Chapter 133 Suspicion - Miguel POV
I field calls from the office the whole day. Clients want to know what's going on, and even senior partners are calling me for answers. I set up office in the dining room since the formal living room is being used as my father's employees' setup.
It's almost dinner time when he arrives at home, looking tired and older. I feel bad for him, I'm not going to lie, he's been an absent father and cares about his family name too much, but he's not bad deep down. He loved my mother once, and she loved him. I think she might still love him a little bit, a fact that works on my nerves, but would I stop loving Madison if she betrayed me?
Probably not.
"You're here." He says simply when he finds me still working in the dining room.
"Yes, things are a bit crazy at the firm." I get up from my chair. "What news can I give investors and clients?"
"You give them nothing, this doesn't have anything to do with the firm!" He runs his hand through his hair in frustration. "Fuck!"
This has everything to do with the firm and he knows it. Maybe if it wasn't Ben, it wouldn't have had a big impact, but we're going to lose clients faster than we can handle. High profile companies cannot be associated with rapists.
"Dad, what are on those videos the media is talking about?" I ask softly, and pain flashes in his eyes when he looks at me. I haven't called him Dad in a really long time, probably since before Caroline started coming into my bedroom.
"Jesus." He buries his face in his hands. "I think there might be something wrong psychologically with Ben. He was recording how he was drugging people, and then he..... then he...... I can't even say it."
How my father could be so blind all these years are beyond me. There has always been something wrong with Ben, maybe if he spent more time with his sons, he would've noticed it a long time ago.
I shouldn't feel sorry for him, because I've been a victim of his carelessness too, but I go over to him and lead him into the sunroom.
The members of his staff have packed up and left, leaving the house quiet, but tomorrow the circus will probably continue.
I pour him some of the cognac that Caroline almost demolished, and he takes the glass gratefully.
"So what's happening next? We need to do a press conference from the firm's side, preferably one of the seniors." I take a seat opposite him.
"The police got some specialists in today, to check of those videos are legit or not."
"And?"
"They are real." He takes a long sip from the strong liquor. "The question is, who got their hands on those videos."
His son is a rapist, a fucking criminal, yet he still cares who was responsible for the leak.
"Maybe hire someone independent and look into it ." I suggest, knowing it's going to take someone extremely skilled and talented to trace Lucille.
"I'm already on it."
"So he's been officially charged?" That's all I want to know. He's getting what he deserves, he should rot behind bars for ruining people's lives.
"Yes." Father's shoulders slump. "There will be a bail hearing tomorrow morning, we should all be there. His attorneys say they will heavily oppose bail."
"I'm sorry, Dad."
His eyes snap to mine, and it narrows as he studies me. I've been in extreme interrogation situations before, my father should know my poker face is elite.
"It wasn't you, was it?"
The accusation is spoken softly, almost as if he's scared that other people would hear that his one son is responsible for the other's demise.
"Me?"
"I'm not stupid, Miguel." His expression steels. "Do you really think I bought your little excuse that Madison was only at your house because of T.J.? Because I didn't."
Like I said before, my father is a conniving, intelligent man, and maybe both Ben and I inherited that trait.
"What are you saying, Dad?" I shake my head, remorse in my gaze. "I did this because of Madison? Is that what you're suggesting."
"You and Ben were always in competition with each other. Did you think of Madison as one of your wins?"
She is the ultimate prize, and soon I will reveal who Madison is to me. But until then, I will keep on lying. I have to keep her protected, even though I don't know where the hell she is right now.
"So you think I sent videos to the media so I can have Madison?" I get up quickly. "In case you forgot, Ben and Madison broke up months ago, if I wanted to pursue her, I would do it. "
"You will do no such thing!" He slams his glass on the side table next to his chair and also gets up. "The Cargill names comes first always! It's already burning as we speak!"
"Well, maybe you should've told your son not to drug people and then film himself doing it." I get in my father's face, looking at an identical, older copy of myself. The only difference is our eye colour. "Don't blame me for your son's mistakes."
There is so much more I want to say, but I will only escalate the situation, and I don't want to make an enemy out of my father.
He will always be my father, even if the decisions he makes regarding his family is questionable.
I go to my room, and slam the door like I'm a teenager for good measure.
I smile once I'm alone and out of sight.
I can't wait to see my little brother in handcuffs with my very own two eyes.