Chapter 206 Truths of blackface
Maverick just stared. “You have been drinking, Maverick.” She frowned. “That’s what the servant said was true, Havilah isn’t yours. We should send her back to her mother. Eva should be arrested for paternity fraud. How dare she? And to think I even trusted—”
“She’s mine,” Maverick cut her off.
“Huh?”
“Havilah is my daughter.” He said it clearly enough for Eleanor to hear.
“W-what?”
“She cheated, I cheated too… start from judging your son,” he added, before brushing past her.
He walked directly to the room his brother was kept in because he knew that was where she would be.
Heaven had just finished attending to Boyle and was ready to go to bed. There was a bed arranged for her inside the room, in case of an emergency or if he woke up. The door opened.
Maverick stepped inside, moved straight to where she was, and pulled her into a hug.
Heaven perceived the alcohol immediately. She didn’t push him away; instead, she wrapped her arms around him.
“Mave, is something wrong?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “I miss you.”
He pulled back a little to kiss her.
She turned her face towards Boyle’s bed. “We can’t…”
He pressed his forehead to hers in frustration.
“I want to hold you to sleep.”
Heaven didn’t stop him. She lay on the bed; Maverick followed after her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to his chest. Heaven listened to his heartbeat, wondering what made him so sad. It didn’t take time before his breathing turned even.
Heaven tried to pull out so she could help him take off his jacket and his shoes, but his grip on her tightened each time she tried to get out. Deep in the night, he loosened his grip, and she slowly got out.
She stared at his face; his hair fell back on the bed, the moon reflected on half his face. Her hand traced the sharp lines of his jaw, his nose, his brows. Then the scar on his forehead—the evidence of how deep his obsession ran.
She pulled his shoes off first, then his watch. She unbuttoned his jacket to take it off. It wasn’t an easy task because he weighed so much; she was breathing hard after.
A folded file fell out from the jacket. She picked it up and unfolded it. It read: Paternity DNA Results. She opened it and brought out the content. 0% probability of paternity between the father and alleged child.
She gasped and immediately understood why he felt sad. She folded it and kept it back before she climbed on the bed and hugged him to sleep.
Maverick opened his eyes the next morning. He didn’t see her on the bed. He touched the side she lay on—it was still warm. Then he heard a gagging sound from the bathroom. He got up quickly and saw her throwing up in the toilet.
“Heaven, what’s wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head.
When she got up, he lifted her off the floor. “We are going to the hospital.” Heaven panicked.
“Maverick, I’m fine, it’s nothing.”
“What do you mean it’s nothing when you are puking your guts out, huh?”
“Seriously… t-the food I ate last night didn’t sit well with my tummy.”
“Then we should be at the hospital.” He continued moving with her.
No reply.
“You are making a whole deal out of nothing. I’m fine.”
The servants bowed their heads and walked out of the way for them.
“Mave, I’m fine, I promise,” she softened her voice. He stopped.
She couldn’t let him find out now.
A servant ran to them. “Second young madam, there’s a bit of a situation outside.”
“What?” Maverick asked.
“There’s a man saying he is the madam’s father, and he is here to take her. The General went to pull out a gun to take him down.”
Shit! The old man was here?
They quickly hurried out together. General Richard had a gun pointed at old man Johnson. He didn’t flinch and stood his ground.
“I’m here to take my child!” he said casually, with his hands in his pockets.
“Your kid isn’t anywhere in my house, Oliver. I have to bring you down. Maybe you are here with a bomb, murderer.”
The old man laughed. “A military man calling me a murderer? It’s like a pot calling a kettle black. I’m not here to kill your family; I just want to take Heaven and leave.”
“Father, please,” Heaven screamed, begging General Richard. She ran and stood between the gun and the old man.
Maverick pulled the gun from his father, not liking the fact that it was pointed at Heaven.
Eleanor ran out after receiving a report on the commotion.
“Heaven, let’s leave this place now. You can’t stay with them.” Oliver Johnson said, taking Heaven’s hand. “Where’s Liam?”
“She is my son’s wife. How is she your child? I get you took care of her for a whole seven years. I don’t think it’s right to think you own her!” Richard barked at him.
Maverick removed Oliver’s hand and brought Heaven to his side.
“She’s mine. You can’t take her… how much did you spend? I will pay you back,” he said.
“Which of your sons? My daughter is not about to become family property for both of you, right?”
Heaven felt dizzy with the whole exchange of words.
“He is my father,” she spoke. “Biologically. I found out… some weeks back… it’s a long story,” she said.
The living room went quiet. Oliver’s face turned smug. “She is mine and Adison’s daughter,” he said. Color drained from Richard’s face. “The sister you disowned.”
Heaven gasped.
“Aunt Adison?” Maverick asked in shock.
“Let’s go home, Heaven. You can’t stay with them. You all are related—”
“She can’t go anywhere with you. Adison and I were not blood-related. My father adopted her.”
Maverick didn’t know he had been holding his breath.
“Heaven, I want to tell you a story of a man who killed over a thousand innocent souls because of a few thousand pennies.”
“I DID NOT!!!” Oliver roared.
“Why? Are you ashamed because your daughter is here?”
“He really didn’t do it,” a hoarse, weak voice sounded from the stairs.