Chapter 44

“Derek, please,” Yasmin appealed to her son. “Please, give me a chance to right my wrongs. I am sorry for hurting you so much. I wish you would just give me a second chance, please.”

“Did you think you could win me over by spinning all these fairy tales about how my father was a terrible man and you were a helpless damsel in distress? Did you expect that all those stories would move me enough to believe you especially when my father isn’t here to defend himself? How convenient!”

“What do I have to gain from lying to you?”

“Sympathy!”

“You’re right, I want your sympathy but I will not get it by lying to you. I am not a liar, Derek.”

“Says the woman who faked her own death and rebranded herself into someone else,” he said through gritted teeth. “I am done talking to you. Stay away from me and mine.”

“Derek!” Yasmin called after him as he marched toward the exit. “I want to see Zoe, please.”

He paused at the door and turned around to look at her with cold blue eyes. “That will never happen. Stay away from me and my daughter.”

“But she’s her granddaughter,” Rachel interjected.

“She’s nothing to Zoe,” said Derek. “Let’s go, Rachel. “I have heard enough nonsense in this room to last me a lifetime.”

“It’s not nonsense, Derek. Everything I told you here is true,” said Yasmin. “If you don’t believe me, ask Alfred Rickman. You know him, don’t you? He was your father’s best friend all those years and he was the only one who truly saw my pain, and when he tried to speak to your dad on my behalf, Jeremy accused him of sleeping with me. That put a strain on their friendship but they still managed to remain friends until your father’s death.”

Hearing Uncle Alfred’s name gave Derek pause. He was the closest thing to a relative to Derek beside his parents and he was there to guide him through running the Fraser empire after his father died.

“Does he know you are alive too?” Derek asked.

“No, he doesn’t but he knows everything about how my relationship with your father played out. If you think any of the things I have said to you here is a lie, then ask Alfred. He knew everything.”

With his hand on the doorknob, Yasmin called Derek, halting his exit. “I want to give everything I own to Zoe.”

Rachel gasped in shock.

He turned and gave Yasmin a sharp look. “She wouldn’t be needing your money or anything else that belongs to you,” he said coldly. “She already has Fraser Empire to inherit. Keep your money.”

“Fine,” she said weakly, conceding defeat. “But at least, allow me to throw Rachel a birthday party tomorrow. It is the least I can do.”

Rachel was surprised. She had completely forgotten about her birthday. “Oh my gosh! Tomorrow is my birthday. How could I forget?”

“Let me throw a party for you, Rachel. Please,” said Yasmin.

Rachel glanced at Derek as if seeking his opinion. “She’s trying to bribe you,” he said flatly.

“I am not,” said Yasmin. “You have made up your mind about me and I don’t blame you for that, but please, don’t be so suspicious of my kindness. I just want to do something nice to put a smile on Rachel’s face after putting her through that tumultuous confession sessions.”

“Whatever,” Derek said with a shrug. “I’m not even going to bother asking how you knew her birthday…”

Yasmin chuckled. “I know I have not been a good mother to you, Derek, but now that you’re a parent, I am hoping that you will eventually understand why I have done everything within my power to make sure that I remain close to you somehow.”

“We are done here,” he said with a note of finality and opened the door to leave.

Rachel ran after him but not after looking back and mouthing a quick, “Sorry,” to Yasmin who was standing there with a lone tear running down her flawless face.

************

“What are you going to do now?” Rachel asked Derek when they had returned to their suite.

“About what?”

“About everything Yasmin said. What do you make of all of that?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. I feel as if the ground has just opened and I’m dropping into nothingness. None of that made sense. She should have just left me alone.”

Rachel understood his frustration and she felt sorry for him. Finding out that everything he had ever believed about his parents’ relationship all these years might have been a lie was a lot to take in. Even she didn’t know how to react to it all.

“I still can’t believe that Diane had been spying on me the whole time,” he said. “But that at least makes sense; that’s why that woman knows so much about our itinerary, it’s because Diane has been telling her about our movements. I am so annoyed I feel like yelling at her. I should fire her disloyal ass right now.”

“Don’t do that, Derek,” Rachel appealed. “Diane was just being used. I’m sure she didn’t think there was any harm in what she was doing.”

“Her loyalty should be to me first,” he insisted. “I feel like a fool.”

“Don’t. None of this is your fault. You just got caught in the middle of a messy situation.”

He was quiet for a while, thinking about everything the woman who claims to be his mother had said. He was still trying to wrap his head around it all.

“I refuse to believe that my father was the man that that woman painted him to be,” he said. He was still in denial and too angry to acknowledge Yasmin as his mother.

“She said you could find out the truth from your father’s best friend,” Rachel reminded him.

“Uncle Alfred…” he whispered.

“Is he someone you can trust?”

“Yes, he is. That man was the closest thing to a father to me after I lost mine. He has always been there for me all these years and he has been one of the constant people in my life. I trust him completely.”

“Well, then. Why don’t you call him and ask him about Yasmin’s claims?”

“No, I won’t call him on the phone. I’d rather see him face to face and see his reaction when I ask him about my father’s behavior toward my mother and the circumstances surrounding their marriage. My father had told me that he and my mother dated for two years before they got married and that they were head over heels in love with each other, and they were practically inseparable. That’s a far cry from Yasmin’s claims. One of them has to be lying and I believe that Uncle Alfred is in the perfect position to tell me which one of them has not been truthful.”

Rachel could see how much finding out the truth meant to Derek and her heart went out to him. He had grown up believing that love was a terrible thing simply because he had seen his father get the short end of the stick, or so he wanted Derek to think. Now, the mother that he had spent much of his life hating was turning out to be the victim in a twisted tale that would give Alice in Wonderland a run for its money.

“How would you like to spend your birthday in the English countryside tomorrow?” He asked her with a mischievous smile.

“We’re going to England?” She asked in awe.

“Yep. That’s where Uncle Alfred lives. He owns a sprawling manor that is twice the size of Jonah’s ranch home. You’ll love it, I’m sure.”

“If it’s the outdoors, then count me in,” she laughed.

“I am so sorry I forgot about your birthday,” he apologized.

“Don’t apologize. I forgot too!”

He laughed and said, “I’m glad you’re not mad at me. I think we should go back to Hamilton and get ready for our trip tomorrow.”

“Aren’t you going to call your uncle first and let him know that we’re coming?”

“I’ll call him when we hit the road. Besides, he wouldn’t mind me showing up without calling first, he’s practically my dad.”

Rachel smiled. She liked how Derek spoke so warmly about Alfred and she couldn’t wait to meet the man.