Chapter 43

Ethan

Lately, everyday feels like sunday. Peaceful, relaxing, and just lovely.

"Thank you, Kate." I spoke to Kate when she placed my breakfast plate in front of me. I offered her a small smile, to which she did the same.

I took a bite of the scrambled eggs before rounding my eyes around to search for my daily dose of happiness.

My eyes stopped on the couch where Lauren is scratching Milo's head while the latter is cuddling his head on her lap.

It's been a week since Milo has come to our home and huge changes were made to our daily routines. Our day starts with me trying a thousand ways to wake Lauren up for Milo's walk in the park. If I don't wake her up even once for Milo's walk in the morning she will glare at me the whole day. Then while we both are at office, Kate and other house helpers takes care of Milo. And then at the evening, we play with Milo some more and later he sleeps in his bed in my room, and finally then I can have Lauren all to myself to cuddle and do other things on bed.

Milo is two months old and can already follow the basic orders. Lauren even trained him to give his paw for handshake. He listens for the most part like a good boy but will show his devil side chewing his toys, carpets, even Lauren's shoes one time. And he wouldn't think twice before biting your fingers playfully if his dinner is even a minute late.

I even had second thoughts on bringing Milo home at the way he snatched Lauren's attention completely. She spends every second with him and when she finally remembers me, Milo gives her puppy eyes with a soft whine and she goes back to him just like that.

But all my complaints vanishes when I see her happy with him. It's like she finally found something she has been longing for a long time. And I'm happy if she is happy.

"Milo, come here." I called the little devil to get Lauren's attention and that did the trick.

Milo jumped excitedly from the couch and sat in front of me on the floor with a wagging tail. I lifted him in my arms and stood up from my chair.

"Are you hungry, my boy?" I asked him and he licked my face and I had to lean my face back.

"Okay. I got you." I chuckled at him and took him to his bowl and placed his food in his bowl and he excitedly ate as if he hasn't been fed in seven years.

My phone rang in the inner pocket of my suit and I took it from there while sitting beside Lauren who started eating her breakfast chatting with Kate speaking about how good the food is.

"Yes." I answered the phone when I saw it is Chris.

"Where are you?" He asked straight with no hello or hi like a normal person. And then again we are talking about Chris here, nothing is normal about him.

"At home. Why?" I asked taking another bite of my food while Lauren and Kate laughed with hushed voices to not disturb me.

"Go to any news page or social media." He spoke and I frowned at his serious tone. Chris is always serious but his tone right now is not his usual stern voice.

"What happened?" My voice was low at the unexpected event in my routine. I don't like when things don't go as planned or when something else happens unexpectantly.

"You will know when you see and Ethan, think before you do anything." He spoke before hanging up and my frown deepened.

I immediately went to the news and the headlines on the article froze me for a moment.

Its about Eva and Ryan.

My jaw clenched and my eyes slowly got blinded with rage as I read the article further. The article spoke as if Eva was a gold digger and charmed Ryan making him fall for her. They called her a dirty affair for God damn sake.

What the hell?

I'm going to destroy this media company and with the rage that's consuming me inside, I might even kill this reporter.

Well blood related or not, nobody talks bad about my little sister.

Lauren must have caught the deadly expression on my face as she slowly touched my arm bringing me out of murderous thoughts.

"What happened?" she asked me softly.

"It's Eva."

***

I am currently in PR department of our office looking at the chaos that is unfolding in front of me with employees walking here and there talking in their phones, while some of them are busy typing in their computers to control the damage that has happened.

As soon as we saw the tabloids, I immediately called the PR head of my office department to balance the damage that has happened.

Fame is a game changer in one's life, but is also scary. It will shred you of your privacy and pride when the fame is not in your favour. And you wouldn't even know what has happened till you stand bare in front of everyone.

And I'm scared if that would be the case for Eva and I'm not liking it. Not a single percent.

I used my name and some million dollars to get the article down but her and Ryan's pictures are still swimming around in the internet and I had to do something or else it wouldn't take much time for the media to catch a hold of her connection to me. Or my last name.

"Calm down, Ethan. We'll figure something out." Lauren spoke snaking her fingers around my forearm. Although that action calmed me a bit but my nerves are still spiking on the probabilities of what if's.

"Did you call Eva?" I asked Lauren after giving her a curt nod.

Lauren's presence beside me is the only thing that is stopping me from flipping the table upside down and hold the reporter accountable who started all this shit.

"I did but she didn't answer. I called her law firm and they said that she is in a trail right now and can't take calls for now."

"Okay."

