JASMINE’S POV

"Do not impose your failures onto me!" I snapped harsher than I intended to.

Henry’s eyes widened in shock at that.

"I chose to take responsibility because he has no one else with both his parents gone. He’s an innocent child who got dragged into all this and he’s still young. And, if anything abandoning him could lead to a similar situation to Keith and Kolton."

He contemplated my words for a moment and his expression became more serious.

"You may do as you please, but l I want you to know that Anthony and only Anthony will be the heir to the company. I don’t want Marco to work in the company and for another situation like my sons’ to unfold." he simply stated.

"Fine," I accepted his terms. Marco could do other things with his life. However, I believed that whether or not Kolton worked in the company he would have found a way to take revenge regardless. It came down how they were raised and you were a shitty father Henry.

"Now one more thing I want to bring to your attention. I also know that you are currently in a relationship with one of the Carrington heirs. You brought him to the funeral which Angelina was far from happy about. I heard from Keith’s employees at his estate that there was an incident the day before he died. You two were supposed to be working towards cancelling the divorce once you found Anthony but you left his estate," he told me.

My lips pressed together in a thin line as I listened to him.

" I haven’t asked you anything and have decided to keep shut on what happened. Nor am I blaming you for anything. You can be with the Carrington but there will be certain things you have to agree to if we’re going to work together. There are things you have to sign on for the protection of the company," he sternly commanded.

"Okay, but I’ll have to see what the conditions are," I replied.

I felt slightly relieved he wasn’t upset about my relationship with Louis or about when I escaped from Keith’s mansion. Perhaps he didn’t want to bring up because he just wanted to focus on moving on. I knew it was because I would bring up his flaws if he did.

"I’ll arrange the dates so we start the arrangements and the signing of documents," he agreed.

I left his office feeling unsure about the conversation we’d just had. I hadn’t expected Henry to ask me to be his aide. It was early in the

Upon returning to my apartment I found the boys in the lounge.

"Mum! You’re back," Tony said excitedly.

Tony and Marco who were watching F1 racing. They paused when I walked in and came to me.

"Hey boys," I said as I opened my arms and gave them both a hug.

"Hi mum," Tony said.

"Hi, Aunt Jasmine," Marco greeted me.

"Can we go go-karting now?" Tony asked me.

"I told you we’ll have lunch when I get back and then we’ll can go to park," I reminded him. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

I had made up my mind. Especially after my talk with Henry I was going to be there for the boys as best as I could.

After lunch I had the boys prepare to go out and we went to together. With the funeral having passed we were now slowly trying to move on from the events that occurred. However, it wasn’t hard.

In particular learning to accept the fact I would never know what truly happened to Keith. I still hadn’t told anyone about it. I couldn’t.

*****************

"So you’re going to be working at the Acland HQ?" Louis asked me once we were in our bedroom after putting the boys to sleep later that night.

Louis was seated by my seating area on his phone.

"Yeah, it’s quite unexpected but I don’t think if not a bad option for Tony who was his son," I replied. "Especially since it’s a safe bet with Keith no longer meddling in the situation."

"Yeah, it makes sense," he said as he stood up. "You’ll be the acting Chairman in a way as you help him. Do think you’ll manage it?"

I was standing by the full length mirror on the wall near the bed as I braid my hair down. He stood behind me as he always did.

"I wonder about that actually. It’ll probably be a lot different from my time at the Garden House but I hope I’ll be able to manage," I said to him.

"You’re a fast learner, I think you’ll be able to do it," he encouraged me.

He then turned me around so I faced him.

I was met with his bare chest. He was just in boxer briefs the state as he always slept when we were together.

"What do you want?" I asked him playfully.

"To bother you of course," he said.

He backed me up till I fell onto the bed. I crawled backwards to the pillows. Louis followed, getting on top of me.

I smiled as I looked up at him. His arms going on either side of my face.

"We will have busier schedules. We won’t see each other as much anymore. I was so used to being around you all the time back at he Garden House HQ," he sounding sad.

My hands came up to his I traced the muscles of his bare arms, his should until they reach his face and I cupped his cheeks. His golden eyes softened as he kissed my wrist. I loved how attentive and affectionate he was being lately.

"How do you think it’s going to work?" he asked me.

"We take it slow, as we’ve been doing so far," I started calmly. "We see how to navigate and how best we can make time for each other. We should be fine I think if you’re okay with it of course," I told him.

I wasn’t in the least worried about it our busy schedules. I feel after what we’ve gone through and we’re still together busy schedules are the last things we would worry about.