The Fall Bride (TSBS-3) ON HOLD

Chapter Five

There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.
― Laurell K. Hamilton

Ivan Dwayne

The fall evening was calm and peaceful. The sun submerging under the purple tint of the sky was like a scene straight out of a painting, but I was not an artistic person to enjoy such aspects of the nature.

Right now, barely anything could calm the chaos inside me.

From the young age, I saw the dark and bitter side of family. My mother suffered years from unrequited love, and my grandfather saw his son creating his own downfall. Years of neglect had made my mother bitter and my grandfather bedridden.

It was all because of Malcolm Dwayne, that arrogant scumbag only lived for himself.

As I had grown up watching the ways my family endured his rakish and gambling nature, he lost my respect. Father had been a man that fed on people's compliments. His pride accelerated his downfall. His slippery hands in terms of women and money had always been a shameful secret our family abhorred yet hid it from the public eyes. Since he knew I would never see him as anything except trash, he made my life hell.

Although Mother was weak as a wife, she had been a strong shield as a mother. She tried her level best to keep me away from my father and for that I would always be thankful because I hadn't resorted to harming him. Albeit Malcolm Dwayne was the love of her life, Mother never wanted me to grow up like him because deep down she knew, he was a condescending bastard who had no love for anyone but himself.

Since I never bothered to be in the good graces of Father, Leo weaseled into it to be the ideal son Malcolm never had. Leonard M. Tanner was the son of my Aunt Marie, sister to my father. She was the complete opposite of her brother, but her son turned out to be rotten which was why, I dubbed him as Malcolm Jr. In my father's reign, Leo as sly as he was, managed to sweep the marketing department in the business, becoming the head of it. Ever since, I had been looking for a mistake to out him, but the snake was smart enough to shed his greedy skin when I took over the CEO chair. He was abiding his time to wreck havoc since he knew of Malcolm's twisted plan for me, but both of them couldn't have ever known the curve ball my father himself threw it for me.

That night, four years ago, if he hadn't been gambling and drinking in Las Vegas, I wouldn't had been there to pick after him. If he hadn't took over my room after spouting his disgust and hatred for me in his drunken state, I wouldn't have escaped into the bar downstairs, meeting the fiery curve ball of my life.

Who knew I'd do such a thing? The guy who would never spontaneously make a decision within seconds had married a stranger. Perhaps, Father's words had managed to strike me more deeper than I thought. Always believing, I was better alone, that I would only hurt the woman who would marry me just like how he did with Mother. There was no guarantee I wouldn't ever turn out to be like him.

However, deep down, I probably wished for a woman who would prove me wrong. Never knew, I would take that leap with my delusional mind. But the realization of what I had done only established what I feared. Taking advantage of women, knocking them up and leaving them to fend for themselves.

Guess, I was my father after all.

After entering the room I had booked for myself in the motel on the outskirts of the town, the first thing I did was call the second number on my list of favorites. It might go a few numbers down the list by the end of this conversation.

As soon as the call connected, Mark asked. "Did you see him?"

And I knew I was spot on. Mark Taylor hadn't been working for me, only cause of my friendship with him. He had been an ace in his line of work. However, I was skeptical of the result of his findings regarding Janet Julien, and now I knew I was right to be wary of him.