Chapter 53

~Alistair~

“I’ll just have a word with you, Alistair, then I’d be on my way,” Aunt Mary said.

I rolled my eyes, fiddling with my pen.

“What you did today was wrong and totally unacceptable, and I’d advise you to go to that sweet charming girl, and apologise to her for what you did to her,” Aunt Mary said.

I scoffed. “Why should I apologise for painting her as the traitor that she is?” I asked.

“Even if she did betray you, you had no right whatsoever to ridicule her publicly. I doubt she’d ever be able to raise her head in public again,” Uncle Donaldson, the man who had never liked me, said.

“Well, Eliana Venator had no right whatsoever to cheat on me with that loser,” I said.

“No, Alistair. I think you’re pained that you’re the loser, because if you truly were worth it, she wouldn’t have allegedly cheated on you,” Aunt Mary said.

“You’re right, Mary. Obviously, that pretty woman you humiliated right in front of us, saw that you weren’t worth her love and that’s why she betrayed you. Of course, she was right, because if you truly were a man, Alistair, you wouldn’t have done what you did today. I’m highly disappointed in you,” Uncle Donaldson said.

I scoffed, sitting on the couch. “When are you never disappointed in me? Is there anything I’ll ever do to please you?” I fired at him.

“Oh, please, spare me the pity party, Alistair. Irrespective of your views about me, what you did today was absolutely wrong, and even though the media may go ahead to criticise the poor girl’s actions, forgetting that what you did was also out of line, just know it that you were wrong,” He said.

“I am highly disappointed in you, Alistair, and I’m sure your parents didn’t train you to be this way,” Grandmother said, in a soft tone, coming out of her bedroom with the aid of her walking stick.

“Mother,” Aunt Mary said, going to hold her by the hands.

My relatives had come over for the anniversary, and instead of paying for a hotel, they had spent a few days at my house prior to the day of the anniversary, which was today. They had all seemed angry at me considering how I had humiliated Eliana, and even though the anniversary party continued smoothly after she stormed out of the hall, that was the topic on everybody’s lips.

Now, I had to face the wrath of my actions from my relatives. While the others had practically ignored me throughout the rest of the evening and had gone to their separate rooms, Aunt Mary and Uncle Donaldson, my tormentor, had made it their responsibility to call me back to order. Truth be told, it wasn’t working, and all they were saying were falling on deaf ears. My only concern now was the fact that my grandmother seemed to be aware of what had taken place even though she hadn’t attended the event.

“How did you get to find out about this, mother?” Aunt Mary asked, helping her sit on the sofa.

“What’s the Internet for? The news is all over the place, and it even comes with a video recording,” Grandmother explained.

“Splendid,” I said, sarcastically.

“You one had one task to do today, Alistair. All you had to do was organise an anniversary for the company, since your parents are no more, and what did you do? You shattered the heart of a girl you claim you were in love with. How could you commit such a despicable act?” Grandmother asked, with a distasteful look written on her face.

“I’m sorry, Grandmother, if you’re unhappy about what I did. I loved Eliana more than I’ve ever loved anyone, and I’d taken a bullet in my heart just for her sake. I was hurt and broken by her betrayal, and all I wanted to do was to give her a taste of her own medicine. I wanted her to also get hurt the exact way she had hurt not just my feelings, but also my pride,” I explained.

“Well, your idea of getting her hurt sucked. You could have just ended things with her instead of publicly humiliating her,” Aunt Mary said.

I scoffed. “Don’t you all get it? She wasn’t in love with me. If I told her it was over between us, she was going to scream for joy. I wanted her to feel the same pain I had felt, and that’s why I exposed her for the liar and cheat that she is,” I said.

“You don’t even feel sorry. Aren’t you ashamed of what you did?” Grandmother asked.

“Why should I be ashamed of what I did? She got exactly what was coming to her, and do you know what people are saying? They’re of the opinion that every cheat should be exposed just like how I had exposed Eliana. I can’t feel sorry for her, and I don’t even feel sorry for her. She deserved it,” I said.

“Just one question, Alistair,” Garrett said, coming in through the front door. He had apparently been listening to everything we had been saying, and I could sense that he was angry.

“What is it, Garrett?” I asked.

“Now that you’ve ensured that Eliana has felt the same pain you felt, or even something worse than that, how do you feel?” He asked.

“What are you going on about?” I retorted.

“Do you feel better now that you’ve embarrassed Eliana in such a way that she may never show her face in public again? Do you feel elated? Has your heart been mended now that the person who broke it is going through pain? Tell me, Alistair, are you pleased with yourself after doing something so hurtful to a woman whose only crime was loving you? Are you okay now?” Garrett asked, at the top of his voice.

I bit my lower lip, as Garrett’s words sunk in. “Garrett, this is a family matter. I’d appreciate it if you minded your own business,” I said, unable to bring myself to answer his question.

Uncle Donaldson scoffed. “Family matter outside, you say? You’ve forgotten that you aren’t family, seeing that you’re so quick to remind someone else that he isn’t family. I’ve always said it, and I’ll keep saying it, Alistair. Always have it at the back of your mind that you aren’t family, and we’re only doing you a favour by letting you keep our family name,” He said.

