It was true that the existence of the will was known to only few persons; his late father, Mr Williams, grandfather, and Hillary. Himself and his brother had just discovered this last night. But the question is, how exactly had Hillary come to know about the will? And from the way things were, it seemed she was in the know that the will was in her favour. So how?
“How did everyone find out about the will? I mean Grandfather and Hillary?” Jake curiously inquired.
“I told your grandfather about it. When it got to the assigned time to read the will”
“And Hillary?” Jake impatiently asked. His question made the man quiet, as he fell deep in thought. It was this point that Mr Williams also realized that was something he didn’t know, and he had never thought about it.
He never told Hillary, and he was sure grandfather didn’t. Grandfather had been angry with her for what she had done to his son, so he definitely wouldn’t tell her about it.
“I don’t know” He replied in a low and surprised tone. “She had called me on the very day the will was to be read and had asked for the venue and time” He paused again when some things started aligning in his head.
“I called your grandfather and informed him about her call, and also to confirm the venue with him, and that was when he made his request to see the will before it was publicly read. Saying he was suspicious about Hillary’s eagerness” He explained, as he recalled that day.
The man looked at Jake who had a deep and thoughtful look on his face.
“It could be possible your father must have informed her about it” Mr Williams reasoned. He didn’t want to share the crazy thought that was going through Jake’s mind at the moment.
Jake didn’t say anything, but he thought about all the man had just said.
Jake understood why his grandfather had initially prevented the reading of the will without even trying to know it’s contents, it was because of the sinful act Hillary had committed with Kyle that had led to the death of his father. Who would let such a person lay hold on their family fortune after that?
And he was sure his grandfather would never had mentioned the existence of the will to Hillary, and must have suspected something when she called Mr Williams.
So how then did she know about the will? And why had Kyle been excluded from the will even before he had shamed them with his wicked act?
Jake sighed out frustratedly, he had come here with questions hoping he’d get answers, but now he had even more.
The only way to answer all these questions and resolve his unspoken suspicion was to revisit the past. And there was only one person he could provide him with the detail of that day.
But he didn’t think he was ready to face him yet.
***********
*…Mr Walker’s office….*
“Sir these are all the records for the past 8years that you requested for” A man dressed in a military uniform said as he placed a box containing some recordings and documents, on huge mahogany desk. From the stars and medals attached to his uniform it was obvious he was a high ranked staff in the military.
“Thank you” Mr Walker appreciated the man, while he nodded. It wasn’t every day he gets to grant a favor to a man like Mr Walker, and with this he knows the man would be in his debt. It wasn’t an easy task pulling out such materials and bringing it to the public, since it was against the work ethics, so he was sure the man understood the effort he had put into this. These were classified and as such should be kept hidden.
“Sir may I know why you’re in need of these informations” The man inquisitively asked. It was normal for him to have idea what this was all about.
“It’s for a case study” Mr Walker replied, making the man nod in understanding. He didn’t need to press forward. He asked and he he got his reply. He knew how these things worked.
“Then I’ll leave you to it” The man said as he stood up from his seat to take his leave.
“Thank you for your help once again Major” Mr Walker thanked him again as he stood up and shook the man’s hand.
“It’s no problem” He replied, before seeing himself out.
The man had only walked out when someone else walked into Mr. Walker’s office, it was his oldest son, James Walker.
“Good morning sir”
“Morning son”
“You called for me?” The man said as he slowly approached the desk.
“Yes”
“I hope it has nothing to do with secretly garnering classified information from prisons?” He asked, pulling a seat.
“As a matter of fact it does”
“Then I’m not interested” He curtly replied, as he immediately turned around to leave. Mr Walker lifted his head to look at him.
“Even if it means seeing your mother in jail?” Mr Walker asked, making the young man halt on his strides. He slowly turned back and looked at his father and replied, “Yes, even if it meant seeing her in jail” his gaze was boring into his father’s. Mr Walker sighed deflatedly when he looked at his son. James had always been the obedient and filial child. He had followed in the family’s path and had always followed through every request made by family, but it seems even he had changed too.
There was no one to thank but his lovely wife, but then again this was actually his fault and not his wife. Because he was the one who failed as the head of the family and had let Vivian do whatever she wanted.
This was all his fault.
With his eyes locked with that of his son, he said, “Then don’t do it for her, do it for your sister because her life might depend on it”
“What do you mean by that?” James asked with suspicious eyes. He had heard rumors of his family pulling strings to lay hold of some documents, and he was certain it had something to do with his mother, but what he didn’t know was how it was related to his sister.
“You should take your seat” Mr Walker told him, his eyes gesturing to the seat in front of him.
James stayed his gaze on his father for a while, before taking his seat.
“Now tell me what this is about, and how it involves Amy” He might not show it much, neither is he always there for her or Lair, but he cares deeply for them. They were his siblings and as such he’d be worried if there was anything wrong with them.
Despite his effort to act cool and aloof, Mr Walker could see the unrest in the eyes of his son since he mentioned Amy’s involvement in the issue.
“Sure” Mr Walker nodded as he started to narrate the whole situation to James. He watched as the boy’s face remained stoic while he listened through the whole issue, but father Walker didn’t tell him about his threat to divorce their mother after this.
