The Billionaire’s Creed

ADLEY

“You know you can always talk to me about everything, right?” Mykel was talking to his son in the study. They did that a lot after Mykel read him stories.

We spent most of our time in the backyard during weekends, and sometimes, we decided to go to the park. Last week, we visited Madelyn in her home, and the grandma was delighted to see her grandson again.

It was hard at first having a three-year-old boy at home that I did not raise, and I didn’t know what he wanted because he barely opened up. I tried to find out the food he loved, what he liked to play with, or even his favorite tv shows.

After some time with Jax, he was not choosy. He liked blue and green, monster cookies, and blueberry smoothies. Jade did a great job raising the kid into a beautiful human being.

Jax liked Knox a lot. His uncle allowed him to play with colors and tempera paints in his studio.

“I mean, Daddy will buy it for you if you want anything. Adley and I are always here for you, buddy. You can tell us anything, like if you made friends, what you did at school, and if you like some toys you want. Something like that.” Mykel turned one of the rooms in the house into Jax’s playroom adjacent to his bedroom.

I did not hear anything from Jax. He must have just given his father a nod.

“Okay, buddy. Uncle Knox will be here in a minute.”

I heard hustling-they must be walking to the door. I pushed it open. Mykel and Jax were hand and hand-it was quite a sight that made me smile.

“Adley!” Jax ran into me and wrapped his arms around my leg.

“Oh, hey.” I ruffled his hair. “What did you and Daddy do?”

“We doodle.”

“Baby.” Mykel kissed me on my cheek. He placed both hands on my growing belly. “How’s my little girl?”

“Behave today.” I looked at my amazing husband. Before I met him, I couldn’t imagine myself being married or pregnant, let alone caring for another woman’s kid. But when fate chose you, you couldn’t turn around and run away from it.

I changed a lot and was proud of myself. I became more mature, responsible, and driven. I worked hard and ran a multi-billion dollar corporation on weekdays. At night, I helped take care of Jax. I also took care of my husband, and I was about to become a mother in less than three months. Who would have thought I could be this woman in a short span.

“Let’s go to the backyard. Are you excited to see uncle?”

“Yes!”

“Of course,” Mykel murmured at me.

“You’re not actually jealous with Knox over your son’s attention, Mykel.”

“Nah.” He kissed the side of my head.

“Good. You have to be happy for him. He finds someone he can trust, and they have common ground. Knox is actually a good uncle, and Jax found comfort in paintings. And it says painting helps develop their sensory and fine motor development. It helps kids learn to choose colors, express their emotions, exercise their creativity, and helps build their self-esteem.”

“I noticed that. I saved his doodles on my iPad, and he’s quite good at it.”

“See? It’s in the DNA. You could probably make millions from paints if you only developed your own.” I couldn’t help but laugh.

We went to the backyard. The weather was good. Mykel put shoes on his son and went to play football. Their rich laugh filled the entire backyard. I could watch them all day and wouldn’t get tired of it. Mykel and Jax became the center of my world. I learned to love the kid like my own, and I couldn’t wait to welcome my baby girl into the family.

The ball landed at my feet. I picked it up.

“Throw the ball to me, Mommy Adley.” It was Mykel waiting for me to throw the ball at him. Then there on my right was Jax, also eager to have the ball.

“Me, me, me!”

I smiled. “Sorry, big guy. Catch the ball, Jax!” I threw the ball to Jax, and it landed right at him, hugging it securely against his chest.

“Good catch, Jax!” Knox just arrived, applauding his nephew.

“How’s your meeting?” I asked Knox as he sat on the chair next to me.

“We got the deal.”

“That’s great, Knox. Congratulations!” I pulled him into a hug.

“Thanks.”

“I always believed in you, and I know I will see your paintings in one of the biggest galleries in the city.”

“That’s the deal.”

I turned to face him. “You seem not thrilled about it. Why?”

“Oh, I’m thrilled. It’s a dream come true.” I believed him, but something was bothering him, too.

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I broke up with Day.” His face just fell. He had been dating Shiloh Day, but I had not met that woman.

“What? Why?” I was shocked to hear about it. “I thought you two were doing great.”

“That’s what I thought. It all started when she was hired by a firm in LA.”

“So, she has to move there?”

“Yeah. She wanted me to come with her, but I have my work here, my family is here, and there’s no way I would do that-”

“Even for love?” I eyed him.

“Even for love.” He rolled his eyes.

“Hey, bro.” Mykel walked in, joining us. Bad timing, I was about to get more details, but now, Knox would not tell me about his heartbreak. There was no way he would spill it in front of his brother.

“Hi.” They fist-bumped.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uncle!” Jax went quickly on Knox’s lap.

“Hey, kiddo. You played well. I wouldn’t be surprised if you become the next star in the family.”

“Babe, take Jax to change his shirt and shoes, please?”

He nodded. “Come on, buddy. You’re sticky and sweaty. We’ll change, then we can come back.”

I watched them walk inside the house. Then I turned back to Knox. “You did not fall in love with Day?”

