Chapter 56 — Fight Preparation

Zinnia.

Enraged.

No, actually, I was beyond enraged.

I had never felt so much rage coursing through my veins.

I locked myself in the private office of our house with that court document still clutched in my hand.

Once I regained consciousness, Clave told me how he got this envelope in the mail today and opened it. He was about to tell me about it, but I saw it before he could.

I wasn't mad at him. I just couldn’t deal with anyone at the moment. So I just told him I needed some space and he respected my wish without any question. He even took Draven out to play in the park for a while so that Draven wouldn’t come to check up on me.

My anger was on Kavita. Since Clave dropped the case, it was obvious the father couldn't find my son. Definitely, Kavita had something to do with it.

I face-timed Kavita, who picked it up in the first ring, almost as if she had been anticipating my call.

"Hey, Zinnia! How a—what happened? Why do you look tense?" Kavita asked, showing concern.

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep myself calm and composed. "Kavita, I received an order from the court today. Draven's real father applied for his custody. Are you involved in it by any chance?"

Kavita let out a nervous chuckle. "I don't even remember the father's face, and I—"

"Fucking speak the truth or I will make sure you go missing. Clave will take care of it." That was it. I couldn't control it anymore. Enough of being nice.

She gulped, her eyes shifting everywhere except focusing on my face. "Zinnia, I always remembered the father," she finally spoke up after hesitating a lot. "And sorry for not telling you earlier, but I accidentally bumped into him the day I was hanging out with Draven."

"You accidentally bumped with the person you had a one-night stand with?" I chuckled humorlessly. "And you ended up spilling the beans?"

"I'm sorry, I panicked, Zinnia," she told me, but I didn't even acknowledge her apology.

"How could he send the orders from the court then? He has no proof that—" I was interrupted by her.

"He played with Draven for some time, and I think, he got a DNA sample somehow. I don't know!” she let out and buried her face in her palms.

"He played with Draven? My son doesn't play with strangers. That too, in the first meet? No way—wait a minute. What's the father's name?"

I was afraid of the answer. For some reason, I had a name in my heart, that I really didn't want to be true.

"Francis Klay," as soon as that name escaped from her lips, I hung up the call.

Francis. Obviously, Francis.

There was no way Draven would play with a stranger, and he only knew three adult males in his life with whom he would play—Clave, Ryker, and Francis.

I remembered our first meeting on the plane where I asked Francis why he was coming to this city.

"Let's just say I have to meet someone whom I didn't meet for the past three years."

"I didn't know about that person until this week. Otherwise, I would've met that person before, for sure."

Francis was talking about Draven that day on the plane.

Then I remembered Clave saying about the case he got.

"The client is looking for his son and his son is Draven."

I clutched my hair and groaned. "Oh, God! This is not happening, please!"

I had to do something. I couldn't let Francis take Draven away from me. Because of him Clave and I already lost two years of our lives. I wouldn’t let him ruin our entire life by snatching our most precious treasure. I was even willing to beg him.

I reread the court orders many more times. We had to go to the court with Draven.

My heart was running a marathon as I felt fear engulfing me.

I couldn't take a six-year-old to the court! Draven would be traumatized forever.

Only one person was my comfort now.

Just then I heard the main door opening and Draven’s cheerful, “I’m home!”

I waited for three minutes, knowing Clave would tell Draven to go do his homework. Then without another thought, I ran to our bedroom.

When I got to our room, Clave was facing the window, drowning in deep thoughts.

Instantly, I ran and wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his shoulder blades.

He didn't move because he knew it was me. Instead, he rested his hands on mine.

For a few moments, I stayed silent, soaking into the comforting presence of Clave and trying to organize my thoughts, but it was hard to think straight with such a looming situation over our heads.

"How can we take a six-year-old to the court, Clave?" I finally spoke up the first thought that my mind could come up with, almost trembling at that thought. "It will leave a permanent scar in his mind. He isn’t ready to face the cruelties of this world yet."

"We will hire the best lawyer, Zinnia," he assured me, but even so, I heard a little quiver in his voice. Even he wasn’t that confident, was he? "I already talked to Ace, my good friend. His sister Liliana Valentino is a lawyer. He is already talking to her about our case."

"Really? Will Liliana come here to help us?" I asked with hope.

Clave hummed in response. "Ryker will bring her here. It's his job."

I started having hopes after hearing how Clave already started managing everything. Even though he was just as shaken up as me, he was still looking after everything to make sure I wasn’t too troubled. He was indeed my solace, always finding ways to find new doors for us when others seemed to be shut.

"We will give our best, Zinnia," he uttered, clutching my hand tightly, and this time, he sounded fully confident, as if my presence had also helped him with his anxiety.

"Yes, Clave." We quietly stayed in that position for a while until I decided to let out, "I talked to Kavita and found out who's the father."

This time, Clave turned to me. "Who? Is it someone we know or —"

I closed my eyes and let out, "It's Francis"

Pin-drop silence covered the room as he looked at me as if he was waiting for me to say it was a joke. When I didn't say anything else, he covered his face with his palm and groaned.

"That fucking bastard! He just doesn’t let us have any peace, does he?" he grumbled. "Why doesn't he leave us alone?"

"I don't know, Clave. I really don't know. But maybe we can call Francis and sort it out,” I started suggesting in a desperate feat. “How about we request him? He knows how much Draven means to us and that—"

"And that is why, he dragged the matter to the court," Clave completed instead. "Zinnia, he did it on purpose, there are no ifs and buts. He could've talked to us at first, but no! He wants to take legal action."

I sighed realizing how stupid it would be to talk it over with Francis. "Alright, Clave. We gotta wait till Ryker brings Liliana here. Shall I call Ava and tell her to send Flora and Fabian? Maybe it would cheer Draven's mood."

"You can, but I think we should bring Mysa too. Because after we tell the truth to Draven, which we have to, he would need his friends," he suggested, and my heart twisted at the mention of letting Draven know the truth.

"Do we have to break the truth today?" I didn't want to talk about all these things with Draven yet. I needed time to keep myself composed for his sake.

He twitched his lips. "We could wait till Liliana is here." This time, he cupped my cheeks. "You already look pale, Zinnia. You have to be strong. We got this. We will always keep Draven to ourselves."

"What if Francis doesn't give up?" I pointed out, fear filling my heart once again. "Draven cannot go away, Clave. I'll die. I will." Tears slipped out of my eyes.

Clave instantly put his index finger on my lips, shushing me. "Draven will not go anywhere. If Francis doesn't give up, I will take the matter into my own hands. Our son will stay with us forever. Star promise."

I nodded reluctantly.

"Let's go and have dinner now," he said after kissing my tears away. "Draven is really worried about you. He wants us to have dinner together, no matter what."

I didn't think any lump of food would go down my throat tonight, but if I did that, I would start falling weak. As Clave said, I had to stay strong. Besides, I wanted to cherish every moment with Draven now.

It was already night, but I knew none of us would be getting any sound sleep starting tonight. There were two concerns now. The first one was how we would break the news to Draven and his reaction. While the second one was, Francis, trying to take Draven away from our lives.

No matter what, we would fight for our son. By hook or by crook.