I nodded at her because Eva being in a trail right now is a good thing. She can be safe there. For now. I'm sure she must have saw the tabloids by now. But the fact that she didn't call me once yet clutched my heart with sharp knifes. Like she couldn't even call me when she needs my help. Am I that far away from her? Will I ever get close to her once again like I once was. Maybe she called Ryan.

Or maybe my little sister is not so little anymore who waits for her knight brother. Even if she waits or not, I'll still do it. I'll still fight the whole world to protect her. Like I once did and I always will.

My phone rang pulling me out of my thoughts half expecting it to be Eva but only disappointment greeted me when I saw the name Ryan on the screen.

"How is Eva? Where is she? Is she with you?" He fired the questions as soon as I answered. His voice is edgy, filled with panic with a hint of anger in it.

"What were you thinking, Ryan. You should have been more careful."

"I did, idiot. I was careful avoiding public places all together. I don't know how that reporter bastard got hold of us."

"Well, it already happened. So be it."

"Why is her phone not connecting. Is Eva with you?" He asked.

"She has a court trial right now." I answered, my voice gave away the anger I'm trying to hold in.

He was silent for a beat before speaking again.

"I messed up, Ethan." Ryan's voice lowered that I faintly could hear him.

"I can see that." I spoke while Lauren glared at me silently warning me not to blame Ryan for anything.

To be honest, I wasn't going to. It wasn't Ryan's mistake nor Eva's.

"It was my mistake." He spoke again and I could hear the regret and anger in his voice.

"It wasn't a sin, Ryan. Don't be too dramatic." I spoke to lighten up his mood but it all went in vain I guess.

"I boarded the plane as soon as I saw the tabloids. I will be there before evening." Ryan still sounded too low than his usual. Lauren must have caught Ryan's tone, so she sighed and took the phone from me and walked away trying to calm Ryan down.

I'm glad that Lauren is here. Not just for me, but also for Ryan.

"Mr Perez, I need you to send two guards looking after Eva for now. The pictures in the tabloids were taken in front of her apartment. It wouldn't be long before media catches on the address and will reach her place."

"Yes, Mr Kingston."

I remembered Alice being Eva's roommate. If they couldn't get a hold on Eva, their next victim would be Alice for being Eva's roommate. And that is, if they hadn't remembered her as a reputed fashion designer.

Not just Eva's roommate, Alice is also Lauren's best friend. Lauren will not think twice before going on a killing spree if something happens to her friend. And not just that, ignoring the fact that Alice is a good competitor for Lauren's attention, I have a soft spot for her. Alice has always been my Lauren's comfort person.

So naturally, I called the one person who always could distract Alice's attention from my wife with ease.

"Yes?" Chris answered.

"The media might know Eva's apartment address. Warn Alice beforehand."

Chris was silent for a moment probably thinking of thousand ways to solve the problem or planning to kill the person who started all this.

"I got her." he spoke before hanging up.

***

"Don't worry, Isobel. Eva is with me and she is safe." I lied blandly through my lips in the phone.

I had to lie. Or else, Isobel, Eva's mother, will throw a fit for her daughter's safety. She will panic and I don't think it's good for her asthma. Moreover, Eva is safe with my gaurds around her.

The day passed and it's almost evening when the press took down the articles and the pictures from the whole internet. No more news about Eva or her relationships on the internet for now.

But enough damage has already done. My blood boiled looking at the nasty comments under the articles. And the worst possibility has also happened. There's a rumour going around about how Eva is my father's illegitimate child. Illegitimate, they called.

Just a few minutes before, one of the gaurd who I sent for Eva called me. It was my heart that felt pain when he said that Eva was reading the nasty comments and was quite disappointed. And that was thirty minutes ago. I tried calling her, but this time her phone was switched off.

"Here is him." Chris spoke walking inside with Alice alongside him. My attention went to the man who was pushed forward by Chris. Alice glared at that man as if her life is depended on it.

"Ah, the reporter." I greeted that man with a smile making sure that he know how bad of a situation he is in right now.

I asked Chris' help in finding the reporter who started this all as I was busy with tabloids and Eva's safety.

"You shouldn't have done that." I spoke walking towards him.

If he had clicked only pictures and posted them, surely I would have gotten mad, but not this murderous. He didn't just click pictures, he wrote a whole article calling Eva a gold digger and how she ran an affair as an attorney with her employer. He called her Ryan's dirty little secret. And the comments under the article were equally nasty calling her all types of names.

Fame and articles for celebrities is a normal thing, but Eva grew up normally, not as a rich man's daughter or a celebrity.

"Eva is not in the court nor at the law firm." Ryan announced entering my office clutching the phone in his hand.

