Woke Up Married

A ray of light falling on Jason's face made it impossible for him to continue enjoying his sleep. Squinting his face, he turned, but he felt something behind him preventing him from lying on his back. He turned the other way to allow him to see what was behind him and was surprised to see a half-naked woman sleeping in his bed. He quickly got out of bed and realized he was not wearing any clothes.

"What the hell happened?" Jason thought.

Confused, he left the bedroom, entered the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, looking at his reflection. He tried to recall the events of the previous day but remembered nothing.

"Who is she? And why is she in his bed?" Jason thought and ran his hand through his black hair.

His eyes fell on the gold ring on his finger. He quickly turned his hand and looked at it closely. He removed it from his finger and read the initials engraved inside it.

"J.H"

"What does that mean? Jason Haward?" Jason thought.

"Looks like my initials," he thought.

"Why do I have a wedding ring on my finger?" he thought, and remembered the lady.

"Maybe she put it on my finger," he thought.

Back in the bedroom, the lady, Julia, had just woken up but held her head in pain. She tried to recall what she did to give her such a terrible headache.

Julia attempted to sit up but quickly realized she was naked. She covered herself with the sheet but felt some discomfort between her legs.

"Where am I and what the hell happened?" she thought, realizing the strange environment.

"O no, what did I do this time?" Julia stared in horror at the blood stain on the bed when she finally got out of bed.

She had lost her virginity and yet had no memory of how that happened. How could she have lost her virginity like this? She wanted a memorable experience for her first time, yet she had no recollection of how this one happened or even how it felt. Just when she was lost in her thoughts, the door opened and a tall handsome man with blue eyes and black hair stepped into the room.

"Who are you?" Jason asked in his deep voice.

"I should be asking you that question. Who are you and how did I get here?" Julia questioned, moving backwards, away from the king-size bed.

Jason's gaze shifted to Julia's hand, which was holding the sheet she had wrapped around herself with part of it sweeping the floor, and he saw she also had a ring on her finger. He walked towards her and she was startled by his sudden advancement towards her. She started moving backwards and he kept advancing towards her.

"Don't get any closer or I will scream," Julia threatened.

"Scream all you want, like someone is going to hear you."Jason retorted.

Julia's back hit the window and he grabbed her hand roughly.

"How did you get this?" Jason questioned, drawing Julia's attention to the ring on her finger.

Julia looked at it puzzled and could not answer him. She had no idea how she got it but she loved the diamond stones around it because they were very beautiful.

"Are you hearing me, woman?" Jason yelled at her, tightening his grip around her wrist and shaking her violently.

Julia winced in pain and her face quickly became red.

"I don't know" Julia replied, her voice trembling.

"You don't know how you ended up in my bed?" Jason yelled at her.

"I don't know," Julia cried and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Jason threw her to the ground out of annoyance.

"Get out of this room before I get back," he said and heard his phone ringing.

Jason scanned the entire room following the sound and finally saw it lying on the bedside table. He walked back to the bedside and picked it up. It was a call from his brother.

"Hello James," Jason said.

"Hello Jason, what time are you coming over," James asked.

"Coming over for what? I have some things to do at the office. So, whatever you want to say, spit it out quickly," Jason replied, annoyed.

"Brother, it is Saturday. Dad came home sick last night; we sent him to the hospital. Mum called you, have you forgotten?" James reminded him.

Jason stood frozen. He had no memory of that. He thought very hard but nothing.

"Sure, I am coming over" Jason replied calmly.

Jason ended the call still trying to recall things, but could not recall anything. He placed the phone back on the table but his eyes caught sight of the stain on the white sheet.

"Is that blood?" Jason thought, knowing exactly what that meant.

"Does it mean I am her first?" Jason thought, turning to look at the woman covering herself with the sheet still standing in front of the window.

"F**k!" Jason exclaimed, understanding he had to take responsibility, but he was not ready for that.

"What is your name" he questioned, but was met with silence.

"Answer me dammit," Jason yelled, causing Julia to jump out of fright.

"Julia Harrison," Julia replied, trembling.

"Julia, get out of my house now," Jason yelled.

"I don't know where my clothes are," Julia said in a trembling voice.

"What size are you?" Jason asked in frustration.

"What?" Julia replied, not understanding what he meant.

"Your clothes size" Jason repeated.

"8" Julia replied.

Jason picked up his phone and dialled a number.

"Bring me a female dress, size 8. You have 15 minutes," Jason said and disconnected the call.

Jason entered the bathroom, leaving Julia in the bedroom.

"Who the heck is that guy and why is he so mean?" Julia thought.

