A Wife for the Billionaire
Chapter 74: RICHARD

Chapter 74: RICHARD

"Richard? Richard!" Madame Dame yelled , yanking at my hand.

"Boy, where did you go? Been calling you for some time now" she said, as my attention returned to the present.

Against all resolve, I forced myself to face her, streak lines of her tears were still visible, her eyes still red and puffy and I realized, she hadn’t been crying only minutes or seconds ago, and that was why she had on a bonnet.

She had aimed at hiding it, but the real question was, who was she talking about? Who was taken away from her? Who was she grieving?

"I’m so sorry about that, I recalled a rather emotional memory and I’m afraid lost myself in the whims of it’s melancholy. But please, who were you talking about? Who was taken away from you? Did anyone from the Dame family die?" I asked.

I was confused, but not to the point of asking more than the required one question. It was all a ploy, an incentive to get her to open up. A question she can easily wave off, but three questions she must answer.

"Don’t do that, I know what you are doing and it won’t work." At my feigned puzzled expression, which she surprisingly fell for, she added, "you think I’m at a weak point and you are looking to exploit that, after all we may be partners but we are still very much rivals, isn’t that right?"

I knew she was too smart to fall for my ploy to get her to open up, but exploiting her weakness wasn’t part of my intentions. After hearing her talk about it like that, like it was what she would have done were the tables turned, I found myself wishing that was my intention.

It just confirmed to me that the aged Dame was a real ace player of the game of business negotiations and someone who would do anything to win.

I took a sip from my glass, set it down, unbuttoned my blazer as I leaned forward and said,

"To be honest, I wish that was what I intended, but it’s not. I confess I wanted you to open up, but it wasn’t to exploit your weakness. I was just curious as to who it was that you lost and as a sign of goodwill, I will indulge you in the latest happenings in my life. I promise."

She gave me a measured look as if she was reading me. Just when I didn’t think she would say anything, the aged Dame spoke,

"If that is the case, we will be needing something stronger"

"Isn’t it too early for that?" I had wanted to protest, but for the sake of this rare moment she was about to open up to me, I kept mute.

She pressed a button under the table and twenty seconds later, the stout man who had greeted us came running.

"Madame?" He answered, standing with both hands crossed behind him.

If he was concerned about his Madame look, he didn’t show it. Madame Dame had done her best to rid her face of the streaks, but her eyes still held signs.

"Philip, clear this and get us whiskey"

"As you wish" Philip intoned, turning to leave.

"Wait" his Madame called, "get me her glass as well"

"But Mad_" he was trying to say, when,

"Just do as you are told" she said, cutting him off, her tone; sharp and brittle.

Clearing the table, he offered her a curt bow before he left.

We remained silent, my gaze was fixed on the aged Dame tapping on the parquet table, while hers stayed on the roses.

Some seconds later, Philip returned bearing a round stainless steel tray, balanced on it was a stylish designed decanter, containing a dark brown liquid, and two short glasses.

As he set down the tray, I noticed that one of the glasses was different. It was engraved with roses and had a red rim.

"Thank you, Philip" she said, as the stout man poured the drinks.

Swallowing hers in one gulp, she began,

"Her name was Monica Darwin. The kindest soul you would ever meet with the most startling blue eyes. I met her during my forced vacation trip to Canada after my divorce. I had lived more than close to thirty years with a cheat. A cheat who told the most believable lies and had the sweetest tongue. Nicholas Hugh could make any woman swoon with his charm, the movie star was like a god and I had counted myself lucky when he bent the knee."

She took a long sip, after I took the liberty of refilling her glass, a sorrowful smile stretched her lips as I’m sure she recalled memories.

"Life as an heir and to one of the largest fashion brands could be lonely, I’m sure you can relate."

I had wanted to tell her that I didn’t relate, but that was a lie and before I

could voice it out, she continued,

"There were a lot of things I was never allowed to do, places I wasn’t allowed to go. My sex made it more restricting, and as a girl child, I nursed that dream almost every girl hoards in her heart, the desire to be loved. I wanted to feel cherished, to experience the love I read in books, and have heard a lot about. So, when the sweet-tongued charming Nicholas came to me pretending to be head over hills for me... I fell for his beautiful lies. As lonely as I was, it was easy. My heart embraced his lies as it would its own beats. My late mother, Dame Susanna saw through his lies and she had tried to shield my young heart from what she knew would happen. There’s actually an African proverb, from the Igbo tribe in Nigeria, to be precise. They said ’what an elder sits down and sees, a child even if he or she, in my case, climbs to Everest, she still wouldn’t see it.’ I don’t know if I phrased it right, but that proverb was exactly how to summarize what happened thirty years later. It turned out my mother, the previous Dame was right, Nicholas Hugh never loved me. He loved my name and the position I secured, but he never loved me."

She sniffed back a tear and chuckled.

"The most depressing thing about it was that I had fallen for him. Perhaps that was why I ignored the signs, a movie god being faithful, God! I was stupid."

"No, you were not," I offered in consolation.

"I know you don’t mean that and I know you think I was stupid, so stop the pretense"

"I may not be an expert, but I assure you I don’t think you were stupid. The truth is that we are all stupid in one way or the other, especially when it has to do with the matters of the heart."

Dashing me a kind smile, and another sip, she said,

"Didn’t take you as someone who deals with matters to the heart"

"I don’t, but I know one or two things about love and heartbreak" I calmly replied, hoping she wouldn’t ask further.

"I’m sure you do, so um, after I found out that Nicholas had been cheating on me from the start, I filed for divorce. He came unto me with that pathetic act and sugar coated lies. And to be honest I almost fell for the ’I’ve changed. I won’t do it again. It was one time’ bullshit, but the pain of knowing that he has been doing it from the start was too loud to hear anything else. Our divorce broke me, I tried to pour myself into work, but my mind wasn’t in it. Eventually the Council sent me on a non-voluntary vacation to Canada and that was where I met Monica."

She gulped down what was the third glass and continued,

"I thought what I felt for Nicholas was love, but when I met Moni, I discovered that love could be so much more. It was a slow burn, because I was reluctant and unreceptive to the idea of falling for someone of my sex. Eventually, I couldn’t shield my heart anymore and we began dating and then came the problem of what I represent and how cruel the world can be in the face of change. We had to hide our love, this was actually where she lived, she planted these roses and we stayed together since then until she passed away last night from cancer. Moni was my soulmate, she loved me enough to be my secret and now that I’m back to where I began, lonely. I wonder if this was the prize. The toil I had to pay. Apart from Philip, you are the only one who knows about her and I would love for it to remain so. Now, please indulge me in the frivolities of a billionaire CEO who’s a renowned player."

I had wanted to tell her that the rumors about me were greatly exaggerated, but I sensed that was the whiskey talking and went right to telling her about the dilemma of being forced to pick a wife from 15 carefully selected successful ladies, all from respectable families.

I didn’t tell her about my condition even when she asked the reason for the urgency. I managed to shrug it off as one of the perks of being the heir and an only child.

By the time I was done, she was drunk and clearly not in the right frame of mind to talk business, I said my goodbyes, squeezed her aging hand and left.