Heartless Husband

Chapter 2 : The problem and a strange solution

The morning sun shines through the curtains and falls directly on a beautiful heart-shaped delicate white face. The young girl flicker opens her eyes. She had a good sleep last night and now is in good mood. Sitting up straight, she stretches her arms smiling. 

She turns her head to have a proper look at a clock placed on a bedside table. It shows six in the morning. Getting out of the bed, her long white slender legs take her to the bathroom. 

After few minutes when she gets dressed in all black, she reaches the living room. The place is a small villa in the city of Vancouver. The villa has a modern architectural design which has a simple interior and decoration but is still attractive. 

In the living room, there sits a middle-aged man and who has a deep frown settled on his eyebrows as he goes through his mails. He is distracted by the sweet voice of his only daughter who has been his strength all his life. “Good morning dad”, she greets him cheerfully and hugs her father. 

Seeing his daughter his worries disappear. He smiles widely, “Good morning Kate. Are you leaving for college?” 

“Yes, dad. In an hour, with Joanna.”, she replies. Katrina scans her father’s face for a second before speaking, “What’s with the frown? Are you having trouble in business again?” 

Mr. Wilson just shook his head in denial, but his daughter knows him very well. Even if he has a problem as big as a mountain he won’t tell anyone, except one. 

Mr. Stuart Hamilton. 

But she knows their company is on the edge of getting bankrupt. If no miracle happens they will lose everything. In the past few months, the orders for the product they manufacture has decreased incredibly. It isn’t a good sign. They have to find out a way soon or they have to face a huge loss. 

And Mr. Wilson doesn’t know that his daughter is silently working on this problem. She has built an online profile platform to attract more clients. She is also trying to grab a job to support her family financially. She won’t allow anything bad to happen to her family because she treasures her family very much.

Katrina sighing continues with a serious tone, “I can help you, dad. You know I have learned many new tricks to solve business problems. You know, you can tell me anything. I won’t tell mom.” She chuckles at the end. 

Mr. Wilson shakes his head laughing. He wonders when his daughter became this big to help and support her parents. 

He didn’t want to say anything else so he just spoke, “Mr. Hamilton is coming today. He said he wants to talk something serious”, he told her.

“Serious? It is not him. He always has fun even if he is in great trouble. How come he be serious?”, Katrina chuckles while recollecting the memories of her and Mr. Hamilton having fun almost all day. After some time it came to her knowledge that he was having a very tough time back then. 

“Well! Same with me. I couldn’t believe when he filled me in with information.”, he laughed with her. 

Mr. Wilson opened his mouth to say something, just then his phone rang seeking their attention. The caller id reveals Mr. Hamilton’s name. 

Simultaneously Katrina’s phone rings. Now it’s Joanna. Joanna informs her that she is coming with her father as they both need to leave for college soon. She could hear Mr. Hamilton’s voice as well from the other side. 

This means that Mr. Hamilton will be here soon. 

Hanging up the call she goes to her father, “Dear Dad, I wanted to know Mr. Hamilton’s serious talk but I have to leave for college. Joanna is also coming with him. We’ll go together.” 

“Fine. I’ll surely tell you his serious talk.”, her father replied giving her a warm smile. 

Then she jogged to her room to put her books in her bag and came down. She sat down at the dining table to have the delicious breakfast made by her mother. 

Mrs. Caroline Wilson, Katrina’s mother is a kind and beautiful lady. The fact that Katrina has inherited her gorgeous figure from her mother can’t be ignored, not to talk of her kindness. Mrs. Wilson is also a businesswoman who is intelligent and has good decision-making capabilities. 

She is also a great cook. Today she has prepared delicious bacon and eggs with toast. By the time they finish Mr. Hamilton and Joanna are five minutes distance apart from their villa. 

Katrina quickly gathers her stuff and waits at the main gate for Joanna to show up. The weather is warm and the wind is cool. It makes a nice combination making Katrina enjoy it. She enters the garden. 

She squats down to appreciate the blue rose blooming beside her. But she is the one who is blooming the most. 

Katrina is disturbed by a beep sound. She stands up and looks at a white Maybach entering her villa. Mr. Stuart Hamilton has arrived. As soon as the car stops the driver jogs to open the door for his master. 

