Addicted To Greed (29 page)

With this they both broke down in to fits of giggles forgetting
the money and their daddy momentarily. Before they started
cooking they enjoyed a few glasses of red, it was simply
delicious. Ella thought it was nice to see Destiny relax a little
and it was also good for her to have her little sis here, how she
missed adult conversation sometimes, raising three children
made you focus on them and forget about yourself, get lost in
their lives not really having one of your own.

“We should do this more often, h
ow I have missed your
company Destiny, the boys really love having you around, now
you’re finally here I don’t want you to leave, promise you’ll stay
at least for a week?”
“Well if you put it like that, how could I resist, since the money
came I gave up my job at the consultancy, I was so fed up of the
nine to five bullshit, it gave me great pleasure to hand my notice
in, you should of seen old Stanley’s face, I thought he was going
to have a fit or some kind of attack! I’d have loved to have
captured that moment on camera, as much as I was tempted to
get my mobile out and take a snap shot I thought better of it, I
didn’t want to rub it in too much, rumors were already flying
round about my inheritance and you never know if I need a
reference again in the future, I know old Stanley would give me
a glowing one.”

“Wow
, I had no idea, I am so sorry I have been wrapped up with
signing paperwork and securing this house, I really didn’t give
any thought to anything else. Hey well done for quitting I know
how much you hated that job, lets drink on that.”

“I presume you gave up your job at the boutique, how did Queen
Elisabeth take that?”

“She actually got me into her office and asked me again if I
wanted her to accept my resignation, can you believe that? She
said if I had wrote it in haste she would definitely reconsider and
forget all about it.”

“I guess it was hard for her to believe in all the years you
worked for her as a dogs body you were actually leaving, did
you explain to her, you no longer needed her pittance? Her
minimum wage to survive and exist in this life any longer, that
you had been left some money only she could ever dream
about?”

“I never put it as brutally as that, although I can tell you I was
tempted, I told her that our father had left me a lot of money in
his will and I no longer needed to work, although it had been a
great honor to work for her over the last seventeen years. I even
thanked her for been the greatest employer, I guess she wasn’t
always the old dragon I made her out to be, after all, without that
job I wouldn’t of been able to put food into the boys mouths for
all those years, I felt I owed her some gratitude and she was
extremely flexible about the children, I don’t know if I would of
ever found another employer like her to be honest, I guess I will
miss her in a way, even some of her old fashioned militant
ways.”

“Oh Ella,
your such the forgiving type when it suits, a regular
Floris Nightindale, I admire your style, that was a very
honorable thing to do. Let’s raise our glasses to that!”

“Chin Chin, lets drink on being rich and jobless for once in our
lives, it feels good don’t you think? I never thought I’d be sitting
here in my very own wonderful house toasting this rare
occasion.”

“
All Curtsey of daddy let’s not forget, otherwise we wouldn’t be
sat here now, he made this all possible, lets drink on him and
hope wherever he is he is, he’s at peace.”
Ella wondered if this was a sign of Destiny finally growing up
and putting the past behind her, forgiving Daddy once and for
all.
She really hoped so.

Ella’s raised her glass, “To
daddy thanks for making all this
possible, we miss you and I hope wherever you are you can hear
us!”

Ella finally plucked up enough courage to go upstairs and open
her yellow envelope, while Destiny started preparing her risotto
in solitude, the way she preferred.

It took Ella a few moments and a few deep breaths and finally
she opened it, it contained three journals, one with her name on
it, one with her fathers and another name she had never heard of
before, the name was Benjamin Pearson, could this be an
ancestor she didn’t know about? Who was he? She opened this
first, and saw a picture of a cute baby boy, upon further
inspection she noticed the baby looked like he had some form of
Down syndrome, poor little might, who was he? Without a
second thought she opened her journal and in it there was a letter
explaining who the boy was, she could hardly believe what she
was reading.

