The Billionaire’s Desires

Nathan’s POV

It all happened eight years ago…

My dad was still the chairman of the company and I was still the irresponsible son who doesn’t care about the family’s business. I never really cared about everything happening in the family, I guess that was why I didn’t notice the dispute between my mom and dad. If I had paid attention to the affairs of the family, I would have realized that something was not right between my parents and I would have at least tried to make things right between them. But I was too stupid and selfish, I only cared about my own life, that is why my family nearly fell apart, my parents were on the verge of having a divorce, and I never noticed, not even for a second.

Dad was cheating on mom…

That is how it all started. Mom told me the story amid tears, she told me how she noticed that the bond they shared was not as strong as my father was spending too much time outside the house so she did what any curious woman would do about it, she had him investigated and then she uncovered the truth, she found out that my father, the man who I look up to, a man I admire and aspire to be like. She found out that he had another family out there. He had a wife and four kids with another woman and he spends the better part of his days with his other family, treating them better than he treated us, she claims. Now, I know I wasn’t paying too much attention to everything happening in the family but I’m pretty sure that she was making up that part of the story, or maybe that is what she chooses to believe just to justify her actions. But I know for a fact that my father never neglected our family, not even do a second. He spends most of his time in the office and most of those times, he usually carries me along to train me so I can take over from him. Say what you like about my father, but I am pretty sure that he fulfilled his role as a father and he did it perfectly well, but mom wasn’t buying any of that, she refused to believe that she had been wrong.

She did further investigations and she discovered that the lady in question is an orphan, she is one of the many orphans that my mom sent to school. Dad must have met her in one of her numerous visits to the company, he had taken a fancy to her and when he made his move she was too happy to accept and they both started going out. That is what mom says, it is what she believes, she claims that he went after her, but it could have been the other way round, I mean, the girl could have thrown herself at my dad just like Hillary threw herself at me and made me fall in love with her when all she ever wanted was my money. She could have tricked my dad too, right?

Anyway, that is not my problem right now, I don’t care who made the fucking first move, it all ends the same way anyways, they started seeing each other and my father secretly got married to her behind our backs  I guess secret marriage runs in the family, after all, I was wondering how I managed to come up with that idea, turns out it runs in my blood. How typically. As expected, mom was so furious when she found out about the affair, what made her even more furious is the fact that the girl is someone she picked on the street, it made her so angry that she had nearly canceled every scholarship that she awarded to orphans in the country.  I could vividly remember that incident, that was the first year I got into business school and it was also the first time I noticed Hillary.

She and her friend were part of the scholarship students that nearly lost their scholarship because of the mistake of one person. That week, I noticed a series of students coming to our house and our company, crying their hearts out as they begged to see my mom and dad. The news circulating around town at that period was that our family was going bankrupt. It was said that our family could no longer afford to support the orphans anymore and I believed it. I had no idea that it was my mom’s anger that was in play, I had no fucking idea. I didn’t even bother to ask about the issues the family was facing, I knew my dad would find a way to resolve it anyway, so I never bothered. I only showed interest in their dilemma when Hillary and Harriet walked into the company one day to cry and beg for mercy along with the other scholarship students. I recognized her from our school and it hurt me to see her that way, I guess a part of me had always had a thing for the girl. I saw her in tears that day and that was all it took for me to go to my dad and ask him about the scholarship scheme. He told me not to worry about it that he was going to handle it and true to his words, he did handle it. A few days later, everything was back to normal and the students were happy again, but my mom wasn’t happy.

Dad had involved the elders of the Trent household and they had forced her to cancel her to take back her words and give back the scholarship to the students, they couldn’t let her drag the family name into mud, so they gave their verdict without listening to anything she has to say and my father never bothered to know why she had made such a decision, even when she confronted him with the truth, he denied it all, making her look stupid. That fucking made her angry and that was how she filed for a divorce, claiming she can’t live with a liar and a cheat. My father refused to give in to her demands, I guess he knows that it would be a huge scandal and the family might cut him off if he creates such a scandal. He knows that the whole city would be against him if the news of his second family comes out in the open.

Mom tried to leave, she wasn’t happy anymore and she wants of that marriage, but dad just wouldn’t let her leave. I guess she wanted to get back at him, or maybe the whole thing finally drove her crazy and she decided to take matters into her hands. She could have gone to the cops, she could have involved the family elders and gotten them to force my dad to stop seeing the other woman, but she didn’t do any of these things, No. She decided to get rid of her permanently, she just couldn’t put up with the trauma to anyone, or so she claims. In my opinion, I think she finally lost it, she wasn’t in her right senses. She couldn’t have been in the right frame of mind when she made such a cruel decision. I mean, who in their right senses would order some thugs to burn up a house, she paid them to burn up the house my father got for his other family, I mean who does that?

If only my father had paid a little more attention to her, then all this could have been avoided, but dad was just too busy to care about her feelings. He pushed her over the edge and she made a decision that has been haunting her down to this day. She checked my dad’s schedule, looking for a day that my father would be out of town. She gave the order and they burned down the house in the middle of the night, killing my father’s other wife and her children. She did try to cancel the operation at the dine minute, but she wasn’t fast enough, the guys weren’t responding to her calls, she couldn’t get them to stop and that was how she had them all killed.  She is not only an arsonist, she is a murderer as well. She killed five people and she swept all the evidence under the rug, making sure her secret never got out. I think she lost something a part of herself that day, she never remained the same again.

