BETRAYAL

11

"Thank you," she smiled back "I have always known you were going to become a good businessman, better than your father. Look at you now, you took that small company your father left to you to the big company it is now. I'm also so proud of you."

"Thank you," he told her. "So how is JR? How has he been? What is he doing now? Is he still an engineer?? I remember in your last email you told me he was accepted in a big company, right?"

"So you did saw my emails!" she felt her heart break "I was hoping you would say you never received those emails, why did you never contact me back?"

"I was so busy," he answered, avoiding any eye contact.

"Oh really!? You couldn't even spare an hour to attend my wedding?"

"I was still abroad studying back then," he told her.

"What about after that? I sent you so many emails, you never even bothered to reply at least one of them. To at least let me know you're okay. I had to find out you're well and alive through newspapers and magazines. You were my best friend," Katherine told him in a sad tone, her voice breaking as she mentioned the last part.

"I know there's nothing I would say that would make sense right now, so can you please just forgive me!! Please," he pleaded.

"Just so you know, I'm never going to forgive you for that, not until you give me a sensible explanation," Katherine angrily declared, his explanations or lack of made her angrier. It was better before when she knew nothing.

"Katherine!!" Martin sighed. Katherine could feel tears building up in her eyes, she took a big breath and released it to fight the tears back.

"Jeremy passed away 20 years ago, you would know that if you cared enough to email back," she angrily answered his earlier question.

"WHAT!!??" Martin couldn't believe his ears. The Jeremy known as JR he knew was dead!! How in the world did that happen? He could feel his chest tightening. He felt guilty for not knowing all those years.

"How did that happen? And 20 years ago??", Martin asked in shock, still trying to take everything in.

"He died in a car accident," Katherine answered, and this time she didn't fight the tears that threatened to fall.

"Oh my God!! How could something terrible like that happen!! Why did you never tell me? I would have contacted you if I knew something terrible like that happened. I didn't contact you guys because I thought you were living happily together somewhere. Why didn't you email me about that!!??" he asked in a low sad voice.

"I was all alone trying to raise a five year old kid, I had no one to depend to. How are we going to live? what are we going to eat? how am I going to support my kid? were the only thought that filled my head at the time," she somehow felt sorry for only telling him that then, but then again he is the one who left them.

"What do you mean you had no one to depend to? What about Jeremy's parents?? Didn't they support you two? Sure they were well off enough to do that."

"Jeremy's parents were against our marriage in the first place. As you know I lived with my uncle and my parents died when I was young. They didn't want an orphan child as a daughter in law, Jeremy went behind their back and marry me anyway. They were so upset about it and almost cut all ties with us, they never even attended the wedding. When Jeremy died they wanted nothing to do with me, they said I brought bad luck in their family," Katherine couldn't help it as she silently started sobbing.