Dearest Ella,

I hope you find three journals within the contents of this
envelope, it was a hard decision for me to make at the height of
my illness, I just hope it’s one you can understand.

I have enclosed the journal of Benjamin Pearson, my son, who
was born with Down syndrome, he is a beautiful boy and such
an inspiration to me, I hope in time he will be to you. Welcome
sweetheart to your new brother who was born a little different to
you, Chase and Destiny. You may be wondering why I haven’t
told you about him before now, I wasn’t hiding him away, I was
simply protecting him from a cruel world, I doubt he would ever
understand in which there is not much acceptance to people who
are a little different. I couldn’t bear for him to be ridiculed and
taunted, so he lives with people who have a similar condition,
where there is acceptance, tolerance, and understanding. He
likes fishing and the great outdoors, we go fishing every other
weekend and his favorite spot is Ilkley Bay, down by the harbor.
Another love of his is football although he professes he needs
more practice; I can see I have a potential star on my hands.
Felicity is his mother unfortunately and she hasn’t made any
contact with him for over seven years, embarrassed of his
condition, thinking it would cramp her style if she was to be seen
with him, she has never accepted him and his condition.

Another shock I am afraid my dear, I am not Bonnies father, I
had a paternity test, the same I had with Benjamin when he was
born and it turns out Felicity was having an affair with a very
important politician, in whom she is blackmailing for money.
She is not the woman she appeared to be, I made the mistake of
falling for her well practiced charms a long time ago, I couldn’t
resist been in a foreign country alone, away from my beloved
family, it was never my intention to cheat on your mother, it was
merely an act of lunacy, given the chance I would never repeat.
The stupid night of passion with this woman led to black mail,
she threatened to tell your mother and little did I know she had
set up an undercover photographer who produced glossaries to
compliment her threats, I was devastated and knew I had acted
like a love struck teenager, the shame I felt for you, Destiny,
Chase, and your mother was overwhelming, there was no way I
would let this get out and destroy and hurt my family in whom
meant the world to me. I was however given an ultimatum by
Felicity, that if I divorced your mother and married her, the
photographs would never go into publication, in the event I
didn’t they would be sent to a contact of hers in the Daily mail
and put on the front pages of every English newspaper in
England. There was no way I could risk this, your wonderful
devoted mother, you young innocent children getting to know of
my indiscretions, that I was very ashamed of, no way I wasn’t
going to let that happen, so I served your mother with divorce
papers and well I don’t have to tell you the rest as you all
suffered as a result of this, in which I have never been able to
forgive myself. I missed the best years of all your lives in which
I deeply regret and I know there is nothing I can do to reverse
this and this is my saddest last thought while I lay here tonight
thinking of you all.
I have also enclosed a journal of your birth
and your younger years, alongside a diary of my own, I hope
you get the chance to read it. I could say so much more to you
Ella, I was always very proud of your choices I was just too
stubborn to admit it, as I just wanted the best for you as any
father would. I do hope you can find it in your heart to forgive
me for my mistakes in life and remember me as a father that will
always love you and look upon you from time to time.

Please before you give your brother and sister their envelopes,
think about what I have told you and proceed with caution if you
feel that’s the right thing to do, or tell them the truth it is your
decision and I will always respect that.

I wish you all the best in life and I really hope you enjoy the
money you more than deserve it, my dear.

I hope you can find in your heart the compassion for your new
brother and embrace him the way I embraced you all when you
entered this world, he is a very special boy in whom I would
wish the three of you get to know, trust me he is worth every
minute of it, his address details are in his journal, I am sure he
would like you to visit.

All my love
Daddy x

Ella had to reread the letter several times, each time it reduced
her to tears, why after all this time the truth finally of what
happened came out in the form of a letter! She knew what she
had to do and it was going to be very difficult.
She joined Destiny downstairs grabbing the nearest bottle of
wine and swigged it back; she needed all the Dutch courage in
the world right now.