I think I remember everything now, the pieces are finally falling into place. A couple of years ago, dad and mom traveled abroad for a couple of months, leaving my sister and I in the mansion. That was the first time I handled the company on my own and I always thought that my father wanted to give me a chance to handle the family business, I thought it was all a part of his training and I kinda liked it. I thought it was all about me, I had no idea that my parents were going through the worst times of their lives. I had thought that they went on a vacation, I thought they divided to go on a romantic getaway or something like that. But it turns out that they never traveled together. They went to different countries, each trying to live through their pain, both grieving in their own different ways. Dad came back first and mom came back a few months after, they both pretended to be okay, keeping their secrets within them, carrying the pains in their hearts.

“I thought I would forget all about it, but I couldn’t take it out of my mind. It lived with me all this year and it is a huge burden that I have carried with me for a very long time. I keep engaging myself in more charity work, hoping to atone for my sins, but when I close my eyes, I still see that house burning in my head and I can hear them screaming in pain as they burn to death. Somehow Ariel found out about it and she has been blackmailing me ever since. I never meant to force that despicable girl on you, but I had to keep this secret, I can’t let her talk to the cops, it could ruin our family. You can’t let her talk, Nate, you can’t let me go to jail. I promise, I didn’t do it on purpose, I tried to stop it, I really did, I would never have done such a thing.” Mom let out in tears, pleading and apologizing at the same time. I turned to dad to see what he had to say about all this, I was expecting him to flip on her and scream angrily, but he never said a word, he had no reaction, none at all. I can’t believe that he has nothing to say about all this, how could he be so calm, I’m expecting more from him, I’m expecting a reaction, an outburst, something, I mean anything, but he just sat there calmly, looking at her like a piece of garbage. I was about to ask him what was going through his mind right now, but he beat me to it when he finally spoke up,

“I was waiting for this day for a very long time, I thought you would keep up with your lies, I thought you would never own up to your mistake. You nearly took the life of five people Doris how could you do that to me. Yes I made a mistake and u betrayed our love, I betrayed your trust, but those were my kids Doris, and they were innocent. You got that house burned out of party jealousy, you nearly had them all killed, yet you look me in the eyes every fucking day and you act like everything is fine, acting like a fucking saint. I cheated Doris, but I never failed in my responsibilities to this family, I never failed as a husband to you and a father to our kids. Yet you nearly killed Celine and my kids. You are so despicable.” Dad spat out in disgust. Now I know why he never yelled at her furiously, he knew. He had always known. But why did he say that she almost had them killed, did they survive the fire?

“You said they almost died, did they survive the fire?” I asked him, gaining his attention.

“They were never in that house. Celine never enjoys taking me away from my family, I only get to spend quality time with my kids whenever I’m on a business trip, that is why I always bring them along with me on business trips. I can’t even begin to imagine what would have happened if I had not gone with them. When I got the report about the fire, I cut my trip short and came back home immediately. I did some investigations and I discovered that your mother was responsible for the fire. Next time you want to contract some thugs to do your dirty work, try using a line that cannot be traced back to you, that way you won’t get caught easily. I would have pressed charges against you, but Celine wouldn’t let me do anything, she wouldn’t even let me leave you. She threatened to leave with my kids if I ever leave you, Doris, That is how much she adores you. But between the both of us, I want you to know that it’s over between us, I’m so fucking done with this lies pretense between us. There is no way I can stay married to a sneaky snake such as yourself.” He told her sternly, then he stood up and walked upstairs, leaving us staring after him. Just as he got to the top of the stairs, he turned to me and said,

“It’s so good to have you back, son. See me in my room before you leave.” He told me calmly before taking the curve that leads to his room. Mom kept sobbing softly, even after he left. My sister went to sit by her, hugging her. I can’t believe that she has carried all this pain and guilt for so long, it’s just so annoying to find out that this family is just filled with lies and deceit. I wonder what else we are going to discover.

I may have just ruined whatever that is left of their relationship, but the good news is that Ariel can no longer blackmail my mother again because nobody died in that fire besides my father’s other wife can just take the blame for the fire by claiming that she had forgotten to turn off some electronic device or something. In any case, I just uncovered the secret in this family and at the same time, I’ve finally gotten rid of that bitch Ariel, I’ll make sure she never gets out of prison, that is her punishment for daring to blackmail my mother.

“I’m very disappointed in you mom, I guess you have to go and apologize to dad and his other family now, after all, they are the only ones capable of keeping you out of jail. You went too far with your actions, I would never have thought that you could hurt a fly, let alone arson and murder. I’m so damn disappointed with your actions.” I told her truthfully before going up to see my dad, I need to tell him about my plans for my uncle and Travis, and also the company. I’m sure he will understand that I need to do what is necessary to ensure that our family doesn’t lose the company.

I hope mom has learned her lessons though. Ariel is down, and now it is time for Travis to meet his Waterloo. Wait, would it be too cliché if I paid Ariel a visit in prison, I kind of like that idea.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.