She started looking around to see if she would find her clothes but there was nothing. A knock on the door startled her. She stood frozen, not sure what to do. The man came out of the bathroom.

"What? You didn't hear the knock or you didn't know how to answer the doors?" Jason asked annoyed.

He walked to the door and opened it. Collecting the dress bag from the young man at the door. He closed the door without a word. He took two steps and threw the bag at her.

"Get dressed and get out before I come out," he said and went back to the bathroom.

Julia opened it and put on the straight blue dress. She wasn't wearing any underwear and had no shoes on either. She quickly made her way towards the door and opened it. She stepped out and closed it shut by banging it, making a loud noise.

There were lots of people working in the house all wearing uniforms. They all turned to look at her. She quickly turned white as a sheet.

"I am sorry," Julia apologized and looked around her and ran towards the staircase.

She descended the staircase but was not sure how to get out of the house. She saw a lady carrying a tray in one direction. The aroma told her it was food.

"Please how do I get outside," Julia asked, standing on the last stairs, and the lady pointed her in the right direction.

Julia quickly ran in the direction the lady had shown her and was soon out of the house after descending a never-ending long staircase. She looked behind her to see the huge eight-storey beautiful building she had just exited.

She walked barefoot on the wet pavement, indicating it had rained the night before. She raised her hand to stop a cab and realized she didn't have any money and she was not familiar with the area either.

"O God, I need to stop clubbing and drinking. How did I end up with that handsome ass, and here?" she thought as she looked around in frustration.

Julia had no phone to call anyone. She continued walking down the street. She was not sure how long she had been walking when a Bugatti Chiron slowed down close to her.

She ignored it and continued walking. The car honked at her so she stopped to see who it was.

"Get in" came the deep familiar voice.

It was the man who had yelled at her earlier in the Storey building.

Julia ignored him and continued to walk. A man got down from the front in a black tuxedo wearing sunglasses. He walked up to Julia and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her towards the car.

"Let go of me, I am going to scream," Julia threatened as she struggled to free herself.

"Go ahead, like anyone will come," replied the gentleman as he continued to drag her towards the parked car.

He opened the door to the back seat and threw Julia into the car. She fell onto the seat but quickly collected herself and pushed herself backwards till her back hit the car door. She was trembling as she was very terrified.

"Listen, woman, when I say something, you listen and obey. Get it?" Jason said in a deep calm voice.

His eyes were fixated on his phone as his fingers typed away. Julia pushed back further as if she wanted to go through the door and end up outside.

"Where to?" Jason asked, still looking at his phone.

"Belle glade," Julia replied, trembling.

Jason shifted his gaze to look at her briefly and could see how terrified she was, but he was not bothered. He turned his gaze back to his phone and gave the instructions to the driver to drop Julia off at the destination she mentioned. Julia sat in the corner of the car with her back pressed against the back seat door, with her head lowered all through the journey till they got to her destination.

Upon reaching her destination and the door unlocked Julia jumped out of the car.

"Thank you" Julia managed to say and moved away quickly.

She kept looking back occasionally and realized the car had left.

"What a rude man," Julia thought as she continued walking down the street towards her home.

"What a rude man," Julia thought as she continued walking down the street towards her home.

She walked down the pavement and entered the porch of a house built with wood and painted white. She looked inside the house from the window, trying to sneak in.

"Julia, come inside," came her mother's voice, "I know you are standing there.

Julia squeezed her eyes and pursed her lips. She opened the front door, which was not locked, and entered the house.

"Good morning, ma'am," Julia said with her hands behind her back.

Her mother was sitting on the sofa reading a book with her eyeglasses on. She didn't lift her head to look at Julia standing almost behind her.

"Where are you coming from?" Julia's mother asked, her eyes still fixated on the book she was reading.

"Er...ma'am, I... I," Julia stammered, scratching the back of her neck.

Her mother closed the book she was reading and, removing her glasses, turned halfway to look at Julia. She frowns and gets up to look at the dress Julia is wearing closely. She realized Julia was not wearing any shoes.

She checked the label and gasped. She frowned, looking at Julia. Julia was puzzled and was wondering why her mother was examining the dress she was wearing.

"Where did you get the money to buy this dress?" questioned her mother.

"I ...I ... didn't buy it, it's a gift from a friend," Julia said quickly.

"A gift from a friend. Which of your friends earns that much to get you this? Is it Tilly, your jobless friend or Michael the bread seller?" Julia's mother asked, with her hands on her waist and Julia was silent.

She couldn't bring herself to talk about the events of the morning.

