CHAPTER 415: MORE GUESTS

Athena received and gave greetings as she entered into the Thorne’s Mansion.

As she stepped out of the car Rodney had driven, her steps hurried even though she wanted them slower—her curiosity wouldn’t pay heed to her mental instructions. Her heels clicked softly against the polished tiles, and she clutched her bag a little tighter, breath shallow with expectation.

After leaving Antonio, she had immediately called Rodney while walking back to the restaurant so that her driver would find it easier to spot her in the throng of people going here and there.

Now, she lifted her hand in a small wave at Aiden as she spotted him talking on the phone near the porch. He caught sight of her, his lips still moving in conversation, and beckoned her over with a hand gesture, his brows raised in acknowledgment.

Athena leaned forward slightly when she arrived, mouthing, "Everyone is in there?" She exhaled in relief when Aiden nodded, just before ending the call.

"Who was that?" she asked, tilting her head.

"The chief of security... asking questions above his paygrade, wanting to know where I’ve been."

Athena scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. "Do you think that he is working with the gang?"

Aiden chuckled, shaking his head at Athena’s overactive imagination. "He is not. He has checked out clean. And that’s apart from the normal one. I did another the president wasn’t aware of. He checked out too. Don’t worry, no one is getting away under my watch."

Athena smiled faintly, hugging him by the side and resting her cheek briefly against his shoulder. "How did the mission go?"

The cloud of mixed feelings that overtook Aiden’s face then was enough to make Athena wince, her heart dropping to her stomach. She reached for his arm, searching his expression. "That bad?"

Aiden sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I think we should go inside. There’s a lot to talk about, that’s after dealing with your visitors."

Again with the visitors,

Athena thought, nodding slowly. It would mean that when Gianna had called, she was already close to the house.

Athena snorted softly under her breath; her friend must have thought she would check the info out, to find out the identity of the visitors, hence the close-range surprise.

Her curiosity piqued, she followed Aiden out of the porch and into the larger living room, the faint scent of lavender and wood polish washing over her.

She stopped short, a smile cracking across her lips when she saw the visitors, her attention snagged immediately by them because they were occupying the central sofa facing the entrance directly: it was Areso and her mother!

"Areso!" she called, her voice breaking with joy, hands opening wide, smiling with all teeth in display as her designer friend got up from her seat, mirroring the same expression. They met halfway, engulfing each other in a hug that lifted Athena briefly off her feet.

"A Thorne, eh?" Areso whispered in her ears, both of them dissolving into bouts of laughter as they disengaged, still holding each other’s arms.

Next up was Areso’s mother, Jessica, who already had tears streaming down her eyes. The sight alone alerted Athena that the woman must have connected the dots, must have known her true identity—that she was the daughter of the latter’s mentor.

"Athena, my love..." Jessica muttered, her voice trembling as she hugged Athena tightly, not ready to let go even as the seconds ticked by. Her arms shook as she clung to her. "I am sorry."

She kept muttering it over and over, even though Athena whispered back, telling her not to apologize, that it wasn’t her fault the first time.

Jessica finally disengaged, dabbing at her cheeks, yet the crying episode was far from over. "Maybe if I had told your grandmother about the pregnancy, about my latter suspicions of when Emily had given birth..."

Athena shook her head firmly, taking Jessica’s hands. "It’s okay, Aunt Jess. There was no way you would have known how things had gone..."

Jessica nodded, but the tears just wouldn’t stop streaming, even with Athena wiping them off her cheeks intermittently, her thumbs soft and reassuring.

"Since I found out, I wanted to come, but I was scared you might be angry with me..."

Athena chuckled softly, shaking her head, brushing a strand of hair from Jessica’s damp face.

"But your grandmother invited me to the party happening tomorrow, and I thought to risk your wrath." Jessica sniffed, managing a weak smile through the tears. "I am pleased you are not angry with me."

Athena nodded warmly and hugged the mother of her good friend again, squeezing gently, seeing in her more than just a mother but a good elder figure too.

"You are welcome, Aunt Jess... Hope you are comfortable..." She continued, turning aside to look for her grandmother, only to stop short, struggling to keep a blank face when her gaze landed on who was sitting with Nathaniel on a sofa right beside her grandmother.

Antonio.

Her steps faltered, and she instinctively stepped back, resisting the urge to call him out harshly for a talk outside—it wouldn’t be a good tip to Ewan, whom she could see had his attention on his phone.

Whether it was pretense or not, she didn’t know, but she was suddenly uncomfortable, her pulse skipping.

"Yes, I am comfortable," Jessica answered beside her, unaware of the turmoil Athena was going through, Athena who was quickly scanning the room, doing a check of the people present.

It was the usual gang, with her friends and children. Antonio was the odd one sticking out.

She bit back a sigh at the thought. Antonio wasn’t the odd one out. He was her boyfriend, should be family, but... but she had told him not to come here, to go home! Had she escaped from him only to meet a worse scenario?

Inhaling deeply, she forced composure and winked at her grandmother, who raised a brow knowingly. Of course the woman had detected the one-second distress shown on her face.

"Yes. I am comfortable," she heard Jessica say again, and Athena returned her attention to the latter with a quick smile. "I’m glad. Please, have a seat."

Then she moved and greeted her grandparents, her friends, and finally fell to her knees to hug her children who peppered her face with kisses, their little arms wrapping around her neck. She laughed through the affection, willfully keeping her eyes from straying again in the direction of Antonio or Ewan.

"How was your day?" she asked her little ones when they disengaged from the hug, brushing Kathleen’s hair back.

"Good. We aced our tests," Kathleen chimed excitedly, bouncing lightly on her toes.

Athena dropped a kiss on each of their faces. "That’s beautiful. I’ll bake you my infamous cake."

"Yeahhh!" the children shouted in unison, causing chuckles to bloom across the room, with Sandro immediately clamoring for his share of the infamous cake.

Athena laughed and got to her feet. "Unless you are planning on being a side chef, Sandro, you are not getting a cake."

Sandro shrugged dramatically, his grin mischievous. "I can do side chef. Anything at all to taste that cake I had a few months ago."

More laughter rippled through the room, joined by more playful requests to taste the cake, as Athena with her children made her way to sit on the same sofa with her smiling grandfather.

"So, when are we expecting the cake, darling?" Antonio teased suddenly, smiling innocently at Athena, his eyes fixed warmly on her.

She forced a smile on her lips, hiding the tightening in her chest. "Maybe Sunday? You all are invited."