CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
Muddled
“LEAVE MY HOUSE ALONE!” my wife shouted at me.
“Okay.” I raised my hands so as not to provoke her further. “As your ladyship pleases,” I said, and left Bewa’s bedroom.
With everything that is going on, all I can think about is the Ballon d’Or. Why the fuck would I say that to her?
I stopped at the staircase, placed my hands over the railing, and tried to breathe. My mind roared with a thousand voices, and my thoughts wouldn’t stay still. My fears and regrets collided in a relentless loop. I couldn’t help feeling like this was all my fault. Even my breath felt uneven, as though the air itself hated me. Nothing made sense anymore, and the more I tried to steady myself, the more I unraveled.
Then I looked up and found Alice glaring at me from the base of the stairs.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath and started to make my way downstairs.
“I heard the noise,” she began in a hard voice.
“Please, not now,” I begged sincerely as I moved past her.
“You are arguing with your pregnant wife,” she challenged.
I turned back at her and snapped, “I SAID NOT NOW!”
Then I continued walking, but Alice wouldn’t be Alice if she just gave up like that.
“What is the latest on the zygote?” she asked as she followed me relentlessly. “I am not going to stop until you give me an answer, Kylian,” she added when I gave her no response, leaving me no choice but to turn back to her.
“You think this is easy for me?” I asked in a low voice.
“That is not the answer to my question.”
“Come on, Alice. Give me a break—I am drowning here.”
“And whose fault is that?” she blurted without sympathy. “Answer my fucking question.”
“You are supposed to be my friend, Alice, not just Bewa’s. You should be helping me, not adding to my stress. It feels like everything is about to crash down on me at any moment.”
With a shrug, she chuckled. “You want my sympathy when there is an actual person in danger because you put her there?”
“So it is my fault that she is sick?”
She shot me a cold look. “Are you dumb? No, seriously, are you daft?” she grimaced. “You and I both know you married a smart woman. She knows something is wrong with her marriage, and she is asking questions, questions nobody is answering. That is why she is sick. So, can you stop with this victim persona you have on and tell me what I want to know? Because you are far from being a victim as far as this situation is concerned.”
All ounce of defense I had vanished when Alice confirmed my fears. I am the reason my wife is sick.
“Delphine is handling it,” I finally answered, but from the deadly look she gave me, I could tell that wasn’t the answer she expected.
“You’re letting Delphine handle this?” she questioned.
“What would you have me do?”
“Fucking sue her,” she yelled.
“And call attention to the very thing we are trying to hide? Now, who is daft?” I retorted angrily.
“Shut the fuck up!” she shot back.
“Can we not fight, Alice? Please. I don’t like the fact that we are at loggerheads..... we are friends, for God’s sake.”
“You did this. This rift between us, you caused it. I never supported this plan,” she argued.
“I know, and I am trying to fix things, but I can’t do that if you are constantly on my neck, stressing the fuck out of me.”
“I am stressing you out? You let Frances harvest Bewa’s eggs and then left them under her control.”
“I didn’t let Frances do anyth—” I trailed off, realizing nothing I said could fix the situation. “It doesn’t matter what I say, right? You need a fall guy, and it has to be me. Fine. It is my mess anyway. But if anyone is going to get those zygotes back from Frances, it is going to be a lawyer. So let Delphine do her fucking job.”
“You have a week, Kylian. Get those zygotes back, or—”
“Or what?” I cut in sharply as anger simmered inside me. “I am tired of all these stupid ultimatums. I am done trying to please you and win back your affection. I am just done. What are you going to do? Run to your madam and tell on me?”
She looked at me in surprise. “Kylian—”
“Enough! I’ve had enough of your bullshit.”
“My bullshit?”
“Yes, your bullshit,” I repeated. “Bewa found a good friend in you, perfect! But you would do well to remember that I am still your fucking boss, and I am done letting you march over me.”
“March over you? All I am doing is—”
“I don’t care. Enough!” I yelled. “And honestly, I don’t understand this obsession you have with the zygotes. The moment Bewa has a healthy baby, which she will, they won’t matter anymore.”
“So what? You are fine with your babies out there under Frances’s control, without knowing what she can do to them?”
“Of course I am not fine with that. But right now, they are not the priority. Do you know who is? Bewa. Bewaji and the child she is carrying are the most important people to me right now, and knowing that I could lose them breaks my heart. So be a darling, stop with the ultimatums and leave me the fuck alone.”
I sneered and walked away from her. This time, she didn’t follow me.
When I got to the base of the rocky stairs, my driver ignited the boat engine, and I waved at him to stop. I sat down on the steps and tried to calm myself.
The moment I told Bewa I loved her, I should have come clean. If I hadn’t been cocky, thinking I could handle everything, none of this would be happening.
This is all my fault.
The moment she has that baby, I am telling her everything. I don’t even care about the fallout this time. I will tell her everything and let her decide if she still wants me or not.
But right now, I need to apologize for my wrongdoing. It took few minutes to ground and calm my nerves after which I picked up my phone and called my wife. She answered on the second ring.
“Hey, Bewa,” I said, but got no response. “Are you there?” I asked.
“Yep,” she replied.
“I am sorry for being insensitive earlier and for riling you up for no reason. I would be lying if I said I am not frustrated with the situation. I thought, with my years in the public eye, I would be better at handling my emotions—but I guess I am not. I am also sorry about bringing up Marcus. We never talked about him confessing his feelings to you, and I didn’t know how you felt. I guess that got to me more than I realized. Don’t worry about the Ballon d’Or—if your health doesn’t improve, I won’t go myself.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Bewa muttered.
“But I do. You and that baby are the most important people in my life. I have to protect you both. Bewaji, everything is going to be okay. Whatever happens, we will get through it together. I will meet you at the hospital.”
“Okay… and Kylian… I am in love with you, not Marcus. I told him that. I am sorry for being vague about it.”
I sighed in relief as the doubt I had carried for so long began to loosen its grip. A subtle warmth spread through me, slowly clearing the turmoil I had felt earlier.
“That is good to know. See you soon.”
I ended the call with a small smile and stood up.
“Let’s go,” I said to the driver as I approached the boat. But before I could get on, my phone rang.
An unknown number.
“Hello,” I said as I answered.
“It’s me,” Frances’s voice came through. “We need to talk.”
“Whatever you have to say, say it to Delphine,” I retorted, pulling the phone away to hang up.
“I will give you the zygotes” she said quickly.
“Tell Delphine the location.”
“I will… if you come and talk to me one last time.”
“I am not interested in what you have to say.”
“If I don’t see you in thirty minutes, I will call the clinic and have them destroy your babies. It is your choice.”
She hung up.
And just like that… everything became muddled again.
TO BE CONTINUED ON NEXT SATURDAY, 9.00PM WAT.
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