BILLIONAIRE'S SHADOW ( A Tale of Love, Loss & Redemption)

CHAPTER 8

Cyril's POV

I closed from work at exactly 4pm. I was on my way home when my best friend, Ortis, called me with a sense of emergency.

What could it be?

I wondered. He said he wanted me to meet him at his place by 7:30 pm. When I asked him “what's the occasion?”, he simply told me he couldn't say it over the phone.

I have known Ortis for so long. As such, I don't know him to be the type who calls for emergency meetups randomly. As a matter of fact, this was the first time he had done this. Hence, if he now needed me at his premises out of the blue for what he couldn't discuss over the phone, I had to take his word for it. I couldn't afford to let him down because I respected the friendship we had.

Also, I didn't think that he was capable of pulling any silly stunt, just to have me at his residence for no justifiable cause. Just like me, he was a man of discipline and no jokes. He was always about his business.

I wonder what this urgency is about.

I hope it wasn't that he was having issues with Lara and needed my advice.

What better advice can a broken record like me give him?

Or is it about a business deal? An investment plan?

Ughh!! I really hate the suspense. I'm clearly not a fan of surprises.

I was lost deep in my thoughts when I suddenly received a call from my executive assistant, Ivan.

I answered the call and received the greatest shock of my life.

Did I say greatest? Okay no. One of the greatest shocks of my entire existence.

It was terrible news. I felt numb instantly. It had never happened to me before. Even though I envisioned it, I never wanted it to happen. I just considered it to be a negative thought.

“What do you mean the stock market crashed?” I asked Ivan over the phone, unable to catch my breath. “How on earth did that happen?” I continued. “How dare you tell me that it was bound to happen?” I asked him furiously.

“So what stopped you from changing my mind...you i***t?” I ended the call immediately, clenching my fists and throwing hard punches at my seat.

I wasn't mad at Ivan. Of course, I knew he was not to blame. I was angry with myself for being so stubborn. I just didn't want to take the blame. I felt stupid.

I should have listened to them when they warned me about my decision.

But am I ready to take the blame? Certainly not!

Call me a coward, but I hate it when others are right, and I'm wrong.

It makes me feel like they are superior to me.

Well, I am the boss.

I should always be right, no matter what!

I was in denial. It was so unbelievable. I wished Ivan would call me to say it was a prank. It would definitely have come at a cost, but at least I would have been happy, regardless. Even further, to pop champagne to celebrate and probably give everyone who contributed a pay raise.

Unfortunately, it wasn't so. It was real. I lost a great deal of money that could have been invested in buying more capital for my company.

This is the first time that my predictions went wrong.

I can't believe this is happening to me.

How could I lose such a deal?

This is a great loss to my company.

One more bad decision and my business could go bankrupt.

I managed to get myself together and ordered Chris, my chaffeur, to take me back to the office. I needed to set things straight. I had to assure everyone that things were going to be under control, even though I had no idea how.

I instructed Ivan to oragnise a Zoom meeting where we could deliberate on our way forward. We needed to get to the bottom of this. I tried my best to stay calm as much as I could.

With the screeching of the car's tires, we took a reverse route, heading back to my office.

***

I called Ortis as soon as I arrived at my office to convince him to reschedule the meeting to another day. I thought, given my explanations of my current situation, he was going to agree. To my surprise, he insisted I make it. It didn't matter even if it was at 10pm I was going to get there.

I had never seen him this eager about seeing me before. We used to have occasional meetups at pubs and social events before family life and individual priorities set us apart. So meeting him wasn't anything new. Instead, it was his eagerness and supposed sense of urgency.

According to him, he had to catch a flight the next morning for a business appointment. That was why he insisted I meet him today. He claimed he wasn't sure of when he'd get back from his business appointment.

He left me no choice but to concede. I accepted to meet him when I finished sorting everything out.

The meeting with the board members was brief and precise. I believed it ended on a good note. We decided on our next plan of action: to invest more in our company's capital. This was equally a risk, but it was considered a safer option.

I left the office in a jiffy and in no time, we joined the streets, tracing us to Ortis's residence. En route, I called Ortis to inform him I was on my way to his place.

***

I checked the time on my wristwatch, and it was five minutes past nine. Ortis's residence was an hour's drive away from my office, but we had been stuck in traffic for two long hours. It turned out that a car accident had occurred on a bridge which was an intersection between the road on which we were stuck and that which was going to lead us to our destination. The accident involved a log truck and two SUVs.

The log truck had collided with both cars. We had no idea how the accident happened because, from the look of things, it could have been easily avoided.

Now, all thanks to them, we were stuck. Meanwhile, we couldn't take any other route either. There were quite a number of cars behind us, making it extremely difficult for Chris to take a U-turn onto the next possible route.

I had texted Ortis an hour ago, explaining our current situation to him about how we were stuck in traffic and, as such, we were likely to arrive by 10 pm, if not 11pm. His only response was “no problem”.

I admit I found it strange. I would have expected him to find where we had even gotten to, but he didn't. We were still about 45 minutes' drive away from his estate. But I suppose that wasn't relevant to him. All that mattered to him was that we got there. He didn't mind whatever time we got there.

It isn't weird that I find that strange, right?

At this rate, we may have to sleep over at his place tonight.

That is if we're able to get there in the first place.

Wait a minute... What about Iris?

I can't believe I forgot about her.

She probably thinks I'm a terrible father.

I would have asked Tatiana to sleep over and keep her company, but she said she had an emergency. Her dad had been admitted to the hospital, and she needed to take care of him. I had to give her a day off to do that.

My poor baby girl may be wondering where her daddy is.

I feel so terrible for leaving her by herself.

What kind of father am I at all?

I'll buy her her favourite ice-cream flavour to make it up to her.

That should do the trick, no?

Because I honestly can't think of anything else.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Chris cleared his throat, signalling me that we had arrived at Ortis's estate. It seems I was so deep in my thoughts that I had lost track of the time.

I asked for the time, and I was told it was 10:30pm. Chris held the door ajar for me to step out. As I walked towards the entrance of the mansion, the cold breeze that blew past me hinted at a mystery I was yet to unravel.

***

“Surprise!!!!” I heard a loud cheer. “Happy birthday Cyril”. I was confused. There were no lights when I arrived at the garden where I had agreed to meet Ortis.

The lights were now on, and I could see everyone clearly. My mum was holding Iris by her hand, Tatiana was carrying a birthday cake, Ortis and Lara were holding each other's hands, giggling. Everyone (including other family and friends) started singing in chorus.

I became overwhelmed. I panicked, took a few steps backwards, and I rushed out.