Short stories

Motherlode

"Why did you lie to me?"

His voice betrayed a deep anger. Despite his age, he walked long and wide in the boudoir. She browsed between him and his children. Why did she have to justify her actions once again? He demanded explanations. She lowered her gaze at the pictures scattered over the carpet. The young man in the picture didn't seem in a very good mood. She took a deep breath before answering him in a dry tone.

"I didn't lie."

"Then who is he?"

"Nobody."

"She really thinks you're a fool," the woman threw in a mocking tone.

"Taryn, please."

"So how can you describe what she did?" his son asked. "Empathy?"

The old man slowly raised his hand to silence his children. The young woman furiously crossed her arms over her chest, thus putting her generous curves in value. But he didn't even look at her. Her tactics didn't work. Geoffrey, the son, watched her with disgust. She had to regain control of the situation. Conrad's children shouldn't have interfered with this. Why hire a detective? She couldn't totally blame them, but everything was going well before their intervention. They wanted to "expose" her to their father's eyes.

"The son of my ex-fiancé," she sighed, diverting her gaze. "We had to discuss about some details."

"And what kind of details?" Taryn asked her, interested.

"The kind that doesn't concern you. I don't have to justify myself. Conrad... Why not discuss this when we're alone?"

"I have nothing to hide from my children."

He remained firm. She hated Conrad's kids from day one. They were too present in their father's life. This was also the case with her former fiancé. Except that he's a lawyer... She didn't know that detail at the time of their engagement. She had learned it not long before he died. One night when they might have had a little too much to drink, she had suggested to him to write a new will and new directions so that he could prove his love. His son had discovered the documents and strongly opposed it. His judgement was altered during the writing. And no witnesses had signed. Contrary to what she believed, he had preserved everything and had used it to make her disappear from his family. And a more or less situation was taking place with Conrad.

"My fiancé died almost a year ago," she calmly said. "We were in love."

Perhaps she still could draw his sympathy if she told him everything.

"Did you kill him?" Geoffrey asked.

"No."

"And his son?" Taryn continued. "Did you..."

"He was legally responsable for his father's affairs."

"Lawyer?"

She nodded. Now she had all their attention.

"But he died of what?" Taryn asked her, crossing her fingers on her knees.

"Heart problems, as far as I know."

She carried a hand to her chest, lowering her head. Geoffrey violently clapped his hands. Every glance turned to him.

"What are the details?" he hastened to ask her.

"It doesn't concern you," the young woman coldly replied. "I don't have to tell you anything."

Conrad scraped his throat.

"Me, I demand to know."

"You have nothing to demand," she spat, clenching her jaws. "I still can do whatever I want as long as there is no ring on my finger."