The bride of the Egos'

A crash can be heard in the hallway and a scream follows suit;

Maureen is scared to death at her brother's sudden outburst that she screamed when the vase came crashing at her feet

“Wait… no this has got to be a joke” Damon say not believing what he just heard

“You mean Eva left me because she was pregnant? With my baby?” He asks in disbelief.

Maureen, being dumbfounded, stares blankly at the broken vase not knowing what to say. She had tried her very best to keep this fact from her elder brother but he had somehow managed to find out.

“Don't play dumb now, fucking answer me when I talk to you” Damon is beyond pissed and Maureen knows it. Her brother seldom loses his cool and when he does, it's hell on earth.

“Ye…yes” Maureen answers as a wind of despair passes through her. She shivers in fear and her hands tremble.

“And you kept this from me?” Damon's voice cracks.

For the first time in her life she witnesses her brother actually be vulnerable and show humane emotions. He showed emotion for the first time since he was five.

Then it finally dawns on her that she messed up big time. She is unable to keep the secret she promised her best friend to keep and worse of all kept a son from his father , which has somehow made her brother lose his mind.

This may seem normal for someone else but for her brother? No. It is the strangest thing ever.

“She had my son and you all decided to keep him from me? That's quite cruel don't you think? He is my heir for fuck sake, It's my duty to take care of him, my duty to hold him and nurture him yet you kept him away from me.” Damon is fuming at this point and Maureen is as stiff as a statue.

He swallows. Taking a deep breath he asks “And Eva?”

Tears pool up in Damon's eyes and he clenches his fists trying to refrain himself from punching a nearby wall.

“Well umm… sh…she” Maureen finds it hard to say the words as they will bring back the pain she suffered two years ago afresh.

Damon is fed up and stalks closer to her angrily

“If you don't talk right now, I will make you” He said as flexing his wrists.

He has never hurt a woman in his life—not to mention his sister—but at this point he is numb to every other thing except the painful squeeze in his heart.

Maureen is indeed aware of the pain Damon was in and seeing him advance towards her angrily, makes her heart almost jump out of her chest.

“She's dead.” Maureen blurts out without thinking. She can clearly hear her heart beat in a deafening manner.

It seems like time stopped and a deadly silence rings so loud that if you drop a pin it will echo throughout the house.

“What?” He asks in disbelief.

“She passed away after giving birth to your son.” Maureen explains in tears.

“Wow! Are you serious right now?” Damon asks, trying to catch his breath. She nods still in a daze.

“God!” Damon sighs, running his hand through his hair.

“You didn't even let me pay my last respects to the mother of my child?” Tears roll down his cheeks uncontrollably.

“I'm sorry but she didn't want you to know about her death and the child's birth” Maureen tries to explain.

“Even at that you could have told me; she is not the only parent of the child, I'm his father and the fact that you were my sister before you were her friend should have justified you telling me” he states bitterly.

Maureen knows she is wrong for keeping that from her brother but the pleading look on Eva's face flashes before her eyes. And she is becoming defensive already.

“I know what I did was wrong alright, but I was just trying to honour her last wish. On her deathbed, she only asked that you didn't know of her death and the child's existence. Did you expect me to tell you about him and break my promise?” Her tears are rolling down continuously as she is reminded of her best friend's death.

Damon laughs bitterly

“I guess she despised me that much”

Taking a shaky breath he asks “and who has my son?’

“Her twin sister.” she answers.

“She has a twin?” Confusion laces his words as Eva never mentioned her twin in any of their conversations.

“She does.” Maureen answers, finally becoming calm.

He dismissed her immediately

“Leave!” he says.

Leaving his presence, she realizes that Ava is unaware of what just happened and she is convinced that he would definitely look for his son and locate her at all cost.

Making the decision to warn Ava beforehand, she rushes to her room and collects her car keys, she races through the flight of stairs. Getting to the parking lot, She jumps into her white Lamborghini and speeds off to Ava's workplace.

Damon on the other hand calls his best friends to grab a drink with him at his bar. Getting into his red BMW he rides to the bar in deep thoughts.

Seeing the streets bustling with people laughing and jumping around joyously, he can't help but think that the world is jubilating at his misery.

On getting there he is welcome like the king he is.

“Mr. Ashford, U came on such short notice, I'm extremely sorry but the VIP lounge is full.” the manager says, already getting fidgety.

“It's fine, I'll stay in my private area.” Damon answers.

“I'll be your escort.” the manager proposes.

“ I know my way around here, escort my friends when they arrive instead” he says, lacking his usual commanding tone.

Anyone who knows him and sees him now will think they are two different people.

Walking to his personal lounge, he pours himself a glass of whiskey drinking slowly while in deep thoughts.

After twenty minutes, his friends show up looking concerned.

“Bro, what happened?” Ryan asks.

“You sounded so down on the phone and you currently look like shit” Robert adds.

He is silent as he is still deep in thought and has not realized that his friends has entered the room.

“Yo!” Ryan exclaims, snapping him out of the trance he is in.

“Huh?” he asks, still unconscious as to his surroundings.

“Man you seem to be out of this world” Robert the talkative in the group observes.

“He's living on his own thoughts.” Ryan supports him.

“Yeah totally. You know, I've always wondered…”

Robert keeps yapping and his voice fades to the back of Damons mind as more pressing matters occupy his thoughts:

Who could've thought that he was a father and his child was currently with a total stranger.

“... I mean, I didn't say imagining your wife in the future is bad, I'm just saying…” Robert's talk is cut short by Ryan.

“I think this matter is more important than your imaginative wife; I mean look at that look on his face.” Ryan notices.

“What's wrong Man? You really don't look good.” Ryan asks again.

“Come on bro, tell us; we need to know what's wrong to be of help to you.” Robert adds.

Thinking about the stranger; what does she look like? How does she behave? Does she blame his son for disrupting her life? Is she hostile towards him?

“Fuck Man.” Damon curses.

They finally realize that the matter at hand is no joke. Damon hardly curses unless he is under extreme stress and even as his childhood friends they have only heard him curse once:

When Eva left him.

“ Okay, now this is serious.” Robert says, suddenly becoming more focused on Damon.

“Tell us, what's going on?” Ryan is almost pleading at this point.

“I'm screwed guys.” Damon laments.

“What's up?” Ryan asks.

“Today, I found out that Eva gave birth to my son and she is dead.” The words taste bitter on his tongue.

“What?” They both chorus, shocked.