the presidential floor, announced their arrival barely a minute after she ended the call with her boss.

Knowing the identity of the person coming she had quickly positioned herself by the elevator to receive them.

Her voice was as polite as she could possibly make it. "You are welcome, President Hudson."

Shawn did not waste any time before cutting to the chase.

"Where’s your boss?"

"She didn’t come to the office today," Ariel’s voice was shaky and filled with awe.

Shawn had expected that outcome. The only reason he came here today was to confirm her location and if possible find out how she was faring.

"Any idea why she didn’t come to the office?"

"No Sir. She only sent a message and wasn’t explicit."

Shawn’s eyes darted around as he surveyed the quiet corridor. There was not much activity there, probably because the main players were not on seat. "Where is she? I need to see her immediately," he demanded.

"Her present location wasn’t disclosed to me sir."

Ariel was almost freezing but stilled herself to remain calm under the cold gaze from the man that seemed to be interrogating instead of requesting for information from her.

The pressure from him was almost choking her to death. It was quite different from yesterday’s carefree atmosphere.

"I see." Shawn uttered with a grim expression. He knew he wouldn’t get anything from her. It’s either Kathleen didn’t inform her about the accident or she warned her not to disclose her whereabouts to anyone especially himself.

He wouldn’t be surprised if Kathleen had warned her assistant not to disclose any information about her to him.

"Good day Miss..."

"Miss Stanford," Ariel supplied happily as Shawn turned and left the same way he had come.

How nice would it be if President Hudson took note of her name. She had a strong feeling their interactions will be more frequent in the future.