The Secret Obsession of the CEO
Chapter 51: Not Another Loss

Chapter 51: Not Another Loss

"What are you working on now, uncle? Have you finished restoring the Chevy Impala?" Rory tried to escape out of this precarious position. Her instinct told her to run and she tried to.

Because each time her uncle "affectionately" asks her to hold the torch for him in the garage, he will need her for something. Something that would involve Liam. She usually wouldn’t mind helping out the family, but she is not an important person for Liam anymore. Her words would mean nothing to Liam.

She wanted to get out of this situation without causing any stirs. She even wondered if she should tell them about their divorce, but then she remembered her grandmother’s situation and Liam’s words. She didn’t want to hurt her grandmother.

She decided to just evade this situation.

She got Ellie from Claire. Claire’s hand gently rested on her belly as she looked at Frank. She noticed that Claire appeared pale and a little plumpy around the waist. Frank too was a little more protective of Claire than usual.

Rory finally got an idea of what might have happened here.

"Congratulations," she said to Claire and the smile on her face confirmed her doubts for her. "How far along?" she asked.

"16 weeks," Claire said and Rory smiled cheekily at Frank.

"Ellie just turned 4 months old... Someone must have partied hard to celebrate becoming a grandfather..." she couldn’t help but mumble as she got out of the kitchen.

"I am not ashamed, little Red!" Frank shouted and Claire covered her blushed face with her hands.

"Why should you be ashamed?" Rory said, turning to look at him from the stairs. " I always knew my daughter will have a younger aunt or uncle..." She chuckled.

She truly was happy. And she could see the happiness on Frank’s face. There is no reason for him to be ashamed of loving his wife.

No matter how depressing her life is, the news of a new life brings joy. Grandma Roberts would be very happy to have another grandchild.

"Help me out here, little Red, please!" Frank shouted standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Rory closed her room pretending to not hear his plea. She knows he is asking for her help to break the news to Liam. And she didn’t want to. He is not her problem anymore. She is not going to be here forever and they will have to learn to handle Liam themselves.

But how can they when he does not even try?

Ellie leaned on her neck and started to suckle her fingers. That was Rory’s cue to feed her. Poor baby must miss her mommy’s breasts after sucking on silicone nipples the entire night.

As she expected Ellie was very excited to breastfeed. She didn’t let go for a long time as if she was starved for an entire day.

"What a weird baby you are, Ellie... How long are you going to depend on me?" she softly patted her back to burp her. "Can’t you get used to bottles? Oh, but you are cute... so cute..." Rory couldn’t help but gently nibble on the round apple cheeks of the little munchkin.

Ellie had a very round bulge for cheeks and those pink apples would always make Rory’s mouth water. She loved kissing her cheeks.

"I worry for your father, Ellie..." she voiced her worries to the one person who would never judge her for her stupidity. Even after everything he did, she couldn’t hate Liam and she still cared for him. "What will he do after I’m gone?"

She knew Liam won’t be happy to know about Claire’s pregnancy. And if he did something stupid, Frank would surely throw him out of the house. How will he fare then? Who will hug him and tell him that everything will be better?

-----

Liam pressed his hand on his chest and leaned on the wall hearing what Rory said. She has been acting weird the whole time and he didn’t know what she meant by saying that she is going somewhere. He could only think of only one possibility.

Flashes of memories of blood came back and he rubbed his forehead. Even now, he remembered that day as if it was yesterday.

He was home after school. His grandparents were not home that day and his father was out working. Such days are not usual for him but he liked it.

So, with expectations of spending time with his mother, he walked up the stairs. No one lets him near his mother. She was not in the bedroom and he heard the sound of the water running in the bathtub. He didn’t know much, but he knew that when his mother is taking a bath, she is feeling better. She won’t scream at him.

So, he happily left the room and went downstairs. After scouring for snacks in the kitchen and doing a patrol around their property holding his reliable stick (he so wanted to be a security guard back then), he returned home. He expected his mother to be sitting in the living room watching some television, but his mother was not there.

So he went upstairs to his mother’s room. The bathroom was still closed and the water was still running. And he could hear the water spilling from the tub. He knocked on the door but there was no answer. He turned the knob wondering if his mother fell asleep in the tub. That happened once before and they had to call emergency services.

The door was unlocked and somehow that made him relaxed. For a moment, he thought that his mother was not in the bathroom. He thought she must have forgotten to turn off the water.

With a small creak, the door opened and what he saw made his blood turn cold...

Blood... there was blood everywhere... the tub was filled with blood, and the floor was red with blood... like a field of poppies. And amidst all the red was his mother... peaceful as he had ever seen her... like an English Rose.

Wearing her wedding dress and her makeup, she was sitting still inside the tub. Her hands were on the sides of the tub. There were slashes on her wrists.

He was young, but not that young. He was almost twelve. He knew what it was then. He knew that his mother was dead; that she killed herself.

But what he couldn’t figure out then was... Why. Why did she kill herself? He still does not have the answers to that.

He didn’t know why he did that, but he stared at his mother for a while. He didn’t scream, he didn’t call for help, and he was not scared. He just observed the beautiful woman with her head resting on the wall. She was so pretty and looked so peaceful.

He walked closer to his mother softly as if he didn’t want to disturb her peaceful slumber. He sat on the edge of the tub and hugged his mother. She was cold. But he didn’t mind that. He never gets the chance to hug her.

His memory after that was a little fuzzy. He doesn’t remember much after that. He only remembered bits and pieces. His father didn’t want others to find out that he was the one who found his mother dead. He was asked to talk to psychiatrics. Everyone started to treat him as if he was a fragile being.

He didn’t like any of that. He started to behave like a brat. He would be usually punished for such behavior but now, he was not. He was allowed to do whatever he pleased and no one bothered to speak one harsh word to him.

It was not the best way to treat an adolescent boy.

His father remarried and his bad behaviors only increased. He truly hated that woman and did everything to throw her out. But she didn’t leave and no one dared to punish him either.

It enabled him and he turned to be an ass to his family.

He needed friends and he started acting nice to them. His teachers loved him and seeing that even a little of his effort is getting appreciated just because he recently lost his mother, he strived to be better. He got a lot of friends and every one loved him. His family feared him. Everything was just the way he wanted it to be.

He was King!

It was then Rory came. She... She didn’t give a rat’s ass that he lost his mother.

’I am higher up on the totem pole of victimhood, Fitzwilliam," she said once (Ugh! He despised her when she called him using his full name back then). ’I lost both my parents recently.’

If he acted like an ass to her, she would double her attack on him. Derick would help her. And she always won against him. He hated her for standing up against him.

She would punch him back if he hit her, she would slash his tires if he tore her notebooks, she treated him as a driver...

But her smile... he could not stay away from her. He realized that she was actually treating him better than others. She treated him as...a normal boy.

And he fell in love with her despite his attempts to stop himself.

But now...

Is it because of me? Is this the fate of anyone who loves me? Will they leave me? Am I cursed?

Liam slid down the wall and ended up on the floor.