Chapter 135 The price
Victoria’s POV
We all left the hospital and stood at the parking lot.
“Thanks for coming.” Eric and I said our goodbyes to both Sonia and Kelvin before they left.
Eric and I entered his car and he drove off.
A few minutes into the drive, I decided to speak my mind, “Why do you stop people from telling me things about my past?” I asked with my gaze fixed on him.
“I don’t get you.”
“Stop acting like you don’t know what I’m talking about, you always stop people from telling me things about my past. What are you hiding.” this time I asked in a more serious tone.
“I’m not hiding anything from you, I just don’t want you to stress yourself, the doctor advised you to remember things freely on your own will…” I did not let him finish his words before I cut in. “What are you hiding from me, what’s the secret you are hiding.” I asked again, and this time my gaze was fixed on him, but his gaze was fixed on the road.
“Eric.” I called out his name when I noticed he wasn’t saying a thing. “I’m not hiding anything from you. I will tell you when the time is right.” he murmured.
“And when is your right time?” I muttered angrily.
“Vicky.” he tried calling my name, but I cut him off, “Don’t tell me now is not the right time.” I muttered out angrily.
He shook his head but didn’t say a word.
The drive back to his house was a quiet and awkward one.
When we got to his house, I angrily got out of the car and walked into the sitting room before he could meet with me.
I walked straight to my room, locked the door and collapsed on the bed. My Aunt has been in the hospital for five years and I can’t remember anything about it. As for Eric, I knew he was keeping so many things from me, and I was curious to know what his secrets were.
Maybe I should have listened to Elliot when he asked me to stay with him instead.
I should have trusted him and not this mysterious Eric, who has so many things to hide.
Tiredly, I lay on the bed and forced myself to sleep.
“I can never accept you as my mate, you are not my type and I love someone else.” that voice kept echoing in my head until I woke up from my sleep.
I felt a strong headache in my head as I kept recalling those words.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
The voice sounds so familiar, but this time the voice was full of anger and hatred. I recognized it to be Eric’s voice. The picture in my dream was blank, but I knew it was Eric talking, but I wondered who he was talking to with so much anger in his voice.
“Mate.” I murmured to myself as I stood up from the bed. I walked around the room and recalled what Eric said about mate, but I wondered who he was rejecting as his mate, and why I would dream about it.
Alpha Eric’s POV
I went straight to the bar in my room, took out a bottle of whiskey and poured some into a glass.
I took a sip of the drink as I roughly ran my fingers through my hair.
Victoria has begun asking questions, and I can’t keep ignoring her for long.
I was still in my thoughts when I heard my phone ringing. I went for my phone in my jacket pocket, took it out and saw the call was from Sophie.
Quickly, I picked up the call.
“Where is he?” I asked, impatiently.
She chuckled over the phone before speaking, “You will be allowed to see him if you do exactly what I tell you to do.” She spoke in a serious tone.
I felt my blood boiling with anger, but I have to control it, if I want to take my child away from her.
“What do you want?” I spoke angrily.
”Good questions.” She spoke firmly. “Let’s meet at my favorite restaurant in the next one hour.” She did not let me say a word before she cut the call on me. ”Damn you.” I yelled angrily.
Never in my life did it cross my mind that I would be taking orders from Sophie. If only I had been careful, all this wouldn’t have happened.
I continue taking a sip of my drink, deliberating if I should go to the restaurant and meet with her.
Everything in me was telling me to ignore her, but I couldn’t. That child was my blood and I can’t leave him in the hands of Sophie, not when I know she wasn’t a good mother.
Frustrated, I stood up from the stool, picked up my jacket and left the bar.
I entered my car and drove in the direction of her favorite restaurant. Getting to the restaurant, I saw her already seated at a table.
Furious, I walked up to her and sat across her, ”Where is he.” I demanded angrily.
”Don’t use that tone on me.” She replied with no form of anger in her.
Knowing my son was with her, and I wouldn’t be able to see him if she didn’t approve it, so I decided to control my anger.
”What do you want, name your price, how many millions dollars do you want.” I asked angrily.
She scoffed at my words and shook her head.
”I don’t just want your money, but other things will be included…” ”And what are the other things?” I demanded, frustrated.
She flashed me a big grin before speaking, ”Before that, I think you should have these.” she took a small sack from her bag and kept it on the table.
”What is this?” I asked while staring at the sack on the table.
“Why don’t you take a look at it, I believe you will love what’s inside.” she flashed me a big grin and relaxed on her seat.
Curiously, I took the small bag and opened it. I took out the contents from the bag and discovered they were pictures of my son, from when he was born until his recent pictures.
