Tiffany couldn’t shake the feeling that Jackson was lying to her, “You’re covering up for him. What do you mean by ‘you were not aware’? I’m sure you knew about this. Ari, get a divorce, right now. You can’t get past this!”
Arianne nodded in agreement, “I kind of agree. Let’s just get a divorce…”
Jackson was lamenting internally, “Enough. Both of you. Don’t start. I’ll speak to Mark myself. Don’t you need to manage your business? You two, stay right here!”
“I’m sorry, Ari…” Naya apologized timidly after Jackson had left, “I had no idea that that woman was acquainted with your husband… I even helped carry her baby…”
Arianne was feeling strangely delighted over having Mark take all of the blame. She was in a particularly good mood now, “It’s fine. Go back to work. I’m going back to the kitchen…” she replied in a sing-song voice.
Naya was under the impression that she was simply putting on a brave front and that deep down, she was feeling extremely hurt. She furrowed her brows and felt even more guilty.
Jackson briskly made his way over to Mark’s office. Realizing that Georgina was nowhere to be seen, he carefully asked, “What happened? Where is she? How did you manage to take care of this?”
“It’s done,” Mark calmly replied. “I’ve agreed to transfer the money to her by tonight, at the very latest. You can decide on the amount yourself. Consider it a means to get rid of a troublesome pest. It doesn’t matter if you’re the father of the baby. You’re probably not. Besides, the paternity test results will be sent directly to you once they’re out. You can decide on what to do then. She won’t be knocking on your door. Next time, please try to avoid bugging me over these matters.”
Jackson heaved a sigh of relief, “It was best to have you solve the matter this time. It’s been bugging me for many days, but you’ve managed to settle it in a matter of moments. I should’ve come to you sooner. Don’t worry, I’ll remember this. I owe you one!”
Mark thought nothing of it, “Aside from buying a few more meals for me, how else can you expect to repay me?”
Jackson was beginning to feel guilty, “Well… I know how Arianne is the most important thing in the world to you. I’ll reunite you with her. However… There’s just one teeny, tiny, little problem at the moment… After your grand act of whisking Georgina and her baby away from the café, Tiffie kind of came under the impression that you’re the father of Georgina’s child. I never thought that this would happen. She’s currently hatching a scheme with Arianne to… uhm… fix you. But don’t you worry! Arianne is aware of the truth, so there won’t be any misunderstandings between you. It’s just that… you’ll have to be the scapegoat!”
Mark lost his cool. He grabbed a random file on his office desk and whacked Jackson with it. “Am I that kind of a man? I could never do such a disgraceful thing. Quit tarnishing my reputation. I’m going to sell you out if you don’t give a damn good solution!”
Jackson grinned and giggled as he bounced all the way to the doorway, “Fine, fine. You can have anything you want in my restaurant from now on. You get a lifetime of free meals. Will that do? I’ve gotta go. If you ever need my help in anything, anything at all, just say the word. I’ll definitely do my best to help you out!”
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