Phoebe
“ T hat was a beautiful speech.” Cillian’s mum, Maureen, embraced , after most of the guests had said their goodbyes.
Of course, hadn’t said what she wanted; she couldn’t hurt the guys or his mum like that. Instead, she had told the room what they had wanted, needed to hear, and when she’d raised her glass to his memory there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but if I could get everyone in the office we can do the reading of the will,” Mr Murray, the lawyer of Cillian’s estate, said politely.
They weren’t done yet. Anita had made the band write their wills when they first started to gain traction to prepare for the worst-case scenario, but had no idea what was in Cillian’s will. She had always believed he had left everything to his mum. His mum, who was alone now, she realised. Her heart grew heavy.
Nick, August and Axel followed Maureen and into the dining room off the kitchen. There was no office in the small two-storey home. Despite Cillian’s protests, his mum had never wanted to move to a more luxurious home. As a single mum, she had lived frugally, and wanted to remain in the house where she had raised her son.
They all sat around the table, and noticed Helen lingering by the door. At the head of the dining table, Mr Murray laid out some papers, and cleared his throat.
“Before we get started, Mr Hunt made a recent change to his last will and testament. I’ll read the entirety of the will, and should anyone have an issue, I ask that you wait patiently until the end so that we can get through this as quickly as possible.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“The most recent addition: Mr Hunt awarded five million euros and his penthouse apartment on West 23rd and Main in New York to Ms Helen Lycett.”
clenched her teeth and kept her eyes low to conceal her emotions. His mum stared at her, while the others looked anywhere else.
“There must be some mistake,” Maureen started, but rested her hand over hers.
“I’ll explain later,” she said quietly, not wanting to do this now. Her wrist ached, and she realised she was clenching her bad hand.
Helen remained quiet, but noticed her hand placed defensively over her tummy. Despite ’s hurt, this woman was pregnant with Maureen’s future grandchild, so she hid her disgust for her sake.
Having heard what she needed to, Helen left the room.
“Mr Hunt awarded one million euros and the recently purchased villa in Amalfi, Italy, to Ms Fletcher. The deed to the Dublin studio apartment you currently reside in will also be transferred to you,” Mr Murray said, looking as uncomfortable as they all felt.
The villa in Italy? He’d mentioned buying it after he’d proposed, but her apartment was a complete surprise. She’d been renting for years—when the hell did he buy it?
“There must be some mistake,” argued, breaking the rules. “I’ve rented my apartment for years. I know my landlord.”
“Cillian didn’t want you to worry about the rent going up, or your landlord selling it out from under you, since you live across the road from your art studio. He bought the apartment over two years ago, and your name is already on the deed,” Mr Murray explained.
“She’s been paying rent on an apartment she already owns?” Axel asked, and everyone turned to look at him, surprised by his sudden outburst. He sank back into his corner.
“Nick, did you know about this?” asked her brother, sat across from her.
“Not a clue.” Nick shrugged.
So Helen wasn’t the only thing he’d been lying about. Were the secrets ever going to end?
“The money you’ve been paying in rent has been put in a high-yield investment portfolio,” Mr Murray informed her.
“How much is in it?” asked, trying to do quick maths of how much rent she’d paid into it. She knew nothing about stocks; she would keep her money in her mattress if she could.
Mr Murray riffled through another envelope of papers until he found what he was looking for. “A little over three hundred thousand. The investments are rather volatile, but Mr Hunt didn’t mind the risk.”
“Except it wasn’t his money to risk.”
Nick nudged Axel into silence.
“I’m sure he was only making sure that you were looked after,” Maureen said. “He always worried that you didn’t have a safety net in case your art didn’t work out.” She didn’t mean to sound condescending, but to hear that Cillian had such little faith in ’s art career felt like another betrayal.
“We can pull the funds whenever you like and put it into a savings account, should you wish,” Mr Murray added, but she wasn’t sure what to do with her newfound fortune. She had never had more than a thousand in her savings account before. Even with her success, she had only started making a profit on her art this year. Even then, she had been putting it back into her work, renting her studio and supplies.
“The rest of his financial estate and properties are to be left to his mother, Maureen Hunt, to be handled as she sees fit.”
tuned out for the final details. The band retained the rights to his image, voice, music and masters, which made moving forward a lot easier for them. She heard Anita practically sigh in the corner.
After all was said and done, asked the others to leave so she could explain to Cillian’s mum exactly who Helen was. She tried to keep it short and sweet, but the words burnt her tongue like she had eaten a spicy pepper and washed it down with sour candies.
She took some comfort in not being interrupted as she explained how she’d found out. Maureen didn’t utter a single word, only stared at the burning candle in the centre of the table. It was a lot to digest, burying your son and gaining a grandchild in the same day.
noticed Helen lingering by the door, looking rather green, still with a protective hand over her tummy. Maureen followed her gaze.
“I don’t believe a word of it,” she snarled suddenly, as though seeing Helen made it all real. “My son would never betray you. Even if he made a mistake, he would’ve told me. I understand why he might not have told you at first—he would’ve been terrified of losing you. All he did was talk about your future together, you were his everything. Always have been, and now I suppose you always will be.”
