THE BILLIONAIRE’S SURROGATE
BY QUIN TULLY
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
COMPETING FOR MOMMY’S ATTENTION
Reid tiptoed back into the house,
The light was off so he carefully opened the door to his room but immediately he got inside,
The lights of his room came on,
He froze,
“Where are you coming from?” A male voice asked him,
He turned and saw his father standing by the switch,he frowned,
“How did you get into my room?” The boy asked his father, heaving a sigh of relief,
“That is not your problem,
Where are you coming from by this time of the night?” Andre asked again taking a glance at his watch,
“I won’t tell you.” The boy retorted and started to climb on his bed,
“Then have me tell your mommy you snuck out,then she’ll have you grounded.” He threatened,
This son of mine is something else.
“I went outside to get some fresh air.” He lied, Andre moved closer to him,
“Why do you lie?” He asked the boy,
“I’m not lying,I was at the garden.” He said,making sure his voice doesn’t give him away.
“Who really is Principal Lee or should I say Manager Lee?” He asked, The boy was shocked,
Does this man know who I am?
“He’s my Principal at school.” He said,
Andre half smiled,
This is the first rimes he has seen his son scared.
“Your principal or your manager?” He asked, Seeing his secrets were about to be leaked, He feigned ignorance and went to the bed,
“Do you think I don’t know who you’re?”
The boy halted,
“You’re Dunnex Toy top shareholder and you hold about five to seven coastlines responsible for ship passage and so many dealings with Hurricane Group, All this,your mommy knows nothing about them.”
“How do you know all this?” The boy asked,
“I have my ways.” Andre replied,
The boy sat down quietly,
“Why did you do it?” Andre asked the boy, He held up his head,
“Why did you do it?” He asked again,
He’d expected his son to be great but not to the extent of having illegal dealing at eight,
He’s too young to be hacking and controlling a business Empire.
Seeing that his father knows his secret and might tell it to his mommy, Reid was super scared,
What if his mommy hates him after she find out what he has been doing?
What if she decide to get rid of him?
“Reid look at me,” Andre sat beside the boy and pulled him closer to himself,
“I don’t intend to make this difficult for you,
You’re a great child and I know you did all this with good intentions,
But I want to know why you killed that man?”He asked, The boy moved away from him,
“I won’t tell a soul about this not even your mommy but I want you to be honest with me son.”
“He tried to kill me and mommy,
And I didn’t want to kill him at first,I just wanted him to tell me who had sent him but he refused to say then I’d to do what I did.” The boy confessed,
“Who did it?” He asked the boy,
“He said Jasmine De Marco sent him,
Your fiancé sent him to kill mommy and I .” the boy replied,
Andre pulled close and hugged him,
“Don’t worry,everything’s gonna be alright.”
The boy didn’t say a word or even reciprocated the man’s hug, He just sat like an statue and allowed the man hug him.
Andre disengaged from the hug,then stood up to leave,
“Go back to bed son.” He said to the boy as he left the room then closed the door behind him.
Wondering how he knew the boy killed someone?
Here the flashback.
Andre couldn’t rest when he went home,
Justin wasn’t helping matters too,
The boy was being snobbish and very gloomy.
“Justin,daddy’s sorry,tell me what happened at the Fair when I left?
He tried to talk the boy to tell him what happened but the boy just ignored him and went upstairs.
So he decided to meet Gianna and explain to her his relationship with Enya.
Getting out of the house,he got into his car and drove to her house.
It was very late and he’d expected her to be asleep but surprisingly when he got there,
He saw Reid leaving the house.
Where’s this boy going to and by this late hour?
He checked his watch,
It was already after ten pm.
He saw the other man,
Whatshisnameagain?
Principal Lee.
It struck his mind,
He’d seen the man at the Fair and he was addressed as manager, Reid?
He recalled someone telling the man that Reid was looking for him and the man
had told the other that,
The boss is here.
Does this mean that Reid’s the boss?
Just one way to find out,
He got into his car and followed the Rolls Royce Phantom as it drove away into the starry night.
He was so shocked when they got to the place and he for once he saw how harsh and inhumane his son is.
The next evening,
Reid and Gianna was having dinner when the bell rang,
Reid stopped eating,
For once,his heart raced.
What if his father’s here to tell his mommy what he saw last night
“Who would be at the door now?”Gianna asked as she stood up from the dining, Her father wouldn’t be back till the next few days and she isn’t expecting anyone for now.
She stood up and went to see who’s at the door,
” Who’s there?” She asked ,peeping through the glass hole to see who’s there,
Outside,Andre and Justin stood outside the door waiting for Gianna to open the door,
“Who’s there?” They heard her call,
Andre didn’t answer,Justin did.
