Love, Lies and Billionaires

“Maren Blackwood?” A feminine voice called from behind. Maren turned sharply to view a brunette with a stature like that of a goddess. Her hair fell over her shoulders and complemented her red coloured lips.

“Hi?” Maren returned.

“Oh, I’m not sure we’ve met before,” the lady said as she noticed Maren’s expression, trying to remember if she knew her.

“Oh, alright” Maren shrugged, relaxing her face.

“Can I sit?”

“Yeah, sure,” she adjusted, and the lady took her place comfortably beside her. Together, they stared ahead, watching the kids.

“I’m Nella, by the way, Nella Burton. Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, same,” Maren replied, unsure of what to say next.

“You know, I’m a really big fan of yours,” Nella began, keeping her gaze ahead.

Maren raised a brow. “Really? I don’t think I’ve done anything worthy of having a fanbase”

Nella chuckled dryly, “I just really admire your strength you know” she said and paused “You know, handling break up with your fiance, being a single mom and then finding your way out of all of it and then being the wife of your fiance’s rival”

She paused as she noticed Maren’s silence.”I’m sorry, I hope I’m not triggering anything with my words,” she asked as she turned to look at her face.

“Oh no, it’s fine. Go on,”

“I’m just saying that if I were to be in your shoes, I’d have had a major breakdown. I mean, just having Zack after my husband got a divorce gave me enough reason to take my life. But seeing how brave you are and how well you handle everything, it really gave me a lot of hope”

Maren finally turned to her, sucking in the tears that threatened to burst out. She gave a weak smile. “That’s a really nice thing to say. Thank you,” Nella shrugged and smiled back.

“Your son’s over there too?”

“Yeah, the one there with your son,” she replied, gesturing to one side of the ground.

“Lovely kid he is,” Maren remarked. And silence engulfed both women. She looked checked the time. They’d been there not up to an hour, so she decided to wait a little longer.

“I’m sorry, I just have to ask. How did you handle things?”

Maren blinked a couple of times, unsure of what this lady actually wanted. “Well, it wasn’t easy like you said, but it just had to work out. And I guess that’s what kept me going,” she replied. Careful not to say what she has actually gone through.

She wasn’t about to tell a complete stranger how her life was and is tearing apart. For all she knew, she could be a reporter digging for dirt on the elite.

“Hasn’t his father come for him? Doesn’t he want him?”

“Excuse me?” Maren shot at her, her brows arched in a really slanted line. The guards who stood behind edged closer.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” the lady interjected quickly.

Maren stood up suddenly, her eyes burning with anger. “Well then, miss Nella, I think that’s enough. I’ll take my leave now,” she said and walked towards Nathan, took him by the hand and led him out of the park.

Maren sighed when they were safely in the car. She wasn’t actually angered by what the lady had said. She only needed a reason for the conversation to discontinue, and that was really a nice way of getting the hell out of there.

*****

“Hi Mom,” Maren’s voice rang throughout the house, which seemed void of occupants. “Mom?” She called again but still got no reply. She turned to Rose, who came in after her with Nathan. “Get him to his room, I’ll go look for mom. ”

Rose obeyed and made her way up the stairs with the little boy. Maren went to the kitchen to look for her mom but was met with just the maids who told her that her mom was indeed around.

She went out to the garden, but she also wasn’t there. She began to worry. Her bedroom was also empty. Then a thought hit her. The only other place possible for her to be.

Maren made her way to the basement. The stairway was dark and dusty and she made sure to avoid touching anything as she made her way down the stairs.

“Mom?”

“I’m in here, baby,” her mom answered from a dimly lit part of the space.

“What are you doing in down here?” Maren asked while fighting to get free from the cobweb which had attached itself to her body.

“Oh, nothing much,” her mom replied. In Front of her was a large box with the contents spilled around her.

“Aren’t those dad’s things?” Maren asked, slight disgust in her voice.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Yes, I’m just going through it. To see if he left anything of value behind.” Her mom said and dropped a document which raised so much dust which choked them.

“I’m sure there’s nothing of such in there, mom” she coughed. “You’re wasting your time”

“Oh stop it, Maren,” her mom scolded after having her own session of coughs. “Your dad was only an over ambitious fool. Not an animal.”

Maren chuckled. She knew it was wrong to insult the dead. But let’s call a spade a spade, right?

“There’s definitely going to be something useful here,” she added and continued her search. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Well, I came to spend time with my mom. But she’s busy going through her dead husband’s useless stuff. Isn’t that nice?”

“You are so dramatic, Maren.”

“You raised me that way, Mrs Sharppe,” she said, batting her lashes.” Her mom just smiled and silence took over the damp smelling, dusty basement.

“Was dad always like that when you married him?”

“Well, I knew he was an ambitious person when we first met. In fact, I liked that about him. But as the years went by, it turned into some kind of obsession and he hardly came home. Always chasing after one thing or the other…”

“Which ended up killing him”

“I’m not even sure I’ll remember what you look like wherever he is” her mom’s voice was low and emotionless.

Maren paused for a while, as if contemplating on what had happened to her dad. “I’ll be upstairs.”