Chapter Forty-Nine
MICHAEL
I could hardly believe it when my secretary called me to inform me that this man had had the courage to come to the company to speak to me.
I allowed him to come up to my office, and I stood up, standing in front of my desk, staring at the elevator and waiting for the door to open with his arrival.
I didn't intend to sit down or invite him to do the same. Whatever he wanted from me, he had to do it quickly. After all, it was almost time for Camila to finish work and, as always, the agreement was that I would wait for her at the exit so that we could leave together.
With two days to go until the hearing, the last thing I wanted to do was stress out over those people.
The elevator door opened, and the figure of Caleb Harris appeared before my eyes. My mother had been right when she called him old. It wasn't something directly related to his actual age, but to the frowning and grumpy expression he always carried on his face.
“Michael Turner. How are you?” he greeted me.
I wasn't going to waste time responding to the greeting or returning the polite question.
“What brings you here?” I asked straight away.
“Aren't you going to invite me to sit down or offer me a cup of coffee? I've been to this office a few times during your father's tenure and he's always been very polite to his visitors.”
“I'm in a hurry, Caleb. If you could get straight to the point of why you're here, I'd appreciate it.”
“All right. I came to propose a deal to you.”
It was so ridiculous that I couldn't help but laugh at such pretension. Did he really think that, at that point, I would agree to make a deal with him?
“For God's sake, Caleb, did you waste your time coming all the way here for this?”
“Let's be honest, Michael: you don't have much of a chance of winning this case. A good settlement could be very advantageous for you.”
I should just kick that son of a bitch out of my office. But I wanted to know how audacious he was.
“And what would be your proposal?”
“Weekly visits, at our home, under supervision, and perhaps we can include a few weekends a year for her to stay with you, as long as she is accompanied by a nanny and one of our security guards.”
That was ridiculous.
“I won't agree to that. I'm Alice's father and she should stay with me. Without having a security guard following me around like I'm a delinquent.”
“You know that's not going to happen, Michael. You've already shown that you're not capable of taking care of her safety. I know you're trying to create a false image of a changed man, of a family man, but you have no way of knowing if that will convince the judge.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You may think you're fooling the press and the public, Michael, but not us. We know you didn't know that girl, Camila Collins, until the day of the company party. After my lawyers contacted yours, she magically became your fiancée.”
It was obvious that he knew. The guy Julian, who was the one who booked the room for us and who probably also put the drugs in our drinks, even talked to us.
.. The unfortunate man was even invited to be our 'best man'.
However, that was the part of the story that Caleb and Margaret certainly didn't want to make public.
“Seriously? How can you say something like that, Caleb? Unless you were watching me. Just from the videos you had access to, it’s impossible to say something like that.”
He smiled, which was a rare occurrence. We both knew what had happened.
“You're right. I can't say something I don't know. But I can say something else with certainty: you’re trying to destroy that girl's life just as you did my daughter's.”
That bastard... how could he say such an atrocity?
“You were the ones who made Leah's life hell.”
“We just wanted her to study, to take an interest in the family business. After she ended up, in her rebellion, getting pregnant, we wanted to make sure our granddaughter had a decent future. You were just an irresponsible playboy who would probably end up bankrupting the office your father left you. Would, no: will .”
“Things are going very well around here, as you can see.”
“Still a reflection of your brother's management.
How long will this continue? You don't even know what you're doing here, you didn't even finish college.
But, getting back to the girl... your supposed fiancée.
.. You think being about to get married counts in your favor, don't you?
And that it's no big deal that you were caught getting drunk with the girl at a party. But... what if this is a recurring negative behavior?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, those aren't the only images I have. The night of Alice's party, for example... what did you guys do when you left there?”
That made me feel as if all the blood in my body had suddenly frozen. However, I said nothing and let that scoundrel continue telling what he knew, “Well... you went to a bar and got drunk again... so much so that your future wife made a pass at a guy, and you... my goodness, you attacked him.”
“Are you really going to try to use that lame argument? The guy is in jail and confessed to what he did: he put a sedative in Camila's drink.”
“You can present evidence of this in court.
But will it do any good in the face of a publicly burned image?
Imagine the press having access to the videos of that night.
.. What will they say about you? Worse, what will they say about the girl?
I learned that she was raised by her grandmother, imagine the poor old lady having to listen to comments about her granddaughter's totally promiscuous behavior?”
At that, I couldn't control myself any longer.
I grabbed Caleb by the collar and pushed him until his back hit the wall.
I forced my forearm against his neck, bringing my face close to his and looking him straight in the eyes, letting him see all my hatred.
The phone on my desk rang, but I completely ignored it.
“Leave Camila out of this!” I yelled.
“How can I leave her out of this? She's your fiancée, isn't she? She's the one who's supposed to be raising my granddaughter with you if you win the lawsuit.”
“I already said that I can prove what that man did, that Camila was his victim.”
“By the time you can prove it, the girl will have already faced a complete mob lynching.
And besides... He confessed what he did, but did he mention who ordered it?
In the space of a few days, they tried to kidnap Michael Turner's fiancée and daughter. It only further reinforces how much of a risk you pose to those close to you. Unless...”
“Unless what?”
“Unless you agree to the deal.”
Bastard!
Damned son of a bitch!
I pressed my arm tighter against his neck. He seemed to gasp for air, but I didn't mind at all. To my surprise, he didn't seem to mind either and even smiled, amidst his expression of pain. He even managed to speak again, albeit with difficulty.
“Are you really willing to do anything to gain custody of Alice? Even destroy the life of an innocent person? Before she met you, she was a young architect with a bright future ahead of her, a discreet woman who had never been involved in any controversy.”
He couldn't say anything else, because the strength in my arm increased even more. I was completely blinded by hatred and would have done something crazy, if it weren't for the hands of someone — who I soon realized was my secretary — pulling me, while she screamed.
“Mr. Turner, stop! You'll end up killing him!”
Killing him was all I wanted at that moment. But suddenly, I was overcome by a lapse of awareness of the magnitude of the mistake I was about to make.
I let go of him, turning my back and taking a few steps away while running my hands through my hair in an attempt to calm myself. Caleb fell to the floor and Emma, my secretary, crouched down beside him, checking to see if he was okay.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Emma. “Why didn’t you call before you came up?”
“I called, sir. Several times, but you didn't answer. Forgive me for barging in like this, but it's an emergency.”
“What kind of emergency?”
“Mrs. Camila, your fiancée, got into a problem.”
I stopped walking at that moment, looking at Emma for an explanation.