The Stolen Heart

Chapter 11: Justin’s POV

I glared at my father, refusing to back off. Mom was looking back and forth from me to father anxiously, biting her lips uncertainly.

She however composed herself and wobbled forward and said in a shivery voice, “Why did you have to do this?”

To which, my father merely scoffed.

“Did you know about them dating too?”, he spat venomously at her.

“Oh! For the last time we aren’t dating. That lunch and all the photographs that you had your spy take for you was all for business. You are overreacting.”, I screamed my lungs out at him.

I could see the vein popping in my father’s forehead but I was beyond furious that he would do such a dirty thing as spying on me.

“Oh! Stop lying. Everyone who has eyes can tell that you are completely smitten with her.”, he sneered at me.

I blinked in surprise. Like mom, he too had known. Was it that obvious? I thought I had done a pretty good job masking it all these years.

I let out a sigh and replied, “Yes! I do like her but she has no idea about that. And even if we were dating, I don’t see what the whole problem is?”

My father took a menacing step forward and shouted at me, “You don’t think there is anything wrong with that? You are the future successor of Malcerk &Co. Everyone’s attention is always going to be with you. Do you really think you will be able to have a future with your brothers’ fiancé? “

Everything he said went straight to the gut. I never had a future with her? Because of my position?

“Starting from tomorrow you will be going on blind dates with respectable ladies from reputed families.”, he finished, then puffed off his chest and looked me in the eye, daring me to argue.

“So that’s your real problem? What? She doesn’t have a good enough pedigree for you?”, I shouted at him, my blood boiling.

Mom immediately placed a hand on my shoulder, trying to soothe me down but I was seeing red.

“I am not saying that Merina is not a respectable lady. She is very accomplished and I am proud of her conviction and strong willpower but in the end, she is still the maid’s daughter, Justin. How can you, who will be controlling the whole Malcerk empire fall for a maid’s daughter?”, he said evenly.

Mom let out a gasp. I couldn’t believe his audacity. He himself admitted that Merina was a respectable lady before denouncing her as the maid’s daughter. After all those times he had declared that Merina was like his own daughter, I can’t believe he never really meant any of that in his heart. He had supported her, guided her only to raise a loyal, competent dog, nothing more, nothing less.

“If you really only thought of her as just a maid’s daughter, why did you agree for her marriage with Richard? Why is it okay for Richard to be with her but not me?”, I snarled at him.

“Because Richard is not the heir to the empire, YOU ARE! Besides we tried our best to make sure all of Richard’s wishes came true since he had very little time left.”, He shouted back at me.

“So, no one was concerned for her future. No one bothered to tell her that the man she was supposed to marry would pass away after two- three years. It entered none of your thoughts, that she had a right to know?”, I shouted till my throat turned sore. Mom looked ashamed of herself but I couldn’t even see a pinch of remorse or guilt on my father’s face.

“Get it straight, son. You will never have a future with her. She is carrying your brother’s baby! The press would have a field day if this were to come out. If not for your sake, stay away from her for her sake. The press has never been kind to her from the very beginning.”, he said smugly and smirked at me.

My father, ever the businessman, the negotiator, who always, magically manages to find people’s weak spot and make them do whatever he wants.

However, I had a foreboding regarding who this lady from the reputed family he wants to set me up with.

“Who is this lady that you have deemed to be worthy of being the wife of the heir to the Malcerk empire?”, I asked him sarcastically.

“Joanna Johnson”, he spat back at me and I let out a groan.

 I can’t believe the nerves of this woman. She just won’t back off. This self- obsessed, snobbish psychopath is the one my beloved father picked for me over a woman like Merina. I burst into a maniacal laughter. Mom looked scared at my sudden laughter while father looked taken aback.

“I am not going to marry Joanna Johnson; not even if she was the last woman left on earth. Yes! I know marrying her would offer a rather lucrative business deal for the Malcerk’s, but at the end of the day, it’s my bloody life, So I get to choose who I want to marry and I can’t think of another woman other than Merina who I want to spend my life with.”, I retorted at him, then walked out of the mansion swiftly before he could even attempt to take a step forward.

I got my Porsche out of the garage and was soon riding at 90 miles an hour, cursing at myself. In the midst of all the drama, I had forgot that I had treated Merina like trash. From her viewpoint, she wouldn't understand how intense the situation was and I was a d**k to her. Plus, now that she was starting to become heavily pregnant, her hormones would be blowing up right now. I opened the window slightly and groaned out loud, ruffling my left hand through my hair, while keeping the other hand firmly fixed on the steering wheel.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

I had gone straight to Nick’s apartment. He had been more than understanding and took out strong whisky, which he made extra strong for me. I had already rambled on enough for him to know what had exactly happened.

“I can’t live without her. I can’t even imagine a future with another woman. It won’t be fair for me or for the woman. All my life I had been pining for Merina. She envies me because she thinks I can get anything I want but little does she know that all I ever wanted was to be with her, but I can never do that. Sure, I can close mergers and steamroll even the power players but I can never really get what I want.”, I said in between taking sips to a very concerned Nick, who refused to move even an inch away.

 He was keeping an eye on me as if he was afraid that I would do something stupid. I snickered a laugh. I don’t get drunk easily. I was still very much sober, much to my dismay.

“Do you think the same as my father?”, I asked him anxiously.

Nick looked uncomfortable at the way this conversation was progressing.

He looked at me dubiously, then shook his head and replied, “None of this will matter. I am sure that the media is going to roast you both if you do start dating, but it is never going to bother you nor my sister. You have got thick skin and so does my sister. You both are made of sterner stuff. After all, you are a person who don’t care what other people think. But the most important thing to ponder over is her feelings. If she doesn’t feel the same way, then all this is just a moot point.”

I sighed and raked my hands through my hair as I thought about what he had said. It made complete sense. It was useless to worry about how the people would react or about fighting with my father if she doesn’t even have any feelings for me. I am pretty sure that she isn’t even fond of me. Our current relationship can be best described as friendly acquaintances. I groaned out loud and slumped my head to the table.

“Do you think she will like me?”, I asked Nick.

He was eyeing me keenly. He let out a sigh as he whispered under his breath, so quietly that it was almost inaudible, “ She would have, if she had met you first.”

“But the more important problem is that even if she has feelings for you, she will never act on it because of…”, Nick stopped mid-sentence and bit his tongue, unsure of how to proceed.

But I already knew what he had meant to say…..She would never date another man, much less me because her guilt will eventually override her feelings….because of Richard….

I am quite pitiful aren’t I?, despite being one of the most successful people of this generation.

Just then the doorbell rang and we both sprang up, startled, knocking the whisky bottle down. I shot an apologetic glance at Nick as I bent to pick up the glass pieces of the bottle while he went to check who it was that had showed up so late.

Nick rushed back into the dining room panicked and shrieked, “It’s my sister”

His shriek scared the s**t out of me and I ended up cutting my own damn hand on the glass pieces. I swore out loud as I felt the blood dripping into the carpet.

“She is super pissed at me right now, and it is not really a situation that I can explain to her so I am going to hide in your room.”, I said deadpan and rushed inside his room without even waiting for his answer.

My ear was firmly pressed onto the bedroom door. Yes! The Managing Director was snooping in on his crush’s conversation with her brother. There was no problem hearing her, because she was yelling rather loudly calling me an asshole and lots of other varieties of unflattering names.