A horrified expression flashed on Amir’s face, but he quickly masked it before grabbing Omar by the elbow and attempting to move him away from the microphone. He could see that people had taken their phones and were recording everything that was happening, for the wrong reasons too. He had planned an ideal night ahead of everything, but things had taken a turn for the worst. And for the life of him he had no idea why his son was doing this, especially after making the next CEO.
“What is the meaning of this? Are you mad?” he demanded lowly, eyes aflame but unfortunately for him, his stern tone did nothing but embolden Omar.
Shrugging off his dad, Omar chuckled before turning back to the unsuspecting crowd. “You know, I always knew you were a sinister man but the things you’ve done over the last few months are both low and detestable,” he spat in disgust, and scratched his brow.
He cleared his throat. “So, I’m sure all of you are all aware of the rumors that spread a couple of months ago about Andrea Dos Ramos, Emilio Dos Ramos’ daughter, seducing me and purposefully becoming pregnant by me just so she could weasel her way into our family. Well, that accusation is dead wrong and far from the truth. You see, I fell in love with a minor and got her pregnant accidentally. She is just a victim of malicious lies and a whole lot of other things that she neither caused nor deserved,” he stated with an unwavering certainty.
He looked at his father and gestured towards him with an outstretched arm. “My father had always bee abhorrent of the idea of me owning up to my mistakes. I was supposed to marry Andrea when she became of age, but my father wouldn’t have it. He hatched an elaborate scheme to bring her close and tried to kill her not even two months ago. But before that, he tried to kill her by poisoning her when she visited London, and that was a scheme he hatched with my brother Hakim.”
All eyes flew to Hakim, who began to squirm under the petrified and shocked gazes of the guests. His mother, Nasim, was the one most shocked. “You did that?” she asked him in disbelief, hand up to her mouth.
“I-I,” he wanted to speak but his speech failed him. He never imagined that he’d ever be under the scrutiny for something he did in fact do, something he had thought would never come out in the open.
Navid leaned across the table and tsked. “Guess the cat’s out of the back, huh? You thought you’d get away with it, didn’t you? All so that you could frame dad and become the next CEO. I wish I’d never gone along with your stupid plan,” he muttered, earning a contemptuous glare from Hakim.
Omar continued. “That’s not all. My father went and recruited a couple of high schoolers who have an axe to grind with Andrea and had them leak the fake news. I believe their names are Sydney Reale and Rhett Saunders whom I plan on suing, along with my brother and father, for defamation. How could you stoop so low, dad?” he asked rhetorically. Amir remained silent, face hard. He was sweating in his Armani suit, because he knew that if Omar was blatantly exposing him like this, it was likely because he’d gathered enough information to sink him so deep, there would be no way out.
“Son, please don’t do this-,” he had begun to beg, something he never did, but Omar cut him off with a scoff.
“Did you think about not sending those two men to kill Andrea and my daughter? I’m so grateful to God that she didn’t die because I’d have died with her. You killed my child and that innocent driver all because of your selfishness. At first, I couldn’t believe you’d do such a thing, but then…you’ve killed countless times before. You hide behind this white-collar persona, even though you’ve got your foot in the underworld as well,” he yelled so loudly that there was no doubt other people in the hotel might have heard him.
Amir tried stepping closer to him, to try to apologize but Omar wouldn’t have it. At this point, all he could see was red, so he did the one thing he had been dying to do for years now. He landed a good old-fashioned punch on his old man’s jaw, that sent him flying across the stage. Walking over to him, he lifted him by the collar and looked into his hollow eyes. “I hope you rot in jail and hell. Just know, I’ll never forgive you for any of this,” he spat acidly before shoving him back down and walking off the stage and straight out the door.
The cops, who had received the necessary evidence and jurisdiction to arrest Amir and Hakim, flooded the ball room and apprehended the two. Amir didn’t put up a fight, he knew when he was beat but Hakim on the other hand, only made it worse for himself by kicking and screaming. It was a full-blown shit show, and the clips that had been captured had already been uploaded to all social media sites and news outlets.
