Eva walked out to the lawn to look for Alexander, her heart crushed by Daniel Van Every’s offer. What did he think she was? How could he even think of offering her money? Was there no place for feelings, or sentiments in his heart? Was money everything in his eyes? Then how did he choose to marry Alexander’s mom if he didn’t fall in love with her? They had an illicit affair while Jodie Van Every was still married to his own brother. If that wasn’t a crime then how was her mom, Stella Roderick’s actions looked down upon with so much hatred? Didn’t Jodie Van Every commit a similar crime with her former husband, Alyssa’s dad? Eva couldn’t voice these thoughts since they were Alexander’s parents, and he didn’t want to hurt him.
She wiped her tears away, refusing to show how affected she was by their insensitivity. She could feel Alexander’s mom glaring at her as she dashed inside the house to take an update from her husband.
“Oh, here you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Why have you switched off your phone?” asked Alexander as he strode up to her with Ashton.
“What happened? Have you been crying? Did anyone hurt you?” asked Ashton, noting the distraught expression on her face.
“I’m okay. Can we go home, Alexander? I’m not feeling well!”
“Sure, we can. I don’t want to stay for the reception party.”
He spoke briefly to Ashton and wrapped an arm around her, leading her away towards the gate.
“Are you leaving Eva?” asked Sienna, coming up behind them.
“Yes, I’m not feeling well. Can you please inform Alyssa? I’ll catch up with her later.”
“She’s leaving for the Bahamas for her honeymoon tonight.” Alexander rolled his eyes not interested in his sister’s honeymoon tales with Nicholas.
“Who wants to know?” he drawled with a bored look on his face.
“We do! Close your ears if you’re not interested,” scolded Sienna. “Anyway, what did uncle Daniel say, Eva? I saw you go inside with him?” Eva was immediately on high alert and glanced at a tense Alexander, who watched her with shock. Obviously, he did not know that his dad had a talk with her.
“Nothing much! I’ll tell you later. Bye, see you!” said Eva, evading her question. She wasn’t in the mood to discuss it with everyone. She could feel Alexander’s agitated state as they walked away. Once out of earshot, he held open the car door for her.
“You didn’t tell me you had a talk with dad! How is it that I wasn’t involved? What did he say? Did he insult you, Eva?”
“Can we go home first? I’ll tell you everything,” said Eva, sipping the water she had bought. Alexander sighed and drove away towards Bronx. He couldn’t understand what his dad had to say to Eva in his absence. Did he threaten her in some way? It was impossible that he would accept her in their family. That was an impossible dream! He glanced at her distraught, tear-stained face and knew that his dad might have hurt her badly. Anger filled up inside him and he swore to confront them now. He had been avoiding it but maybe the time had come for a confrontation!
They reached home and Alexander caught her hand and led her towards the bedroom, eager to know what was going on.
“Sit down, Eva. Tell me what’s going on. What did dad say to you?” Eva sat down and let out a staggering breath before looking up at him helplessly.
“I will tell you only if you promise not to fight with him on this. I don’t want you involved. It’s between me and him and I want it to stay that way.” Alexander frowned, unable to think what it could be!
“Fine. I’ll not take it up with them. Now tell me,” he said impatiently, the curiosity getting the better of him.
“He accused me of destroying your life, your career, and reducing you to live in a slum with me. He asked me to get out of your life in return for money. When I didn’t quote any price, he offered me one hundred million dollars to release you forever.” Eva felt tears prick at her eyes, her heart aching at his dad’s behavior. How could he judge her without knowing her? Alexander caught her hand in his and released a staggering breath, the one he had been unconsciously holding back.
“Then? What did you do?” He rubbed her frozen hands absent-mindedly as he eagerly waited for her reply.
“There was nothing else to do. I told him that my love wasn’t up for sale, my feelings were priceless. They couldn’t be bought with all his riches. I wished him good health and left the study room.” Alexander smiled, relieved to know that they didn’t have a fight.
