Quote of the day: Do not judge a book by its cover.

     Greg stared at the man before him with disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, but more so he hated the man, and he had no right to even know that a person with the name Nora Marshall existed.

   "So?" Greg spat out with annoyance, "so what if she is my wife? How is that any of your business?" His hatred for the man not faltering a bit.

   "You kept her from me Greg... Don't I even deserve a little acknowledgment from you," his father said. He could see that his eyes was clouded with tears, he had never seen his father this weak, but he stopped caring nineteen years ago, so he didn't feel any remorse at being the course of his tears.

   "Acknowledgment! I really don't think so."

     "Is it that you hate me so much, or you are just too embarrassed to tell me because your wife is crazy and maybe because she is nineteen, and supposed to be in school and not married," his father said his expression was no longer somber, it was hard.

    Greg blood boiled in his veins, this man had no fucking right to say anything about Nora's mental condition when he was the main cause of everything. He decided he might just tell the man anyway.

    "You have no right to make comments about her mental health when you are the cause of it all, you bastard," Greg said with a lot of hatred. His father looked confused and he liked that.

   "How am I the caus? I never even met the girl, I found out about her existence just yesterday," His father said trying to defend himself.

   "Then I must tell you that whoever you got the information from didn't give you the correct information," he said with an evil smile.

   "In what way is the information wrong? There is a Nora Marshall."

  "And did you get to see her picture?"

  "Yes, I saw a lot of her pictures, even the one of you guys in Spain," his father said getting him angry more than he was.

    "And your brain couldn't diss out the correct information," Greg said clapping his palms tight before him.  He rested his elbows on the desk, staring up at the man before him, he hadn't sat down since, and he didn't care.

   "That Greg is an insult to your own father, are you saying  I'm stupid?" His father said between gritted teeth.

   "Well you are, if you couldn't recognize your own gene when you see it," Greg said with a chuckle that definitely didn't come from within. His father looked more confused than ever.

   "What nonsense are you sprouting now, Gregory." He used his full name,  then the old man must have had it.

   "Well, how about I let you know that Nora Marshall, isn't my wife."

"How is that possible, she is a Marshall."

   "She is a Marshall because she is your daughter, you dumbo." Greg said finally letting the cat out of the bag. It was time this man began to admit his mistakes. He watched the look on his father's face, his father looked confused at first, then shocked then later he had the look of disbelief.

   "You expect me to believe that Greg. There was only one woman who ever bore a child for me and that was your mother, and she only gave birth to you. So how do I come about a daughter suddenly?" His father's voice was hard with anger now.

   Greg wanted to laugh but he didn't, he had looked forward to this day a lot. A day when he would confront his father, a day when he would let him know he had a daughter, a daughter he didn't deserve.

   "How about I let you know now, that mum had another child and that child was Nora," Greg said with a tight voice. This topic was a very sensitive one to him.

   "If Cassandra had another child then we both know that child is not mine," his father said. Greg got so angry at this point it took everything in him not to stand up and hit the man he called a father.

   "This is the exact reason her birth had been hidden from you in the first place, because you wouldn't acknowledge the fact that she is your  daughter."

    "Well your mother wasn't exactly the most faithful wife."

  "You make one more remark about my mother and I won't hesitate to hit you," Greg said standing up. He looked at his father with anger, it was hard not to actually hit him. "Mum wasn't faithful to you? Is that what you had chosen to believe? You chose to believe the words of an outsider over your own wife...let's forget about mum. If you  saw Nora's picture didn't you see the signature black hair that all Marshall seems to have?" Greg pointed to his hair and his father's already fading own. "And her blue eyes that looks exactly like yours?" He has always hated the fact that Nora was so similar to their father, but  there was nothing he could do about it.

   "That doesn't imply anything, if Nora is indeed my child why then did she hide her existence from me," his father said. Greg looked at the man with utter disbelief, could this man get anymore shameless? 

   "Why don't you retrace your memory back to how you had been treating her nineteen years ago," Greg said recalling how he had watch his parents argue when he was seven. How his father had stopped coming home, he remembered watching his mum cry everytime, he remembered watching her suffer silently. "You had chosen to believe that she cheated on you, you didn't think to ask of her own opinion. You chose instead to believe hearsays, you gave her such a hard time. She watched you bring home several of your mistresses, you didn't even care about how she felt!"

