The Heirs

Wedding bells

The traffic wasn't as bad as Joe had imagined as she made her way to the Dynamic restaurant.
"Good evening madam, please follow me", said a man in suit
It's been three years since she last saw Abraham, her late husband's grandfather and she hoped they wouldn't have any reason to meet again but her wish turned out to have been rejected the moment she got a call from him asking for them to meet today.
Why are we meeting, she thought
Joe spotted the old man reading a newspaper, he never seemed to grow old,many in his age were weaker than him but he was fit as a feeble " Grandfather ", said Joe as she hugged him
"Joe, how are you", said Abraham sitting down
After he had made her order something, he broke the silence.
"I heard Treasure is alive", said Abraham
So that was it
"Grandfather, you know I don't like being reminded of my dead daughter ", said Joe looking at him
"I'm not the only one who knows", said Abraham dropping the second bomb
"What do you mean", asked Joe letting down her guard as she felt vulnerable
"Why did you lie to me", asked Abraham
"My daughter died many years ago, grandfather so why would I lie to you", she asked
"I'm dying soon, I want to see my greatgranddaughter", said Abraham
"She is dead , she is being dead for twenty two years now and who ever thinks she is alive is only doing a job impossible", said Joe . Then she stood up ready to leave
"I don't have much time to live, I don't have any of my family with me, writing a will is something my relatives are praying for me to do and die soon , I don't want to miss the chance of hearing her call me great-grandfather, I have already missed out so much in her life, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you both despite having so much wealth, I couldn't protect my loved ones either, just let me see her Joe , I know she is alive", said Abraham.
The minute I accept that she is alive, she will be killed, I don't want that ,she thought
A series of cough brought her to look at Abraham as she watched him wipe away his mouth with an handkerchief , there was blood stain on the handkerchief
I know he has cancer but I never thought he was this close to death, I could remember when I had gotten married to Stevin, he was the only one I had to listen to me, he helped me in so many ways that I could never get tired of thanking him ,she thought
"I can't let you see her because she doesn't even know me as her mother, I'm not her mother anymore, letting you meet her is like introducing her into a world of trouble, I can't lose bear to lose her again", said Joe . Then she left.
"Sir, she has left the restaurant", said a man on the phone, sitting inside a car parked opposite the restaurant
"Okay, keep following her", said Raymond on the other side of the phone.

*************
Cinthia
"I'm not interested in any of your sons", I replied calmly as I looked at James.
"What she means is that she will think about it ", said my dad
What!!!
I suddenly lost my appetite as I kept stabbing the meat mercilessly as I stared at my food as if it was a case study.
I'm certainly not the only one who felt the atmosphere which had rather turned sour suddenly.
Richard had stood up immediately and Adrian and Claire had something to settle as I watched them go upstairs.
They love each other so why would James want me to be with his son .
"This is all your fault", said Priscilla coming into the room
"I don't see where I am at fault,dear sister",I replied as I laid on the bed
She stamped her feet angrily "You !!!",
Adrian
"Claire, listen to me, Claire", I said as I watched her pack her clothes into her suitcase
"I knew your father didn't like me,but I never expected this from him", said Claire . She kept taking her clothes and dumping them straight into her opened suitcase without even arranging them
Then I held her hand trying to stop her "I didn't know he would say that okay, I'm also as angry as you are ,so please calm down and look at me",I said
"Why, why is he doing this, despite seeing us together,he still went ahead to say such", said Claire with tears in her eyes
Then I hugged her "The last thing I want right now is to see you cry, so please stop crying", I said
"I don't want to stay here anymore, Adrian let's go back to America", said Claire as she touched my face
"I will book the tickets first thing tomorrow morning", I said as I hugged her
Maybe I should never had come home in the first place,all he does is to control my life, dictating each and every one of my actions, he has done that before but not anymore, I can't allow him to live my life for him.

Richard
Everything has always been about Adrian to him, it's as if I don't exist to him.
Getting to my room, I took a shower and when I came out of the bathroom using a towel to dry my hair ,my phone rang
"Has he signed the papers", asked a voice on the phone
"Not yet", I replied calmly
"It seems you would like to be his puppet all your life", said the voice
I frowned "Why do you care what happens to me", I asked
"I don't care about you, I just feel tired of you always being denied what should be yours", said the voice
"I'm not sure you're interested in my happiness unless you want something from me", I asked
"I'm sure I have something of yours, I could share with your father, care to remind me what happened on 23rd of March or should I remind you", said the voice then the call was disconnected.
23rd of March, what happened on that day ,wait how did he know, no he can't possibly know about it,no

***************
The scattering of the plates was heard in the kitchen as Joe stood behind the gas cooker lost in thought.
Who knows about treasure,who wants to kill my daughter again, I almost lost Ava who wants my daughters dead, oh Lord please help me, I can't lose my kids anymore,I don't want to lose them.
Then she remembered twenty three years ago ...
At that time, Stevin and she had gone on their honeymoon after being married for six months. Getting married to Stevin was never in her life plan because all her life she had loved Raymond but with her father forcing she got married to a man she had never seen or loved ,yet life didn't stop surprising her ,Stevin was a man who despite knowing she was in love with another man,he treated her with so much respect, if she hadn't been in love with Raymond,she would have definitely been head over heels in love with him . After spending time together she didn't realize when she had fallen in love with her husband but she never had the chance to confess how much she had loved him or tell him how important he was to her because...
The memories of that dreadful night still stayed with her tormenting her souls for years,she could remember it vividly like it happened a minute ago, she could remember how excited she was since Stevin had kept her occupied outside of the hotel they had stayed while he was in the hotel,she knew he was up to something probably planning a surprise for her, she could remember his call that night asking her to come to the room , she had never felt so excited for anything in her life before until that very day as she found herself giggling like a teenage girl who was in love as she made her way to the room happily. If she had knew what she would have seen behind the door was her husband being mercilessly stab ,she would have saved herself the horror as strength left her as shivers ran down her spine then she screamed and the cold eyes of her husband's murderer stared at her...
"Joe, Joe", said Raymond noticing that his wife had been lost in thought
Stevin, she thought
Then shivers run down her spine as she looked at him , this was the man she loved and him was her forbidden love
"Are you alright ,dear ", asked Raymond as he took her from the kitchen and sat her down on the couch
"I'm sorry, I'm not as strong as I thought, I couldn't save my daughter , I couldn't save her", said Joe as she broke into tears
This wasn't new to Raymond since he had caught his wife many times crying in the night and he knew it was for her dead daughter, Treasure .
But it's been twenty two years why hasn't she forgotten about it unless she actually fell in love with Stevin after she had married him , who wouldn't love a rich man after all she had left him for one ,he thought
"I'm sorry", Joe said with tears in her eyes
Then he pulled her into a hug "It's alright Joe, you can cry as much as you want to as long as you don't bury so many emotions in you , you know that's not a good thing to do", said Raymond
She nodded as she rested her head on his chest .
The demon of the past is trying to catch up to me again, I can't lose my daughter again, I thought letting her go would save her but now maybe having her close to me would protect her , will she ever accept me as her mum, will she , she thought