After a couple of minutes of complete silence, when all that could be heard in the house was the sound of their breathing, Maggie realized that Jackson was serious, and cold sweat beads formed on her forehead.
"You are serious…" she muttered, stood up, and started to walk in circles around the living room. "Do you even know how it came to this? How this happened?" she just realized she forgot to ask the most important question.
"Yes, I do. My lawyer and I did some research, and the data that my PI provided made all pieces fall into place." Jackson made a quick pause, it looked like he was contemplating with himself whether he should tell her the truth or not, and after a sigh, the first sign that showed he wasn't as calm and collected as he appeared to be, he asked "Do you know who Julia Hendricks was?"
"Was?" Maggie was confused "There was a girl in my high school with that name but I haven't seen her in years, she moved away before the graduation." she blinked a couple of times feeling the headache coming back. "No, wait, I saw her once on the campus before my mother got sick, but it was brief… oh, my God, that was right around the time when my purse was stolen… all my documents were in it at the time! Oh." Maggie felt all her blood drain from her face, and she felt like she was about to faint, so she stumbled towards the sofa and sat next to Jackson and leaned her head back as far as she could.
She remembered that Julia joined their high school as freshmen, and people started confusing the two of them since they were so much alike, they were equally tall, they both were blonds with long hair, and their facial features were quite similar. Only when they stood by each other, you could notice the difference and that they were in fact, not that much alike. Everything about Maggie was soft and kind, she had blue eyes and milky complexion, her brows and eyelashes were light in color too, her upper lip was just a little bit fuller than the lower one and a little asymmetrical too, while Julia had perfectly tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and absolutely symmetrical features. Their personalities were total opposites. Maggie was friendly and kind, ready to help with anything, honest and funny... while Julia was like fire in everything that she did. She was loud and easygoing, she could make trouble out of scratch, and she knew exactly where to find one when she wanted. It was a natural talent. But she was fun to be around. She started hanging out with Maggie and her friends after they bumped into each other in the hall and noticed that what everyone was talking about was actually true. They did look somewhat alike.
Julia moved away after a couple of years, she didn't even graduate with them. She didn't say goodbye, she just didn't show up for school one day, and she never returned their calls. Maggie forgot about her until one day, Julia showed up on campus a year later. She was exiting the dorms when Maggie noticed her by accident and called to her attention. They spoke for a while, and then Julia said she was in a hurry and left, and Maggie never saw her again.
A couple of days later, she realized that her wallet was stolen, and at the time, she thought it was just a mugging. Her ID and the driving license were in the wallet too. It looks like Julia got a passport in Maggie's name. Did she plan to leave the country under a false identity?
"Wait? So you married Julia? Where is she now? Why are you here? You should clear this up with her!" Maggie turned her head towards Jackson, who was still in the same position as before.
"I would. But she's dead," he answered coldly.
"Shit."
"Yes. Exactly. And that brings us back to you… so, what do you say to my proposal?"
"What if I refuse? What if I want nothing to do with what you have planned?" she questioned.
"You are not in a position to refuse. There's too much at stake for you." Jackson answered sounding very sure of what he said.
"What if I do?" Maggie pressed further.
"Then I'll make sure you regret your decision. I am a powerful man, Margaret. I will make your life a living hell if you refuse this." his voice carried an ominous note, and it caused Maggie to shiver. "I will make you lose both of your jobs, and then what will you do? And the bank… uh, I bet I can make them use every loophole in your contract, so you lose the house. What if I bribe the hospital to …" but Maggie's frightened scream stopped him. She realized what kind of man she was dealing with.
"Stop! Ok, just stop. You can't do that!"
"Do you want to bet? I am a rich man, Margaret. And after all, money does make the world go round." a sly smile appeared on the corner of his lips, "How long do you think it will take me to find a soft spot of your mother's doctor? Or what the bank manager hides in his closet?"
Maggie closed her eyes tightly and pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. This man knew what he wants and how to get what he wants. And this time, he wanted her cooperation in whatever he had planned. If only there wasn't her mother's life at stake here, she would fight till her last breath against him. But some things are too precious to gamble with. She sighed. She knew the choice she had to make and looks like he knew it too.
"Fine! I'll play in your little charade, just don't dare do anything to my mother. I don't want to go to prison for murder…" she agreed.
"You made the right choice, dear," he commented sarcastically and rose on his feet. "I'll give you a couple of days to set your thing in order, and then I'll expect you to come to Chicago." Jackson pulled a white envelope from his pocket and handed it to her. "There is a plane ticket there and one of my credit cards. Get some decent clothing before you come. I'll prepare the contract for our agreement before you arrive." he was already at the door.
"I don't understand what you get out of this? Wouldn't it be less 'painful' to just get a divorce and never see me again in my life?" Maggie followed him, still trying to reason with him and find the easier way out.
