The Secret Successor

CHAPTER 06

Kyra came home to her estate. Her father, a tall and bulky man with a perfect mustache, was waiting for her while acting like he was watching television.

Kyra ignored him and headed straight to her room.

“Didn’t I tell you to not go outside until you get married?” Liam spoke just loud enough so her daughter could hear him.

Kyra stopped and turned around and looked at her father who had eight platinum rings decorating his fingers, three thin platinum chains in his neck. He also had a couple of golden teeth fixed in his mouth. He would definitely pass for a gangster that could easily scare adults with his mere gaze.

“Where did you go?” Liam patiently asked.

“To… my fiance’s house,” Kyra responded, with her head slightly lowered.

“The dead one, or the living one?” Liam’s voice grew a little harder.

“I wanted to know if he wanted to marry me or not,” Kyra hesitantly stated. “As I suspected, he didn’t know I was pregnant.”

Liam’s expression didn’t change. He slowly stood up and picked the golden cane that was on the sofa. “I went with your stupid decision of not aborting a dead man’s baby because you agreed to marry again… on my terms.”

Kyra’s heart sped up as he approached her. “Y-You didn’t say that I can’t meet my fiance, did you?”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t beat you if you met him, either,” he swung the staff and hit her leg hard enough to make her hiss in pain. She tried to touch her leg. “Fold your arms,” Liam ordered.

Kyra was forced to fold her arms and stand straight while he struck her a couple more times at the same spot.

“What are you doing, Liam!” a woman in a loose silk shirt ran down the stairs with a worried look on her face. “How many times have I told you to not beat her?” she fumed at Liam. 

Liam hid the staff behind him. “I was just… disciplining her a little, Charlotte.”

“Your words are enough, Liam,” Charlotte pulled the staff from him and threw it away. “Kyra is not a kid anymore. Hitting her like this will do more harm than good. Don’t you get that?”

Liam forced out a smile. “I do, dear. I will try to stop doing that since she’s going to get married soon. It will be her husband’s job to discipline her afterward.”

Charlotte sighed and shook her head before putting her arm around her daughter’s shoulder and taking her to her room. She took an ice bag and applied it where Liam had stricken his daughter.

Kyra slightly hissed in pain. “Mom, I still think I did the right thing,” she tried to explain herself. “If I were to marry Russell without even telling him I’m pregnant, how can I live with him afterward?”

“I totally understand your perspective, but think from your father’s side as well,” Charlotte reasoned. “He would have explained everything at an appropriate time.”

“When? After Russell realizes that I’m pregnant? Will our words amount to anything in his heart at that time?”

“Why do you think your father is marrying you off to someone who’s net worth isn’t worth the amount you spend on your make up every day?” Charlotte asked, but Kyra had no answer. “He wants a family that he can totally control, and Russell’s stepmom is also a distant relative of mine, so all the secrets will stay in our circle. I shouldn’t say this, but… we should consider ourselves that Trevor died before we publicized the wedding date, or things could have gotten a lot trickier. But now, we can make Russell take Trevor’s place. If you think all this is too troublesome, then you can just abort the baby. I’m fine with that, too.”

Kyra frowned and touched her belly. All the troubles she was experiencing currently was because of this unborn baby who had nothing to do with any of this, yet Kyra would be lying if she were to say she wasn’t angry at the baby, though not as much as she was mad at herself for having sex before marriage, and unsafe sex at that. “I’ll keep the baby, Mom. It’s not for Trevor but for myself and for this unborn child.”

“I hope Russell doesn’t cause any nuisance because of the child,” Charlotte voiced her mind. “But if he does, your father and I will discipline him, so don’t worry about anything. Just stay stress-free,” she ran her fingers through Kyra’s hair. “Be happy. It’s good for you and the baby.”

Kyra’s eyes teared up, and she leaned into her mother and hugged her.

Meanwhile, Liam picked up his golden staff and walked out onto the front porch. He called Arnold’s number. It was answered in the first ring itself.

“Hello, sir,” Arnold’s voice was meek and full of respect, but was also laced with a level of tension.

“I heard my daughter visited your house,” Liam’s voice was neither friendly nor hostile. It was plain as ever.

“Yes, and she…” Arnold hesitantly spoke. “I was upstairs when she came, and she told my son about her pregnancy. I’m so sorry, sir. I disappointed you.”

“How did Russell react?” Liam sounded just a little curious.

“He wasn’t happy even before Miss Kyra came, sir,” Arnold kept his voice soft and full of respect. “After she met him and left, he started packing his things. I beat him and locked him up in his room.”

“You did what?” Liam sounded angry.

“Is there a problem, sir?”

“Ahem,” Liam cleared his throat. “Nothing. He won’t squeak during the wedding, will he? We’ve only got one week left at best, and then Kyra’s belly will start bulging.”

“Actually, sir…” Arnold said with a little excitement in his tone. “I have an idea. If we implement that, Russell will marry Kyra without complaint.”

“What’s that idea?”

“We will try and hypnotize him.” Arnold went on to explain to Liam for the next few minutes.

“It’s complicated. I’ll talk to some people I know and then contact you at night.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll proceed however you want.”

The call ended.

Arnold’s heart was still beating fast even though he appeared calm on the outside. He dialed a number. “Hello, Jefferson. How are you doing, my dear friend? I need your help,” as he was talking, he saw Jessica, one of Russell’s schoolmates, enter through the main gate. He immediately cut the call. “Shit. This little devil couldn’t wait, could she?”

Perro, the golden retriever, went running and jumped onto Jessica and kept licking her. “Hahaha, stop it. You’re going to make me smell bad.” She wrestled with the dog and forced it down to the ground before giving it belly rubs.

Arnold approached her with a smile on his face. “It’s been months since you showed your face around. What brought you here, Jessica?”

“Uncle, where’s Russell?” she asked, her voice and face full of life. She had never looked so pretty and happy. After all, she had heard from her friends that Russell was rejected by Natasha, so she came to console him and also try her luck with him. She had been in love with him for a very long time, so she didn’t want to miss this golden opportunity.

However, Arnold was blocking her path. “He’s gone out on business. He won’t be back for another week or two.”

“Eh? That’s why his phone was switched off,” she pouted a little. “Anyway, I can wait. See you later, uncle.” She took out a couple of chocolates from her purse and dropped them before Perro and then left.

Arnold sighed in relief while Perro was busy chewing on the chocolates. But then Arnold saw a torn gray suit on the side, and a spark of anger raged in him. He kicked the dog a few times, making it squeal. But after he stopped, Perro hesitantly returned to eating the chocolate. “Tsk,” he knew very well why his son would throw his clothes on Perro. It was so that Perro would tear those clothes. Russell had started doing this after Arnold had once reprimanded him for buying a costly suit, saying, “If you buy another suit like this ever again, I’ll make your dog wear everything you buy before you get to wear them, you understand?”

Remembering the past, Arnold shook his head. “He’s so good at picking other people's nerves. But that’s to be expected, since he’s my son.” He felt more frustrated than proud, as if he was receiving his own medicine.

In Russell’s room.

Having taken more than 30 sleeping pills, Russell was completely out. His heart rate and breathing rate had greatly slowed down, and his situation grew worse with every passing minute. The chances of him ever waking up were pretty low.