The Cries of the Butterfly - A LOVE STORY (84 page)

Something rose wildly from Grant’s stomach and choked his throat. To hear Wolf address him
Dad
for the very first time…it was just too much.

When he exited the ICU fifteen minutes later, his face was a mask. He was desperately fighting within himself not to weep. He so badly wanted to, but as head-of-family he had to be strong for the rest. It was the price you paid for being a leader—a price you never stopped paying, in your public or private life. He didn’t want to be a leader anymore, he wanted to be just a common human being once again. But there was no washing his hands off his responsibilities just yet. There was a deep ache in his chest as he went to his people and called a quick meeting in the lobby.

“He wants to see each one of us in turns,” he said. “But please, no one is to cry. That is the last thing he needs right now. So curb yourselves.”

They agreed.

Estelle was first in line. Grant watched her quietly enter the ICU. From somewhere deep within him came another furious assault and Grant scurried to the washroom and locked the door. And finally he broke down. He had lost all three of his sons over the last two years. What was there to live for anymore?

My celebrated family has paid,
he thought. Paid big time for the way they had treated Savannah. It wasn’t just Sage. Equally it was Art and Eric. It was the whole Butcher clan collectively.
For the way they violated this simple, trusting woman, my family has paid, and how! Nature always has a way of shelling out the just wages. My family deserves every bit of it.
But not Wolf.
He does not deserve this. He is the one innocent victim in all this.
He was the one hero the family had.
The only hero. The hero who corrected the grave wrong perpetuated by the top honchos of my family.

Over the years, human imagination had manufactured so many superheroes, for books and movies, all with superhuman powers and abilities, who fought imagined evil and single-handedly saved mankind from all types of concocted perils.
But can anyone hold a candle to this man?
Grant thought.
This very ordinary human being who has killed no one, maimed no one, who brings no supernatural powers with him…and yet he is a superhero in the truest sense of the word.

Then a realization struck him out of nowhere. He suddenly understood why he had felt so strongly about Savannah right from the very beginning and could never abandon her no matter what. As the first woman in Sage’s life, and the mother of his first child, she had rightfully belonged to this family…more than anyone else. This had somehow come through to him in some inexplicable way from the very moment he had first laid eyes on her.

And then it crashed down on Grant—a sudden thunderbolt of enlightenment.
Oh, my God!
ALL
of this was planned from the very beginning!…
this road to justice,
by some superpower, some superforce of Nature
…beyond human understanding. That he should feel so strongly about Savannah was just one of it. Then there was Stanley Knott.
He was merely an instrument, a puppet, of this Power. At his unwitting hands, half of my family was wiped out, while he himself escaped unscathed.
There was no reason for him to be the chauffeur that day, superseding other tested senior chauffeurs.
It was an Act of Nature, choosing him.

That was merely the first part of the justice.
For the second part, the superpower chose Wolf as its instrument.

And then another lightning of illumination.
Goodness gracious, it was no bloody coincidence either that he and Savannah met.
Again…
it was an Act of Nature!—a deliberate, carefully planned Act of Nature!
Grant told himself.
And what a masterstroke too!—selecting a member of the very family that had violated her to not only get her justice, but also to reunite mother and daughter and give them their rightful places…and to finally wipe out Art, the last surviving perpetrator, who had continued violating Savannah at every opportunity. … Multiple killings with a single stone! Oh, what bloody cunning!

Grant shook his head.
All this while, everything that was happening was happening under a larger scheme of things…way beyond the understanding of our puny human minds.

However, in that process, Wolf, this blameless man, will have suffered the ultimate penalty,
Grant thought bitterly.
But in Nature’s strike of justice there is no mercy and no half-measures! All who come in Her wake are pitilessly dealt with…even the mightiest. My family is an example of that.

.

E
stelle remained with Wolf for fifteen minutes. Then it was Stanley Knott’s turn.

