RETURN OF THE FORGOTTEN BRIDE

Chapter Two

Richard's POV:

“Tell me it's not true, Cordelia, tell me it's not!”

“I'm afraid, it is, Miss Natalie. Please, calm down..”

“Calm down? My father is feared dead, in a plane crash, and you tell me to calm down?”

Looking on, helplessly, as Natalie rattled the poor maid, I couldn't help but be grateful that I'd come along.

The minute she'd gotten the information from Cordelia, the maid, she'd sped out of bed and had begun finding her clothes with a look in her eyes that was a worrying blend of fear and denial. Seeing how shaken she was and afraid that she'd run herself into a truck if I were to let her go on her own, I offered to drive her.

All along the way, she had been pensive, demanding that I ‘drive faster’ even though I had been piloting the limited edition Mercedes just under 120km/h, and when we finally arrived at her father's mansion, she'd leapt out of the car before it even came to a proper stop and fled into the house.

The situation was thus:

Harold Johnson, Natalie's father, had been scheduled to return home from Sicily that morning. But reports reaching home, now, were that his flight had crashed due to an unfortunate takeoff accident. Now the question was whether he'd been on the flight, or not. It was all going to depend on the list of victims which the airport was bound to release, shortly. All three of us, I, Natalie and Cordelia, were standing in the luxurious living room, which was chilled by the air conditioning unit, with a nice scent hanging in the air, despite the ominous feeling in all our minds.

“Natalie, please, she's right. All you can do is calm down. There's no certainty that your dad was on the flight, so we just have to wait for confirmation,” I said, trying “And, then, what happens when we do get confirmation? Then, I can grieve? Then I can weep because I'd have officially lost my father?” Natalie said, her pretty face breaking down into a gloomy expression as she burst into tears..

Immediately, I grabbed her. Holding her close to myself, I let her weep on my chest. I thought, to myself, of how much of a shame it would be if Harold Johnson was to die just when I was beginning to make plans to marry his daughter. I was just thinking about this when the door swung wide open and a tall, pale skin woman walked in, trailed by a younger female who looked like an exact replica of her; her daughter, most likely. But, who were they?

“Greetings, everyone,” the woman declared, taking in the living room with an unreadable look on her less than pretty face, “my name is Natalya Johnson, and I was a secret wife of the late Harold Johnson. I..”

Natalie, still caught in her feelings, didn't even let her finish before going off on her:

“First of all, lady, my dad is NOT dead! I refuse to believe that, so do not mention it again! Secondly, to the best of my knowledge, my father had no secret wife so you better tell us who the hell you are!”

The woman, Natalya, seemed taken aback by Natalie's outburst, but she soon recollected herself and spoke again, her voice as icy and cynical as ever:

“I understand that you find your father's death hard to believe but it is the truth, and will soon be confirmed. Furthermore, if all you just stated is the best of your knowledge, then I am afraid that your knowledge is very limited, child, so allow me to educate you. You see, your father was a man who, because of his money, could scarcely keep his d**k in his pants. And on one of such occasions, he failed to pull it out before he planted a seed.. In me.. Which I did not abort. Behind your late mother's back and obviously behind yours, I forced him to marry me, legally, and this lady behind me..?”

Natalya soon gestured for the smirking, predator looking female behind her to step forward, which she did.

“.. Is my and your father's daughter and automatically, your stepsister..”

I, Natalie and Cordelia were all stunned. What? Natalya, seeing the look of shock on our faces, let out a sinister laugh before proceeding:

“Of course, Harold didn't tell you.. That old snake had as many secrets as he had house keys. Well, anyway, he's gone now, so..”

“He's not gone! Stop saying that, lady!” Natalie screamed. But she was soon silenced. Not by Natalya, however, but by some news on the TV:

“.. We interrupt this program to announce some regrettable news: a passenger plane, on which over 50 people were aboard, crashed in the early hours of this morning, and there was no survivor. Most notable of those who were aboard the plane were billionaire businessman Harold Johnson…”

At this point, Natalie's legs lost power and could no longer carry her body. With her eyes, tear filled, glued to the TV, she began slumping to the floor and I had to move swiftly to catch her. Then, she began to cry. This time, her tears were not those of fear or uncertainty, but of a deep, inexpressible pain: her father was gone. Whatever would she do? And to worsen matters, when I looked up, I could see Natalya smiling. How could she be relishing the breakdown of a young woman who had just lost her father?

Well, I soon got to find out, because Natalya spoke shortly afterwards:

“This is all very tragic and theater worthy, and I hate to say ‘told you so’, but I did tell you so. However, I did not come here to mourn with the poor girl or anybody else. I came here to let you know that, according to a contract which Old Harold Johnson signed before his death from now on, the content of his bank accounts, his companies, his cars, his jewelry and all his houses, including this house in which we are all standing.. It all belongs to me..”

This information rocked Natalie out of her initial shock from the news of her father's death, and even I and Cordelia couldn't help but believe it. What did she just say?

As though she read our minds, she pulled out some paperwork from her handbag and flung it at Natalie. Having knowledge of business and agreements, myself, I immediately grabbed it and began to read it. What I read stunned me; Harold Johnson, Natalie's late father, had signed over the ownership of everything he owned to this woman, Natalya, and since it was only to come into effect after his death, it meant that - effective immediately - she was the new owner of all he'd ever owned.

“It's true, Natalie,” I whispered, “Your dad.. He gave it all to her..”

Natalie shut her eyes and more tears poured out of them. I couldn't imagine how she was feeling because I didn't know which would hurt her more: Learning that her father was dead or learning that he'd left her nothing, in the eventuality of his death, not even a dollar!

“I know you're sad and you feel hard done by, but an agreement is an agreement. However.. I do have a proposition for you. Especially you.”

She said ‘you' with her eyes fixated on me. There I was thinking, what could she possibly want with me? Well, she soon revealed it.

“I understand that the woman, Natalie, is your girlfriend and that you're engaged to be married. And although I know you're rich, I'm also aware that you'd like for her to retain at least some of her father's wealth. So here's my offer: I will let her have a house, one of the small profit companies and a few million dollars.. If you'd marry me instead.”

The ears of all who heard it tingled and Cordelia, Natalie and I echoed a collective:

“WHAT?”