One Wild Night

Now that Bryan was left alone in the house after Tom had left to meet with Mr. Wyatt, and both Sonia and Lucy had gone to her apartment to speak with her family, Bryan decided to return his mother's and Jade's call.

He dialed his mother's line first, and almost immediately the call connected as though she had been waiting for it, "Bryan Hank! Where have you been?" She asked in a scolding tone.

"Is that what is most important to you right now, or you should be glad that I'm okay and didn't run off somewhere to take my life as I had planned?" Bryan asked dramatically.

"What? You planned to take your life? Because of that girl?" His mother asked in disbelief and Bryan rolled his eyes.

"That girl? Can you tell me why you are referring to your soon-to-be daughter-in-law as that girl?" He asked dryly, knowing that his mother was probably against Sonia now after all that had transpired in the last twenty-four hours. Of course, he had heard from Tom about what their mother had to say about his relationship with Lucy, and he was disappointed that she had been quick to join the bandwagon.

"After all the troubles she and her best friend has caused you and your brother how can you still refer to her as my daughter-in-law?" His mother asked with disapproval, wondering why her children were all being unreasonable.

"I don't remember complaining to you, and I'm sure Tom didn't either, so let us be. I just called to let you know that I'm alright and you don't need to worry about me," Bryan said as he made to hang up, but she quickly stopped him.

"Wait! Where are you?" His mother asked curiously.

"Why are you so interested in my location? Are you coming to see me?"

"What if I want to see you?" She asked.

"I won't be able to see you right now, I'm busy and I know that you won't be of help to me," Bryan said bluntly.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked in a slightly offended tone.

"Mom, in as much as I love you, and I understand that you want what is best for your children, you should also understand that both Sonia and Lucy are also other people's children and you shouldn't be quick to believe the worst about people that are not part of your family," Bryan said in a chiding tone.

"But it's all over the internet and..."

"Mom! Do you really believe everything you see on the internet?" Bryan cut in impatiently, trying not to raise his voice at her.

She let out a sigh, "Is that why you don't want me to see you? Your brother has also been avoiding my call," she said in a hurt tone. 

"I'm sure he has good reasons for avoiding your call. I would avoid your calls too if you speak ill of either Sonia or Lucy. So if you won't help us, don't interfere and don't tell us what to do or not do unless you would like me to get married to Sonia without inviting you," Bryan threatened. 

"All this for a girl that broke up with you after using you to..."

"Mom!" Bryan called in a warning tone, and she sighed.

"Fine. Have you heard from your brother?" She asked, changing the subject. 

"He is fine if that's what you want to know."

"Ask him to give me a call. Please." She added, and Bryan sighed.

"I've heard you. Just don't give him a hard time, he has enough on his plate already," Bryan advised.

"Okay, I won't. So what about you? What is going on between you and Sonia? Are you saying everything on the internet is a lie? Is it some sort of prank?" She asked curiously.

"Sonia and I are cool. She only wanted to end things because she needed to help Lucy out with her issue, and she didn't want my career to be affected in any way because of her involvement with Lucy," Bryan explained.

"Are you sure?" His mother asked doubtfully.

"I'm telling you the truth, Mom. Lucy is being bashed unfairly. And just so you know the family they claim she murdered is Sonia's family. Do you think Sonia would remain her best friend if everything they said is true?" He asked, and his mother's brows furrowed.

"Sonia's family?" She asked in surprise.

"Yes. Someone is picking on Lucy, and we all need to stand beside her now. You don't expect Tom to end things with her simply to save his company, do you? That is not the way you raised us. Don't worry about the company or my career. Just trust us to handle it, okay?" Bryan said, and his mother sighed once again, as she started to feel guilty for all she said about Lucy and Sonia without knowing the facts.

"Okay. Let him know that I'm sorry for all I said yesterday and ask him to give me a call," she said after a moment's hesitation, and Bryan smiled.

"I knew you would understand. I need to return Jade's call now. I love you mom, and I will pass your message to Tom. Try not to worry too much, your boys are men now," Bryan said before hanging up the call. 

Evelyn sighed as she dropped the phone on the table in front of her, and turned to look at her husband who was staring at her, "What do you think?" 

