Chapter 50

“What’s that?” Rachel asked, pointing at a wall of perfectly manicured hedges that seemed to have been grown in circles.

“That’s a maze,” replied Alfred with a lopsided smile. “It leads to a lovely cottage on the other side of the property. It’s pretty secluded and even has a swimming pool and some modern conveniences that the manor doesn’t have. I had it built as a guest quarter away from the main house but I never have people over for more than a day, so it’s barely in use. I even toyed with the idea of letting your bodyguards stay there but I don’t trust those big guys. My cottage is too delicate to accommodate four giants who walk like elephants, no offense to you, Derek.”

“None taken,” said Derek with a laugh.

“Has anyone ever gotten lost in the maze before?” Rachel wanted to know.

“Yeah, me,” said Alfred. “Twice. By the third time, I had to go with a map of the maze because I was tired of getting lost in the middle of my own creation.”

Rachel laughed, thoroughly enjoying Alfred’s hilarious self-deprecating tale. When they reached the flower which was adjacent to the maze, Zoe asked Alfred to put her down and as soon as her little legs hit the ground, she ran into the garden, touching the flowers and giggling happily.

Alfred gestured to Rachel and Derek to sit on any of the granite benches that were artfully placed at different points in the garden.

“My mom would be totally at home in this place,” said Rachel with a whimsical smile. “She loves flowers and she even has a garden in her backyard but it is nothing close to this haven of flowers here.”

“I think I’m going to get along just fine with your mom if I ever meet her,” said Alfred.

“She’s a kind lady,” said Derek. “I’m sure you’ll like her.”

There was a brief silence after that little ice breaker conversation and the only sounds around them were Zoe’s excited giggles and the chirping of birds that are either perching on or hovering over the pretty flowers.

“So... back to the main issue,” Alfred began hesitantly. “Some of the things I am going to say may be hard to hear but remember, as I said before, life hardened your father and pushed him to become obsessed with success. He wasn’t a bad guy but he made certain decisions based on how he viewed life. With that said, let me start from the beginning. I met your father at Yale and his friendly yet reserved manner drew me to him. Truth is, my original intention was to woo him and make him my boyfriend.”

“Ew… TMI!” Derek said, scrunching up his face and making Rachel laugh.

“Sorry,” Alfred chuckled. “But that was my initial plan. However, the more I got to know him, the more I realized that he was someone I wanted to have in my life for a long time and that longevity wasn’t guaranteed if we became lovers. Besides, he was as straight as they came, so my fantasy wasn’t going to happen anyway. We became very close buddies and our different backgrounds didn’t matter at all – I was from a comfortable family, while he was practically putting himself through school by doing odd jobs to augment the stipends he got from his folks.”

“I thought his parents owned a fortune…” Derek said in wonder.

“Listen, kid. Your father reinvented himself after he became wealthy and he was able to get away with it because by then, his parents had died and not many people knew him before he became the billionaire, Jeremy Fraser. I was the only person who knew the truth but what purpose did it serve for me to expose his past and embarrass him? So, I kept my mouth shut about it.”

“Wow.”

“Anyway, he met your mother through her father, James Harriton. Unfortunately, he was a terrible gambler who was on the verge of losing the jewelry business that had been in his family for generations and which was supposed to be your mother’s inheritance. He was desperate and needed an investor to pump some money into the business to revive it. That was when he met Jeremy, a man who was not swayed by sentiments but profit. Your father saw the potential of the business and he knew he could take it to the next level but he didn’t want to be a mere investor, he wanted to own it. Initially, James was livid and he even stormed out of a meeting with Jeremy but after running around for months, looking for alternatives and finding none, he returned to the only person that had offered to save his business.”

“My dad,” said Derek quietly.

“Yes, your dad,” said Alfred. “But when James returned to finally accept Jeremy’s offer, your father had added a new clause to the terms of the contract.”

“Hello,” said Elaine, coming to join them. “I am so sorry to interrupt but I was wondering why I haven’t been called yet to take Zoe in. She’s due for her nap now.”

“Oh, is it noon already?” Rachel asked in surprise.

“Yes, fifteen minutes past,” replied Elaine.

“Oh my!” Rachel laughed. “Zoe darling, come here.”

Zoe came running and when she saw Elaine, she squealed and ran into her nanny’s open arms. “Nanny!”

“Hey, you,” said Elaine, ruffling Zoe’s hair. “It’s time to go inside. Say bye-bye to everyone.”

“Bye-bye!” Said Zoe in a singsong tone, waving her little hand vigorously.

“Bye, Sweet Cheeks,” said Derek, waving back.

“See you later,” said Rachel, waving too.

“Bye, Zoe boo,” said Alfred before blowing her a kiss.

Elaine took the child away while singing a nursery rhyme to her as she went.

“What a sweet child,” said Alfred. “It’s a good thing she likes her nanny very much. Some children would kick and fuss if they have to leave their parents.”

“Elaine is a godsend,” said Rachel. “I almost can’t remember what it was like before she showed up in our lives. I love my baby, but it’s a relief to have someone to look after her for me sometimes.”

“I told ya,” Derek laughed.

“Yes, you did,” she laughed too. “Thank you.”

“You’re always welcome.”

“Can we get back to the story now?” Alfred asked and everyone laughed. “Where did I stop?”

“You said that my father added a new clause to his contract with my grandfather,” Derek said promptly. He was eager to get to the meaty part of the story.

“Ah, yes,” said Alfred. “He did and it turned out that he had discovered that old James had a pretty daughter who had just graduated from college. Jeremy then told James that the only way he would sign off on the deal was if James let him marry his daughter. Of course, your grandfather was livid but he was a desperate man grasping at straws now. What other choice did he have? He reluctantly agreed to your father’s terms and permitted him to marry your mother.”

Derek felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Confirming that his father had indeed been an asshole all those years ago was way too shocking for him to believe. He felt as if he never knew his father and that the man who raised him was a stranger.

“Why? Why did he do that?” Derek wanted to know.

“Do what?” Alfred asked.

“Insist on marrying my mother?”

“Well, according to what he told me, he wasn’t getting any younger and he wanted to marry a woman with a good pedigree to bear him a son to carry on his legacy. Your mother fit the checklist he had created for himself of what an ideal wife should be.”

“So, he never loved her?”

Alfred sighed. “That’s a tricky question, son.”

“How so?”

“You see, initially, what Jeremy felt for your mother wasn’t love. He simply saw her as a means to an end and that meant having the respect that came with being married to a beautiful woman from a respectable family who will bear him an heir to the Fraser throne. But… as time passed, love came into the picture but by then, it was too late. Your mother was done trying to impress him and she had moved on. I hate to say this, Derek, but your father drove her into the arms of other men and he wasn’t a saint either.”

“He had girlfriends too?” Derek asked, trying to confirm another one of Yasmin’s claims about his father.

“Yeah,” Alfred confirmed. “He had a bunch of them scattered across the world to warm his bed in whichever city he landed in for work. Sorry, kid.”

Derek didn’t expect to be this sad but he was completely shattered to know for certain that his father had been a terrible husband to his mom and that everything she had told him in Bermuda was the truth. He was suddenly overcome by guilt because of how he had lashed out at his mother repeatedly when she tried to connect with him on an emotional level.