“I’m proud of the way you dealt with it, Eva. I would have lost my shit if I were in your position.” He kissed her forehead and held her in his arms while she wiped her tears away.
“Don’t shed your precious tears for this. You know you will fall sick if you do. Don’t let it affect you so much. There’s a huge storm brewing up ahead of us and it will be wise to brace ourselves for the worst. It will reduce the pain and give us the mental strength to face everything courageously.” Eva nodded, releasing him and sipping more water.
“You’re right, Alexander. I need to be stronger for our baby. I can’t afford to fall sick.” Alexander smiled, appreciating her fighting spirit. She gave him the zeal to surge on ahead. If only his parents could realize that.
“That’s the spirit, baby. Always remember that irrespective of what other people say, the truth is you give me the energy to surge ahead, to dream big. This is just a passing phase everyone goes through at some point in their life. We can overcome it.” Eva gazed into his eyes and smiled. “Dad had a tough childhood when my grandfather’s business went bankrupt. They were almost homeless, but luck favored them and my grandfather found a good investor who pulled them up. Having gone through poverty, it is not right for him to judge you. Not everyone is after his billions.”
“Let’s forget it and move on. I’m dying of hunger,” she wailed and Alexander smiled.
“Freshen up and I’ll make something for you. What do you want apart from me?” he asked, leaning in to peck her lips playfully.
“Anything you make with love,” she winked, picking up her clothes and walking away to the washroom. Alexander smiled, getting up to go to the kitchen. He was glad that she didn’t fall sick after the trauma.
Later, he made chicken wraps and salad for lunch and they both tucked in. “Let me enjoy the last two days of leave. I have to rejoin on Monday.”
“I have to meet my lawyer, Thomas Goldstein, to discuss my new venture. He’s a consulting legal advisor at VE Global Finance and knows me since childhood.” Eva listened intently, loving the way he was involving her in everything. VE Global Finance was his dad’s company, which Alyssa had started handling recently since Alexander had no interest in finance.
“Doesn’t Ashton have to sign the legal documents? When are they coming back?”
“Yes, he has spoken to Hayley. They’ll wrap up and return to New York by next month.”
“That’s great news! Are they planning to get hitched or not?” she asked curiously, since she didn’t get much time to catch up with her friends. None of them had much time to chat nowadays, given their busy schedules.
“Why don’t you ask Hayley when she returns?” said Alexander with a shrug, refusing to give their secret away.
Just then, Alexander’s phone buzzed with an incoming call from Beatrix and he looked at the screen warily. “What does she want now?” he frowned at the phone, clearly in a dilemma. He didn’t want to deal with Beatrix again!
“Who is it?” asked Eva at seeing his reaction.
“Beatrix, who else? I thought she would leave me alone now.” Eva sighed and continued to eat. She knew it wasn’t so easy to get rid of someone like Beatrix. The woman seemed to be obsessed with Alexander!
“I’m not taking her call.” Alexander muted the phone and left it alone. Eva noted Beatrix called him constantly almost ten times.
“She called you ten times.” Alexander didn’t react and continued to eat.
“Let her. She should learn to move on and be happy with her husband.”
“Maybe she’ll try some new stunt to get what she wants. What could she want now?” rambled Eva, feeling a little upset.
“Relax. I’m sure it’s nothing serious.”
Eva soon dozed off to sleep, exhausted from all the events of the morning, while Alexander called his lawyer and discussed his new venture. He had just disconnected the call when his phone buzzed with an incoming call from an unknown number. Who would call him now? Was it Beatrix? What could she want? Alexander was in two minds, since he wanted nothing to do with Beatrix. He was now a married man and had nothing to offer Beatrix. Why was she calling him?
The phone kept on buzzing with an incoming call from the same unknown number and he sighed and accepted the call at last. “Hello, who’s this?” he asked grimly. He could hear someone breathing heavily at the other end.
“Alexander, save me, please,” said a feeble voice at the other end.