THE BILLIONAIRE'S CRYBABY
Chapter 243: ETERNAL BONDS

Chapter 243: ETERNAL BONDS

"What do you want to talk about, Grant?" Landon asked, clearing his throat.

"There are things I need to show you. Everything that happened six months ago," he explained.

Landon looked behind him. Ace was still seated on his bed, staring into space.

He wanted to be proactive, and start to find a solution to their problems already.

"Talk to me," he said.

"Come with me please," Grant requested, going into another room.

Landon followed him into the room, watching as he picked up a laptop.

He placed it on a table, and put it on. Surfing through the system, he opened the video player, and played a video.

"This is what happened six months ago," he said.

Landon drew closer, keeping his eyes securely on the screen.

There was Ace, and Reign, then there was Mr King.

A lot of talking in-between, and then a gunshot towards Ace.

He watched the moment he fell, and hit his head on a big stone.

He watched as Reign tried to go to him, but Kings dragged her back, and with the help of two other men, they carried her into a car.

The car drove away, leaving Ace to die alone.

That was where the video ended.

Disgruntled, Landon turned around to stare at Grant who was shaking too.

"I had recorded everything, because I followed Sir Ace’s car. When they left, that was when I came out of hiding, and took him away."

Landon fought back the fresh tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.

"He must have been so afraid," he said.

"I don’t know if he was. He was unconscious by the time I got to him."

"How—" Landon’s trembling lips kept him from completing his question.

"I called doctor Alexander. He was the only one I could think of to help sir Ace. I should have taken him home, so everyone knew about his condition. But I saw Mr King’s eyes, sir Landon. He wasn’t going to stop until he killed him. That’s why I hid him. I’m so sorry, sir Landon," he said, breaking down in tears.

"No, don’t be sorry. You saved him. You saved his life."

"I did my best, but it can’t make up for four years ago, can it? It can’t make up for the fact that I couldn’t do anything when the mother of his child was accused of all kinds of lies. If I had been bold enough to stand up for the truth, none of this would have happened," he cried bitterly.

"But it did happen. We can only be grateful for life. Instead of crying, we need to make smart but urgent moves. Starting with releasing that video to the public."

"What?!" Grant screamed in alarm.

"You heard me Grant. Celine has frozen all of Ace’s accounts. She has her eyes everywhere for him. She wants him in jail by any means possible. If it’s determined he’s alive, she wouldn’t mind his condition. She’d throw him in jail. Especially after it has been found that the company he did business with is very corrupt and shady," Landon explained.

"But won’t they just look for his body?"

"No, because you’re going to stop the video as he falls, so it looks like he went over the cliff. That way, everyone thinks he’s dead."

"But sir Landon, are you sure?"

"This is the only way. Trust me on this, Grant. It’s what Ace would have done too. Call the media houses. Tell them you have something juicy for them. Kings should never have won the election, anyway. It was blatantly stolen from David Duke."

"Okay, sir Landon."

Grant was skeptical about what he was being told to do.

It was sure to cause too much pain for the Atticus family.

But he also understood that this would grant Ace the anonymity he needed to navigate his transition.

He turned towards the computer, and set to work.

Landon left him to focus on what was important, as he went in search of Ace.

"You’re going to talk to me right now, Ace. You’ve had six months of doing whatever the fuck you like. You’ve had six months of staying mute. You and I are going to talk, or I’ll walk out of that door and never come back," he said as soon as he entered the room.

But as he arrived in front of Ace, he saw he had grabbed a pen and notebook.

"What’s this about?"

"I can’t stand the sound of my voice." Ace wrote, and showed it to him.

He read it, and sighed in understanding. Everything made sense now.

"I understand, but you have to try your best. You have to try your best for your daughter. Celine has gone mad. She has been making moves after moves in the last six months. I’m afraid Dream, and even Fay could be in danger."

"What do I do, Landon?" He wrote.

"Don’t take your time. Push yourself to talk. Let’s do what we have to do to bring that bitch down once and for all. Also, Grant has done a lot of investigations on Celine. He has a vendetta against her too, you know?"

"Okay, I’ll do my best," he wrote.

Landon nodded, and rose to his feet. "I’ll do all my best to get you your life back, Ace. For you, and for your family," he said, before walking away.

"Grant!" He called, as he stepped out of the room.

Grant ran over to him, with his phone dangling from his ears.

"Are you on call with the media houses?" He asked.

"I’m waiting for one of my sources to answer me. Then I’ll send the message to the media houses," he said.

"Good. I have to run now. Take care of Ace. I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning, when the news must have circulated."

He walked out of the apartment, and headed straight for his car.

It has been a fierce battle with Celine these past months.

She had almost made him leave Spades, and resume his duties at Sting.

He couldn’t be more grateful he had sisters who were older than him, hence heirs to the companies.

Even better that his parents didn’t have archaic beliefs which would have forced him to take the position of president at Stings.

The Atticus were family to him. They had practically raised him.

If it wasn’t for Gabrielle, and the matriarch especially, he wouldn’t have been the man he was, with parents that were never around.

That was why he was loyal to them, and dedicated his entire life to repaying their kindness.

His phone rang, as he made to drive out. A smile formed on his face when he saw who it was from.

"Where are you?" She asked the second he picked up.

He hated that he had to lie to her. They were supposed to be honest with each other at all times.

It was the one thing she asked of him, even before they made their relationship official.

Just this once, he had to choose Ace over her, and it did suck, but it had to be done.

"I took a drive around town because Celine is an annoying bitch," he replied.

"It’s still morning and you’ve already left work. Should I be worried?" she asked.

"I love when you worry about me, darling," he teased.

She scoffed, but he could feel the smile on her face.

"I want to talk to you about something important later tonight. Should I order some Chinese on my way to your place?" She asked.

"You seem to have less night duties recently, doctor Leighton. Are you switching your schedules because of me?"

She hissed loudly. "Fine, I’ll take on more duties tonight. See you next year."

"Hey, I’m sorry, okay? Of course I’ll see you tonight. And don’t worry about ordering. I’ll cook you something special," he said proudly.

"Where have you been all my life?" She asked, softening.

"Waiting for you," he replied.

"Get out of my phone, Mr Landon. I love you," she called.

"Yeah, I love you too."

They ended the call, but he couldn’t stop smiling.

However, he thought about Ace, and the smile left his eyes.

"You’re going to be fine, bro. You’re going to get the woman you love, and live happily with your family. I’ll make sure of that."

His thoughts drifted to when they were just kids.

The day he became friends with Ace, was the day he saved his life.

On that fateful day, he had overheard his sister’s say their parents would briefly stop by Stings, before flying out of the country again.

He hadn’t seen them in a while, and was more than happy to sneak out of school, just to see them before they left.

Successfully, he snuck out of school. But just as he was about to cross the road, a moving vehicle running towards him almost brushed him to the ground.

Ace had been the one to push him out of the road.

As it would turn out, he had also snuck out but for a different purpose.

From that day, they were inseparable.

"You’ll get your life back, Ace. I promise you," he vowed, stepping on the gas as he hit the highway.