"I never heard of this name before..'' Jennifer mumbled in between her breath and felt that the name was foreign to her.

"You must have not, neither did I.

"

"But I got my contacts to say that he is no one else but the illegitimate child of the last Mr. Smith. He had a lover before marrying Mrs. Smith, and the child was born before Lucas.

" Austin explained what he got his ears into.

But after hearing her stuff, it never made Jennifer's heart warm up. Instead, she felt the issues and problems bundling up the piles, where she was getting stuck, below all of them.

'So..now..here is also a competitor of Lucas who can tally with him?'

The thought of a man, who is at the par of ruining him, made some relief wash over her. Yet she never knew the intention of the man, who has appeared out of nowhere now.

"If this is the case then, we can probably talk with him. Right?

" she asked, with her hope high, but then they tempered when Austin shook his head with a slight tinge of sadness.

"We can't..

"

"The task of having you back in the state is entirely upon one person and that is Lucas. James isn't interfering as well, and we have to decide things as fast as we can.

"

Austin's answer only demotivated her soul when Jennifer's hands entangled into one to realize the situation in which she all lay.

'If Lucas is having everything..then things will only turn ugly. But I can't leave Javier too..'

Keeping her hand over her face, Jennifer was in the middle of the thousands of deep thoughts, trying out imagining each minor possibility which they could face.

But nothing strict her mind something better, except laying down.

Seeing her in such worry, only tucked Austin's heart with sorrow.

"You don't have to feel sad. You know I do have an option…

"

"I don't want to put your life at risk just because of me.

" Jennifer honesty answered as her mind can't ever get out of this fact that Austin was here, because of her.

If something happened to him, she would probably be unable to forgive herself.

Austin took her hand into his to stare into her eyes without breaking his gaze even for a second,

"My life isn't that important as yours. I now you might say that I'm a stupid person, who is actually after a girl, who is already married now...yet, I can't seem to stop myself.

"

Jennifer was ready to open her mouth, however, Austin took her words,

"let me say first..

"

Subconsciously, her lips parted but they came back to their original position, as she stared at the man in front of her,

"Jennifer...I have a better option.

"

"This is risky and you might just hate me as well. But think about it.

" hearing his statement, only made her forehead lines deepen.

"What kind of risky venture are you talking about?

"

Austin took a deep breath before his eyes lifted off from their place, gathering enough courage to actually look at her face without breaking eye contact even for a mere second.

"I think…

"

"Well...I think we should actually go back to your state...let us leave Johnsons behind and then straight go to Lucas with your family as well..

"

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

Jennifer immediately withdrew her hands from his grip to stare at his face with the evident shock in her eyes.

No, this wasn't what she looked forward to.

Neither was she interested in ever returning to the place… where.. she would be hurriedly married off with that criminal.

"A-are….you out of your.. mind Austin?

" The words slipped out of her mouth with disbelief written all over her face.

In response, Austin kept firm expressions to give her a shake.

"I know what I'm doing and this is the right thing to do. It will at least give us some time as well..

"

"But there Lucas will marry me then!!!

"

How come she forgot that her parents will make her wed with the monster for obvious reasons, without even a second delay. Or probably, they won't even give her time to rest.

Neither has she figured out the reason behind his stubbornness for marrying her, where he is ready to give up his family heirloom? That was no less than any joke present in her eyes.

Austin instantly rotated his body in her direction to look into her worried gazes that directed at him,

"I know... but have you ever given it a thought if these Johnsons find things not going their way, won't they ultimately kill you?

"

"Javier will never let anything happen to me. He is my husband… not someone mere outsider of kidnapper..

"

Jennifer confidently answered, without showcasing any doubt present in her actions. Yet her blind trust over a Johnson wasn't liked by Austin even a bit

A smirk waved off on his lips as he stared at her confident self,

"Do you really think that your dear husband will be able to do anything when it comes to you?

"

She nodded her head but in return, he found this amusing,

"Then you are pretty much wrong, Jennifer. Your dear husband will not be able to do anything..not even a single thing when it comes to you. You know why?

"

At this point, the confident Jennifer could sense that Austin has a lot to hide from her.

Despite this happy and sad face which he showed to her, she could already feel a little bit of dryness around him,

"W-why?

"

A scoff left his lips when he stood on his toes to walk towards the window. Lifting the curtain, and putting them aside, he covered the curtains again after checking that find no one there out on the terrace. Afterward, he turned around to face her.

"I saw Emily going nowhere else but a hospital.

"

"Hospital?

" her brows twisted when he shook his head,

"Correct. Well...I do have some doubts and you never know about your dear husband's intentions as well…

"

'Hospital? When will EMILY go to the hospital? Is this because...she wishes to get pregnant with Javier's child as soon as possible?' she found it lewd but also somewhere possible.

The possibilities are very high as the entire Johnson family is encouraging Javier to mate with that bitch!

On seeing her already dazed of evaluation the major possibility that roams around all of them, made Austin's eyebrows slightly twitch as well.

"We can't determine things until we have proper proof regarding them..

"

"And how are we supposed to get these proofs? Do you have any idea?

" she asked, with her worried and suspicious field voice.

"Although I'm trying my best, it seems she met with the doctor in secret. There were no records in the hospital's history as per name…

" he stopped in the middle, but then she completed his words,

".....so, she met with another name to hide her identity.. This is serious..

"

As far as Jennifer's thinking goes, she knows that this lady is cunning to the next extent. Hiding her name, if she plans to carry Javier's child...doesn't seem to fit in her mind.

'If she is pregnant or bewitching a plan to get pregnant with a child...won't she hype it to the next level where everyone will consider her as the mother of his child?' This was the theory that baked inside her mind but she had no evidence to justify the same.

Biting her lower lips, Jennifer ruffled her hand through her hair to close her eyes, to memorize the entire things that Austin had just told her.

It was too much information to absorb at once.

While peeking at her face, which appeared to be under stress, Austin held himself back. 'But if I don't tell her this..there is a high risk about the entire situation..'

And knowing how much she is under threat, already makes his heart race against his chest.

Taking a deep breath to calm his mind, he somehow managed to gather the courage by hook or crook. At the end of the day, the situation lies around her, not him where she will handle things directly, but he is surely standing at her back.

"Jennifer….

" calling her name sweetly, she immediately lifted her eyes to nod,

"I... I have something else to tell you else as well..

"

An unknown tarot feeling started to surface in her heart on witnessing his tensed and uneasy face,

"Something more grave than this..

" she mumbled, in the voice of not asking as she already knew the answer.

Yet he did say as per his wish of thinking that she might be asking,

"Y-yes…

" came his quick reply, enough to make her gulp the saliva present in her mouth.

Instead of answering, she took the glass present on the side table and gulped it in one go. Making her heart rest for a while,

"Go ahead to say…

"

"We have news that the next three-four days will be really crucial. I mean..there are high chances that... Lucas might come here...

"