Chapter 467: A new piece of information.
Leilani.
"Today is the meeting with Mister Valemont." Amanda said softly, snapping me out of my momentary haze, and at the sound of her voice, I immediately shut the laptop in front of me closed, leaned into my chair and sighed.
I didn’t know it was today.
Or maybe I knew about it but had simply not wanted to overthink it because I wasn’t sure I was ready to face that part of myself yet.
And surely, a lot of you must think I am mad, especially since I had been the one to push for this meeting. I also know that you all may perceive me to be a weakling— which I am by the way— but at this point, you can as well call me whatever you want. I deserve it.
My body trembled slightly but after successfully wrapping my arms around my body to hide it, I looked up at her and drawled; "Is there a way we can push it forward to another date?"
"No," Amanda answered softly— quickly. She looked away from me to stare at her feet, and something about her sudden awkwardness made me frown slightly.
I asked; "Is anything the matter?"
However, as soon as I asked that, she immediately shook her head only to nod a moment later as if unable to decide which of the answers would annoy me the most. She said; "we cannot shift it, ma’am. We arranged for the meeting to take place today by 11am, and it is already 10:15am."
Shit.
Those words made my heart skip a beat and if you asked me why, I definitely would not know how to respond because truth be told, I do not know why I was this anxious or why I was sweating this badly. I do not know why the mere thought of meeting another man with the name ’Valemont’ filled me with so much apprehension and worry...
Maybe it is because of the other one, Darius.
Shaking this thought away, I swallowed against the thick bile that had now formed in my throat and said; "Okay, let me know when he gets here then," and when she wouldn’t respond right away, I added; "okay?"
It wasn’t until then that she finally managed to lift her gaze to meet mine only for a moment before she looked back to the floor, and with a voice barely above a whisper, she muttered; "He’s already here."
I froze.
Goddess, at this point, I wanted to hide my face in the ground and stay there forever.
I glared at her with a mixture of annoyance and disappointment, wondering why she took this long to inform me of this, but after successfully calming my raging heartbeat for a moment, I hissed;
"What?!"
She bowed her head. "He said he is just coming from a meeting and decided to wait here until this—"
"You can leave," I cut in, interrupting her. "Keep him waiting as well and get him some refreshments. I’ll see him once it’s exactly 11am. Go." I ordered, and with that, I watched her scurry out of the room while I sank even deeper into my chair.
With my hand pressed against my chest, just above my pounding heart, I closed my eyes and dragged in a deep breath.
And at this moment, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the right choice. If meeting this man to ask about my father was right... and if it was even reasonable to establish a relationship with my paternal side... any relationship beyond business.
I soon got my answer when that nagging feeling in my chest came back, and with my hands balled into fists, I sat up straighter, reopened my laptop and began to work again.
"I will stop overthinking this thing and leave it for later, and when the meeting starts by 11am and I get to meet with him, I’ll know if it’s reasonable to go on or back off." I whispered under my breath.
—But first, I wanted to be sure if Darius was involved in my father’s death or not.
—
Unknown.
I may have gone through many different kinds of emotions in my life ranging from anger to sadness to depression and joy. Goddess, I may have also felt what it feels like to be utterly and deeply in love. But nothing... but one of those ever prepared me for this kind of anxiety which I now feel. Nothing prepared me for this level of restlessness that made me sweat until the sweat glands in my palms began to excrete so much moisture, it dripped down my arm...
—And I mean nothing! Even the time I was almost killed by my archenemy, Malakai.
But ladies and gentlewomen, I felt that way today... right now, as I watched Leilani, my daughter, step into the meeting room, immediately drawing all the attention to herself.
She was beautiful in every sense of beauty, and from first glance, you could easily tell that she was smart. I mean, why wouldn’t she be? She is my daughter after all.
I could still remember the first day—night— I had met her, under the pouring rain, shivering from the cold. I had been plagued with worry, wondering why I was so interested in a strange girl when I am usually never interested in anything. I also wondered why her safety had been so paramount to me... but now that I know the reason why, I totally understood.
It was because she was my blood though and through with her silver hair that could pass as the rays of the moon on a full moon night, her purple eyes that glistened with energies left untapped and her high cheekbones, just like mine.
She hardly took any of her mother’s features and even the way she walked with her chin raised arrogantly completely depicted an image of the daughter of whom she was.
My hands balled into fists when she carefully sunk into the chair right in front of me and smiled politely, and I couldn’t help but notice the small gleam in her beautiful purple eyes as she muttered;
"Good day, mister."
Mister.
Mister.
That word felt like a blade had been shoved right into the centre of my heart. It singlehandedly reminded me of the actual amount of distance between us even though I tried not to think of it.
I was a deadbeat in every literal sense, not like I could be blamed.
She clasped her hands on top of her knees, eyed the empty table in front of me and hissed; "you haven’t even attended to?"
I frowned. "Attended to by whom? You are the person I came to see."
She nodded with a smile— one that hasn’t left her face ever since she walked in— and drawled; "That is not what I mean, Mister. I was expecting that my PA or someone would’ve come to serve you refreshments or something as our way of saying sorry for keeping you waiting."
The formal politeness in her tone made me somewhat uncomfortable and heavens, I can swear that I felt a pang of guilt twist at my chest.
I also wondered if she would be this ’nice’ if she finds out that I am her biological father. If she would look at me with this much respect and—
"I never had the opportunity to thank you for the other night," she said suddenly, her voice soft. "You saved me from the weather and I may have died that night if it wasn’t for you."
I didn’t argue. I couldn’t bring myself to take credit for something that was supposed to be my responsibility so I drawled instead;
"Anytime."
Her eyebrows shot into her hairline at my response but deciding not to say anything about it, she pointed to the empty space in front of me and asked; "What would you like us to get you?"
I swallowed. "Nothing. I had brunch before coming here."
And ladies and gentlewomen, that was a lie. A big fat lie.
I couldn’t pretend to be fine and ask for refreshments when this guilt was eating so deep into me. I couldn’t look at her without wondering what turns our lives would’ve taken if the things that happened in the past didn’t.
Would she have been this successful in AI if I had successfully stolen her from her mother and her disgusting step father all those years ago?
Would she have hated me less and would’ve been this cold to me?
However, I didn’t get enough time to mourn what could have been as her voice soon slithered its way through the haze in my mind. She said; "if I had known we were related by blood that night, I wouldn’t have left the way I did."
I froze. "R-related?" I asked, not missing the way her smile widened as she nodded.
"Yes, related." She said with clarity. "You are my Uncle Theon, and I am your late brother’s— Ragnar’s— daughter."
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