.Chapter 21.

This chapter is dedicated to @Sal_Dogs16 :) Your comments are bae! ;D

All the members of The Illegitimates stared at him in awe. He wasn't much older than them, but everything about him screamed arrogance and power.

To others.

But not to me.

To me, everything about him sang about his caring nature.

Although, I couldn't help but flinch at his tone right then.

The magazine in his hand fell with a thud on the glass table in the living room, as he rubbed his temple angrily.

I glanced at Brad who was bobbing his knee up and down, and who, like everyone present in the room was following the movements of a tall man in the room like a tennis rally; wary of what he would do next.

"What the hell is this, Christy?!" the man exclaimed; although on second thoughts, boy sounded right, because he was still in his twenties.

Brad abruptly stopped bobbing his knee, and mouthed the words 'Christy' with an amused smirk on his face, but I shook my head, trying to tell him that it wasn't the time.

I stood up and reached forward to him. "Calm down, Mac, my face isn't even visible in the picture."

"And that's supposed to calm me down?" he laughed sarcastically. "You have to be fucking careful! You don't know which information they'll find useful, and how much time it will take them to put two and two together!"

"I know," I said soothingly, and looked at Alicia for help, but she shrugged sadly.

Gee, thanks for the help.

"People will ask who she is, Mr. Wilson," Caleb piped in.

"I know, and please don't call me Mr. Wilson; it makes me feel old, which I'm definitely not. It's Cormac."

"Right," Caleb smirked. "Cormac. Chris's . . . boyfriend?"

Cormac stopped pacing the room and looked at me. Our faces broke into amused and controlled grins, and then without warning, both of us collapsed onto the floor, dying of laughter, unable to utter a single coherent word from our mouth.

"Oh. My. God," I gasped clutching the couch to support myself. "Boyfriend . . . You-me . . . He thought . . . Us. . . I can't even!" And with that, both of us fell into laughing fits again.

"Hilarious," Cormac said, wiping the corner of his eyes with his palms.

Caleb looked flustered at his mistake, and the rest, except Alicia, were looking at us like we were lunatics.

"Brother?" Brad suggested, and a flat look from me shut him up. "Right. No brother."

"Dad?" Zach asked halfheartedly, and I shared a look at Cormac.

"Nope," we said together, turning our heads towards him.

"Is it me, or was that creepy?" Zach muttered.

But no one answered his question, so he just cleared his throat and said, "Right, sorry."

A moment later, Mac sobered up instantly, and said, "Our relation with each other does not matter. Can I speak to your manager?"

"Yes," Brad said with a nod. "That'll be my sister."

I perked up at that piece of information-Brad's sister, Megan was their manager?

We all waited patiently till he called his sister, and my eyes landed on the main cover of the magazine; the issue in hand.

It was me, the time I had gone at Brad's after the football match. But because of the drizzling that day, a little part of my face which was visible, was distorted; and so was the school logo on the back of my cheer leading top.

The words "POPSTAR BRADON EVAN'S NEW FLING?" were printed in bold, making me shudder.

Me and Brad? Puh-lease. That's never gonna happen; nor do I want it to happen.

But if the media would recognize my face and identity, then I would be dead.

Maybe literally, too . . .

Cormac sighed and finally sat down, but then, his phone rang. Groaning in annoyance, he pulled out his phone from his pocket, and snapped at someone over the phone for not getting his work done.

"Yes, I've told you so many times! It should be dark so she doesn't see the ring in the drink."

My eyes snapped up to meet Cormac's, waiting till he ended the call.

"I need to talk to you," I hissed, and practically dragged him to the kitchen.

"You're proposing to Renée and you never even told me?!" I exploded.

"I'm-"

"I'm never speaking to you," I yelled. "When did you decide it?"

"Christy, it's not like-"

"When?" I demanded, placing my hands on my hips indignantly.

"No, you don't-"

"Answer the damn question!" I snapped.

"I'm not proposing to her!" he finally exclaimed, and that shut me up instantly.

"What! You're not?! But then the-the ring . . . and the drink, and . . . God!" I stuttered, and then mumbled sheepishly, "Then what is it? Oh, my God, you're having a baby! Holy shit! A mini Cormac!"

"Chris," Cormac interrupted me in amusement. "It's none of the above."

"Then what-"

"Will you let me finish?"

"Sorry," I said, sticking my tongue out.

"It's our 7th anniversary, and I'm planning a late dinner, and gifting her a ring."

"That's a bad idea," I rejected it immediately.

His face fell. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious, idiot? She'll think that your dropping the m-bomb," I said in a 'duh' tone.

"But she knows that marriage is not my priority right now," Cormac began.

"But however understanding she may be, she's still a girl, right?" I butted in.

Cormac contemplated over my words for a moment, and then let out a sigh. "You're absolutely right. It would only increase problems and it'll be embarrassing for both of us if I tell her that this isn't an engagement ring but just a gift."

"Yep," I nodded in agreement. "Now I'm going outside, and you go arrange the changing of the gift or something."

---

"Who is he again?" Brad whispered to me, as the both of us looked at Cormac and Megan talking over the kitchen island. Megan was looking at Cormac as though he was God, and I rolled my eyes inwardly.

