The Billionaire’s Creed

ADLEY

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Grandpa asked me over the phone one more time.

“For God’s sake, Grandpa, I’ve done this before? Are you more concerned about me, or is it because I’m taking the jet?”

“You’re pregnant, young woman, and you’re terrified of flying.”

“I’ll be fine. I can do this. Now hang up the phone so that I can go.”

“Call me when you land, Adley.”

“I will.” I hung up the call.

I was already strapped in, and my heart started hammering. I drew deep breaths when the jet started moving the runaway, and it began to shake.

“I’m here, Mrs. C if you need me.”

“I should get used to it without help.” I didn’t even look at Romare. I kept my eyes shut all the time. Even if I wanted some wine to calm my nerves, I couldn’t drink alcohol. It sucked, but I needed to let go of this irrational fear once and for all.

“Oh, God! I’m gonna be labor in no time!” I gripped the armrest as hard as possible when the jet started to ascend. Then another terrifying moment when it descended. It felt like the jet was falling, and my heart just jumped in my throat.

“Breath,” Romare said.

I breathed and opened my eyes. I did it again, and it felt like all the worry had vanished. “Oh, God. I made it.”

Romare smiled. For the first time, he was not in a working mood. He was like a friend. “You made it, Mrs. C.”

“I made it. I made it.” I barked to laugh like crazy. “Oh, my God. I need a drink now.”

“A drink?”

“A detox water or something.” I groaned at him.

“Okay.” He then called a flight attendant once the seatbelt sign was off.

“Mykel would be so proud of me. Any news before we took off?”

He shook his head. “No, ma’am.”

“Or did he tell you not to tell me anything before we land?”

“Nothing like that, Mrs. C.”

“Whatever. I just hope Jade will make it through.”

I excused myself and tried to stand alone. My knees were wobbly, but I made it to the bathroom without losing my footing.

“Romare, are you sure there’s no turbulence ahead?” I felt stupid asking him as if he knew if we would be experiencing turbulence.

“You’ll be fine, Mrs. C. I suggest you do it fast.”

“You’re mean.”

I heard him laugh outside the bathroom.

I got back to the seat and buckled up. I found out that Linden and the team were closed, including Romare. I enjoyed a little chitchat with him.

“What’s your first impression of me?” I looked right through his hazel eyes.

“I don’t think I should answer that.”

“Langston, huh? You’re a rich kid working as a bodyguard. Why?”

He looked surprised I knew who he was.

“How did I know? Let me guess, you hate the fact that your family is powerful with money and influence in the government, and you want to take a different path. Well, the story of my life, Romare. My question is, where did you invest your millions? And why are you risking your life protecting a brat heiress?”

He chuckled and had not said a word.

“So, your first impression of me is a spoiled brat and a rebel heiress married to a playboy billionaire. You wondered, what a perfect match of privilege trust funds kids.”

“You, maybe, but Mr. Creed is not a privileged trust fund kid. He’s self-made. You two are still perfect, and I was wrong about you. First, I refused twice with this assignment. But I didn’t have a choice since I was just an employee like everyone else. And yeah, I have money. I invested my money in the firm, Mykel’s company, and with Cenric’s.”

“Glad I proved you wrong. Tell me, are you dating anyone?”

“Don’t get there, Mrs. C.” A small smile curved up the corner of his lips.

“It’s a yes, then. Who’s the lucky lady?”

He just chuckled as he shook his head.

“Parents are a pain in the butt, right? My grandfather, too, but I love that old man to death. I was supposed to marry a psychopath because of Grandpa. My point is that you don’t have to agree with their opinion all the time. A dinner with your family once in a while, even just on holiday, won’t kill you, Romare. I wasn’t able to do that with my parents. Take that as a win.”

The jet landed on time. As I stepped into the airstair, Mykel was waiting for me with Jax.

I ran toward them and launched myself into Mykel. “Babe.”

“Baby, you made it.” He hugged me so tight as if he badly needed it.

“I told you I can do it.”

He then cupped my head. “I never doubted you.” He kissed my lips as if his next breath depended on it. At that moment, I knew I should prepare myself for the worse.

When I looked into his eyes, I instantly knew the terrible news before he was even about to break it to me. “I’m so sorry, Mykel.”

“I know, baby.”

Then I knelt to the wonderful boy who had just lost his mother. I didn’t even know if he understood the meaning of loss. He was just a kid. How would he deal with it? I was only eight when I lost my parents, and I still carry the wound until now.

