Chapter 7

Then Walton,a generally kind hearted person bent on taking revenge,flashed a mischievous smile at lilian and she instantly got it.

She knew something would be wrong but she still counted on her Family's riches-oh her Family?

She looked at her mum but she avoided eye contact with her, her Father was doing the same.

They all couldn't eat at the party,just a few crumbs and that was all. A sensation of guilt ran through them all. They all decided it was time to leave. Indeed it was but they were stopped by a courier boy. He explained he had a parcel for them that the Groom wished to give them. Lilian snatched it but Her Father instructed her not to open it until they arrived home.

Barely getting home,Lilian tore the parcel open,and brought out what looked like some important document but it wasn't. She discovered the same word was written all over and over again. Silas went through the papers and confirmed it and so did Rhea. Lilian dumped the parcel on the floor asking the maid to trash it.

The whole Family was silent as if something terrible happened or was about to happen. Well yes,something very terrible would happen and there was nothing they could do about it. The five words boldly imprinted on 100 pieces of Paper rang through her mind like a bell. She thought of what Walton could actually do,hmmm,he could do a lot. Her Father's companies and Industries solely depended on materials produced by Batesville which is now headed by Walton. That could only signify something-a looming catastrophe!

Mr Rex was still brooding by the message sent by Walton when he received a message via telegraph,it was from the Batesville Management Team. He had been suspended indefinitely from the board of Directors and his share frozen due to some unscrupulous activities he carried out and mismanagement of funds.

Now Walton's message was coming to pass,he was now being sorry and so would the rest of the Family. Mr Rex immediately telephoned some important personnel he knew who could aid him. His close friend,Andrei Sergie,a former Russian militant picked up and Mr Rex explained that they received a mysterious parcel which contained some words written in about 100 pieces of Paper. The words went thus:”You will be very sorry!”

Oh my God! His friend exclaimed when Mr Rex further explained that Walton was their former son-in-law who they mistreated like he wasn't a Human. Few days ago,...er..erhhh,Mr Andrei started but hesitated. Mr Rex urged him to go on and complete his statement. Andrei moved on to explain that Walton had personally asked for Mr Rex's Files and demanded that all his activities and expenditures be scrutinized carefully when he came for an unscheduled visitation to the branch of the Company Mr Rex managed.

Now the truth was out,Mr Rex,with sweat trickling down his face remembered how he had truly mismanaged some funds by diverting them to his own personal account. On one of such occasions,Lilian wanted an expensive birthday party with her friends in the Antartica. Wasn't that being crazy?,How could her daughter want this? Well he had no choice but to give her the 16 million dollars for the planned trip. He wanted to prove he had wealth and was affluent. Now he would surely pay back!

Oh God,save my soul,I hope he wouldn't involve the Police,he repeated continuously as he paced up and down.

He would accept anything but that. How would an affluent man like him go to jail. For the first time in his life,he thought of how he could have helped Walton when he was with them,how they could all have supported him and treated him more humanly. He turned towards the door and shouted Lillian,Lilian,Lilian!…Ah..God..Damn….Damn. Then he descended downstairs towards Lilian's room.

“I would say it was one the greatest ceremony ever to be held in NYC” one of the two presenters on the Daily News Channel interjected as they spoke about Walton's wedding on their Live show. About 6 Federal TV stations were present to cover the occasion. Lilian couldn't stomach it anymore,she turned the TV off after watching the live cast for about thirty minutes. Then she heard her Father shout her name three times.

Even though she was too sad to respond,she got out of her room and started towards the stairs. The duo met on the staircase. Mr Rex wore a dull pale face and Lilian demanded what the problem was. Mr Rex couldn't answer so lilian called unto her mother who was in one of the inner rooms. She held her Dad by his hands and led him to a couch. She called her mother again who by that time was descending down the stairs.

It took nearly an hour or even more for Mr Rex to explain to what had happened to Rhea and Lilian. This was because sometimes while he was explaining,he repeatedly lost consciousness. It was true he had cases of acute heart failure in the past but it had nothing to do with his repeated fainting while narrating his ordeal. Silas helped Mr Rex with some pills and later took him upstairs to rest.

“Knock,knock,knock” and Walton walked inside Mr Bates room. It was a room with soft, pastel-colored walls, big windows adorned with flowers,a golden light provided by some dimmed set of expensive bulbs and a cozy, plush rug on the floor,mostly vintage furniture and a big pendulum clock sat in a corner of the room.

“You are such a wonderful person”, Mr Bates remarked when Walton brought him a cup of coffee while he was still in bed. It was 6:50 am. Walton just smiled and watched while the sexagenerian sipped his coffee. After a while,beautiful Rachel joined them. They all chatted for some time before the house help entered.

“Mr Walton,you're being asked for by the cops”,the househelped muttered apparently filled with fear. “Wow,so early of them,he replied as he went towards the door. “I called them”,he managed to say to Mr Bathes and Rachel who were obviously confused.