Married On Paper To The Billionaire
Chapter 33: Mourning The Undead

Five months passed and Tiara Beaumont was still missing. Finally, the family came to terms with the painful truth that she may never be found.

It was a hard pill to swallow but everyone had to accept the sad reality and carry on with their lives. Emilia showered all of her attention on Travis while Kane buried himself in work.

"Do you have any plans for Travis' second birthday?" Elsie asked Emilia one afternoon while they sat in the garden, enjoying the warm outdoor weather.

"No," she said flatly. "What's there to celebrate? His twin is still missing."

"And she will be found eventually."

"Please, stop saying that. There's no point hanging on to false hopes."

"Fine. But let's have a small party for dear Travis. Let's not deprive him of a celebration because of - "

"Don't say it."

"I'm sorry."

"Please, don't apologize. If you insist, you can organize a small party for him but there won't be any guests."

"That's fair enough."

They had a quiet celebration a week later to mark Travis' birthday. As agreed, only members of the Beaumont household were in attendance except for Jack. "When was the last you heard from him?" Kane asked Lillian.

"That should be three days ago. He was in Doha for a friend's birthday party," she replied. "He'll probably return home today."

But he didn't. Instead, they got a call later that day from the American embassy in Qatar reporting Jack's death from a possible drug overdose.

The Beaumont family descended into emotional chaos after the news. Elsie fainted, Lillian screamed nonstop, Emilia wailed and Kane struggled to hold onto his emotions.

Even Samuel who wasn't Jack's favorite person wept when he returned from work and heard the tragic news. He may not have liked his brother-in-law but he surely hadn't wanted him dead either.

Kane swung into action, liaising with the Qatari authorities to transport Jack's body back home. It took several days for that to happen, but once the body arrived, funeral plans were already underway. "You should rest, my love. You don't look good at all," Emilia told her husband a few days before the funeral.

"I know. I'll take a break after this is over."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He sat on their bed and she climbed behind him and began to massage his tense shoulders. He sighed with satisfaction as she worked the muscles under his shoulder blades.

After a few minutes, she embraced him from behind lovingly. That was when Kane lost it and began to cry.

"Go ahead, darling. Let it all out," Emilia said softly and held him tightly while he cried.

He wept for his dead brother who would never wake up again or tell silly jokes or even get married and have kids. He wept for his daughter who might already be dead or in a terrible place, never to be found by her family again. He'd never been so depressed in his life. He wished he could press the rewind button and go back in time before life became this shitty.

"Everything is going to be alright," she whispered in his ear and guided him to lie down on the bed.

He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He was emotionally and physically exhausted.

The funeral was a gloomy affair. Elsie who was still ill had insisted on attending. She stood rigidly near the grave like a statue.

Lillian was an emotional wreck and cried nonstop while Samuel did his best to console her. Emilia and Kane were numb but they did their best to act normal for the sake of their guests.

It was a brief ceremony and after Jack's coffin was lowered to the grave and sand was thrown on him, everyone turned around to leave except Elsie who requested to be left alone for a few minutes there.

As they exited the cemetery, Emilia was shocked when she saw Serena walking towards them. She was dressed in a tight black dress that highlighted her large belly.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Emilia asked her. "How dare you come to this place? Have you no shame? This is a private family event!"

"I am family!" Serena retorted.

Emilia turned towards Kane for support but he was just standing there, staring at Serena's belly with wide eyes and an open mouth. "What, Kane? Cat got your tongue? Aren't you going to say hello to me and your baby?"

"What?" Emilia practically screamed.

Serena giggled. "Oh, hubby didn't tell you? Well, for your information, Mrs Beaumont, I am pregnant with your husband's child." "Shut your mouth!" Emilia snapped at her. She faced Kane again and said, "Say something!"

He finally recovered from his shock. "Serena, what is this?"

"What does it look like?" She replied nastily. "I'm having your baby."

"But - "

"You thought I'd aborted it? Fat chance!"

"Wait... Kane, you knew she was pregnant?"

Kane tried to speak but no words came out of his mouth as he moved his jaw. This was an unexpected shocker and he didn't even know how to react.

"Oh, my god..." Emilia whispered in despair. "You knew. You've known this whole time that she was pregnant and you didn't say anything? You didn't tell me?"

"That's because he was hoping that I'd do as he said and abort the baby," Serena answered. "Well, I didn't, as you can see."

"I am so sorry, Emilia. I didn't know - "

"Not another lie, Kane. Don't patronize me. Do I look like a fool to you? You've been carrying on with her after she supposedly raped you and abducted our daughter. How could you?" "What's going on here?" Elsie asked, coming to join them.

"Hello, Grandmother," Serena greeted her politely.

Elsie frosted her with a look. "I beg your pardon?"

"Sorry, I meant to say, Mrs Beaumont. Anyway, you're about to be a grandmother again."

"What?"

"She claims to be pregnant with Kane's child," Emilia explained bitterly.

"That cannot be! How dare you come to my son's funeral to accuse my older son of being the father of your child? What sort of disrespect is this? Aren't you Lillian's former employee?" "Yes, ma'am, I am. But I assure you, this isn't a frivolous accusation. Mr Beaumont and I did have sex seven months ago in the mansion and this is the result sitting in my belly." Elsie faced her son. "Is this true?"

