Chapter 19: My First

Jayden's POV.

Who'd have guessed that it's been three weeks since I finally admitted to myself that I have feelings for Gabby, that I love her, but that I haven't been able to tell her how I feel because I've been afraid?

It's funny; who would have thought that the wealthy, successful, and confident Jayden Andrada could be this nervous and scared, because of a simple girl, a girl who managed to capture my heart?

Who wouldn't fall for a woman like Gabrielle Crisostomo? With that, my eyes were immediately drawn to her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked when she noticed me staring at her.

She was busy sending a text message to her sister, who was still in Thailand for a fashion show.

"Have I ever told you, that you're so beautiful?"

As soon as she heard my question, her face turned bright red, which made her more precious.

She's so beautiful that she could get any man she wants, but she seems unaware of that fact, which makes her precious and genuine.

"You're such a joker," she said, looking embarrassed.

She was about to stand up as if trying to get away from me, but before she could even fully stand up, I immediately pulled her closer, which led her to sit on my lap, making me feel her body's temperature.

"Please let me go," she pleaded. but instead of letting go, I hold on to her tighter.

I didn't know where it came from, but I was terrified that she would abandon me.

She tried to free herself, but to no avail, so she eventually gave up and remained in my embrace.

"How is your sister?" I asked her after a few minutes of silence had passed between us.

"She's fine, she's just telling me that she'll be returning to the country in a couple of days," she replied as I continued kissing her hair, enjoying the scent of her hair.

"How about you? How are your businesses doing?" She asked.

Ever since I returned her phone, she was free to do whatever she wanted, and since there was nothing to hide anymore, I didn't hide the fact that I was still monitoring my businesses while on this island.

I responded, "Everything is running smoothly; we're about to open another resort in Oslo."

I spent a lot of money on this business venture. Oslo is the capital city of Norway and is considered one of the most expensive travel destinations in the world, if not the most expensive.

At the age of twenty-seven, I spent a great deal of money to construct a world-class resort on four hundred hectares of land between Oslo and the municipality of Baerum. Obtaining a business license was difficult, but we managed to do it, and our resort will be operating within the next two years.

"That's great, I'm really proud of you," I heard her say, and somehow hearing that from her made me happy.

We kept on talking about her family when she decided to ask about mine.

"How are your parents? Do you have any siblings?" She asked.

At the mention of my family, my smile faltered, and a sharp melancholy arose in my heart.

Anything related to my family was a sensitive subject for me.

I took a long, deep breath before I tried to speak, which was a very difficult task for me.

"My parents died when I was seven years old, they were murdered," I managed to say.

It was really difficult for me to try to relieve the pain I went through after my parents died.

When Gabby glanced at me, she had this shocked expression on her face, and I was taken aback when I discovered tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't cry, it's been twenty years since that happened, and besides, they caught my parents' murderer," I said, trying to calm her down, but that didn't help as her tears finally flowed from her eyes.

Yes, my parent's murderers were captured, but before they could interrogate the killer, the killer got killed.

We never found out who ordered him to do that crime, and we never found out what happened to my younger brother Jared.

Jared was just four at that time, and if he is still alive, he is already twenty-four years old.

We tried to look for him, me, and Uncle Jovanie, but without any result, making me think that maybe he was killed as well. But I was still hoping that he was still alive and that someday I would be able to reunite with him again.

Uncle Jovanie was my mom's older brother, and after I became an orphan, he took care of me and became my only family, making him my guardian, until I reached the right age for me to get my inheritance from my parents.

"Look, I'm ok now; that thing happened a long time ago, so you don't need to be sad for me," I said, still trying to convince her, and it took me a couple of minutes to finally convince her and make her calm down.

"It was no wonder..."

I heard her say, but she didn't finish what she was about to say, which confused me.

"What do you mean, it was no wonder?" I asked, still feeling clueless.

I immediately looked at her face, trying to fight the urge to kiss those lips, and then I noticed the mischievous smile she was trying to suppress.

"No wonder you always seemed to be bored and as if you hated everything," she finally answered, and before I could even react, she immediately stood up and ran away from me.

I hurriedly ran after her, trying to catch her. We felt like kids while running around my office.

When I finally had her in my grasp, we both went tumbling to the ground, with her landing on top of me.

She was still trying to catch her breath while laughing, finally forgetting my sad past.

Our gazes met once more, but this time the look in each other's eyes was one of lust.

We made love in that same location, and then we did it again when we came to my room.

I finally convinced her to move into my room since I didn't want to be separated from her for even a second.

