CLAUDE
After leaving the room, I didn’t immediately move. I just stared at the door Sia walked through. I didn’t know what came over me. I just found myself going down to the basement. When I reached the control panel, I pressed a button on the keyboard. The front of our house zoomed in on the screen.
There I saw Sia talking to Constance. The maid escorted her to the gate. She didn’t leave until Sia got into a vehicle. She was gone, but I kept staring at the screen. After a few minutes, I returned the monitor to its original state.
I felt like a robot as I climbed the stairs. Instead of taking the elevator, I took the stairs. I found myself back in my room without realizing it.
That night, I couldn’t sleep. It was probably early morning when I finally drifted off.
The next day, I woke up to a gentle shake on my shoulder.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” I asked, rubbing my eyes as my mother’s face loomed over me.
“Where is Sia? What did you do to her?”
I sat up. “I don’t know. She left last night, and I have no idea where she went.”
My mother glared at me. “Did she leave or did you make her leave?”
“I didn’t make her leave. She left on her own.”
“And you didn’t stop her?”
I furrowed my brow. “Why would I stop her if she wanted to leave?”
My mother slapped my shoulder, causing me to wince. “You’re crazy! You let her leave at night? You should have at least stopped her. Aren’t you worried that something bad might happen to her outside? It would have been better if Ford escorted her to where she was going. But no, she left alone. You have no heart! Your father and I didn’t raise you like that.”
I didn’t speak. I just got out of bed. “Excuse me, Mom. I’ll take a shower first. I might be late for work.”
I left my mother before she could get angry again. I didn’t join her for breakfast either because I was afraid of another lecture from her. Worse, my father might also scold me. I knew Sia was close to my parents. They would surely favor her over me. In fact, they treated her more like a daughter than me, their real son. My parents seemed to appreciate my sisters more than me, especially since Sia and our youngest, Charlie, were almost the same age.
As my car was about to leave the garage, my mother suddenly blocked my way. I reluctantly got out of the car.
“Mom, what are you doing here? I’m going to work.”
“What? It’s too early for you to leave. Your father is still inside. You’re just trying to avoid me, aren’t you?” my mother said, narrowing her eyes.
I shook my head.
“What are we going to talk about? If it’s about Sia, she’s already gone. There’s nothing more you can do. You can’t force her to come back. By the way, where is the document she signed? Do you have it?”
“It’s with me. But I want you to talk to Attorney Hernandez first.”
“I’ll talk to him, Mom. But let me leave first because I have a meeting this morning,” I reasoned, even though my meeting wasn’t until ten o’clock. It was only seven in the morning.
“I don’t want you and Sia to separate. If you can still fix your relationship, then do it,” my mother pleaded.
I sighed heavily.
“There’s no hope, mom. Forget about the dream of having grandchildren from me. Marriage isn’t for me. I leave it to my sisters to give you grandchildren. Unless you want to have grandchildren from other women. I can give you that anytime.”
“You’re really crazy, Claude! I don’t want grandchildren from just any woman. If you didn’t impregnate Sia, why would you impregnate another woman? Try bringing another woman home, and I’ll make sure you inherit nothing from me and your father. It’s better for you to go back to being a soldier than to give me grandchildren from other women. I only want grandchildren from Sia, not from any other woman. Your father has never had any other woman, so you should be like him. Behave yourself even if you’re no longer with Sia if you want to benefit from being a CEO,”
After saying this, my mother turned away from me. I just sighed.
I thought about what my mother said. Yes, I am a womanizer. But I couldn’t recall a time when I didn’t use protection with the women I am with. I even had a collection of condoms in my office, my room, my condo, and even in my car. Sometimes, I even kept one in my wallet. The only time I didn’t use any of that is when I am with Sia, she was my wife after all. However, even though we had been together for six months, she still didn’t get pregnant. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be a father like my father and my friends.
“You’re lost in thought. Do we have a problem?”
I looked at Monte, who was beside me. We had just finished our quarterly meeting. We had been doing this for years due to our business interests. In short, we were business partners as well as friends.
“I just remembered what Attorney Hernandez said the other day.”
“What did he say?” Monte asked curiously.
I glanced at our friends who were present. Each of them was engrossed in their own conversations.
“Have you ever gone through a separation with Nova?” I whispered to him. I didn’t want our other friends to hear our conversation. I was sure they would tease me if they found out what we were talking about. I also signaled to my friend to lower his voice.
“A separation? Well, once. She was kidnapped, and her face was changed, so I didn’t recognize her.”
I scratched my head. I knew what Monte was referring to about what happened to Nova before.
“That’s not what I meant, bro. I meant separation like divorce, annulment, or legal separation,”
Monte shook his head emphatically. “I never thought about those things, bro. I love Nova so much to even consider separating from her. I almost lost my mind when she disappeared. Why are you asking?”