C4 Chapter 3

Tu es ravissante…

J'adore…

Je chérirai ce moment pour toujours…

Restez avec moi…

Julianne sat up from bed, waking up from a deep sleep. She looked at her bedside clock. It was only four in the morning.

She reached out for her ankle, to rub the tattoo that was permanently etched there.

Seven years ago, in a small studio apartment in Paris, she was sneaking out quietly, trying her best not to wake him up so he couldn’t stop her from leaving… so she could let go of this fantasy life and face the nightmares that were waiting for her at home.

She thought she would forget him—the only man she’s ever been in love with.

Jas Mathieu.

But even now, he still haunted her dreams. And oftentimes, in the middle of the night, she would lie in bed, thinking about him.

She wanted to fall in love. She did. And he was perfect. An aspiring painter waiting for his time to shine. He wasn’t rich but he was ambitious. He had dreams and he had what it took to make them happen. That was one of the things she admired about him. She wished she could have been with him when his break finally came. But she knew from the beginning that their time was limited. She couldn’t stay. She couldn’t even give him her real name.

She remembered the day she decided to get a tattoo. She had always wanted to get one but she knew her parents would never agree.

“Well, how often do they look on your bum, your hip or the inside of your ankle?” Jas asked, his voice full of mischief. “You could get a tattoo—in a place where they wouldn’t care to look, right?”

She decided that her father had already signed up her life to the McAllisters anyway. Getting this tattoo was something she would do for herself… something to remember her days of freedom in Paris.

“Okay, why don’t you choose a design?” she asked him.

Jas drew a heart and butterfly wing tattoo design on a piece of paper. It was a bit of an abstract, but quite cute and elegant. She liked it very much.

“Are you sure you trust me to be the designer of probably the only tattoo you will get in your life?” he asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

“Well, I have faith in you,” she replied, smiling back at him. “Something to remember Paris by. You and my tattoo.”

He asked the tattoo artist to draw the design on her. When it was finished, she distinctly saw the line inside the heart that unwittingly looked like the letter J. Beside it was a line that formed what looked like one wing of a butterfly.

She narrowed his eyes at him. “You had your initial drawn on my ankle?”

He laughed. “Like you said, me and your tattoo.”

He was right. She never forgot him. The tattoo always reminded her of their borrowed time together.

But who would have thought that he would change her life forever? That one night was all it took to bind him to her for the rest of her life.

Jared Adrien Sanders.

That was her son’s name. His middle name was after his godmother, Adrienne, who had always been there for Julianne since she’d been banished by her parents.

Every day, Jared reminded her of his father. They had the same shade of reddish-brown hair, the same aquamarine eyes, which were his most attractive feature. Jared even had the same dimples and chin as his father. How could she hope to forget the beautiful man she fell in love with in Paris? Jared was the exact miniature of Jas Mathieu.

At an early age, Jared exhibited creativity and skill with his hands. Julianne knew he was going to be an artist like his father. Every day that she fell in love with her son was another day she stayed in love with his father.

Once every three months, Adrienne and Justin would go to Paris to visit Adrienne’s family. They would take their three kids with them—Jeffrey, who was seven now, and twins Jaeden and Jaelynn, who were three.

For the past year, since Julianne came back to the States from her exile in Italy, she’d been living with Justin and Adrienne, along with her son. Justin offered her a job as VP for Corporate Strategy for Adams Industries. The salary was good and included a rent-free stay in the Adams’s Mansion.

Julianne thought to use her intellect this time instead of her heart. She let go feelings of pride, remorse and fear and decided to go home. It didn’t matter whether her parents would forgive her or accept her son. What mattered was that Justin gave her a chance to give her son a bright future, even if he didn’t have a rich father like the rest of his cousins. She would provide for him and she vowed that Jared would never feel that there was something missing in his life.

Jared had grown close to his cousins over the last year. The first time Julianne allowed him to go with Justin and Adrienne to Paris, Jared almost didn’t want to leave. It was as if he felt that a part of him belonged there. He was part-French after all.

