Love, Lies and Billionaires

Maren surged forward towards her startled secretary and yanked the envelope from her fingers. She hurriedly pulled out the paper and read through it.

“What the fuck is this?” She asked, turning away from the paper.

“It’s the report from the finance desk which she requested for on paper,” Louise asked, utterly confused and terrified by her boss’s appearance. “What test result are you talking about, ma’am?”

Maren closed her eyes and caressed her temples. “It’s nothing, Louise. Get back to your station,” she ordered and Louise turned back to the door but maintained her expression.

“You really need to calm down, Maren. Please,” Nella begged when they were both sure Louise had left. Maren walked back to her table and placed the paper on it before sinking back into her chair.

“Being like this isn’t going to solve anything. You know that, right?” Nella added, not knowing what else to do. “You really need to be sound right now. For Nathan”

Maren was quiet. Her mind drifted between running away and just letting everything play out the way it wanted.

“The weaker you get, the easier it is for William to take him away from you.”

Suddenly, Maren sprang to her feet. “Nathan!” She began looking around her office as if searching for something. She picked up her bag and headed towards the door, leaving Nella behind, confused. “William will stop at nothing to take Nathan. I need to be with him.”

“Mummy, are you sick?” Nathan asked with a confused but curious look on his face.

“No baby, mummy’s just tired” she replied after a pause.

“Why did you say I need to be safe? Are bad men coming?” He asked innocently as he busied himself with her hair, which she rested on his leg.

She sniffed and slowly sat up to look at him. He flashed her a grin in a bid to brighten up her face as her face was clouded and gloomy.

Maren fought back her tears and returned the smile, as she knew what he was trying to do and didn’t want to disappoint him.

“Bad men aren’t coming, my love. I won’t let them,” she finally replied.

“Is that why you brought me to your room and won’t let anyone in?” Maren could only stare at him, not knowing how to answer him.

A knock sounded at the door, pulling both of them at attention just at the perfect timing. “Maren baby, it’s mummy”

“I really don’t want to come out now, mom” she answered, turning her attention back to Nathan.

“The test came in the mail”

“Nice trick, mom” she shot back, uninterested.

“Why would I joke about such a thing?”

Maren’s heart skipped a beat, and her eyes widened a little. Her mind was racing her and her body was beginning to tremble. Nathan leaned forward and peered into her face.

“What’s wrong mummy?” He voiced, but he got no answer and she just stood up slowly from the bed, staring at the door. She knew that on the other side of the door held the fate of her and her son.

“Stay here baby” she said, and unbolted the door to view her mum, who had a white envelope in her hand with a logo of the hospital. She looked from the envelope to her mom.

Mrs Sharppe carefully handed it to her, and she fidgeted with the unbroken seal. She successfully pulled out the paper and read through it for a second.

Believe me, at that moment, everything froze, including the air. Nothing else seemed real apart from the paper, which seemed immortal at that point.

The moment felt like it had come to stay, but when it was over…

“Fuck!” A tear rolled down her cheek. She quickly shielded her mouth with her hand to suppress the scream which kicked at her throat to be set free.

Mrs Sharppe didn’t even have to ask what was on the paper. It was obvious. She could only watch as more tears streamed down her face in silent tears as she was trying not to alarm Nathan.

Maren knew this was all her fault. During her argument with William, she had angrily agreed that if he wasn’t Nathan’s father, he’d let them be for good. But if Nathan turned out to be his, he was going to permanently take Nathan into his custody.

She was angry, she was blinded. She was scared; she was sorry.

*****

“Well, you really seem better than before,” Nella said as she raised the glass of blue wine to her lips.

Maren poured herself another glass as the wind which blew in through the balcony swept her hair across her face, but her expression remained neutral

“Well, it’s been two days since the test came in and he hasn’t shown up. I really don’t know what to think at this point, and staying paranoid isn’t really a good option.

Her eyes were fixated on the garden, which was a direct view from her room’s balcony. Zack and Nathan played around in it and Rose sat nearby, watching.

“Why do you think he has not come to take Nathan yet?” Nella asked, setting her glass on the little table.

“I don’t know. He’s probably stalling. William isn’t someone to rush things unless he wants to. That one thing he has in common with Alexander,” she added casually. “He’ll come, eventually. I mean, he is Nathan’s father.”

Nella turned away from the playing children and looked at Maren. “Does Alexander know about this?”

“Yes, of course. How do you think I’m not working today?” Nella just shrugged. “He doesn’t give a shit if it doesn’t involve his companies,” Maren explained.

“Jeez, that’s messed up,” she remarked and turned back to the garden. There was silence after that and the only sound that could be heard were the trees rustling against each other because of the wind, and the occasional conversations between the two boys.

“So what will you then do when William finally comes?” Nella finally asked.

Maren clicked her tongue and raised the glass close to her lips. “I really don’t know. But he’ll never take Nathan from me.”