57
MYKEL
Things seemed back to normal. Gary Merick’s face just popped on the national news. He almost had Lex fooled. I should not gloat, but he deserved it. I always believed that good would win against evil.
I have learned a lot of lessons in the past few weeks. One thing was, the family was always family. They were always there for me when I needed someone to hold onto and when I needed light when I was lost.
My wife was incredible. Despite my involvement with women, it didn’t stop her from helping me get through those hard times. She remained my source of strength—my anchor. How couldn’t I love her more every day?
“You called me, boss?” Sax closed the door behind him. “I hope not another babysitting assignment.”
“Come in.” I pulled an envelope from the drawer and put it on my desk. I knew once I did this, there was no going back, and my decision would drastically change the course of my life.
“Spectacular,” Sax said before he looked down at me.
Everyone in the office couldn’t help but admire the view behind me. It was just the skyscraper that took someone’s breath away. It was the view of the park and the sea, too.
“I want you to do something from me.”
“Okay?” He sounded unsure, but his eye caught what was on the desk.
“I want you to keep this between us.”
“Just us?”
“I don’t want you to tell Kye and my wife.”
His brows knitted. “How am I supposed to—”
“You’re visiting a family member. I hope this won’t take long.” I picked up the envelope and gave it to him.
Judging by his expression and hesitation to take the envelope, he wanted to know more about it.
“Four years ago, I was just starting up with a capitalist venture. I was an arrogant son of bitch. I loved the attention so much that it got in my head. I knew I slept with a young woman. She was twenty or twenty-one at that time. I remembered it clearly. Weeks later, she came to me claiming she was pregnant with my child. I talked to my lawyer. I was not interested to know if that child was mine or not. So I listened to the lawyer telling me to pay her off. Twenty thousand, to be exact. I met her at a cafe and gave her the money. You know what I said?” I looked at his judging eye.
Sax just clenched his jaw hard. I would have reacted the same if I was in his position. Now I was asking for his help.
“I told her to use the money to get rid of the baby.” I forced those words out of my mouth. My chest was heavy. I felt guilty, and it sickened me how I acted that way so quickly because I was too caught up in trying to prove something to myself.
“So, what exactly are you telling me to do?”
I drew a deep, steady breath. “When I saw Maisey yesterday, I thought of that woman. I couldn’t even look my wife in the eye. The way she looked at me? All I saw was admiration. She didn’t judge me despite my past. She was there for me the whole time, and I can’t continue being a reformed playboy and a good husband when deep inside, I am a horrible person. Because of my reckless behavior, I can’t pretend to be that good man she cares about when someone is possibly struggling somewhere out there.”
“I think I could agree with Mrs. C. You’ve changed. If you were that guy years ago, you couldn’t care less about that woman who almost ruined your life and marriage. Yes, you are lucky to have an understanding wife, but you are not that guy anymore. I didn’t like what you did to that young woman, but who am I to judge, right? We made mistakes. Our past is in the past, and we don’t know if the child is really yours, boss. Let me guess. This is where I come in?”
“Yes.” I swallowed hard. “I want you to find her. Her last address is in that envelope.
“What should I do if I found her?”
“I need you to get closed to the child and take a DNA sample. If you can get a copy of his birth certificate, that would be great.”
“How do you know she didn’t get rid of her pregnancy?”
“She said she would never do it.”
“Okay.”
“You’re leaving today. Keep me posted.”
Before Sax walked out my face, he faced me. “If I may give unsolicited advice, boss. You don’t wanna repeat the incident when she found out about your relationship with Knox. This one is different. You might not be able to fix your marriage this time.”
Sax had a point. I was torn between telling Adley or waiting for the result. The last thing I wanted to do was to keep this thing from her again. This time, she might not trust me and forgive me for good. She would leave me—the next thing I saw on my desk was a divorce paper.
I was startled and almost fell off my chair when my phone vibrated on the desk. Her name popped up.
My hand was still shaky as I picked up the phone.
“Baby?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
For a moment, I froze. My heart nearly exploded in my chest.
“Tell you what?”
“Sax is visiting his sick father?” That part was true. Sax had a sick father. In fact, I covered the bills every time he went for a follow-up.
“How did you know?”
I met him in the lobby.
“My lobby?”
“What’s wrong with you? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Why did you ask?”
“You sound weird and keep asking me questions.”