“I wanted to believe that too, but it’s true. If you’ve any doubts, you can request a paternity test. However, the guys believe her, and from what she has said herself, they were together for months. It wasn’t a mistake,” said, needing her to understand so she wouldn’t have to keep repeating the details.
Helen looked like she was about to burst into tears. A bruise was forming nicely where had struck her, and was mad at herself for losing control, but the balls on this woman were astonishing. But she had a child to provide for now. Cillian’s child. For their sake, swallowed her pride.
“Cillian is gone, but his child will be born in the next few months,” she told his mother. “You should know your grandchild. He would’ve wanted to make sure the child was looked after. I don’t doubt that the child is his, or he wouldn’t have put her in his will.”
“How can you be so calm? How long have you known about her? About the baby?” Maureen asked, as though accusing her of wrongdoing.
“I only found out in Munich.”
“Before the accident.” Maureen paled.
“Yes. I learnt about their…” The word ‘relationship’ choked her. “…situation when I went to their last concert. I only found out she was pregnant today,” she finished, wishing she was anywhere but here.
“I don’t know what to say.” Maureen leaned on the table. Such a shock wasn’t good for a woman in her sixties.
“There’s nothing to say,” said, numb to it all.
“My Cillian wouldn’t have done this! How could he be so careless, so cruel—and after how his father treated me. Cheating is the last thing I’d expect from him.”
hated seeing her like this.
“I wish I had answers for you. I’m still processing everything. But you should give Helen a chance, for the sake of his kid.” She didn’t want to be the bigger person, but the baby was innocent, and given that Cillian didn’t have any siblings, it was the last thing Maureen had of him.
“I don’t think I can stand to look at her.”
“Give it some time,” said, unable to fathom how she was defending the woman who had altered the course of their lives.
“How can you be so forgiving?” Maureen snapped, looking for someone, anyone to take her anger out on.
“I’m hurt, angry, disgusted, but I can’t yell at him, or throw things, or find out why he did what he did. He’s gone, and we’re here to make the best of this shitty situation.”
“I’m so sorry.” Maureen’s tone softened and tears glazed her eyes. “You’ve been like a daughter to me, and to see you treated so breaks my heart. I’d give him a good going over with a wooden spoon if I could.”
When their eyes met, they both laughed, only for gentle tears to follow. Maureen had been threatening them with the wooden spoon for most of their lives, but she had far too gentle a constitution to ever act on it.
“Just talk to her, if and when you want to,” said, taking Maureen’s hand. From the corner of her eye, she saw Mr Murray hand Helen an envelope.
“I don’t think I can bear it today.”
“No one expects you to. Mr Murray will have her information when you’re ready,” assured her, and Maureen nodded slowly.
“You’re more forgiving than I. When Cillian’s father left me and started a new family, I couldn’t get out of bed for a month. I swear I could’ve set him on fire.”
“Cillian is the one who broke my heart. She’s only guilty of falling in love with him.”
knew how charming Cillian could be. They’d spent so little time together since the tour began, and he hadn’t texted or called as much as he used to. Days would go by before they checked in with each other. She’d thought his tour anxiety had lessened, but he had found someone else to comfort him.
“You think she loved him?” Maureen asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“She came to his funeral and faced all of us, alone.”
’s words took a moment to settle in.
“Maybe I should say hi,” Maureen said eventually, smoothing her hands over her black skirt.
nodded, and Maureen kissed her cheek before leaving the table.
took a moment to catch her breath. She didn’t care what Cillian had left Helen. If anything it was the only considerate thing he’d done.
“Are you expecting a sainthood in your next life?” Axel said from behind her chair.
jumped as his words brushed her ear. “Were you eavesdropping?”
The will revelations had distracted her from thinking about their kiss. He took a seat beside her and scooted closer; she had the overwhelming desire to do it again.
“I didn’t mean to. I was hiding behind the door that connects this room to the sitting room,” he said gruffly, as though that were a rational thing to do.
“Why were you hiding?” she asked, trying not to stare at his lips.
He twisted a snake-shaped ring on his finger. “One of the cousins is a big fan, and she keeps following me around asking for my number. This place is too small to hide.”
“Poor rockstar can’t handle all his adoring fans,” she teased.
Axel’s expression hardened as she tried to deflect. “Don’t change the subject. Why’d you help Helen?”
“I didn’t.”
Axel distracted her by resting his hand too close to hers. His pinkie finger brushed hers, and suddenly she felt like she was the cheater. She placed her hand on her lap, and he smirked, knowing exactly what he was doing. He wasn’t going to let her escape without an answer.
“I helped Cillian’s mum.” rose from her chair and pushed it under the table. “I don’t want her to miss out on knowing her grandkid because of her loyalty to me. I didn’t do it for Cillian. I did it because she deserves something good after all this.”
“You really are too good for him.” Axel sighed and walked her to the front door.
“I did feel guilty about her nose,” admitted, trying to make light of it.
He smirked, and the way he was looking at her made the world feel a little less daunting.
She wasn’t sure whether to be glad when Nick called him away, but she took the chance to escape to her apartment, which she now knew she owned. It suddenly felt like everything in her life was tainted by Cillian’s secrets.