Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles, Mediterranean Villa ~

Tuesday

8:42 AM

JoAnna and Jeff returned from Austin on Monday morning. They planned to return on Sunday evening, but Miss Bell\'s surgery took longer than it should, so they ended up staying for the night.

Miss Bell was not in a state to be transported to Los Angeles, so they left her in Austin. In few days, they will decide if Mason will interrogate her there or will they transport her to a safehouse in Los Angeles. JoAnna wanted to handle that woman personally, but after the incident with Sarah, her enthusiasm dwindled and she is not so sure anymore.

That Monday morning, Jeff went to the office straight from the airport, and JoAnna met with Bridgette and worked most of the day on preparations for Jeff\'s birthday. They will use Golden Ocean Resort and spend some time on their superyacht. There will be a number of events, majestic fireworks included, but JoAnna is excited the most while deciding on a way to tell Jeff the big news.

"Don\'t do it while we are on the ocean…", Bridgette advised and ended through giggles: "If he has a stroke, it will be difficult to get medical help."

JoAnna made a face, but she knows that Bridgette is probably right. Knowing Jeff and how eager he is to get her pregnant… she needs to be ready for anything. Other than Sarah and Sophia, Bridgette is the third person who knows that JoAnna is pregnant. Ah, it will be a grand reveal for everyone present. Maybe she will get those huge baloons which you pop and then pink or blue confetti explode everywhere (indicating gender of the baby)... Oh! She will get tested for gender on Thursday! At that time, Emma will know about the pregnancy as well.

On Monday evening, Jeff and JoAnna went to the safehouse to meet with Tiffany and she gave them one USB drive with files she downloaded from her father\'s computer. Jeff and JoAnna discussed options for Tiffany\'s future.

Other than giving her a new identity, she has the option to stay in the safehouse for some time and lay low until they take care of Marcus and his followers. Once that happens, they can transfer to her name resources that her parents are holding, similarly what they are doing for Penny.

"The good thing about that option is how you don\'t need to start over.", JoAnna summarized. "You will still be Tiffany Fortin, you can live in the same house, do whatever you did so far and keep your current circle of friends. The bad thing is that we don\'t know how long you will need to stay here. It can be a week or two or a month or two. It will not be longer than two months."

Tiffany nodded in understanding. "But if I decide to lay low now, and in two weeks I get bored of it… can you give me a new identity then?"

JoAnna confirmed. "That is an option. However, considering that you only want your parents to stop micromanaging your life, I recommend that you keep your current identity. Once their assets are on your name, you will be the one to decide what your parents can and cannot do."

Tiffany assured JoAnna that she will think about it and repeated that for now she will stay in the safehouse.

Tiffany requested some school supplies like notebooks and pens because she wants to keep busy by taking several courses online. "No matter if I take a new identity or keep my current one, I need to gain skills to survive without my parents…", she explained. Tiffany said that she wants to learn about business management, and Jeff promised to send her recommendations on courses she should take.

JoAnna admires Tiffany\'s attitude. She definitely has the right mindset. 

Back to present…

It\'s Tuesday morning and Jeff and JoAnna are having their breakfast.

"What are we going to do with that woman?", Jeff asked JoAnna.

She knows that he is referring to Melodie. Her behavior is frustrating, and they got hints that she is here with ulterior motives. As soon as she got a cell phone on Sunday, she tried calling her friends. The calls were blocked (of course they were, nothing goes pass Eve), so Melodie was unable to contact anyone, but they are suspecting that she is not here to exchange information for a better future outside grasp of her parents.

JoAnna sighed. "I\'m tired of that woman even though I didn\'t meet with her so far. I will deal with her."

Jeff understood that she wants to go without him. "Don\'t go by yourself."

"Don\'t worry. I will go with Bridgette and I never leave the house without bodyguards."

JoAnna suspects that Melodie was not honest when she said that she hates her previous lifestyle. There is a chance that she told her parents about their offer to get her out for information, and that she came here as a mole. Maybe to give them the wrong information, or maybe to get close to Jeff. In any case, JoAnna will get to the bottom of that.

…

Later that day, JoAnna and Bridgette are in the dining room of the safehouse, having lunch in silence.

They spoke with Melodie who was unable to hide her displeasure that Jeff didn\'t come in person to talk to her. JoAnna didn\'t have any patience for Melodie and she gave her a dose of the truth serum. Few minutes later, Melodie admitted that she accepted their offer to come by exchanging information after talking to her parents.

"I told them that Jeffrey\'s people approached me at the party. My daddy is smart, and he realized that Jeffrey knows Marcus is up to something and that Jeffrey will not take it lying down. Daddy gave me some files and told me to be good to Jeffrey. In this way, if Marcus fails with his plans, we have a backup and our family will not go down."

JoAnna could not believe what she heard. She asked Melodie: "You realize that your parents are using you, right?"

Melodie shrugged. "What is strange about that? Everyone is using someone. My parents raised me, and this is my way of giving back."

"Didn\'t they make you sleep with other men?", Bridgette had to ask.

"My parents didn\'t make me do anything. Sometimes they ask me to treat certain people well. I decide if I want to sleep with someone or not. It\'s not like I did it for nothing. It was always an exchange of favors, resources, or some other benefits." Melodie rolled her eyes at the shocked faces of JoAnna and Bridgette. "Why are you making it a big deal? Many of those old geezers can\'t get a hard-on. Kissing and a bit of fondling is how much they go. As for others, it\'s not more than fifteen minutes, is it? You shower and wash it away, and it\'s like nothing happened…"

Back to lunch…

"What will you do with her?", Bridgette\'s question broke the silence.

"I don\'t know. I suspected that something is not right, so I was mentally ready to blow up, hurt her. But after hearing her normalizing such a behavior… I don\'t know. I guess that the biggest shock for me is that she does not care if it\'s Jeff or some sixty-year-old man. She sees giving her body in the same way as exchanging things."

"She does not value herself as a person.", Bridgette concluded.

JoAnna agreed with that statement. "We have everything recorded. Jeff will listen to it and he can do whatever he wants. I am done."

Bridgette understood that the topic is over. "Let\'s finish food. We have meeting in one hour downtown."

"Meeting?"

"Three DJs are going to meet with us in a club to demonstrate what they got. If all goes well, by 3 PM we will finalize music for Jeff\'s birthday party. After that, we are set for a sweet date with four bakers. The best in town. Cake samples will be ready at 4 PM.", Bridgette explained.

JoAnna lit up. "You are the best!"

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