The Unexpected Heir

Chapter One: Unworthy Lesley fixed her gaze at her mother—Margaret Piper. Margaret had summoned her to the terrace of their sprawling countryside mansion. Margaret contenance revealed extreme displeasure as she spoke animatedly to her daughter. She flashed Lesley a stern gaze to emphasize the seriousness of her words. Lesley's demeanor remained pensive as she shifted from one foot to another while listening to Margaret. Cruz had cut a glimpse of his wife and mother-in-law on the terrace as he drove into the large compound housing the Victorian-styled mansion. From the posture of the two women, he somehow knew he was at the center of their conversation. He sighed as he parked the land cruiser at the base of the driveway. The moment Margaret sighted him alighting the vehicle, she went ballistic. Her voice tuned several pitches higher to make sure he heard her words clearly. "You deserve better than that loser." She shouted out, pointing at Cruz while addressing her daughter. Cruz pretended he had not heard her. He opened the car boot and leisurely picked out the groceries he had bought. "Hey love! Hi mother!" He called out to them, beaming a lovely smile that made his handsome look more radiant. "Oh, the poor lost puppy is having dementia... I'm not you mother! Hell no! I couldn't have birthed a dim witted roach like you." Margaret blotted out. Margaret was disgusted at the mere sight of him. Cruz ignored her and continued. "I bought your favorite soda by the way, mom" he added, infuriating Margaret the more. She sucked her teeth and grimaced at him. Lesley quickly intervened to quell the awkwardness. "I'll get the housekeeper to come get those groceries" she said, putting her foot forward to exit the terrace but Margaret stopped her. "What other housekeeper is needed, Lesley?" She asked sarcastically. "This one right here is doing just fine, at least he gets to work for the free meals he gets." Cruz sighed and shook his head. "Go on, get it moving, you muppet... Don't just stand there like a moron." Margaret berated Cruz. For a moment Cruz stared at Lesley who gave him a blank look. He wished she could stand up for him in these moments, but so much for wishful thinking. Lesley looked down at her handsome and well chiseled husband from the terrace with an expression that combined desire and spite. All that good looks for nothing, she ruminated to herself. She wished he could prove her mother wrong, stand up for himself and actually make something out of his life than just freeloading off her family. The last thing she wanted was a husband who mirrored her good-for-nothing father. Margaret had left her father when she was only seven and had remarried Bill Piper. So as much as her heart went out for Cruz, she also wanted more for herself. She was now the new head of operations at Bill Logistics—the logistics company owned by Bill Piper. Bill Logistics was now the biggest and most popular logistics company in Cadbury county. With her rising profile, she was beginning to agree with her mother that she deserved a husband with class and a worthy reputation not a loafer like Cruz. So instead of defending Cruz whenever Margaret berated him, she was instead starting to resent him. She appreciated that he helped a lot around the house. He managed the home well enough for her to prioritize her focus at work, but she actually wanted more from him. She wanted him to be successful at something more meaningful like he had the potential of doing before he quitted his budding career. The press she just received from her mother was a prompting to divorce Cruz. However, she wasn't too intent on complying. She still felt something for the man. She knew he had given up his dream of becoming a famed journalist for his safety. But the world had not stopped moving since then. His investigative story written anonymously with an alias some years ago had toppled a notorious syndicate organization. The organization had used what was then the biggest logistic company—Link Express, as a front for their human trafficking and drug business. The explosive story and the aftermath had rocked Cadbury County. It gave Cruz the profile of one of the biggest rising investigative journalist in the city, even though they only knew him by his alias—Ruzane. The name he coined from the combination of his names; Cruz Lane. Only Lesley knew he was the one behind the alias. As his girlfriend then, he had made her swear not to reveal that secret to anyone for both their safety. His heroics in successfully dismantling the unscrupulous criminal organization had charmed her to agreeing to marry him. However, after his story had uncovered the heinous crime, a lot of powerful people in the underworld had put a bounty on him. The reward for whomever would reveal the person behind the alias was a hefty one million dollars. His anonymous status would not have lasted more than few more months if he had not decided to quit to deter their headhunt. After that incident, he had stayed out of public radar and instead channeled himself to support her own career. She was only an intern then, just fresh out of grad school. But then something big happened before her marriage to Cruz that changed the fortunes of the Pipers. The crumbling of Link Express had created a huge gap in the Logistics demands at Cadbury county. But shortly after the incident, an angel investor made a substantial investment in Bill Logistics—a logistics company that before then could only offer parcel delivery services. Following the investment, Bill Logistics suddenly had the capacity to handle all kind of logistics services. And in less than a year, they had grown massively and had even diversified into import and export, setting up offices in other parts of the country. Bill Piper remained the CEO of the revamped company, but on a custodian capacity. Apart from Bill, everyone else thought he actually owned the business. The investor wanted utmost anonymity, and not even Bill knew who he was. Lesley had to leave her intern position in her previous engagement to join the family business. A role was quickly carved up for her and she had thrived in it, thanks to Cruz being a stay-at-home husband. Three years had passed by and she was now the COO. Maybe if her mother knew Cruz was Ruzane behind the Link Express scandal that paved way for Bill Logistics, she would have been more sympathetic with his present situation, but unfortunately, she didn't. Lesley rounded her thoughts, disengaged her gaze from Cruz, sighed and walked away from the terrace. Cruz had grabbed some packs of groceries with both hands and tucked the remainder under his right arm to carry them inside the mansion in one attempt. Margaret still observing him, caught the pitiful sight from the terrace and cursed him under her breath. "Complete bozo!" She mused. Cruz moved like a robot with the groceries stuffed about him. Some fruits were about to spill from the pack under his arm, when Maria the housekeeper approached and prevented the toppling just in time.