Humiliation. A feeling I thought I got used to . . . until I saw it from a new person's perspective. I was humiliated in this family since my wedding day and somehow I convinced myself that I was ok with it, that it didn't bother me anymore until I saw this stranger bearing witness to my humiliation. The insults, the words, the wounds felt fresh again.
But for a split second, I thought the humiliation would end there since he is a stranger and the Rivera family never outright insulted me in front of strangers because that would affect their reputation. So I was hopeful but my hopes shattered as soon as a voice loudly asked,
"What the hell are you doing here?"
It wasn't Grandfather Clement, who burst out. To my surprise, it was Luke's father, who looked as if he wanted to punch the man standing in front of me. And my first thought was they knew this man very well, moreover, they hated this man, thus they would insult me again. Unless they stay focused on him and take their complete anger out on him. The latter situation wasn't ideal for him, and I wouldn't wish this even on my enemies but I really didn't want to be humiliated again today.
The man, however, looked completely calm and casual as he walked to the armchair at Grandfather Clement's right, dropped the magazine at the glass table in front of Grandfather, and sat down, crossing his long legs gracefully.
He was very tall, more than 6foot tall, I was sure, and he was probably a bit older than me. He wore a grey suit which I knew was tailored because of how fitted it was to his body. He also had long dark hair knotted in a low bun, which suited his face very much. Maybe too much. However, what didn't match his invincible appearance was his tired eyes, which took away a lot of youthfulness from his appearance. It wasn't that obvious but I was pretty sure, with eyes like that he was definitely hiding some big dark circles under his eyes with the help of some eye cream or something. But despite his eyes, he looked like a perfect picture of class and power.
"You don't know?" the man didn't give much of a reaction. He spoke rather indifferently to Luke's father and Grandfather's pissed glares. "I was invited."
Immediately, Luke's father turned to Grandfather, who let out a frustrated sigh and looked as if it physically pained him to say the next words.
"I invited him here, William."
"You what?" Luke's father looked back and forth between Grandfather and this new man and his rage intensified.
Now here was something interesting. I had been married to the Rivera family for six years and ten months, but I had never seen Luke's father this angry. In fact, I had barely seen him angry over the years, except for when Luke usually screwed up, his father was mostly calm and collected and that was why it was so surprising to see him this angry.
"Yes, William, I was invited," The man repeated looking at Luke's father as if Luke's father didn't understand the words Grandfather just said.
Luke's father was about to open his mouth but Grandfather Clement spoke first.
"You are early."
"Really?" The man looked around the room and his eyes finally stopped at me. "I thought I was late."
My heart skipped a beat and I blinked in surprise. Why did he say that looking at me?
"I asked you to come at –" Grandfather grumbled.
"And besides if I wasn't here early, I would have never known your completely adult grandson had a babysitter," The man said monotonously cutting Grandfather off.
I almost gasped not because of his insult to Luke but at the fact that he interrupted Clement Rivera. I didn't think I had ever seen anyone cut him off and not get their life destroyed, irreparably. But here he was looking as if he couldn't care less, as if nothing mattered, no one mattered in this room except for him.
And as expected Luke didn't like the insult or the way he said it.
"What the hell do you think you are saying? Who the f*ck even are you?" Luke yelled almost getting in front of the man's face but he still looked unfazed.
He turned to Grandfather Clement instead.
"Should I tell them who I am or would you like to introduce me to your family?" The man said with an almost bored voice but there was an undertone to it because immediately Luke's grandfather looked as if he wanted to kill this man right that moment, right there.
A vein on his neck bludged as he forced himself to turn away from the man.
"Luke, language," Grandfather Clement said almost gritting his teeth as if trying to divert his attention before turning to the man in suit. "I asked you to come here to talk business and nothing else."
"Of course," the man leaned back on the chair. "I would never expect anything more from you. But I thought since you asked for my help . . ."
Everyone's mouth fell open including mine as the man let the question linger in the air. Clement Rivera asked for somebody's help? Did I understand that correctly?
