Chapter 42

Michael.

“Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?” My father yelled,  his voice resounding across the room like thunder. He was a man who barely raised his voice even in the toughest situations. He remained calm, but this was different and beyond his control.

And the worst part of it all was that it had happened on his wedding day.

He pointed at the giant flat-screen- television mounted on his marble bedroom wall.  On the screen, a  reporter was announcing the scandal from Mr Bolton's wedding, beneath her was a  bold headline that read:

“Michael, the only son of the CEO of the Bolton enterprise was just caught  assaulting his fathers newly wedded wife at the family mansion.”

Immediately my throat went dry. That wasn’t true.

“What is this that I’m hearing on the news?” He asked again, his patience clearly wearing thin, I couldn’t blame him as I was in utter shock myself.

What the news said was nothing like what had actually happened.

Meanwhile, Heather stood near the fireplace, wearing a white furry jacket trying to hide the thin lacy gown underneath, the same one she had used to try and seduce me.

Her facial expression was convincing; too perfect.

Anyone who didn’t know her would fall for the fake act of innocence. Her wedding makeup was smeared and her eyes glassy with tears, her lips quivering as if she had just lost her favourite pet. But I know better.

She was trying to manipulate herself out of the disaster she had caused and now she was pushing the blame on me. No, I wouldn’t let that happen.

But it was too late, her manipulation was working. My father was only angry at me, and not her.

“Why don’t you ask your lovely bride, huh? She’d be so glad to fill you in on the details!” I retorted, my foot tapping against the tiled floor as I fought hard to steady myself. The alcohol was beginning to take over me and if I didn’t hold on to something I was afraid I might stagger and anything I would say would be a joke.

My response only intensified my father's anger.  “Oh, I see.”  He mumbled under his breath, then he snatched a glossy photo off the mahogany hurling it at my face. “Then what is the meaning of this?”

I had to blink twice before the image came into focus. It was a picture of Heather and me.

She was leaning towards me, her red painted lips parted and my hands pulling her close to make it look like I was the one who had initiated the kiss.

“Have you gone mute all of a sudden? Explain this!” My father barked, his voice hoarse like a wounded lion in the wild.

“Father…. It… It’s not what it looks like,” I stuttered. I didn't mean to, I was just taken aback by the photo and how it had been manipulated to show something that never happened. “Heather was the one who leaned in for a kiss, not the other way around and I pushed her away before she could even touch  me!”

Immediately  Heather gasped as if I’d just uttered the most unthinkable thing in the world, then she broke into a sob glaring up at my father. “I would never do such a thing,  especially not on my special day!” Then she faces me, “I know you despise me because I’m marrying your father, I see that  clearly now….”

Before I could respond tears were already streaming down her flushed cheeks, her lips quivering as though she was the true victim here.

Damn, she was hella manipulative and Corny!

How does she switch personalities? From a sweet and innocent wife to a seductress who wants to fuck both father and son?

My father walked over to her pulling her into his arms comforting her, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d cast some kind of love spell on him because how could he be so blinded by love and not see the snake he had just married?

I staggered backwards, not from the alcohol but from what was going on right in front of me.

“I can prove it, Dad,” I yanked out my cellphone from my back pocket showing him texts on the screen. “These are from Heather, she’s  been sending me disgusting messages saying she wants to fuck me before fucking you…she also said she…”

“Shut the hell up, Michael! You sound stupid.” He caught me off guard with a roar. “And you  expect me to believe this trash?”

“It’s not trash Dad, I have proof…”

“You have nothing! Heather would never stoop so low. Why should  I believe a single word from  a drunkard?”

I didn’t know when I let out a bitter laugh. This was just too funny to believe. “You think you know her so well? News flash! She isn’t as innocent as you think. She is playing you so hard , father, you underestimated her, she is pure evil.”

“I thought I raised you well, why are you threatened by this lady who just wants to be happy on her wedding day?” He asked rhetorically as he continued to comfort her. She turned towards him, her eyes glassy and teary.

“It’s fine my love, let me explain…. I had too much tequila earlier. My head was spinning so I went into the room to change and rest.  But then I saw cameras flashing out my window, I was scared, with the paparazzi outside it was hard to rest…” she paused, swallowing hard avoiding my gaze.

“The last thing I want is to ruin your reputation or see me drunk,” she said, her eyes fixed on my father. “So I asked the maid for your whereabouts and she said you were attending to your special guests…. she told me to look for Michael instead.”

Just immediately the door threw open and the maid walked on bowing to my father respectfully avoiding my gaze.

Ms. Rosa. A newly employed staff member, what did she know about loyalty?  For all I know she could have been manipulated by Heather too?

“Is it true my wife came searching for me?” My father asked.

She nods, “Yes sir, Madam Heather was scared she needed someone to watch over her…”

“Why didn’t she call in the guards?” I asked.

“Let her speak!” My father shunned me immediately.

“Like I said she was in a very vulnerable state, she had to search for Mr Michael and he dragged her to the stone staircase…. And tried to take advantage of her.”

Immediately Heather broke into sobs covering her face with her hands.

“This is a bloody lie! “ I yelled pointing at the maid. “She has been bribed. Bought. Heather texted me first to meet with her at the stone staircase, she came on to me first…”

Heather folded her arms across her chest, “Michael you have been exposed, two people cannot be lying against you? Ms Rosa here  has no reason to lie against you ....”

“Don’t you dare try to twist my words whore!” I snapped but the alcohol slurred my speech badly.

My father looked disgusted, he was staring at me with disappointment written all over his face.

“You have let me down Michael,” he began his voice cold to slicing the air. “First, you got yourself heavily drunk to the point of assaulting my bride, now you have the media right to rub the ‘Bolton’  name into the mud. Our legacy, our company, your future inheritance, everything is being threatened because of your inability to act like a Bolton.”

“Fa…”

“Shut up!” His voice sliced through me like a sharp knife. “You need to fix this, fix this before it costs me everything I have built. Or I’m going to disown you for good.  You are no son of mine if you tarnish the Bolton name.”

With that, he wrapped his arms around Heather's shoulder as she subbed in his chest. She then stole one last evil glance at me over his shoulder.

I couldn't contain my anger so I stormed out of his room slamming the door loudly behind me.

But this wasn’t over. I won’t stop until I clear my name.

Not many people in the mansion knew about the CCTV room, it was hidden away from staff and guests. It was a secret red door at the library covered with books. My father had designed it a few years ago and only he and I knew it existed.

I hadn’t visited it in years but now I felt the need to.

The room was cold and dusty. No one barely entered to clean it hence the dirt.

I scrunched my nose as I sat in front of the system typing in the password. It opened and I began to search for footage from that night.   And that was going to be proof that she was lying.

But when I pulled up the logs, my stomach tightened.

The footage from last night was gone. The entire section was erased like it never existed.

Someone had deleted this, but who?

I checked the last entry and I saw it.

My father's password.

“No…” I muttered staring at the screen.

Did he erase the evidence himself, to protect Heather?

Or was someone trying to frame him and make me doubt him?