A week later, I received an unexpected phone call from my assistant, Romeo.

"This better be good, Romeo," I threatened, especially since I had previously stated that I did not want to be disturbed during my vacation.

"I'm sorry, boss, but it's about your ex, Bridgette," he replied.

I remembered Bridgette; she was my girlfriend way back in college, but our breakup was quite messy after I discovered that she had two other boyfriends aside from me.

"What's her condition?" I asked upon hearing her name as a headache began to develop.

After so many years of not seeing each other, she reappeared last month. I did everything I could to avoid her, but she was extremely persistent.

"She's claiming that you got her pregnant."

When I heard what he said, it was as if a bomb had gone off in my ear. I couldn't get her pregnant because I hadn't seen her since I graduated from college.

"That's impossible, I never met her after graduation."

"She was here in the office earlier, sir; she had a boy with her, and based on what she said, the boy is eight years old," he replied.

I did some mental calculations: I graduated from college when I was twenty years old, and if I had gotten her pregnant and she had a child eight years old, then I may have been the father.

My migraine is worsening as I consider the possibility that I am the father of Bridgette's child, in addition to Gabby's unusual behavior during the past several days.

I tried to ask her what was wrong, but she would not tell me anything, which was really frustrating.

I don't know how to tell Gabby the truth, especially since I haven't told her my true feelings yet.

I tried to remain unaffected by what I discovered, but I was unable to do so. If it is true that the boy is my son, then he should be in my custody so that I can provide for all of his needs. If it is true that the boy is my son, then I will make it a priority to gain complete custody of my son, and I will do everything in my power to make that a reality.

Two more days have passed, and Gabby's behavior has not changed. I also felt horrible for hiding the truth about Bridgette and my possible son, so I decided to tell her what Romeo told me that night.

The two of us were lying next to each other in bed, and although she didn't say a word, I could tell she was just as awake as I was.

"Gabby..." I called out to her, and she simply grunted in response, as if to indicate that she was listening.

I took a deep breath before I found the courage to finally confess to her.

"We need to return to Manila," I finally managed to say.

When she adjusted herself so she could see me, I felt the bed shift, and when I looked at her, I noticed that she was showing a composed expression.

"Why? Do you need to go back to work?" She asked.

"No, I need to know if my ex's child is really my child."

I decided to finally tell her the truth, and as expected, her reaction was one of shock.

When do you plan to return? After asking, she averted her gaze and directed it to the ceiling of the room.

"Tomorrow," I answered.

After that, she did not say anything else, so I decided to just console myself by hugging her.

We ended up falling asleep in that position, and when we woke up, it was already morning. After a hasty breakfast and some reorganization of our stuff, we finally made our way to my yacht and sailed back to the main island.

She didn't say a word from the time we woke up and left the island until we got on my private plane to go back to Manila, which worried me a lot.

"What will you do when you prove that that child is indeed your son?" She asked, marking the first time she had spoken since this morning.

"I will seek sole custody of my son; I will not allow anybody else to raise him," I offered a firm response because I knew it was more proper for me to have custody of my son.

After hearing my response, she fell back into silence; I grabbed her hand and moved it closer to my lips.

We finally landed at NAIA after more than an hour, and as soon as we got off the plane, my staff quickly greeted me and took care of our things.

As I got ready to follow them, I looked back and saw that Gabby had not moved from where she had been standing.

"What are you waiting for? The car is waiting," I asked, raising my hand, but when she didn't take it, I gradually lowered it as I glanced at her, puzzled.

"What's wrong? Did you forget anything?" I asked.

"I guess this is goodbye then," I was taken aback by what she said, especially since I couldn't see any emotion on her face.

"What... are you talking about?" I asked in disbelief.

"You said you'd release me when we got back to Manila, just like you promised," she said coldly.

"Gabby, please listen to me first," I pleaded with her and was going to take her hand, but she retreated as if she could not tolerate my touch.

I was quite hurt by Gabby's actions, but I still wanted to gamble, so I decided to tell her how I truly felt.

"I.." but before I could tell her my true feelings, she stopped me from talking.

"No! You promised Jayden! And I hope you will fulfill what you said: just stay away from me and don't bother me again."

I felt paralyzed as I watched her leave; I still don't know what happened, as I had always believed that she shared my feelings.

"Does it mean, you were just pretending the whole time?" I asked after finally finding my voice.

She abruptly stopped, and without looking at me, she gave an answer that broke my heart into a million pieces.

"Yes," a word that will live with me forever.