He didn’t want to imbibe the idea of divorce into his son’s mind. He had been regretful for impulsively making that announcement in front of his younger children the other day, but he had been angry at the time.
Mr Walker was quite surprised when he heard his son burst out into a round of mirthless laughter. He narrowed his eyes at him as he laughed with no caution. After he had gargled his laughter to a stop, his face suddenly turned murderous as he said,
“I’ll put her in jail, if you don’t. And God helps her if a finger is laid on Amy. She’ll regret having a child like me” He growls out angrily.
“Watch your language! She’s your mother” Mr Walker snapped.
“And she’s the wife who you failed to keep in check” James rebutted.
“James!”
“This isn’t a matter of calling my name. You and I both know this could be a case of personal vendetta. Your wife has gone to create smoke in the house of someone who’s hungry for fire, and it has come to consume her, but it’s unfortunate Amy could be in danger because your wife doesn’t know when to stop. Do you know what this means? That she might have created a criminal by her own doing? Father for how long will you keep turning a blind eye to all this?” He demanded.
“I’m not turning a blind eye” Mr Walker refuted softly.
“Then what are you doing? What have you been doing with all this years when your wife slowly turned into a vicious woman?” He hissed out frustratedly.
“There’s no need crying over spilled milk I guess. I’ll help look into this but this is only for Amy, but be rest assured when all these things have been resolved, I’ll be the first to hand her to the authorities and have her robe stripped from her, because I have taken an oath to uphold good and justice, and I hope you do the same” He seethed before standing up to his feet and head towards the box of files placed on the other side of the desk.
Mr Walker looked at him without saying anything. He understood why James was angry at him, and he felt ashamed for failing out on his duties and responsibilities.
He sighed out frustratedly.
“I’ll make copies of these and send it back in an hour” James said without looking at him, while his father nodded.
“James” He called to stop him on his strides. He turned around halfly to look at him with questioning eyes.
“You should work on that with Lair. He wants to help too, he’s truly bothered” Mr Walker said. What he didn’t say was that he wanted to use this opportunity to mend the broken wall between the brothers. The weren’t exactly quarrelling, but they rarely spoke to each other, and that had alot to do with James aloof attitude, even though he knew he loves his siblings.
James kept quiet for while before saying, “Okay” before striding out of his office.
Mr Walker looked at him as he walked out. He had only one thought in mind, and that was for his family to be alright after this. But it also felt like wishful thinking.
*********
“Ah goodness, you look alive” Sara chipped with a dramatic sigh as she pulled Jade into a tight hug. Her actions made Jade smile as she hugged the girl back. Sara has been a nice friend to her here at work, she didn’t mind the closeness.
“Thank you. I know you missed me” Jade teased smilingly.
“Of course I did” Sara confirmed, pulling away from the hug. “You don’t know what it means when there’s no Jade around. The world feels empty”
“And lonely” Someone said from behind them. They didn’t have to confirm to know it was Julius.
“Good morning” Jade greeted him with a smile.
“Morning beautiful. It’s good to have you back bright and smiling” He said with a small smile.
“You guys make it sound like I was gone for a whole week. It’s been less than 10 hours” Jade told them.
“And that’s a long time” Julius replied. “And here this is for you. Your coffee, just how like it” He said with a flirty smile and a wink.
“Thank you” Jade accepted it with no hesitation. She was used to him acting that way.
“Well guess what?” Sara chirped excitedly, piquing Jade’s interest as she asked, “What?” an anxious smile tugging her lips as she looked at the excited girl.
“You’re going to-“
“Stop it don’t ruin the fun. Let her find out herself” Julius stopped her. Jade looked at both of them with suspicious eyes. Julius interruption piqued Jade’s interest even more.
“What is it?” She narrowed her eyes at them as she asked.
“You’ll see” Sara said with a wink, as she also tried to stiffle her smile. Jade was about to press for them to tell her, when Simon suddenly called her name from behind her.
“Jade come to my office now”
__________
Blake arrived work a little earlier than usual. He had just a day to complete the task at hand and thus he was working really hard at it. The more he worked the more he realized he had missed this part of him, and the realized that the more he played with the keys of the keyboard the more happy he became. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he felt more alive now, than ever. It felt really good.
Blake was still working when his mind wandered to a certain someone he hasn’t seen all day. He looked at the time and it was way past the time she had come looking for him yesterday — not entirely looking for him, but had accidentally met him there.
The smile on his face disappeared when he realized she hasn’t made an appearance this morning. He remembered how she had been all happy, smiling, playfully and chatty with that Ethan guy last night. The thought of Ethan’s happy face and his closeness with Amy suddenly made a him comfortable.
He was sure she was back to work, but why hasn’t she come looking for him yet? Did that guy ask her not to stay too close to him or what? Were they really dating?
He shook his head in denial.
For some reason he didn’t want that to be true. As a matter of fact he didn’t know why wanted that. Why he suddenly despised the idea of Amy being with someone else? He didn’t think he wanted Amy to date that guy. He didn’t like him, don’t ask him why because he also didn’t know.