“Hey, honey. Can I get a hug?” I lifted him. He instantly wrapped his little arms around my neck, and his legs wrapped around me. I felt somehow he knew something was wrong, and I could see the sorrow in the kid’s eyes.

“You know I’m here for you, right, Jax?”

He nodded against my shoulder. “I wanna see mommy.”

***

During the wake, Jade’s old officemates and his ex-boss came to pay their respect. Then her officemates in the Firm LA HQ were here. So was her boyfriend. He was devastated. He and Mykel met at the hospital before pronouncing Jade’s death.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Adrien,” I said as I hugged him. He seemed to be a good guy.

“Thank you. Jade was a good woman.”

“I’ve only known her for a while, but she was one of the strongest women I’d ever met.”

Madelyn was there to pay her respect as well.

Mykel gave his heartfelt eulogy to the mother of his son. It was moving and sad at the same time.

Somehow, Mykel and I managed to explain in our own way to Jax the reason why he wouldn’t be seeing his mother again. I felt terrible that we had to break that news to him. He cried in Mykel’s arms; then that was all; Jax went back to playing as if nothing had happened.

A funeral was always a tough service for me to attend, but Jade was also a friend. She was a part of Mykel’s life. I decided to be there for my husband and for Jax, too.

We went back to the apartment later on. I had not opened the topic to Mykel about Jax, but I knew we needed to take Jax with us.

“Baby, I know this would be hard for you, especially now that we are about to have our baby, but I hope you will understand the situation.” He drew a deep breath. “So, I’ve talked to my lawyers since Jax has no relatives from Jade’s side. And I’m not letting anyone take my son away from me. I’m his father, and I’m taking him with us.”

“I was about to say something you just said.”

He sat on the chair and stared at me for a few seconds. “You’re okay with this?”

“Of course.”

He squeezed my hands and let go a shaky breath. “Oh, thank God.”

“Why? What were you expecting me to say?”

“I just don’t want you to feel obligated.”

“I would like nothing but love and a good home for Jax.”

“I can’t still believe Jade is gone.” He then looked at his son playing with the jet toy, the last thing his mother bought for him.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

I squeezed his hand. “I know this may sound stupid, but how are you holding up?”

“I’m gonna be fine as long as Jax is okay. That matters most for me and what Jade would want for her son. How about you?”

I smiled. “Don’t worry about me. Looking at both of you, my peanut is doing great; I’m all good.”

Two days later, Mykel settled the necessary documents he needed. He kept the apartment in memory of Jade. We flew back to New York. It was sad that Jax’s first flight experience was without his mother.

“Do you like this?” Mykel asked his son on his lap.

“Yeah.”

“Are you excited to see your new home?”

He nodded.

“You’ll be staying with Adley and me. Is that okay with you?”

Jax looked at me and smiled. “Yes.”

“You’re gonna be fine, buddy. That’s a promise.”

“Mommy is an angel now.”

I ignored the pang in my chest as I listened to him just say those words out loud.

“Yes, buddy. Mommy will always look out for you from heaven. You don’t have to be sad about that. Adley and I will take care of you from now on.” Mykel wrapped his arms around his son and kissed his head.

I held his hand. “How do you feel about having a baby sister?”

Mykel’s eyes flew to me, wide and unblinking.

I smiled.

He leaned over to kiss me.

“Gross.”

Our lips were merely a thread away when we had to pull back and laugh. My guess was not the first time Jax had seen someone kissing.

Mykel was still laughing as he looked up, pretending to be talking to Jade. “Really?”

I shook my head in amusement.

“You know you’re gonna be a big brother, right?”

“I know. Mommy told me.”

“Oh,” that’s all I could say.

“How do you feel about that?”

“I wanna play with her.”

“If she’s a little bit bigger, yes. You should also protect her like you’re Superman if some boys will hit on your little sis, right?”

“I want Adley to be my mommy too, Daddy.” His words shocked me in a good way. How could such a little boy know what to say and what he wanted?

“I’d love that, buddy.”

Jax dozed off. Mykel put him on a seat securely. When he came back, he kissed me hard. His kiss caught me off guard and made me breathless.

I was still staring at him, speechless.

“We’re having a baby girl, huh?”

“Yeah?”

“God, I love you so fucking much, Adley Creed.”

“I hyphenate.”