Chapter 18: Chapter 18

Brody's POV

Mom turned to look at me and my heart raced. "Huh, she's my girlfriend." I muttered.

She frowned at me and I walked to the dining table. "You can't possibly date a poor girl." She said and I looked at Karen, tears welled up in her eyes. I suddenly pitied her, I didn't prep her before she signed the contract that my mom would be coming to the house.

"She's the woman I love and that's what matters." I replied.

"I won't let you make her your girlfriend."

"That's not your decision to make."

"Your father won't let ....."

I interrupted, angrily. "He doesn't care about me and I don't give a fuck what he does with himself."

She sighed and climbed the stairs. By the look on her eyes, I could tell she was very angry. Looking at Diego, I asked him to go to his room and moved towards Karen. "I'm really sorry." I apologized to her gently.

"You should be sorry, you brought me into this mess."

"Well, you needed the money and you didn't bother asking for all the details." I reminded her and she frowned.

"I did this for the money because I thought I would only live in your house for two weeks but your family members are coming. Diego came first and your mom's here already."

I exhaled slowly. "Karen?" I prompted softly. "I'm sorry for not telling you earlier." I apologized to her but she ignored me and sat down.

Smiling faintly, I climbed the stairs to meet my mother. I pushed the door open and walked in. She was holding a picture of dad and quickly dropped it on the bed when I walked in. "Mom," I called out slowly and she turned to look at me. "You don't have to be angry unnecessarily. Karen is the woman I love and I don't care what people think." I added. How long will it take for me to keep on deceiving everyone? I was gradually becoming a liar and I hated it.

Hands on her hips, she stared at me, her expression was blank and I didn't know what was going through her mind. "Have you thought about our business investors?" She finally asked after a minute of silence.

I shrugged. "I don't care what they think. They can stop investing in our company and I don't care."

She walked towards me and squeezed my hands gently. "And the media? What do you think the headlines would be? And your dad, do you think he'll be happy with your decision?"

"The media can go to hell for all I care," I defended, aghast. "When Helen got married to a wealthy man, you became happy but now, she's no longer with her husband. He is a cheat." I reminded her with a cold smile

She narrowed her eyes at me. "That's different."

"It's not, Mom. Love cannot be measured by wealth. I'm in love with Karen and that's what matters." I told her.

"Your father," she said and paused. "He proposed to me in highschool and I couldn't further my education because I got married to him. He was able to complete his education but i couldn't complete mine."

"That's love, you sacrificed your education for ..."

She cut in quickly. "No, that's foolishness. Like you, I thought it was love but with time, I discovered that I was only foolish."

I slanted a look at her and picked up his picture from the bed. "Mom, Karen is a nice lady. I'm sure you'll like her." I assured her with a smile.

"You should have stayed with Sarah, she's richer than Karen."

I frowned at her words and walked out of her room angrily. I shouldn't have lied about having a girlfriend. Walking down the stairs, I found Bill talking to Karen and he was also holding hands with her.

What was he doing in my house? Why was he holding hands with Karen? Was he trying to implicate me?

My eyes reddened with anger and I pushed Karen away from him gently and gave him a punch on his face. He groaned in pain and wanted to fight me but she stopped him. "How dare you?"

"You were holding hands with Karen in my house, what if someone had seen you? You're nothing but a moron." I insulted him.

"I have a wife and not a fake girlfriend." He fired back, his voice was a little bit loud.

"A wife who asked for a divorce?" Karen asked back in a mockery tone.

He narrowed his eyes and made to hit me but Karen stopped him again. "You should stop this already." She shouted at him.

"Karen," he began and touched her cheeks, she hurriedly removed his hands and I chuckled. "Let's leave here right now, we can't stay here. Brody is a violent man, he might kill you." He advised her and I frowned.

I silently hoped that she wouldn't take his advice. "Bill, what the fuck are you doing?" I asked, angrily.

"Stay out of this, man." He turned to look at her. "Let's run away to another country. I'm in love with you." He told her.

Karen looked at me before turning to look at him. I couldn't believe my eyes, Bill was in love with Karen.

"Bill, I'm truly in love with Brody. Staying here has made me fall in love with him." She said and my eyes widened.

Was she pretending or she meant her words? "Are you insane?" Bill's loud voice jerked me back to reality. "This is a contract and it's not supposed to be an avenue for romance."

"I'm sorry, Bill." Karen apologized to him and I hugged her. Bill frowned and walked out of the house angrily. Karen quickly released herself from my grip and sat on the sofa.

"Are you...."

She cut in immediately. "I can never fall in love with an arrogant man." She replied rudely.

With that, she climbed the stairs angrily. I slumped down on the sofa and slammed the table with my fist angrily.

A lady walked in and smiled at me. "Hello, I'm Maya, Karen's makeup artist for the party." She said.

I smiled. My mom had already called a makeup artist for Karen. She wanted her to look beautiful for the party. I was happy she realized her mistakes. "Huh, Karen's upstairs." I replied and watched her climb the stairs.

Diego came out of his room and showed me two of his clothes. "What should I wear for the party?" He asked, cheerfully.

"I'm not your dad." I answered in annoyance.