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She didn\'t necessarily regret riling Rebekah up to the extent that she had acted the way she did. What she regretted was not being careful enough and not actually sharing her plans with Harry beforehand.

She had underestimated Rebekah\'s wickedness, and that could have cost her life had Harry not been a step ahead.

What if his men had not been watching her from a distance? Sure, if anything had happened to her, they would easily have known Rebekah was behind it, but that would have been long after the deed had been done.

She owed Harry an apology. A sincere apology for running her mouth at him the way she did over the phone at the restaurant. He had every right to be pissed.

Jade drew a deep breath as she thought about her new plan to use Rebekah\'s man against her. Before she proceeded with what she intended to do next, she was going to run it by Harry first and get his approval.

As proud and stubborn as she could be, she wasn\'t stupid. She knew that it would be in her best interest to involve Harry going forward in whatever plans she made, not only because he was her boyfriend but because, time and time again, he had proven that he put more thought into her safety than she ever did.

Jade raised her head when someone tapped on her window, and she opened the door when she saw Bryan looking at her with a slightly raised brow.

"Are you okay?" He asked as she got out of the car.

"Yeah," Jade said as she drew in a shaky breath.

"You don\'t look okay. Did something happen?" Bryan asked with concern, and she smiled.

Perhaps it was because she had not spent enough time around her family since she started her practice. She had almost forgotten how protective her family could be.

"You can\'t tell anyone, alright? Although I\'m sure Harry is most likely going to tell Tom," Jade said with a slight frown.

"Tell Tom what? Are you pregnant?" Bryan asked, and she laughed softly.

"Is that all you can think of?" She asked with a sigh.

"Let\'s go in. I think I need to drink something strong and then I will tell you. Where is Sonia? Is mom and Dad back?" She asked as they both went inside.

"No, they\'re not back yet. Sonia is taking a nap," Bryan said, and Jade nodded.

"I suppose you must have been bored; hence you noticed I was back," Jade said, and Bryan shrugged.

Once they got to the bar, Bryan poured a little quantity of vodka into a glass and handed it to Jade.

Once she had swallowed the entire content of the bottle, she explained what had happened to Bryan.

"Jesus, Jade! Are you out of your mind? How could you do something so stupid? Shouldn\'t you be smarter than that? That was so damn careless!" Bryan half yelled, but Jade wasn\'t annoyed by his outburst.

She could tell he was thinking about what could have happened to her and not what had happened.

"I know. I know," Jade said, and then Bryan took a deep breath as he reached out to pat her back.

"Are you okay? You must have been really shocked," Bryan said, and Jade nodded.

"I\'m fine," Jade assured him.

"You know, that woman deserves a good beating before she is arrested," Bryan said with a scowl, and Jade smiled.

"All I want is to see her locked up for life. I\'m determined now, more than ever, to expose all her crimes. Including this attempt on my life," Jade said thoughtfully, thinking about Lisa\'s invitation.

"I\'m glad Harry was there," Bryan said, and Jade nodded.

"Me too."

"Speaking of Harry. Sonia said something about a proposal in six months," Bryan said, and Jade rolled her eyes.

"At this rate, the whole family will know about it and start keeping counts with me."

"Well, if you wanted it to be a secret, you shouldn\'t have told anyone about it in the first place," Bryan said simply and then sat up.

"By the way, have you been able to get anything from Sonia?" He asked, and Jade grinned.

"Yeah. She definitely wants to get married, and she wants a diamond ring. She doesn\'t care if it\'s a private or public proposal," Jade said, and Bryan smiled.

"Thank you. I knew I could count on you," Bryan said with a wide smile.

"So? What\'s the plan for the proposal?" Jade asked curiously.

"I would love it to be a family and friends affair. If Tom gets back this weekend, then I will pop the question on Sunday," Bryan said, and Jade raised a brow.

"Friends? You are not talking about inviting your celebrity friends, are you?"

"Not at all. It\'s going to be an intimate engagement party. Matt will definitely be in attendance. Jeff and Mia too. You can invite the Jonas. I will need you to organize it. Get a good event planner if need be. Mia and Jeff will assist you as well. I\'m still trying to find the right venue…."

"Why not use Tom\'s ballroom instead of hiring a hall? It\'s high time he puts that space into use," Jade said, and Bryan shook his head.

"I thought about it, but it\'s Tom\'s house. As accommodating as Tom can be, I don\'t want to abuse his hospitality by throwing a party…"

"He wouldn\'t mind," Jade said reasonably.

"Yes, I know. But this is my life with Sonia. I have an idea of what I want. Sonia and I will be going to check out some properties tomorrow…"

"Properties? You are moving?" Jade asked in surprise.

"Of course. I\'m getting married to Sonia. We are starting a family," Bryan explained as though he was talking to a slow child.

"I know. I mean, I just didn\'t expect it to be so soon. Besides, you have your place in Sogal," Jade said with a shrug.

"We decided to settle in Ludus. If Sonia accepts my proposal, I\'m getting married to her immediately. We need our own space," Bryan said, and Jade nodded.

"What now?" Bryan asked when he noticed the tears in Jade\'s eyes.

"I don\'t know. I guess I just feel somehow about all of this. I\'m happy. But it feels like we have all grown up and are going our separate ways now," she said with a shrug as she swallowed past the lump in her throat.

"I\'m in Ludus. Tom is in Ludus. You will be in Ludus when you marry Harry. We are all working together in I-Global. We are not going our separate ways," Bryan assured her, and she smiled as she blinked away her tears, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"I know. It\'s silly I\'m feeling this way, considering that until recently, I was in Varis, and you were in Sogal, and Tom was here. Marriage and starting a family is just a different kind of change," she said, and Bryan ruffled her hair, making her glare at him.