“I told you, you would like it.” She muttered with smug on her face.
I ignored her and fixed my gaze on the pictures. I took one of the pictures and couldn’t get my eyes off it.
It was a picture of my boy in Sophie’s hands when he was given to her after his birth. By the look of the picture, she had just delivered him, and he was handed over to her by the nurse.
Staring at the picture, I felt a tight pain in my stomach and for strange reasons, I had the urge to cry. I kept the picture back and took another one.
This was his current picture because he was already a year and a few months old, trying to take a walk.
I held back the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes as I kept back the picture. This child was my child, and yet during those important moments of his life I wasn’t there.
I put back the pictures in the bag and took out a hard drive from the bag.
“What’s in here?” I asked while staring at the drive.
“When you get home, you can watch it.” She smiled evilly at me and sipped her drink.
I released a heavy sigh, kept the hard drive in the bag and collapsed on my seat. “What do you want?” I asked tiredly.
”So many things, and I don’t know where to begin….” I did not let her finish before I cut her off, “Well, start naming them.” I spoke angrily.
“Alright, you asked for it.” she smiled evilly at me before taking a sip of her drink. “Firstly, I want the sum of 30 million dollars deposited in my accounts. Let’s start from there.” she said with a victorious smug and took another sip of her drink.
“Are you blackmailing me with my son?” I asked in anger.
“I know you are on hard and expensive drugs. Is that what you need the money for?” I asked, furious.
The moment I said those words to her, I noticed her eyes burning with anger, and there was also guilt in her eyes, but quickly she took it off.
“Call it whatever you want to call it, I don’t care.” she finished the drink in her glass and stood at her feet. “And don’t bother looking for him because he is in a place where you can never find him.” she muttered in a serious tone and walked away.
I watched her walk away, and I couldn’t do anything besides staring at the bag in front of me.
Giving her the money she requested wasn’t my problem, but the last words she said to me kept ringing in my head.
I wondered where she must have kept him and who she must have given him to, that she was so sure that I wouldn’t find him even if I tried to.
Quickly, I picked up my phone and dialed my account’s manager’s number.
“Good afternoon sir.” he greeted as soon as he picked up.
“Thank you, Mr. Williams. I want you to send the sum of 20 million dollars to Sophie’s account. I believe you still have her details.”
“Yes, sir, I do.” he replied.
“Very well then, send it before tomorrow morning.”
”Alright sir.” I said and ended the call with a sigh.
I parked my car in the garage, and walked into the sitting room. With a heavy sigh, I climbed the stairs to my room and dropped the bag on my bed. I changed back into a simple outfit before leaving my room.
Getting to Victoria’s room, I knocked twice on the door, but got no response from her. Discovering that she wasn’t answering, I decided to go in and found out she wasn’t in her room.
The moment I discovered that, I became scared and rushed downstairs. I met my housekeeper in the sitting room.
“Is everything alright, sir?” she asked.
“Have you seen my mate around?” I asked with fear as so many thoughts went through my head.
“Yes sir, I think she should be around, she was here just a few minutes ago.”
“Alright, thank you.” I said and went outside the house.
Quickly, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and her strong, fascinating scent hit my nose.
Quickly, I opened my eyes and followed the direction of her scents, only to realize the scent was taking me to the direction of my men’s quarters.
“Shit.” I muttered, angrily, and continued walking until I got to the door.
I opened the door of the house and met Victoria seated on the floor, playing cards with three of my men.
Immediately my men saw me, they all jumped on their feet and couldn’t meet my gaze.
“What are you doing here?” I asked while moving closer.
“I’m playing some cards, the house is so boring, and it suffocates me.” she grumbled and stared at my men. “Why are you guys so scared of him?” she directed those words to my men while staring at each of them.
“Because I’m their leader.” I spoke in a calm tone, but my anger could be noticed in my voice.
Seeing her with my men brought anger and jealousy to me.
She was my mate, and it was rare to see an alpha’s mate playing cards with his inner circle men.
“Let’s go home…” she did not let me finish before she cut me off, “I’m not going.” She grumbled and continued playing the cards.
“Come join me.” she signaled her hand to my men to come back to their game, but they all ignored her.
“Are you guys tired of playing?” she asked with a big frown on her face.
Sighing heavily, I moved to her side and squatted before her. “Let’s go back, no one will play with you so long as I’m here.” I flashed her a weak smile and stood to my feet.
Angrily, she threw the card on the floor, stood to her feet and walked away, totally ignoring me.
I followed her out of their quarters and went into the main house. When we got to the main building, she ignored me and took the stairs straight to her room. I was quick to follow her before she could close the door. “What is it?” She asked as she stood by the door, blocking me from going in.
