AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His wife spotted something over her husband’s shoulder and immediately got to her feet. At her sudden snap to attention, the others stood up too.
Dyrel’s mom entered from a side door and returned to her seat.
“Sit down, sit down,” she said.
She spoke but had a cool and distant look on her face.
“Would you care for dessert now, madam?” a servant said.
Dyrel’s mom nodded.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes. That would be fine.”
She bit her bottom lip and rolled it between her teeth. She didn’t make eye contact with anyone.
Dyrel got to his feet.
“Right before you left, I was going to make an announcement,” he said. “For too long—”
“Take a seat for a moment,” his mom said, her voice sharp around the edges.
Dyrel blinked at the interruption and sat back down.
The rest of the family was on tenterhooks.
“Vicky, you may not know this,” Dyrel’s mom said, “but Dyrel has made many promises to me and the family in the past—”
“Mom…” Dyrel said.
Dyrel’s mom paid him no attention and continued.
“After his father passed away, his death hit him very hard. It hit us all very hard. Dyrel was just a little boy and he’d always loved his father so. And suddenly, he was no longer there. I assumed that with time, he would get over it and continue with his life. In his teenage years, he turned to drinking and partying, women, and the Creator knows what else.”
Dyrel stared at his hands in his lap. I’d never seen him look so beaten.
I wanted to tell his mom to stop, that it was doing him no good to hear this. But who was I? Nothing but a stranger in this place. I was the alien here.
“He made one promise after another,” she said, “that he would get better, that he would do things differently, that he would become the son his father had always been so proud of. You see, Dyrel has the same abilities as his father. I see the same look, the same wiring, the same vision his father possessed. A vision that no one else around this table has. Least of all me.
“I did what I had to do. I stepped into the breach and took over running the company, knowing that one day, Dyrel would be ready. He would step up and become the man we needed him to be, the man we knew he was capable of becoming. But he never materialized.
“Finally, I’d had enough. Enough of waiting, enough of working. I’m old and not suited for this work. I want an easy life. I feel like I deserve an easy life. I gave Dyrel an ultimatum: change now or be cut off from his inheritance.”
There were gasps around the table. Evidently, they hadn’t been privy to that piece of news before.
“Yes, you might gasp,” Dyrel’s mom said. “I would do the same to any of you if you threatened the company. The more senior you are, the more professional you need to act. At least during work times.
“So, I made a deal with him, to give him one last chance to become the man we all know he can be. Then he comes to me, telling me he’s found someone, someone special, who will support him the way I always hoped. And he brought you, my dear. When you turned up, I could see how good a woman you are. I might have failing vision but I can see that clear enough.
“I thought, for once, Dyrel had actually kept his promise. He intended on living up to his word. Finally, he would come back from the brink and show us what he’s capable of. And then, of course, I was called from the room and told some disturbing news. Something that troubles me.”
She dabbed at the corners of her eyes and sniffed.
“As a mother, I never like to think negatively of my child,” she said. “Except, by now I’m used to Dyrel’s lies and distortions. But I fear the whispers I heard aren’t lies. They are the truth.
“I was told you did not meet this lovely lady the way you led us to believe. Your charming story was just that. A story. It is not true. Dyrel made me a promise that he would mend his ways and set about creating a new life. He knew I wanted him to find a good woman to help support him, to encourage him when he needed it.
“That was why he went to a matchmaking company and purchased Vicky.”
