The Workaholic Wife ✅

Warming up

Two weeks passed by in the hospital and my family was thoroughly exhausted. One day, after Pops was given complete rest at our house, he asked me to talk to him privately.

I went into his office—which was really his bedroom converted into his office— and waited for him after dinner.

He came strolling in, walking steadily, but slowly. He went out of breath even while walking for short periods of time. He is under a lot of stress and I gave him a hefty dosage of medication.

"Hello, dear," he says, sitting on the bed.

"Hi Pops. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, better than before." He smiles, his gray eyebrows scrunching as he throughly analyzed me.

For a moment, I went still. Then I spoke: "So, am I in trouble?" I chuckle at my own joke and look at him, expecting an answer.

He laughs. "No, my sweet daughter. But, you are going to be."

"What? What did I do Pops?"

"You have been worried only about me."

"Isn't that a good thing?" I ask, wondering why we were having this conversation.

"Yes, but before I die, I want to hand over the company to my son."

"Alright? And what does that have to do with me?"

"It has everything to do with you, my dear. I want Aniket to have an heir before I pass the company onto him. He technically is the CEO of our company, but in my will, he will only inherit the company when I am alive, and only if he has an heir."

"I don't understand. What does a heir have to do with anything?"

"I want to make sure the company is safe, along with my wife."

"Well, you trust your son. Why can't you hand over the company to him?"

"Well, there is a minor issue."

"What will that be?"

He turns his head, avoiding my gaze. "He's not my son."

"What!"

"He's my nephew."

"Pops, you have to explain before I faint."

"Well, you see, this is a highly confidential matter. You must not tell anyone. Not even after I die. Do you understand?"

"Tell me first, before I make any promises."

He sighs. "Just promise this to a dying man."

"You're not dying; I made sure of it. As your doctor and as your daughter-in-law."

"Fine. I will tell you. But you can't tell anyone. Your Mayma and my sister were bearing children at the same time. My sister and I were twins, so genetically she had twins too; a boy and a girl. Except, she didn't want anyone to know because she wasn't married. She had children with her lover who left her as soon as he heard she was pregnant."

"What happened to your child?"

"He died in a car accident when we were all getting home. I was driving the car and the truck had hit the passenger side. Your Mayma couldn't remember anything and  afterwards the baby died. The problem was that she had amnesia; she remembered having a son and I didn't have the heart to tell my wife that we lost our baby boy in the accident."