Chapter 118: STRANGER TALES
"Dead? Oh my God, I’m so sorry about that! You two must have been pretty close if you rember her so fondly," Fay said, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
She didn’t like the whole concept of death. It was too permanent. An experience that leaves traumatic monts in its wake. If she had the ability to snuff out death from the world, she would, and replace it with sothing less hurting.
He chuckled bitterly at her reaction. "I wish we were. I actually never t her in person. I only went by the description my wife gave ."
She frowned, her sadness at the thought of death, switching to confusion. "I don’t understand. How co you never t your daughter-in-law?" She asked.
"Because I never accepted her marriage to my son," he said in a regret-filled voice, and shook his head.
The gloominess in his tone gave Fay the courage she needed to continue the conversation. Pausing the sticks motion mid drawing, she straightened up, and angled her gaze to him. "Why didn’t you approve of their marriage? If I may ask, of course."
"It’s okay," he drew his eyes to her, and smiled. With the way Carla had described his daughter-in-law, this stranger he was sitting with was the closest to that description he had wandered upon. They had a similar type of red hair that wasn’t common, even with how uncommon the redhead community was.
"I thought she only wanted my son for his money. She was a hard worker, who built a business whilst still in college where they t. But I co from a generation of stupendous wealth, and the first thing all the heirs were told was to be careful about preserving our wealth. I thought she would take everything from him, and leave him when she’s done. I never gave her a chance." His eyes were sunken now, with just a sting of tears trickling from the pocket it produced.
"That’s awful of you Mr— Seth. Why did you co to that conclusion?" She prodded further.
The whole conversation brought to mory Ace’s accusation. It had started with his Aunt and her Aunt. But his had hurt the most.
In hindsight, that accusation was the least of things that made her realise she was nothing but a fool. At the top of that list was his constant philandering with blondes.
She pulled herself out of the embarrassing direction her thoughts had drifted when the old man began to speak.
"He went to college in a different country. That was where he t her. Although she was also an Arican citizen, she was offered a scholarship to study in Germany. They t there, and that was how their relationship began. I couldn’t stand it. We already had a girl for him. They were supposed to further our family’s na, but he disappointed . He went ahead to marry her and cut his own family off because we disagreed."
"Wow," she said, because it was the only way she could express her astonishnt.
"I know. We were pretty terrible to him. I personally told him not to return ho if he was going to be returning with her. He listened to , and stayed back. Together, they built a company. He was doing well. I know because I always checked up on him through discreet ans."
"You obviously cared about him, so why didn’t you just drop your pride and allow him to co back ho?" She was alard as she found her voice again.
He laughed, but it was devoid of humour. His entire body shook with that laughter. You could tell it was filled with all the bottled up experiences he both endured and perpetuated.
"I did, my dear. I regretted my decisions. When it was clear they truly loved each other and she wasn’t after his money, because even though he lost everything he had, she still stuck by him. I regretted it dearly. To make up for my mistakes, I sent for him. But my son, my beloved Rayce, refused to co back. How could he? He had a ho, money, and his beloved wife. How could he co back? That was when I started looking for him."
"Why were you looking for him?" She asked when he paused to catch his breath. He had been talking for so long she was surprised he hadn’t stood up yet in search of water.
"Do you need so water?" She asked imdiately when the thought crossed her head.
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "Not when I have this." He reached into the side of his jacket, and pulled out a mini flask.
"Is that alcohol?" She scrunched her nose when he opened it and she caught a whiff.
His smile turned into a grin as he took a sip from it. "I don’t have much longer to live. I may as well enjoy my vices until I can no longer, don’t you think?"
"I don’t know about that. I believe we should all strive to live a healthy life, regardless of our age. Besides, you’re not that old."
"How do you know that?" He asked, amused.
"I can just tell. You’re almost the sa age as my— as soone I know grandmother." She corrected herself before she could call Ace her husband.
The sooner she realised he was just her husband on paper and she couldn’t always draw him for inspiration on a personal basis, the easier it would be to dissociate.
"And how old is that?" He asked, his lashes fluttering in further amusent.
"Maybe around sixty or seventy?"
"And that’s not old?"
"Nope. Old is ninety," she said confidently.
He laughed, and this ti around, it was hearty. She watched his face as he laughed. He transford from this grumpy old man, to a boisterous show of youthfulness.
"You see, I told you you’re not that old. But you can’t divert now. I still want to know why you were looking for him when you told
you were watching him discreetly."
He grew sober again, the strains of his age thinning into wrinkles by the side of his head.
"Yeah I knew where he was, but that was after my investigation. You see, my dear son had changed his na. The private investigator never gave
the na he changed it to. All he told
was that he was no longer bearing the family’s na. I couldn’t fault him for that. I practically told him he was dead to . He was only honouring , right?"
She wasn’t sure if that was a question or a statent, so she decided to stay silent and wait for him to continue.
"The private investigator gave
a number to call," he continued. "When I called the number, his wife picked up. She spoke so lovingly when I finally fessed up my identity to her. I thought she would end the call in my face, but on the contrary, she was ecstatic to hear from . I told her about the situation with my son, and how he didn’t want to see . She said she would help."
"She was really nice."
"You can say that again, my dear. I beca in constant conversation with her, but my son was none the wiser. She told
about their child who was turning five soon. To celebrate, they were going to take a trip to the US, to et up with her family. They also had a deal with a big fashion company in the US to close. She said she was going to use that opportunity to get my son to et . I was super excited. More excited than I had ever been before."
"But you said you never t her," Fay replied.
"I didn’t. The day they were supposed to arrive was the day the accident happened. Their car was blown into pieces with their bodies in it, just a few minutes after they touched down the Arican soil. I never got to see my son, daughter-in-law and my grandchild. Few weeks later, my wife died. She couldn’t bear the loss of our only child. It’s been what? Nineteen years, and I can still taste the heartbreak the day I found out about their deaths."
"Oh my God! That’s so awful. I’m so sorry you went through all of that. You’ve been carrying all that pain and guilt for nineteen years? That’s a long ti!"
"I know, but it’s the least I can do. My selfishness and pride killed my son and his family. If I had allowed love to prevail, we could have been one happy family. I also killed my wife. My beloved Carla," he called, and broke into tears he had been holding onto for so long.
Fay couldn’t help herself, or the pain she felt. She didn’t know this man, neither did she know his family, but she could still feel his pain. And it was that feeling that made tears in her eyes drop.
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