"What should we do with you?" I ignored Ryan turning towards the reporter.

He rounded his eyes around us where Alice and Chris stood to my right while Lauren stood to my left in front of him. Ryan stood behind me.

"Is he the asshole reporter?" Ryan spoke getting in front of the latter.

"You can't do anything to me. I will sue you to the hell if you even touch a single strand of hair on my head." That shit faced man still had the audacity to be arrogant in front of us. Us.

"Wow and the idiot can threaten too. Can you see the three men in the room? They are powerful enough to crush you without lifting their leg." Alice spoke glaring at the reporter.

"And don't forget the women here. My friend over there might hesitate for a second before killing, but I don't. So be careful before threatening us." Alice continued speaking facts while Lauren looked proud of her friend. And for some reason, Chris too.

"You see reporter asshole, I'm a gentleman. I will grant your wish. I will not touch a hair on your head. But your ugly face? I can't guarantee that." Ryan spoke and before the reporter could even understand him, Ryan threw a solid punch at the idiot's face breaking his nose.

"You did wrong by clicking pictures firsthand. And then you dare badmouth my girl?" Ryan threatened before throwing another punch at him and the reporter's face is already in a bad shape with blood.

"Mr Kingston, you know that you can't use violence on me. Stop this." the reporter spoke to me pleading with his eyes.

"Wait, Ryan." Ryan still glared at him but stepped back.

"Thanks for the remainder. Mr reporter." I spoke and the rage that I was holding in reared up looking at his bloody ugly face. He looked momentarily happy seeing me as if he escaped a hell. He doesn't know he escaped one to only fall into another.

"Now it's my turn." I spoke and my fist connected with his jaw in no time. and I beat him, punched him, kicked him till I was content.

"You were so eager to talk legally, Weren't you? So, let's talk." I spoke crouching in front of him.

"After the long discussions with our lawyers, they said that we can sue you for eight hundred million dollars for defamation suit and invasion of privacy." Lauren spoke giving him a tightlipped smile while the reporter blinked weakly hearing her words.

"No. No. You can't do that to me." he spoke with difficulty.

"Try me. I can and I will." I smirked at him.

My phone rang and I answered it immediately when I saw it's one of the Eva's guards.

"Yes." I spoke answering.

"Sir, I- we-" he stammered and my heart thudded violently in my chest dreading his response.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Sir, Miss Eva slipped away from us. One moment she was with us and then she threatened us that she will sue us and send our families to jail if we don't stop following her. We still tried following her in secret but she slipped away, sir."

No way!

"You had one job and you couldn't even do that." I gritted my teeth.

I could see the tension spread in the room like a thick fog listening to my words. Although Chris remained emotionless, I could see his frown deepening at my words, while Alice's face screamed worry. Lauren tried maintaining her face stoic but her eyes gave away the inner turmoil inside her.

And Ryan... Ryan lost his calm and composure completely. His eyes are filled with mixed emotions. Anger, worry, sadness, and above all...regret.

"What happened?" it was Lauren who took her chance to ask everyone's question.

Eva is smart.

She will not do anything irrational. She must have wanted some privacy if she left her gaurds.

Where could she leave?

I have a hunch of where she could be and I hope she is where I expected her to be. I really hope that the little sister I've known in the childhood is still there. somewhere. Even a small part.

"They lost Eva."

***

Eva's POV

Some say emotions are like water. Never stable, always passing. But is that completely true?

Happiness passes, anger passes but not any self consuming emotions like grief or guilt. They are the hardest to get rid of.

I knew I am not emotionally strong. I always had my vulnerabilities that I'm not proud of. But I accept them rather than pretending to be strong headed. But that doesn't mean I'll show my weaknesses to anyone. It's a wonder how a single word or a single thought can trigger the negative emotions you spent years suppressing.

I can handle the articles that called me money sucking leech, a gold digger, social climber but what triggered the negative thoughts is my father's death. They shouldn't have gone there.

It didn't take long for the press to catch on my connection with the Kingston's. To label me as the illegitimate child.

And then another headline popped up stating that I was the reason for my father's death years ago. that I and my mom destroyed their happy family.

I didn't. We didn't. I wasn't the reason for my father's death. I didn't kill him.

I loved my father. He was a great man who loved me just as much as my brother and accepted me.

But when I saw the tabloids blaming me for my father's death where millions of people liked the posts and commented things they wouldn't even know about my life or our lives, it deepened my hurt.

I couldn't answer Ryan's calls because if he would hear the hurt in my voice, he will blame himself to death. And I don't want that for him. He did everything for me and I can't just let him blame himself for something he didn't do.

