CHAPTER 151

Kyle King

‘I can't believe I am out of that place finally! I almost lost my mind staying in that room and watching those boring comedy shows.’ I said, entering the house.

Dr. Clark had lived up to his promise and cleared me to leave the hospital. I was expected to come in for biweekly check-ups due to the blows to my head. There was no serious damage, according to him, but he was afraid that I might have a relapse. I hoped none of that happened.

Xavier grinned. ‘But you had beautiful nurses fighting to take care of you. Too bad, your mom’s scowl pursued them away.’

I laughed, remembering a funny drama that happened between my mom and one of the young nurses. Mom had caught her taking a selfie with me while I was asleep. Mom had to warn them off and instruct Dr. Clark to allow only the older nurses. If only she knew they were desperate like the young ones.

‘Let’s not talk about that episode, Xavier. The older nurses almost made me regret my gorgeousness. It’s not easy being this handsome, you know.’ I winked, falling on the couch.

He shook his head. ‘A proud and arrogant man. I am not surprised. You can never change.’

I smiled. ‘I don’t know how to change. Anyway, what are we having for lunch? I'm starving!’

‘The chef is arranging the table, hungry man. Tessa will be coming over later, right?’

I nodded. ‘Yeah. She will be staying overnight with the kids. She wants them to have enough time with me before she leaves on Monday. Hoplas Designs needs her. You know she’s been here for a month now.’

‘She’s a good woman. I hope you don’t mess this up again.’

I sighed. ‘I won’t, I promise. After everything she has done—standing up to my mom and dealing with Dahila—I am going to do everything to become more than friends with her.’

Xavi laughed, pouring a glass of water. ‘I will be here watching, then. If you mess this up, I will personally deal with you. Tessa is everything, and if you break her heart again, Kyle, our friendship will be over.’

‘No need to threaten, brother, because I won’t be breaking her heart again. It won’t happen, trust me.’ I replied, turning my head to the shadow joining us. The chef.

‘Welcome back, Mr. Kyle. We missed you. The table is set,’ he said.

I nodded and refocused on Xavier. ‘The cops want the camera footage of the porch. They believe it will help in the investigation.’

‘I thought they were working with your hint. The sports car? Haven’t they gotten back to you?’

I shook my head. ‘No, they haven’t. They haven’t been able to trace the sports car, and they believe I might have gotten the wrong plate number.’

Xavier replied. ‘Or the person changed the plate number. Did they question Avaline again?’

‘They did. She claimed I was trying to pin my incident on her because of her criminal history. Her parents warned the cops not to come over to their house until they had substantial evidence.’

‘We will get the person, Kyle. They can’t hit you, so stay scot-free. Let’s eat.’ he said, helping me up.

After lunch, we returned to my library and focused on work activities I had missed for the month. There were also emails I needed to reply to and a meeting I had to conduct with the executives of Planet O. We moved to the living room to check the camera footage on my laptop, but it was wiped. 

‘I thought you said no one had access to it. What do we do now? The cops will be here in a minute.’ Xavier groaned, clicking on the footage again.

I ran my fingers through my hair. ‘I don’t know what happened. Let’s check the camera to see if it’s still working.’

‘Click on the camera and let’s see.’ Xavier said.

I clicked, and everything going on outside the house was on display. ‘I think someone messed with the footage, and there’s only one way we can figure that out. Follow me.’

We returned to the library and retrieved a tiny camera hidden in the bookshelf. ‘Here. It’s connected to my second laptop.’ I said, retrieving the laptop from the desk drawer. ‘I placed the camera after I got Planet O. You can’t trust anybody, you know?’

Xavier nodded, watching me. ‘Clever, Kyle. If we can find out who cleared the footage, then we know who our suspect is. It could be the same person or they’re working together.’

I logged into my laptop, scrolled to the CCTV link, and logged in. The footage popped up after a few searches. I couldn’t believe my eyes. 

Xavier laughed. ‘There you have it. Let the cops handle it, Kyle. Don’t do anything stupid.’

I shook my head, disbelief written all over my face. ‘I will let them handle the case. I just can’t believe it. Anyway, I should have seen this coming.’

My phone buzzed. A message from Tessa. She was on her way. 

‘I will drive over to the station to drop this and explain the situation while you prepare yourself for Tessa.’ Xavier said, taking the camera and my laptop and leaving the room.

I sighed. It was always the people you least expected who betrayed you, or in my case, attacked you. I closed the library door and returned to my room. Being caged in that hospital room made me realise how much I should appreciate life and family, especially Tessa and my kids. She had brought them every day, ignoring the murmurings of my mom and ensuring they had enough time with me. She also brought lunch sometimes and made all of us eat as a family. I enjoyed those moments and was glad when she suggested the kids do a sleepover here. 

She wanted the kids to be comfortable with me, so informing them about my true position in their lives would be easy and acceptable. I agreed with her. They were young but smart, and they were aware of why I left Tessa. She didn’t want them to see me as the heartbreaker father or dad who abandoned them.