A long leg comes out of the car followed by another one and Mr. Hamilton comes out. With a height of over six feet, he stands tall and his handsome face adds more glory to his figure. But he has a slight frown which is unusual as he always smiles. 

The frown is quite justified. Because he has come here to ask for something precious and dearest to Mr. And Mrs. Wilson. 

He can’t stop thinking of the other possibility and he keeps on denying it in his heart.

Seeing Mr. Hamilton and Joanna coming out of the car, Katrina rushes to them. “Good morning, Mr. Hamilton. Hello Joanna.”, she greets them. 

Katrina’s sweet and innocent voice brings Mr. Hamilton into reality. He shakes his head and faces her with a nervous smile. 

“Good morning Kate. How are you?”, he envelopes her in a warm hug.

“She is always perfect dad. I have always seen her smiling since we were kids. Now go inside I want to talk to Katrina.”, Joanna speaks not giving Katrina any chance. She wants to talk something secretive with Katrina, it is the reason why she has come here even though they have an hour before their first lecture starts. 

She always smiles is what makes me nervous more, thinks Mr. Hamilton.

“Okay. Fine. Look I am going.”, he marches inside. But a nervous smile never leaves his lips. 

Joanna takes hold of Katrina’s wrist and drags her into the garden. She takes a seat and pulls her to sit beside her. Instantly she begins to talk. 

Meanwhile, inside the villa, Mr.Wilson gives brotherly hug to welcome Mr. Hamilton. They both settle down on the sofa and Mrs. Wilson brings fruit juice for them. Because she knows Mr. Hamilton is a health-conscious man. 

As Mr. Hamilton sips from his juice he speaks, “Kevin, is your business stable now? Or the loan is still outstanding?” His tone is very serious this time. Both men are friends for a long time, and both of them have supported each other in their time of need. 

Mr. Wilson releases a deep sigh. He says, “Not yet. I am afraid this time. The craze among the buyers for the product is vanishing. The new technologies have replaced us.”

He leans back on his chair and continues, “ Not more people want this plus the huge number of employees leaving our company isn’t allowing us to improve. And we don’t have time to recruit new workers and train them.”

He is in deplorable plight and I have come here to ask for… Mr. Hamilton thinks deeply. He thinks of every possible way to help his friend. 

Mr. Wilson keeps on speaking without realizing that Mr. Hamilton isn’t listening. 

Suddenly an idea crosses Mr. Hamilton’s mind. His eyes shine with hope and he looks up at his friend. He cuts him off and voices out his words. 

“I have an offer for you but…”, he pauses for a moment to scan their faces. The husband and wife show an expression of great hope, their eyes filled with hope. “But? But what Stuart?”, Mrs. Wilson asks him impatiently. 

“But I want something in return.”, his heart pains to see their disappointed faces. Caroline and Kevin look at each other confused before Caroline speaks, “But we have nothing to give now. Even this house is…”

Mr. Hamilton cuts her off, “I know. I know. First, let me tell you the offer properly.” In the life of fifty-two years, this is the first moment where he feels himself getting apprehensive. 

Seeing them nodding he gathers his courage, “I will buy all the products you have now and give you the order of three hundred more products. I’ll pay you three times for each product.”

That’s a very very good offer. We can have money to pay off our debts and hire more employees and improve our company. We can have new technologies as well. Both Caroline and Kevin think. 

But they also wonder about the second part of his deal. 

Mr. Stuart Hamilton continues, “But I return I want your daughter.”

Those terrifying words leave the couple astonished. Their eyes seem to pop while their jaw hitting the ground. 

Even in the warm weather, they feel as if cold icy water has been splashed on them. They forget to breathe.

Caroline Wilson can’t process anything while Kevin Wilson sees red. He can’t believe his closest friend thinks this way for his only daughter. 

Sensing the tense atmosphere and confusion the couple is having he decides to clear everything before Mr. Wilson jumps on him and rips his head. 

“I want Katrina to marry my son Alexander Hamilton.”, finally he speaks. 

And that’s the reason he came here. He wanted Katrina to marry his son Alexander Hamilton.  

But the whole world calls him 'THE DEVIL' .