Chapter 13
FELIX
It was the usual Saturday morning. Forced to work overtime to extinguish spot fires and placate difficult clients —which was expected when one was the CEO of a multi-million-dollar company.
But when did it get so tiring? When did I stop appreciating my role as a welcome challenge and start resenting the job that I once coveted above all else?
Like everything, it all came down to my wife.
Stella was the heart of the company. And I had to admit that I wouldn’t have gotten far without her love, support and tenacity.
With a far-fetched dream and the fearlessness that came with youth, we worked together to create an empire.
Sure, my rich father reluctantly fronted the money after making us sign and agree to his strict conditions. But it was Stella’s connections that brought in our elite clientele, the Foster name garnering the respect of numerous professional athletes.
We made a great team… until we didn’t. Having kids was naturally the next step, but I didn’t realise how much I would lose until I became the lowest on my wife’s priority list—scratch that, the lowest on everyone’s priority list.
Since Eli had caught me in a heated discussion with Heather, he managed to dodge me at every turn. Sometimes, I’d catch his eyes on me, as if testing for something I had no way to prepare for. And that was when I realised I didn’t know my son well enough to recognise how to overcome such an issue.
And Phoenix was still young enough to primarily want his mum.
I loved my boys; they were my everything. I worked so hard and did all of it for them.
A memory washed over me, completely unawares. Two separate occasions where my beautiful wife held a newborn baby in her arms and blessed me with our sons’ names—variations of my own.
As I cried with overwhelming joy, I managed to choke, “You named him after me?”
That was when my sweet girl repeated the same words I had given her so many years before, “After our love.”
My eyes began to burn as I blankly stared at my computer, the bright, colour-coded itinerary swallowing the entire screen.
Everything was set up and organised for the next week, right down to the tiniest detail. The night had to be perfect; we were celebrating a decade of marriage, after all.
Our upcoming anniversary had me infused with a new sense of hope. I held the full belief that with that celebration, we could finally make our way back to each other. And in turn, our family dynamic would thrive from the cascade effect.
All marriages went through difficult times, but it was how you weathered through those challenges that really mattered.
However, there remained one vital component that had to be taken care of. A monumental threat who held the potential to rip everything away from me.
As if my passing thought conjured the demon herself, Heather swept into my office as if she belonged there.
Oh, hell no. “What the fuck are you doing?” I seethed. “Get out.”
Heather smiled before shutting the door behind her. “My calls and texts keep bouncing. What else am I to do? I’m desperate.” She approached with confidence that held the aftereffects of delusion. “You seem stressed, Bossman. Why don’t you let me—”
“Come any closer and see what happens.”
Heather tsked, then licked her lips. “You really want to play this game? I guess I do have an unfair advantage... Maybe I should discuss it with my direct superior. I’m sure she would be willing to hear me out.”
Panic seized every basic bodily function, my lungs burning from scraping aggressively against my rib cage.
I knew the conversation was overdue, yet it wrecked me all the same.
Deep breath.
“You and I both know this is over. There’s nothing else to discuss.”
“Oh, but there is… so much to discuss.”
Heather stood proud and spoke with conviction. I knew what she wanted, and that I’d have no choice but to give it to her.
My eyes lapsed shut in defeat.
“How much do you want?” I whispered.
After dealing with that soul sucker, I refused to stay in the office another second.
My mindset was thrown off, and I had the urgent need to seek comfort and light. So, for the first time in years, I left work early on a Saturday.
But I couldn’t find my family anywhere.
My calls went unanswered, and the house was bereft of life. Troubled and impatient, I roamed the halls, looking for any clue as to where they could be.
I found the source in the room of my son, Eli’s.
Above his bed was a calendar, and in clear block letters scribbled over the current date read, FINALS.
Shifting words filtered through my mind as I snapped up my keys and sprinted to the car.
Do you want to come to my baseball game this weekend, Dad?... You should have seen me, Dad. I hit a home run! Everyone was screaming… Felix, honey, Eli has stopped asking, but I know he wants you there. Surely you can escape work for a couple of hours and watch your son play?
I had promised that I would, every single time. Then, something pressing would come up, causing my plans to fall through. Sometimes, that guilt would hit. I had even managed to pack up my gear and prepared to leave that last time… until Heather persuaded me to stay.
I was driving fast, surpassing every speed limit on my way to the game. Please don’t be late. Make it this time, you coward!
When is it going to stop? This continuous loop of regret and self-contempt.
The truth was, I didn’t deserve for it to end.
With each scathing revelation, the well of pain kept tunnelling deeper.
I hadn’t just betrayed my wife. I had also betrayed my boys.
And that was unforgivable.
I jumped the curb and parked on the grass, not bothering to find a space in the packed car park.
Just as I breached the sideline grass hill, cheers erupted from down below, and spectators swarmed the field.
And in the middle of it all was Eli, raised high on Dylan’s shoulders. My boy was glowing with pride, a beaming smile taking over half his face.
They had won; he had won. And I’d missed it all.
Stella held onto a squealing Phoenix as she grasped Eli’s hand in congratulations.
Then, the world seemed to turn a shade darker when Curtis approached my family. He was tall enough to reach Eli’s head and ruffle his hair.
Almost stunned, my son’s face crumbled in gratitude before he torpedoed off his grandfather’s shoulders, straight for Curtis’ chest. The guy didn’t miss a beat, swinging my boy around with a chuckle before they embraced each other in a tight hug.
A cold sweat swiftly coated my skin as my chest grew unbearably tight.
Am I having a heart attack? Pretty sure I’m having a heart attack.
And why wouldn’t I be? I had been banished to the outskirts, as if I were an interloper looking in on the life that belonged to me.
I missed it all.