Josh’s Pov
It was six months since the hurricane passed through my company but it was still a shell of what it once was. My father was able to resurrect some departments with the help of his Russian connections, but we needed a lot of money to resurrect the entire company.
All the moneyed top guns I knew distanced themselves from my company as far as they could. The scandals still loomed large over me, but I was confident that a solution was on its way.
All I needed was to look deep, soon I was going to rise and all those who were laughing and distancing themselves were going to kneel before me.
Another worry that kept me awake all night was Jessica’s inability to conceive. I had tried numerous times to persuade her to join me to see a reproductive specialist, but she always came up with excuses.
It appeared that I was the only one putting forward the effort to have a child with her. She knew how important a child meant to us and the company but yet she did not want to make an effort.
I stopped visiting whores for the sake of having a kid with her, and I ended everything with my lawyer; the case was dismissed, so she was of no help to me.
It ended nasty but thanks to my father who had to threaten to end her career if she did not leave me alone.
For the conceiving part, I began to believe that Jessica was the one with the problem and was keeping the truth from me. We had discussed our marriage and agreed to focus on it, but the inability to conceive was taking its toll on us.
Every day in the house was torture, with quarrels following quarrels. Our house was never calm, I wouldn’t refuse if someone told me that Thalia’s ghost haunted us. It was like I was paying for all the things that I did to her.
However, my father promised to speak with Jessica. He always seemed to get some sense into her head better than I used to.
Then there was my mother, who still had trouble identifying me. That part of me always hurt. Sometimes I felt like she was doing it deliberately to hurt me. Maybe it was some sort of punishment for having locked her up in an institution.
We had moved her to a less expensive home care facility due to the inability to keep up with the payments. We intended to take her back to the expensive facility after the company was fully operational.
There was nothing I could do, I couldn’t bring her to live with us, not with the way I treated Jessica during the past months. She hated my mother and was never shy about that. So bringing my mother home would be like chasing my wife away.
I sat in my office thinking about my next move when my father walked in. I promptly rose and asked, “Did you talk to her?”
He replied, “Yes, she is waiting for you in the car; you may escort her to the gynecologist.”
“I don’t know how you do it,” I responded, smiling and hugging him.
“It’s nothing,” he said, “just perform the check-ups and I’ll take care of everything in this office.”
“Are you sure?” I inquired.
“Yes, I am certain,” he stated.
I hugged him once more and dashed outside, where Jessica was waiting for me with bated breath. I was taken aback because I had assumed she was uninterested with the idea of going for a check-up.
I walked into the car and inquired as to what all the fuss was about. She swiftly handed me an invitation letter that appeared to be for an expensive party.
I took a glance at it and realized it was some sort of cocktail party; I grimaced because I didn’t have time to party, and Gentex didn’t have that luxury for me to take a break and party.
I knew that was the life she previously enjoyed and probably missed, but that life was a past of strings and if we found the right connections we could only attach and get back to it.
“Listen to me first,” she began explaining. “One of my friends who knows someone in high places invited us to the Mandel annual fundraiser. We have been invited as Gentex,” she screamed in excitement and asked me to guess who was going to be at the party. I only stared at her.
“Brandon Fraser will be there, the rich company undertaker will be there,” she added.
Brandon Fraser was the top dog in the investing world. My throat went numb at the mention of his name. In a single day, he could destroy or develop a company… Gentex was in desperate need of him.
“Is my father aware of this?” I asked as I picked up the card and read it again.
“No, I wanted you to be on top of things so that when the time comes, you can step up and salvage the company,” she explained.
I smiled, knowing she still had my back. But first, we had to see the gynecologist, and then we would go outfit shopping.
As I drove to the clinic, I could see things beginning to improve for us. Whatever had transpired in the previous six months had to be set aside, as my father always emphasized. We drove to the clinic in excitement. At least the good news took off some of the tension between us.
I waited in the doctor’s office while she performed all of the tests on Jessica. She called us both after she was finished and assured us that Jessica was in excellent condition to have a baby.
I let out a sigh of relief, given her history, I assumed she didn’t have a womb or something, but it was already six months, so why hadn’t we gotten pregnant if we were both fine?
“It can take years for some couples to conceive, especially if they are not following the cycle,” the doctor said and went on to interview Jessica about her period and what to look out for.
