Billionaires At War

CHAPTER LXIII

"Welcome home, silly old man."

Harrison laughed, his arms resting against his lap as Cassandra wheeled him into the room filled with balloons. The house had changed so much; the colours were different, and he knew that his mother had switched out all the furniture.

Cassandra, dressed in her most comfortable pair of joggers and a loose sweatshirt. Acting like his guard, she stood behind him with her hands folded and a mini smile on her face when anyone stepped forward to speak to him. Of course, they didn't come out of the entire situation unscathed; there were still signs of what Josephine had done to them. He wasn't sure they would fade away because Josephine didn't.

After Joesphine had gone into cardiac arrest, as his mother told him, the doctors were able to save her life. Thankfully, the drug she used took a while to act, which was why he was still alive. She stayed in the hospital for a few days to heal from her wounds and the poisoning. Josephine got shipped off to prison four days before he was discharged because everyone was protecting him, he wasn't permitted to see her. No one understood why he wanted to see her, but he knew that he needed to clear the air. The sad thing was that he didn't understand why he needed to clear the air with her even when he understood that she wasn't going to listen. She had hurt him more than he ever hurt her.

The one thing that he kept to himself was that he had nightmares each time he went to sleep. He was sure it would pass, but the more he thought of Josephine, the fear that she would be back for something important in his life was beginning to strangle him little by little. The dreams became more frequent and, on a few occasions, he had had some panic attacks. It was affecting his stamina, but he didn't want his family worrying about him. Hopefully, with therapy, he would be back to normal soon.

Cassandra removed the blanket from his lap and allowed him to stand with her help before they walked over to a sofa then he sat down. She folded the blanket neatly as she watched everyone that came around them with a smile growing on her face. There were jokes, laughter, stories and all different from different people but he listened to them all.

For a moment, he knew how Cassandra felt being overpampered by everyone around him, but after a while, he really didn't mind it. He loved when people smothered him, and that's exactly what they had done since he came through the door. His fiancée finally relaxed against the sofa with him and folded her legs underneath her body; she dragged one of his hands over her lap and began tracing invisible flowers on his skin.

The glint of her ring made him grin; he was more than happy to see it on her. In the hospital, after he was able to speak, he asked her to marry him. They were not getting married any time soon, that much he knew, but they were going to get married either way. They would be engaged for however long it would take for them to be ready. Easy. Well, from his injured perspective.

"It is so good to see you back here, boy." His mom tapped the back of his head gently then plopped herself on the sofa. "You better watch yourself these next few days because you are still in a delicate condition, and we wouldn't want to push you too far. Now your room is set and ready, but you are based downstairs for the meantime."

Harrison chuckled, "I understand perfectly. At least I am here, at home and in good health, so I think we can all calm down for now. Thankfully there is booze in here. I need something strong at the moment; my muscles need to fall asleep."

"You are not allowed to drink, so forget about that. Here is a glass of cold orange juice. Savour it. Maria and Julia are still discussing business over at the table, so I suggest you steer clear of that zone; you don't have my permission for that. Bye, baby."

He shrugged as he lifted his cheek for her to kiss. With a finger, she wiped the smudge of lipstick off his cheek then picked her glass of champagne up as she walked away. His eyes roamed around for a while, then he turned to Cassandra with her hands trailing through his hair. The whole ordeal had taken a toll on her health, he couldn't do a thing, but he would be damned if he didn't do his best to make this easier for her.