Once outside of the building, away from all the fracas, Omar breathed out. The tears were back in his eyes, but he wiped them away before they could fall. Bringing out his phone, he dialed Salvador’s number and held it up to his ear. “Is it done?”
“I did it. Everything should be live by tomorrow,” he mumbled almost incoherently. “How’s Andrea doing?”
Salvador sighed. “She’s good, I guess. Aloof, but doing a lot better. She’s focusing on finishing off her classes so she can graduate. But I can tell she’s suffering in silence.”
“I know I said I wouldn’t contact her again, but I need you to pass this message when you think it's best. Tell her that I’m sorry for everything that happened between us, everything that happened to her and your family. I wish our daughter could have lived, I bet she would have been as gorgeous as her mother. Lastly, let her know that I’ll not bother her again and I love her, forever,” he said and then ended the call.
Letting go was the hard part, but the hardest part was moving on. But for his sake and Andrea’s, he needed to work on himself and find a way forward.
***
Andrea craned her neck to the side as she finished off the last of her assignments. After being confined to her bedroom for so long, she had asked if she could at least finish off high school and get her diploma. Salvador had already attained his and just like the rest of their graduating class, they were already on summer vacation. Her phone had been confiscated so she wouldn’t be checking any platforms, and whenever she wanted to use her computer for research, the social media sites were barred. It was like she was living in a personalized prison.
A knock came to her door, and she told whoever it was to come in. When Salvador strolled in, followed by her father she was taken off guard. She put her pen down and straightened up, something she always did whenever in Emilio’s presence. “Dad…Salvador, what brings you here?” she asked in barely contained surprise.
Salvador sat next to her on the bed and took her books. “Looks like you’re pretty much done with this. I was hoping we wouldn’t be interrupting anything. How are you feeling?” he said with a smile and wrapped his arm around her. He had become so affectionate with her that it was frightening. They’d been some kind of sibling rivalry that existed but now it was like it hadn’t been there at all.
She leaned against his shoulder. “I’m alright. My ribs hurt a little but I’m okay,” she muttered and then looked at her dad. He had a sad smile on his face, and his eyes looked far off and troubled.
“Andrea, there’s something that you should know. I don’t have the right words to describe it but let’s just say, you were right all along. Someone did try to kill you and it was Amir Pedrad. In fact, he had everything to do with the leaking of information about our family to the press, with the help of some colleagues of yours. The incident in London was a poisoning but the culprit was Hakim Pedrad, his eldest son. They were taken into custody last night and are awaiting trial,” he told her in his firm voice, but this time, he managed to make it seem soft.
Andrea sucked in deeply, the full weight of what she’d just heard falling on her. So, she had been correct in her deductions and although she felt happy that the culprits were caught, that did nothing to ebb down the pain and hollowness at the thought of losing her daughter, Amelia. That was the name she’d given her and although she couldn’t hold her or watch her grow, Amelia would hold a special place in her heart forever.
She shook her head and nodded grimly. “So, who are the classmates? Let me guess, Sydney Reale and Rhett Saunders?” she droned sarcastically.
Salvador nodded in agreement. “Yep. They leaked the info to the press and we’re currently in the process of suing them for defamation. So is Omar, apparently,” he trailed off. She hadn’t heard Omar’s name in a while, neither had she heard from him since he fled. Not even a text or a message. Complete radio silence, and she hated him for it. Could it be so easy to shut himself off and act like nothing happened?
Salvador cleared his throat before looking over at his dad. “Dad, I need to tell you something. When you and mum went on your vacation, I-,” Andrea cut him off by grabbing his arm and tugging him towards her.
“What are you doing?” she seethed lowly into his ear.
