The Surrogate And The Billonaire's Secret

The Blackmail

Conrad's POV

For a long moment, the room felt contracted to the size of my lungs and phone screen. I could barely breathe, I began to hyperventilate rapidly as I held my large desk for support.

The words in the text jerked at some rope in my chest until my breathe came too fast and the world lost it's edges.

*Six years ago. Three dead, one survivor*

The words rang in my head like a song on repeat.

Images from that night began to flash before my eyes uninvited. They were soo sharp that they felt like blows. The night from six years ago replayed itself in clipped and horrible pieces. The screech of tires, the blast of headlights and the way the world went black and then quite.

My hands curled up until the phone dig into my palm. I could taste metal mixed with cold sweat as the hollow in my throat opened up.

My chest tightened further as I held unto it because my life literally depended on it.

Jason's face flashed before me as I began to slowly fall to the floor. Apparently my grip on the desk could no longer hold me. Jason in the car that night laughing like the world owed him , his hands trembling with blood on his sleeves , but then....that was only a moment.

Jason was chaos but weak even back then. He wasn't calculating enough to dig up the ghost that was six years buried and then point them at me. He wasn't smart enough to pull that. Yes he might have threatened me today but I'm certain that he doesn't have the discipline and capacity to orchestrate this.

I was wrong to even consider him...but then who could be behind this? A thousand and one questions ran through my mind as I struggled with my breathing.

I was on the floor at this point and my chest kept on tightening, I had to press my hand against it for support. The walls of my home office watched closely I leaned in, as in waiting to see if I would break. I was at the verge of passing out when I heard my name.

" Conrad?" Vera's voice cut through the fog.

Oh thank God. I'm not going to die yet..., at least not today.

Vera was in the doorway and before I knew it, she rushed to my side. " Oh my Conrad are you okay?" Fear and panic was evident in her voice as she spoke.

She reached for my wrist as her entire being became alarmed.

" You're shaking......oh good lord" she blurted out loud and then screamed "David!"

I felt her leave my side but within two minutes, she returned with David who rushed to my side with concern written all over him.

" Sit. Now" David ordered. The command was soft but was definitely not a request. I felt him lift me up to a sitting position on the floor and before I could argue, he placed two tablets of medication into my mouth as Vera hand him a cup of water to flush it down.

I immediately began to cough out loud continuously, a sign that I was regaining consciousness.

" Oh thank God!" Vera let out a big sigh of relief as she spoke. " I'm soo glad I came to check on you"

" Thank God you did" David said to her

" We should take him to the hospital, don't you think? This looked very bad...." She faced David

" No " I snapped, even sharper than I had intended which surprised us all.

Vera's mouth tightened at that. She has seen the worst of in it the past six years, infact that was why she became my personal chef instead of working directly for my father and his wife. She had made my meals for years as she memorized nuances of my medication schedule because she had to. She and David are the only ones who knows my body better than any casual employees.

She is the closest that I have to a mother. But what she doesn't know is what really happened that night, the fact that I was the one behind the wheels, the one that caused the accident and I'd like for it to remain that way.

After a moment, the pills began to calm me down as I began to breathe properly. My pulse dropped from a frantic drum to a heavy manageable thud. My hands stopped clenching as the room returned to it's normal size.

David squatted opposite me with an unreadable expression on his face, but one thing was certain, the fact that I wasn't getting out of this without giving him an explanation. Besides, I knew I couldn't handle the situation on my own, it was bigger than me, I mean see what I experienced just now.

I signaled to him to excuse Vera because there was absolutely no way I'd say anything with her in the room.

David cleared his throat and then faced her. " Hey Vera, could you please go prepare something for Conrad, he obviously skipped breakfast that's why he didn't have any strength to hold on for long" he said to her.

" Ofcourse....I will" she replied and then added. " Please watch him closely " she added before walking out of the home office.

As soon as she excused us, David asked carefully " What happened?"

