Chapter 20

"A profusion of pink roses bending ragged in the rain speaks to me of all gentleness and its enduring. - William Carlos Williams Ryan removed the suitcase from his car's trunk and looked up to stare at the house that had been for a long time, a symbol of his misery. "No. That is wrong." He shook his head in denial. Refusing to blame another person. He alone had been responsible for his actions and that said, the source of all his pain and misery had been his fear and his cowardice. He acknowledged that he should have been braver, fought harder to protect her, but then again, she had never needed his protection. "A General's daughter?" He laughed at the thought. Despite all he had been through, despite all he had feared, he had been the one to wrong her, to harm her and not his father despite all the words and threats he had issued. He, Ryan, and not his father had been the one to break her. He had broken Malisha, but now she was happy. Another thing that he had almost ruined as he once again allowed his fear and his cowardice to get the better of him and lead him in the wrong course of action. To think that another child had been the one to change him. Truly these women had all deserved better than him. They deserved a better man, better than the one who only brought them tears and sadness. Ryan did not know if that chapter of his life could ever be cleared, especially in regards to Malisha and her son Thomas, but somehow Hope had seen it fit to give him a fresh start. One in which he would now make sure to give it his best shot. Starting from this point onward he acknowledged that he had a purpose that he alone had to fulfill. A purpose that brought more honor than he deserved. The purpose is to be a father and to be a loving husband. "Are you coming in or what?" Katrina called out from the doorway. Her face was stoic as she leaned on the door frame in a pair of dark leggings and a long shirt. "Coming." He beamed at her before carrying the suitcase into what would now be his new home. "You remodelled." He said as he came to step into the foyer. One that was no longer cold and one that almost wiped away the sour memories of their first encounter there. After a day of forcing smiles and acting like the perfect fiance and the perfect groom, almost five years ago, Ryan had suddenly become tired of the whole thing and therefore he had dropped her. After carrying her past the threshold, Ryan Thorpe had dropped his beautiful bride on the cold hard floor. How shameful. Now that he could think about it, he finally admitted it. His anger had been too great, his emotions frail and repressed for too long. Watching her smile and be happy when he was breaking apart from the inside had driven him to the edge. No longer free and his life no longer his own, Ryan had simply dropped the girl who had trapped him in that forced marriage. Those were the emotions that had been going through his mind at that time. Watching her cry after him, a mess of white and lace had filled him with so much disgust. How could he have known that just like him his new wife had been a victim of her own father's machinations? He had judged her too harshly and now he would get to spend his whole life making up for it. Not because he was forced to, but because his heart had told him to and he would not have it any other way. "Yea. Do you have any problem with that?" She was baiting him. Ryan smiled knowing full well what this woman now had in mind. "Not at all." He answered truthfully. "I am actually glad. The other look was too...cold." She stared at him assessing him for his truthfulness before ushering him in and towards the set of spiral stairs. "Yea yea...okay. Please, do come in. Your old room is waiting for you." He nodded, allowing her to lead the way. "Though I honestly do not know how this will work out. " She said as she stopped to cradle her belly and he instantly knew what she was thinking about. "No more drink. For you or for me." He said taking her hand into his reassuringly. "Not that you can drink in your condition, but I assure I no longer have any need for that concotion." He was talking about that night they had lost control. She smiled, her cheeks tainted pink as she flushed with embarrassment. Her thoughts reeling as she recounted in her mind the events that had led to the conception of this baby. Although she didn't remember much and she told him so. "I still can't remember what happened." "Me neither. I do apologize however for the words that I spoke to you that morning. Those I can never forget." She acknowledged him with a nod. The two then remained silent for a while each lost in their thoughts before Katrina turned to continue the climb. At the landing of the second floor she turned into the corridor and at the very last door, she stopped and opened it revealing the room that had once been bland with just cream paint but was now a beautiful sight of light grey with navy blue highlights. "I hope you don't mind the change." She said pointing to the grey walls and the navy drapes. The white sofa with navy pillows and the beddings were a mixture of grey, navy, and white. "Your toiletries are in the bathroom and anything else you may need, my room will be right where you left it. So feel free to KNOCK and ask me for anything." "And here I thought that I could just worm my way into your..." Ryan started with a smile but she cut him quite fiercely. "Don't you dare finish that sentence." "I was going to say heart." He grinned and with that he walked in, but stopped before closing the door. "I am cooking dinner. I hope you don't mind having me in your kitchen." Katrina blinked before looking up at him. Everything that had just happened had taken her by surprise. Had he just flirted with her? Was a man, no her husband flirting now with her? Did it even