Chapter 69 Family Artefact
"Dad, you wanted to meet my wife," Bryce began. "This is Angela Anderson, my wife?" he introduced.
"My son, this is a surprise, but wow," Patricia said with a smile.
"Wow, my brother is married?" Elena squealed with happiness and walked up to Angela. "Wow, you are very pretty. You are welcome to our home," she welcomed.
"Thank you," Angela appreciated and accepted the hug from Elena.
"You are welcome, my dear," Patricia also welcomed, hugging Angela.
"Thank you, mum," Angela appreciated hugging Patricia.
Their first reaction made her feel that they would reject her, but rather, they welcomed her.
"We can't just stand here. Let's go inside," Patricia suggested, and they all went inside the living room.
Devon followed in silence. Patricia made the servant quickly serve Angela with a cup of tea.
"I have never seen my son with a woman before. I am shocked by your marriage and wish I were part of it. Nonetheless, I am glad my son finally settled down," Patricia said, and Angela smiled.
"We can always organise a proper wedding. I don't know you, but I like you," Patricia said, but Devon sat down in complete silence, watching his wife make Angela so comfortable in his home.
"Bryce, I would like to have a word with you in my study," Devon said and shifted his gaze to Patricia. "Sweetheart, I thought you were taking Elena out to the shop to help get her things," he reminded
"Oh, yes," Patricia said.
"Huh," Bryce interrupted. "I see you have still not changed," he said, staring at Elena.
"That is one fun part of me," Elena said.
"Angela, once again, you are welcome to our home. I am afraid I have to leave to attend to my daughter here, but don't worry. I will be back shortly," Patricia said.
"Thank you, mum, for the warm welcome," Angela appreciated.
Patricia and Elena exited the living room, leaving Bryce, Angela and Devon alone.
"Ms Angela, you would have to excuse my son and me," Devon said
"Okay," Angela said and was about to stand up, but Bryce held her hand.
"No, wait here. I will be back," Bryce said to her, and he stood up.
Angela sat there and watched Bryce and his father exit the living room using another exit. The living room where she sat was decorated with beautiful wall hangings and some artefacts. Bryce's home, the living room, just has a shade of white and grey painting. He had a flower pot with a natural flower planted. That is all the decoration he has, but his father appears to be a lover of artefacts. Angela stood up and started admiring the hangings and the artefacts.
Inside Devon's study, Devon and Bryce sat down opposite each other, and Bryce started the conversation, breaking the silence between them.
"You wanted to see Angela. That is Angela. I love her, and I have no plans of letting her go," Bryce said, confessing his feelings for the first time.
"Bryce, you can't marry her," Devon said, and Bryce frowned. "This is what you are going to do. You will divorce her and send her back to wherever she came from. Your relationship with Susan has come a long way. I will announce your engagement to her in two weeks, and you can marry her two weeks after," he said.
"I am not interested in Susan. We have been good friends, and that is all we will be. I am not interested in a romantic relationship with her. I am okay with Angela," Bryce rejected, like he didn't hear that part where his father said he can't marry Angela.
"Were you paying attention, Bryce?" Devon questioned. "I said you can't marry her," he repeated.
"Why?" Bryce asked.
"Because you can't," Devon said.
"Why can't I? Do you not have a reason or an explanation for that?" Bryce asked, trying to keep himself calm while he tried to understand his father's problem with Angela.
"Bryce, we are counted among the rich and powerful. You can't just marry anyone. You will make the headlines and raise unnecessary gossip," Devon blurted out.
"Angela comes from a good family, and last I checked. They are of good standing with society. Her parents are not rich and powerful like us, but they are not poor," Bryce defended.
"Bryce, you will not have a bag of problems for a wife?" Devon said.
"Dad, if you are talking about the recent mistakes in the company and the scandals, Angela didn't do it. Those were the handiwork of Susan, Eva and Diana. Angela is a hard-working employee. She is very brilliant and full of ideas. I had always had plans to expand the business. She turned an error into something new. Today, we have the chance to be part of the entertainment industry. She led the project, and the movie is a success," Bryce defended.
"Bryce, my word is final. You will divorce this girl," Devon said.
Back in the living room, Angela was still admiring the artefacts in the living room. It was also helping to deal with the boredom she was feeling sitting alone in the living room. She walked towards a bookshelf and started going through the titles of the books. Her gaze fell on a particular book, and she decided to pull it out of the shelves. The books fell to the left, covering the space created by the removal of the book. Angela's eyes fell on something hiding behind the books. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she picked it up. Her eyes widened seeing it was an artefact. She stared at the artefact with a sense of familiarity. She examined the artefact and read the initials on the base, which quickly connected.
Angela's mind went back to when she was a little girl. Her father showed her the artefact and told her it belonged to the family, and his father gave it to him when he got married. He told her one day it would be hers when she found her partner. After recalling that while still examining the artefact in hand, her mind went to the night of her parents' murder. Before darkness covered her after she was shot in the back, she saw one of her parent's murderers pick up the artefact from the table.
Back in the study, Bryce and Devon continued to disagree.
"Father, I am allowed to make my decision, and nothing you say would make me divorce Angela. She is here to stay," Bryce said, and they both heard Angela scream.
Bryce stood up and exited the study, hurrying his steps into the living room. Devon followed him out. When they entered the living room, they found Angela lying on the floor motionless and the artefact lying a couple of feet away from her.