Chapter 59

“Mom!” Michael, like a loyal sidekick, tagged along behind Teresa, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “Please get Mr. Lime’s autograph for me and tell him I’m a huge fan,” Michael pleaded.

Teresa frowned and said, “No way. We’re not close.”

“You’re lying! Sherry told me you’ve been hanging with Mr. Lime for days! That’s why you’ve been out all night!” Michael said.

Quickly, Teresa cornered Sherry for an explanation. Sherry backtracked, swearing she never revealed Jonathan’s identity to Michael. She only mentioned Teresa was with the boss who drove the black Maybach.

“Teresa, I’m dying to know why you and Jonathan divorced,” Sherry said.

Teresa stayed mum, not taking the bait.

Meanwhile, Jonathan was back at the office, tackling a backlog of work. His secretary entered and said, “Mr. Lynn, the task you set is done. When Jason wakes up, he’ll find his family’s finances in ruins.”

Jonathan murmured, “Keep him in the hospital. Visit him under Horizonlead Group’s name, bring him some gruel, and spike it with a bit of leftover stale gruel… Mr. Lynn, you’re really something, still sharp as ever,” the secretary thought.

“Understood, Mr. Lynn. I’ll handle it,” the secretary assured, leaving the office.

Jonathan wanted Jason to wake up and face his own demise. As for the lawyers, he’d assigned someone to ensure Teresa was cleared of any wrongdoing.

After wrapping up three meetings, Jonathan returned to his office. The front desk called, saying a lady named Teresa wished to see him.

“Send her to my office. From now on, let her up directly when she arrives,” Jonathan instructed.

“Got it, Mr. President,” the receptionist replied, hanging up and casting a few more glances at Teresa, impressed by her looks and figure. Among the many women who visited Jonathan daily, she was the first one granted direct access to his office.

Teresa came to deliver the tie she had bought for Jonathan. It was intended for his birthday, but she didn’t give it to him when she saw Simona visiting him at the hospital.

Jonathan opened the box to see a grey tie and examined it before closing the box. “It’s a sharp style.”

At first, Teresa feared he might not like it. Now, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Since I’m here, sign something for me, please.”

Jonathan remained silent with a puzzled expression.

Teresa explained, “Your company is impressive, and you’re killing it now. I’m afraid you’ll be too successful for us to meet. I want your autograph as a keepsake.”

The truth was that it was Michael who insisted on getting Jonathan’s autograph. After watching Jonathan’s interview on TV, Michael was star-struck, calling him Mr. Lime and saying he wanted to grow up tall, handsome, and wealthy, just like him.

Initially, Teresa wanted to ignore Michael’s request, but with Michael’s drama—crying, throwing a fit, and threatening to stop eating—she caved. She took the tie to Jonathan and asked for an autograph.

Handing over a notebook with a cartoon character on the cover, Teresa said, “Please sign it in this notebook.”

“Where did you get this notebook? It’s so cheesy,” Jonathan flipped through it, looking at the cartoon cover and frowning.

“Just sign it, Mr. Lynn,” Teresa urged.

Instead of signing right away, Jonathan glanced at Teresa several times, asking, “Is your chest still sore?”

Teresa blushed and replied, “It’s fine! Hurry up and sign.”

Jonathan smirked, then signed the notebook, closed it, and handed it back to her.

Teresa quickly grabbed the notebook, saying, “I’ll leave you be, liye!”

“Let’s grab lunch,” Jonathan said.

“No, thanks,” Teresa declined. She had a new batch of clothes to ship out and was swamped.

With that, Teresa left. Jonathan’s chauffeur drove her home, concerned about her driving after hearing from Benny that she had scratched her car a few days ago. He wondered what was going through her mind, driving so absentmindedly.

Back home in the afternoon, Teresa gave the notebook to Michael, saying, “Here’s the autograph you want.”

Michael excitedly opened the notebook, but upon seeing it, he declared, “This can’t be Mr. Lime’s autograph. You’re tricking me.”

Teresa insisted, “Of course it is! He signed it himself. I watched him do it.”

“Look at it. Mr. Lime would never sign a name like this,” Michael said.

Teresa took the notebook and saw “Hottie” written inside, thinking, “Nice one, Jonathan. You got me by signing such a name!”

“Whatever, this is the autograph Mr. Lane gave me personally. If you don’t believe me, that’s fine. I’ve already swallowed my pride to ask for his autograph today,” Teresa said.

Michael snorted, refusing to believe it was Mr. Lime’s autograph. “My idol is not such a narcissistic person.”

Teresa thought to herself, Well, he is that narcissistic. Never mind. I don’t want to argue anymore.

Spotting Michael’s innate talent for sketching, Teresa signed him up for a personal art class. Now that she had some money coming in, she was ready to fuel his creative spark.

While Teresa was tied up with sales, she got Sherry to pick up Michael from school in the afternoon.

Michael was a prude about being picked up after class. But today, his attention was grabbed by the sleek black Maybach parked opposite his art class.

“Sherry, that’s Mr. Lime, right?” Michael said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Sherry followed Michael’s gaze and laid eyes on Jonathan, who was leaning against the car and absorbed in a phone call. “This man’s incredibly handsome but tragically unaware of his own child,” Sherry mused to herself.

Sherry thought it was odd for Teresa to keep their son a secret from Jonathan, but she was just an outsider—she couldn’t meddle.

“Sherry, I want to say hi to Mr. Lime,” Michael said, barely containing his thrill.

“Go for it, but make it snappy. I’ll be right here waiting for you,” Sherry told him, giving him a light nudge.

“Okay, be right back,” Michael promised.

Jonathan had just wrapped up a call and was about to get into his car when he noticed a pair of big, hopeful eyes staring at him from across the street.

“Well, you again,” Jonathan said, remembering Michael as the kid who had yelled, “Hoss, you’re so cool!” before covering his face and running off.

Grinning, Michael approached and asked, “Mr. Lime, you remember me? I’m so happy!”

“Mr. Lime?” Jonathan chuckled, amused.

“Yeah, I saw you on TV. My mom said your name is Mr. Lime,” Michael explained, a small, sweaty hand holding out a cartoon-covered notebook.

“Mr. Lime, you’re my hero. When I grow up, I want to be as awesome as you—tall, handsome, and rich. Could you sign this for me?”

Jonathan took the notebook, pausing for a moment; he realized it was the same kind Teresa had given him that day.