CHAPTER 53: YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!
Michael slowly stood up from his chair and so did everyone else as if trying to prevent an action from happening. Raphael looked at the floor and took a step forward which was somehow surprising to the rest of them.
“Good evening, father.” He greeted Michael. The latter gritted his teeth and got closer to Raphael before slapping him! Erica covered her mouth as she got to witness this.
Raphael closed his eyes and touched his face before looking at his father but he did not say a word.
“What is good about the evening? No, you tell me! What is so special about this evening? Where have you been? I don’t even care about that but last night…last night was the night for the auction and I only sent you there to bid on one of the most priceless items that were displayed but you couldn’t do just this one simple thing! You couldn’t! You had to go and leave yet you didn’t report to me when you came back.
Do you know how much I spent in secret both financially and energetically for this so it could be mine? No, you don’t…you will never know! That is because you have always been disappointing. Where were you last night and where did you go?” Michael blasted him.
Raphael gulped and bowed before Michael, “I am sorry, Father. I know that what I did last night was out of order so I am sorry but something important came up and I had to attend to it urgently.”
“Something important? Something more important than the family’s business? The last time you said something such as this was when you were with that gold digger three years ago. You placed her above everything else, reverencing her as a god and you want history to repeat itself for your sake? What was so urgent that you had to disappoint? What useless urgency came up…”
Raphael interrupted with a frown, “It wasn’t useless, Father. It was important and that was why I had to go for it. As for what it was, I am not liable to tell you.”
Michael scoffed and threw his hands up in the air in disbelief. He turned to Erica and his wife.
“Can you believe this? Can you see what I am experiencing day by day? I try making him someone in life, I invest in him and this is how he repays me? He wants to send me to my early grave. Everything has to deal with his mother who begged…she begged me to always give him a chance as he was meant to make me proud but look at this, he isn’t.” Michael continued yelling and clutched his chest, Vegas quickly rushed to hold his father before he fell.
“Father.”
“Darling.”
They called at once. Vegas gently helped Michael to sit down while Mandarin faced Raphael. She spoke with distaste.
“Raphael, what is the meaning of this? Don’t you know when to reply to your father? He is your biological father for goodness sake and not just anyone, don’t you care about his health? You are not expected to return his words as he is always right…”
“I didn’t return his words, I only answered his questions…”
“It’s the same thing! If not because of Erica who was being considerate, your father would have lost such a good deal. Erica was the one who bidded the highest notwithstanding. The only reason why your father is behaving like this is that he was just not sure where you could have gone. He is responsible for your safety.” Mandarin retorted.
“I apologize to father for putting him through this stress and I am willing to do anything to make up for my mistake,” Raphael replied willingly. He knew he was wrong for not doing what exactly his father wanted him to do last night but he didn’t regret doing what he did because he benefited a lot from it.
Michael snorted and looked away from him. Mandarin stole a glance at her husband before looking at Raphael.
“I see. There is no punishment because you are a grown-up, son so let’s forget about that. Right now, we have very important information to tell you and that is the announcement of your engagement to Erica.” She informed him. Raphael’s ears perked up and his eyes bore into Erica brimming with murderous intents. Erica could feel fear crawling up her skin when she saw the look in his eyes and couldn’t help lowering hers.
“What do you mean by engagement? Who is getting engaged? To whom?” Raphael asked as if he had been stung by bees.
“You are getting engaged to Erica and we will announce it very soon to the media,” Mandarin repeated for him to hear.
“You can’t tell me what to do! What is the meaning of this? Just because I follow every one of your f*cking orders doesn’t mean you have the right to order me around like your slave! I am not getting engaged to anyone and I don’t mind Vegas taking the mantle of leadership.” Raphael spoke furiously and was about to walk away.
“Raphael…”
“Say my name one more time and you will regret being born into this world, Erica.” Raphael threatened and walked away.
Vegas folded his arms as he continued watching the whole scene unfold in front of him. He locked eyes with his mother and the latter smiled slyly before looking away. This didn’t escape Erica’s eyes and this somehow angered her. What were the mother and son up to?
_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It was almost a week since the whole incident happened and finally, the weekend crept into everyone’s schedule.
Kira was wearing black trousers with a white top and holding two yellow flags as she was standing at the side of a race track alongside other people. The place was somehow crowded and different colors of amazing sports cars were parked on another side of the field.
Richard had come over to Kira’s house two days ago to speak with her. He encouraged her to at least support him on the field by cheering for him. Kira did not want to get herself involved in this at first but Richard played the unavoidable card on her; his good looks and hot body so here she was supporting a nineteen-year-old boy despite her busy schedule.
The car race was a starting competition for a big finale and many young boys were there to showcase their skills to get chosen for the main one.
Soon the first race happened, the second race, and then the third race was about to begin. Kira watched as Richard came out of the inner circle with the other guys. He was holding his helmet and his color was yellow. He was also wearing a nose mask. Somehow, his looks made Kira raise her head in pride. The girls around had started fantasizing about how good-looking he was even in the mask but it was getting too much for Kira to handle so she would throw daggers at them though no one noticed it.
Richard looked at Kira from where he was standing and she smiled at him before giving him a thumbs up and a love shape created by her hands. This somehow brightened up Richard’s face the more. He wore his helmet and each boy entered the designated sports car. They waited for the signal and when they heard the shot, the race began.
Kira watched in anticipation and would go all cheering whenever Richard’s car took the lead. She kept on shouting and screaming, speaking different words of encouragement as the race continued even though Richard wasn’t able to hear it.
With the eagerness of winning and anxiousness, he kept taking turns and outrunning the other car which was a red car. Soon the both of them were at the same edge and this made Richard nervous including the onlookers as they were finally getting to the end signal. Then Richard did the unspeakable, he pressed a button in the car and took it for a spin before increasing the speed.
Kira yelled with happiness when Richard hit the end button. The applause rose and Richard came out immediately, he brushed through his hair with his hand and waved with gladness.
A few men wearing black clothes watched him as he got out of the car, they were the coaches of different groups of boys that were around. The winner was soon announced and the boys that were going to start the representation as the main ones and the assistants were chosen. Richard was luckily chosen and he couldn’t help getting excited.
The race came to an end eventually and Kira rushed to go see him. Richard opened his arms wide when he saw Kira running towards him and soon she was in his arms as he flung her around with her chuckling hard. He put her down on her feet but his hand was still holding onto her waist.
She gave him a warm smile.
“You made me proud, Richard.” She expressed her joy and kissed his forehead by tip-toeing unconsciously. Richard’s eyes widened for a few minutes but he was not going to let it go. He pulled her closer and kissed her.
The flowers that she was holding fell to the ground due to utmost shock when she felt Richard’s lips on hers. Her heart raced faster when their eyes connected. He rested his forehead on hers and whispered.
“Thank you and I apologize for doing this without your permission.”
She nodded, it wouldn’t be nice to ruin the perfect atmosphere. Not far from where they were both standing, a man’s face turned ugly when he saw Kira kissed by the racer. His palms curled in anger and he walked away.
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What’s your take on our second lead? Thank you for reading.