He shook his head and smiled ruefully. “Don’t worry, I know you said we’d never speak of it, but I think dad should know. I need to know that Saunders is going down permanently for this,” he assured her and rubbed her hand comfortingly. She still seemed hesitant but kept her mouth closed. Her brother could be a stubborn as a mule at times.
He turned back to Emilio. “I threw a party and it got out of hand. Rhett showed up and got drunk then tried to force himself on Andrea. She tried to scream but her had his hand over her mouth and if it wasn’t for Omar stepping up and kicking the crap out of him...I don’t even want to ever think about it. I was stupid and immature to do that. I put my sister at risk and to this date, I haven’t forgiven myself for it. I really sorry that I disobeyed you and I’m sorry for putting Andrea at risk,” he muttered woefully, reprimanding himself in the process.
Emilio’s eyes darkened and his hand balled into a fist. It was evident that he was about to flip his lid and fumes were practically evaporating out of his ears and nostrils. “How could you be so careless? And you think I can ever trust you again after what you just told me?” he bellowed indignantly, shaking the walls with the pitch of his tone.
Salvador hung his head in shame. Andrea, seeing that the situation might escalate, stepped in to save him. “Dad, yes, he was a little reckless, but he had no idea Rhett would show up. Besides, I’m the one who went outside, and Rhett cornered me. It wasn’t entirely his fault,” she tried to defend but Emilio was having none of it.
“Nonsense! This is clearly your hermano’s (brother’s) fault. Do you think that little puta madre would have just waltz into this complex and almost violated you so easily? And you’re only telling me this now?” he barked ferociously, pacing about the room. She had never heard him swear before, he must have been really angry.
Heading for the door, Andrea asked where he was going. “I’m going to make sure that this Saunders kid ends up behind bars. He tried to tarnish my name, but I’m going to obliterate him and his entire bloodline,” he vowed before exiting the room.
Andrea wrapped her arms around her brother, and he reciprocated, laying his head on her shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up about it, I never blamed you for that. If I could forgive you then you should forgive yourself too. And don’t mind what dad said, he’s just upset. Let him blow off some steam and then try talking to him again,” she said soothingly, rubbing his back.
“You’re a good sister, Andrea. I’ve been a jackass to you so many times and despite all that, you still defend me and comfort me. I don’t deserve your kindness,” he mumbled glumly.
She straightened up, and so did he. “You’re a good brother. You always step in to defend me or Ximena whenever we need it. You protect us fiercely. I don’t think we could have had a better brother,” she said with a smile.
Just then, the door opened again, and Ximena walked in. Her bump was now huge, and it looked like she would give birth at any second. “Hello you guys. I dropped by to say hello but then heard dad threatening to burn someone alive over the phone. Any idea what that is about?” she asked and waddled over to the bed to sit. She took her shoes off and stretched her legs out on the bed. “Let me guess, it’s about the whole Omar exposing his family thing, right? I watched the video on the news this morning. I might have mixed feelings about the guy, but he did one helluva of job. And he even punched his dad in the face in public. Absolutely mind blowing,” she said, making the motions with her hands next to her head.
Andrea sighed. “Well, that’s part of it but the other thing…let’s not talk about it. I don’t want to talk about any of that. I just want to focus on being happy, is that okay?”
“Sure, anything you want,” Ximena said, and Salvador concurred.
“Why don’t we watch a movie or something?” he suggested. His sister nodded before making room for Ximena to settle next to them at the head of the bed. Salvador reached over to take Andrea’s laptop, logged in and went straight to Netflix.
The three ended up watching a romantic comedy called The Hating Game and bonded over it with some microwaved popcorn.
____________________________________
Hi pips. I hope the week is going well but for me, it's hella boring. It's cold as fudge and uh, I'm sick of it. The other day it rained and by now, I'm sure you're all well aware that I hate rain.
So, we finally got Amir and Hakim out of the picture. Rhett and Sydney will meet their fate too.
Thoughts on the chapter?
Don't forget to vote too ♡♡♡
Kisses,
~Deetronite ♤■♤●