Chapter Four

Francis arranges the flowers on a pub table in the garden.

​"Dad." Benjamin runs towards his father with a smile on his face.

Francis carries his seven year old son up in the air and gently lands him on the ground, "Did you have fun today?" Melissa gave birth to Benjamin on a cold night. He was so tender in his arms when the nurse gave him Benjamin to hold. He instantly fell in love with his son and he would do anything for him.

Benjamin nods energetically, "I drew a big house with you, mom and I."

​"That must have been fun but I'm sorry Benjamin, I can't play with you today."

​"I know. I'll read my books until you're done celebrating grandma's birthday."

​"You're a very good boy." Francis gently rubs Benjamin's brown hair.

Catherine, Louis and Melissa enter the garden. Sam stands behind them. Catherine looks at the decorations. If she's impressed, she hides it well. She does not even know why Francis bothers to impress her, there's nothing on this earth that Francis would do that would make her impressed moreover compliment him.

Francis and Benjamin see them. Francis looks glad to see Melissa and Catherine. He walks towards them while Benjamin runs to Catherine.

​"Grandma, you're home." Benjamin hugs Catherine's legs.

Catherine rubs Benjamin's hair, "I see your back from school. Did you miss me?"

​"Very much."

​"I brought some candies for you."

​"Welcome mother. Welcome honey." Francis greets politely.

​"Louis, come with me." Catherine ignores Francis' greeting. She takes Benjamin's hands and together they go to the house. Louis follows Catherine with Sam behind them.

​"I hope everything is arranged perfectly. You know how mother likes her things." Melissa looks at the decorations and refreshments in the garden.

​"Yes." Francis replies, "How was work today?"

Melissa looks at her wristwatch, "I need to rest before the birthday begins." She treads into the house. Francis exhales softly. Melissa has been acting this way with him for the past five years. The last time he touched Melissa was before her pregnancy with Sam. He's not used to Catherine's cold attitude towards him and now Melissa is acting the same with him.

​Rose walks down the hallway with family pictures ascended on the white walls. Louis follows her, admiring the pictures. Rose stops and points to the white door by her left.

​"This is your room." Rose says.

Rose opens the door for Louis. Louis walks in while Rose stands at the door.

​"The birthday party will begin in an hour. Come down then sir." Rose says.

​"i will. Thank you."

Rose closes the door before she walks down the hallway. Louis leaves the luggage and lies in the bed, staring at the black ceiling fan attached to the white ceiling. He's in the Viva family and he has to stay no matter what.

​Victor stares at his laptop screen blankly. His eyes emotionless. His private office dominated with novels on the shelves seems to be a void to him. Victor is the author of several best selling crime thrillers. He has been writing for over twenty years but as of lately he can't. His imagination is blocked as he can't even type on a word. He does not know what the problem is. He has taken walks around the parks. Read other books. Even lied on the cold tiles whether something good would come out of it but nothing yet. Catherine opens the door and walks in.  

​"I'm back, Victor." Catherine places a peck on his cheek. Victor does not respond. Just stares at the screen. Catherine married Victor immediately they graduated from the university. Victor gave off bad guy vibes which she fell in love with. Someone different from the good third generation billionaire guys her parents tried to set her up with. Now he just looks like a wearing out grandfather. Where did that guy she fell in love with during her university days go to?

​"What are you thinking about that you can't even welcome me?" Catherine asks as she sits on one of the comfy chairs. Catherine looks around the office dominated with mahogany shelves of crime and thriller books.

​"What else but my writing?" Victor adjusts his glasses.

"You seem to be struggling these days." Catherine says as if Victor does not already know it. Victor seems to be passing through a problem greater than just an ordinary writer's block.

​"Congratulations, you got the deal with Green Corp." Victor says trying to hear something else not related to his writing.

Catherine smiles. Yes, she did. Though it wasn't easy. It was worth it.

​"Thank you. Three other companies jumped at the offer and if not for Louis, it would have been taken from me."

​"Who is Louis?" Victor asks.

​"He is a restaurateur. I met him two years ago at a charity event in Japan. He did a great job being the middleman. I'll introduce you to him later."

​"You don't need to."

​"I scouted him to work in Viva Foods so he'll be living in this house for the time being. Just so you know." Catherine says.

Victor closes the laptop screen. It's no use trying to type anything today. His mood has already being ruined by this Louis. Catherine just brings anyone she wants in their house. He has long given up on interfering with her matters but sometimes it still hurt that she makes decisions without even telling him. He is probably the last person to know about Louis since he always stays locked up in his depressing office.

​"If only I had one more daughter, I would have set them up together. He is intelligent and sharp. How good he would be as Melissa's husband. What a waste." Catherine says matter-of-factly. If Melissa hadn't gotten married to Francis, she wouldn't even blink before setting her up with Louis. He plays a vital role in her company and she needs him.

