Love, Lies and Billionaires

The car came to a smooth halt at the parking lot of the cathedral, taking its place in the midst of many other cars.

Maren’s gaze fell on her reflection in the rearview mirror. The black eyeliner which she had used under her eyes made her look more moody than she already was.

She silently thanked God that she hadn’t thought of bringing Nathan to witness what she felt was coming, though he had begged to come along.

Maren?” she heard Nella call, peering hopelessly through the tinted glass of the car. Maren turned to her reflection again and took a deep breath before getting her things together and getting out of the car.

As soon as she got out, she put on her dark shades and bounced alongside Nella towards the main building.

“Damn, I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Maren remarked, looking away from everyone who stared at her longer than they should, knowing the shades were as good as useless in hiding her face.

“What’s there not to believe? You’re here to honour your ex father-in-law and your son’s grandfather. You are doing the right thing,” Nella assured but Maren knew there was nothing that could alter what she was feeling on the base of her stomach.

The thought of Alexander’s blood still running through Nathan’s veins was something she knew was still going to hunt her in a good way or bad way.Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

They got to the entrance of the building, walked in, and stopped. “Wow, that is a lot of people,” Maren confirmed.

“And we’re an hour early. How are there this much people already?” Nella asked, looking up from her wristwatch.

“I guess that’s how it is when you’re someone who commands as much respect as the president.”

Maren scanned the crowd, looking for the best place to get a seat. Somewhere where no one would bother her. But just as she looked around, the thing she dreaded the most occurred.

Her eyes rested on Alexander, who was speaking with a few people and just at the right time, he turned and locked eyes with her. Even with her shades on, she could feel him staring into her eyes.

He kept his eyes on her for a while and when he finally turned back to the people he was speaking with, Maren had the consciousness to look away.

She looked down and sighed. “Fuck!” Then turned to Nella. “Can you get us some seats? I’ll be back”

Nella’s brows creased slightly as she watched Maren walk away, though it didn’t show because of how hidden her brows were under her fringe.

“We really hope you find the heart to take this loss,” Maren heard one man say as she got close to where Alexander stood with his small crowd.

“Thank you, sir,” Alexander answered and rested his eyes on Maren. The people noticed and turned their heads to view the intruder.

“I guess we’ll go take our seats now Alex.” Another man said and spread his arms for a hug while Maren watched in half grief. Others just shook hands with him and walked away from him.

They stood staring at each other for a while. Then Alexander raised his head a little at her and held his hands behind his back. “Want to talk?”

“Yea-um-i guess, let’s do that”

“I really can’t believe I’m actually here.”

“Well, I’m glad you came,” Alexander replied, staring into thin air with his hands clasped behind his back.

They emerged from the building and walked slowly towards an empty spot where no cars were parked.

Maren took off her glasses and stared at Alexander. She was glad she did, as she could now see his face clearly.

His face was gloomy and pale, almost like that of some undead creature. His forehead wrinkled into folds, giving him the appearance of being much older than his age. It was obvious that his mind and body weren’t handling the grief so well.

“I’m sorry about your dad” she finally spoke as they stopped at the edge on a high ground. “I wish I could have seen him before he died.”

Alexander shrugged, “He was supposed to be dead about a month ago anyway, but I guess the life support just worked over effectively” Maren noticed the pain in his voice. “It doesn’t matter if you saw him or not anyway, he only lad little strength to say three words to me a couple of weeks back”

Maren’s curiosity set in, and she bit her lip. That really wasn’t the time to ask silly questions. ‘Your contract ex-husband and father of your son is grieving, for goodness’ sake!’ her head screamed.

“How are you feeling?” She asked, looking straight at his face as she moved closer. A part of her felt the urge to say fuck it and get the hell out of there. The other wanted to stay and be with him at the ceremony and, obviously, she’d pick that side after much hassle.

Alexander sighed and looked down at his feet, and all Maren saw was a little boy who’d lost his father. A sudden softness mixed with guilt washed over her.

“I just really need to get through this day,” he answered firmly. I mean, I literally don’t know more than half of the people in there, but they all knew my dad and each one of them keep trying to extend their condolences in different annoying ways”

He paused and looked back up, taking a deep breath. “It’s depressing”

Maren completely closed the gap between them, held on to his arm and rested her head on it as both of them stared into the valley below in silence.

“Did you ever hate the way your dad treated you?” She asked in a small voice.

“My dad really wasn’t as bad as he seemed. Honestly, I think, he was always uptight because my mom had hurt him”

Maren almost chuckled at the thought of Mr. Blackwood being a lover boy, but obviously-not the time “She left him?”

“No, he divorced her. If you ask me, I really don’t know why. He never told me and warned me to never speak of her ever again. And he sew me just that way till his last words”

“What was your mom like?” she asked after a brief moment.

Alexander paused for a second and stared down at Maren, though he could not see her face, just her hair.

“She wasn’t really there for most of my life, but while she was there, she wasn’t less of a mother than you are to Nathan.”

Maren raised her head and met his eyes. That was something she’d waited so long for someone to say out loud.

“I think we should go back into the cathedral,” Alexander said, breaking the emotion-filled silence.

“Yeah, that’ll be better,” Maren replied and broke arms with him as they turned around and headed towards the building. “So, um, rumours have been passing that there were orders to pull the plug on your dad?”