Fated: A Lover's Journey Against All Odds

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Collin opened his eyes and looked at his watch. It was seven a.m. and he had a long day ahead of him. He had fallen asleep sometime after four with Aurora in his arms. She was still asleep as he tried to shift her position so that he could get a head start on the things he had to get done. He would fly back to Ohio later that night so he had to tie things up with the manager at Jamal's.

As he slowly raised his body from off the bed Aurora shifted her position and went back to sleep. She was set to leave later that afternoon so he knew he wouldn't be able to see her before she left. But at least they had cleared up their feelings for each other so they both knew where they stood.

After putting his shoes on, he left her a note on her bedside table and then left.

On the other side of town, David's father rose from his bed and went downstairs. He decided that he needed to talk to David man to man given the events that have occurred over the past few weeks leading up to the previous night. After what went down at the dinner he thought that the best thing to do was to admit defeat. He no longer had a hold over David who now knew the truth of everything that he tried to hide. The worst part was, that his parents would never give him access to his trust as David was no longer getting married.

After David and Aurora left last night the only thing he had to do was flee before his parents could say anything but it may not be too late. Just as he was about to take a sip of his coffee his phone rang.

It was his mother.

He had spoken too soon and now here it was.

"Hello mother," he answered nervously.

"We need to see you at 9 a.m. at the Plaza. Our room number is 318. Be here."

She didn't wait until he could give an answer to indicate if he would be able to make it or not before she ended the call. She didn't care about his plans, she wanted to see him and that was that.

When he arrived at his parents' hotel room, his mother and father were waiting for him. To his surprise, David and his mother were also present. What the hell was going on? He thought to himself. What kind of sick family reunion did his mother plan?

When he saw Ava, he felt as if a part of his stomach was pulled out from inside him. He couldn't look her in the eye so he quickly shifted his gaze to another part of the room as he pretended to turn his attention to something else. He noticed that no one was talking except for a few whispers between David and his mother.

" Now that we're all here, let's discuss the matters at hand," his mother said sternly as she commanded everyone's attention. She wore no expression on her face to give an impression as if she was in a good mood or not. She had always been like that, straight and to the point.

She turned her attention to David who was standing close to his mother with a beer bottle in his hand.

" David, I must say that we're highly disappointed with the cancellation of your wedding to that lovely young lady. I wish you didn't make the biggest mistake of your life by calling off the wedding".

"I was being forced to marry Grams, I expressed that I wasn't ready for marriage on numerous occasions but it was ignored and to be honest after I found out the truth about certain affairs I could not go through with it" he explained respectfully. " I simply refuse to be a pawn in anyone's games".

His father looked at him and then turned his attention back to his mother.

Mrs. Michaels continued as she explained the circumstances surrounding the events that occurred years ago and justified the actions that were taken. In the process, she also apologized to Ava for what was done to her. Ava accepted the apology but only because she was able to be there for her son although she had to use several disguises and lies to do so. In the end, she was proud of the man he had become.

It was now time to hear of Bill's fate. He had been silent throughout the entire conversation.

"Bill, your father and I are sorry for the way things were handled after your indiscretion but we had no choice. You disdained our family's name and you know that for every action there is a consequence. Ava fought to be there for David given the circumstances so maybe we should have fought a little harder with you too. Therefore, we have made the decision that we will give you a third of your trust. The rest of the money will go to David and in the event of our deaths, well, you will have to wait until we are dead to find out what comes next."

Bill didn't say anything but the look on his face proved that he was not pleased with his mother's decision.

" Is this all?" he asked.

" I believe it is".

Bill immediately left and slammed the door behind him.

His mother and father chuckled afterward they told everyone else that they were free to leave.

While the Michaels's resolve their affairs Claire Flemming was busy trying to find the right way to break the news of a canceled wedding to everyone who had received an invitation. The wedding was supposed to be the following day so she had to act quickly. She crafted a carefully clever message which explained that the wedding was canceled due to a medical emergency. Quite a few persons may have known about David's incident a few weeks back so it could be stipulated that that had something to do with it or people may draw their conclusions about possible food poisoning from the dinner. The point was a medical emergency could be a result of several things and that was the narrative she was working with.

She pressed the send arrow in the email. Message sent.

She immediately felt an emptiness in her heart. She buried her face in the palms of her hands as she sobbed uncontrollably. She didn't expect that this was the way things would happen and she had no one to blame except herself. Her sister had told her years ago that things would backfire and now it finally did.

Mr. Flemming saw how distraught his wife was but instead of throwing blame to make her feel worse, he placed his hand on her shoulder.

" It will be okay," he said softly. "Aurora is strong and resilient and so is her mother".

Claire looked up at him and her lips curled into a smile. She was lucky to have him as her husband. He was rare. She sniffed and wiped away the tears as she hugged him.