The Billionaire's Second Wife

Chapter 4

“Mom are we still having this conversation?” Justin had just arrived from work when his mother decided to have a talk with him. He knew right away what she wanted to discuss with him. “I have told you so many times that I don’t want to marry again, at least not now.”

“It’s been a year since Andrea passed away. How long do you plan on living alone like this?” She was so mad at her son for being so stubborn. She knew he loved his wife a lot and he was struggling with her sudden demise but it was time he started to think about his young son. “Have you ever thought about Bobby? How are you going to raise him alone?”

“Like how I am doing right now.” He shrugged. “..and we are doing just fine.”

“Fine? Really? Look at the mess that you have made in this house? When was the last time you cleaned it? Is this how you raise a child?" She asked pointing at the things lying around, God knows from how many days. She had gone to her daughter’s house for a week, leaving the two behind and the house was turned upside down in her absence. “You still have your mother with you. Think about your son. He needs a mother’s love and affection, too.”

“Mom, I can’t have this conversation right now.” He tugged at his tie and threw it somewhere on the floor before walking near his son to carry him in his arms.

“Hey little bunny. Did you miss daddy?” He cooed at his son’s ear and Bobby babbled in response.

Sandra hated Andrea for leaving his son to suffer alone like this. She could have avoided her own death from happening, if she had been a little more careful and responsible.

Even now her stomach twisted uneasily to think about that night when she got to know that Andrea was no more.

Sandra was waiting for her daughter-in-law’s return but what came was the news of her death. What had shocked her even more was the fact that she was returning from a night club, heavily drunk. Now her son and grandson were being punished for her foolishness.

After Andrea’s death Rachel had come to meet Bobby several times and once, she even openly displayed her interest in marrying Justin. She suggested that she would stay at home, leaving behind her carrier to take care of Bobby like her own. It infuriated Justin instantly. It wasn’t an unknown fact to Rachel that Justin hated her even before her sister’s death, for being a bad influence on Andrea. Now that Rachel was the sole reason for her sister’s death, his hatred for her was tenfold greater.

And when Rachel went to convince Sandra, she frankly refused to her proposal. Justin had married Andrea when he got to know that she was pregnant with his son. Though his family was against the marriage initially, they couldn’t do much when she was carrying their heir and eventually had to show a green signal for their wedding.

But this time she wanted to choose a bride for her son, a better one and definitely not Andrea’s sister Rachel, who was as careless and foolish as Andrea. May be even more, she thought. She didn’t want to think about his son spending his life with her. He could better remain single than marrying that spoilt brat.

Justin had been refusing to think about another marriage for more than a year now and she thought that she had given him enough time to grieve for his dead wife. It was high time he started thinking about marrying again and she believed that there was a greater chance for him to fall in love again, once he sees Ella. She was not only beautiful on the outside but also at her heart.

All she had to do was to make his son agree to a second marriage. “Justin, you just can’t go on like this forever. I am getting old and I can’t die peacefully if I leave you like this, alone and heartbroken.”

His mother’s words stabbed at his heart. She had offered to stay at his house to take care of Bobby after Andrea’s death. He was aware how hard it was for his mother to take care of Bobby when she herself was suffering with lots of health issues. With Bobby growing a bit mischievous each day, she was having a tough time running and looking after him.

“Mom, why do you talk like this? You know you are all that I have..” He walked near her with Bobby in his arms. He threw his arm over her shoulder, hugging her sideways but she shrugged out of his hold angrily.

Justin sighed giving up. There was no way he could win an argument with his mother, he knew it. “What is it, mom? What do you want to tell me?” He took a place on the couch, letting Bobby play with his toys that were scattered on the floor.

A small smile tugged at his mother’s face and she tried hard to conceal it as she sat next to him.

“Do you remember my friend, Natasha?” She asked excitedly.

“Yeah.. I remember her.” He answered uninterestedly.

“I met her niece, Ella recently.” She came straight to the point. Her son didn’t give her opportunity to discuss about something like this often and now that she had got a once in a lifetime chance, she wasn’t going to waste it by beating around the bush. “She is very beautiful and also very smart. She is studying medicine and I feel that she would be the best match for you.”

Justin sighed in annoyance while rolling his eyes. “Mom, I don’t care if she is beautiful or not when I am least interested in marrying her or anyone in particular.”

“And why are you not interested?” She questioned her son angrily.

“Mom, you know exactly why.” He said as a matter of fact.

“Justin I have heard this excuse of yours for too long now. Do you know how much it hurts us to see you like this?” With ‘us’ she was referring to herself and Justin’s younger sister Jane, who was currently eight months pregnant and living in another city with her husband.

“I cannot stay here forever, you know that. Jane will be giving birth to her baby in another two months’ time and I will have to go to her place to take care of her. This is her first pregnancy and she would want me to be with her but she is sacrificing all that for your sake. I want to make sure that there is someone taking care of you and Bobby when I am away. Is it too much to ask from my son?” Her eyes were pooling with tears.

Justin couldn’t match with his mother’s agonising gaze. He knew he had been hurting everyone around him for a while now and felt guilty for not thinking about his baby sister but what was he supposed to do? He still loved his wife and he wasn’t ready to replace her yet, with another woman. How was he going to make his mother understand that?

