Chapter 51

Rachel could see that all of this information was taking a toll on Derek judging by how his shoulders sagged and his brows furrowed as he pondered over what he had heard. Her heart went out to him and she wished that there was something she could do or say to him to make him feel better.

“I know this may sound silly, but after your mother passed away in the manner that she did, I always thought of her as Princess Diana – dying tragically with what may have been the love of her life. All she ever wanted was to be loved and appreciated and she probably got that from that Russian guy. I hope she did.”

He looked so forlorn as he spoke, that Rachel was tempted to tell him that the woman he knew as Yolanda Fraser was still alive and thriving in the place of her supposed death, under a different identity. However, it wasn’t her secret to reveal so she kept quiet instead.

“Your mother was a wonderful person, Derek,” Alfred continued. “I know you may have judged her harshly for how she lived her life but she didn’t know better and she was practically pushed into looking for love where there may be none. She may not have been the best mom in the world, but she was a good woman and I had many intelligent conversations with her that I still cherish even to this day.”

Derek sighed heavily. “Thanks for letting me know, Uncle Alfred,” he said wearily. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I would like to have some alone time if you guys don’t mind.”

Rachel was a bit hurt that he didn’t want her to be with him right now, but she understood his need for solitude. Learning that everything you have ever believed about your whole life was a lie, wasn’t something so easy to digest.

“I think this might be a good time to explore the maze and see what lies on the other side of it,” he said with a small smile before standing up.

“Sure,” said Alfred. “Take your time.”

“Bye,” said Rachel, as he walked off.

When he was out of earshot, Alfred turned to Rachel and asked, “Do you know why he suddenly became interested in knowing about his parents’ marriage?”

She cleared her throat to give herself some time to come up with a believable answer that won’t give too much away about their time in Bermuda.

“I guess going to the place where his mother died raised questions in his head about her,” she said.

“Hmm…” Alfred mused. “I wonder why he even chose to vacation in Bermuda of all places.”

“Oh, that was my idea,” she said. “But I had no idea that that was where his mother died and he didn’t tell me either.”

“Ah, well… I think it’s a good thing that he knows the truth now. I suspect the reason why he has been so averse to getting into relationships or making emotional commitments is because of his parents’ marriage. It gave him a biased interpretation of love and Jeremy enjoyed playing the victim to win his son’s sympathy, and it worked.”

“That’s just sad,” said Rachel. “Derek grew up hating his mother and despising the thought of falling in love because of what his father made him believe. I can’t even imagine how hurt he is right now, knowing that he had been misled all along.”

She finally understood his initial cynicism about getting emotionally involved with anyone – he didn’t want to get hurt like his father but it turned out now that his father was the villain all along.

“I wish I can be with him right now and console him,” said Rachel.

“Give him some time to process all this and then you can console him afterward,” said Alfred. “He is lucky to be with a woman who loves him as much as you do.”

Rachel looked at him sharply. “Who says I love him?”

Alfred chuckled. “You have a kid with him, don’t you?”

“Well, I know people who have had kids with people they don’t like very much.”

He laughed. “You are a piece of work, Rachel. Still, I’m not blind. I see how you look at him and I can tell that you adore him even though you are not getting that same energy from him. Listen, Derek isn’t beyond redemption. You can heal him, Rachel. Show him what love is and quench that fear that has blocked his heart from seeing how much you mean to him.”

Rachel didn’t know what to say to that. He had seen through her act and he knew that she was in love with Derek. But… was Alfred, right? Could she truly make Derek a believer in love or was she being talked into a real-life mission impossible?

**********

When two hours passed and Derek hadn’t returned from his maze exploration, Rachel became restless. Zoe was awake from her nap and playing with Elaine in their shared room, while Alfred had gone on an impromptu solo fishing trip at his lake. He said it was a relaxing activity he enjoyed doing when the weather was pleasant.
Rachel was left alone downstairs and the only company she had was the domestic staff passing by now and then as they did their chores around the huge house. She knew that this was a good time to explore parts of the house alone, but her mind kept going back to Derek. What if he was lost in the maze and couldn’t find his way back? What if he needed help and he could call them because he hadn’t gone into the maze with his phone? What if he was having a panic attack and needed help with recovering from it?

The ‘what if’ questions continued to buzz around inside her head until she couldn’t take them anymore, so she walked out of the house and marched purposefully toward the maze. If he got mad at her for intruding on his alone time, she would apologize to him but be happy to know that he was ok and not in danger. The bodyguards were living in the staff quarters on the property, but they were practically useless because Derek had told them that their services weren’t needed here yet.

As soon as she stepped into the maze, she wondered if this was a mistake because she hadn’t bothered to ask Alfred for directions on how to get to the other side and if she and Derek got lost in different parts, how would they get out.

“I should probably go back,” she said aloud but kept walking forward. Her mind would never be at rest if she didn’t find Derek and confirm that he was ok.

When she got to a forked path, she wondered which one he would have taken. She was surrounded by tall walls of greenery and more of them lay ahead but only one led to the other side of this beautiful jungle. She followed the right path, hoping that she wasn’t walking toward a dead end.

“Shit!” She cursed when she saw that the path led nowhere. She turned around and walked out of the green alley back to the junction where she had made her decision. She followed the left path and found herself encountering more and more dead ends until she felt as if she was just walking around in circles.

“This was supposed to be fun, but I’m just about ready to murder someone right now!” She yelled, losing her temper.

“That makes two of us!” Derek yelled back from somewhere inside the maze.

Her heart did a happy flip when she heard his voice. “Where are you, Derek? Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied. “I’ve had enough time to stew and now I’m ready to get out of here.”

She smiled, walking toward the sound of his voice. “Did you ever make it to the other side of the maze?”

“I wouldn’t feel like murdering someone if I did,” he replied dryly, making her laugh.

“Does that mean that if we are being chased by a bunch of zombies and we ran into this maze, we wouldn’t be able to find a way out?”

“Oh, well. The zombies are going to have a field day, eating us up,” he replied.

Rachel was laughing now as she continued to follow his voice. She kept him talking until she finally found him sitting on the ground with his back against the green wall of the maze.