Bound By His Daughter

CHAPTER 1

Prologue

Two Months Ago.

Ceaser paced back and forth in his spaciously well decorated living room, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. He had woken up this morning to Tom – his private investigator – telling him he had a lead and was going to check it out. It was all by God's grace that he hadn't had a heart attack.

He’s been married to Beatrice for over two years. Eight months after they got married, she disappeared into thin air. She had been behaving weird just a few days before she had vanished and no one knows where she is.

Beatrice, he thought, the lovely girl he met at the charity gala just months before they were forced together. Well, she was forced to marry him. It was a necessity for him seeing as it would have made Palmer – Beatrice’s father; a man he wanted to go into business with – pleased. She was very sweet the few times they had met and when they started dating, her true nature began to show. She was temperamental, quick to judge, always jumping into conclusions and many other things that pissed him off. He could see all the warning signs not to get married to her flashing in neon lights but he ignored every single one of them. After they got married, things only got worse for him because now she figured she owned him. He began to stay the night in the office which only made things worse because she thought he was cheating on her. That was when the weirdness began, she became oddly quiet and only talked when he asked her a question which he seldom did.

Ceaser combed his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily.

That’s why he hired Tom who had been on the case for over a year. His thoughts went back to the day he last saw her, remembering the last thing she said to him before she walked out of their house. She lied straight to his face saying she was going to stay with her mum for a while. He had offered to give her a ride but she declined saying she would have a few stops on the way. Even though he knew the

latter part was just an excuse, it was typical of Bea, she always did things her way not caring about the repercussions and no one could stop her. So, he let her leave. No questions asked.

That same day after he got home, he called Bea’s mum - Mary - who said she hadn't seen Bea since she had visited two weeks ago.

Just then Ceaser’s phone rang snapping him out of his thoughts and making him stop in his track.

"Yea?" He answered the call.

"I've found her Mr. Thompson, and she doesn’t look too good." Tom said.

He sighed in relief, a frown on his tired looking stubble-covered face.

“Bring her home, Tom.” He ended the call and fell into one of the sofas, his head falling backwards. Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

Somewhere in the same city, Jules struggled with the door as she tried to keep the groceries from falling to the ground. She finally got the door unlocked and nudged the door wide open. Entering her 600square-foot house, she kicked the door shut behind her walking briskly but carefully through the medium-sized-all-white parlour into the kitchen. She dumped everything on the kitchen counter then began sorting them out.

Today's the day.

She thought as a smile made its way to her lips, she was excited and nervous at the same time. Today's the day she gets to know the verdict. The odds seemed to be in her favour but she couldn’t be sure.

Since Jules’ parents died almost two years ago, she had tried to drown herself into work to prevent herself from breaking down until she realized it wasn't right and her parents wouldn't want that for her, they would want her to be happy. So, a year ago, she made the best decision to go along with her old

plans. She has always loved children and somewhere between babysitting for neighbours and family friends in her teens through to college, she decided she was going to adopt a girl when she was ready.

Since her first and last relationship of two years in College ended tragically, which put her permanently in the single ladies’ section of the population, it had taken her a very long time to get over catching her boyfriend - at that time - cheating on her...with her roommate...in her bed...on her birthday.

Yeah. Taa-daa! Happy Birthday, Jules.

She swore off men since then, they just brought havoc into her peaceful life. Relationships are complications.

Been there, done that.

Her phone rang. She placed the carton of milk in her hand on the counter and picked it up her phone.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Jules." It was her lawyer – Bethany.

"Yes? How’s it looking?" Jules skipped right to it.

After nine months of searching for the perfect child, going to court and filling documents; the important stuff. Baby proofing the house, buying a baby cot and many other things just in case it came through. It all came down to this.

She found the perfect child to adopt a month after her search begun. The baby girl was just two months old and she couldn’t look at any other child after she saw her. Her mind was made and she proceeded with the adoption. Bethany had been helpful through it all. The closed adoption was easier than they both expected because the mother of the child had given her up willingly and the father was not

mentioned. Bethany took care of all those things alongside her even though Bethany had offered to do it all and contact her when she was needed. Jules had politely declined her offer because she wanted to have all hands-on deck.

"Well the final papers just arrived and it has been approved. So, all you need to do is come over anytime to sign it. Then you'll officially and legally become a mother." Bethany said on the other end joyfully.

Jules grinned from ear to ear, her heart bubbling with joy.

"I'm on my way." She said, hanging up immediately and abandoning the groceries.

She couldn't wait any longer. She picked up the keys to her convertible and ran out the door.

This was it.

She was finally going to be a mother. She got into her car and drove off to Bethany’s office to sign the documents. It felt like Christmas.