57. Real Mother.

[Claire]
"You need to be strong, Claire," I told myself in the mirror as I made my way downstairs.
A maid had come to call me twice to the dinner table so I guessed everyone was already present and they were waiting for me.
I was ready to confront my father and Nana at dinner because I didn't want to remain here any longer, I just wanted to say what I wanted to say and move on.
Besides, I barely had a week till I had to return back to work.
When I got to the table, everyone was already seated including Sophie, Nana was even at the table too.
It was not surprising though, growing up she always had dinner with us at the dinner table though sometimes she had her meals in the kitchen.
"I hope I didn't keep you all waiting," I said as I took a seat beside Sophie.
My father frowned but he did not say anything and Nana just shook her head.
The tension in the room was thick enough to be cut by a knife as we glared at each other.
"Wow, I can already smell the delicious food," Sophie commented trying to ease the tension in the room.
"Yes, Sophie, our chef is the best in the country, isn't that right, Dad?" I smiled.
"Yes, dear." He replied.
For a man who liked to brag, he sure was awfully quiet.
"How was Copenhagen?" Nana asked as the maids began to serve the food.
The chef was really skilled and I could not deny it as I feasted my eyes on the spread of food on the table, there was a wide range of Italian sauces and pasta recipes, even iconic Italian dishes like Risotto Alla Milanese, Lasagna, Ravioli, Spaghetti Alla Carbonara and even the Caprese salad.
"Copenhagen is a beautiful country," I said and watched as the maid filled my wine glass with some red wine.
"This spread is absolutely divine, thank you, chef Tanner." I thanked him as he was overseeing the serving of the meal.
He smiled and curtsied in response.
"I see, did you do anything fun in Copenhagen?" My father asked as we began to dig into the food.
I had some spaghetti and some Caprese salad with a bit of sauce on it before I responded.
"Yes actually, I did a lot of fun things and I visited a lot of new places, met some new people too," I said.
I could tell that my father and Nana were extremely uncomfortable but they were doing a good job of hiding it.
"Yes, she met people like me, your daughter is an amazing friend." Sophie gushed.
"Oh thank you, Sophie, you're too kind."
The room turned quiet as we all started to eat our food quietly, when we were all done eating, I decided to start talking.
"You know, I met someone really interesting in Copenhagen," I said taking a sip of my wine.
"Really, who?" Nana asked ignorantly.
"You know what, before I tell you, why don't I ask you some questions," I said.
"Claire, we have a guest, you don't discuss private matters when a guest is present." My father said.
"Oh, my bad, let me find out if my guest minds," I smirked.
"Oh no, I rather enjoy family squabbles, see I don't really have much of a family so I'll just enjoy all of my time here with you all," Sophie said and I chuckled.
Go best friend.
"See, she doesn't mind, so let me just go on ahead to ask my questions."
"Yeah, go ahead girl, I'm just gonna grab me some popcorn and enjoy the show," Sophie added and I laughed.
Both my father and Nana were looking at us like we had lost our damn minds, the fearful look on their faces was iconic.
"Why did you lie to me about my mother?" I started it with hot questions.
"Claire, can we please not talk about this now." He pleaded.
"How long do you think I'm staying?" I asked him.
"I mean… I was hoping, we were hoping that you were back for good." Nana said.
"Back for good, did you hear that Sophie." I laughed and Sophie laughed along with me.
"Yeah, I heard that, Amie."
"You're not staying?" My father asked, angry now.
"No father and I came to tell you just that, I've built something for myself in Copenhagen, I have a good job and even a boyfriend," I said.
He looked sick when I said the word boyfriend but he just got angrier.
"You have a job here, the best job ever and you have a fiancè."
"Not anymore, apparently." I kept my voice steady, my face expressionless and my eyes cold.
"Who are you, Claire?" He asked me in surprise. "My sweet child will never talk to me this way."
"I don't know, and it's all your fault." I challenged him. "I'd like for you to give me answers to my questions but if you're not going to, then I guess I wasted my time coming here." I stood up from the table, ready to leave.
"Claire, wait, I'm so sorry that I lied to you." He apologized.
"Answers Dad, that's what I need for you, and that goes for you too mother," I said and Nana burst into tears.
"Claire, I'm so sorry, I can explain, please let me—"
"You met Eve?" My father asked harshly, cutting Nana off.
"You mean your ex-wife who the world thinks is my mother and dead, yes," I responded curtly.
"What did she tell you?"
"Everything." My eyes flashed with anger as I glared at him. "And you disgust me."
"Don't believe everything that woman told you, she's no better than a snake." He spat out.
"Well then, tell me what the truth is." I challenged him.
"Clark, we have to tell her the truth," Nana said.
"Fiona is your mother." My father sighed and gulped his wine. "I never wanted for you to find out this way, the story is very complicated."
"Then explain it to me." I sat back down and stared at him.
"It all starts with Sir. Hamilton, your great grandfather, he fell in love with a Danish woman but his family forbade the relationship and married my grandmother to him, it was a loveless marriage but it produced two daughters, my mother, and my aunt." He paused and took another sip of his wine.
At this time, Sophie signaled to me that she needed to leave so she slipped away in the middle of his monologue.
"My mother married my father who was the son of a wealthy man and it was also a loveless marriage while my aunt married for love, my grandfather was old fashioned and he supported them but my grandmother hated the idea, my grandfather always loved my aunt and he gave her all his attention while my grandmother gave my mother all of her attention."
"My mother was worried that my father would pass on the company to her sister's son even though she was the firstborn and so she and her mother devised a plan for me to win my grandfather's attention. They knew of the story of my grandfather's lover and they asked me to find a Danish woman and pretend that I was in love with her so that I could receive my grandfather's favor."
"Why did he not just pass the company over to your mother or your aunt?" I asked.
"He was very old fashioned and believed a woman was not fitting to rule a company and since he didn't want an outsider to have control of the company, he had to wait for his grandchildren, by the way, I don't have my father's surname but my grandfather's."
"He sounds like someone I know." I sneered but he just ignored me and continued talking.
"Since you know the rest of the story, I'll not take up much time, I met Eve in Copenhagen and I told her my story, she decided to marry me even at that and pretend like we had a loving marriage."
"She said you lied to her."
"That's why I said not to believe everything she says."
"Well, that's kind of hard to believe since you practically lied to me my whole life."
"That is different and I really didn't lie to her, she knew what she was getting herself into, my grandfather was happy with me when we got married and he even promoted me in the company, but then my cousin's wife gave birth and his attention shifted again."
"So that's when you realized that she couldn't have children?"
"Oh, that's a lie, she could have children, she was just unwilling too, she did not want to mess with her figure," Nana responded immediately.
"That's what happened, my grandfather's health started to decline and I kept on pleading with Eve to get pregnant but she refused, she was too busy being the wife of a popular man and enjoying her fame."
"I find that really hard to believe," I said, remembering the nice woman I talked to.
"You best believe it because it's the truth, I was working as a housekeeper then and I saw it all happen," Nana said.
"Then how did you two make a baby?" I asked.