And then there was my brother, Ethan.

It does surprise me sometimes on how I never consider Ethan as my half brother even in my thoughts although he actually is. I always call him my brother. Maybe it was nailed deeply in my subconscious since my childhood.

I know that I could always call him when I need, but I couldn't today. I didn't wanted to be with anyone.

Loneliness has always been my friend. The calm silenced the voices in my mind. We weren't on talking terms, but he still sent me guards for my safety like a knight brother. He used to play knight in shining armour game with me when we were kids. I guess he never stopped being the knight for me.

"I knew you would be here." A familiar voice brought me out of my thoughts and I turned around from the bench I was sitting to look at my brother. He is dressed in his suit as usual. He is a man now so far from the boy I spent my childhood with. But I still felt familiar with him.

"You remember this place?" I asked him.  There were days in the past when I and Ethan spent hours sitting on this bench and stare at the lake. We used to play, laugh, sleep here sometimes in the day.

"I still come here whenever I'm low." He spoke sitting beside me.

He spoke nothing except sitting beside me and staring at the lake in front of us. The sky was dark with no moon.

"There is no moon today." I voiced my thought.

The sky was dark. I couldn't see the water flowing in the lake because it's dark. I couldn't see the usual green trees around the lake because it's dark. Everything is dark. Just like what I'm feeling inside.

"Right." he confirmed with a nod.

But before I could open my mouth again, he beat me to it.

"Are you okay?" He asked me.

No. "Yes."

"I see, you still lie to prove that you are strong." He chuckled at me.

"I am strong." I spoke turning sideways to get a glance at him.

He stared at me for a beat searching my face to find something.

"You are. My little sister has always been the strongest."

"I see, you still support me blindly." I repeated his early words.

He chuckled at my mockery while a small smile made its way to my face looking at my brother's laugh.

"I will always, Eva." He spoke after his laugh died but a smile remained.

We both were silent for a minute or two and then the words which settled like shredded glass in my heart stumbled out of my lips.

"I didn't kill him, brother. I didn't kill our father. I wasn't the reason for my father's death." I spoke, my voice breaking at the end.

"Of course, not. You were never the reason." Ethan stared at me as if I said the most absurd thing in the universe.

"But the whole world blames me." I didn't know why I am seeking the world's validation, but I am.

"The world doesn't know you, Eva. I know you. I see you. You are never the reason." He spoke taking my hand in his.

"How could everyone blame me?"

"I don't care and you are not going to care about what the world thinks, Eva. You know yourself and I know you. Ryan knows you. You don't need anyone else's opinion on you."

Now, I see it. I wasn't seeking the whole world's validation. I was seeking my own people's. I don't want them to blame me for my father's death. I don't want them to see me as an illegitimate child. I don't want them to see me like a devil child who destroyed a happy family.

"I know but-"

"You are an attorney, Eva. You are the voice who speaks for the people who couldn't speak for themselves. You can't let that fierce voice tremble. You are one of the strongest people I know. And don't forget Isobel will breakdown if she would ever see you like this. Do you know how many times I've looked up to you, even as a child. I've always wanted a sister and when you came home one day, I was sure you came for me. You are my precious treasure, Eva. My precious little sister. The best gift I ever received in a sister form. Please don't think low of yourself, It will also break me, not just you."

My lips trembled listening to him. After my mom, my brother has always been my biggest supporter. An anchor to my emotions.

His words weighed heavily on my heart and not letting my contemplation to win I did the thing I've wanted to do since I met my brother.

I didn't think twice before throwing my arms around him and holding him tightly as if my whole life depends on it. How long has it been since I hugged him.

"I am sorry." I whispered against his chest.

"No... I am sorry, Eva. I couldn't protect you properly." His voice winced saying that.

"Don't say that. I know that we fought and had some differences for some time. But not now. I am with my brother just like old times. Nothing has changed."

"Nothing changed but also everything changed" I gave him a nod before speaking again.

"You are the best brother, Ethan." I beamed at him and he gave me a short laugh pinching my cheek softly. He used to do the same when I was a child, because he loved poking my chubby cheeks. Truly, Nothing has changed.

"There is no moon today, but there are stars. They are brighter today than usual." He spoke after a sigh glancing up at the sky. After a moment of staring at his laugh, I did the same looking up at the sky.

The moon wasn't there today. The darkness was still there. But there are stars too. Just like he said they are brighter than usual and more in number as if someone sprinkled the sky with stars. As in, if I reach my hand out I could hold them. Maybe, I can.

What a fantasy world we live in.

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