Sixty-Eight

Liam

'She lied to me, the babies are not mine, she came for my money, she got my money and she left' I thought as I paced in my room but I couldn't believe those things, I couldn't believe Laura would do that.

"There must be something," I said but a part of me knew I was just in denial, she said it to my face, she took my money and she left.

"But I love her," I said softly at first then I said it again, aggressively this time.

"What did I do to deserve this?" I asked but I didn't get any response.

I was tempted to cry but I wasn't going to do it, crying would only bring out more of my weakness.

"Liam! Please open the door!" Ethan said banging the door but I ignored him like I've been doing since Laura left.

I sat on the bed and buried my head in my hands, I thought long and hard about where it went wrong but I couldn't figure it out, Laura was acting, I couldn't believe everything she did and said was acting.

I stood up again and paced the room again, I went over everything that happened and everything she said to me.

"I heard you are withdrawing your proposal to work with Don Pablo and in no time you'll go broke so why to stick around?" That part was like a knife that went into my heart and sliced it in half.

I was going to withdraw because of her, I wanted to keep her and the babies safe, that was why I was going to withdraw but even the babies are not mine.

I grabbed the first thing I could see which was a glass cup and I threw it at the wall, I watched as it broke into tiny pieces and scattered across the floor like my heart.

"Liam! Liam, I swear if you hurt yourself I'll never forgive you, open this door!" Ethan said banging on the door.

I went to the door and I thought about it for a second before I opened it to let Ethan in.

"Dude, you almost scared the life out of me, what were you doing?" He asked closing the door, but I didn't answer, I walked to the bed and I sat on it.

"Liam talk to me, don't scare me," he said sitting beside me.

"She lied to me, she was acting all along," I said and Ethan sighed.

"I'm sorry about that, I really am," he said and I smiled.

"Ethan, do you know the funniest part?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I still can't believe it and I still love her like crazy, I want her to come back and tell me she was joking and everything was a prank," I said and Ethan patted my back.

"I'm sorry this happened,"

"I don't think you get it, Ethan, I love her, I love Laura," I said burying my head in my hands.

"Um... You can cry if you want to, that doesn't make you less of a man," Ethan said and I raised my head.

"That is the problem, I can't cry, I'm weak already if I cry I will be useless," I said sniffing.

"I'm really sorry,"

"Ethan my babies, she said they are not mine, I just can't believe it, I already imagined their first words and my reaction when they take their first steps, I already imagined their tiny hands taking my fingers, but Ethan she told me they are not mine, she said she faked it that night," I said closing my eyes.

"I'm sorry, really, I wish there is something we could have done," he said and I opened my eyes.

"I love her, I still love her, am I pathetic?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Love doesn't just come and go," Ethan said and I nodded.

"It doesn't just come and go," I repeated nodding.

"I hope you are going to get better, but just so you know, you can take all the time you need to heal," he said and I nodded.

"Thanks, I will but I want revenge," I said and his eyes widened.

"What?"

"I was going to withdraw to protect her and the babies, but she left because she thought I was going to withdraw from working with Don Pablo then I'll go broke, so what better way to get revenge if not you get that contract," I said and Ethan sighed.

"I was scared for a minute, you are right, no better way to revenge than winning the contract,"

"Great, we are not withdrawing, and I'm adding one more thing, I gave her fifty billion dollars and I want to earn it back, I want it doubled," I said and Ethan smiled.

"That's the spirit, my man,"

"Yeah, that's the spirit,"

"When is Don Pablo going to assign the contract?"

"In a month or two,"

"Great, in a month or two, let's get the contract and a hundred billion dollars," I said he grinned.

"I love Laura but I'm going to get over her and get my revenge by getting the contract," I said to myself determined.

I tried, I worked day and night, I drafted proposals with my employees, we worked for almost two months and when it was time for Don Pablo to collect the final proposal, we handed ours over too.

We waited for a few weeks to hear the result and when the day finally came, my employees and I gathered in the conference room to hear the result.

"I'm so nervous," one of my employees whispered like she knew what was on in my mind.

I felt very nervous, myself and my employees had put in a lot of work and I really hoped our efforts would be rewarded.

"I can barely sit still, I can't believe we are all waiting for just one mail," Ethan said and I sighed.

"I can't believe it either, almost two months of hard work and we are finally hearing the result today,"

"I feel like time is being slow on purpose, I could swear the time has been 6:50 pm for the past one hour," Ethan said and I smiled.

"Whatever the result is, we would find out in ten minutes, there is no need to worry about time moving slowly or not, we need all the time we can get to prepare ourselves for what is coming," I said and he relaxed.

By 7:00 pm on the dot the e-mail we were all hoping we would get came and there was jubilation in the conference room, everyone was happy.

"I'm so happy man, we did it!" Ethan said hugging me.

"Yes, we did,"

"And you didn't double the money, Liam, you tripled it, over 150 billion in two months, I'm proud of you man and I have something to tell you, something amazing," Ethan said but before I could ask what it was one of the employees called him away.

"I'll be back to tell you," he said before he left.

I watched as everyone rejoiced but I couldn't join them, I was happy but not happy, I got the contract, I didn't just double the money I gave Laura, I tripled it but I was still unable to get one Laura, I was unable to stop thinking about her, she still occupied a big space in my heart.

I was beginning to feel sad so I left the conference room, I went to my car and I drove out of the company, I was going to go to Ethan's place to spend some time with my mum and Isabella, but, I was not in the mood for companies, I chose to go home.

The closer I got to the mansion, the messier my thoughts got, I thought it was something I could manage at first but images of what happened the day Laura left kept flashing in my head, I could hear everything that was said and in a bid to silence those voices I placed both hands on my ears, the car lost control and the next thing I knew was darkness.