Anyone who’s a Goldstone resident has at least heard the name. She was the movie mogul and a Goldstone royalty. Although, nothing much about her personal life was known because she wasn’t a celebrity.
The 51 year old eccentric billionaire has never been married. Many speculated because she was more of a career woman and not the marrying kind. Others who knew her more closely thought it had something to do with her sexuality.
Her 26 year old nephew, Bradley Roberts, her older brother’s son, was rumored to be the successor of her empire. But he was rarely seen, some say he was studying abroad, and started his own film making business to follow his aunt’s footsteps.
As a lawyer, Malcolm knew more than what’s on the surface. He knew about her business deals, her movie projects, how much she makes and her company makes on a yearly basis, how much she paid for taxes, and all that financial stuff was common knowledge among lawyers and accountants.
Then of course the whispers in the dark about her lifestyle, and under the table deals that was also a common practice among the rich and famous. Maxine was smart enough to protect herself with contract agreements that were legally binding, yet clear her from any legal liabilities. On top of that, she had the money and the influence to always come out on the good side. Maxine Roberts was above the law.
“What do you think she wants from my daughter and her boyfriend?”
Malcolm shrugged, “I really can’t say … one of two things, I think,” he sat back on his chair and pouted, “It’s either they have the potential to generate a lot of money for her, or … she’s using them for personal pleasures, … or both.”
She covered her face with both hands, “I knew this was too good to be true, but I can’t tell her that … she’ll never listen to me, she’s in love with this boy and she looks up to this woman, she thinks this is her moment and I can’t burst her bubble … she’ll hate me for it, she’ll never forgive me if I stop her now.”
“Okay … okay … take a deep breath … let’s not jump into conclusions yet, we don’t know for sure what the deal is between them and we can’t really do anything about it at this point … I’m glad you reached out to me, I will keep them in close watch.”
Catherine’s breathing was increasingly fast, “God … if Bill knows about this … he’ll kill me,” she was on the verge of crying.
“Hey … hey … hold up … hold up … are you serious?”
“I mean … he didn’t approve of her coming here for the summer, and now she’s going to school here, she’s with a boyfriend that he definitely doesn’t approve either … and then this thing with Maxine Roberts,” her hands were trembling.
Malcolm could see she was in fear, he frowned. “Cathy … are you afraid of your own safety because of this?”
She froze, she didn’t realize how quickly he could read her gestures, “No … it was just a figure of speech … you know how controlling he is … he’s the same with the kids, if not worse,” she tried to brush it off.
But Malcolm had years of domestic violence cases under his belt, Cathy was showing more than one symptoms that she was in one way or another oppressed by her husband. He took her hand, and touched her face, “Cathy … has he ever lay a hand on you? Don’t lie to me.” He stared into her frightful eyes.
She pulled her hand back, “We fight sometimes … some fights are worse than others … it’s nothing I can’t handle … (sighs) … I’ve been handling him for 20 years … it’s just that … this thing with Charlene is probably one of the worst problems we ever had.”
Malcolm wiped his mouth with his hand, his jaw clenched, “Do you know how angry that makes me feel right now? There’s no excuse for doing something like that to a woman … let alone a woman he’d been married to for 20 years … I could just …” he balled his hand in a fist and bit into it.
“Malcolm … please … this is not about me, can we just forget I ever said that? I can handle him, I promise, this is about my daughter … I need your help to make sure she’s alright.”
He grunted, “No, I can’t forget what you just said, and yes … I will keep an eye on Charlene … she will be my priority, I will keep her safe, you can trust me on that … but who’s gonna keep you safe?”
She held his hand this time, “Thank you … don’t worry about me, I’ve been keeping myself safe for a long time … let’s just say I found a way to protect myself and my children, he won’t touch me.”
He looked at her in the eyes, he nodded, “Do you love him, Cat? I mean … I know you, you would never let anyone do that to you unless you really love him.”
Catherine looked away, she forced a smile, “I thought I did … putting up with his ways all these years … I must love him, right? And then I found out about his mistress … more than one,” she couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. “I hate him … with every being in my body … but I love my children … I can’t leave him until they’re old enough to be independent, Charlotte is still 15 …” she stood up and wiped her tears, she had to keep it together.
His heart sank, if he had known this since the beginning, he would’ve done something about it. He was rendered speechless, his stomach churned.
“That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about … actually, that’s the main reason why I came here … I wasn’t telling you the truth before because I wasn’t sure … I need to plan my divorce.”
Once the words came out of her mouth, she felt like her body had released all the tension she’d been holding back for so long. She covered her face with both hands and exploded in a cry.
“He’s the Mayor now … I’ve never known a life other than being his wife … I’m scared … I don’t have anything other than this apartment my parents gave me … I’m scared … you don’t know how many times I thought about leaving him but I just couldn’t do it … because I was scared.”
She kept repeating the part where she was scared. She had been strong for so long, and she fell apart in his presence because she finally met someone who was stronger than her.
He stood up, pulled her in his embrace, “It’s alright … I gotchu … I gotchu girl … I’m gonna get you that divorce, you don’t have to worry about a thing, … I got this.” He stroked her arm up and down. Malcolm Blackwell was finally getting the chance to save the girl that got away.