Chapter 22

Alex said, "You guys don't need to worry about that. When the time comes, it will come."

Dara nodded wholeheartedly at that. "I agree, Alex. And I know in my heart that Chan's time is here."

Soriya nodded furiously in agreement. "Yes. It's her time."

Georgie smiled and turned to Chan. "So how was it? The date?"

Chan said, "It was okay. He took me to StarFish Café for lunch."

"Did you guys have a good time?" Georgie asked, her eyes twinkling. "Come on. Give us all the juicy details."

Soriya nodded. "My words exactly."

"Yeah," Chan said. "Look, guys, why don't we order first?"

"Oh, Chan, come on," Alex said excitedly.

Dara said. "She's so stingy with information."

"That's not information, Dara," Chan said. "It's just that… I don't know. Talking about a date. Isn't that, like, boring to you guys?"

"No, of course not," Soriya said. "We're interested in your dating life."

"So you're saying he hasn't asked you out for another yet?"

Chan shook her head. "It's the end I think."

"Has he phoned or texted you?" Georgie asked.

Chan nodded. "We spoke on the phone, and he texted. And come on. It was only last week."

They continued to tease Chan about her date for a little while longer before moving on to catch up with Georgie's life. The girls and little Andy, who were most of the time the center of attention, enjoyed their lunch catch-up, until Georgie had to leave to do some other stuff. She promised to meet with them again that night for dinner with the rest of their friends.

When the Chandler sisters, Alex, and little Andy returned to the hotel room, they found Jayden there sipping a beer.

"Hello, sweetheart," Jayden said once the door opened and the girls filed into the room. "And sweetheart's son and friends."

The moment they saw Jayden, Dara and Soriya became awestruck, their eyes bright. So, this was what the kind billionaire who donated millions to charity looked like. Gorgeous to boot! Alexandra was a very lucky gal.

The two glanced at each other and giggled delightfully, promising themselves they'd get all the juicy details out of Alex tonight about how the two had met and fallen in love and everything in between.

Once Margaret took away sleepy Andy, Alex pulled her husband forward and introduced her friends to him.

"Jayden, this is my friend Chandra and her sisters, Dara and Soriya."

Jayden moved over to shake Chan and her sisters' hands. "Good to meet you. Alex is always talking about you guys. You didn't come to the wedding."

"Yeah, so sorry about that," Chan said, her face just a little pale suddenly. "We were a little busy with other stuff at the time." She felt her stomach fluttering sickly, and her mind, once again, went toward her dark past. Yes, it had been at that time when her and her sisters' lives were hell.

Alex, noting Chan was a little pale at the reminder of her past, jabbed her husband in the side with her elbow and glared at him. Jayden understood immediately and turned to give the girls a handsome, apologetic grin.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up. Drinks, anyone?"

"We're good," Dara said. "We just had lunch."

The girls moved to sit on the sofa, and Alex turned to ask her husband, "How was your meeting?"

"Good. Looks like it's a go. We've got all the houses, and the demolition is due to take place next month. The building is going to go up, and viola, two years later, it's done."

"Sounds like a big project, Jayden," Chan said.

"Yeah, a very big one. Building a hotel and resort is always a big project," he said matter-of-factly.

"Jay, darling?" Alex said, batting her lashes at her husband. "Chan and her sisters are staying here to get ready for dinner, just so you know."

Jay laughed and waved aside her concern. "I'll be out of your way soon. I have a ton of stuff to do and a long dinner with the gang."

By the gang, he meant his friends and business partners, Alec Hasting from Scotland and Sam Harrington from his hometown of New York City, who owned this very high-class hotel. Of course, Jeremy White, Sam's cousin, would be joining them as well, as he was the man from this point on who would be in charge of the whole project, with Sam and Jayden himself behind the scenes to give advice and lend some helping hands if need be.

The girls relaxed and played with Andy while Jayden showered and changed. Once he was done and dressed in a tasteful suit and ready to leave, he kissed his son and promised the boy they'd be spending all day together tomorrow. Then he came over and kissed his wife in front of her friends, causing Dara and Soriya to giggle delightfully.

Chan, on the other hand, felt this longing ache within her heart. In that instant, the picture of Lilly dad's kissing her before leaving for work in the morning appeared strong in her mind, and she wanted to cry out. It was a picture of them living as a couple, a happy family, full of love and devotion, and his kiss was beautiful and tender.

What a dream, right? And Chan was sure she was sick in the head, all right. She was disgusted with herself.

She managed to hold herself in check. Then because she didn't want her sisters or friend to see how pale she was, she got up from her spot and headed to the spare bedroom where the sisters had placed their belongings. There, she took a few deep breaths and told herself to calm down. When she did, she unzipped her bag and started taking out her dress for tonight.