"You asked for HIS help?" Luke's father yelled in disbelief and the way he emphasized the word "his" made me realize he wasn't surprised that his father had asked for help but the fact that he asked for this man's help.
Who was he?
"Yes, he is going to help us to recover the cost of previous losses we had, including this one," Grandfather Clement briefly glanced at Luke before continuing, "He is going join his company name with us, a partnership to boost our reputation."
"And you think that is the best idea?" Luke's father asked.
"Yes, since none of you incompetent fools know how to run a successful company! My father built this company and gave it to me, I took it to new heights, something I expected from you as well, Willam. But you failed," Grandfather Clement's voice raised and he glared at his son. "So Do Not question my decisions again."
"I . . ." Luke's father looked around embarrassed, and for a second glared at Luke before looking down. "I'm sorry, Dad. I am sure you had –"
"Yes, yes," Grandfather Clement waved his hand dismissively. "As I was saying he would help us to fix our tampered reputation and get back on —"
"Mr. Rivera, I think you forgot," the man interrupted Clement Rivera. "I never agreed to help you yet. I said I would hear you out."
Grandfather Clement looked like he was about to burst into flames, his face completely red with anger.
"You ungrateful sw –"
"I have nothing to be grateful for," The man swiftly interrupted Grandfather Clement again. "Not to you, at the very least."
"You cannot talk to Father like that," Luke's father glared.
"Your father, you mean," The man spoke casually but I thought there was a mocking tone behind those words or I was reading too much into this.
"What are you –" Luke's father began but was again cut off.
"If I really have to risk my business and reputation for your family and business, I need to know a few things first, don't you agree?" The man looked at Grandfather Clement straight in the eye. "I am a businessman, after all."
"What do you want to know?" Grandfather Clement gritted his teeth and uttered every word with difficulty.
"First of business, what are you going to do about the situation your grandson just created? It is already on the internet, so you can't completely erase it, no matter how much money you throw at this. It's not the old days, you see. Thus, what are your plans?"
For a second it looked like the last comment threw Grandfather Clement off guard but he immediately recovered as if nothing had happened.
"The girl would dye her hair and pretend she was the one with Luke since they cannot see the girl's face in the video. She would do a press conference and confirm it and that would be it," Grandfather Clement said dismissively.
It took me a minute to process what Grandfather Clement was planning. But as I soon as I did understand it, I knew that would never work. At least not this time. But was I going to say that out loud? No.
So I just let out a quiet sigh and kept my mouth shut. However, the man briefly glanced in my direction and looked . . . sad? Angry? Disappointed? All of the above? I didn't understand. It was a weird expression.
"It's as if she had already done this before," the man said dryly.
He was right. I had done this before. The last time there was a rumor about Luke vacationing with a brunette girl in Hawaii. I had to fly over there, dye my black hair brown, post pictures of us together, and even look offended while addressing the issue.
It was a horrible experience. And it only worked because it was just a rumor and in the photo, you could barely see the brunette except for a little bit of her hair. I never knew how Luke got so lucky every single time. But this time I knew it wouldn't work because this time it was not only a video and Tiffany was a redhead but also because —
"She would never pass as Tiffany. Have you seen her size? Tiffany is a size zero, she is a model, for god's sake," Luke burst out.
"You are dating Tiffany Adler? The Tiffany Adler? And you didn't tell me?" Cecily, Luke's younger sister who was quiet until now, pouted at her brother. Like she was sad she missed out on her brother's dating life update as if she wasn't talking about her brother's affair partner in front of his wife.
I took a deep breath, prayed for some patience, and looked away. There was no point in getting mad at them—no point at all.
"This is your company's future? My goodness, I can see why you need my help," The man smirked just a bit and glanced at Luke and Cecily. "Have you taught them anything at all? Or are they just for show?"
The mockery was so real that I had to press my lips together to stop myself from smiling. The smiles dropped from Luke and Cecily's faces and Grandfather Clement started shaking – literally shaking in rage.
"How dare you? How dare you say such things you disappointing, selfish, imbecile, bastard, I will —"
"You will WHAT?" The man finally snapped glaring straight at Grandfather Clement. "You will what, Father?"
[To be continued]