​"Don't speak like that in front of Francis." Victor advises.

​"It's the truth." Catherine crosses her arms.

​"Francis is your son in law."Victor says, hoping Catherine acknowledges it. Victor feels so bad anytime he sees Francis working harder than the maids. This has been happening for over seven years but he can't say anything.

​"I never accepted him as my son in law." Catherine says sternly. It is Melissa's stubbornness to marry Francis that has led to her quarreling with her husband. If only Francis just stayed away or she tried even harder to keep Francis away. She persuaded him with money but he told her that his love for Melissa is not equal to love. The low class people always have a way with words but there's nothing special about them.

​"You have a grandson. It's time you accepted it now. "

​"Don't force me. It's so humiliating introducing him as my son in law," Catherine ventures, "As soon as he joined the company, he seduced Melissa and got her pregnant. What a devious man."

​"He has put a lot of efforts into preparing your birthday. At least you should accept that."

Catherine snorts derisively, "Then what is he doing here if he can't prepare a birthday party?"

​The bedroom is simple. The walls are cream colored and the door is white. In the corner of the room are two white beds. Francis traces his fingers down the fine tailored navy blue suit and trousers as he admires his reflection in the mirror. Melissa steps out of the bathroom with a stunning white long gown.

​"Wow, you look stunning." Francis compliments Melissa's dress.

Melissa feigns a smile as she walks over to her makeup vanity table filled with creams, beautifying products and jewelry. She sits down and picks up a lip gloss. She carefully applies it on her thin lips. She looks at Francis' reflection in her mirror.

​"I thought we were putting on white together." Melissa says. Melissa personally bought Francis' clothes because he was so busy with the birthday decoration to ease the burden on him. She bought a couple's wear but there he is wearing a navy blue suit against her white gown.

​"The suit needed some adjustments so I had to take this one instead." Francis replies not so confidently. Francis had received the white suit but it was too big for him. He had no idea he had lost so much weight until he wore the suit. He sent it to the tailor to adjust but he was preoccupied so he chose this navy blue suit from a fashion store.

​"There's no single thing you can do well. Just a suit that matches with mine and it's causing problem." Melissa rolls her eyes. She drops the lip gloss and looks for what next to apply.

​"I think this is fine. I put a lot of thought into it to impress you and mother." Francis does not want to tell her the real reason. It's not important. He does not want her to feel bad about his weight loss.

​"You are the son in law of the Viva Family. Act like one." Melissa picks up a silver earring to pin in her ear. Even if she and Francis are having issues, they still need to look the perfect couple in front of others.

​The warm afternoon sun shines minimally on the beautifully decorated garden. Lacrimosa by Mozart plays in the garden as the guests drink, eat and talk amongst themselves. Francis sees Catherine and Melissa without any glass of champagne. He quickly picks up a tray with two glasses of champagne and walks towards them.

Catherine and Melissa take the glasses of champagne. Francis gives the tray to a maid who leaves with it. He stands next to Melissa.

​"Everyone, this is the restaurateur that will bring Viva Foods Company to a greater height." Catherine gestures to Louis.

​"Thank you for welcoming me." Louis appreciates.

​"Let's cheers to a new successful beginning." Catherine says. Everyone raises their glasses to the air before drinking. A maid walks over to Francis and whispers in his ear. Francis nods and follows the maid towards the gate. The maid just told him that the cake he had ordered for Catherine's birthday has been delivered.

Charles scoffs as he watches Francis walk, "I guess Francis was a servant in his past life. It suits him perfectly."

Melissa hears Charles' statement. She looks at Francis as he leaves then rolls her eyes away. She sees Louis looking at her with a smile. She feels her cheeks redden but she smiles back at him and raises her glass to him which he also does.

Francis returns with a cake in his hands. Slow yet nervous, he walks towards Catherine who is discussing with a guest. He stops when he gets close enough.

​"Mother, I want to wish you a happy birthday." Francis says.

​"What a showoff" Charles whispers. Charles believes Francis should know his place. He is not one of them and he will never be. There's nothing Francis can do that will make Charles like him. If he had known of the cake, he would ruined it.

Louis standing between Catherine and Francis puts his feet in front just as Francis takes a step forward.

Francis dashes against Louis' foot and falls to the ground. The cake falls on Catherine's gown, staining it with its icing.

​"I'm sorry, mother. I'm so sorry." Francis apologizes, wiping the icing and pieces of cake on Catherine's gown. What sort of mistake has he committed? This day was supposed to be perfect. He knows Catherine will even be more disappointed in him. Could her disappointment even grow more than the one she already has?

​"Leave it." Catherine glares at Francis.

Francis stops. Catherine fumes as she raises her hand upward to give Francis a slap. He needs to be taught a lesson. How dare he humiliate her in front of her guests?

Francis flinches. He shuts his eyes tightly and looks away as he waits for the slap.