The Next Wife novel Chapter 40

Jayda carefully walked to her seat after her speech for her late mother, drying the tears that formed in her eyes with a piece of cloth she had especially gotten for this.

"Please don't cry," Freya patted her back gently.

"I'm not crying." She forced a chuckle.

Jeremy called Freya to talk to her privately then she excused herself, leaving the couple.

Fred shifted towards Jayda in his seat, hesitantly placing his hand on her back as well.

"Let it all out." He whispered into her ear.

Despite the fact that she was totally mad at him, she knew she needed a shoulder to cry on so she reluctantly buried her face in his chest, sobbing incessantly.

"Mom's gone." She said whilst sobbing then wrapped her arms around him, hugging him really tight; almost choking him but he wasn't bothered about that.

"Everything will be fine." He patted her head, ignoring the fact that her fingernails were almost digging into the skin of his back.

"My Axel is also gone." She sniffled. "Everything is ruined." The pain in her heart was beyond expression.

"I'm really sorry. Axel will forever remain in our hearts, he's our son and will forever be." He continued to pat her head and back. He needed to be strong for her. He felt like his whole world had torn apart and he was left with nothing but he still had Jayda which was all he needed and couldn't lose.

"Why is my life never at peace?" Her cry became louder, drawing the attention of most people around them.

Fred raised her head from his chest and rose to his feet, holding her hand and lifting her up as well.

Jayda didn't bother to argue with him but followed him and he took her outside, leaving Samantha's burial ceremony.

Fred helped Jayda get into the passenger seat and helped her buckle her seatbelt before turning around and got into the driver's seat.

***

Fred was extremely glad that Jayda wasn't being stubborn with him and was complying with him.

It was very obvious that she had cried her eyes out and was extremely weak.

He had brought her to a nearby hotel and got her to sit on the bed.

"Will you eat anything?" He asked, sitting beside her.

She stared up at him; her eyes were so teary and she had bags under them to prove that she hadn't slept or stopped crying for a considerable number of days.

She had a straight poker face on which made Fred nervous. He couldn't tell what she was thinking at the moment and it was pretty frustrating.

Jayda was pondering on the fact that Fred wasn't so guilty. He had only done what he did to save his loved ones. It was a difficult thing for her to just forget and accept but she knew that she had no one else to rely on than Fred. He was truly concerned about her (totally evident).

She simply shook her head in response to his question.

There was a long silence between the duo as Jayda stared blankly, still pondering on different ideas while Fred fiddled with his fingers.

Fred involuntarily wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, snuggling her. How much he missed her smell and feeling.

"Okay." He nodded.

As he turned around, they bumped into a young girl, probably about the age of five.

"Hi," the young girl waved at them.

Jayda's eyes grew wider on seeing the child as her whole body became more weak and began to tremble. She was feeling more dizzy and it felt like everywhere was getting more blurry as she passed out.

Fred, being quick enough, caught her right in his arms before she could fall to the ground. "Jayda!"

He hurriedly carried her in his arms then rushed to a hospital.

***

"I said I'm fine." Jayda smiled weakly.

"You aren't." Fred pouted. "Do you know how long it took before you finally woke up?"

"I was only tired, too stressed out. I've eaten now and I'll be totally fine after I have some good rest." She asserted.

Fred was still very worried about her even though the doctor had confirmed that she was totally fine now and only fainted due to too much stress and overthinking.

He heaved a sigh then climbed on the bed beside her, scanning her like he had just seen her for the first time.

"Don't ever scare me like that, okay?" He ran his finger along his face.