Chapter 10
Thomas gave a faint smile and nodded in approval, "Yes. Everything is all yours. Just make sure you spend it wisely," he replied.
At that moment, James was short of words. He didn't know what to say or even when to start from. His face beamed with readable joy, "Thanks Dad, I will." He finally said, nodding.
Thomas waved his hand casually, "Now, tell me, how have you been doing? I'm sorry for abandoning you for the years." His voice was laced with deep remorse and emotions.
James took a deep breath before he responded, "Don't want to talk about my past years, Dad. It has been suffering with hard labor yet no good report." A tear almost dropped from his eye.
Thomas was emotionally moved by his words. He felt a hint of embarrassment and shame washed over him. His son had been suffering yet he had been living in luxury.
He gently reached out to his hand and took it into his, "I'm sorry, son. I have to let you go through all of that for…"
"You don't need to apologize for anything, Dad," James politely cut him off, "it's bygones now. Let's talk about the present and let the past be." He added even though slightly hurt.
Thomas' gaze fixed on his, unsure of what to say. He swallowed hard, still feeling guilty.
Seeing the emotional look on his face, James decided to joke to ease the thickened emotional atmosphere, "Besides, I now own a plat…what's that name again..?" He squeaked the back of his head, trying to recall the name of the card his Dad had given to him.
"Platinum card." Thomas helped with a smile.
"Yeah, platinum card." James nodded, "I now have it with over $900,000 so I'm cool. It's enough to give me a better life. Haha."
James said that thinking of taking his father, Thomas, from his emotional state. Instead, Thomas held his hand more emotionally, remembering the memories of how they had both spent time together when James was still a child.
Now, he's a grown man. James felt the emotional touch of his father, feeling warmth.
Thomas opened his mouth to talk after some moment of silence in the room. "I—" his low stuttering voice came out but before he was able to say the next word, James's phone vibrated and began to ring, disrupting the moment.
Thomas suddenly shifted on his chair and James gently retracted his hand from his father's warm and emotional grip, reaching out to his phone in his pocket.
"Sorry, I had to pick," James respectfully addressed his father before quickly pressing the answer button on the phone.
It was his wife, Olivia, who was calling him.
Thomas quietly watched him as he answered the call.
"Hi, Olivia my darling, it's you. Why are you calling me? Is there any problem?" James asked politely with a faint smile.
It was something of a surprise to him because Olivia, his wife, hardly calls him. It was very rare for her to do that unless there was a problem.
"Be thankful you aren't too close to me or I would have squeezed that nonsense mouth you just used in addressing me as your darling. Nonsense!" Olivia sounded mad from the other end of the line, and her angry voice pierced through the speaker loudly, causing Thomas, who had been watching, to frown.
James and Thomas exchanged expectant glimpses.
"Where are you now?!" Olivia continued, her voice still sounding rude.
James swiftly replied but lying, "Told you I was going for an interview and…"
"And what does your time say now?!" Olivia interrupted and James glanced at his phone screen. It was already forty minutes past one in the afternoon.
"Aren't you supposed to be done with the interview by now?!"
James swallowed hard, nodding even though Olivia wasn't seeing him; he then hesitantly replied, "I'm already on my way home," he lied, gritting his teeth, "in forty minutes, I'll be back." He calmly added.
But Olivia seemed to be furious and she replied, "I give you nothing but twenty minutes to get your lazy ass here or else…." She didn't finish her statement when the call disconnected as a result of a bad network.
James stared at his phone's screen, his expression readable by his father, Thomas. He sighed deeply before putting back his phone alongside the platinum card into his pocket.
"Who was that? And why did she sound rude and disrespectful to you?" Thomas cleared his throat and asked James, his frustration palpable.
James sighed once more and replied, somehow embarrassed, "That was my wife, Olivia." He responded.
Thomas raised an eyebrow at him, "Your wife? And she talks to you in that manner? Doesn't she have manners?"
James didn't answer him. He only let out a frustrated sigh before standing up from his seat.
Without answering his father's questions, he changed the topic, saying, "I have to go now, Dad. She needs my attention and I've to be there. I'll see you some other time. Thank you for everything and have a nice day."
Thomas wanted to talk but before he could even say a word, James had already left the office in a hurry.
Thomas looked in his direction, shaking his head and shifting uncomfortably on his chair. He bit his lip, mumbling to himself, "Wife?" He repeated again, "Is that how she has been talking to my son? With disrespect?"
Meanwhile, James stood in front of a jewelry shop, his expression unreadable. "It will be great if I get her a bracelet. It'll definitely look good on her." He mumbled to himself, considering getting a bracelet for Olivia, his wife.
"No," he shook his head in disapproval, "doing this will raise suspicions and I don't want that." He said, turning around and flagging down a cab, heading home.
Soon, a car stopped at a black gate that mounted protectively at the manor. Then, James stepped out of the car with a renewed mindset.
A butterfly keeps roaming in his stomach, remembering his identity has changed for good. He's no longer the James he used to be. He's now a different person with a different background and identity.
Smiling widely, James reached out his pocket and handed a $50 note to the taxi driver and when the driver was going to balance him up, he said, waving his hand in dismissal, "Keep the change."
"Thank you, sir. May the good Lord bless you."
James only nodded with a smile, cracked the gate open, and headed inside the room.
As he twisted the living room door open and walked inside, he saw the whole seated—Olivia sat next to her mother, Evelyn, with her arms crossed tightly to her chest.
Leonard, his father-in-law, was busy reading through a newspaper. Grandma Aurora was busy teasing and talking with Amelia and Caleb.
Immediately, Olivia heard the sound of the door being twisted open; she shot piercing eyes toward the direction, knowing it was James who had arrived.
"Why are you coming back now?! Didn't I make it clear to arrive here in twenty minutes?!" She fired, approaching James with an angry expression. "And how dare you disconnect my call?"