The Billionaire’s Pawn

STRIKER

“Hey, Dad.”

“I miss you, son.” He hugged me tight as if I hadn’t seen him in years.

“I miss you, too.” I sat next to him in the backyard of Moses’ estate. “I don’t know you and Moses play golf together.”

My father was with Linden, and Emory joined him since Dad came to sit with me.

“I know you called him Papa. He was about to cry when he told me, hearing you call him Papa for the first time.”

“You both are softies. I just don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

“I pushed you to give him a chance. That would be my biggest mistake and regret if I didn’t do that. He seems to have done his best to be your good father.”

“Aside from taking me to Sicily?” I chuckled and patted his knee. “I didn’t meet the bad guys, except Giosue when London insisted, but it was after the agreement.”

“I hope London found the peace she’d been looking for.”

“It was Papa’s plan all along.”

“And I can breathe freely, but you still met Siciliano.”

“Yes. His son is a dick.” I snorted.

“He won’t touch your wife. Trust me.”

“As if I let him.” My jaw clenched hard just thinking of his filthy hand on my wife’s.

“He was just testing you, son. And he gave you his word.”

I breathed deeply. “I know. And he succeeded. I wanted to crash his skull.”

“You don’t have to be violent. So, how are you and London?”

A smile spread across my lips. “We’re good, actually. We’re working on our issue.”

“You love your wife. You made the right decision of giving her a chance.”

“I never really wanted to leave her. I was just mad.”

“And your anger almost turned into madness. Imagine losing everything, her father treated her like a property, and then you also left her when she needed-”

“Whoa! Hold on. I left her?” I was offended. “The last time I checked, she pushed me away, and may I remind you, she wanted a divorce.”

“You shouldn’t have listened. You should have stayed by her side. Where’s the part of your vows? Through thick in thin, for richer and for poorer-”

“Those aren’t my vows, Dad.”

He waved his hand. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah. London broke my heart.”

“Okay. Let’s not talk about it. I’m just glad that you two are okay now.”

“I’m grateful for you. You’re the reason why I have London in my life. Thank you, Dad.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“I still do.”

“I want grandchildren. Thank me when you give me that news.”

I rolled my eyes. “Give us a break. I still wanna marry her again, then we can plan on having kids.”

“There’s no rush. Just don’t make us wait for too long.”

“I don’t know what London has to say about having kids immediately. I don’t have a problem with that. Can you talk to her about it?”

“Are you crazy?” Dad gave me a distasteful look. “You want me to talk to your wife if she wants kids?”

“Well, you’re the one who wants grandchildren. I just don’t wanna see the look in her eyes even if she said yes to me. And I would never force her to have kids if she’s not ready.”

“Look, son. Sometimes, you have to face the pain before you face your happiness. It’s the way of life. You don’t always get what you want. Sometimes you go through that hard part and sacrifice something to go to the finish line. But the reward is always worth all the pain. Don’t feel bad about failures. Just work on it. And giving up is not an option. It’s just the right timing.”

“I don’t know why it feels so fucking painful to disappoint the people I love.”

“You never disappoint me.”

“Maybe I did, but you don’t see it as a disappointment.”

“You can’t please everybody, just as you can’t please yourself, but it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.”

“Thank you, Dad. Sometimes, I don’t realize I shouldn’t depend on all of you. I am married now. I should face the world on my own.”

“You do not depend on us. You are just trustworthy and selfless. If you depend on us, you don’t act, you wait for us to work it out for you, but that’s not what I see. Remember when Linus forced you to marry his daughter? When you came to me to pay my debt? Do you remember when you face your father? And you save your own wife and your father-in-law. That’s an act of courageousness, son. I’m proud of you.” He squeezed my shoulder as he showed me how proud he was. “And an act of love.”

“Are you guys just gonna sit in there?” Linden called us out.

“Go ahead. I’m not going to play today.” I stood up, and Dad did the same and went to the guys.

I went inside the house. Moses gave me access to his study. It was impressive and grand.

I turned on the desktop and accessed the file on the USB stick. I still have second thoughts about the stealth project. It could be a success for another ten years or a total waste of time.