"Where are the clothes you were wearing yesterday," Julia's mother questioned, "And why are you not in shoes?" she asked.

"I don't know," Julia said honestly.

"Are you sleeping with men now? The dress you are wearing is from a Louis Vuitton collection," Julia's mother pointed out.

"No," Julia replied immediately, "I am not, and I won't do that. It is just that last night was a mess and ...and ...please mum, let's not talk about it," she said and ran off to her room.

"What is she hiding?" Julia's mother thought, staring in the direction Julia had run through.

After dropping her off, Jason was on his way to the hospital. He sat quietly at the back trying to recall the last thing he remembered. He had been invited to a musical program as the guest of honour and he went with his dad.

He recalled the media taking pictures of him and his dad when they arrived before he was ushered through a private hall to the hall where the music festival was happening. That is all he remembers.

"Sir, we are here," the driver called out to Jason, interrupting his thoughts. Jason rolled down the glass and looked outside.

HCA Florida Westside Hospital, he read the sign. Yes, that is the name of the hospital his brother had sent to him. He got out of the car and walked towards the hospital accompanied by four formidable men.

"Is that Jason Haward?" a passerby asked her friend she was walking with.

"Yes, it is him. Is he coming to donate to this hospital?" the lady asked her friend, excited to see him.

"Quick, take a picture of me with him in the background. Hurry" the lady shrieked.

"Girl, unless you can make him stop walking, I don't know how that is possible. Those men walking with him will destroy your phone if you click any picture he didn't permit," the passerby pointed out to her friend before they walked away still admiring him from a distance.

With Jason's presence around the hospital, a few crowds began to gather outside the hospital compound just to catch a glimpse of him.

With his cold aura, he entered the hospital and was met by his brother. The medical staff, even though they were busy working, managed to steal some glances at him.

"What happened to Papa?" James questioned, looking at Jason's face with worry.

"What did the doctor say," Jason asked in a deep, calm voice.

"Nothing yet, Mother is with him now," James announced and led Jason to the ward where his father was lying in bed, wearing a hospital gown, with his eyes closed and hooked to so many machines.

Jason wanted to ask his father what had happened because he had been with him the previous night and didn't have any of his guards around except his father's guards. They would not say anything to him. His mother turned to look at him tear-eyed as soon as she heard the door open. Jason stood behind his mother, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"He got home almost at midnight and fainted before he could even climb the staircase to the bedroom. He has been like this since we brought him here," Mrs Haward said and sniffled.

Jason rubbed Mrs Haward's shoulders gently and she held Jason's hand. The doctor walked in seeing the entire family.

He said, "I need to speak to one of you," the doctor said, and looked at them.

James was the eldest, so he went with the doctor, leaving Jason with their mother. She held her husband's hand in hers, dropping kisses on the back of his hand in tears. Jason's phone buzzed, making him exit the ward. As soon as Mrs Haward was alone with her husband, she dropped his hand on the bed and leaned in closer to his ears.

"You think you are smart; you want to kick me and my son out of the house and leave us with nothing. Now I am going to manage all your property. It is so amazing how you did everything just so I get nothing, but now I am getting everything." Mrs Haward said smiling and running her fingers through her husband's hair.

"You know why I love the rules of your family so much. Unless that rude son of yours can find a woman to marry his rudeness this minute, I don't see how you win," Mrs Haward added, smiling, but quickly changed her demeanour and planted a kiss on his cheeks when he heard the door opening.

"Mum, you can't keep crying like this, you need to be strong for him," James said as soon as he entered.

"What did the doctor say," Mrs Haward questioned, her eyes red with tears.

James looked at her, not sure whether to tell her everything, "He would be fine," he managed to say.

"We just need to take good care of him," James added.

They both turned to look at him when they heard him mention Jason's name weakly, but then his body started jerking violently and the machine's alarms started going off. James pressed the button for the doctor and rushed out to get one but was met by three medical practitioners at the entrance who entered and quickly tried to attend to him, sending them out of the room. They did everything they could but, in the end, they lost him. The nurse unplugged the machine and started taking it off him. The two doctors proceeded out of the ward and were met by Jason, James and their mother.

"I am sorry," the doctor said and their mother froze in her spot.

She was about to fall to the ground but James caught her.

"What was wrong with him?" Jason asked James.

"He was battling colon cancer which had advanced to its final stage. There was not much they could do for him," James said.

"Colon cancer? How?" Jason questioned, surprised nobody knew about it.

"Let me take Mum home and inform the rest of the family," James said.

"I suppose Mirenda is back," Jason asked.

