CHAPTER 4 – THE RETURN

TILDA

“Mummy, mummy, stop Dylan from chasing me!” Diamond cried as she ran into my arms.

I held her close and called softly, “Dylan, don’t make your sister run around the airport. She might bump into someone. Watch over her while I take care of this.”

I was exhausted. The suddenness of the trip had left me with little time to prepare. Even now, I was trying to correct an issue with Diamond’s passport so we could board the next flight to Houston.

"Mom, when will we return to North Carolina?" Diamond asked me. "I don't want to be away from my friends for too long," she whined playfully.

Denzel pulled Diamond. “You should come and sit down, Diamond, and let mommy concentrate.”

Dylan added. “We can come and visit soon. Mom would be worried if she left us behind.”

“No,” Dixon spoke from his seat. “I won't let mom go anywhere without us. We have to protect her and Diamond all the time.”

I smiled. My quadruplets, at barely five years old the boys have already taken on the mantle of protection for the two women in their lives.

“Miss Tilda, you are next,” the attendant called to me.

“I will be back now, boys. Please remain here, and take care of your sister. Remember, no talking to strangers,” I said.

Denzel responded. “Don’t worry, mom, we will look after Diamond while you are away.”

Dylan concurred. “And we won't talk to any stranger.”

Reassured, I joined the queue and approached the attendant. Before long, we were ready and boarded the plane to Houston.

*** *** ***

JAMES

“You don’t get it, Kristie. If this goes wrong, we would lose everything,” I poured out my frustration to Kristie.

“You already explained how beneficial the merger with O. Gray Future Corporation will be to us. Do everything to push for it, James.” Kristie remained nonchalant about the topic.

I got up from my desk. “Can't you see? This is not magic, Kristie. For the past years I have been barely struggling to keep the company afloat. If you and Megan don’t cut down on your vain expenditures with immediate alacrity we will be doomed.”

She frowned and got defensive. “You are not saying we are the cause of this, James. I made you climb this high, and now you can't just turn against me.”

“Now you are getting it wrong.” I muttered. “How can I make you understand?”

Utterly frustrated, I returned to my seat. We can't lose everything now after what we did to Tilda. We must find a way around this and remain in business.

“You can't make us live like paupers out of your own carelessness,” she sneered at me.

I went on to explain. “What I mean is that you might have to consider pawning every luxury item you aren’t using. They lie around for nothing.”

She bit her lip angrily, her eyes shooting daggers at me. “Lyxa left Tilda so much money that should last more than three generations, James. Go ahead with the merger and don’t try to disrupt our lifestyles.”

I tried to remain calm. “It is true that the company is worth so much, darling. But going through the relevant articles of the company, I discovered that a greater share of the company’s asset can only be accessed by Lyxa’s grandchild. As it is, I can only deal with Tilda’s share.”

Her expression became gloomy.

I went on. “This merger, I don’t have the right to it Tilda being a minority shareholder. Oscar Gray mustn’t find out about this. However, if we could pour funds into the company, I can create more shares and buy them myself. It is illegal, but no one will question the state of affairs.”

Silence!

Finally, Kristie whispered. “If that is already in the article, then O. Gray Future Corporation must know about it.”

I shrugged. “I doubt they do. At the moment they are still pushing for the merger.”

“Then we must be careful, Oscar Gray is not someone to be messed with. However, if his company was yet to find out, then it never will,” she stated.

I leaned close to her. “Or as I already stated, we can put in more money to create more shares. That way, we will never be discovered.”

She cut me short. “You can look for the money however you can, James. We have a daughter now, and Shantel will continue to live like the little princess she is.”

Shantel’s name deflated me. I will stop at nothing to make my little princess happy.

“You barren ex-wife couldn’t give you any. I know you would have pulled away from our plan if I hadn’t given you what you so much desired,” she tried to guilt trip me further.

“It is alright now, Kristie,” I surrendered.

“Tilda is not with us anymore, James, and Lyxa has no grandchild to claim what we have.”

I nodded. “You and Shantel can keep all you have. But Megan should pawn her stuff, she has way too much than she will ever need.”

Kristie flared at me. “It is not in your place to tell my mother what she needs or does not need. We both worked our whole life for this and you are the fortunate one here.”

“I don’t mean any disrespect, dear. I only tried to find a solution,” I beseeched. “Then maybe...” I hesitated. “There are very good schools in Houston Heigths, we mustn’t spend too much on school bus to Bellaire...”

“We aren’t having this discussion, James. Shantel cannot go to public schools,” she interjected.

I tried to be careful with my words. “But there are also private...”

She gnashed her teeth. “It’s alright. We can withdraw dad from the private hospital. It is way too expensive anyways, and he doesn’t need all that care. A care giver can be provided for him,” she offered.

“Okay, darling, we can do that. However, the money realized from that won't be close to what we need,” I replied.

She got up and grabbed her handbag. “Let’s do that for now, James, until we come up with better ideas.”

I nodded as she walked away. We had way too many domestic staff, and I dare not suggest she relieves any of them. Tilda was never this extravagant.