Chapter five

"Mom, I swear, it was him, he did not look poor or haggard, but he looked and smelled rich."

"What was he wearing?" Alisa asked gently.

Cara sighed. "Mom, that's not the point. We both know that even after shopping for Ethan, he never liked to dress extravagant, he only wore a plain tee and sweatpants, almost everyday. You know this, so we can't judge based on that."

"I saw him, and I'm telling you that he didn't even look like what we expected," Cara whined.

Alisa glared at her for a while, "what did you say he said to you, again?"

"He said he was coming for his daughter, Ashley." Cara replied.

Alisa shut her eyes for a few seconds. "It's alright, when next you see him, tell him that I said, I await his arrival."

"Mom, is that all you're going to say?" Cara demanded.

"Keep shut, Cara." Alisa warned. "Now leave me to my thoughts. Go and get something to do with yourself, huh. You're turning twenty seven already, you need to get married. Go, attend some events, step out and catch yourself a fancy man, you're not getting any younger."

Cara stated at her mother with wide eye, speechless too. "Mom, you're the one who made me divorce Ethan, now you're yelling me down to find another man to get married to? Does it matter to you if I'm happy at all?"

Alisa asked. "Of what use is happiness in a marriage with a poor man? What could Ethan ever do for you? It was still I who held the family, how could I let my princess suffer like that? Darling, if I don't care about your happiness, do you think I'd send you out to find a man for yourself? No, of course not. I would have found one for you and impose him on you."

"Mother,"

"Now now, I need to think. You brought a serious case to me, I need to prepare for his so called arrival. In a good way too, you, on the other hand, make sure Ashley stays close to you in public." Alisa warned. "Or better still, don't take her out."

"You know how Ashley can be, mom," Cara rolled her eyes.

Alisa giggled. "Yes, dear. But we don't know how Ethan can be. That man is delusional, he thinks what he isn't. Keep Ashley at home if you want her safe. We don't know the length this fool could go just to get Ashley. We don't want her getting kidnapped, do we?"

"No, mom." Cara replied.

"Good," Alisa said with a smile. "Now leave, and not a single word about this discussion should be breathed to anyone outside the four walls of this room."

Cara nodded twice. She knew how strict her mother was even to her, so she knew better than to disobey her. "I'll be going to visit Mr Henry tomorrow, mom. The house is having some issues with the walls. Some of them are breaking, I think he must have used inferior goods to make them."

"Suit yourself, sweetheart," Alisa nodded.

-

Ethan stood at the site where his company's building was in progress and he smiled. The building was coming out well. Henry was standing beside him, watching his workers work day and night to bring a good reputation to his company. He didn't mind how they laboured because he paid them well enough.

"You've done such a wonderful job already, Henry. I can already envisage the complete project, it's magnificent in my head," Ethan praised.

Henry chuckled. "People always say that, when I'm done with their work. But in all, I'm just happy that you're now an investor in my company. You're really going to rebuild your father's legacy real quick."

"Speaking of which, I figured out that my father had shares with your company before he died, that true?"

"Mmhmm," Henry nodded. "Your father often mixed generosity with business and it pained his competitors to see that his generosity never brought his business down, rather it helped it go higher."

"He must have mixed generosity with wisdom and used it as a business strategy," Ethan corrected. He hadn't seen it in his father's book, but he could guess that that was what was happening.

Henry shrugged. "Some people said that, but your father invested in so many upcoming businesses. He trusted in us, believed in us, and gave us a chance to take over the limelight. His competitors only ever wanted to buy upcoming companies and make them operate under them. They wanted to remain at the top."

"That's a weird way to think," Ethan said. "But it's obvious that these people only wanted him out of their way, regardless of how he had to leave."

"True that," Henry nodded. "I'm just happy that he didn't just die without leaving someone to continue in his legacy. Tom Parker didn't deserve the death he died. He was the heart of the people, he gave generously to humanity and the less privileged. Many orphanages were well funded by him; star kids, the city, little angels, and so many others."

Ethan went quiet. He wondered why he was one of the better treated kids in the orphanage. They felt they were repaying his father for his kind gestures. As he opened his mouth to speak, Henry's phone began to ring. From the expression on Henry's face, he knew that the man hadn't received a good news.

"Is anything the matter?" Ethan asked.

Henry sighed. "Usually, there's no need to share such with people, but since you're now one of our major investors, I think you deserve to know. Cara Wilson, the daughter of the Wilson family, is making a case with us. According to her, one of the houses they bought from us is starting to collapse and she's accusing us of using inferior goods to build it."

Ethan smirked. "Where's she now?"

"She's at the building, she demands that I come see it." Henry said with a sigh. "I'll have to go and check on it, I'll come by later."

"Let me come with you, Henry," Ethan said. "You will need a witness after all."

Henry was grateful that Ethan opted to follow him, but he didn't know why Ethan had opted to follow him. He assumed that Ethan followed him because of his investment in the company, but he didn't know that Ethan and Cara already had a history together.

