Filed To Story: Finding the Secret Daddy for My Baby Novel
“Luke, help yourself to more food!” “You too, Mrs. Jacobson. I’ll deliver more supplements to you later.” “It’s okay. You gave me plenty last time, and I haven’t finished them yet!” Heidi said with a smile.
While seated at the main table, Ellen was wearing a festive red dress, and she exuded the charming and tender aura of a bride. Jared took care of her with great consideration, and Willow was seated at the side as well. They were very considerate of Ellen.
Due to his unique identity, Ethan was also seated at one of the front tables. However, as he chatted with the guests, he couldn’t help but steal glances behind him. Because of the obstructed view, he could only catch sight of Josephine’s figure every now and then. “A toast to you, Mr. Quarles.”
“As to you.” Ethan clinked glasses with the person, and after he had finished the wine, an idea occurred to him. “Enjoy your meal. I’m going to talk to a friend.”
With that, Ethan took his wine glass with him as he headed straight for Josephine’s table. Meanwhile, Olivia was suggesting to Connor that they should toast at the Presgraves’ table. She wanted to get on good terms with the Presgraves so that they could help them in the future.
However, Connor wasn’t quite willing. Firstly, he felt like he had no right to meet the Presgraves. Secondly, it was a big day for Ellen, so he didn’t want to affect her mood. Thirdly, the Presgraves might not welcome theSeeing that her husband was too timid, Olivia could only give up. They were still unaware of the fact that their daughter had been chased off the island!
After observing Olivia, Josephine realized how Olivia managed to raise a cunning woman like Selena, Olivia was a very selfish person herself; she had terrible table manners, and she kept hoarding the latest dishes so that she could taste them first before everyone else.
Josephine watched Olivia’s behavior as if she were watching a show. Meanwhile, the other guests at the table chose not to speak up since they had their reputations to maintain, but they were obviously upset.
Just then, Luke was about to put some food on Josephine’s plate when he noticed Olivia grabbing the dishes again. He said harshly, “Ma’am, let’s be decent people, alright? Stop hogging the dishes; it’ll come to you.”
Olivia almost lost her cool, and with another glare from Connor, she reluctantly let go. As Luke scooped up the food, a pair of arms rested on Josephine’s shoulder. A low and alluring man’s voice sounded. “Miss Jacobson, here’s a toast to you.”
Josephine’s heart skipped a beat, and she turned to see that Ethan had arrived. She immediately got up and took her wine glass, clinking it with his as she said earnestly, “Mr. Quarles, thank you so much for helping me out.”
Heidi turned to look as well. Her eyes widened when she registered what she was seeing. Since when had her daughter gotten to know such a tall and handsome man? He looked even better than a male model! What was more, he had a noble and elegant aura about him. “You’re welcome. We’re acquaintances, after all. It was nothing.” Ethan curved his lips into a smile.
“No, if possible, I insist on treating you to a meal as thanks.” Josephine thought that thanking him wasn’t enough to repay this kindness, so she should treat him to a meal. “Really? In that case, I’ll be waiting,” replied Ethan eagerly.
“Who’s this, Joey?” Heidi tugged at her daughter’s sleeve. It was only then Ethan remembered that Heidi was sitting next to Josephine. He immediately smiled and greeted, “Hello, Mrs. Jacobson. I’m your daughter’s friend.”
“Hello, hello! What’s your name?” Heidi hastily asked. “My name is Ethan Quarles,” Ethan replied with a smile. At the side, Luke suddenly lost interest in the food as he turned around and said, “Joey, stop chatting. Have some more food.”
Josephine had consumed a few glasses of wine, so her face was tinted red. There was even a glassy look in her eyes as she said to Ethan, “You should go back to your seat and eat something.”
Ethan’s gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds. He then reminded her, ‘Don’t drink too much.” Josephine’s face reddened even more. Why did she feel like he was speaking as if he were caring for her as a boyfriend?
At the banquet, Olivia kept making phone calls to Selena, but her daughter wasn’t picking up. She couldn’t help but complain to her husband, saying, “What’s wrong with Lena? She’s not picking up my calls, and she disappeared just like that.”
Connor shook his head as he replied, “How would I know?” All of a sudden, Josephine felt it was necessary to inform them of the truth; Selena was probably too ashamed to tell them.
“Mrs. Aguirre, could you come out with me for a moment? I’ll tell you what happened to your daughter, Josephine said to Olivia. Olivia stood up, half doubtful as she asked, “Do you know what’s going on?”
“Yes, I do.” Josephine nodded. Olivia followed Josephine to the lawn outside. She even looked a little impatient as she said, “What exactly do you want to say to me?”
“Mrs. Aguirre, your daughter has done something vile,” Josephine said, turning around. Olivia’s expression shifted as she retorted in anger, “My daughter is innocent. She’d never do anything wrong, so don’t slander my daughter like that.”
“Let me tell you, then. Your daughter didn’t leave of her own accord-she was chased off this island by the Presgraves because she leaked photos of the wedding to a media company. She even accused me of doing it,” Josephine said calmly.
“Nonsense! What evidence do you have that my daughter framed you? I’ll sue you!” Olivia immediately threatened. Josephine pulled up the recording of her conversation with Selena and played it for Olivia. When Olivia heard it, she panicked. The voice in the recording did belong to her daughter. Selena was trembling as she pleaded, so it was obvious that she was the real culprit and had begged Josephine for mercy.