Wolf beckoned him to come near him. Knott’s face disintegrated on seeing Wolf and he began to sob inconsolably.

“Stop it!” Wolf rasped hoarsely, his sunken eyes flashing angrily. “Or else get the fuck out of here! This is not a fucking cemetery, yet!” The effort contorted his face in acute pain.

Knott twitched, then somehow controlled himself. He made his way through the medical stuff and stood near the bed and bowed his head. But Wolf directed him to sit beside him.

“How are your daughters?”

Knott nodded.

“Now listen carefully. I have talked to President Butcher. He will arrange a job for you at Butcher Garden. As a gardener, okay? He will also ensure that your girls go to the best schools and colleges.” He regarded Knott for a moment. “And if you ever feel tempted to go back to your old ways, think of your daughters. It’ll help you remain focused.”

Knott grabbed Wolf’s arm. “I won’t, I promise you, Mr. Wolf. I…I…”

“Thank you so much.” Then his eyes dipped. “Please send Maddy Witcher…after five minutes.”

.

W
hen Maddy entered the ICU, Wolf’s eyes were still shut.

She looked at him and caught her breath sharply.

“Christ, no!” she murmured under her breath.

She waited by the foot of the bed, looking emptily around the room, no longer able to look at him. This was not the Wolf Butcher she knew. Top moviestar, the world’s sexiest man. To see him this way was excruciating.

The voice was low and clanging and she looked back at him.

He was summoning her.

She hesitated for a second, then walked laboriously over, knowing instinctively this was going to be tricky…very tricky.

He smiled at her. “See how the mighty have fallen,” he grinned, indicating his prostrate frame with a roll of the eyes. “I look like a dog’s dinner, don’t I?”

She didn’t say anything.

“Please sit beside me, Witch. Come close,” he said. So she did. “So now you want one last story?” he asked.

She shook her head fiercely.
I don’t, gosh, I don’t!
For once, she really didn’t.

“Still, I’m going to tell you one…one final tale, and I assure you it’s the biggest of them all,” he said. “But don’t you publish it or I’ll kill you.”

Old habits die hard and she flashed out reflexively. “Don’t be a prick! I’m not afraid of you, asshole.” And then she was immediately overcome by shame. “I’m so sorry, Wolf, I didn’t mean to…”

He grinned tiredly. “Don’t worry about it, Witch. I wouldn’t love you any other way.” He regarded her fondly. “You know what? I’m still a virgin. The world’s sexiest man, with a zillion girls at his feet, finally doesn’t get to make love at all. Does that make for a good story? Will it sell?”

What could she say? She simply looked at him, foolishly, helplessly, dreading opening her mouth.

“Where’s Clara?” he asked abruptly.

She gaped at him.
What?!

“Tell her I have no ill-will toward her, okay?” he said.

She remained quiet for a second, then she said, “So you forgive her?”

He gave a barely perceptible shake of his head. “Who am I to forgive anyone?”

“But she would be ever grateful to you just to hear the words from you, Wolf. Her soul will finally come to peace,” Maddy persisted.

He nodded feebly. “Okay then, get her. I’ll tell her.”

But Maddy knew there wasn’t enough time left for that.

He seemed to know that too. “Okay, just tell her then that I said I forgive her. … And tell her also that I thank her from the bottom of my heart for looking after Robin for the time that she did. I’ll be eternally grateful to her for that.”

“Thanks, Wolf, I’ll tell her that. You can’t imagine how much that’ll mean to her.”

“And thank you for facilitating with McKenzie…and thanks for keeping it a secret.”

She nodded faintly.

Suddenly, Wolf’s eyes began to dance mischievously.

“Do you want to have sex with me, Witch?”

She gawked at him, startled.

“You always said your greatest fantasy was to lay me, didn’t you? Well, Holly-boy is helpless now, you can do as you please. I promise you I won’t protest.”

She swallowed rapidly. Why was he doing this?