As you reach the final pages, remember that 000005s.com is your destination for the complete story. Share the joy of reading with others and spread the word. The next chapter is just a visit away! Kane was too shaken to respond. Instead, Serena dug into her bag and brought out some papers which she handed to Elsie.

"That is a printout of the email your son sent to me months ago, instructing me to have an abortion."

Elsie accepted the papers with shaky hands.

"As you can see, those are the cheques he gave me too. He gave me the first one the morning after we had sex, and the second one was supposed to be a payment for the abortion." Emilia gasped when she saw the cheques. "Two point five million dollars?"

"That's right," Serena said smugly. "As you can see, I haven't cashed them yet and I will not because this isn't about the money for me."

"What do you want then?" Emilia shouted at her.

"Your husband!"

Elsie folded the papers carefully and handed them back to Serena. "Who else knows about this?"

"Nobody."

"Good. Let's keep it that way. In the meantime, we'll keep a close eye on you and ask our family physician to conduct a DNA test on the baby. We can't have you hanging around us if the baby doesn't belong to my son." "Fair enough," said Serena with satisfaction.

"What's going on?" Emilia asked angrily.

Elsie gave her an icy look. "Stop being dramatic. Let's all go home and talk about it. No need to cause a scene."

She walked away and Emilia stared at her mother-in-law with wonder. She glanced at Kane and saw him watching her with apologetic eyes.

"Please, tell me this isn't happening," she said desperately.

"I'm so sorry, Emilia," he said softly. "I am so so sorry."

"I see..." she said and walked away, disappointed.

****

"I can't believe it!" Lillian said angrily. "How dare she?"

Emilia sighed. They were in the art room and she was giving her sister-in-law an account of what happened at the cemetery. Both Lillian and Samuel had already left before Serena showed up. "And what did Kane say to all this?"

"Nothing. He just stared at Serena and apologized to me. I felt so humiliated and stupid."

"Gosh, I'm so angry right now!"

"Imagine your husband having a baby with the same person that abducted his daughter. He didn't only betray me but he betrayed Tiara too."

"That girl should be in jail by now. We should have damned the consequences of whatever secrets she wanted to expose back then and pressed charges against her."

"Well, too bad she's going to get away with her crime especially now that Mother is involved."

Lillian sighed. "This is so frustrating. I'm so sorry, Emilia." "Oh, well..."

As you reach the final pages, remember that 000005s.com is your destination for the complete story. Share the joy of reading with others and spread the word. The next chapter is just a visit away! "What would you do if the baby turned out to be Kane's for real?"

Emilia shrugged. "What can I do? I'm just an innocent bystander at this point."

"Damn. This is all my fault. I was the one that employed that lunatic and gave her access to our home. I exposed this family to danger."

"Please, don't say that. None of this is your fault. You wouldn't have hired Serena if you knew she was a loony."

Lillian laughed. "I haven't heard that word in a long time. Jack used to call everyone a loony."

Her laughter changed to tears at the mention of her little brother's name. Emilia embraced her sister-in-law and consoled her as she cried.

The rest of their time together was spent in companionable silence. It had been a difficult day for everyone.

Emilia skipped dinner because she wasn't hungry or interested in struggling to make small talk at the table. She sent one of the maids to get her nighty and sleepwear from her room and bring it to Travis' room where she would be spending the night.

She didn't want to see Kane, talk to him or even listen to him talk. He'd hurt her too deeply for her to accept just another "I'm sorry" and a bunch of lame excuses.

"Mommy, sleep on Ti-Ti's bed," Travis said to her and led her to Tiara's bed.

Tears welled in Emilia's eyes. "Thanks, baby but Ti-Ti's bed is too small for Mommy."

"Where is Ti-Ti?" He asked innocently.

"Well... I think she's in heaven dancing with the angels."

"Can I go too?"

"To where? Heaven?"

He nodded vigorously.

"Oh, honey. Not yet. Don't leave Mommy alone yet, ok?"

He nodded again. "And Daddy too."

"Yes, and Daddy too. Don't leave us yet, ok?"

"OK."

She kissed his forehead and embraced him tightly. "I love you, Trav. Never forget that, ok?"

"Ok," he replied and yawned.

"Oh, dear. Somebody's sleepy already," she laughed. "Come on, let's get you into bed."

She tucked him into bed and told him to choose a storybook from a nearby shelf. He did and she began to read it in a low voice.

He was already asleep before she got to the third page. She closed the book softly and returned it to its place, then she curled up on the makeshift bed that one of the nannies had brought for her.

She'd dismissed them for the night earlier because she wanted to have some alone time with her son. She fell asleep almost immediately and she dreamt...

... in the dream, she saw Tiara running through a meadow, laughing and picking flowers randomly. She was so happy and Emilia ran after her, trying to catch up with her daughter.

"Come back, Sweetheart, please!" She called out to her adorable toddler.

Tiara stopped running and faced her mother. She was holding a bouquet of wildflowers in her little hands.

She offered the colorful flowers to Emilia and said, "I'm coming home, Mommy!"