Trusting Betrayal

Chapter Seventeen

    I apologize for any grammatical error. I will edit later

   His eyes flicked open as he heard a knock on the door. He glared at the door and sank further into the bed, pulling the pillow over his ears. The person at the other end was obviously not taking no for an answer because the knock persisted, louder this time.
  
      Nathan swore as he swung his long legs over the side of the bed and dragged his feet towards the door. He yanked the door open and glared at his PN whose hand was raised as he was about to knock again.

    “What the fuck, Andrews?”

Andrews bowed his head so that his master would not see his mouth twitch. “I am very sorry to disrupt your sleep but the Madam has asked for you to be present for breakfast. It has started already”

   Nathan swore. “Started already?”

“Yes, sir. I postponed coming up here so that you could have a little more sleep.”

   Nathan stared at his PN. He was obviously tamping down on his laughter. “Alright. I will be down soon.”
      Andrew was halfway down the corridor when Nathan shouted. “You could have done a better job covering that laughter, Andrews”. With that, he slammed the door closed and leaned against it.

     _______________________________________________________
   Ten minutes later, he joined his family in the dining-room. All conversations ceased as his presence was made known.

  Tatiana snickered as she saw him. “Late night?”

From the corner of his mouth, Nathan saw his father stuff the greens into his mouth while his mother covered her mouth with a towel to hide their laughter. He glared at her, leaned over and kissed his mother on the cheek. “Good morning”.

    “Good morning dear” His mother smiled at him while his father winked. “How hungry are you, hon?”

   “I would say a lot”. Tatiana snorted.

Nathan ignored her. “Just the normal hunger, mom”.

       “Alright”. She snapped her fingers to alert the servant on duty. Nathan was served and the family continued eating.

   “So, are you kids okay?” the question came from his father.

Nathan raised a brow. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”. Tatiana nodded.

   “We heard a scream last night and we just wanted to know what was wrong”

Jeez! His family sure knew how to rub humiliation in. Tatiana giggled.

    “Oh! That noise? It didn’t come from me” she turned to Nathan. “I wonder who?”

  Nathan looked up from his food to see his family looking at him in amusement. He dropped his fork because he knew they won’t let it go unless he clarified things.
       “What was I supposed to do? She came out from nowhere!”

   Tatiana burst out laughing. It was hard not to with Nathan’s exasperated expression. It was rare for him to visit. Nothing ever flustered Nathan but here he was wallowing in it and it looked so adorable on him. “Ow!” He had kicked her under the table.

    “Alright. That’s enough Tatiana.” Rianne got up and went over to her son and pulled his cheek. “Aww. My sweet baby” she cooed in his ear.

Nathan scowled. “Mom! I am not a baby and I’m not sweet”. He looked over to his father for assistance but no help there. His father was very amused. “Dad! A little help?”

    Daniel grinned and let him suffer a little bit more before calling for order. “Sweetie, that’s enough. You’ve embarrassed him enough and Tatiana, behave yourself. You’re a lady. Act like it”.

The women decided to leave Nathan for that moment.

Nathan sighed in relief but Daniel was not done. “When are you going to bring a woman home and I don’t mean your one-night stands?”

    Silence descended in the dining room.

Nathan dropped his fork once again. “I don’t know. I haven’t met that woman yet, Dad”. He continued eating.

     “How about Brittany? She is a good candidate and her father wants to partner with Golden Detergents. It is the best way to ensure finality.” His father stated.

    Rianne glared at her husband. “Not now dear.” She looked at Nathan who had stopped eating. “Sweetheart, your father doesn’t mean any harm. We are just worried about you”

     “Doesn’t mean any harm? Does pressurizing me to pick out a wife harm anybody? I guess not” He wiped his mouth and threw his towel on his plate. “Excuse me”. He walked out of the dining room.

   In the dining-room, Tatiana sighed and looked right at her father. “In the dining-room, dad? You want Brittany for him? That’s shit” she got up too. “Pardon my language”. She walked out of the dining-room as well.

        **************************************************
Knock Knock

“No one is here” The reply to the knocking came.

“Funny” Tatiana walked in.

Nathan looked up from the file he was perusing. “Not now Tian”

     “I know” she sat beside him on the couch. She looked at her brother. His eyes were flat and he was so tensed up. “You know. He doesn’t mean any harm. He is just being Dad and everything”

Nathan continued to look at the file, ignoring her. He wanted her to leave because he just didn’t want to vent his anger on her.

Tatiana refused to back down. The two of them were so stubborn. She reached over and snatched the file from Nathan. He looked up but his eyes were still flat. He was not going to let her get the best of him. “I sent her home. She was going to stay for breakfast”

    She saw Nathan’s mouth twitch. The humour of the situation was finally getting to him. She sighed in relief.
       “I don’t want to talk about it. I know you are here to cheer me up or whatever but don’t bother. I am okay”

Tatiana shifted closer to him. “Something else is bothering you. Do you want to tell me what it is?” she asked hopefully.

Nathan shook his head. “I am fine, Tian. Go on and attend your party. I will cover for you”

   He knew everything. She nodded her head. She knew he wasn’t going to talk about it but it was worth a try. “Okay. Fine but you will tell me when you are ready, right?”

      “Yeah”

This time she smiled and hugged him. “Thanks. I love you” she moved to the door. “Oh! Don’t use that other excuse this time. I think Dad is catching onto it”. She closed the door behind her.

Nathan grinned and went back to his file.

A/N: Aww! Billionaire Nathan being pampered! He must have received some major shock when he encountered Brittany. I had a laugh. All those acronyms are positions in the Golden Empire so please don’t be confused. I just couldn’t think of full meanings😊. What do you think of Tatiana and the rest of his immediate family? So, unleash your thoughts. I await them all. Don’t forget to vote, fan, comment, recommend and share. I love you guys❤