All Men Are Not The Same

Who is Mrs Howard?

The conversation between Maddox and David was interrupted when Evan and Miss Lydia suddenly came out of the house, walking side by side.

"Evan, it's okay. You can stay here with Maddox. I'll manage to drive back and I'll inform you as soon as I reach home," said Lydia as they were both approaching the gate.

"No Lydia. I will drop you. No worries," Evan replied.

"But..."

Lydia was about to say something when Evan insisted, "I said I will drop you home. Please, no more arguing."

Yes, uncle is right. She does not seem to be his boss. Who is she then? Maddox thought as he saw the sheepish look on Miss Lydia's face upon hearing Evan's words.

"I'm leaving Maddox. I'll come and visit you again. Take care my boy," said Lydia as she waved the little boy goodbye.

At the peak of his impatience, Maddox immediately went back questioning his uncle about Miss Lydia.

"Uncle, you said she is not his boss. She is far from being his boss. Then who is she uncle? What's her relationship with my dad?"

"She is his wife!" David replied as Maddox's mouth dropped open in astonishment.

"What? His wife? What are you talking about? How is this possible?" Maddox asked trying to control his emotions.

"Yes Maddox. And the truth is that, your mother was never Mrs Howard. She was only Miranda Lawrence. Your father only married her religiously but no civil marriage was done. He never gave her his name! You know who is 'Mrs Howard'? It is Lydia. The one who is known as Miss Lydia Robert is in fact Mrs Lydia Howard," David explained, his voice holding hatred and anger.

"Uncle, is this the truth? Did my mother know about all this?" Maddox cried. He could barely get out of his state of shock. He did not know what to ask more or how to react to all these truths which hit him like thunderbolts.

"Yes, Miranda knew about all this. All these truths murdered your mother. She already died several times before breathing her last."

David immediately wiped off the drops of tears falling off his eyes and placed an arm around Maddox's shoulder. Then, he went on narrating Miranda's fateful life.

"This is the other nightmare which I wanted to tell you about. Son, I hate your dad for what he did to your mother. You know, after Miranda got married to Evan, I came to know about their financial difficulties through a relative and I flew back from the US. I used to visit Miranda and was trying to help. But Evan started accusing Miranda of being unfaithful. So, I distanced myself from their couple to save their marriage.

Afterwards, Evan took up a second job as a driver. Soon after, he started having an affair with his boss, I mean Lydia. This probably started on the night he fought with your mum upon learning about her pregnancy as that night he left home and was found a few days later at Lydia's place."

"Disgusting!" Maddox mumbled once more.

"Years later, while your mother was struggling to get Elisa treated, your father got married to Lydia. No one knows how he could do this and that too while his daughter was fighting between life and death. Elisa died and on that day itself, Miranda came to know about Evan's marriage," David narrated.

"But how did mum come to know about it?" Maddox questioned.

"Lydia herself told her."

"What a heartless woman! She chose that particular day to tell her that devastating truth?" Maddox yelled.

"Son, Miranda always kept her troubles to herself. She would try her best to hide her pains. But on that day, she was so devastated that she contacted me to share her grief. That was the day she began to share her troubles to some extent. And that was also the day from which her health started deteriorating. She did not know that from that moment on, she had only four years to live," David stopped as he felt a droplet of water hit his forehead.

"Hey Maddox, it's raining. Let's get into the house!"

Both uncle and nephew walked into the house. The rain interrupted their conversation but Maddox did not ask any more questions to his uncle as what he had just learnt about his mother's life was too heavy to shoulder. He did not have any courage left to hear more.

That night, Maddox could took long to fall asleep as his thoughts preoccupied him. Mum never allowed me to feel she was in pain. She was always here to cheer me up when I lost Elisa. But I couldn't detect her grief. I could not be there for her.

He then fell asleep out of tiredness ignoring that this was his last night in that little house where he was born.