“What do you want?” she asked again with a furious look. “I was just protecting you,” I pleaded.
“From your men?” she asked in disbelief. “You told me they wouldn’t harm me.” she repeated my words.
Hearing those words, I thought about how I was going to explain it to her. Those men were my inner circle, and sometimes they were unable to control their wolves. That’s why they’ve been having special training here.
“I need to rest, I’ll see you later.” after she said those words, I thought it was best I let her be for the moment.
“I’ll be in my room if you need me,” I said, and walked back to my room.
When I got to my room, I took off my clothes and was about to take my bath when my gaze fell on the bag on my bed. I took the bag from the bed, took out the drive and inserted it in my laptop.
Within a few seconds, a video started playing. My eyes were soaked with tears as I watched what was displayed on the screen.
The video on my laptop screen was a video of my son celebrating his one-year birthday. He was so much like me, the same half smile, green piercing eyes and the color of my skin tone. Watching the video, I realized no one was in the party apart from Sophie, who was the one capturing everything herself.
The video came to an end, but I continued replaying it, so I could watch it again. My chest became heavy, and I felt weak and powerless.
”You have to do something, Eric.” My wolf advised.
Restless, I picked up my phone and called Sophie. It rang a few times before it was picked.
“I believe you must have watched the video.” she mocked.
“Where is he?” I asked, almost like a plea,
“Wow, wow, wow, the almighty Alpha Eric is begging a common sub like me.” She mocked with a loud chuckle.
I released a heavy sigh and stood up from the bed, “What do you want? I know you just had my child, so you could escort money from me not because you wanted to be a mother, so stop this drama and tell me your price.” I spoke angrily.
She laughed loudly over the phone before speaking, “You are right, I never wanted to be a mother but when I realized I was pregnant I knew this was a golden opportunity, so I had to grab it.” She said with a loud chuckle.
“Then name your price. How much do you want?” I spoke, defeated.
“Oh Alpha Eric, you don’t know what’s hitting you.” she teased and ended the call on me.
“Damn you.” I yelled angrily and threw the phone on the bed.
Sophie was testing my patience. She knew every child of mine was really important to me, that’s why she was acting this way.
I was scared for my boy and wondered where Sophie might have kept him. She calls herself a mother but hadn’t heard or seen her son for almost two weeks, and she was fine with it.
A few hours later
“I will be in the office by tomorrow, don’t worry about that.” I ended the call and kept my phone on the bed.
I left my room and walked downstairs to get some fresh air. I left the house and strolled to the quarters.
I got there and met my men training with each other. They noticed my presence and stopped training.
I took a seat and stared at each of them without saying a word.
“Apologies alpha, we never knew you did not want her coming close to us.” One of them apologized.
I ignored him and took a deep breath to relax my nerves, when suddenly, one of my men made a weak howl of pain.
Quickly, I stood up and went to him.
He was a young lad, just twenty-one years old, and he didn’t know how to control his abilities. His father pleaded with me to take him and help train him, so he could control his abilities.
“Calm down, Jackson, take a deep breath and calm your nerves.” I said and gently patted his back.
He took a deep breath and gradually closed his eyes. He left his eyes closed for a bit before he opened them and stared directly into my eyes.
Holding his gaze, I noticed the color of his eyes became darker, indicating he was having a vision.
He stared at me for a while before he closed his eyes for a while and opened them, but this time the color of his eyes were back to normal.
“Get him water.” I gestured to one of my men, who nodded his head and went for the water.
“I had a vision that concerns you, but it wasn’t clear,” he said through telepathy.
“Calm down, and drink some water,” I urged.
He nodded his head and relaxed on the chair. The water was given to me while I handed it over to him.
He drank all the water and relaxed for a while before I asked him to follow me out of the quarter.
We got to the garden and took a seat on the bench while I waited for him to speak.
“The vision wasn’t clear,” he murmured.
“Just tell me what you saw,” I urged.
He took a deep breath and said, “I saw you in a graveyard, seated on a grave tomb, crying bitterly. You were in so much pain that I could feel your pain in my heart, despite it was just a vision,” he whispered.
I inhaled deeply and calmed myself. “Did you see the write-up on the grave tomb, or did you see me with anyone.” I asked.
He thought for a while and slowly shook his head, “You were alone, putting on tight black jeans, a gray-colored T-shirt and a black jean jacket.” he explained with his eyes closed.
Hearing those descriptions from him, I could tell he was right because I have exactly that type of clothes, but then I wondered whose grave I was crying on, that would make Jackson feel my pain, even though it was just a vision.
“Father?” I whispered in fear.