Chapter 88: Take it to your grave

Jane shivered when she heard the noise of glass shattering. She walked over quickly and saw her husband’s ashen face. He was dazed, just staring at Derick.

“You still haven’t known? She kept her away from you all these years?” Derick demanded. He saw the shock and puzzle on his brother’s face and knew that Susan did exactly what she said.

Adrian Delmark just remained mute, staring at his brother helplessly. How come? How is it that Susan conceived and didn’t tell him, how can she keep his daughter a secret from him?

“Are you kidding me or are you being serious with what you just said?” Adrian asked. He turned and glared at his wife. Jane was trying to understand the whole scenario.

“Adrian, are you alright?” Jane asked. She walked over and placed her hand on Adrian’s shoulder. She is not strong enough to stand without support.

“How can he be, Jane? No man would be, after discovering he has a daughter that’s over 25 years old” Derick declared.

Jane felt her temple twitch. She dragged herself into a seat and sat down. What is Derick saying, how can Adrian have a daughter outside wedlock?

“I met her when she came to Oklahoma for Master. She was with her daughter. I also came for my project defence. The girl looked very much like you, Adrian.

She introduced her daughter to me, she was two years old then. I asked Susan if she was my niece, I saw your face in the little girl’s face and knowing that she loves you very much, I suspected immediately that she’s your daughter.

She said no. She denied it but I begged her to tell me the truth and she did. I asked her if you knew about your daughter and she said no. She doesn’t want you to know about your daughter, she wants to raise her as a single mother.

She also made me promise not to tell you about her. According to her, you are married and happy with Jane. Though she loves you very much, she cannot afford to see you unhappy.

Telling you might cause a rift between you and Jane. I understood that she was protecting your marriage. I promised her but didn’t know that after many years you still haven’t known…” Derick Delmark explained.

Adrian Delmark’s eyes went red. He was quiet for a long time. The world seemed to stand still and he couldn’t remember that people were around him.

His mind had travelled back. He had travelled back to the time he spent with Susan. He really planted his seed inside her and turned his back on her?

She tried to reach him, but he blocked every means by which she could reach him. He did it for Jane, to keep up his promise to her. To avoid any woman that would make him cheat on her again.

He turned his back on Susan, not knowing he actually turned his back on his daughter as well. What kind of a man and father is he?

He let her raise their daughter alone. She died and he couldn’t even go for her funeral. He couldn’t even remember old time friendships and give her that last respect.

If he had gone there, he probably would have met his daughter. He might be interested in raising her daughter which invariably is his daughter too.

What kind of a friend is he? Adrian Delmark’s countenance changed into a sad one. He was seated before his brother and wife but he was far away in mind and thought.

“Adrian” Jane called, tapping his hand. She’d been talking to him but he wasn’t responding. He seemed to be looking at a distance in the space absentmindedly.

Adrian Delmark glanced at his hand where Jane had tapped him and carefully looked up at her. Their eyes met and they both stared at each other for a while.

Jane’s eyes had welled up with tears but Adrian’s was cold, void of any emotions. He let his eyes remain glued to Jane before carefully turning them to Derick.

“Why didn’t you tell me this twenty years ago? Why are you telling me now when my daughter is already a grown woman? How can I explain to her that I’m her father when I am not responsible for her?” Adrian asked.

“She made me promise her. She pleaded with me to keep her secret safe” Derick Delmark replied, his tone filled with guilt.

“You shouldn’t have told me then. You should have taken her secret with you to your grave. After all, Susan kept my daughter away from me till her death, you also should have done that” Adrian snapped at his brother.

He stood up groggily and went to his study. Nothing matters to him at that moment again. He is aspiring to be a prime minister when he wasn’t even responsible for his own daughter?

“Why didn’t you tell me Derick? Susan was my best friend. I would have accepted her daughter and raised her along with my son” Jane reprimanded her.

“How can I tell you, Jane? You took her man away from her, you are the reason why Susan and Adrian couldn’t end up together” Derick snapped at her.