Chapter 135: Woman Trouble

Words : 1208 Updated : Sep 30th, 2025

Chapter 135: Woman Trouble After talking with Emily over the phone, Jamal couldn’t go back to sleep. He lay in bed, thinking about Abigail and how upset she had been earlier on. He understood her. He understood the fact that she was not yet over all that Genevieve had done to her. He still remembered when they first met at the club and all she had said about her stepsister. He remembered Abigail had been a bit insecure about herself then because of Genevieve’s verbal abuse, and it was obvious she still was. How was he going to be able to help Abigail, and also help Genevieve? He didn’t want to hurt Abigail’s feelings, but at the same time he couldn’t help that he was feeling sorry towards Genevieve. He had not seen Abigail since she walked off during their conversation, and even when he went to the kitchen for dinner, she had not showed up. Unable to sleep, he picked up his phone and dialed Tom’s line, needing the wisdom of his mentor to handle the situation. He could have called his uncle, but his uncle would always choose logic over emotion. Uncle Harry would do whatever he considered right and apologize to his wife later, whereas Tom would find a way to do both things while making sure his wife was okay. Tom received the call after the fourth ring, "Did something happen? Why are you awake past midnight?" Tom asked since he was familiar with the time difference between them and it was around 6pm in Ludus. "I just need to talk to you. I want your opinion on something," Jamal said, and Tom chuckled. "Woman trouble?" He guessed. "It’s not funny," Jamal grumbled, and Tom laughed again. "What’s the issue?" Tom asked, and Jamal explained the situation to him. While Jamal was still explaining, Lucy joined Tom, "My Jewel is here. Do you want her to listen in? Or should she excuse us?" "She can stay. I don’t mind getting a female perspective too," Jamal said, and Tom placed the call on speaker. "You think Stefan is in love with her?" Tom asked thoughtfully after Jamal was done telling them what he had found out earlier about Genevieve and how Stefan seemed to care for her. "If he isn’t there yet, he seems on his way there," Jamal said, and Tom sighed. "That could complicate things a little. But you are certain the kid you saw in the picture was Genevieve?" Lucy asked, and Jamal could hear the frown in her voice. "Yes. Why else would they blackmail her with that picture?" "You have a point," Lucy agreed. "It just occurred to me that we only know about her being his daughter, we don’t know about her Mom or how she ended up there. I can see why you’re concerned," Tom said thoughtfully. "It’s hard not to be concerned about her. I know she was horrible to Dawn, but from what Stefan said, she regrets all she did. And from my brief communication with her, I confirmed that too. She has also been trying to do better lately. But Abigail is still so hurt by everything and she doesn’t want me having anything to do with Genevieve. But that’s not the kind of person I am," Jamal said, his frustration evident in his tone. "She doesn’t know that, does she?" Tom asked rhetorically. "You both do not really know much about each other yet. You may be in love and have a child together, that doesn’t mean you two know and understand each other. And the only way you both can do that is by communication..." "I tried talking but she didn’t listen," Jamal cut in. "Because the timing was probably wrong. She was high on emotion and that wasn’t the right time to talk about it. When and how you communicate is just as important as what you want to say. It’s not your duty to smooth things over between them, Jamal. Don’t bother with that. Genevieve has to make up her mind to apologize and come clean with Abigail and then Abigail can decide whether or not she can forgive her and put the past behind them. What you can do however, is to be open with Abigail and explain things to her. Tell her why you feel the need to help Genevieve and maybe you can ask her how she thinks you can help Genevieve without being too close," Tom said, and Jamal sighed. "I’m not sure she’s going to listen." "Then present the issue to her like it’s a different person and not Genevieve. I mean tell her all you know about Genevieve and see if she would be moved by compassion. If she gives you tips on how to help, you can then let her know Genevieve was the one and see if it would make a difference. If it doesn’t, then you should listen to Abigail. At the end of the day, your relationship with her is more important than anything else. And if Stefan is interested in Genevieve as you think, then you can leave it to him and trust that he will make sure she’s okay," Tom said, and Jamal nodded. "Yeah. I know that. It’s just that Stefan isn’t present here. If Stefan was here and I wasn’t, I’d expect him to look out for Abigail..." "And you can look out for Genevieve without going so close to her that Dawn’s feelings would be hurt. You are the one thing she has that they couldn’t take from her. You can’t blame her for not wanting to share you. I would be mad too if I were in her shoes," Lucy cut in, and Jamal sighed. "She said that too, that I’m the only thing they couldn’t take from her. So, you are both saying I should to talk to her and if she still doesn’t want me being close to Genevieve then I should listen to her. I’ve heard you. I will." "Why would you want to be close to Genevieve anyway? Let her get someone else to teach her to sign. You’re her driver not her friend. Stefan should be enough for her," Lucy said, and Tom chuckled. "It’s obvious you’re fully on Abigail’s side," he said, amused. "I’m not ashamed to admit that," Lucy said firmly. "About Genevieve, if she was being molested at that age, and is now being blackmailed, then it’s possible Ryan is not her father or he didn’t raise her. We should find out who and where she was before she took Dawn’s place. See if you can get the number she received the text from. Let’s find out who they are and what they know about her and Ryan," Tom said and Jamal nodded. "I will. How are the three terrors?" Jamal asked, referring to the triplets. "They’re in college. I have my wife to myself and we have our home to ourselves," Tom said, and Lucy giggled. "I’m going back to bed. Y’all should hurry up with whatever plans you have so I can leave here too and have my wife to myself," Jamal said, and hung up the call before they could say anything else.

Chapter 135: Woman Trouble

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