He noticed that she sounded weary and weak but he didn't allude it to anything since the stress of taking care of his father. He felt that his father's death had hit her so bad she was now weary.
"Yes mom." He answered her as gently as he could. He remembered his father telling him he had to always take care of his mother and never allow her to feel the impact of his passing away when it eventually happened.
He hadn't thought much of it. He had only thought his father was saying so because he had refused to drive his mother to the mall a few weeks ago. Now, he understood why.
The whole thing still felt surreal to him. He knew his father had cancer. But he also believed that they had enough money to take good care of his father.
He felt the doctors hadn't done enough. He would speak to Roger. They needed to talk to those doctors. Perhaps, they neglected their duties towards their father.
He was a cool headed boy who was now maturing into a young man. He was still wandering around in his thoughts when he heard his mother begin to speak.
"Darling, you see, Roger isn't the elder brother you think he is. If you need to rely on anyone, Roger isn't the right person for that.
He'd stab you in the back. You should always watch out and watch your back whenever you're with him." His mother told him as he sat beside her on the comfortable stuffed chair in her room.
Chris began to shudder. He thought his ears were hearing the wrong thing. His brother wasn't the way his mother had described him. He was speechless.
He didn't know what to say or who to believe. He could hear his mother's words in his head and when he couldn't bear it again, he rose up to his feet without a word and made for the door.
Healing the door open ready to step out but stopped suddenly in his tracks. At the door with his hands in his pocket was Roger.
He stood there with a stormy expression on his face and a snide, scorny smile on his lips. He turned around immediately and began to walk away.
"Roger, wait. It isn't what you think it is." Chris ran after him as he walked ahead to his room. He heard as Chris called after him but didn't stop.
He got into his room and picked up his wallet.l while his younger brother hounded him. Chris made to grab him at the top of the stairs but he evaded him and bounced down the stairs and headed towards his car.
By the time Chris rushed to the front door, he had gotten into his car and drove off. Chris heaved a huge sigh and sat down wearily on the steps that led to the front door.
He took a few minutes to wonder what had happened to the loving family he had. He knew that his father's death was going to create a deep hole but he didn't expect the hole to swallow them up like this.
Roger drove on the road like a racing maniac. He kept snickering and laughing to himself in derision. What did he expect in the first place?
His mind went back to the events that had happened a few minutes ago and he kept on smiling in a strange way.
He had heard his brother come into the house and knew that he would soon be notified of their fathers death.
He had blocked the news from filtering out because he wanted Chris to hear the news from the family and it from any 9f the online news apps.
He had a long and conflicting battle with himself due to the confrontation that had happened between he and his step mother earlier in the afternoon but at last, he decided to go into her room in order to lend support to his younger brother whom he knew was going to be hit badly with the news of their father's death.
He walked quietly to the door and was about to knock on the door when he heard his step mother's voice.
"You can't rely on Roger. If you need a person to lean on, Roger isn't that person."
It didn't come to him as a shock since he knew she was also trying to get the company for her son.
He was about to turn around when he saw the door open and Chris walk out of the room. He first thought of pretending like he hadn't heard anything but the shocked look on Chris' face threw him off.
He believed that the young man also saw him as a bad elder brother. Without bothering to stop and listen to whatever his brother had to say, he stormed off.
He should have already seen this coming. His father was the one who hated him enough to bypass him and aim to give the company to his younger brother.
He narrowed his eyes into slits and pressed sharply on the brake after pulling off into a side street. Now that his father was no more, he would use the power in his hands to torture the loved ones he left behind.
He steeled his resolve and grasped the steering wheel in a deathlike grip. Just as he had told his step mother earlier at the hospital, he intended on doing so.
He would never give the company to his younger brother. Not even when he's dead.
Picking up his phone, he scrolled through and found the number he was looking for. He placed the phone against his ear and listened as it connected to the other line in a second.
The first ring had barely started when the call was picked up on the other side.
"I need to know where my father kept the secret note. I'm entrusting this into your hands."
He said simply and cut off the call. He would first destroy every means to which Chris could get the company and see how he would get it from his hands.
He took a minute to gather himself and put the car into ignition. He drove out of the side street and headed down the road. He had a particular destination in mind.
The man on the other side of the line smiled in an evil manner. He swirled the red wine in the glass in between his fingers and took a sip before furrowing his brows.
"Will Park, I'm sure you never saw this coming. You see that son you hold dear, I would destroy him and stand together with the son you detest to rule the world."
He said aloud into the room. He raised the glass up and ripped his head backwards as he shot the remainder of the wine down his throat.
Chris got to the restaurant and sat down wearily at a table. He was in no mood to eat or drink anything. He knew he wasn't supposed to be out considering that his father had just bid the world goodbye.
But he couldn't help it. The mansion he had lived in all his live and had the illusion that it was filled with love turned out to be the opposite.
He couldn't stay a minute in the house after Roger had driven off in anger. He had called his friends: Samuel Rohr and Tommy Lake.
They had also heard about the news of his father's death. They were about jumping into their cars and coming to him when they got his call.
He didn't want them coming to the house since Roger had stormed off angrily. He wasn't sure when he was heading back and he didn't want a confrontation to happen while his friends were around.
They all decided to meet at the restaurant in thirty minutes time. He was already seated while his friends were yet to arrive. He raised his head when he heard footsteps approaching him but didn't look up.
"Are you ready to order now, sir?" A sweet voice asked him and he only turned around to shake his head in reply. The waitress quietly withdrew and went towards another table.
Chris looked around and noticed that people were looking at their phones while discussing as they are. Something gnawed at his heart as he also brought out his phone on impulse to check what was happening.
Then he saw it. The news of his father's death. It was an official announcement from the media team of Crates. Now, it was real. It was no longer a mistake. His father had left and there was nothing he could do about it.
If his mother had mistaken sleep for death, there was no way the media team of the company would make
a mistake. After all, they were the major player in the real estate business in the country.