A week ago, Jared begged her to let him go to Paris once again. She was in the middle of an important project for Adams Industries and could not afford to take off from work. Reluctantly, she let her son go without her again. She promised she would be with him next time.

Julianne picked up her phone to check her messages. Paris was seven hours ahead. It was almost noontime there. She was hoping Adrienne sent her updates about her son.

She saw one message from Adrienne. It had a video of Jared.

“Tu… es… wait what?” Jared was saying in front of the camera. Then he called somebody that Julianne couldn’t see from the video. “Uncle Jin! What was it?”

“Ravi…” somebody was saying in the background, coaching Jared.

“I got it,” Jared said. Then he faced the camera again. “Mommy! Tu es ravissante!” He smiled widely, showing the deep dimple on his cheek. Then he blew her a kiss. “Je t’aime.”

Julianne smiled at her son’s attempt to speak French. In a way, she felt that he should speak the language. It was a part of him.

Julianne dialed Adrienne’s number.

“It’s too early. Why are you up?” Adrienne asked on the other line.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Julianne replied. “I saw the video.”

“He’s so adorable, isn’t he?”

“He is. That’s what he’s been up to lately?”

“Yeah, my brother’s trying to teach him some words. Maybe by the end of this trip, he’ll be more fluent than me. I’m still struggling and I’m part French.”

So was Jared.

“I hope your family didn’t mind that you brought an extra kid with you,” Julianne said.

“Are you kidding me? My parents love Jared,” Adrienne replied. “Even my brother adores him and he’s a bit of a monster sometimes.”

“A monster? How could any monster be related to you?”

“Well, many years ago, I thought my brother was one of the most adorable and sweetest guys on earth. Then history changed him. He’s now unemotional, detached and sometimes a bit of a crude. That’s why he didn’t attend our family gatherings. You won’t even see him in our family photos. He just… doesn’t like to socialize very much. It’s a long, complicated story. Maybe you need to meet him to understand what I mean.”

“Well, I don’t socialize with our entire family either and I’ve been MIA in our family photos for years. But I have my reasons.”

“Ian… don’t worry. I know someday, Uncle Edward will come around. You guys will patch things up,” Adrienne said encouragingly.

“It’s been seven years, Adrienne. I’m not keeping my hopes up. Neither should you.”

“Well, I know there is hope. He never antagonized Justin for helping you seven years ago. And he never said anything negative when he found out that you’re working for Justin and that you’re living with us.”

“Not saying anything does not mean agreeing, when it comes to my father. Sometimes, it just means, he’s biding his time. You should know that about him. Besides, it’s not about me anymore, Adrienne. I was hoping he’d have the heart to even look at his grandson.”

“The right time will come. His heart will melt when he sees your boy. Hey, if Jared could melt my brother’s almost-non-existent heart, I’m sure he can soften your father’s. Jared is a naturally charming boy. He must have gotten that from his father.”

He did. Jas Mathieu was one of the most angelic and charming creatures I’ve met. He’s a beautiful old soul.

Julianne shook off old memories of Jas Mathieu from her mind, to keep from feeling heartbroken once again.

“Wait, what about your parents? I hope I’m not imposing too much on them. I haven’t even met them yet.”

“I told you, your son is a natural charmer. He’s already stolen my parents’ hearts. They already consider Jared as their family. And they cannot wait to meet you.”

“Yeah, I promise I’ll come next time.”

“Well, that next time will be soon enough,” Adrienne said.

“Why?”

“Well, my mother is throwing a huge party next month. And all of us are expected to attend,” Adrienne replied. “She’s celebrating the success of one of her books. She’s hit another bestseller. She does this every time one of her books hit the number one spot, which is at least once a year.”

“Wow. Send my congratulations.”

“You can tell her yourself when you arrive here,” Adrienne said. “It’s going to be a double celebration. My brother is about to be engaged.”

“Is that engagement by his own will or is it the type of engagement that both our families are fond of getting into?”

