Well, what was left of my childhood home? I didn't make my wealth by inheriting it. No. I worked hard. Spent late hours in the office. Went to conferences to expand my business and its contacts.
For three days, I drove. Ignoring the shrill ring of my phone as my wife called and texted nonstop. Right then, we didn't have anything to say to one another.
My tyres crawled along the gravel of the driveway of my grandfather's home. My eyes ran over the charred, flame-eaten wood and the all-rotten, ruinous shell that stood as a reminder of what I had lost that night.
Thinking about what I had seen earlier, what would my grandfather have said, or did he know about this debauchery?
When I got older and saw my grandfather getting frail in his later years, I worked hard to make sure he was taken care of just like he had done with me.
That day, I was at the funeral, laying my grandfather to rest.
For the first time, I felt like I was alone in this world.
The car door closed behind me. Silenced that damnable phone of mine. I never told my wife about this place. It was just too raw for me to dredge up that fiery night. So I knew they wouldn't know where to look for me... I hoped. Sliding onto the hot hood of my car, its heat warmed my butt as the cool night descended upon me.
Did I love my wife? Sure. Yet did I want to be married to her after what had happened three days ago? That remained in doubt as I stared up at the stars.
It would be so easy to divorce Monica, but that also brought risks to it, namely my company. I employed some very good people. I knew she would go after it if I served her the papers. I wasn't about to give anyone control over my company. Ever! I knew my father would get one of his best family lawyers to take Monica's case and bury me in paperwork and legal fees for years.
There was always after my company, which my grandfather helped me build.
"Fuck!" I screamed into the night. Venting my anger upon those balls of burning gas. "God damn it, Monica! Why?!" I knew the only way to truly answer that question was to ask her, yet I wasn't ready to face her.
I didn't return home until five days later. For eight days, I let my wife stew in her worry. Which, oddly, was pleasing to me for some strange reason. I could hear someone speaking in the family room as I closed the door with a loud thud.
"Jason!" I heard Monica call out. Her feet hammered on the floor as she raced towards the foyer.
"Oh my god! Jason! I was so..." Monica stopped in her tracks as she noted my glare. Then I saw Reeves and Ellie appear behind her.
"You two get the fuck out of my house! Now!" I barked.
"No?!" Monica shouted, matching my tone. "They're my..."
"It's either you or them. Choose! Just like you didn't give me my own choice, when that ass assaulted me, bound me, that that..." Pointing at Ellie, "Raped me!" Marching up the stairs to my bedroom, not waiting for their answer. I needed to get out of those clothes.
"Jason! Can't we..."
"Fuck you, Monica! You will vacate my bed and my room as you see yourself from my sight by the time I get out of the shower!" I growled as I stared down at her.
"Okay, Jason, I understand. I do love you. I hope you realize that before you do anything." I knew if I stayed any longer, those tears of hers would break me down. They always do.
I didn't see Monica the rest of that night, or the next day, for that matter. At the time, I truly didn't care. What she was doing no longer mattered to me. At that point in time, I kind of figured our marriage was dead. I would come to learn later that she had spent that time in the guest room, crying her heart out.
My lawyer confirmed my earlier thoughts about my divorce. She would ruin me. The visit from my father and my brother to my office three weeks after my return home didn't help matters.
As a family, I didn't have much connection with the rest of them, and I was always the odd one in the family, not much cared for. I stayed most of the time with my grandfather, separating me from whatever they did. It was like I wasn't part of the family, and the kind of attention I was getting from my grandfather pissed off a whole lot of them, even my own father.
"Jason," Dell, my father, said as he sat across from me in front of my desk. I could see the fight in his eyes.
"Listen, I get it," Baran, my elder brother, said, leaning forward in his seat. "You're pissed. You have every right to be. I know I would be."
"But if you go through with a divorce, I will make sure we take you for everything you have," Dell said in a threatening manner.
"You have the nerve to come into my office and threaten me. I wonder how the city and the bar association will view our family's hobby?" I retorted as I peered over my folded hands. In my mind, I was watching a hemorrhagic fever ravage.
I couldn't understand these people; they were using an outsider to come after me, and I can't believe that they prefer Monica over me; their own blood. Then again, I don't think they consider me family.
Dell and flesh eating bacteria are eating away at Baran's body. How it brought a smile to my face. I'm sure it gave them pause.
"Don't you dare..."
"What, threaten you? Oh no, that would be a crime; I'm simply stating a fact," I said coldly.
"Okay, okay, let's all take a breath," Baran said, trying to be the middle ground. "Jason, you know Monica loves you. You know she thinks the world of you. She's been a wreck ever since that night..."
"Good! She wasn't the one being raped! Wasn't the one forced to watch as another man fucked her!" I snapped. Watching Baran flinch.
"You have no proof of that!" Dell growled meeting my fiery temper.
"Not yet; give it nine months," I sneered.
"Just think about it; if you go through with a divorce, you'll lose everything. You sure you want to put your company, your employees, and your own family through that?" Baran asked, trying to be the voice of reason.
"My family is dead," I said plainly. Yet I knew he was right. Too much was at risk to draw this out in a long divorce battle that I knew Dell would undoubtedly prolong just to drain me of every cent I had. "Now get out of my office before I have security escort you out," I said indifferently as I spun around to look out the window at the pond and contemplate my next move.
"Alright Jason." I saw Baran place a restraining hand on his father's shoulder in the reflection of the window. "Just please give it some thought before this goes too far, before it can't be saved."
"Don't you think it's already gone too far?" My question trailed after them as Baran exited my office.