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

I WAS TRYING TO SAVE THE WRONG THING

Jake looked at Brandon one last time as he had a smile on his face. Then he followed Lyra back into the room. The door closed behind them. Brandon was alone in the hallway.

Brandon stood still in the hospital hallway. The lights above made a noise that bothered him. He looked at his hands and saw they were shaking a little. Then a sad smile came on his face.

He thought about what his wife Lyra thought of him. She thought he was just a househusband. She thought he was not a partner because he did not help her with her career.

Brandon leaned against the cold wall as he chuckled quietly. He thought about all the years he spent taking care of their family. He gave up a lot of things for them. He turned down promotion after promotion so he could stay home with Maggie while Lyra chased her ambitions. Lyra did not care about any of this.

He remembered when Lyra was very upset because her company was in trouble. He helped her by giving her all his money. He got this money from his father. He did this so Lyra could be happy.

Now Lyra thought he was just a person who could cook and clean. She thought he was not useful. She thought he was just holding her back.

Brandon said to himself in the hallway, "I was trying to save the wrong thing." His voice was weak.

He was very angry before but now… he was not. He was very clear about what he had to do. He did not want to fight with Lyra. He just wanted to take care of Maggie, who was sick in the hospital.

Brandon turned around then walked back to Maggie's room. He walked firmly. He did not look back. He was done trying to make Lyra love him. She did not love him anymore.

***

Inside the room the atmosphere was really different. The room was warm and cozy, filled with stuffed animals and plastic toys.

Leo was sitting on the hospital bed swinging his legs back and forth while eating an apple slice that Lyra had cut for him.

"Mommy Lyra you are the best!" Leo said, leaning over to hug her waist as she sat on the edge of the mattress. "Your stories are way better than Daddy's. You always pick the best snacks."

Lyra smiled, running her fingers through Leo's hair. She was still a little upset from the argument in the hall. She was trying to stay calm. "You just need to eat your food and listen to the doctor, Leo. No more getting sick?"

"Okay I promise!" Leo said, giggling. Then he stopped swinging his legs. He looked up at Lyra with big, pleading eyes. "Oh Mommy Lyra, my birthday party is coming in a week. We're going to have a cake shaped like a rocket ship and all my friends from school are coming. Can you please come to my party? You have to be there to help me blow out the candles!"

As soon as Leo said that, Lyra froze. Her hand stopped moving through his hair and her fingers got stiff. She was thinking about the date of the party. It was the same day as Maggie's seventh birthday.

Lyra remembered what had happened in her kitchen that morning. She remembered Brandon's face as he asked her to be with Maggie on her birthday. She remembered promising him that she would be there.

Lyra felt a knot in her chest. She felt guilty and unsure of what to do. She looked at the door feeling like she had to get out of there.

Before she could say anything Jake stepped in. He looked stern and angry as he talked to Leo. "Leo, stop being so demanding! You cannot just ask Auntie Lyra to do things for you like that. She is a person with her own life and she has her own things to take care of. She is not really your mother, Leo! She was just being kind to us because we needed help."

Jake rubbed his forehead. "You need to know your place, son and stop asking for too much. We cannot keep bothering her."

When Leo heard his fathers words he started crying. His eyes filled up with tears.

"No! She is my mommy!" Leo cried, burying his face in his hands. "I don't want anyone! I want Mommy Lyra at my party! I want her to be there no matter what! Daddy please don't make her go away! I want her to come!"

Seeing Leo cry made Lyra feel terrible. She forgot about feeling guilty and just wanted to take care of him. She turned to Jake. "Jake, stop it! Don't yell at him, he's a child who was sick an hour ago!" Lyra said, pulling Leo into her arms. "Oh Leo, sweetie please don't cry. Don't listen to your daddy. Look at me, look at Mommy Lyra."

Leo looked up at her with tears in his eyes. "You... You'll come?"

"Yes I will find a way to attend your party I promise," Lyra said, smiling and wiping away his tears. "I will make sure I'm there to see your rocket ship cake, okay? So stop crying, you're safe with me. Don’t mind your daddy."

Leo stopped crying and nodded happily.

Jake was standing behind Lyra. He smiled to himself. He was happy that he had been able to manipulate Lyra into doing what he wanted. He knew that he had taken a huge step towards winning her over and pushing Brandon out of the picture.

The cell phone in Jake's pocket started vibrating in the quiet bedroom. Jake reached into his suit jacket, then pulled out his cell phone. The moment he saw the caller ID on the screen the smile on his face disappeared. He looked really pale. His heart started beating fast.

"Lyra, I need to take this call," Jake said, trying to sound calm as he walked towards the door. "It is a call from an investor from another country."

"Go ahead Jake, I will watch Leo," Lyra said, still fixing the pillows for Leo to rest.

Jake walked out of the room quickly. He ran down the hallway, he did not stop at the emergency ward where Brandon was and went into a stairwell near the back door of the clinic. 

The moment he was there, he closed the door and put his cell phone to his ear, breathing hard.

"I told you not to call me during the day on my cell phone…" Jake started saying in a deep voice.

"Listen to me Jake," a mean voice said from the end of the line not letting Jake finish. "We are tired of waiting for our money. You need to pay back your debt now or you will be in big trouble."

"I need a few more days," Jake pleaded, sweating and holding the stair railing. "Please, I am almost done. I have everything under control."

“You’ve been feeding us the same excuse for six months, Jake,” the voice retorted coldly. “If we don’t receive every cent of our money within three days, we’ll expose everything. We’ll release the documents proving your fake companies, your hidden accounts, and every scam you’ve been running. Your reputation in this city will be destroyed overnight.”

The voice paused for a moment before continuing in a darker tone.

“And once the police get involved, you’ll lose far more than your reputation. You’ll end up in prison… and your son will grow up without a father.”

“No, no… please don’t do that,” Jake requested quickly, his voice trembling with fear as he glanced nervously around the empty stairwell. “I swear I’ll have the money soon. Lyra trusts me now. She actually believes I’m the genius who saved her company.”

Jake tightened his grip on the phone, sweat droplets forming on his forehead.

“It won’t be long before I convince her to invest a huge amount of her company’s money into one of my business projects,” Jake said anxiously. “Once she signs the papers and transfers the funds, I’ll be able to pay off my debt immediately. Just give me a few more days… please.”

A heavy silence settled on the other end of the line.

Then the caller finally spoke again, his voice low, cold, and threatening.

“This is your last chance, Jake. If we don’t receive our money within the next few days, there will be consequences.”

The man paused briefly before adding in a chilling tone,

“And trust me… you do not want to find out what happens when we lose our patience.”

Then the line went dead with a click.

Jake slowly put down the phone, his hand shaking so much he almost dropped it down the stairwell. He leaned against the wall then took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his face.

The truth was a burden. 

Over the past few years, every single one of Jake’s businesses had failed, leaving him drowning in debt to some very dangerous people.

The wealthy, successful image he presented to the world, the expensive suits, the luxury car, the confident smile was nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion designed to fool everyone around him.

In reality, Jake was broke, desperate, and running out of time.

If he could win Lyra over, marry her, and gain access to her company’s money, all of his problems would disappear. But if Lyra discovered the truth before he secured that money…

Jake immediately pushed the thought away.

Taking a deep breath, he straightened his tie and smoothed out his jacket before forcing a calm, confident smile onto his face once again.

“No point thinking about the worst right now,” he muttered quietly to himself before stepping back out into the hallway.

Somewhere down the corridor, behind the glass doors of the emergency ward, a silent storm was already beginning to form.

“All I need now… is for Brandon to give up.”