HE LOST HIS DAUGHTER ONCE, NOW HE’S A RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE

A SCENE

“Brandon,” Lyra gasped as she looked at her husband, who was standing by the door.

The room went quiet immediately. It was like everyone could feel the silence. The music had stopped, nobody was laughing anymore, and a lot of people were staring at the door with shock written all over their faces.

Brandon stood there with rage on his face as he was breathing hard. His eyes were red. He stared right at Lyra and Jake with their arms up in the air, like they were frozen in time.

Everyone in the room knew who Brandon was. He was the guy who stayed at home and took care of things. To them, Brandon belonged at home, not at parties like this.

Jake was the first to move. He let go of Lyra’s arm, putting his glass down on the table as he stood up and smiled, but his smile did not look real. He tugged on his expensive suit as he looked at a chair that was empty.

“Hey, Brandon, glad you could join us,” he said, sounding really smooth. “What a surprise. Why don’t you come over here and take a seat? You can have my seat if you want. I can find another one.”

Before Brandon could say anything, Lyra growled, grabbing Jake’s arm to stop him from going anywhere.

“Stay where you are, Jake,” she said in a cold voice. “You’re not giving up your seat to him or anyone. It doesn’t matter where he sits. He was not even invited to this party.”

Jake smiled a bit, but deep down he was happy about something, and it was the fact that she was choosing him over Brandon. He looked up at Brandon, and it seemed like he was enjoying the fact that Brandon was not welcome here.

Brandon did not move. He just stood there, smiling in a mocking way. His eyes turned to Lyra, who looked beautiful in her dress.

“Am I interrupting something, Lyra?” Brandon asked in a really cold voice, but everyone could hear him. “You look really happy where you are. You and Jake look more like a couple than husband and wife.”

“Brandon, you have to stop it,” Lyra said as her face started to get red. “Don’t act ridiculous in front of my employees because of your stupid jealousy.”

“Jealousy?” Brandon scoffed. He took a few steps forward, as he got mud all over the carpet. “While you are here having so much fun with Jake, do you even care about our daughter, who might be dying?”

The room got quiet again as people started to whisper to each other, as they were getting uncomfortable.

Lyra looked around, her face turning guilty for a second, but then it disappeared as she replaced the expression with madness.

“You started it again,” she said. “How dare you talk about Maggie like that? You are just throwing a tantrum because you did not get your way. You’re a nasty man, Brandon, and you have the guts to stand there and try to cause a scene at my party?”

“A scene?” Brandon laughed hysterically. “Maggie is sick, Lyra. The doctor just told me Maggie might only have a month left.”

People gasped around as they looked at each other.

Lyra froze. She looked lost. That was when she shook her head, like she did not believe it.

“No. That can’t be true,” she said in a whisper, her voice shaking with anger. “I saw Maggie this morning. She was fine. She is happy. She was full of life. She had just eaten her breakfast, so how could Maggie be dying now? You just want to hurt me, don’t you? You’re looking for any excuse you can to bring up anything to destroy the things I’m trying to build.”

Before Brandon could say anything, Jake stood up from where he was seated as he put a hand on Lyra’s shoulder to calm her down, then looked at Brandon with a sad face. But, of course, Brandon knew that the expression was fake.

“Lyra, please calm down. Just listen to what he has to say,” Jake said loudly so everyone could hear him as he looked at Brandon. “Brandon, this is too much. I know you love Lyra. I know you want her to go home with you tonight, but to say that your own child is dying just to win an argument, that’s really below the bar.”

Jake then turned to Lyra, squeezing her shoulder gently.

“Don’t be pissed at him, Lyra. He’s just acting like this because he’s insecure, but he does love you dearly, and he might not know how to show it, even though he doesn’t know how big of a deal your success is.”

Brandon heard Jake say all those things as he started to get really angry. In that moment, he lost control of his emotions.

“Shut your damn mouth!” Brandon yelled, running forward and grabbing a big table.

With a scream, he lifted the table and flipped it over. As the table fell onto the sides, plates and glasses went flying. Food and red wine spilled over the floor as people panicked. People ran back, tripping over their chairs, while Jake stumbled back, his suit getting stained with wine.

“Brandon, are you crazy?” Lyra screamed, not looking at the mess. She only looked at Brandon.

Brandon stood there breathing heavily, his face dark with anger, but immediately her attention went to Jake, she rushed to check if he was hurt as if his well-being was more important than the husband standing in front of her.

“Jake, are you ok? Are you hurt?”