“Slow down girl, there’s plenty more of that; let me get you a
glass at least.”
“Oh, don’t bother, what’s the point it all goes down the same
way right?”

Destiny was shocked by her
sister’s antics; she left the rice
simmering and sat opposite her sister wondering what the hell
had gotten in to her.

“Ella, what’s up? What’s with all the drinking out of the bottle?”
Ella couldn’t find the words to speak and sat there staring into
space, clutching the letter from her father.

Destiny refilled her own glass with a fresh bottle from the
fridge, returning to her seat opposite Ella, curious to know what
had happen to change her sisters mood.

“Is it the boys? Are they playing up again? Do you want me to
go upstairs and have a word?”
Ella shook her head from side to side signalling a no answer.
Destiny noticed the pieces of paper in her hand and asked,
“What is it Ella, your beginning to worry me now?”

Ella broke her silence and whispered, “This letters from daddy, I
can’t quite get my head around it, here see it for yourself!”
Ella studied Destiny whilst she read the letter, she took hold of
her hand trembling hand and placed it close to her chest, in
shock and disbelief.

Destiny did as she had done a few moments earlier and re-read
the letter trying to let the news sink in, until the tears prevented
her from reading it anymore.

Ella opened her arms and Destiny fell in to them sobbing, they
both consoled one another for what seemed like an eternity, until
Brody came down and started to complain about the smell of
burning.

“Mum are we supposed to be eating this tonight, it stinks?”

“Oh Bro
ody sweetheart, it’s my fault, your mum and me got
chatting as we do and I completely forgot about it, how about
we order dominos, my treat?”

“Yeah that would be cool, can I have an extra large Texas
barbecue chicken, with chicken wings and French fries, can
Timothy have, hang on let me go upstairs and ask him.”

“Tell you what sweetheart, make a list, ask your brother to write
down what he´d like and bring it back downstairs and I´ll order
it straight away, how’s that for a deal?”

“You’re the best Aunt Destiny; just give me a few minutes.”

“Thanks
Destiny, I’ll be right back, I can hear Anna crying, she
must be hungry.”
They continued to drink into the early hours, talking how they’d
get in touch with the hospital to arrange a visit, they read every
little detail in Benjamin’s journal, it felt like they were already
getting to know him. Daddy had also put pictures to accompany
his birth, up until his current age; he was just so adorably so
cute. They couldn’t wait to finally meet him.

Destiny called Chase to ask him to come over in the morning
informing him that daddy had left them all their own separate
journals of their births, however she didn’t mention Benjamin,
but she mentioned that they had a little surprise waiting for him
upon his arrival.

Chase agreed excitedly, he couldn’t wait to see Ella’s new house
and the boys as it would be the last day as he needed to get back
to his job in and fiancé in Hong Kong within the week.

When
Ella’s head finally hit the pillows, she automatically felt
dizzy from all the wine, she lay reflecting for a while on her
father’s letter, she couldn’t help but think that Felicity was one
evil bitch, she never imagined her to be so vindictive, turning
her back on her own disabled son, never bothering with him.

Before she knew it morning was upon her and she heard Destiny
getting the boys up for school, she wiped her eyes and realised
she was in her new home, she couldn’t help but smile, a few
moments later the realisation of what they discovered yesterday
came flooding back to her, for those few moments been in
between two worlds, she enjoyed, no stress, no worries, just
peace with herself.
Why couldn’t life be as simple as that?

Destiny knocked at the door “Wakey wakey sleepy head rise and
shine, fresh coffee on the go!”
“Where’s Anna?”

“Having her breakfast in her high chair, hurry she’s talking all
kinds of babble but I am sure one of her words she said was
mama.”

Ella grabbed her dressing gown and looked out of the window at
the beautiful sky line forming just above the lakes, she had to
nip herself, no longer the grey drab views of Pens borough
industrial wastage, god she had come a long way, in a short
period of time. Life was beginning to change for the better and
she was sure as hell wasn’t going to let anyone destroy it!