The Billionaire's Obsessed Concubine

Chapter 7 - Suffocating

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Tyler

.........

I sigh, stopping at my parents’ place, still thinking about Lia. It feels weird being without her, and I know my parents are going to ask, and I have no idea what I'm going to tell them. I exit the car and head inside.

“Hi, baby," mom says, coming to hug me as I enter the house, and I hug her back, asking how she's doing.

"I’m well, honey. How are you? Where’s Lia?" She asks, pulling back from the hug, and I tell her Lia won't be joining us today, adding she asked me to convey her apologies.

"Oh, is she alright? I mean, she always comes over. I-" she asks, probably because I haven't looked her in the eye once. I'm scared she'll see something is up if I do. I cut her off, telling her she's tired. She had a very late night before quickly changing the topic.

"Where's Kiara? Are dad and Brady at the back?" I quickly ask, trying to avoid more questions I might not be able to answer, and she says they're at the back and Kiara is with them.

I kiss her on the cheek and head to them. My explanation does not convince her regarding Lia's absence, but I don't know what else to tell her.

"Hey," I greet Maya, Brady's girlfriend, running into her in the kitchen, and we share a hug.

"Daddy!" Just then, I hear Kiara, and I turn around to find her running up to me, and I pick her up. "There’s Daddy’s Angel," I reply, placing a kiss on her forehead, and we hug.

"I’ve missed you so much," I tell her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and she giggles as I dot more kisses on her face. "I missed you too, daddy. Did you rest? Nana said you were tired," she asks, and I tell her I am rested as we make our way to dad and Brady.

"Where’s Aunty Lia?" She asks, looking around, probably expecting to see her following closely behind, and I tell her Aunt Lia is also tired like dad was and is resting. I can see she's disappointed, but she understands. She asks me to give Lia lots of kisses from her, and I tell her I will, my heart clenching, thinking about our situation.

"I saved you some cupcakes; I’m going to get them," she says, causing me to set her down, and I warn her to be careful as she bolts inside the house, almost falling.

"She reminds me of you at her age," my dad speaks, causing me to turn around, and I see him coming behind me. We share a hug, and I ask him how he's doing. He says he's well, and we head out to the braai area, where we find Brady busy with the meat.

"I figured you'd be late," Brady says with a knowing smirk, handing me a can of beer, and I thank him. I open it and take a sip before placing it aside and picking up the braai tongs to help turn the meat.

"Lia inside?"

"No, she’s not joining us today."

"Oh."

"Yeah." I sigh, putting more meat on the fire, and there's silence for a moment before Kiara comes back with the cupcakes. She hands me three and stands in front of me, waiting for me to try them, and I do. I bite one and compliment them, causing a big smile on my angel's face, and she walks over to Brady and my dad with the rest.

"So, last night... things looked pretty heated between you and Lia. Are you a thing now?" he asks, and I tell him we are not.

"So, just a one-night stand then?"

"Yeah, pretty much it."

"You want to talk about it?" he asks, putting the tongs aside, and I can feel his eyes on me as I look everywhere but at him, hoping he would drop this topic.

"No, not really, no."

"That's too bad because I’m not letting it go. I told you about all my weird one-night stands," he says, smirking, and I sigh, running my fingers through my hair.

"That’s the thing; this was not just some weird one-night stand with some random chick. Besides, you know I don’t kiss and tell."

"I can tell when something is bothering you. This is me asking you to talk to me. I saw the minute you came in that you were not yourself. And judging from your previous answer about you and Lia, I know it has something to do with her. You care about her, and-"

"-Fine," I cut him off, not as irritated as I appear at the prospect of offloading to someone. "She ran away from me this morning."

"Ran away? What do you mean?"

"I received a call from my mom, and I left her in bed to take it. I decided not to go back to bed when I was done because I didn’t want to wake her. So I started making breakfast instead. A few minutes later, she came downstairs, dressed, and told me she had to go. She said no to breakfast; she was all tense and didn’t look me in the eye once. For the first time since I've known her, it was like I was suffocating her. Like she... she couldn’t breathe around me," my voice comes out softer, saying the last part as my heart sinks very low all over again.

"Maybe you read too much into it; maybe she had to go somewhere."

"…Where? She even called an Uber man. That’s how much she couldn't handle being in the same space as me. She couldn’t even let me take her home," I reply, leaning against the wall, frustrated and defeated, and Brady steps up to me and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"I’m sorry, bro," he says, and just then, we hear mom's voice and quickly change the topic. She walks up to us to collect the meat and asks if everything is okay, looking between Brady and me, and we both answer at the same time, saying it is. The last thing I need is for her to find out about this. Brady passes her the meat, and I take off my hoodie, the fire making me very hot.

.

.

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...........

Chris

...........