"Bryan really does sound all mature and grown-up now," he said with a small smile, "All three of our children are not stupid. If they all say the girl is innocent of the accusations, then you should believe them. Don't worry too much. We have done a good job of raising them, now let's watch them do their thing, okay?" He said, and Evelyn let out a sigh as she leaned back in her seat. 

               ***********

Tom sipped from his glass of wine as he watched Mr. Wyatt who was seated opposite him. He knew that his call must have come as a surprise to the man since they had no business together, and the last time they had met, their interaction had not been exactly pleasant. 

"Are we going to sit here drinking wine all day?" Mr. Wyatt asked in an irritated tone.

"Why? Are you in a hurry to go somewhere?" Tom asked, and the elderly man glared at him.

"I see you don't have anything to say," he said as he pushed his seat away from the table.

"Let me guess, you're in a hurry to meet your doctor's appointment? Or are you going to Club Edge?" Tom asked, and the man's heart skipped a beat as he looked at him in surprise and adjusted his seat.

How did he know he frequented Club Edge? Mr. Wyatt wondered as he shifted in his seat uncomfortably, "I don't know what you're talking about," Mr. Wyatt murmured, but didn't meet Tom's piercing gaze.

Tom dropped the glass of wine on the table, "Perhaps you need me to simplify things using pictures," Tom said as he slid a brown envelope from his end of the table to Mr. Wyatt's, "These should tell you what I'm talking about," Tom said as he gestured to him with his head to check the content of the envelope. 

Mr. Wyatt's forehead was suddenly coated with beads of sweat, and his hands shook as he reached for the envelope. He opened it slowly, and his face paled when he saw different pictures of himself seated on a gambling table at Club Edge, and in one of the pictures he was handing over his car key to someone on the gambling table. Inside the envelope was a slip of his latest medical fitness result which showed that his only health condition was his high blood pressure. 

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?" He asked without taking his eyes off the pictures.

"What do you know about the news circulating the internet regarding my personal assistant?" Tom asked, and Mr. Wyatt raised his head to meet Tom's gaze.

"Why are you asking me that?" He asked in confusion.

"Because if you don't tell me what I want to know, I will go straight to your sister and your niece and confront them myself. The only problem with that is that I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep everything I know away from your sister. Your sister doesn't know that you lied about your health, does she? Or maybe I should just hand this information over to someone reliable to post them on the internet?" Tom asked, and Mr. Wyatt took out his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat on his forehead.

Seeing the hesitation on his face, Tom went on, "I wonder what she would do to you when she finds out that you sold the airline which you both inherited from your parents just to take care of your gambling mess," Tom said with a shake of his head.

"I have nothing to do with your assistant's problem," Mr. Wyatt said defensively.

"But you know who is behind it, don't you? I just need you to tell me if either your sister or your niece is involved. That is the only thing I'm interested in," Tom said with a shrug. All he needed at this point was confirmation of Anita's involvement in this, and from a reliable source too.

Mr. Wyatt swallowed nervously as he thought about his sister. She was going to kill him if she found out that he was still very much into gambling and had sold the airline because he was in debt and not because he was ill. He couldn't let her find out about it else she would take whatever little he had left from him, and kick him out. 

Tom sighed, "I guess you really don't know. I should ask them myself then," he said as he stood up, and Mr. Wyatt quickly stopped him.

"I think Anita is behind it," he blurted out with his eyes closed, praying that both his sister and niece would forgive him for betraying them. Although he would rather betray them and not have someone like Tom in the family.

Satisfied by his response, Tom returned to his seat and looked at him curiously, "How so?"

Mr. Wyatt swallowed as he recalled how his oldest niece had called his sister in front of him to inform her that the CEO whom Anita was interested in was also interested in his personal assistant and pretending to be her driver. His sister had immediately called Anita to hear from her, and Anita had assured her that she had everything under control, and she had something up her sleeves, and once she revealed a secret she knew, Lucy would be forced to disappear from Tom's life.

"She found out that you were pretending to be your assistant's driver, and wanted to get rid of her so that she could have you," Mr. Wyatt explained.

"So she knows my real identity," Tom murmured more to himself than to Mr. Wyatt. He wasn't surprised since he had been suspecting it all along.. Now that he knew for a fact that it was Anita behind it, he was just going to focus on clearing Lucy's name first, before teaching Anita a lesson.