Chapter 48

“We have to leave.” John whispered.

“Can't we fight this in court?” Belinda asked.

She couldn't bear to watch him lose everything he had ever worked for.

“He has a legally binding document with my signature on it. It's useless.” He replied.

“But... you had no idea what was in the document! You were blindsided by the love of all things beautiful.” Belinda cried out.

A silvery drop of tears trailed down her cheeks as she released a sob of her own.

Her boyfriend didn't deserve any of this.

All he did wrong was to be more sensible than others and to make it bigger than others. Why did...

“Belinda, my love, listen to me.” John said it in hopes of calming down her hysterical sobs.

She slowly looked at him as her body made little jerks from the aftermath of her tears.

“We will be fine, okay? Just see this as a test that life threw at us, huh?”

“But–”

He shook his head, silencing her train of words. “There's no but in this situation. I did it once, and I can do it again. Have a little faith in me.”

“I have too much faith in you, John, that I don't even know where else to place my faith.” Belinda told him, and he smiled and said, “Thank you.”

The two of them get lost in each other's embrace. A universe where only they existed without their problems or worries.

They disengaged later, only when they were feeling okay and strong enough to face the world.

John got busy packing his dresses into a large traveling box while Belinda went down to the kitchen.

“Belinda!” She pivoted in time to see Klaus skid into the kitchen, a look of worry in his face.

“Klaus? Are you okay?” She walked up to him with concern in her wide, amethyst eyes.

“The press…” He said, trying to catch his breath, “The press from every damn reporting company is out there, and they are trying to force their way in.”

“What?” Belinda turned to look at the door that was still shut. “What are they doing here?” She asked with hushed breath.

“I guess they must have received intelligence that John was back home.” Klaus answered, and immediately the both of them said together, “Brian!”

. Belinda has a scowl on her face. “That condescending asshole. I wish I could fuck him up with a frying pan.”

Belinda never regretted meeting anyone as much as she regretted meeting Brian—not to talk more about her dating him.

She tried to understand what she had sent in the bastard and decided she'd just allowed herself to be blinded by love, completely ignoring all the blazing red flags he was oozing like body odor while they were still dating.

“What do we do now? We can't allow John to see them!” Klaus said it agitatedly. He was worried that his brother might commit murder this time.

The press is known to have no filter.

Belinda frowned. “Why can't John face them?”

Klaus looked at her with wide eyes and said, “Wait! You don't know?”

Her eyes darted between hers in confusion. “Know what?”

“The reason he was in jail.”

Belinda tilted her head to the side and asked, “Isn't it because of Brian?”

“No! I mean, yes, more or less. But it was mostly because a journalist called you names and he beat him to a pulp.”

Belinda gasped, “All she'd heard on the knees, or at least all she'd waited to hear on the news, was of John’s arrest, before she dashed out of the house.

Belinda immediately went to their bedroom and realized that the more she went up, the lesser the noise from the media was.

In fact, the noise was practically nonexistent by the time she opened the door to their bedroom.

She couldn't allow John to go outside now, not like this.

Not when he was still riled up from all the events that happened today.

“Belinda, are you okay? You look a bit pale.” He asked, his voice thick and rough from all the emotions he'd expressed today.

Belinda walked to him and hugged him; every day he just kept ticking her boxes.

A man that would be vulnerable with her, she wanted someone like that.

She didn't agree with the notion that showing strong emotions like tears was a weakness for men. It sounded a bit stupid that a man was allowed to be happy and excited, but if he cried, he would be deemed weak.

It made some men transfer their aggression unnecessarily onto others because they keep locking up their emotions.

“Can we go later? Not now?” She asked, burying her nose into his chest. Even now, he smells heavenly.

John frowned a bit. “Why?”

“The press are out there.” She answered hesitantly.

His face turned grim.

“Let's go when they leave.” She said it again. “I don't want to lose you again. So please, let's stay back. Klaus can always deal with Brian if he comes around.”

He understood what she was trying to say. If any of the reporters said anything about him, he'd ignore them, but if they turned to Belinda to ask just the simplest, ‘How are you?’ He was going to lose his sh*t on them.

“Alright.”

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

They stayed back for three days. The reporters were very relentless in trying to dig out premium information, which would definitely end up being run by every media house in the country.

On the fourth day, Klaus had arranged for a truck to arrive very early in the morning, at around 2 a.m.

He made sure to be on the lookout for the press before whisking John and Belinda in along with some furniture and kitchen equipment.

John refused to leave those behind, saying, “He's rich now; he can at least afford to buy himself a couple of spoons.”

Belinda had tried to convince him to at least take two paintings or decorative artifacts to sell for money, but he refused.

In fact, she had tried to sneak some in, but he caught her in the act, pecked her forehead, and replaced the item where it belonged.

“The contract I signed states, ‘and everything of value’ doing this will incur the wrath of the court on us, baby.

If it were only me, consequences be damned, but I have you to look after.

I cannot act recklessly.”

And then Belinda stopped.

There were discussions about where they would stay.

She offered to let him stay in her and Aria’s apartment, but he refused, arguing that it would be an inconvenience to Aria.

“Where are we going now?” Belinda asked as they settled into the truck.

John looked around her to make sure she was comfortable before settling down and giving Klaus the go-ahead that they were ready to move.

“You'll see.” He winked.

When they got to the apartment, Belinda fell in love.

Her apartment was the norm that came with being affordable; John’s apartment was the kind that left you in awe of its majesticness and extravagance.

But this house was something else.

It was smack dab in between something affordable and extravagant.

A bungalow.

“This used to be my mother’s house. She didn't look this extravagant before she met my father.

He upgraded it for her as a birthday present, a little getaway house.” John explained as he showed her around the house while the movers worked.

The house still looked clean and well-kept.

“She told me not to sell it, that it could be useful for me or my wife.” He said the last part, staring down at her, and Belinda blushed.

John looked around the apartment and said, "It was almost as if she knew what would happen.”

Out of curiosity, Belinda flipped the switch up, and the light came on.

She gasped, “It has electricity.”

John nodded. “And water. My dad had signed a contract and paid the bills. He made a secret fund for it and refused to tell me where he stashed it because he knew I'd convert it to company funds.

I'm glad he didn't.”

“Meaning it can never run on electricity?” Belinda asked.

John nodded.

“Do you like it?” John asked.

“Of course I love it. It's the perfect place to grow babies.” The look on his face told her she'd said that last part out loud.

“I…mean…”

“Of course. It's perfect for growing our babies. How many do you think we should have?” John held her hand and twirled her around, pulling her to his chest.

Belinda blushed, unable to answer.

“Eight?” He asked, and she gasped, “I don't mind eight, but I want your opinion. You're the one carrying them, and the last thing I'd want to do is cause you any discomfort.”

Belinda buried her face in his chest. “You can't seriously be thinking of babies now?”

“I am.” He answered plainly. “You still haven't told me.”

Belinda heard the movers coming in their direction and quickly pecked his lips to shut him up. “When we get to that bridge, we'll cross it.”