Fuck. I should pull myself together. I drew a deep breath.
“Sorry. I’ve been busy all morning.” Again, I lied.
“Should I go back?”
“No, no, no. I’m free now. I also wanna see you.”
“Really? You miss me?”
“I always miss you when you’re not around. Let’s talk about Sax when you’re here.”
“Sure.”
“I love you, baby. Always.” I hung up the phone and prepared myself for another terrible news.
Despite my anxiety, my wife was like the light in the dark tunnel.
“Hey.” Her smile could solve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Sorry for intruding your little solitude.” She put the plastic that smelled delicious on the table before she came to me, pulling me into a warm embrace.
“You are the best that has happened to me.”
“I know I’m awesome.” She kissed me on my lips. “I hope you haven’t had lunch.”
“I was about to, but thank goodness you called. What do we have?”
“Sushi. You eat Sushi, right?”
“Yup.”
We settled on the lounge. I helped her out preparing the meal.
We then started our lunch with a light conversation.
“Our first time sharing our meal here.”
“Yeah, because you never invited me over. And the last time I came, that—I really wanna forget that issue.”
“Me too. But you can always come and visit me. I don’t have to invite you, Adley. You are my wife.”
“It still feels special if you invite me, though.”
I smiled at that thought. “I’ll keep that in mind. Compared to how I constantly visited your office—”
“Barge into my office.”
“Fine. Barged into your office, I think I should have an invitation to see your office as the new CEO.”
“So, you haven’t thought of being a CEO of two companies?”
“You worked hard in preparing the new seat. I want you to take the leap, baby.” I put the chopsticks down and held her hands. “Look at me.”
She turned to me, her eyes sparkling. “Yeah?”
“You’re gonna be great, and your face will be on the cover of every magazine as the most influential woman. You’re honest, and your moral compass is in the right direction.”
“What made you so sure that I’m not gonna change?”
“This is not just about how to make the right decision during a crisis. You need to be fair and think of the company’s future without the influence of the people around you. They won’t always like your decisions. They will always question your capability as the first female CEO of Kross Corp. Prove them that having a penis is not always the basis of strong leadership.”
She grinned. “You have a penis, babe.”
“Because I’m a dick?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Not always.”
We were done with our lunch. After we cleaned it up, Adley stayed for a while.
“I was with Grandpa before I came over. The perks of being benched. I can’t believe I’m jobless right now. But I’m utilizing my free time.”
“How’s the old man?”
“He’s doing great, but his doctor is still suggesting a transplant.”
“I’m not a doctor, but I agreed with it.”
“Me too. And I don’t wanna be selfish. I already told Grandpa I was on board with the transplant. It’s only fair that he can live longer.”
“Baby.” I drew a deep breath. “I need to tell you something.”
“That sounds important. What is it?” She looked at me, and the pride in her eyes was killing me.
“I was not entirely open to you the whole time. I actually forgot about it until I looked Maisey in the eye.”
She swallowed hard. “Sure.” Her voice and expressions were entirely unsure. She was preparing herself and hoping what I was about to tell her would not hurt her bad.
“I know there’s no easy way to say this, but four years ago, a young woman came to me—”
I wasn’t even finished telling her. She was already crying, her hands on her mouth.
“Baby…”
“Go on. I wanna hear it.” She was holding her breath.
“I’m so sorry, but I can’t keep it anymore. My past started to catch up with me.”
“What did you do? Was she pregnant or something?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, God!” She stood up walking away.
“Adley, I’m not entirely sure the baby is mine.”
She turned to me, her eyes narrowing to slits. “Did you sleep with her unprotected?”
“No—”
“But accidents happen.”
“Yeah.” I swallowed the truth down.
“Then what happened? Where is she now? The kid, Mykel. You kid, where is he?”
“I’m not entirely sure.”
“You’re always telling me that!”
“I know.” I pressed my lips together, unable to tell her more. My thoughts jumbled.
She closed her eyes. Disappointment flashed all over her face. “Sax didn’t go to see his sick family member. It’s his excuse to find and clean up your mess, your ego, and your guilt after four years, Mykel. And here I thought you are a better man.” She looked at me for a moment before she shook her head.
The last thing I knew, she grabbed her bag and walked out of my office. And I didn’t even stop her. I let her slip through my fingers and walked away from my fucking life.