"That is no reason to hide the child from me, if she is indeed mine."

  "Listen to yourself, if she had told you then, would you have believed?" He  asked and watched his father shake his head. "Yes you wouldn't, you would've said it belonged to one of her numerous lovers and you knew deep down that all mum did was love you. She never even once wanted another man except you. When she found out she was pregnant with Nora she knew you wouldn't believe her so she left, remember the time she traveled for a whole year... Yes that was actually because she went ahead and gave birth to a child without your knowledge, but what did you think?  You told me my mum had abandoned us for one of her lovers," Greg's voice was now clouded with tears. He remembered the day his mum had left, she had told him she had something important to do, he believed her, but his young heart then hadn't known how important it was.

  "But..."

   "Oh no you don't get to say Anything, have you ever wondered why I hate you so much? Well listen good, when mum had Nora her intention was to keep her away for the main time, and whenever you stop acting out of your ass she would bring the young girl home. But that never happened because when she came back things became worse, you accused her of frolicking around with guys the whole year and then coming back. I watched her suffer alone, even when she had the disease she told no one and bore it alone. If you had been a better husband she would have had the courage to tell you she was sick and maybe she would have been treated sooner but you..." Greg's voice cracked, he couldn't just continue.

   Greg released his tie a bit and stared at his father who had a ashen expression on his face. "It was sixteen years later I began to notice that mum had been talking to a private detective. I spoke to him and turns out I have a sister whom my mum seems to be searching for. Mum missed her so much, but I was glad she wasn't there to bear all the negativity our family produced, but I didn't know better. I decided to find Nora myself,  when I did the situation I met her was..." Greg stopped. He couldn't continue, he remembered how she had looked lifeless on the hospital bed, he remembered being so scared, he had watch how she had dripped in and out of life.

  "Now its just too sad you know, Nora is so sacred of me abandoning her like the rest of her family, she is doing several things just to get me not to leave her. It hurts my heart you know, to see my own sister that way, she is... she is just nineteen, you know girls are age are so fixated on make-up and boys but she... She is just going in and out of mental institution... She is... Scared shitless that I would leave her... And this was all your fault." He gave his father a hard glare. He hated the man, and the more he saw Nora that way, his hatred for this man knew no bounds.

  "Son I'm..."

  "No," Greg said sharply holding up his right palm to shut him up. "Just get out of my office." That was the only thing he wanted then. He couldn't bare to see him any longer.

   "Son I..."

"Get out," he said in a very cold voice.

  "You can't just tell me to get out, this is still my company remember," his father said taking a stance.

  "Oh father, do you happen to have dementia, or is it because you are suddenly getting old. If you remember well, I told you the day you asked me to take over your company that you are going to renounce every right you have to it, so if memory serves then it means this company is mine, and you Mr Alfred Marshall have no claim whatsoever on it...now out."

  His father didn't say anything at this point, he must have guessed that nothing could appease him now. He was a lot like his father hardheaded.  He watched his father leave his office, as he left Greg slumped into his seat head on his hands.

  Greg was broken. He remembered the first few years he had spent with his father and mother before the whole issue started, it had been very beautiful, he had little memory of that time, all he remembered of his father now was the man who had caused his mother to be unhappy, and caused his sister to be estranged from her family.

   Greg heard his office door open slightly, he looked up and saw that it was Ashley. Seeing her immediately filled him with a lot of comfort, he felt himself calm down and relax. Ashley walked in a little and stood looking at him, he saw the look on face. She had pain, compassion and guilt written all over her face, he knew right then that she must have heard everything. He wanted to laugh despite himself, Ashley was just too curious. He wondered if she ever heard the saying 'curiosity killed the cat.' Her curiosity should be abated now, she had always wanted to know who Nora was.

   "Nora is..." she started saying but stopped. There was guilt written all over her face, what was she so guilty of now? "I'm sorry I didn't mean to eavesdrop I just..." He stood up, this got her to stop talking. He walked up to her seeing the look of fear on her face. Greg knew it, she hadn't meant to eavesdrop indeed, but it was a choice if she had heard everything. She could have left but she had stayed to hear everything, so she had every reason to feel guilty.

  Chapter twenty.
Mary Aden.