“Mom..” He began to say something but he was abruptly interrupted by Sandra.

“Justin, I know what you are going to tell me. I have heard that so many times before, but if you truly love your mom and want to see me happy, you will listen to me this time. If not, you can do whatever you want but remember each time you refuse to listen to me, you are breaking my heart.” She stood up and walked into her room.

“Mom..” He kept calling her but she was quick enough to slam the door behind her with a loud bang. Bobby was startled by the loud noise but eventually turned his attention back on his toy car.

Justin leaned back his head against the couch and stared at the ceiling blankly. He hated himself for hurting his mother but he didn’t know what to do?

For the first time, he considered remarrying. If not for him, at least for the sake of his son, who definitely needed a woman to look after him. He knew his mother had to go to Jane’s house sooner or later and in her absence, he didn’t want to leave Bobby alone with the maids or babysitters.

There were so many things running on his mind at once. He remembered his mother saying that the girl was still a student. It was stereotypic to think that a step-mother was a cruel being, not to mention a step-mother who was a young student. What was his mother thinking?  How was this girl going to take care of his son if she was still studying? He wanted a full-time, stay at home mother for his son.

And what if the woman he marries doesn’t take care of his son properly?

What if she hurts him when he was not around?

He looked down at his son who had fallen asleep on the floor. His chest tightened painfully, looking at him.

It was better if he stayed like this than marrying an unknown woman, he thought but how was he going to manage without his mom?

“Oh God, this is so frustrating!!” He mumbled inwardly, running his palm over his face, before getting up to carry his son to his bedroom.

The next few days, he was cold-shouldered by his mom. She even refused to look at him and just kept on ignoring him. She would serve him food and walk away with a long face, making him frustrated than he was already.

He tried to talk to her a few times but all in vain. She was hell bent on making his son say yes this time, even if it meant that she had to roam around the house, carrying that ugly scowl on her face.

“Mom, what do you want me to do now?” He decided to finally confront her and have a face to face talk with her, when he couldn’t tolerate her childishness anymore.

She turned to look at him for the first time in what felt like forever to Justin. “I want you to marry Ella.” She said in a stern voice. She felt bad for emotionally black mailing his son but she convinced herself saying she was doing it for his better future.

“Mom but isn’t she a student? How will she take care of Bobby when she has to attend college every day?” He thought maybe he could use this as an excuse but he was so wrong. Sandra had everything well-planned out for his son.

“She is a house surgeon at the General infirmary. She comes back at around two in the afternoon. Until I come back from Jane’s house, we can arrange for a nanny and I’m sure when she comes back from work she will take care of Bobby like his own mom would do. Once I’m back, you can leave Bobby with me in the mornings and later Ella can take care of Bobby.”

“What is the use of having her here if we need to hire a nanny for Bobby? I can do it even without marrying her.” He argued much to Sandra’s annoyance.

“But at least this way, Bobby will have a mother to take care of..” She said with an irritated scowl etched on her face. “And let me tell you, I’m looking for a wife for my son, not a nanny for my grandson.”

“Mom, you don’t know for sure that she will be a good mother to my son.”

“And you are sure that she wouldn’t be a good mother to your son even without getting to know her?” She c****d her brow at her son.

He rubbed his forehead with the tip of his fingers. He felt like his head would explode any minute now. “I don’t know, mom.” He shook his head unsurely, “I will marry her just for the sake of my son but you have to promise that you wouldn’t expect anything else from me.”

For now, it was more than enough for Sandra that his son was agreeing to marry Ella and she was sure, with time he might fall in love with her as well.

“Really?” She beamed a full-blown smile at him before rushing her way out of the kitchen. “I am going to call Natasha..” She shouted behind her.

He was constantly having second thoughts about marrying this Ella girl that his mother had chosen for him. He even thought of running away with Bobby, leaving his mom behind but he was certain that would only devastate her beyond his imagination.

On the way to his room, he could hear his mom’s undoubtedly cheery tone as she spoke to her friend, Natasha on the other end. He quietly slipped in to his room and walked near the bedside table, which had a photo frame of Andrea and him, hugging each other with a genuine smile plastered on their lips. It was taken during their honeymoon in Hawaii and she was already a few weeks pregnant with Bobby.

He took it in his hand and traced his other palm gently over it, over her image to be precise. “I miss you..” He muttered. His throat clogged with immense sadness and eyes welled up with fat tears, thinking why she had to leave him so soon. “Mom is forcing me to marry another woman. I am torn between listening to my own heart and fulfilling my mom’s wish.” He sighed, pausing for a minute and looked up to stop those tears from rolling down.

“I remember promising you that you will be the only woman in my life but now I feel like I’m betraying you by marrying her.” How much ever he tried, he couldn’t stop his tears from rolling down his thick bearded cheek. “But I promise you that I am doing this only for our son. Will you forgive me for what I am going to do?” He waited as if she was going to answer him back.

He stood there for a solid ten minutes before he placed the photo frame back on the table and quietly got on his bed.