LITTLE SECRET
When Frank and Liane went home, Liane was so quiet that she could not explain her feeling about Ingrid's situation and Frank's friend. She was so lost in her thoughts that her husband noticed her strange mood.
"Honey, what are you thinking?" Frank stared at her while they were preparing to go to bed.
"Honey, I have to ask you something," She straightened up and stared back at him, yet hesitation was evident in her voice.
"Hmm… what is it?"
"It's like this, there's a woman who only wants to go through motherhood but not in the usual way.. uhm.. how should I explain this.." Liane walked back and forth in front of her husband.
"Woah easy honey. Why are you so tensed?"
"It's Ingrid. Our godson is now curious about his father."
"And?"
"And.. Ingrid is anxious because.." Liane went to her husband's side before she continued talking.
"Ingrid might be mad at me. It's our dark secret. Please promise me you won't judge us and won't tell a single soul."
"O-okay? I promise. But please, calm down, honey. I won't judge you both."
"Clark is starting to look for his father. As much as possible, Ingrid avoided that topic. She doesn't know who the father is… and she feared that someday, someone would take her son away." Liane's nervousness is killing her. She doesn't know how her husband will react.
"Okay...wait, what?? I thought she got pregnant by her boyfriend?"
"Well, w-we made it up. It's our little secret that should be hidden until our grave.." Liane told her husband everything.
No one knew about Ingrid's decision to have a baby alone but not with a husband. It's against her family's tradition. Her family doesn't know about it, and they will despise her.
"When I saw your friend today, I was shocked... because of his features... Have you noticed it?"
Frank paused for a while and eventually nodded in agreement. They fell silent, and both were in deep thinking.
"How about we do something for them..?" Frank smirked.
"Hmm.. better idea."
....
Meanwhile, Clint Briggs was having his tea in his mansion when someone announced that he had a visitor.
His eyes immediately watered upon seeing his son walking towards him, void of emotion. He has been contemplating how he will approach his son. But, here he is, his flesh and blood. His very own, a spitting image of his.
Cliff stopped just two meters away from him. They were staring at each other. Assessing. The emotions he felt at that moment were so immense that he sobbed bitterly for the first time in his life.
He doesn't know what to feel. Frustration? Anger? Bitterness? Wrath? Longing? Joy? He has been deprived of his son's childhood.
"Cliff, my son.." he choked as he called his name.
"F-father…" Cliff never feels so overwhelmed as this time. Never in his wildest dream would there be a time when he could meet his dad after all these years.
He wondered how it felt to be held in his father's arms. To talk with him about boy's stuff. To share with him his joy and sorrow, his successes and failures. Now, it's within his reach, but his knees are shaking, and he can't continue to walk.
He recalled how much his mother still loved his father until now. In fact, she could not fully imagine her son having hostility against his father regardless of her constant reminder about their situation.
While looking at him, he felt something strange. His heart beats faster, and goosebumps are all over his body. There are so many thoughts and questions that he wants to ask. He desired to hug him but was hesitant because he felt hate simultaneously for leaving him and not giving him time to find him. All these years, he has longed to have a father. His emotion is constricted.
But it was his father who went to him.
"Come here, son…" and his father hugged him tightly as if his life depended on it. "I am so glad you accepted my invitation despite your busyness." Cliff is still silent and does not utter anything but allows himself to be lost in his father's father's embrace.
Within seconds, he felt droplets of tears come rushing from his eyes and could no longer stop them.
"Son, I know, I am not worthy to be called your father, but give me a chance to prove my worth to be your father. If you can find any place in your life to squeeze me in, no matter how small it is, it will be an honor for me. Forgive me for everything, for not finding you sooner and for leaving your mother, for the lost years… I was a great fool. My life was so empty when your mother walked away from my life." He looked far away, suppressing his tears.
"Please forgive me." He tightened his jaw and looked at his father, torn between forgiving him or just walking out, and neither looked back nor went back to his father.
"We'll just see where our meeting will take us." His father smiled.
"You are exactly like me." Cliff just narrowed his eyes.
"We'll see." Then he pursed his lips.
"Where's your mother now? I want to see her again. Is it possible?"
Cliff knew that his mother still longed to see his father all these years, but she didn't attempt to do so because of pride.
"You go and find her." he said coldly.
"Hmm, will you help me courting your mother again?" Cliff snorted.
"You're old enough to do that, you don't need my help." Then his father grinned.
"That's my boy. And because of that, I'll be busy courting your mother again; I need you to manage our company." He looked at his son with intense determination. He knew what his father was up to.
"Only depends if your company meets my standard." His father laughed aloud.
"You are exactly like me." His laugh echoed in the room. While the servants were all wide-eyed as they stared at the man their master had been talking to.