Ethan informed his driver of the location and they went in his car. The moment they arrived, Cara scowled as she noticed the car. She recognized it from the previous day as Ethan's car and she wondered what he was doing there. To her surprise, Henry came out from the car. She smirked, so Ethan now worked for Mr Henry?

"Mr Henry, what a fancy car you got there. Did you get it from all the excess money you get from building houses with inferior goods?" She demanded sarcastically.

Henry turned to glance at the car. "It's not mine, it belongs to Mr Parker."

"Mr Parker?" Cara repeated. "Who the hell is that?"

"Me the hell, Cara." Ethan said as he alighted the car. "Surprise!"

Cara gaped at Ethan. This time around, he wore a shirt which she recognized from the mall the day she went with Ashley. The shirt cost over five grand, and she noticed his wristwatch, it had diamonds all over it. Scowling gently, she raised her gaze towards him.

"Ethan?"

"Yes, Cara, Ethan," Henry said. "Otherwise known as Mr Parker."

"But, how?" Cara asked, dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry, we didn't come here to exchange pleasantries. You informed us that the house you bought from us was collapsing, right? I don't see a collapsing house." Ethan stated firmly.

"Us?" Cara mimicked. "I called Mr Henry, is this some sort of joke or something?"

"Oh dear, she's so dumb," Ethan murmured.

Henry chuckled. "Mr Parker here is one of our major investors,"

"Investors my ass," Cara interjected. "Where could Ethan possibly find enough money to invest in your company? Did you steal the money?"

Ethan glanced at Henry to see his reaction, but Henry was not bothered. Henry knew the truth after all, so he could not believe Cara over Ethan.

"Steal?" Ethan repeated. "What do you have that I could possibly want to steal?"

Cara began to laugh hysterically. "You stole from the Wilson mansion, huh? You thought we wouldn't find out right? It's no wonder you easily accepted the divorce! We all knew you couldn't stand on your own, but not even a month later and you're already wearing expensive watches and investing in companies that are bigger than you!"

"C'mon, answer me if you dare, where did you get the money from?" Cara demanded. She walked up to Ethan and grabbed his shirt in an attempt to tear it. Instantly, his bodyguards grabbed her and pushed her away, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.

Ethan smirked down at her as they began to smoothen the creases she caused and wipe his shirt with a clean towel.

Cara felt very embarrassed, but she managed to get up. She stared at Ethan, shocked that he also had bodyguards who were so loyal that they didn't care about her status and pushed her to the ground.

"It seems that Miss Wilson was mistaken when she said the house was collapsing. Perhaps she's just as delusional too. Mr Henry, let's leave, it's a false alarm. We need to get back to oversee the workers after all," Ethan stated.

Henry nodded. "After you, Mr Parker."

Cara watched, dumbfounded, as Henry accompanied Ethan into the car and they drove off, leaving her in a cloud of dust. Cara was furious. She marched over the where she parked her car and drove back to her parents' house. Alisa was in the lounge, resting when she heard the door shut with a loud bang. She jolted up as she turned sharply, only to find Cara marching towards her.

"Mom!"

"What the hell is wrong with you, Cara Wilson? Why did you slam the door so hard? Did someone offend you?"

"Yes."

"Great. Next time, use the force you used to slam the door to punch them in the face. My house didn't offend you," Alisa said.

Cara rolled her eyes. "You won't believe what happened," she said in a softer voice.

"What happened, Cara?"

"I got to the house, and I called Henry and told him that the house was collapsing. After a few minutes, he arrived in a black Bentley, the same car I saw Ethan leave in."

"And?"

"And when he came out, I taunted him about using all the excess money he got from building with inferior goods to buy such an expensive car," Cara said. "But then he said it didn't belong to him, but to Ethan."

"Ethan?" Alisa repeated, suddenly sitting up. "Which Ethan?"

"The Ethan you know, mom." Cara said. "I was even more shocked when Ethan alighted the car. I was wondering how he became so rich, but he didn't seem to care about anything I said. Even when I tried to touch him, his bodyguards grabbed me so fiercely and pushed me to the ground."

"And what did he do?" Alisa asked gently.

"He laughed and mocked at me." Cara said. "It was so humiliating, mom. But I wonder where Ethan got the money from. Mr Henry said he was one of their major investors, I think he might have stolen something from us."

Alisa eyes narrowed in thoughts. "Ethan, a major investor of H homes?"

"It's so shocking, mom." Cara agreed. "His rudeness was so much, it didn't seem like the Ethan that served us here. He seems more... sly now."

Alisa nodded. "It's alright dear, why not go in and just take something to cool off. I'll handle this, okay?"

"Okay mom, it was so weird," Cara continued as she left. "He suddenly even had a last name, Parker. What sort of a dumb name is that anyway?" Cara mumbled as she walked away.

Alisa's ears perked up at the sound of the name, Parker. Her eyes suddenly became sharp and she turned to stare at Cara who was oblivious to what she was saying.

Parker... Alisa thought. "I thought I had buried everything about you, it seems you don't like to stay dead, huh?" Then she smirked.