I assumed that all women were aware of their menstrual cycle, so it was strange that she never paid attention to hers.
I kept quiet for the sake of peace and took her hand in mine to show that I was there with her and we were going to go through everything together.
“Mr. Nelson, have you checked to see if your boys can swim?” She inquired. Jessica’s hand grasped me tighter for some unknown reason. “Are you all right?” I inquired. She gave me a friendly grin and assured me that she was well.
“I’ve already been checked and informed that my guys are fine,” I remarked, clearing my throat.
I looked in Jessica’s direction and found her gaze fixed on the doctor and not me. Maybe my words came out as if I was blaming her or something.
I decided to keep my mouth shut, not trying to aggregate her. The doctor gave us a date to return within three months if nothing was happening for further tests and she scheduled us for a fertility doctor.
We thanked her and headed out of the office. Jessica was awfully too quiet, I pulled her in my arms and assured her everything was going to be okay but she nodded her head without eye contact and wiped away a tear. I kissed her on the lips and guided her to the car.
“Where are you going to shop for tonight’s party?” I inquired.
“No idea,” she replied in a low voice.
She merely requested I take her any way I wanted, she did not mind, which was unusual of her. Jessica was a shopping freak, spending money that she did not work for was one of her hobbies. But I could only guess that my shit had rubbed that off of her.
I complied with her request and took her to her favorite shopping mall. I tried everything I could to cheer her up.
I even bought her the most costly dress in the store, even though I could not afford it but it didn’t seem to help. She only began talking and giggling after we went to do her hair. I also did my hair before we went out to eat.
I couldn’t recall the last time we ate lunch together as a couple or went out for dinner. My early guess was at our wedding and that fact was embarrassing. Yes, I had cheated and put her through hell, but I was glad that she was smiling at me.
Whether she stayed because my father told her to or because she needed money, I did not care. I sensed that we were returning to our old routine, and I knew that I would have to work hard to regain her trust.
We went home after finishing and began preparing for our new future.
Brandon Fraser was known as the Big Wolf, and we would be lucky enough to get him to invest or maybe even restart the company from scratch.
That was the pitch I was going to go for. I knew how to deal with men like him and any wrong step would lead to hell for my company. He was cunning, ruthless, and angry to sink companies beneath him.
But my company was not the sort he targeted unless all of the shares were publicly traded, which was not the situation in my instance. Even if he tried, the majority of the shares were mine.
And even if he declined to invest, I was protected from backstabbing. But it had been years since anyone heard anything about him. He used to be all over social media for all the wrong reasons and right reasons. He was often in the news for his partying lifestyle a few years ago, but he seemed to have varnished.
I retrieved my phone and googled him while waiting for Jessica to get ready, she always took forever with her makeup.
But I couldn’t find anything younger than two years. I only saw rumors and theories about his death, but nothing was ever confirmed, it was weird or maybe he chose to live Under the radar or something.
The bathroom door opened and Jessica walked in gracefully in the gown I had purchased for her. She looked so stunning, and she still radiated a radiance that lit up the room.
The exquisite pink gown was a fantastic fit for her, and with her blonde hair pulled back she looked so gorgeous. I stared at her and wondered how I had forgotten that such a beauty resided in my house. “You look so beautiful,” I said.
“Thank you,” she replied with a small smile.
I rose from my seat and moved over to her, kissing her on the lips. “If everything goes well tonight, we’ll get our lives back and you will get to live the luxury you deserve,” I remarked.
She answered, “I think you should let me talk to Brandon because rumor has it that he has a weakness for skirts.”
I fixed my gaze on her, trying to process what she meant.
“Don’t worry, I won’t sleep with him,” she assured me, “but I can get us the money we need.”
“Of course, I have faith in you; this was your idea, and I believe you should take the lead,” I explained.
She smiled and motioned for me to follow her out to the car. We drove to the venue and we were at the Gala in minutes; it was jam-packed with old business friends and foes.
But the good news was that even if we didn’t meet with Brandon, we could persuade other investors. After Gentex’s scandals, we were never invited to such events.
We entered flashing our invitation cards and quickly had glasses of wine in our hands as we waited for the main wolf, but before that, we began scouting for other possible targets.
