Chapter 8
983 Words
Camille signed and retrieved the brown envelopes from the delivery man. She was curious as to what it was and decided to pry just a little.
We were family, after all; surely they wouldn't mind just a little. She picked up the first one and opened it.
“Divorce Agreement,” Camille read with a scoff. “The bastard was serious with this whole divorce thing. I will just have to meet Barry to discuss this later. Maybe there is some loophole we can exploit. I don't plan to watch him spend all that lottery money alone.”
She put the document back in the envelope. She picked the second one and headed upstairs. Arthur was nowhere to be found which was a good thing. She quickly buried the document underneath the rug.
Camille wasn’t ready to deal with it yet. She proceeded to open the next document, and her features paled out when she saw it was from the bank.
She didn't want to believe it, so she flipped through page by page, reading as fast as she could. Apparently, Anthony Kings had used the mansion as collateral to get a loan and now, that loan was long overdue.
The bank was coming to take the house.
Her knees went weak as the document dropped from her hands. How could he have done something like that without informing anyone?
Camille couldn't recall any meetings where it was discussed about using the house of collateral. Did Arthur know about this?
The door opened just at that moment and Arthur stepped.
“Camille!” Her back remained turned against him as she tried to figure out if she was dreaming or not. If they lost the King's mansion, then all would be over.
“Camille?” Arthur placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright? For a second or two, I thought you had died from shock,”’ he added, but she didn't flinch.
They were screwed! Utterly screwed at that. Arthur was getting worried about the lack of response, but his eyes caught the documents on the floor, and he picked them up.
His face paled out as he read it.
“Unbelievable!” Arthur exclaimed. “My father used our house as a means to get a loan from the bank and he didn't bother to tell me?”
“They… they are coming in a few days, what are we going to do?” Camille asked. “We can't afford to lose the house. We will be ridiculed by everyone. Friends, enemies, Luthan, everyone. We can't afford that please…”
Arthur stormed out of the anger with anger, heading to his father's study. Anthony was present as expected, taking a smoke break.
“What is this, father?” He threw the documents on the desk. Anthony was surprised by his actions but rather than chide him, he picked the documents to see what the young man was fussing about.
“Oh, this,” Anthony sighed. “I didn't think they would come so soon for it.”
“You used our house as collateral, Father, and you didn't even bother to tell any of us!” Arthur fired.
“Stop yelling, lad. I did what was best for the family. What do you think saved the company from bankruptcy two years ago?” Anthony fired back.
“You are unbelievable!”
“I did what was best for all of us! You stand there yelling when you are the reason the company has gone bankrupt twice!” Anthony hissed.
Arthur wanted to flare up but he couldn't deny the fact that his father was right. It was his fault.
“Maybe, but I won't take the fall for everyone. We all contributed to the fall of that company. We spent the money together! So don't sit there, giving me some self-righteous bullshit like you were extorting money for your own gain as well!” Arthur stated.
“Good. It seems like we have come to an agreement on that, but we can also say that I am the only one making any effort to save that company while you gallivant around town with your wife, looking for people to lick your feet,” Anthony continued.
Arthur glared at his father so hard that the old man would have died a hundred deaths if looks could kill.
“Where are we going to go now?” Arthur asked him. “None of the houses we own can be compared to this one.”
“I know, but we will have to deal with it for now. Once we find investors for Kings Corp, we will pay back the bank and get our house back in roughly six months,” Anthony said confidently.
Arthur didn't share in his enthusiasm. Certainly not when the man had been getting steady rejections for months. He didn't see how that could change anytime soon.
“And if we don't? What's going to happen then? We lose both the house and company, don't we?” Arthur asked. Anthony pushed back the cigar into his mouth, unwilling to further the discussion.
“Whatever you do, be well aware that I am not going down with you, Father. Never!” He spat and Anthony chuckled.
“I don't expect you to. You have never worked for anything in your life. All you do is thrive on the legacies of others like a f*****g parasite!”
Anthony’s did not only catch Arthur off guard, but they made him boil in anger. His fists clenched so hard that his knuckles turned white.
Anthony remained in his seat, watching him fume with eyes daring Arthur to make a move.
After about five minutes of an intense stare-down, Arthur stormed out of the room, leaving an amused Anthony behind.
“f*****g coward!” Anthony muttered as his study door slammed shut.
- Writer