I shrugged my shoulders. Even though I had mentally counted reasons to avoid telling him, I knew I had to do. I wanted to keep the past behind me where I had buried it with care, David has already given too much for my family, he has already sacrificed a lot for the kings family. He has moved ghosts and cleaned up withness and that is exactly what he did for me 6 years ago.

He was one of the reasons why the case got closed up and I went unpunished. He and my father had pulled alot of strings to make this happen and now, involving him again seemed very selfish to me.

" Don't even think of hiding anything from me Conrad...I'm serious" The expression on his face read ' don't mess with me '

I then handed him my phone. He remained silent as he read through the text, perhaps five times. I watched as colour drained from his face as he processed the information.

" This came in today?" He asked

" A few minutes ago" My voice was dry

I watched as David ran a hand through his hair, the micro movement of a man who has learned, painfully that somethings could not be unseen. " We scrubbed everything clean six years ago " he said slowly. " I personally " he paused for a few seconds and then continued. "I personally took care of the people who saw what they weren't supposed to see that night."

I could see the weight of the memory in the slight hitch of his jaw.

"You did what had to be done David" I said to him and saying it out loud sounded like trying to exile the phantom once again.

Just then, David looked at me with a fresh and fierce expression on his face. " Whoever is behind this wants money." He stated out firmly. " They basically want money. Blackmailers are lazy predators, they smell a target and then circle! And now that you're in charge of the company, it makes you very ripe "

As his words registered into my brain, it was all beginning to make sense.

" But why now?" I asked

David folded his arms as his spoke. " Because you are visible now , you are the one at the top and money definitely talks .... it's either that or, someone is angry and wants you to pay for the past " He voice was firm as he said the last sentence.

" I don't want them to make me pay, I want this buried and gone!" I blurted out with a hint of fear in me.

This was my only weakness. The incident was the only weakness that I had and it killed me that someone out there is ready to use it against me. I wasn't even bothered about the fact that I was an illegitimate Son, I didn't care....all I cared about was this secret to be long gone and forgotten.

" You're not suspecting Jason are you?" David asked as he interrupted my intrusive thoughts. "He was present at the scene but he wouldn't dare do such a thing would he?"

"I don't think Jason has the balls to pull this off, he is too busy getting high to orchestrate a blackmail, trust me " I replied

" But he was the only one with you that night " David said

" It can't be Jason... trust me " I said

" You're right..... Jason isn't capable of something like that " he replied and then asked. " Do you want me to inform your father about this?"

" No!" I replied rather to quickly. " I don't want to drag him into my mess anymore, besides I'm not some kid who can't fight his own battles "

" Don't worry Conrad " David placed his hand on my shoulder as he spoke. " We will find them, I will trace the message, I will run the number, the metadata, everything and anything that needs to be done . We will find the origin point and make whoever sent it regret their entire existence.!" David's words were Sharp and threatening, just the way I wanted it.

He was my most trusted man afterall.

Just then, we heard footsteps until Vera poked her head in. " I brought tea..... it's to help relax your nerves"

" No Vera, I'm good " I said to her.

" Uhmm Vera , just keep it, he'd be out in a moment and I'd make sure he takes it " David said to her

" Okay " she replied before leaving

" You know she's just trying to help...you don't need to be hard on her" he faced me as he spoke

" I know...I overreacted....I'm just frustrated " I rose to my feet as I spoke and David followed suite.

I wanted to say something braver , something that would make me feel stronger but the reality of things was raw and stupid and for the first time in a long time, I felt very exposed.

" What if they don't want cash?" I voiced out my thoughts? " What if they demand something else? What if what they want is justice?" I asked all at once

" Then we hit harder. ...we find the lick and cut all of those behind it off,......I need you to trust me Conrad " David said to me.

David was right. I am Conrad King. A man who is well respected and feared greatly in the entire United States. I am not going to let a threat bring me down.... never. I won't back down without a fight.

And right now, I am determined to do whatever it takes to get rid of whoever is behind this.