“It’s me Justin.” He said,
Hearing the boy’s voice,Gianna face brightened,
Yes she really want to see her son but deep down,she really misses Andre She missed being touched by him.
She opened the door and there was Andre, Standing in all his glory, He was smiling at her,
She really wanted to smile back but recalling how the other woman was hugging him yesterday,
She frowned and turned to go back inside but Justin ran to her and wrapped his
arms around her,
“Mommy.” He called,
A sense of joy filled her,
Her boy called her mommy and she lobed every moment of it.
Holding the boy’s hand,she showered him to the dining while Andre followed behind.
“Care to join us for dinner?
Reid prepared Baked Spaghetti and Meatball with Garlic Infused Toast.” She didn’t wait for the boy’s reply before dishing out his meal for him.
“Is this enough?” She asked the kid,
Justin nodded.
All his life,he hadn’t been warmly treated like this, Not even his father had made him feel this way before.
Reid on the other hand,didn’t raise his head up to look at his brother get treated
specially by his mommy.
He felt very sad.
“Reid are you okay?” Andre asked,
Sitting beside the boy and getting his own meal, “Yes.” The boy replied,
“Okay.” Andre concentrated on his meal,
While they ate,Reid continued throwing lethal glances at Justin, Whenever the boy ask of anything, be it more water or salt,
Reid threw glances at him and it made the older boy feel uncomfortable,
Does little brother think I’m here to fight with him over Mommy’s attention? He’s getting it all wrong.
I just want to be close to him and mommy,that’s all.
“Mommy,I want more meatballs.” Justin said, “So do I.” Reid added immediately, Gianna looked at him and smiled,
Is Reid trying to compete with his brother?
“Okay.” She stood up and went to the kitchen to get the extra Meatballs she’d kept.
Andre excused himself and followed her to the kitchen.
“Gianna,” he called coming from behind her,
“Gianna I’m sorry but you’re getting this all wrong.” He said but she snubbed him and continued putting the meatballs in the bowl.
“Gianna,it isn’t like that,Enya’s……..”
“Andre please let me be,I don’t care who she’s to you,just leave me alone.” She took the bowl and turned to leave but he took her hand,
“Gianna stop being this way,
It’s not exactly as you’re seeing it.” He whispered to her,
He would want the kids to know what a complete jerk he’s.
She withdrew her hand from him,
“How I see it or what I see doesn’t matter,
After all,I am just the other woman in your life.” She said and left,
The words hurt her bad but she just had to tell him,
She doesn’t want to be the third party or the mistress that’ll ruin his marriage. She wanted something official, not a relationship she’ll want to hide from the world.
She’s tired of being the woman that comes after,
She wanted something more,
Something legalised and official.
“Here’s your meatball.” She kept the bowl on the table and sat down, Slowly she was at the verge of crying,
She was loosing it slowly but didn’t want to shed tears in front of her kids.
Andre came in awhile later and joined them to finish dinner.
He wasn’t going to sit back and watch her stray away from him.
After dinner,he’s going to have to talk to her,
He need her to tell him the meaning of what she’d said earlier.
After dinner,Reid went into the kitchen to do the dishes while Justin followed him,
“Do you hate me?” Justin asked the boy,
Reid turned to him,
But didn’t reply
“I don’t want to fight for Mommy’s care with you,
I just want to be your older brother and protect you,that’s all I want.” He said, Justin might look tough and overbearing to other but he want to be a caring older brother to his younger brother,
Only if his brother gives him the chance.
Reid looked at the boy,
Should I believe him,
Is he trying to win me over?
Justin brought out a parcel from his pocket and handed it to the boy, “Here,have this,its my gift to you.”
It took Reid time before he accepted the gift and when he did, Justin left the kitchen.
Meanwhile Gianna and Andre was in her room,
He wanted to make things clear with her buy she is too angry to listen to him,
“She’s my cousin Gianna,just my cousin.” He tried to explain but she brushed past
him and walked into the bathroom.
He followed her,
“You just gat to listen to me Anna,Enya is just my cousin.” He was trying to talk but she ain’t giving him the chance.
“You don’t want to be the other woman?
You want something more right?” He asked her, Finally,she turned to him,
“Anna,do you trust a piece of paper over me?” He asked, She said nothing.
“Do you trust a piece of paper over what I feel for you?” He asked again,
She didn’t know what to reply him,
She want something more,
Not just having s£x and being the mother of his sons.
She want to be the only woman in his life,
She want her family to be complete.
She want a normal life,
Whether wealthy or not,
She wanted a life with a complete family
And not to be the woman he has to hide.
Deep down she don’t even know whether she can have the life she want with him.
To be continued.