He clicked his tongue. “But I don’t think you’ll even find my dick now. It must have shrunk into nothingness.”

Something yanked at her heart, something to make her want to cry.

“All these days she just couldn’t help getting back at me at the slightest opening. Look at her now—not a word comes out of the witch’s mouth. Mad Witch!” Then, his eyes shining wickedly, he added, “You were always after me to show you my dick, to let you hold it, weren’t you? Guess what? I’m going to make your day. Pull my pajamas down and seize it, Maddy. Touch it. Feel it. Behold it.”

Stop! Please stop it, Wolf, have a little pity!

“I’m fucking serious, Maddy,” he whispered. “I don’t want you to die wondering.” His face
was
serious.

Her temples began to throb.
Jesus, I’m going to freak out!
She was going to go mad if this didn’t stop.

“Are you going to refuse a dying man one last wish, Maddy?”

Sudden anger hit her.
Oh you manipulative bastard!

But he kept looking at her relentlessly, almost pleadingly.

She shook her head miserably.
Please don’t be so cruel, Wolf, oh please!

But then, to her utter shock, she found herself complying…complying to the fullest, behaving robotically.

His face lighted up. “See, finally I got you, Witch. Oh, finally!” he chuckled joyfully.

Then he slipped back into a doze.

She was completely overwhelmed. She leapt to her feet and darted out of the room.

.

“
I
want you to stay on at Butcher Garden,” Wolf murmured to Rochelle. “Dad will be left all alone.”

“There’s Savannah and Robin now,” Rochelle said.

“It’s not enough. The house is too big for just four people.”

“Like me staying on would make a substantial difference.”

“It would. You are the soul of that place. Without you, Butcher Garden would be a graveyard. So please stay.”

She regarded him solemnly. His eyes had descended deep in their sockets, but they still shimmered with his spirit. She inhaled.

“Please try to understand, Wolf, I need a life of my own. I…”

“You’re free now, Roch. Art is no longer there. You can stay at Butcher Garden and still have a life of your own. You can do whatever pleases you while staying there.”

“No, I can’t. I can never really feel free out there. My psyche’s badly dented. I need to make a clean break, Wolf. I need a complete change of scene.”

His face fell. “You could’ve at least lied to me. It would’ve made me so happy.”

“I don’t want to lie to you, Wolf. Never,” she said, almost plaintively.
At least not for the last.

He nodded. “You’re a good woman, Roch,” he said. “But promise me one thing then—if you ever need any help, you’ll go to Dad. You won’t let pride get in the way.”

“That I promise,” she said sincerely. “At the same time I want to fight it out and make it on my own. That’s the only way I can regain my self-worth and achieve true satisfaction and fulfillment.”

“I’m so proud of you,” he said, a look of affection coming to his eyes. “You have come such a long way in so short a time.”

“Thank Uncle Grant for that. He gave me the strength, the belief. But I’m just starting out. I have a long, long way to go.”

She impulsively placed a hand on her stomach. A surge of emotion filled her chest.
He doesn’t know…he doesn’t know a darn thing,
she thought. She so badly wanted to tell him about it…to thank him, to thank him over and over. Yet, she knew she couldn’t. He had so proudly remained celibate all his life, keeping it for that exclusive woman, for that unique occasion. She didn’t want to break his heart with the truth. Let him go in peace with the knowledge that he was true to Savannah till the very end. So finally, she
was
lying to him.

She remembered what she’d told him once.
If truth be told, you are nothing but the world’s biggest loser, Wolf,
she’d said contemptuously. And she had meant it.
But oh, Wolf, how wrong I was…how horribly, horribly wrong! You are no loser, my beloved friend, you are the biggest winner this screwed up planet has had the privilege of ever seeing.
A winner who had saved her life and set her free. … And a winner who had given her, a condemned woman, the magical potion that had liberated her from a lifetime of darkness and despair and deceit…