Chapter 72

Chapter 72
~Arlo Frantz~

Curiosity is a dangerous thing, only if you’re a cat.

For me, it was fun. Being curious, that is, knowing that one order from Pierce, or Kate, the truth will come to me eventually. 

I remained seated on the chair, watching the interaction between my wife and her parents unfold with a keen eye.

This is the first time I have seen Kiera and Ben Roth up close. Before, I was always watching them behind the tinted window of my car parked at least 20 meters away from them, but now, I can fill up the gaps of my previous assumptions about them.

Kerri certainly got her blonde hair from Ben, the rest was from Kiera since they bear a striking resemblance. Tall, straight nose, thin brows, brown eyes, and with a hint of Asian ancestry.

Even without DNA testing, it was obvious that Kerri was their own child. 

The moment our conversation ended in the sitting room, both Kiera and Ben took it upon themselves to walk around and see the interior design up close — dragging Kerri with them.

“This painting must cost a thousand bucks,” Kiera exclaimed.

I didn’t correct her and say it was actually worth a million, bought from an auction in Berlin. 

“Kerri, you should give us a gift like this,” Kiera’s eyes had been glittering with excitement, pointing at vases, portraits, meticulously handcrafted pieces of furniture.

Kerri followed Kiera’s gaze and shrugged, “Maybe someday,” she answered quietly. 

I winced slightly.

There it is again.

The light in her that I desperately followed and chased around dimmed down every time certain people were around her.

“Oh, what about this?” Kiera rushed towards a marble table, my gaze followed her quietly as she ran her finger across its surface.

“What about it?” Kerri followed after, standing beside her mother.

“You should buy us this,” she said, in a demanding tone.

Kerri looked at her, confused. “What?”

“Now that you’re rich, you should repay us for raising you all those years.” 

Ben agreed from his spot — next to the unlit fireplace — with a loud grunt.

I grabbed one of the porcelain teacups and took a sip, slowly. My expression remained unreadable, neutral, while I watched my wife fumble from trying to figure out what to say to the parents she once looked up to.

I had spent half of my life studying people, reading the faces and body language of rivals, business partners, enemies. It was second nature for me.

And I was already aware of an anomaly between Kerri and her parents. That something was utterly wrong.

Despite the eventful summer I had with Kerri before… she doesn’t remember me.

She has no memories of that mountain, the villa we treated as our hideout, the days we spent together nor the promise we made.

I would have had a hard time trying to process that fact, if not for Pierce digging into the Roth family and giving me the answers. 

The answer to why Kerri doesn’t remember me, because memory does not disappear without reason.

Something happened while I was gone from her life.

Something involving two people currently admiring my set of furniture like tourists sightseeing inside a museum.

If Kate was here instead of enjoying her vacation, she would loudly point out how these two never even once asked how their daughter was doing after kicking her out of the house.

Instead, they looked around the room, picking out things they wanted to take, stressing my wife with their demands.
My eyes darkened instantly.

“Mom, you don’t need a chandelier.” Kerri’s frustrated voice brought me back to reality. 
Realizing that I had pressed the teacup against my lips far too long — I carefully placed it back down on the table and continued watching them.

They ignored Kerri’s words and insisted, “You should buy us a house too.”

“A house?!” Kerri blinked.

“Yes, a big one. Like this,” Kiera waved her arms around the room.

Ben approached the two to add, “That’s a good idea, the old house is gone anyway.” 

I nearly cracked a smile, not from amusement but with clarity. 

Greed. I recognize it everywhere.

“I don’t know, we’ll see…” Kerri sheepishly shook her head.

“Oh please, you can afford it, you married into a rich family.” Kiera pinched Kerri’s arm, making her instinctively step away and rub the area. 

Seeing that, it was my cue to intervene.

No one is allowed to hurt my wife.

“Kiera, Ben, your room is ready, I suggest you two rest up before dinner.” All three of them flinched from hearing my deep voice, turning around to face me in unison.

I was already standing, with my hands in my pocket, but the moment I raised my arm, Kerri gravitated to stand beside me.

It made me laugh inside, she was like Thor’s hammer, immediately rushing to my hands no matter what. 

Kiera chuckled, a fake one.

“Oh dear me! You can call me ‘mom’. You married our Kerri after all.”

I smiled at her.

“No,” I answered.

Even though I lost my mother at an early age, she made sure I was loved and cared for. 

I know how a real mother should act, and it is not like this.

“Err…” Ben stepped in to fill in the awkward silence after refusing Kiera’s request. “We shall go get going then, see you at dinner.” He grabbed Kiera’s arm tightly and dragged her out of the room where a butler was waiting for them.

I had hoped I wouldn’t have to listen to their loud voices, but it was inevitable when Kiera’s voice echoed through the hallway. She sounded excited, demanding and greedy.

My gaze eventually drifted towards Kerri. Finally, I felt like I could breathe again, and so she did from the looks of her face.

“Are you tired? We can skip dinner if you want,” I brushed her hair away from her face with my fingers while she buried her face against my chest, nuzzling it with her nose.

“No, I can’t. I have to help them first. They’re my parents, and they’re homeless right now.” She spoke with a muffled voice from speaking against my chest.
I wanted to speak.

I wanted to tell her to let them be or at least scream at their faces. To let them drown in the consequences of what they did.

They were the ones who abandoned her when she needed them the most, without a care whether their daughter would have a roof over her shoulder that rainy day.

But I could not say any of that… because then Kerri would know that I was there and seeing everything, that I was brimming with joy. That day I found out that she had nowhere else to go, that her fall into my hands was inevitable.

I was overwhelmed with relief that she had nowhere else to go, relief knowing that she'd become mine sooner rather than later.

I turned my gaze to her lovingly, my wife, my Kerri.

My lips curved into a soft and affectionate smile I only show to her.

There is no way in hell I am going to tell her, not even the fact that I am also the one who had her parents’ house seized.