Love's Rebirth

Chapter 10

Delia's POV

Mom dabbed at her mouth with the cloth napkin that was on the table, removing the remnants of the dessert we just shared. I barely had any because sugar sent the nausea into overdrive. The greasy breakfast had helped diminish the hangover a little, but I still wasn't feeling 100% better. The food sat tentatively in my stomach, bracing for any trigger that might lead to its immediate evacuation. The conversation had been casual and fun, with most of it being a very vague retelling of the previous evening's activities, as I was still struggling to remember them. Mom laughed when I told her about the guys who tried to hit on us, and she made me promise to take her with us on our next outing. I shook my head while chuckling, imagining my mother at the club.

We signaled for our server to bring the bill. Just as he was about to hand it to my mother, I felt a light tap on my left shoulder. I turned and rolled my eyes once I saw who had stolen my attention. Lydia was your typical, high-society socialite, blonde, slim, vapid, and conniving. She manipulated everyone in her circle and was as loyal as a snake. She turned on people with ease once they'd served their purpose and never apologized. Whatever brought her to my table was definitely going to irritate me. I forced a smile and used every ounce of self-control to keep the irritation out of my voice. "Lydia, what a surprise." I said, sounding bored. She raised an eyebrow before responding in her high-pitched, nasally voice, "I just had to come say hi. We haven't seen each other in so long. It would've been rude. Especially because I heard such disturbing news. I just had to make sure you were OK." The hairs on my arms stood on end, and I felt a deep unease settle into my bones. I kept my face neutral, not wanting to give her the reaction she was after. "What news? I've been buried in work, so I might not be as up to date as you are." She flinched at my backhanded insult, implying that she had nothing better to do than gossip, but quickly schooled her features. "Oh, I thought you'd heard. You poor thing. It's such a shame about Leon." I was momentarily taken aback by the mention of Leon's name, but I remained calm and asked her to clarify. "He was seen with another woman a week ago. What a shame. No one in your circle thought to say anything to you." she said, waiting for a reaction. I refused to give her the satisfaction, so I calmly replied, "Well, I hadn't heard anything. I'll have to look into it. I would hate to start a fight with my fiancee over baseless rumors." She seemed annoyed by the calm expression on my face and the bored tone of my voice. "Well, I really hope it's all a lie. You and he are simply perfect for each other. It would be a shame for you two to break up." she said, with a smug smirk forming. I smiled with feigned politeness. "Thank you for bringing it to my attention. If it turns out to be true, I'm sure your endless network of gossip-mongers will inform you. Until then, have a lovely weekend further." She seemed annoyed by my dismissal, but she gave me a small, fake smile and walked away.

I looked at my mother and saw the anger in the depths of her eyes. Her fists were clenched, and her mouth was set in an angry line. She had finished paying the bill while I was held hostage by evil Barbie. I opened my mouth to say something, but she shook her head and got up. I knew better than to ignore my mother's sage wisdom, so I got up, too. We made our way to the car and went to the spa. We spent 4 hours getting massages, mani-pedis, and facials. We even went into the sauna, which really helped with the hangover. However, the spa day did nothing to calm my mother's anger and my growing anxiety. I knew asking Leon directly would yield no answers, so I devised a plan to get the truth before confronting him. His silence made a lot more sense with this new information. The thing that really worried me was the complete absence of anger and heartbreak. All I felt was a deep disappointment. That alone made me wonder if I ever loved Leon at all or if I just appreciated the convenience of him.

We left the spa and made our way home. The ride was quiet. The silence was more oppressive than comfortable. Mom opened and closed her fists repeatedly, while I found myself analyzing Leon's previous disappearances disguised as work trips. The truth was so glaringly obvious, but I didn't want to react without all the facts. I also wasn't sure what I would do once I had all the information because, regardless of the source, I wasn't all that surprised about Leon's infidelity. I replayed our entire relationship on a loop in my head, and I realized I mostly ignored Leon's odd behaviour in favour of building my career and living my life.

Once we got into the house, mom sent the butler to call my dad and brothers into the library. She and I waited for about five minutes. The men filed into the room one after the other. Mom motioned for them to sit in the couches while we sat at the desk. She took a deep breath, regaining her composure, before she spoke. "We have a problem. A big one. Some of you may be tempted to resort to violence, but I implore you to refrain from that course of action. We are going to handle it with stealth, grace, and dignity. Is that clear?" she said. She waited for all the men to agree before she continued. Kyle was the last holdout, but he eventually acquiesced when he realized she wasn't going to elaborate without their agreement. I squeezed her hand to calm her down. She continued, "We have been made aware of some very disturbing news, but we can not act without having all the facts. We need to investigate thoroughly before we do anything about this." Dad looked at her pointedly then said, "Honey, please tell us what you're talking about." Mom glared at him before answering the question they all had in their eyes. "Leon is supposedly cheating on Delia." she said quietly.

It took a minute for the news to land, and when it did, the reactions were as explosive as she feared. Dad and Sam were the most composed, letting out silent curses and balling their fists. Trent was a little less composed and yelled, "F**K!". Kyle was the most upset, walking to the wall and punching it. He attacked the wall with a wild ferocity, as though the wall were somehow an extension of Leon. Mom and I waited for him to finish, but he just kept going. Mom cleared her throat, which did not stop the outburst. She eventually yelled his name, which seemed to penetrate the fog of his fury. Once he'd calmed down enough to listen, mom continued. "We are going to speak to Jonas. As our head of security, he will look into this and gather as much evidence as possible. None of you are to breathe a word of this to anyone. As far as everyone is concerned, we are clueless. We keep this quiet until we have enough irrefutable evidence to deal with this. Understood?" The question at the end was rhetorical because it left no room for disagreement or dissent. Sam turned to me and asked, "D, how are you feeling?" I wasn't sure how to answer at first, but I decided to be honest. "I'm shocked, confused, disappointed, and annoyed. However, I'm also fine. I guess I'm still processing. Once I have definitive proof, maybe my reaction will be similar to Kyle's. Until then, I'm going to continue living in blissful ignorance." I said in a calm, steady voice. My brothers looked at me like I'd grown a second head, but they seemed to snap out of the shock just as quickly.

The family meeting was quickly adjourned, and dad made a call to Jonas. By the time we sat down for dinner, it was as if the conversation had never happened. An untrained observer would have mistaken the laughter at dinner for genuine amusement, but anyone who knew us well would notice the strain on our faces, the clenched fists, and the forced enthusiasm in our conversation. The night ended quickly, and everyone retreated to their own space to process what had been discussed. I went to bed questioning if Leon's infidelity was my fault, but I quickly squashed that thought. His unfaithfulness was an extension of his poor character, I was just the casualty in the blast radius. I slept fitfully that night, knowing things were about to get very ugly.