?Married To A Billionaire?
(The Billionaire Wife)
Episode 37
????Written by Authoress Quinny ????
?Charles pov?
I was sitting on my desk, reading a fifty-page contract regarding our plans for our next investment. Caleb Hale was sitting on the other side of the table, an old friend of mine. His law firm had just become one of the biggest in Europe according to ‘The business magazine’.
I could tell he wasn’t in his right frame of mind and neither was I.
“Are you alright?” I asked with one eyebrow raised.
He shook his head quickly as if he was awakening from a nightmare.
“Sorry-I wasn’t paying attention, can you say again,” He said, still looking deep into thoughts.
“I asked if you were alright,”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” He said, for a moment he looked like he was staring into space again. “Women,” he muttered.
“If you will like, we can have this meeting again on another day, when we are both in the right frame of mind” i suggested.
“Sure, that would be greatly appreciated.” He said giving me half a smile.
He stood up from his seat then nod in my direction as if to say farewell. “We should talk sometime,” he said before leaving.
I took my laptop then placed it on my desk to look at the construction plan for our new hotel. We should be done with the building in six months. Lately, I’ve been drowning myself in my work. It keeps me distracted and that’s exactly what I need know. Considering working is the only thing I’m good at.
Mara, my PA walked in with a bunch of folders in her hands.
“I thought I told you to knock, next time you walk in without knocking I’m sending you home,” I said coldly.
“Great, less work for me plus a well-deserved off-day.” She said sarcastically.
I looked up from my laptop then spoke, “What do you want?”
“Your father called, he said he wanted to talk to you and that he has been trying to call you.”
“Tell him to go away, I don’t have the time,” I said looking down at my laptop
I looked at my phone and saw fifty-three missed calls from an unknown number. Must have been him, I didn’t bother saving his number the last time.
“He’s been calling for the past two weeks don’t you think it’s time you talk to him.”
“As I said, I don’t have the time. You can go now,” I dismissed her.
She walked closer to my desk then dropped the pile of files she had in her hands on my desk making a ‘bang!’ sound. I looked up with a questioning look on my face. “These need your attention.” She said.
I took a breath of exhaustion then leaned into my chair.
“It’s not like you were doing anything for the past seven months, right?” She said sarcastically before walking out.
******
I looked at my watch to see that it was already 2 p.m. Lunchtime had already passed and I hadn’t noticed. I still had a few more files to read over. The more I read the more discouraged I was to continue.
I took a glance at a file I had asked a private investigator to bring regarding Elizabeth’s whereabouts and she was still living in her grandmother’s apartment.
I heard a soft knock on the door. I yelled “Come in,” before Mara walked in.
“More files?” I said sarcastically.
“No,” She said. “Your father called again.”
“I thought I told you to tell him I’m not interested.”
“It’s your mother, he said she got another heart attack and that you should come home soon.”
I quickly sat up straight in my chair trying to process what she had just said.
“Is she alright?” I asked.
“He didn’t say much except that you should come home.”
I grabbed my car keys then walked as fast as I could to the parking area.
******
I closed my car door then walked into the house. The moment I walked in I knew I was home. It held so many memories here, it’s the place I dread the most. I hadn’t been here in such a long time that I had to use my GPS to get here. There was just something about this house that haunted me, even the atmosphere felt tense. I’ve always hated this place, it’s the reason why when I finally got through high school, I choose the furthest college away and moved out.
I opened the door allowing myself in. The small of whiskey welcomed me in.
The house furniture was all antique, the kind of furniture you would only find in the eighties. That’s how my father liked it. That’s the way it has always been, what he wants. Even the thought of calling him my father felt bitter.
The house was completely silent besides the soft music that was playing on the radio.
“Mom!” I yelled, but there was no answer besides the sound of footsteps echoing through the house.
My father appeared, with a glass of whiskey in his right hand.
“Charles, so glad to see you, my boy. I thought you would never come.” He said. For the first time I noticed something that I have never noticed on him before, he had this sparkle in his eyes and his smile reached his eyes, like he was glad to see me.
He walked closer to me then leaned in for a hug. Before he could hug me, I turned my back towards him then walked away to the living room.
I watched his smile drop as he followed after me. “J.erk,” I muttered.
“Where is mom?” I asked, with my hands placed in the pockets of my trousers and with a serious expression.
“She’s fine,” He said, his voice sounding a bit shaky.
“Where is she?” I repeated.
“She’s at a spa, she’ll be back in a bit,” He said.
“She was never sick, was she?” I said.
He didn’t have to give me an answer. The answer was in his silence and the way he suddenly started fidgeting with his glass.
“I should have seen this coming,” I said. “The next time you’ll ever see me here is when your c0rpse is walking through that door. I’m leaving.” I said.
I gave him one last glance before my attempt of walking away.
“Stop!” He yelled. I could hear the anger in his voice. Now, where he was, the man I grow up with, not the pretentious man he was trying to be.
I stop on my tracks to look at him.
“Please Charles, I need to talk to you. It’s been a while.” For once I saw the look of guilt in his eye but was quickly replaced by another I couldn’t quite figure out. “This will only take a minute.” He said.
For a moment I started considering my options.
a) Walk away
b) Walk away and block all his calls
c) Hear what he has to say (not an option)
I took a deep breath already regretting my answer. “Okay, you have six minutes,” I said.
I sat down on the couch then set my watch on six minutes.
“Would you like something to drink? Perhaps some whiskey.” He said nervously.
“You have five minutes and thirty-six seconds,” I said looking at my watch.
He sat down next to me on the couch but I quickly shifted as soon as he settled himself.
“I heard what happened, for what it’s worth I want you to know that I’m sorry. I can help you, you know.”
I could already feel the anger rising to my face. He was never the father of the year and now he suddenly becomes interested.
“And how would you know?” I yelled. “You going to give me a 1-0-1 guide on how to be a shitty father.”
“I understand what you are going through more than you know, after all, I was once in the same position.” He said taking a sip of his whiskey.
My jaw tightened as I felt my face heat up.
“Thirty-two years ago, I was placed in the same position. Your mother and I’s marriage was arranged.”
‘That explains a lot’ I thought to myself. So Hawaii never happened, all those stories we were taught to believe were lies.
“I felt the same way you did, instead I didn’t end it there I took it out on you and your brothers. I drank away my days and made the worst choices.”
“You think?” I said sarcastically.
“It’s no wonder my children want nothing to do with me. I haven’t seen your sister since she was five, she won’t even answer my calls.”
Yap, my half-sister Katherine. The child my ‘father’ had behind my mother’s back.
“That was because you only showed up two years after she was born and when you finally showed up it was to threaten her mother to leave the country.”
“I’m not proud of it. Don’t make the same mistakes I made. Children should always be your first priority. Once you break your relationship with then you can…”
“‘Beep, beep, beep!”‘ My watch rang.
“Your time is up,” I said standing up. “One more thing, don’t call me. I’ll make sure that we don’t have to see each other any more than we both like and neither will my children,” I say.
“Just think about what I told you,” He said as I walked out the door.
For some reason, his words kept ringing in my ears. This situation that I’m in isn’t the fault of my unborn child, it’s mine. I needed to start taking responsibility for my actions before it’s too late.”
Click 8 below to continue reading