Hold on!, Why was he suddenly having such weird thoughts?
He shouldn’t be concerned about Amy or whoever she wanted to date. That had nothing to do with him.
“Blake keep your act together. You’re acting weird” He chided himself, and continued working. He should be more focused on this than on anything else.
His resolution didn’t last up to thirty minutes, when he suddenly stood up and strolled out of the room. A part of him kept telling to head back to what he was doing, but the larger part of him wanted to see what she was up to. He took the elevator to the floor where her office was.
“Good morning sir”
“Good morning sir” Echoed through the room when Blake sauntered into Amy’s office. He briefly nodded in response to the the greetings he received, which was very unlike him.
His eyes looked towards her desk and he was surprised to find it empty, but his eyes didn’t meet the things that were lying on her desk. unknowingly to him, his countenance suddenly changed when he saw them.
He snapped his head towards the ladies looking at him but busy pretending like they weren’t.
“Where’s Ms Walker?” He asked no one in particular, but he expected an answer nonetheless.
“She walked saw someone off to the lobby” Cassandra replied. Well she was the departmental ‘busy body’, so it was expected she’d be the one to reply.
Blake snapped his head back to the bouquet and gift bag lying on her desk one more time.
“I think it was her boyfriend, he actually brought those” Cassandra gossiped. Blake felt his mood turn dark. He couldn’t really explain. what he felt at the moment, but the sound of the word ‘boyfriend’ suddenly made his body act up in a very funny way.
He turned to Cassandra and said, “Thank you,” with a pensive look, before walking out.
“Who said that guy was her boyfriend?” Amanda, Cassandra’s desk colleague asked, while the others looked at her as they all had the same question.
“Wasn’t it obvious. Haven’t she been receiving gifts from him for a while now? This is the first time he’s making and appearance, and didn’t you see the way they were looking and smiling at each other. Tell me, when has Ms Walker ever smiled like that? And who wouldn’t date such an handsome man?” She reasoned, as she looked at them like they were all stupid and dense.
The others kept quiet as they tried to reason with her. Cassandra looked at all their dumb faces and signed.
“You all are too dense” She hissed.
Blake who unfortunately was still standing by the door heard all Cassandra had said. Hos ‘Was it the Ethan guy again? Were they really dating now?’ Blake asked himself.
He shook his head to discard all these thoughts and unnecessary worries that were bogging his mind. It wasn’t any much of his concern if she was dating anyone, most especially that guy. He shouldn’t be bothered about it, why should he be in the first place.
‘Blake go back to work’ He told himself.
He made his way to the elevator, he looked at the buttons and instead of pressing the button for the tenth floor which was where he had come from, he found himself pressing the button for the First floor. It wasn’t until the elevator started descending that he realized what he had done.
“What are you doing?” He scolded himself. He stood rooted even when the door opened upon arrival. His hand moved towards the button but he couldn’t continue.
A part of him wanted to confirm if the person who had brought the flowers for her was indeed Ethan. He had given her flowers too, but she never talked about them.
Blake didn’t know when or how he had walked out of the elevator to the lobby.
He felt a sudden rush of anger and disappointment when he saw the two ‘love birds’ standing in close to the reception. He could see the happy smile on Amy’s face as she spoke to the guy.
“Thanks for the flowers and chocolates” Amy said appreciatively, as she looked at Ethan while he shrugged.
“Well I thought you deserved one from me, especially after when you’ve been received some in my name” He told her, making her scoff.
“Blame that on our two mischievous mothers”
“I will”
“Hey you to go, your crew members are waiting” Amy told him, gesturing to the huge tour bus packed in front of the company, which was attracting a lot of attention. Ethan’s last tour was to begin in two days and he had to leave.
Ethan looked at the boss and sighed. He really had to go, but he was a bit reluctant. A lot of things were going to change in his life about this tour. Some doors were about to be closed while others will open. And same goes for some relationships in his life.
“I’ll miss you shuga”
“I’ll miss you too. But don’t worry I’m going to watch each concert on line” She told him.
“Well that means I’ve got to put my best in my performance since my favorite fangirl will be watching” He flicked her jaw teasefully.
“You betcha” She tilted her chin at him, making him chuckle.
“Okay I’ve got to go” He said as he pulled her into a hug. His eyes darted to the side to the side and he saw the familiar figure standing feet away.
“Seems lover boy is has turned purple” Ethan said with a wicked and taunting smile which was only visible to Blake but not Amy.
“Hmm?” Amy mumbled out in confusion. She tried to pull away to know what he was talking about, but Ethan tightened his hold around her as he turned to glance at Blake one more time.
He placed a kiss on her Amy’s forehead before pulling away from the hug
“My offer still stands if ever you’re ready to make him come clean” Ethan said with a knowing smile as he used his chin to gesture at the brooding man not standing afar off, before walking away. Amy turned and saw Blake staring at them.
She turned again to look at Ethan with an accusing frown, and as if he knew he turned around and smiled at her, before half yelling across the lobby, “I’ll miss you babe, don’t miss me too much. I love you” He winked at her before hurrying out of the building.
‘That should be enough for that dense figure’ He smirked to himself.
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 18
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