A mischievous smile crept onto my lips. “Thank you for reminding everyone here that I don’t share the same blood with the Duke family. To that effect, as strangers, you have no right to involve yourselves in whatever I decide to do. After all, the company is in my name, and I’m just doing you a favour by letting you retain powerful positions in Duke Group. Always have it at the back of your mind that I can decide to fire all of you,” I said, and stood up, then began walking out.

“Where do you think you’re going to?” Grandmother asked.

“No offence, but I won’t sit here and listen to a bunch of strangers telling me what I can and can’t do in my own company,” I said, and stormed off, slamming the door behind me.

I bumped into Jenny on my way out, and we appeared to be startled at first, then we just laughed.

“Were you eavesdropping?” I asked.

“Obviously. I hope you don’t mind,” She said, stifling a chuckle.

“I won’t mind, if you decide to take a walk with me,” I said.

“Okay, then. I’ll be willing to take a walk with you,” Jenny said, and putting her hands in her coat, we began to walk together.

“Why didn’t you come in?” I asked.

“I didn’t want to face the wrath of your family members. They don’t like me already, and they’d believe I supported you to humiliate Eliana today if I went in there to defend you,” She replied.

“You don’t want to keep getting in their black book, is that it?” I asked.

Jenny nodded her head, affirmatively. “You’re right, Alistair.”

“But what I did today, do you think it was the right thing to do?” I inquired.

She wore a faint smile. “Of course, it was the right thing to do, and even though no one supports you, I’ll always be on your side,” Jenny said.

I took her hand in mine. “Yes, Jenny. You’ve always been the one person that’s there for me all the time.,” I said, and stopped right in my tracks.

She stopped abruptly as well, as our eyes locked.

“I’m sorry for all I said and did to you these past few months because of Eliana. I mean, she didn’t even deserve all the love I gave to her, and it still hurts me when I remember all the awful things I said about you because of her. I should have known that you were the right person to be by my side all along, and I ended up getting deceived by her. I’m sorry about everything, Jenny. I don’t get how you still managed to stick right by my despite it all, and I owe you so much. I hope you can forgive me, and I pray there’s still time for me to make it up to you,” I said, truthfully.

“It’s okay, Alistair. I forgave you before you even asked for my forgiveness. Eliana is a pretty girl, no doubt, and she seems so innocent, so, I can understand why you were so blinded by her. However, that’s in the past, and I definitely won’t hold the past against you. What matters is that you’ve finally come back to your senses, and trust me, Alistair, there’s still a lot of time for you to make it up to me,” Jenny said, in a calm tone.

I pulled her into my arms, and stroked her hair. “Thank you for forgiving me,” I whispered.

Jenny was nearly as talk as I was, and her head rested on my shoulders. For some reason, I kind of wished she was more on the average height side just like Eliana, so that while I patted her hair, her head could rest on my chest, making my heart pound and causing me to feel a sudden rush of adrenaline.

I blinked rapidly, then drew out of her embrace impulsively, being haunted by the thoughts of Eliana.

“Are you okay?” Jenny asked.

I nodded my head, in the affirmative. Obviously, I was not being completely honest with her. I wasn’t okay. After everything that Eliana had done to me, how could I still think of her when I was with the one person who had always been there for me, and had never thought of betraying me like she had done? No, something was wrong with me, but I couldn’t voice out my feelings.

She pulled herself closer to me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“You mentioned something about trying to make it up to me?” She inquired.

“Yes, why?”

“You can start now,” She told me, leaning forward as she closed her eyes.

I had no excuses since I had ended things with Eliana, but why didn’t I want to have anything to do with any other woman even though I was now free like a bird?

As Jenny’s lips grew closer, my heartbeat rapidly increased, and the memory of the first time I had seen Eliana lying helplessly next to a tree in the forest ten years ago, flashed through my mind.

Why was I thinking about that just now? What was wrong with me?

Jenny’s nose had touched mine, and our lips almost touched each other, when the memory of Eliana’s wet lips flashed through my mind. I had told her I’d be helping her wet her lips, and that she didn’t need to apply a lip gloss anymore. I always liked how soft her lips were, especially since they weren’t coloured, but the lips that now almost touched mine were way too purple as Jenny had decided to wear a purple coloured lipstick today.

I didn’t want to kiss Jennifer Stuart. I had never loved her, but I had still been able to be romantically involved with her. However, I couldn’t even do that anymore. In spite of what Eliana had done to me, and the brutal way in which I had paid her back in her own coin, my heart was still beating for only her, and I couldn’t bring myself to have anything to do with someone else.

Removing Jenny’s arms from my neck, I turned around to prevent her from seeing the drop of tear that had fallen from my eyes. At this moment, I hated myself. How could I still love the very woman that had broken my heart? I was shattered, upon coming to the realisation that my heart still belonged to the very woman who betrayed me.

My heart didn’t know how to stop breaking itself with its own hands, and as I ran shamefully into the garden, leaving Jenny confused as to what had gone wrong, I hated myself and cursed the day I had first laid my eyes on Eliana Venator.