Yes, their families were quite notorious for arranged marriages. Adrienne’s mother and stepfather had an arranged marriage. Justin and Adrienne had been arranged to marry each other too. Good thing they were already in love when they found out about the arrangement. Justin’s father and mother had also been arranged to be married. Julianne, too, would have been married to the man they arranged her with, if she hadn’t gotten pregnant first.

“Well, he’s been seeing this girl on and off. She comes from a good family who owns a chain of hotels that Starck Corp. had been looking to acquire. Marriage between him and this girl would be very convenient.”

“You mean it will be easier for your brother to acquire this chain of hotels if he were to marry this girl?”

“In a way, yeah.”

“How much does your brother want to expand your family’s hotel properties?”

“My brother is a prodigy. He started working for Papa when he was only sixteen. By eighteen, he was already handling half of Starck Corp. and my mother’s spa and relaxation chain. It’s his life’s mission to see Starck Corp. at the top of the world.”

“And getting this girl’s family’s hotels will do the job?”

“It will give Starck Corp. a very huge and very rare advantage, apparently.”

“How difficult is it to acquire these properties?”

“Difficult since it’s purely family-owned.”

“If I were his VP for Corporate Strategy, I would advise him to do the same thing. Marry her. That is, if he didn’t have a heart, like you said, and he didn’t look forward to marrying for love anyway.”

“Unfortunately, nothing is more important to my brother than our family business. He would do anything and would stop at nothing.”

“And this party is going to be an engagement party?”

“Well, not yet. Because he’s only expected to propose to her there.”

“In the middle of the party? In front of all the people he barely knows? That’s very unromantic, don’t you think?”

“What do you expect? It almost happened to me, remember? Our parents expected Justin to propose to me the same way—at one of my mother’s book parties. Maybe Mom was trying to start a tradition.”

“I will forever be sorry that I missed that party. How I wish I’d seen the faces of your parents when you guys didn’t show up to your own engagement party.”

“I’m sorry you weren’t a bridesmaid at my wedding either.”

“Yeah. I hated Justin for weeks when I found out you were getting hitched on a secret wedding in Italy! Your timing was impossible.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be a bridesmaid when I marry her again, Ian,” Justin said on the other line. Julianne could hear Adrienne protesting. Justin must have taken the phone away from her.

“You’re going to marry her again?”

“Of course. I’ll marry her over and over if I have the chance. But I do intend to get married again in the States. We’ll renew our vows. And this time it’s going to be grand. Everybody will be invited.”

“Good, because I will never speak to you ever if I miss it again.”

“Anyway, did you read the email I sent to you yesterday?” Justin asked. His tone turned serious and professional. Julianne had to remember that she’s now talking to her boss.

“Yes,” she replied. “RJ Shipping looks promising. But in terms of experience, they’ve only been in the market for two years. I don’t know if they’re the right company to handle our shipments in Asia.”

“I trust the owner. He’ll be in Chicago in the coming weeks. Do you think you can meet up with him?”

“Me? Well, I’ve given you my opinion. Don’t you think Procurement should be the one to handle that meeting?”

“I know what George is going to say,” Justin said.

“Me too.”

“I know. I just want to give River a chance. And if you meet him, you’ll understand why I’m inclined to trust him. And maybe you’ll give a different input before we set out the wolves to see him. And as my VP for Strategy, I’m sure you’ll come up with some other recommendations. I want to make a partnership happen. River was one of the people I could trust with my life.”

“Fine, I’ll meet him.”

“Thanks, Ian. Now, do you want to speak to my wife again?”

“It’s okay. I’ll call later. It’s only four in the morning here.”

“Don’t worry, too much, Ian. Jared is in good hands. They love him here.”

“Thanks for doing this, Justin. And thank Adrienne and her lovely family for me.”

“Sure. Speak to you later.”

Julianne smiled to herself. She missed her son very much. Next time, she won’t be too busy to visit and meet Adrienne’s family.