"It\'s only different in the sense that the family is growing. More annoying Hank kids on the way," Bryan said, and Jade giggled.

"So, about the venue?" Jade reminded him.

"If we find a property we like tomorrow, I would like us to throw the engagement party there…."

"You can\'t be serious, Bryan. Tomorrow is Friday. You want the engagement party on Sunday. When are you going to set the place up in time for a party?" Jade asked incredulously.

"I\'m very certain at the right price, I can get the right people to do the job at short notice," Bryan said confidently.

"Wouldn\'t Sonia want to set up the house herself?" Jade asked, and Bryan pursed his lips.

"I will discuss it with her and find a way to convince her so we can hire interior decorators. She is pregnant, after all, and shouldn\'t be stressing herself. If we don\'t find a suitable house by tomorrow, we can get a hall. But I\'d really love to propose to her in our new home," Bryan said, and Jade shook her head in amusement.

"You romantic fool," she murmured, and Bryan grinned.

"You\'re that happy, huh?" Jade asked, and he nodded.

"Over the moon," he said, and Jade smiled.

"I will leave you to it then. I need to freshen up and spend some time plotting Rebekah\'s downfall," Jade said as she rose, and Bryan did the same.

Away from there, Candace and Jamal walked into the living room after seeing Matt off, and she raised a brow when she noticed the grin on Aaron\'s face.

"Matt offered to fly with us to Sogal in his jet, but mummy said no," Jamal announced.

"What is amusing you?" Candace asked with a raised brow at the same time.

Aaron ignored her and focused on Jamal instead, "She did? What was her reason? Matt seems like a nice guy," Aaron said to Jamal as he sat beside him while Candace walked past him.

"He is super cool. I like him," Jamal said happily.

"You like everyone," Candace said dryly as she headed for her bedroom, knowing fully well that she was avoiding her father and whatever it was he had to say about Matt.

She was thankful that Jamal had gone along with her to see Matt off, else it would have been a tad awkward. And she was thankful that he was present here, too, since that was the only reason Aaron wasn\'t asking her questions already. 

Matt had said he was going to give her a call, and without a doubt, she knew why. She had accepted his offer and ran off before he could even say anything. He was going to want them to talk about it, and they were going to have to lay out the rules for their affair.

Should she just take back what she said? She could say it was a slip of the tongue or even say she had said it because she felt overwhelmed at the moment.

Just as she sat on her bed, her phone rang, startling her, and she eyed the phone when she saw the call was from Matt, "You can\'t possibly have gotten to your destination yet," Candace said immediately after she received the call.

"I couldn\'t wait. I didn\'t want to give you enough time to change your mind," Matt said, and Candace pressed her lips together.

"I see," she murmured and said nothing as she waited for him to speak.

"So, we are really doing this, right?" Matt asked, and Candace felt butterflies flutter in her belly.

"It\'s just sex, remember?" Candace reminded him.

"Friends with benefits, Candace. It\'s not just going to be about sex. We have to maintain the friendship too. That means normal communication and hanging out as friends, too," Matt said, and she narrowed her eyes.

"How is that different from us being in a relationship?" She asked, and Matt almost grinned.

"No commitment…."

"I said you can\'t have sex with anyone else while having sex with me, remember?" Candace reminded him.

"I know. We have to keep the intimacy part a secret, so it\'s different," Matt said, knowing this arrangement was either going to help him get what he wanted with her or drive him even more crazy than he already was.

"No public appearances," Candace reminded him.

"None as a couple. But definitely, we can go out as two friends, can\'t we?" Matt asked, and Candace raised a brow.

"How am I sure you\'re not trying to trick me into this arrangement and…."

"Candace, I promise I won\'t tell anyone about our affair. I\'m going to treat you as a friend in public, and you will only be my lover behind closed doors," Matt assured her, making her heart race at the thought of being his lover.

"Okay," she said in a husky voice that made Matt smile.

"I\'m not going to let you back off, Candace," Matt warned.

"I never said I was going to," she said as she rose and began to pace around the room.

"Good. So, how often do we get to see each other?" Matt asked, and Candace shrugged.

"Depends on our schedules. You\'re often busy…"

"I can make out time for you. That won\'t be a problem," Matt said, and Candace sighed.

"Maybe once a week?" Candace suggested, and Matt mulled over it for a moment.

"Only when my schedule is very tight. We will have to spend some weekends together," Matt suggested, and Candace bit her lip thoughtfully.

"Jamal…"

"He can always visit your dad when we have to meet. I\'m sure they won\'t mind," Matt said.

"But that would make my dad suspicious," Candace pointed out.

"Suspicious that his adult daughter is seeing someone, which is absolutely normal. He just doesn\'t have to know I\'m the one," Matt said, and Candace sighed.

"Alright."

"So, can we meet tomorrow?" Matt asked, making her heart skip a beat.

"Isn\'t that too soon? Besides, everyone we know is in Ludus, and we could easily be…."

"I\'ve missed you, Candace. I don\'t think it\'s too soon. We can arrange to meet discreetly. I will figure out somewhere we can meet and spend some time alone without prying eyes," Matt said, and Candace bit her lips as her heart thudded with anticipation.

"Okay," Candace said, and Matt smiled triumphantly.

"I will let you know when I come up with something. Take care of yourself," Matt said before hanging up, and Candace slumped on the bed and placed a hand on her racing heart.

Her reaction was normal. It had been a while since she had sex, so it was perfectly normal to feel so excited, Candace assured herself.