THE BILLIONAIRE'S CRYBABY
Chapter 237: HAPPY BIRTHDAY?

Chapter 237: HAPPY BIRTHDAY?

Fay finally got Dream to sleep just before dawn.

She leaned into her, to ascertain she was sleeping, before gently rolling out of bed.

Grabbing her robe, she tied it around her body, before walking out of the room.

She stopped at the kitchen to make herself some hot cocoa, before heading for the third living room, upstairs.

It was closest to her room, so she could hear Dream if she woke up.

Taking a seat on one of the stools, she stared into space as she sipped her hot Cocoa.

"Did Dream finally fall asleep?" She heard, just when she thought she could take out a few minutes for herself.

Looking behind her shoulder, she saw her grandfather grab a stool, and sat next to her.

"She is," she replied.

"Thank God. She’ll need a few hours of rest before the party begins," he said.

"Yeah, the party," Fay responded with a hollow voice.

That caught the attention of Seth, as he gazed at her pitifully.

"Landon told me what happened," he said, after contemplating the best approach to the subject.

"I didn’t know you had his number."

"I didn’t. When I called Ace, and his number wasn’t going through, I knew something was up. I didn’t want to alarm anyone, so I called the landline I remembered Ace gave me. Someone picked, and gave me Landon’s number," he explains.

Fay chortled bitterly. "All of that journey, just to get to the destination arrived? I guess at least it put Dreams heart at rest for a while."

"You’re not happy, are you?" His forehead creased from concern.

"I knew this was going to happen. Business? Ace is magnificent at handling businesses. But people? He’s fucking horrible at dealing with. I knew he’d disappoint Dream sooner than later, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to keep her away from him," she sighed, and sipped out of her drink.

"Yeah, you were right. I should have listened to you. I just thought the child deserved to have a chance with her father. If I had known he would up and leave like a coward, instead of facing his problems head-on, I would never have allowed him in," Seth said in a regret filled voice.

"I’m not going to worry too much about it. Dreams birthday party will be successful, with or without her father. But from the day after, Ace Atticus will be dead to us forever," she said with thick lines of determination etched on her forehead.

Seth bobbed his head in agreement. He had been all aboard the Ace train before, but not even him could defend this decision to walk out of his daughter’s life, a day before her big day.

"How do we break this to Dream? What happens when she asks about her dad later today?"

"I don’t know, grandpa," she replied solemnly. "I don’t know, but I’ll do my best to make her feel all the love she deserves," she replied.

Seth took in a deep breath, as he stroked his chin.

There were certain things not adding up in his head, but because he wanted to show his granddaughter his total support, he decided not to shine a light on those things.

"What about you, Fay? Are you going to be fine?" He asked.

She searched her heart sincerely. So far, she was still so numb.

She couldn’t even tell anyone she had been gripped by fear just seconds before Dream jerked out of her sleep.

It would look like she was trying to make an excuse to relieve Ace of the responsibility of his actions.

But the question was about how she felt, and in all honesty, she didn’t know.

"I don’t know if I’ll be fine, but it doesn’t matter. As long as my baby is, everything will turn out great," she replied.

Two hours later, the Atticus mansion came alive.

"Mum, are you going to tell us why there’s so much activity going on?" Sophie, who had been woken up from her sleep by the noise, questioned Gabrielle.

"Soph, I need you to be patient. With time, you’ll understand," Gabrielle said, unable to hold in her smile.

"Really? You’re so excited. I don’t understand it," she shook her head, and left her mother to find someone who would explain what was going on.

Gabrielle turned around, and headed to the back of the house.

It was that time of the year again. A time where they would hold a function in the large space behind the house.

It just happened to be her granddaughter’s birthday party, this time around.

She had stepped out, at the same time Celine was going in.

They almost crashed into each other, but her reflexives made her move out of the way on time.

"Are you behind all of the damn noise?!" Celine asked in a voice that wasn’t too friendly.

"Yes. Is there a problem, Celine?" Gabrielle asked, standing her ground.

"Are you fucking serious, right now? I haven’t had a proper sleep throughout the entire week. I thought, hey it’s the weekend, and I don’t have much to do, so I’ll actually get some much needed sleep. I can’t believe you pulled this nonsense that woke me up!" She wagged an accusatory finger around Gabrielle’s face.

Gabrielle did a quick breathing exercise. Celine could behave like the witch she was for all she cared.

Absolutely nothing was going to stop her from enjoying the day.

"I have an idea, Celine. Why don’t you check into a hotel if you want to sleep that badly. I’m certain no one would miss you. Now if you’ll excuse me please, I have some jobs to supervise."

She walked past Celine, leaving the woman who always had a retort at the tip of her tongue, too stunned to respond.

"Mum!" Celine screamed, as she stormed away to go find the matriarch.

"Is there a reason you’re screaming so loudly, Celine?" The matriarch asked, coming down the stairs, into the living room.

"Good, I was just looking for you. Why’s there so much noise in the house? What the hell is happening?" She asked.

"The last time I checked Celine, this house belonged to me. I can do whatever I want. If you don’t like it, kindly leave. God knows you’re old enough to. And stop screaming all around. It doesn’t speak really well of a lady of your status. Excuse me, madam president."

With the help of her cane, the matriarch walked right past her, leaving Celine heaving from pure rage.

"I’m going to find out what is going on, and I’ll put a stop to it!" She screamed after her.

"Good luck with that, Celine." The matriarch waved behind her shoulders, as she walked into the open sky.

The twins walked up to her, their faces squeezed, and their eyes spitting fire.

"What is it?" The matriarch asked.

"Mum gave us this long list of people to call, and invite for some party being held today," Claire said.

"Worse off, she wants us to invite their little children. Grandma, we don’t have a little child in this house anymore. Last I checked, Sophie is a preteen. Who exactly are we throwing this party for?" Blaire added.

"Could you two be patient please? You’ll find out soon. Now go do what your mother asked you to do." She shooed them away with her cane, just as she sighted Landon’s car that had driven into the compound.

"Ugh!" They said at the same time, before walking away.

Landon stepped out of the car, and walked up to the matriarch.

"Good morning beautiful," he said, and placed a gentle kiss on her cheeks.

"You’re here so early. Is everything fine?" She asked, ruffling his hair.

"Not really. We need to talk. It has something to do with Ace," he said in a serious tone.

"Tell me. What has happened now?" She asked, her heart already thumping before he said anything.

"He’s gone," he replied.

"What do you mean he’s gone?"

"He left. The only thing he left behind was a note, and his phone. Everything was wiped off his phone. Everything but a recording he left for Dream. Ace is not going to be attending Dreams’ birthday party," he said.

The matriarch swayed in shock, and almost crumpled to the ground.

Landon caught her right before she could fall.

"What’s going on here?" Gabrielle, who had made the round from behind, asked, as she hurried over to them.

"It’s Ace, Gabby. He has gone mad again," the matriarch said, practically trembling.

"Okay, I think you need to sit down," Gabrielle said. "Help me take her in, Landon."

Gently, they were able to lead the matriarch to her office room.

She sat down, and Gabrielle hurriedly provided her with a glass of water.

Drinking every drop of it, she breathed out, feeling her throat unclog.

"Tell me everything right now, Landon. Tell me how that fool has decided to ruin his life this time around!" She ordered, feeling like her frail heart was about to shatter into tiny pieces.