"I'm afraid that things are not that simple. You see, we have a baby together, and that baby needs a mother." Jackson stated on his way to the car parked right in front of the house, not turning back to look at her before he drove off, leaving Maggie completely flabbergasted.
A week after Maggie came back to Chicago, her parents organized a modest wedding with only a dozen people present, including themselves and the minister. Maggie was ecstatic for them. How many grown-up women had a chance to attend their parents' wedding… She loved them so much and wanted nothing but happiness for them. A small reception was held in their manor, and the present guests enjoyed the celebration with discreet music, food, drinks, and a lot of laughter. That day, Maggie met one of her uncles and his wife, one of Wade's brothers. He was a nice man, and he was genuinely glad to meet her. His wife seemed decent too. The rest of the family she was yet to meet, and Denis had plans for family dinner so that everyone could gather and get to know what a wonderful daughter he has. Why did he wait for so long? Simply, he didn't want to overwhelm Maggie before she accepted him as her father. And it looked like she did. She would come by his house every so often for dinner, a
"Hi." Jack's voice trembled while he was taking in the sight in front of him.Maggie was standing there in the middle of the kitchen, holding Eric on her hip, supporting him with one arm and mashing the carrots with the other.Maggie raised her gaze from the bowl and looked at him. Their eyes met, and they told what they needed to tell, a story of love and anticipation, need and desire."Hi," Maggie said back quietly.Jack made a few steps towards them, but he didn't get close enough to touch her, afraid that he had finally crossed the line of missing her, and he was hallucinating at full speed. And if that was the case… if he touched her, and she disappeared again… burst like the soap bubble… no, he better not risk it. He needed her here, even as a wraith, she was here…When his eyes slipped from her face, the face he loved so much, he saw his son clinging to Maggie like she was his lifebelt. He didn't even raise his he
It's been a crazy few months in Jack's life since Maggie left. He did his best to not let it affect him much, but he couldn't help it. Her leaving him reflected on every single aspect of his life. It was easy for him to get irritated and to snap at anyone in close vicinity, so much that his subordinates started to avoid him.It didn't help that Eric was much more irritable than ever, he cried more and smiled less. He missed her, it was obvious. Just like Jack did. It was his fault, it was all his fault… if he didn't have that stupid idea that he needed her, that he wanted her… maybe if he had stuck to his original plan and paid her off to sign the divorce papers when he first met her… maybe, just maybe, he and his son wouldn't be brokenhearted now.On the other hand, he got to know love and the feeling of belonging to a family, something his own always busy and overachieving parents failed to give him even when he was a child.Jack tri
It's been a whole month since Maggie left Chicago and returned to her home town. That day, when she took off, she managed to get a ticket for a midnight flight, and she was back home before the sun was up. For a couple of days, she didn't even leave the house except for the short trip to the nearest supermarket to stock up on food and other necessities. She also started ordering in food, something she never did before here in Charleston, but now she had no desire to cook at all.At first, Maggie spent her days crying and missing Jack like crazy, so much that she contemplated with herself to go back to him and beg him to never manipulate her like that again and to promise her to always be like he was for the last 6 months, but she managed to hold herself back and stay where she was.She needed to try, she needed to give herself a chance to live without him, to try to move on and go back to her life… or to get over what he had done and forgive him.Maggie wasn't
"I've been meaning to tell you…" Jack came into the living room to see Maggie sitting in an armchair with papers spread in front of her.As he saw her, Jack broke into a cold sweat. He knew exactly what she was looking at. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He forgot that he left the folder right on the desk when he called her earlier to get the one he needed and sent for. He should have destroyed them long ago, but nooo, he was too stupid for something like that. He enjoyed torturing himself with those…"Tell me what?" her voice was cold like he never heard it before. She was capable of sounding like this?"Everything.""Everything... like why there are dates from July on the divorce forms or those for full custody? From before we even met..." Maggie finally rose her head looked at him."Yes." Jack didn't move from where he was standing, at the entrance to the living room."So, you want to explain how I ended up here, with you, instead of you giving
"You know, when we first met Denis Wade at that Gala, I thought he was scary. But now I think he's actually quite decent." Emma commented while standing in Maggie's new kitchen. Maggie came in to get some refreshments for the guests, and Emma followed.Jack and Maggie moved into their new home a week ago, and on the first following Saturday, they organized a small party to celebrate the event with their closest friends and family. Robert and Emma came with Aurora, and now both babies were sleeping upstairs in Eric's nursery, while their parents were downstairs catching up.Mary came to congratulate them, happy about how things turned out between the two of them, but she almost had a stroke when they told her about everything that happened since the last time she visited.Jack's friends from college and their better halves were invited too. Maggie met them at Evans' couple of months ago, right after she came to Chicago, and she actually liked them. She felt like