62| TRAGEDIES & REVELATIONS

He watched her leave his office, every step she took determined to take her far away from him while he watched helplessly. As soon as she was out of sight and the door slammed close after her, Eron's left fist delivered its first blow against the wall beside him. He punched the wall three more times, then went back to his seat and plopped down on it like nothing happened, even if his hand was oozing blood already.

He could not believe Kayla had forged those signatures with something as sensitive to Frema as that. Her father's properties? That was such a low blow, even for him. He wondered why Frema would think he would do something like that to her.

His door pushed open seconds later and he regarded his new PA under his lashes, his face void of emotion.

"Sir? Are you okay, Sir?" Jon, his PA questioned. Eron stared straight at him for what felt like hours before finally giving an answer,

"Get out." He said simply, causing Jon to hurry out and slam the door shut behind him. Eron could not help but think about Liam—about how his closest friend would never have left him alone when he felt like this. The sudden urge to hear Liam's voice overwhelmed him now. He needed to think of something that wasn't Frema. ‘Maybe the fucker could cheer me up’. He thought as he picked up his phone and dialed Liam's number.

"Boss!" Liam's ever cheerful voice came but Eron didn't say a word in return. "What's up, man?" Liam tried again.

"When will you be returning?" Eron asked in a detached tone. Liam laughed loudly, causing Eron to regret his choice of words at once.

"Aw, someone misses me already." Liam gushed and Eron fought a smile at his ‘idiot’ friend's humor.

"Do not get ahead of yourself. Has Frema called you?" Eron asked and almost did a facepalm when he realized what he'd asked. Why did everything have to revolve around her?

"Uh.. not really. Why? Btw, congratulations on the engagement. Saw the news on the news." Liam said the last part smugly, like he had just cracked the joke of the decade. Eron shook his head and replied,

"It's nothing. I need you back this week. We need to hang out." Eron spoke firmly. Liam went silent for sometime before replying,

"Roger that, boss."

Eron ended the call at that, at the same time, his phone beeped with a new message and he just looked at the sender's ID for the first few minutes. It was from Kayla. That cunning woman, he thought with a fresh rage. He had gone to her severally to get her to confess her sins, but the woman would always put up a show. It was true that she was pregnant; he'd investigated it, just to be sure. But the paternity of the baby was the issue—that child wasn't his.

He opened the message after a while and froze at what he saw. Kayla took a picture with Frema's ring and posted it on Instagram, tagging both himself and Fremantle. She sent him a screenshot of it with the caption: Taken. Soon to be Mrs Castile.

He saw red at once, and his rage intensified when he checked Frema's page and saw that she'd blocked him. Not only on Instagram. Everywhere. That was all it took for him to get off his seat and rush to the door like a man on crack. He was out of his office in a flash and he headed to the elevator, then outside the building. Eron ignored the side glances and murmuring he heard, and even controlled himself, so he would not snap and fire someone from his/her job. He got into his newest car addition; a Venza soon, and he sped off with it.

A message came from an unknown number. He tried not to look at it, but he lost the battle. On checking it, he froze, and when he looked up again, there was a truck heading straight at him. Without thinking, he swerved to the right and his car crashed into a wall ahead of it with an impact that caused his car to light up in angry flames. His phone beeped again; this time, it was from Liam.

The text read:

You fucker. You engaged Kayla with Frema's fucking ring? Congrats, you're getting yourself bashed on social media.

—————

"Mom, did you have to post that?" Titi asked, coming to stand opposite her mother by the kitchen table. Kayla swirled around, holding a glass of whiskey in her hand, her eyes red and droopy from drinking for hours.

"Post what?" Kayla asked. Titi leaned over to grab the glass of whiskey and place it far across from her mother. "Hey!" Kayla whined like a maltreated child.

"Answer my question, mom. Why did you post that picture on Instagram? Haven't we done enough? I mean, their family is ruined already." Titi said, annoyance dripping from every word she uttered. Kayla hiccuped, looking lost in thought as she tried to figure out why her daughter would not let her be. Like a light switch had been slapped on, her face suddenly brightened in realization of what her daughter had been talking about and she replied,

"What? What do you mean why did I post that? Why shouldn't I post it? I mean, the world knew a-about.." She stopped to let out a belch and then continued, "they knew about hers, why shouldn't they know about mine. They should know the new bride." Kayla slurred and grabbed the glass again, downing its content in one gulp.

"And who says dad will agree to marrying you, mom? Did he agree to that?" Titi queried in anger. Kayla's face twisted with an anger of her own.

"Shut up. And yes, your father will get married to me. I'll make him." She protested, going for the half finished bottle of whiskey again, but Titi dragged it away.

"Mom! The alcohol is bad for the baby, you should know that!" She yelled at her mother. Kayla stomped her foot on the ground in frustration.

"Titi, let me have my drink." She barked.

"No! I don't care if the child isn't completely my blood, I still care about the bastard and I don't want him to die because he was blessed with a mom like you." Titi yelled. Kayla's nose twitched with rage.

"You can say what you're yearning to say. Come on, tell me how much of a bad mother I am. I could pull out a chair and listen, you ungrateful piece of shit." She spat. Titi rolled her eyes, responding,

"Maybe I should do that. But as a good daughter that I believe I am, I'll just leave it alone." Titi said, walking around her table to her mother's side, only to go to the fridge and pull it open, her eyes searching for a snack. She found a pack of peanuts and took it out, testing it open in one go. The room was silent apart from the crunching of peanuts, until Kayla spoke again,

"Well, you want to know a secret?"

Titi froze. Her mother's secrets were never good. So, she shook her head no. Kayla grinned sinisterly.

"Pleeeaaaase? But I'll only tell you the secret if you let me have one more glass of whiskey." Kayla slurred shamelessly. Titi threw another single peanut in her mouth and glared at her mother.

"You're piss drunk, mom. Stop this." Titi begged. Kayla pouted in anger.

"Alright, fine. I'll just tell you anyway. It's about your daddy." She wiggled her brows. Titi felt goosebumps already.

"W-what about him?" She inquired. Kayla giggled, then stopped to catch her breath, before responding finally,

"Well, he's not your daddy. Your real daddy is his father. Ian Sunsetto Castile."