The CEO’s Second Choice

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The air is thick with mourning. And sick curiosity.

Elena and I are leading the funeral procession as we leave the church for the cemetery. She has been quiet ever since we came back from Paris and I have to admit that it was jarring. Where our villa used to be filled with her voice and laughter, now there was… nothing. I know it has to do with not making peace with my mother before the accident. Elena has a soft heart, so this is affecting her more than it has me. I have never had a proper relationship with my parents, but they doted on Elena, my mother even more so.

When we arrive at the cemetery, I lace my fingers with hers and hold her close. The Dumont tomb isn’t too far into the cemetery and we reach it sooner than I anticipated. My eyes fall on Robert and Eliana as they take up the front with me. Robert looked crushed at this. And I know he wasn’t faking it because Eliana has said he has been hitting the whiskey harder than usual. Our eyes meet and I see nothing behind his own but pain. I never knew that he and my father were that close, which just goes to show how close I was with him. I almost knew nothing of Spencer Dumont. He only taught me from a young age how to be business savvy and I must say I was thankful for his tutelage. Without my father’s lessons instilled in me, I wouldn’t be where I was right now. I send up a thankful prayer to him and God for giving me a father as amazing as him.

The preacher takes centre stage in front of the tomb and starts his sermon as my parents’ caskets get wheeled inside and placed in their respective slots. I held Elena close and felt her body tremble with sobs and as soon as the pastor ended his sermon and the tomb closed, Elena fell to the ground and a loud wail emanated from her. Oh, love! I held her as she continued to sob. “I didn’t make amends, Sebastian! I didn’t apologise and now I will never get the chance to!” She exclaims and what else could I do but comfort my wife as she let out her pain. “Shhh, my love. It’s okay, It’s okay, Mother knew, she knew but she was just stubborn.” I tell her and Elena looks up at me. “Really?” she asks, looking so small.

I nod sadly, it was true. My mother planned to invite us over for supper when we got back and apologise to Elena in person. I tell her this, and it seems to make her sob even louder. “I’m so sorry, Mirabelle!” she calls out and I continue to stroke her hair and kiss it while whispering assurances. I looked up and caught Eliana’s eye. She seemed shocked at her sister’s mourning, but then again I understood why. My mother never liked Eliana when we were together. Robert, on the other hand, has sat down and is currently sobbing silently, understanding Elena’s tears all too well.

“Come, my love. Let’s go home.” I tell her as she wipes her tears away and blows her nose. She nods and holds out her hand for me to take when she gets up and we make our way to the waiting Phantom. Elena was in more pain than she let on and I am not sure I can do much more than be there for her. Their deaths took a lot out of her, but she didn’t know what this meant for us now.

The reading of my parent’s will was a day ago, and they named me the sole beneficiary in all of Dumont Enterprises, even our Paris branch. But I have handed Paris over to Robert when before he was only CFO, now he was CEO and Paris Dumont Enterprises belonged to him. When I did this, he looked shocked, as if he did not expect it but it was the least I could do after my father barely left him anything. What made me so special in my father’s eyes that he left his legacy to me? My mother left her gems and Dumont Castle to Elena, as well as her library collection hidden in The Alps. I haven’t told Elena this yet, but I will soon.

In short, Elena was now married to the wealthiest man in The UK, if not Europe.

I take her hand in mine across the centre console and bring it up to my lips. She looks over to me as a sad smile crosses her lips, “I’m sorry for being so dramatic back there, love. It only hit me then that I would never see them again and… and I-”

“Don’t apologise for your pain, Elena. I know you loved my parents, I understand.” I interject and kiss the back of her hand again. She sighs and nods, and I hand her another tissue. Hopefully, Elena could heal from this. “Mirabelle was like a mother to me, she accepted and loved me as I was.” She whispered. I look at her and decide then to tell her about my parents’ will. “My love, they read the Dumont will yesterday.” I started and could see the confused frown on her face. “My father named me beneficiary in all of his businesses and finances.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open at my statement, “And my mother has left her jewels, Dumont Castle Estate and personal library in The Alps, to you.” Her hand flew to her mouth, and new tears started to cascade down her cheeks. “She… she did that?” Elena asks between sobs and clutches her chest when I nod. My mother loved her collection of first editions. It was her first love after ballet. “She did, love. She knew how much you loved books and wanted to leave her most prized possession to you.”

“Mirabelle,” she sobs again and I motion for her to move over to my lap, which she does. I wrap my arms around her tiny frame and kiss the side of her head. Hopefully, knowing my mother loved her that much helps her healing process. She sighs as she leans into me, and I knew I had helped her some. “I love you,” she says, and I feel a small smile spread across my face. But then she suddenly shot up and looked at me with wide eyes.

“Wait, does this mean that you’re, like, the wealthiest man in the UK?” she asks, causing me to chuckle. “Yes, I guess so,” I replied with a nod and felt her giggle, which exploded into laughs. “Oh, my… Oh, this.. This is gold! My mother will be so pissed!” She exclaims, which made me frown with curiosity. As soon as she calms down, she faces me. “Her daughter is married to the most powerful man in the country, which in turn makes her daughter more powerful than her. Watch her try to suck up to me now.” She says. Then I understood and smiled at the comment. Susanna Wiltshire will shudder when she discovers this.

“You’re already more powerful than Susanna ever could be, my love. You are not following heiress protocol and living your dream. I think that takes more guts than doing what she has been all her life; follow orders and care about social image.” I tell her and see how her expression changes. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me into a light kiss, which grows with intensity when she turns around to straddle me. Behind Elena’s kiss was urgency and the need to feel safe and in control again, but I knew we could not make love here, and especially not now, so I broke off the kiss. She looks up at me with a wounded expression, but I only kiss her frown.

“Tonight, I promise. I don’t want you looking back to today and feeling guilty for making love to me at my parent’s funeral.” I tell her and see her blanch at this, but then she nods. “Thank you, love.” She says as we arrived at Dumont Hall for the after-tears. She moves over to her seat and waits for me as I walk around to open the door for her. When we walk in, I sense a renewed energy in her, and couldn’t help but think I was responsible for it.