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“Do you remember when we were younger, before Dad died, how well we got along?” Ella asked.
“I remember,” I responded and looked at the ground.
“I remember when everything felt perfect. But then, when Dad died, everything changed. You changed,” she said looking up at me with tears in her eyes.
I had changed that day. I went from being a kid to needing to be the man of the house. I remember feeling a lot of pressure on my shoulders.
“Of course, I changed. How could I not? My childhood ended the day Dad died. I had to be strong for Mom, and for you. I was now the man of the house and needed to act the part. I realize now, that as time went on, I became hardened by the pressure, then to take over the family business, was a lot. But I couldn’t let Dad down, or the family down.”
I looked at Mom and she had her head down, looking at the floor, with tears gently rolling down her cheeks.
“But I am okay. I did what I said I would do, and took care of the family business, and you guys. Looking back, I can see that I may have been hard on you Ella, but I was scared. Scared of losing more of my family, and showing emotion felt like weakness, so it was easier to become hardened and focus on the business, so that’s what I did.”
“Can we stop all of that now,” Ella asked. She hit me gently on the chest again and scoffed, “Promise me.”
“Yes, I do promise,” I whispered, and this time she smiled and hugged me while holding me tightly.
“Thank you.” She whispered and soon broke away from me while wiping her tears.
“Come on, sit beside me,” I replied, holding her hands and moving toward the couch.
As we sat, one of the staff members appeared with an ice bucket, a bottle of champagne, and three stemless glasses. She placed them on the table in front of us, then turned and left the room.
I decided that now would be a good time to tell Ella the full truth about Lucy and her family.
“Things have gotten more difficult for me,” I muttered while looking at Ella.
Ella sat up slightly, “What do you mean?”
Mom stood, reached for the table, opened the champagne, and began to pour them into the glasses. “Your brother offered Lucy’s father a large sum of money to buy their company.”
Ella sat up fully then, looking at me surprised. “What? I don’t understand. Why?”
“That’s not the end,” Mom replied as she took the filled glasses and gave one to Ella and the other to me before returning to fill her own. “Her father vehemently refused, and instead of obeying the man’s wishes, Mason began to bargain with the man’s conscience by pushing the price to thirty, no fifty million dollars, so he can prove anybody can be bought with money.”
I groaned and closed my eyes as I brought the chilled champagne and sipped it, hoping it would calm my nerves.
“Thanks, Mom. I am perfectly capable of telling her myself,” I said a little annoyed.
“Mason, did Lucy get pregnant after you knew he was her father or before?”
I took another sip, looked at Ella, and shrugged, “Before, of course.”
“I don’t think her parents will ever believe you.”
“Of course, they won’t,” Mom replied, shaking her head. “And that keeps him in a tough position.”
“Have you gone to her home?”
“I did, twice,” I replied. “The first time was to try to buy his farm for fifty million dollars. It was then that I realized who he was. I don’t know how I didn’t piece it together when I was doing my little investigation into Lucy when she first came here. He was understandably pissed, and literally shoved me out of his home.” I said looking toward Ella.
“And the second time? Did you get a chance to see Lucy?”
“I did, but her father didn’t give me much time to speak with her. Now I am back at square one with no idea what else to do.”
“And that’s where you come in, Ella,” Mom continued while sipping her wine, “we are left with no other option but to try another means to get Lucy back into our family.”
“And how do you suppose we do that?”