It’s Monday, and I’m in my office doing some paperwork when there’s a knock on my door, and I look up to find the last person I want to see.

"Christian!" she cheerfully says, coming over to hug me, and my mood instantly changes.

"Mother," I soberly reply, rigid as she hugs me.

"You’re not going to hug me back? Or at least pretend you’re happy to see me?"

"Are you that desperate?"

"Christian,"

"I don’t pretend, but you wouldn’t know that, would you? Only my mother would, and that’s never been you."

"Christian," she says again with a defeated voice, sitting across from me. "I’m trying to be a mother to you now, but you won't let me."

"That’s because it’s too late. I don’t need a mother now. I needed a mother then, but you didn’t want to be a parent then. I have no use for you now, so you need to stop this and leave me alone."

"You know, Christian, all this anger you're keeping inside is doing more damage than good, and it's breaking my heart."

"Why are you here? It’s Monday, and I have a lot of work that needs to get done. This intrusion is not appreciated."

"I have a few hours to kill before my flight, so I thought about having lunch with my boys before going back."

"Well, as you can see, I’m busy."

"Christian, please. Until when are you going to hate me?"

"I don’t hate you. I don’t have time for you. Surely, you, of all people, can understand that. Now, if you would please be so kind as to excuse me, I have a meeting in fifteen minutes and need to prepare," I tell her getting up, but she sits for a moment looking all teary, and I feel nauseous at how pathetic she looks.

"Okay, I’ll go," she finally says, getting up after what feels like forever, and I hold the door open for her.

"I love you, and I’m so sorry I hurt you," she says, stopping in front while a lone tear runs down her cheek, but I don’t care. Her tears mean nothing to me.

I don't respond and slam the door shut the moment she's out, agitated, and just then, my phone rings. I head to my desk and grab it, and it's Ky.

"Hey, bud."

"Hey man, do you want to grab lunch?" I’m outside. We can carpool?"

"Huh?" I ask, confused as to why he's outside. I usually drive to him because the restaurant where we eat is close to his workplace.

"Man, just come out."

"Okay, I’m coming." I grab my jacket and put it on before sliding my phone into the inside pocket while heading to the door. I see his car, and I slide inside. He saw my mother and asks about her. I open my mouth to respond but stop midsentence, frowning, seeing him going in a different direction.

"Where are you going?"

"There's this new interesting place I found that I want to show you, and I think you're going to love it. It's in the same building as the gym, and... it caters to picky eaters like yourself."

"I’m not a picky eater; I’m a conscious eater. There’s a difference.

"Yeah, whatever," he says, and I ask him how he knows about this place.

"Well, unlike you, I sometimes leave the inside gym and go outside. It keeps me motivated."

"Motivated?" I scoff at that. "I like working out by myself at home."

"And that’s why you’re always in a mood."

"What are you talking about?" I can’t help but chuckle at that. "I’m not always in a mood."

"Tell that to someone who doesn’t know you," he says, stopping the car before saying we have arrived. We exit the car and head inside. A waiter guides us to our table, and Kyle is right. There are many healthy options on their menu. It just might become my new spot.

"So, did you speak to Rene?" he asks when the waiter leaves after taking our order, and I shake my head.

"Nope."

"Chris, come on, man."

"What? I don’t know where she’s staying," I reply, shrugging my shoulders, and he asks why I don't call her and find out. But I don't have time for that. That’s relationship s**t, and he knows I don't do that. Rene knows where to find me; she did this, not me. I tell him that, and he says he thought I realized I was too harsh and felt bad.

"A moment of weakness that went as quickly as it came."

"Something is seriously wrong with you, man," he mutters, and just then, the waiter walks to our table with our food. We have our lucnh and head out when we are done, but just as we get inside the car, I get a call from my brother telling me Keisha’s water broke, and he's heading to the hospital. I put the phone on speaker so Kyle can hear too, and he steps on the gas after making a U-turn, now racing down to the hospital.

I get a call just as we arrive, and it's an important client, so I tell Kyle to go ahead. I've been expecting the call all day. I speak with him for a few minutes and end the call when we're done. But just as I turn around to go inside, I see her. I see Natalia coming out of the exit, and I open my mouth to call out to her, but just then, I see her boyfriend chasing after her, and I stop.

They even work together?

It looks like they are arguing because I see him blocking her way as she tries to walk away.

I’m still looking at them like a stalker when I hear an annoying voice speak behind me, and I turn my head to find my mother.

"Who’s she?"

"Who’s who?"

"Her."

"No one for you to be concerned about. Why are you even here?"

"I’m here for your brother, Christian, and my grandson," she says before walking inside, and she's right. This is not about me. Matt made peace with her, and he needs her. So, deciding to put our differences aside for my brother, I head inside after taking one last glance at Natalia and her boyfriend.