When I asked Moses for his opinion, he told me to give it a chance. While the A. S. H. E. R wouldn’t be possible in a few decades, the process was already in progress. As they said, good things take time.

I click the STRIKER PROJECT. The design was on point, but I could have altered a few points, but it was already finalized.

I rubbed my eyes. Honestly, I had no idea what to do right now. It seemed that I was just picking up pieces of what was left to me by my predecessor. I lay back. Moses’s chair was comfier than what I had in my study. I stretched out my legs until I hit something and heard a click.

I stilled. I often watched it in movies. That kind of click came with a booby trap. Unmoving for a few seconds, nothing happened. I slowly rose from the chair, and that was when I noticed a secret drawer just open, but I was sure I didn’t do that. There was a manila envelope inside that caught my attention.

At the back of my head, I wouldn’t touch it. It wasn’t mine in the first place. It was Moses. But at the same time, why would he have a secret drawer if he could have safe deposit boxes in any bank?

I didn’t give in to temptation. I shut it closed, turned off the desktop, and took the USB. I was ready to leave toward the door when it opened. My father emerged.

“Papa.” I didn’t know if I should tell him or let it just go.

“Yeah.”

“Um.” I swallowed.

“What?”

“I was, uh, using your desktop, and I triggered something. I swear I didn’t know it was there. I just heard a click. I noticed a drawer, but I didn’t check it. I swear.”

“But you were curious.”

“Yes,” I answered honestly.

“I know. I received the alarm.” He walked past me.

“What do you mean?”

“Son, I made equipment, technology, and supplies for the government, and I can’t make my own security?”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to touch something.”

“You didn’t.” Moses went to his desk. “The trigger is under the desk.”

“I shouldn’t have come here alone. I should go.”

“No. Come here.” He just used his phone, and the drawer slid out. So what I did was hit the manual trigger. He picked up the envelope and offered it to me.”

“No. I don’t want another secret to keep from my wife.”

“This is not secret.” He opened the envelope and gave me the old papers that looked like documents.”

“Land titles?”Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Just read it.

My breathing was held as I stared at the marriage contract in my hand. I checked the other document-the marriage certificate.

“You’re not a bastard, Striker.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked him, still in shock.

“You didn’t ask. That’s why I can’t forgive myself for what I’ve done. I was a coward because I let my father win and let him think that I was not married. How many women did he choose for me? But I couldn’t look at them and betray my wife. Your mother.” He poured a content from the envelope. A ring dropped into his palm. “My wedding ring.”

“I’m sorry, Papa. You should stop blaming yourself. It’s been twenty-eight years. I’m sure if my mother can talk to you right now, she will say to let it go. I forgave you. Anyone who loves someone will learn to forgive the people they love. That’s what love is, Pa. My mother would have forgiven you, but you should learn to forgive yourself first. Please, do it for me.” I gave him the documents back.

I still wanted to say something, but my phone kept ringing.

“You should take that.”

“It’s Vanderford. I know the ringtone.” I fished out my phone and answered. “Hey, baby.”

“Can we talk? There’s been bothering me, and I didn’t want this to be the reason for our fight.”

“How can you be sure I’m gonna fight with you?”

“It’s about Magnus.”

I groaned in annoyance as she mentioned her ex.

“Calm down. No need to be all neanderthal.”

“Okay. We’ll talk at home. I’ll be there in an hour.”

“Jeez. I’m still going to see Neke. We’ll talk tonight.”

“Okay. Tonight then. I’m still with Pa. Dad and Linden are also here.”

“Wew. It’s boys’ day out, huh?”

“Have fun with Neke, baby. See you later.”

“Thank you for letting me drive alone.”

“Just take care, okay?”

“Bye, sweetheart.”

I chuckled as I hung up the call. I didn’t realize Moses was listening until I looked at him. “What?”

“She called you sweetheart.”

“Wait. You can hear her?”

“Yes. It was too loud, like on speaker.”

“Oh, sorry. Good to know. Next time I will tell her not to talk about sex on the phone when I’m with you.”

“Kids these days.” He shook his head in amusement,

“What’s wrong if she calls me sweetheart, anyway?”

“Your mom called me sweetheart too.”