Chapter 34 A FIGHT WITH FAMILY.
34.
~RAFAEL~
The moment Dylan whips the head of the car towards the large building of my company, my insides starts to crash and I don't have any fucking idea why I am like this.
It's just Baxter,right?
But he's my family, and knowing how greedy he is, He will use everything in his power to stop me from selling that company for his own personal gains.
Getting to the office, Wendy is already there, preparing some files on the table with Rowan who keeps going through them with her.
"Hey." I croak out, dropping my briefcase on the chair and walk over to where they are.
Wendy quickly shut down the shutters and walk back to us.
"Where's Norman?" I bite out, rubbing my palm against each other, discarding every conversation we had earlier.
Rowan shoulder drops and stares at me with a glassy expression but I don't fucking need that.
"I told you...."
"You told me shit! Because Norman can't just disappear on me like that, Fish him out for me." I yell angrily.
Wendy picks up her iPad and scrolls through some pictures of Norman boarding a flight two nights ago to China.
Fucking China?
What the hell is he doing there?
"What about the clinic?" I rasp out, chugging down the uncapped bottle of water on the table down my throat.
It feels like everything is crashing down right now, everything I've worked hard to protect from the gawking eyes of the public.
My mom's suicidal scandals, the horrible events and memories we went through together before she died.
"It's all burned down to ashes, I think he was never a licensed psychologist." Rowan answered, guilt splashes his words, his shoulder buckles with sadness.
He's probably roiling inside with guilt now, because he introduced Norman to me and gave me his words that he's a good therapist.
But I don't blame him, Rowan was dying inside too when this happened but he chose to hide it and helped me recover instead.
"He fooled us, but how?"
"What if it was Bax...."
"He would never do that." Annoyance flared my guts immediately, How dare Wendy try to push this on Baxter?
He would never do this to me, he would never want to hurt me, he would never use my weakness against me, the way I never did to him. He wouldn't do that.
Right?
Fuck. I squint my eyes again as the crippling anxiety soaks every pores of my skin, he's the only living blood I had left, he wouldn't do that to me.
"Because if he did, I swear to God, I will make sure I kill him."
Rowan shakes his head, trying to debunk it with me but those 'knowing' expressive eyes of him gave him off.
Wendy's intercom beeps outside the office, she quickly rushes over to pick it up.
After a few seconds, she return to the room with an uncomfortable expression on her face.
"Baxter and his lawyer are here." She reports.
Rowan nods quickly and starts piling the files together.
"Are you ready?" He asks, I manage to nod and follow his strides out of the office.
Because heck, I'm not. I'm not ready for this deposition, I'm scared I would crash in front of everyone.
Declan and his associate lawyers join our walk to the board room on the way.
Rowan will be the lead lawyer for today which soothes my mind a little. He's a badass lawyer, he picked up the bar exams five years ago because we were facing a serious lawsuit with one of our patent issues then and he solved the puzzle within months.
He doesn't practice unless it's about the company or his overbearing Aunty is in trouble.
Getting there, Baxter was leaning at the door aside, as soon as he saw us, he started to clap hysterically, diverting the passer-by attention towards us.
"You can go in." I say urging Rowan and others to give us space. Rowan gives me a lasting stare before succumbing and enters the board room, shutting the door behind him.
"What do you think you're doing, Baxter?" I growl harshly.
"Woah, easy boy. I've not started anything yet." He chuckles, patting my chest.
I slap his arms off me aggressively and he almost tumbles.
With a nervous laugh, he straightens up and glares at me furiously.
"I want you to think about this very well, Baxter. The moment we walk into that room and your lawyer starts probing me, we are over. Like, totally over and I'm talking about your access into my life and everything that concerns me because for you to file a lawsuit against me in the first place, you blurred the fucking line."
"We were never anything and that's what your fucking fried brain can't take, I'm surprised you're not over your abandonment issues." He scowls, a hint of mockery splays his tone.
I almost scoff because it's totally ridiculous how Baxter is using the trauma he caused me against me, and I hate how pathetic I was because I wanted him to be with Mom, how I begged him over the phone, sent him mails, heck, I even sent him money countless times to board a flight and come over. Even when things weren't this rosy for me, when I was drowning in Mom's hospital bills and debts with Rowan working four different jobs because of us, I still sent money to Baxter which infuriated Rowan himself.
And on top of that, Mom loved him, sometimes, she picked him over me who went through hell for her well-being.
I was forced to become an adult before I could wipe my own buttocks, I was forced to make dry and poor meals so as to take care of our sick Mom.
But Baxter? He lived life, he siphoned money from Dad over the years, he blackmailed him into giving him money which he had no choice than to because he was a fucking boner for Baxter.
He went to school, bagged degrees, became a lecturer and totally forgot about me.
A part of me still wished he never hurt me the way he did,heck, the whole of me wished Baxter loved me.
And the pathetic part of me I still haven't gotten rid off would do anything to prevent Baxter from hurting me again the way he's about to do right now.
"You know tenacious I am? You know how driven I am, right? You remembered how dirt poor I was because my pride refused to take a dime from Dad and built this empire you waltzed in today."
"Baxter huffs in annoyance, rubbing his stubble."Go straight to the point, Rafael."
"When I hold on to something, I don't let go until I get it, and I'm assuring you, Baxter. By the time I'm done with you, you would wish you walked out of this door in the first place. I will suck you dry until you're left with nothing. Please,believe my words."
I promised in a hard tone, making sure every word is imprinted into his brain because I don't want him to forget today, ever.