“No.” His answer was defensive, and he denied it.

“Liar. Why so grumpy if you’re not in love?”

“I’m not.”

“Do you still chat or call each other?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. So?”

“Do you still have her call logs and messages? Do you still follow each other on social media?”

He rolled his eyes again.

“I get it. You’re heartbroken. If you think she’s the one, you should sacrifice one thing, or you can visit her in LA, and if the feeling is mutual, she can do the same. Don’t let the one get away, Knox.”

“So if you two didn’t elope, just date and fall in love, you’d sacrifice something for Mykel?”

“I will,” Mykel replied behind us. “Correction. We did not elope.”

“Eavesdropping much?”

“Nah, bro. I saw the gloomy face the moment you walked in. If she’s the one, you’ll know it, fates collided and sh- and crap like that.”

I gave Mykel a look until he mouthed an apology.

“Whatever. I don’t believe in that kind of- crap.”

“I did sacrifice something for Adley. An hour before I met her, I was banging another woman who turned out to be my stalker. Anyway, never in my life I would have thought I would meet the woman who actually-”

“Mykel,” I scolded him.

“Fine. Let’s cut the juicy part.”

Jax laughed on Knox’s lap.

“Why don’t you go and play, kiddo?” Knox asked Jax.

“I wanna stay.”

“Okay. Just ignore what we’re talking about.”

I chuckled. “You know when you say something like that, kids get more curious, right?”

“Anyway, I had no plan on getting married in ten years, let alone in a few days, but I like Adley, and it felt stu-” I hit him on his thigh. “And it felt right at the same time. So I made a sacrifice-my own freedom. There’s just something about us that defies the law of all the sh-crap. Adley knew that. She just didn’t wanna admit it. I knew the first time I met her that she liked me.”

“Excuse me?” I pretended to be offended.

“You know if I kissed you that night, you would kiss me back. I bet the new car in the garage?”

“You bought a new car?” Knox asked in surprise.

“Yeah. I can buy another jet, Knox.”

I rolled my eyes. “This is not about you, Mykel.”

“Sorry, my wife. My brother can’t accept the fact that he’s in love. And I hate it when people lie into my face.”

“I’m still not going anywhere. If she loves me, then she should stay and work here.”

“I saw someone in you, Knox.”

I hit Mykel again. “Really, Mykel?”

“That’s true. You kept on denying that you didn’t have feelings for me, and everything you did was just for the sake of your stupid-I’m saying this and letting it out in my system-that what you were doing was just for your stupid conditions.”

“Do you two need marriage counseling?”

“We don’t,” we said in unison.

“Good, because the last time I checked, we were talking about my love life.”

Mykel and I barked out laughing with a high-five.

Knox stared at us, pissed off. “I came to the wrong people asking for advice.”

“Oh?” Mykel pretended to be surprised. “You were asking for advice?” He then looked at me. “My love, Knox is asking for our advice. What a surprise.”

I couldn’t help but laugh with Mykel. “Stop it, or I will tell Knox how you screwed up our relationship.”

“So, there was a relationship, huh, Denial Queen?”

“Of course. There was a relationship, butthead. We are married.”

Jax laughed out loud.

“Sorry, honey. Adley said bad words.” I ruffled Jax’s hair.

“I know you fell in love with me right away.”

“Dream on, big guy.” I snorted and returned to Knox. “My advice, give it a week. If she loves you, she will come back to you. Shiloh Day is not as stubborn as me, and you don’t have an ego like your brother’s.”

“Excuse me, baby?”

“Oh, shut it, babe. I’m just telling the truth. Anyway.” I picked up something from my shorts pocket. “Here. Advance Happy Birthday, Knox.” I grabbed his hand and dropped my gift in his palm.

“Thank you?” It was more like a query than a statement. He picked up the key. “Is this for real?”

“The new car we talked about? That’s yours. Advance happy birthday, bro.” Mykel hugged his brother.

“Thanks.” He couldn’t contain his smile. “Anyway, I have something for the two of you. I know it’s not much, but Jax and I did it together.”

Mykel was already on his feet. “Show us.”

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We followed him inside the house. Jax was ahead of us, running to the living room.

Knox picked the well-wrapped. My guess by that shape alone could be one of his paintings. “Hope you like it.”

Mykel picked it up and tore off the wrapper. For the first time, Mykel really appreciated the framed painting, and so did I.

It was a mix of throw paint art and Jax’s fingerprints.

“This is beautiful. I love it, Knox. Thank you.”

“Glad you like it.”

“Jax should spend a lot of time with you. Adley was right. My kid has a hidden talent. This is worth more than your new car. Priceless piece.”

Knox couldn’t help but chuckle. “There’s someone who came and actually wanted to buy that. I put that on display yesterday before I wrapped it.”

“You actually planned on selling this?”

“I never have a plan on selling that. I value that more than money, Mykel. That’s intended for the two of you. Jax and I are teams, right, kiddo?”

“We’re a team.”