Chapter 5

The breakfast with Carmen went well. She told me about Tay a little more. Carmen is an exceptional mother. The world could use people like her. It is a shame that bad things happen to good people. Why couldn’t my mother get a brain tumor instead? The world would be better off without her.

I don’t see her as my mother anymore, and she doesn’t deserve to be called a mother neither. She never called me ever since I was at the Payne’s. What kind of mother is she? Honestly, I don’t know why I even bother thinking about her.

Carmen dropped me off at the house a while ago, so here I am sitting on my bed reading about the Payne family online. Tay is 26 years old and CEO of Payne Corporation. He has received some awards for the best businessman of the year. He had his fair share of relationships, but he settled down when he dated Ria Johnson—and they have been dating for a while now. Ria is 23 years old, and a model. I look at the picture of her and Tay. They look good together. I spot mine and Tay’s pictures going inside a restaurant. I look like a teenager, but in this picture, I look more like his little sister.

David Payne, his uncle, the vice president of the company. According to the article, Tay and his uncle don’t get along. David has a son, Donald. He is a lawyer.

Andrew is 24 years old. Carmen runs some charity events. Chris, her husband, retired three years ago and handed the family business to his firstborn, Tay. I wish I had a family like this; maybe I wouldn’t have turned out this way. 

Someone suddenly barges into my room.

Ria!

Nana is behind her. I take off my headset and climb off the bed.

“Hi,” I smirk.

“Tay is mine, you better keep your filthy paws off him,” Ria spits. Her nose is better now. I bet she even had surgery. I feel awful that I’m the reason for her breakup with Tay.

“Look, I’m sorry for hitting you. I didn’t mean it, it’s just that I can get pissed when someone insults me without having their facts straight. You can have Tay. He is all yours.” I tell Ria and she looks at me as if I have grown a second head.

Maybe I have. 

Who the hell in the right space tells another woman to have their fiancée?

Nana looks like she is about to pass out at any moment.

“Really?” Ria asks, her eyes look like they are going to pop out of their socket.

“Yes, if it were up to me, I would have murdered him that way I don’t have to marry him, but I don’t want to go to jail for first degree murder.” I say. 

“I’m sorry about what I said to you yesterday.” Ria says with an apologetic voice.

“It’s fine.” I don’t want to deprive her and Tay of their happiness, knowing very well that I won’t be able to give him that.

“Can someone pinch me? I think I’m dreaming,” Nate says, standing at the door with his mouth half-open. Nana pinches him on the arm.

“That hurts!” Nate states while rubbing his arm up and down. “You are certainly not dreaming then,” Nana says, and I chuckle. 

“Can someone tell me what’s going on here?” Nate asks.

“Nothing, now let’s go downstairs and get something to eat because I’m starving.” I say and drag Nate down the staircase. 

Ria seemed like a great woman, despite the things the media said about her. She seems to love Tay. I don’t know if I will ever be able to feel that. Ria stayed for a while, waiting for Tay, but he never showed up. I kind of felt sorry for her. She tried to keep her smile, but you could see that she was hurt. 

“Honey, are you okay?” Nana asks, bringing me back to the living world.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I lie.

I cup the coffee mug and lift my head to look at Nana. After Ria left, Nate went out, and Nana prepared dinner. 

“What were you thinking about?” she asks. 

“Was I that obvious?” I ask and take a sip from the coffee mug.

“Kind of,” Nana replies. A door opens and I turn to look.

Tay.

He looks exhausted and is holding his jacket in his left arm and a briefcase. He walks towards the kitchen, and I turn away to drink my coffee. 

“Long day?” Nana asks Tay.

“You don’t want to know,” he says, and kisses Nana on her cheek.

“Ms. Ferguson?” he says, and I nod. He places his briefcase on the stool and his jacket on top of the briefcase. His hand brushes against mine while he takes a seat next to me. He is an attractive man. No wonder Ria fell for him.

Nana hands him a cup of coffee. 

“How was your day, Miss Ferguson?” Tay asks, and takes a sip from his coffee mug, watching me in his peripheral view. 

“You don’t have to be so formal, you know?” I say in an annoyed tone. I don’t understand why he can’t just call me by my first name. I spot a smirk on his lips. I think he enjoys calling me that.

“So, are you going to tell me how your day was?” Tay pressures.

“No.” I give him a straight answer. It irritates me when he calls me Miss Ferguson. Why? I do not know.

“No one hardly ever says no to me,” he informs.

Did he seriously think I would fall at his feet like one of his many followers?

“Looks like I’m going to be the first one then.” I hide my smile with the coffee mug, watching him. Nana is just watching the whole interaction with amusement written all over her face.

“We will see about that,” Tay says, and place the coffee mug on the kitchen counter. 

“What do you mean by that?” I ask, a little scared of what he might do to make me swallow my words.

“Nana,” he nods at her and walks out without answering my question.

“What did he mean by that?” I ask, Nana. 

“Don’t worry too much about it. Help me set up the dinner table; the food will be ready in thirty minutes.” I place the coffee mug on the kitchen counter, grab the plates, and walk to the dinner table.

Dinner goes pretty quickly with just the two of us, and after that, I retire to my room.