CHAPTER FOUR

Upon reaching me, she takes her granddaughter from my arms without as much as offering me a greeting and makes her way into her home with me following behind, my hands filled with Akai's belongings. The house is a mediterranean style, painted a warm brown colour. The estate has a long drive way, with a waterfall in the middle surrounded by different types of flowers mainly the sunflower. When you get to the front of the house, there is a rock path and a little bridge that leads to a set of double doors. The inside of the house has a very warm, homely feeling, a contrast to the image the Keys have built around themselves.

However there is a myriad of employees ranging from chefs to gardeners and much much more. Keira has an older brother who works as the COO of HOUSE OF MEDIA, the family owned multi billion dollar franchise. He is a very quiet individual and most times isolates himself from the rest. But you can always be guaranteed to see his face on every magazine for having a different girl on his arm, a womanizer.

The mere sight of Mr Keys sat in the main living room is a clear indication of something being amiss as he always makes himself scarce whenever l am around. As his wife always says 'your presence is revolting'. With a subtle nod in my direction, l was sure that l had died and woken up in a alternate universe. I hesitantly take a seat on one of the couches and wait to be addressed. This makes me feel like thirteen year old me when l was called into the headmasters office for misbehaving.

"Aurora, we have very important business to discuss with you" Mr Keys starts with a hint of discomfort which l can only presume is from talking to me.

"Business?" confused would be an understatement considering the Keys and l have never had a professional relationship

" You may not know this because it hasn't been made public knowledge yet but our company is going down in ruins. We have recently filed for bankruptcy" Mrs Keys spoke directly to me since l had set foot in her home , finally addressing my presence.

" l am so sorry to hear that but l do not know what any of that has to do with me"

"When Keira was born, her grandfather entered into a contract with his best friend; Mathew Stone. The contract stated that their first born grandchildren are to get married when they reach the age of 22. This way they would unite their families and prevent their bloodline from getting tainted. However as you know Keira died when she turned 22 rendering the contract void." Mr Keys informed me.

"Okay...." l honestly do not know what any of this has to do with me considering that they have never liked me, so why would they share their family history with me. l will like to believe that it has everything to do with me being Akai's guardian.

"However, because of our current financial crisis, we had a meeting with Mr Stone and his lawyers and found a loophole in the contract. In fine print it stated that if anything happen that renders the contract void; should either company need financial assistance then the second born grandchildren are to be married but that cannot happen due to the fact that they are both males. This brings us to how you get involved in everything" l simply stared at him with a blank expression not knowing what l should expect but l had a feeling in my gut that told me that l would not like the words that will come out of his mouth next.

" You being the legal guardian of our granddaughter qualifies you as a candidate" the man spoke this as if he was reading the news. My heart stopped for a second as l stared at the two grown adults in front of me

" l don't think l follow"

" You my dear are going to get married to Mr Smith's grandson and save our company" Mrs Keys spoke nonchalantly

" And what makes you think that l will?"

" You may not know this but one of the reasons why we didn't like you is because Keira has always loved you more than a friend and you were either very oblivious or pretended to not see the signs. Why else would she have left Akai in your care? We watched our daughter cry herself to sleep every night suffering from heart break that you caused because you simply did not reciprocate her feelings" l felt as though someone had just slapped me across the face with a damp cloth. None of what l was hearing was making sense. I just cannot believe that my own best friend would have kept something this big from me

" She never once expressed any interest in any girl and anyways why should l believe anything that you are saying, it just doesn't make any sense" l spoke

" Because you were the only girl she was ever interested in. If you don't believe it then that's on you" spoke Mrs Keys

"Either way, that is not a reason enough for me to go along with your outrageous plan" l spoke with finality

" It's funny you think you have a choice. If you don't do this we will take Akai from you and this time we will win because we have learnt from our past mistakes. We have a lot of connections with people in very high places, so you can kiss your parents business goodbye and we will make sure that you never get a job in this town again. We will make your life miserable and don't you for a second think that it's a threat, we only make promises" My parents spent the last five years establishing their restaurant. They used up all their savings to build the restaurant of their dreams and the fact that they stand to lose it because of me puts me in a very difficult position. A lot of the workers are the sole bread winners of their families and their future lies in my hands. And losing my baby has to be the worst of all because l know they can easily get custody of her this time around.

" I always knew you two were very ruthless, l just never expected for you to stoop this low"

" We are glad you are on board, welcome to the family" and with that Mrs Keys got up with a sleeping Akai in her arms and made her way to Akai's room so she could rest better on her bed.