One Night Stand With My Husband’s Brother

Chase watched his father stare down at the gardens below as if he was looking for one last glimpse of the girl.

Richard sighed and continued, “Seeing that little girl made me genuinely wish I had a grandchild like her. To keep me company sometimes, you know? Such a sweet and intelligent girl.”

He glanced sideways at Chase, “Being in the presence of kids is so therapeutic to an old man like me, don’t you know? Being in the presence of that child made me feel less lonely and happier. But now? That loneliness is starting to weigh down on me again, as she is not my grandchild who can spend as much time with me as she wants.”

Chase definitely did not want to have this conversation again, but to his relief, his father was not really looking for a conversation. The old man just wanted someone to listen to him. Chase wondered why his father was putting himself through this when he could just tell his wife the truth and have her come keep him company here in the hospital.

But then, Chase knew both Eleanor and Jeffrey were not trustworthy. He had always known of that fact. Now, he was sure his father knew that too, that’s why he kept the news of his illness from them, even if he would never admit it.

“Money really can’t give us everything.” Richard said solemnly. “Some of us think we can get anything we want with money, but really, we can’t get everything we want, the way we want it. Some people are so lucky, imagine having that adorable little girl as a granddaughter ”

Chase could not bear to listen to one more word, so he spoke up, “Dad. It’s okay, seriously. All of this is not going to suddenly make me have a child. Stop dragging the subject.”

Richard turned fully to look at Chase, as his expression suddenly changed into something different. He stared for a moment, before he said in a curious tone,

“I have been in the dark until a nurse showed me an article making rounds on the internet.” He paused, as if to let his words sink in. “Yes, the article about you, Chase, and guess who else I saw with you? Mackenzie. Why did you not mention that she was in the city, and you’ve always known where to find her?”

Chase raised a nonchalant shoulder. “I wanted to sort everything out before telling you about it. And I already got her to work with us.”

Richard’s expression dropped, as he turned away from the window, looking at Chase with a confused face, “Why? Does she have to work in the company?”

He shook his head in disapproval, “Son, that’s not right. She is Jeffrey’s wife and her being around Axford property would not be the best for her.”

Chase’s tone dropped dead cold when he corrected his father. “She’s not his wife anymore.”

Richard abruptly corrected himself, brushing it off he continued on with what he was saying. “Ex-wife, I meant. As a divorcee, all she needs from this family is compensation and she can then stay as far away as she wishes to. I’m sure making her work for the family company would bring her face to face with her ex-husband again and that would be an unpleasant experience for everyone involved.”

“She’s very young, she can start a new life with any compensation she gets from us and do whatever she wants. But now, you making her work at the company, and getting involved in her affairs is not putting you in a good light.

“Take a look at that article, for example, son. Look at the kind of rumors and scandals running wild on the internet and within the press. You involved with your brother’s ex-wife?!” Richard looked displeased. “You know how people think, especially when it comes to you, Chase. I don’t want your reputation, or that of Mackenzie to be ruined with these rumors. These ideas they’re getting are outlandish.”

Chase’s jaw was clenched, and he was glaring daggers at the opposite wall.

“I don’t care about whatever ideas they get. They can think whatever they damn want.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Richard was so startled by the raw resoluteness in Chase’s tone, that he had to pause in his response and take a much closer look at his son. With his heart slowly pounding, he saw the fierce protectiveness in his eyes, and the tenseness of his broad shoulders.

This was not the body language of a man casually talking about his brother’s controversial ex-wife. This was a body language of a man being protective of his woman.

Slow realization dawned on Richard, and his lips dropped open. There was no way…

Carefully, Richard broke the silence. “Chase. You are just trying to help Mackenzie because she is your brother’s ex-wife, right? In that picture on the article, you were only saving her from being harassed, not because of any other reason asides regular kindness, right? Son, tell me it’s not what I’m thinking right now..”

Chase turned to him, fully, taking a couple of steps close set till they were both staring at each other. Richard’s eyes held disbelief and confusion, Chase’s held hard determination.

“It’s exactly what you’re thinking, dad. I’m interested in Mackenzie. And it’s not just something fleeting.”

For a moment, Richard did not know how to react to such a bombshell. Never in a million years did he expect to hear something like that. He blinked, and let out a huff,

“What? What in the world are you saying, Chase? This is so out of the blue, you can’t say things like that. It’s your brother’s ex-wife we’re talking about here.” Richard frowned. “Can you really hear yourself Chase? What are you talking about?”

“I can hear myself and I know what I am saying. I want her.” Chase deadpanned.

Richard looked absolutely thrown off-course. He stared at his son, met his defiant stare and then let out a deep breath, pinching the skin between his eyebrows in exasperation.

“Son, I know it seems like you have been ending up with the wrong women, but Mackenzie isn’t the right choice for you either. It’s not right, she used to be your family before the divorce! There are already two scandals of you right now, what do you think will happen if the world finds out what you have just told me?

“People will talk! Listen Chase, don’t get involved with Mackenzie. It’s not even moral of you to have something with the same woman that was once your brother’s wife. That’s like turning the fire out there into a wild inferno. Jeffrey will not stay still either, watching his brother and ex-wife together.

“Put yourself in Jeffrey’s shoes, son-”

Chase clenched his fists, angrily cutting in. “Stop mentioning that piece of shit’s name here, father. He has no fucking right to question anything between Mackenzie and I. Do you know what he did to her, dad? He fucking made her sign the pre-nuptial without her understanding the terms written there. That in itself is a fucking violation.

“When she was sick and alone with no one to take care of her but her old father back in their home town, technically, she and Jeffrey were still married. He did not show up there once, or even sent anything to support her as her husband. Instead, he divorced her and left her with nothing.

“Everything she worked for under the Axford name, was all gone. Her efforts she put into the family throughout the marriage went unappreciated and the compensation and security she was entitled to as wife, and now a divorcee, was never given to her. Her accounts and privileges were all confiscated by him and Eleanor, when she needed it the most.”

Richard’s face was white as a sheet as he listened to the things Chase revealed to him. He was in so much shock, realizing how blind he had been all these years for not even realizing what Mackenzie had been through.

“So, dad. Don’t tell me anything about Jeffrey, because his opinions mean jack shit to me. I do not care about him, or what he thinks. He can go to hell for all I care-”

“No, Chase, no. He is your brother. A woman should not come between the both of you. And I’m certain that whatever you feel for Mackenzie is fleeting. It will pass after a while, so don’t turn your brother into an enemy because of it.” Richard said.

Chase let out a humorless smile. “Fleeting? I have been interested in her for over four damn years. Even when she was miles away in North Dakota.”

“How?” Richard sounded extremely concerned at this point, “What are you saying, Chase? None of this makes sense to me. You can’t be with her. Don’t you understand that it is not right? And are you trying to say that you were with her even before her divorce?”