"Yes, she arrived this morning. This is going to be a shock. She doesn't know anything. I will hold on telling Grandpa," James replied.

"Leave grandpa to me," Jason said, and James left the hospital with their mother while Jason stayed behind and did the paperwork.

"Leave grandpa to me," Jason said, and James left the hospital with their mother while Jason stayed behind and did the paperwork.

James sat behind the wheel and drove out of the hospital compound with their mother, Mrs Haward, who would not stop crying about her dead husband, sitting next to him in the co-driver's seat. James just felt she needed to cry out as she appeared inconsolable.

James remained silent with his eyes on the road as he drove back to the family condo. Jason finished the paperwork at the hospital and also headed for their family condo. Ten minutes after James arrived at the condo, Jason also drove in. Jason parked got out of the car, used the elevator, and went to the 12th floor.

It was a huge floor with six bedrooms, two living rooms, and a well-designed balcony with a pool. The interior was shades of grey and white. They had some beautiful paintings hanging on the walls. Yes, they are a super-rich family.

Jason entered the visitors' living room and was welcomed by his grandpa and they walked together to the family living room. They sat there for a while chatting.

"Hello Grandpa," said Jason as soon as they sat down. He looked around for James or their mother but they were nowhere in sight.

Jason's grandpa sat next to Jason, hugging Jason's shoulders. Jason smiled as he hugged the old man back. The old man sat down properly and Jason helped him support his back with one of the sofa pillows.

"How is work?" Grandpa enquired after sitting down comfortably.

"All good, I just have some project contracts to sign on Monday," Jason said, "Grandpa,"

"Yes" replied Grandpa.

"Something happened today," Jason began, trying to tell the old man about his father's death.

"Your father left us," Grandpa completed Jason's statement, "Yeah I know, your mother came home crying," he replied and looked up while Jason stared at his side profile.

"Your father was a good person; he was almost like a son to me. Sometimes I wish I had him as a son. He was hard-working, smart and very humble; you should pick his character," Grandpa said, turning to look at Jason, and Jason nodded with a cold expression.

Yeah, his father, Mr Haward, was humble and where did that land him? People took advantage of him all the time and tried to fool him. Jason had already carved an image for himself and he would not drop it for his father's humble character. Today, people fear him and they do not stand and speak to him without trembling. Jason's father, Mr Haward, was merciful, but Jason was ruthless. The only thing Jason picked from his father was his hard-working nature and how smart he was.

They spent some time together before Grandpa decided he was going to take his afternoon nap. Jason went upstairs after Grandpa had left for his room and found his elder brother and younger sister, both crowded around their mother who was still wiping tears from her eyes, in her room.

Jaspn's phone buzzed and he stepped out of the room to answer it. He returned to the room a few minutes later.

"Everything is ready, the burial is set for the day after tomorrow" Jason announced, and left them for his room.

He sat on the sofa resting his head on the back of the sofa, lost in deep thoughts.

"How come no one knew dad was battling colon cancer and what happened that night when he went to the music festival with his dad?"

Jason tried to remember a few events from the night before. The program went well and the performances were great. Mr Haward gave Jason a bottle of water when Jason requested one of the guards to get him water. That was it. Jason doesn't recall anything after drinking the water.

Jason searched his pocket for the wedding ring and took it out, looking at it carefully. He placed it back in his pocket. He didn't want anyone in the family to know about it until he had figured out who the lady was and how she ended up in his room. His phone rang, snapping him out of his thoughts. He checked the caller ID and answered.

"Yes, speak," Jason commanded.

"Sir, her name is Julia Harrison. She stays with her mother at Belle Glade, in a two-bedroom house. The house is occupied by just the two of them, she and her mother. Concerning her father, she never met him. She is a school bus driver, and that is how she earns money for her daily upkeep. Her mother is a dressmaker. Despite their living conditions, Julia likes to party with her two best friends, Matilda Hayford, whom she calls Tilly and Michael Hogan, at night clubs and even though she can't handle her liquor, she likes to drink," the caller informed Jason.

"That is all I found out about her," the caller added.

"Hmm," Jason said and disconnected the call when the caller had nothing more to say.

"This girl is a nobody," Jason thought, " the only one who could probably tell him what happened is now gone and that is his father whom he was with the night."

Later, Jason had dinner together with his family and he was surprised to see their mother, Mrs Haward, had the appetite to eat so much after crying from morning almost till afternoon, but he felt it was good she didn't starve herself.