count as flirting considering that they married? "Hey was it something I said or?" For a moment he began to look worried. "No no...feel free. It's your house too so you can go anywhere you want. Well anywhere that is not my room that is" she stumbled as she fumbled for words. "Of course." He smiled, that dazzling smile that told her that things would probably not remain this way for so long. ==== Marcus Thorpe's face was grimmer than ever. In his cold dark room, he agonized over all his well-laid out plans that had fallen into nothingness. Years of planning down the drain and just like that the influence that had taken him years to breed was waning just like that. Marcus never gambled. He rarely immersed himself in such vices that would easily compromise his power. Being born the eldest son of a judge who had not wanted him had forced him earlier on to learn of the importance of this said power. Connections and influence made a person. Be it through marriage or blackmail Marcus had used every way to gain the power that had destroyed his father and his fake family. Influence and power had won his lost inheritance and as his siblings who once looked down upon him struggled to just make a living, he was living large and just had to snap a finger to have destroyed. However, he preferred they remained alive. So that they could see him climb perched on the seat of glory as they groveled in the dirt for the meals on their table. Now all that was under threat. His dynasty was crumbling and his sour relationship with the Marachelis was the thing to blame. He had gambled by allowing his son to go on after that girl, the foreign General's daughter but even that had not born any fruit. The fool had come back empty-handed all because of another child that was not even born. To think that his influence was getting him nowhere. He growled out in frustration. "It is all his fault. That stupid son of mine. To think that he would turn out this way. A perpetual drunk who can't even see an opportunity for what it is?" Of course, he would never acknowledge that he was the one who had threatened him with her life, only that he would leave her. Now, that decision was coming back to bite him. "Heck he should have acted out better!" He slumped his fists on the heavy wooden desk and growled out in frustration. "Then we could have snared the Marachelis and the General as well." How he had planned to do that, only he knew for he had also done the same to his wife and that other girl he had once fancied. His heart or his influence. Power would always win where he was concerned. Too bad that her life had ended like that. She had died giving birth to his child and he was lucky that with their deaths the mess that his list had created had finally ended like that. Very lucky indeed that for a moment he wondered if the mess with Katrina and Marachelis could also be resolved in the same way. "Sir. " Cedric, his number one errand boy came in through a hidden door. He was one of the many crooks that he had picked up on the streets and for some reason, these fools felt indebted to him. Maybe because he paid them or allowed them to continue their trade while still in his service. He called it influence, the ability to get others to see things his way and to make his ambitions their life's mission. "What have you found out?" He asked the man who had come in via secret entrance to his office that was housed in what was once the late judge's estate. Marcus was answered by silence. "Cedric?" "Sir..." the man trembled. "I asked you a question and I expect a swift answer." He all but growled out. "Sir...Things are not good. " The man told him. Whimpering in a pathetic manner that grated on Marcus's nerves. Were it not for his discreet way of gathering reliable information that no one else seemed to know all because of his links with the underground, Marcus would have long disposed himself of this foolishness. "Then it's true then." He spoke thoughtfully. His son was back with Maracheli girl but that was of no use for she had left home and was probably shunned by her father. Was there a chance? Even a slim one that he could use to turn the tides? No, he shook his head. That bastard Maracheli was not that forgiving and he almost smiled at what repercussions his son would now yield. "Yes. Also..." His henchman faltered. "Cedric." Marcus warned. He was slowly losing his calm all because of how this man was acting. He had already resigned himself to his son's fate but that did not mean that he would not use grandson to make his ends meet. Literally. He was good with facades and that meant that he would just have to learn how to be a concerned grandfather if any of this was going to work. As for Mirena...there was nothing to worry about there. Isolated from her children, she would have no choice but to follow him in his plans. "So?" He pushed. "The General... " Cedric fumbled. "What?" "Eh..erhm...apparently your daughter left out something. Some details." "What details?" He shouted altogether forgetting that he was meant to look and sound calm. "The General's daughter is now married." There was silence for a moment. Then Marcus beamed. "So what?I have navigated such matters before. Plus our interest here is in the boy not his mother. She doesn't matter that much in this equation." "Yes but...her new husband has adopted him and he isn't the kind of man that can easily trifled with." The man trembled. Just thinking about it terrified him. His boss thought that he was scared of him while in all truth he was more scared of this man. The man that he had had the misfortune of having to investigate. "Spit out Cedric. I really do not have the time for this." Marcus growled, his mind already flooding with plans for his new venture. "His mother is the new Domina. So essentially...the boy is now a prince."