“Well, do you believe me now? Your daughter is a relative of the bride, but she did such a horrible thing. That’s very unethical of her.” Josephine felt injustice on the bride’s behalf as well.
Olivia was panicking now, and she was embarrassed as she asked, “Did they really chase my daughter out?” “Yes, Mr. Presgrave himself gave the orders to chase her out,” Josephine said.
“That girl, how could she do such a thing? I’ll teach her a lesson when I go back.” Olivia immediately pretended to complain about her daughter to get out of the situation. Then, she said to Josephine, “Miss Jacobson, I’d like to apologize to you on my daughter’s behalf.”
“It seemed like you and your husband weren’t aware of anything, so I just wanted to inform you guys about it.” With that, Josephine turned around and went into the banquet hall.
When Olivia returned, she had an uneasy expression on her face. Everyone had more or less eaten their fill, so Olivia tugged at her husband’s sleeve, signaling that they should leave.
Connor had a little too much to drink as well, for the wine here was the most fragrant he had ever tasted. Olivia helped him up and went out, then got a driver to drive them back to the villa. As soon as they returned, Connor lay on the couch and fell asleep.
Olivia angrily grabbed her phone and dialed her daughter’s number. At that moment, after the hour- long flight on the helicopter, Selena had just arrived at the pier. When she heard her phone ringing, she reached out and answered the call. “Mom?”
“Look at what you’ve done, you brat! Why did you leak photos of the wedding? Our reputation is ruined because of you,” scolded Olivia. Selena thought she could keep this a secret forever. She said guiltily, “Who told you, Mom?”
“Who else? Josephine, of course! Why did you frame her? Do you have a grudge against her or something?!”
“Mom, I just arrived at the pier. I’m going back first.” Selena didn’t want to say anything more. After all, she would never be involved with the Presgraves again for the rest of her life.
Olivia finally came to her senses and regretted the way she raised her daughter. Now, Selena was all grown up, but all she ever learned was to cause trouble. She was hopeless.
Olivia also felt too ashamed to remain there, so she planned on leaving with her husband the next day. Meanwhile, the entire island was still brimming with wedding cheer. Josephine was about to accompany her mother back when Luke rushed over and said, “Joey, I heard the boats are going out to sea tonight. Do you want to come with me? Maybe we can watch the fireworks show on the ocean.” Heidi immediately nudged her daughter and said, “Go ahead! You guys should enjoy yourselves.”
“Mom-” “You rarely get any days off, so now that you’re free these days, have as much fun as you’d like. I can go back on my own.” With that, Heidi walked toward the row of cars waiting for passengers. Josephine said to Luke, “Go ahead and have fun. I don’t feel like going.”
“In that case, I’ll stay with you wherever you go. All my time tonight belongs to-” Before Luke could finish speaking, a man’s voice forcefully interrupted him.
“Come with me, Josephine.” Ethan suddenly made his appearance, ready to snatch Josephine away. Luke immediately stretched out his arms and stopped Ethan from getting closer to Josephine. “Hey, I was the one who asked Joey out first. Don’t you dare snatch her away.”
Josephine blinked her slightly hazy eyes, and ast she looked at Ethan in his black shirt, she found that he looked a little too handsome with the neon lights illuminating his face. She blinked a few more times, then asked, “Where are you taking me?”
‘Just come with me.” With that, Ethan stepped forward and took her hand, then moved to leave. Luke had never held Josephine’s hand by force before. He said angrily, “Ethan Quarles, was it? Let go of Joey right now!”
Josephine was stunned too, but in the next moment, she was led forward by some force. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol or whether her brain had turned to mush, but she followed the man and kept going. Ethan led her into at car, then got in himself and told the driver to start driving.
Behind them, Luke immediately got into another car and said, ‘Follow that car in front of us.” In the car, Josephine’s mind was clearing up as she asked curiously, “Where exactly are you taking me?”
“You’ll know when we get there, Ethan said mysteriously. Josephine thought that this man probably couldn’t do anything bad to her. Even the air felt free tonight, so she decided to go wild just this once. She wanted to see where this man would bring her.
Finally, the car pulled up at the pier, Josephine looked down the pier to see a boat waiting for them. What was more, it didn’t look like the type made to ferry guests; it looked more like a private boat. “Come! I arranged this especially for you.” With that, Ethan took her hand again and began walking.
Josephine allowed him to lead her toward the brightly lit boat. She felt as if she were the female lead of a movie with a romantic atmosphere and the handsome male lead, as well as the beach and the boat. Everything was extravagant and charming like a movie.
It didn’t seem like a bad idea to be a female lead for once. While Josephine was getting into the boat, she heard Luke’s desperate shouts coming from the pier behind her. “Joey, Joey… Wait for me.”
How could Luke let this opportunity go? He wanted to get onto the boat and go out to sea with Josephine too. However, two bodyguards suddenly reached out and blocked his path.
“Why are you stopping me? I’m a guest,” Luke said immediately. “Sorry, sir, this is a private boat. It’s not meant for other guests.” “What do you mean?” Luke couldn’t understand for a moment. “This is Mr. Quarles’ private boat.”
Luke was dumbfounded. What? Ethan’s private boat? Did he bring his boat here as well? “Joey! Get off, Joey. Don’t go with him! He’s dangerous!” Luke shouted toward Josephine from the railing.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.