After dinner, Jason hung around for a while and returned to his apartment. Upon entering his apartment with two of his bodyguards, all the servants immediately became tense. The guards remained on the first floor as he went up to the next floor where he slept. He sat on the sofa and watched the news for a while before he decided to go to bed. In his bedroom, he opened his drawer by the bedside to pick up his phone charger but found two signed marriage certificates with his dad as the witness.

"Wait, so his dad knew about the wedding? Did he organize it," Jason thought but again kicked against it.

"According to his brother, Dad passed out upon reaching home. Something happened but it also doesn't make sense that someone attacked his father and got him, Jason, to marry a stranger," Jason continued in his thoughts while staring at the two certificates in his hand.

He put them back and sat on the edge of the bed with his phone charger in hand.

"Why would someone get him married like that, unless, maybe, someone is going to use the girl to get to him." Jason thought, "his information and access to everything," he thought,

"Someone has planned something and it doesn't look good,"

Jason smiled; he would file for a divorce after the funeral. He concluded his thought, put his phone on charge and went to take a shower. He climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep with a decision to start divorce proceedings.

The day of the funeral came. Mr Haward was lying in the casket surrounded by lots of flowers. A lot of people attended the funeral as Mr Haward was a well-known person.

Mr Haward's body was taken to the graveside and lowered into the grave. Jason collected some sand and threw it on the lowered casket, and so did all his siblings, including their mother, and the grave was covered. From the graveyard, they all went back to the family condo. Everyone spent the night at the condo.

Jason left for his apartment the next day as the funeral was over and he needed to get some things done and also start the divorce process before anyone in the family found out about it.

Jason went to court to initiate the process a couple of days later and was shocked by what he found out. There was a contract with a rule that the marriage could only go through a divorce after one and a half years.

"What the hell?" Jason yelled.

He enquired if something could be done and he was told nothing could be done about it. He angrily left the place for work annoyed. He entered his company and went straight to his cabin with instructions not to be disturbed.

In his cabin, Jason tried to understand how the contract, marriage certificate, wedding rings and the lady he had slept with happened and why. He decided he would confront the lady. Maybe she will know something. She was not at the music festival, so how did they meet? He picked up his phone and dialled a number.

"I want that Julia girl in my apartment at 6 pm today," Jason said and disconnected the call.

For the rest of the day, he distracted himself with lots of work, meetings etc. Soon the day was over and he left the company for his apartment.

The driver drove the car into the huge underground garage and parked. Jason stepped out of the car with four bodyguards. He was approached by another bodyguard.

"Where is she?" Jason questioned.

"Sir, she is tied up in the basement," replied the bodyguard, and Jason proceeded to the place.

Jason asked his guards to leave him alone with her once inside. Julia looked a little bruised. Her hair is dishevelled. The side of her lip was bleeding.

Despite her unkempt appearance, she was a very beautiful woman. She had gorgeous eyes and heavy and long brown hair. Aside from the bruises she had sustained because they manhandled her, you can tell she has very beautiful skin.

Jason was very angry the morning he woke up next to her and hence did not have time to look at her. Even with her frown, she looked adorable, but he kept a cold, unwelcoming face.

Julia had her hands and legs tied to the chair she was sitting on and a piece of cloth was used to tie her mouth.

Jason pulled a chair and placed it not far away from her. He removed the cloth from her mouth and Julia began to scream so loudly Jason felt like his ear drums were going to explode.

"Shut up," Jason said and a slap landed on the side of Julia's face, which turned red and swelled up immediately.

Julia's head began to spin, she thought she might pass out anytime soon. She became terrified and started trembling in the seat.

"Okay, tell me what were you doing before you woke up in my bed" Jason asked.

Tears rolled down Julia's face as she spoke, her voice trembling "Please don't harm me, I don't remember anything." she replied honestly.

"So, you don't recall anything at all?" Jason asked, "Answer me," he yelled at Julia and her body shook with fear.

"I went out with my friends, believe me, that is all that I remember," Julia replied almost in tears.

"Where did you go," Jason asked, sitting down.

"To a nightclub in my area," Julia replied, still trembling.

"Okay, that is fine, give me the names of your friends and their contact," Jason commanded, "Now" he yelled and Julia jumped in her seat.

"Matilda," Julia said.

"Matilda, what?" Jason asked.

"Matilda Hayford and Michael Hogan," Julia said and quickly called out their contacts.

Jason left Julia in the room. A few minutes later, a lady entered the room and untied Julia. She dressed Julia's wounds for her. After, the lady left Julia to walk free in the basement.

Jason went up to the floor of his room after giving the names and contacts to his bodyguards to pick them up the next day.