People, especially girls, thought that he was the typical rich, arrogant, bad boy-type guy who would fall in love with them and whisk them away someplace romantic.

Like he has nothing better to do.

How about work?

So it wasn't surprising to see that he had an effect on Megan too.

"He's Cormac Wilson," I whispered back.

"Sarcasm not appreciated."

"Fine," I said in a hushed tone.

You may ask why we were speaking so softly. The reason was really stupid: no one was speaking loudly, because they didn't want to disturb the Cormac and Megan session (basically, they were afraid of him).

I motioned Brad to come outside with me; so the both of us went through the sliding glass door and started walking towards the deck near the swimming pool.

"I have a nanny, Emma, since childhood; even before my Mom's death. She used to take excellent care of me and treat me like her own daughter. She practically lived with us," I smiled nostalgically at the thought. "Cormac is Emma's grandson."

"That's it?" Brad asked.

"No," I laughed at the hint of disappointment in his tone.

"When I was nine and Cormac was fifteen, s-something bad happened," I stuttered, knowing the rest of the part by heart. But I did what was easy, as usual.

I lied.

"His father died in an accident."

Right, accident . . .

At least it was partially true.

"Cormac and I used to play with each other before the accident; he babysat me, that's more like it, but it was just for fun. We liked to hang out together and just needed a reason. Why would anyone need to babysit me when I had a full-time Nanny? But when his father died, Cormac came to live with his grandmother: he came to live with us. And gradually, we grew closer and closer, and he became my everything."

"So you . . . what, like fell in love with him or something?" Brad asked in a restrained tone.

"What? No!" I exclaimed incredulously. "You heard us back inside laughing at Caleb's comment, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but it could've been forced," he mumbled.

I actually found it cute, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"Cormac is one of the most intelligent persons that I have ever met in my life. So my father decided, and I quote, 'Put those brains of his to good use'. So as Cormac grew older, Dad saw to it that he got the correct and best possible education available, so that he could join his company. And even though Dad almost never took interest in me, and Mac knew everything about my past, he still felt forever indebted to him. And he wanted to join his company, too.

"But Cormac never forgot me; even after I shifted to London, his first priority was my safety."

"Safety?" Brad echoed.

"Being the daughter of such a rich and important person in USA automatically gains you enemies, doesn't it?" I said bitterly.

"He still does every possible thing to protect me. I love him so much, it hurts."

I didn't realize that I was crying until I felt a warm thumb brush against my cheek.

"Don't cry," Brad said softly.

I gulped uneasily because the place where he touched me felt as though it were on fire. I looked at him and something flashed in his eyes, but I couldn't figure out what.

"Those are tears of happiness," I laughed in between my tears, shrugging off the feeling. "He took so much care of me; he still does. He became my father and brother, both. He's my . . . my everything," I choked out.

"His sources told him about that horrendous and cursed picture," I exaggerated with a small laugh, "and thankfully, he had arrived in London yesterday itself. So it wasn't that he had to leave his work and come," I reasoned, trying to remove the attention off me.

"Hmm," Brad just nodded, and looked in front, towards the pool. "Can I ask you something?" he said suddenly.

"Sure."

"That day, when I stayed at your house overnight because my car had broken down, and we had come here on this deck to talk; why weren't you afraid of the rains then?"

I smiled. "I'm not afraid of rains, Evans. I'm afraid of thunder and lightning."

"Back to calling me Evans, huh?" he smirked, but I just punched his arm lightly as a reply.

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked.

"I guess it's only fair if you do," Brad shrugged.

"Do you dislike your mother?"

It was a very simple question, but it made the pace of my heart quicken; unsure of what his answer might be.

After a long, painful minute, he finally answered, "No."

It felt as though a heavy weight had been taken off my chest, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

But then I remembered something.

"That day, at the park, when I asked you about your family, you told her that you didn't like her," I said.

"That was before I met you. The real you," he answered vaguely, and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. As though he read my mind, he continued, "I took a lot of things for granted until I came to know a few things about you. Like my mother, my father, even my sister."

Something twisted in my gut after hearing his words.

"I realized how lucky I am to have them, and I've been trying to mend my broken relationship with my Mom since then. And I realized that I'm doing the right thing when Megan hugged me one day for doing so; she is the one who has been trying to keep our broken family together," Brad smiled.

But it was not just a smile. It was a genuine, pure and deep smile, which made my stomach churn pleasantly, making my mind fuzzy, because I was not used to feeling such things.

"Brad! Chris! Come back inside. Cormac wants to talk," Alicia hollered from inside the living room.

"Coming!" I yelled at her, and turned to face Brad. "I'm glad I was able to help you," I said, feeling my mouth curving upwards, too.

His eyes were so blue, like a cobalt blue-ish colour. It was such a rare shade that I could keep staring into them all day.

Stop thinking such creepy and stalker-ish things.

Suddenly, Brad's smile turned into a challenging smirk, and he took a menacing step towards me, looking into my eyes: the slight fear which my eyes held, capturing his every move, was not missed by him.

"But I know only a few things about you, Hawkins," he said, and his gaze ran all over my face. Then he took a step back, and said, "And trust me, I'm gonna keep digging further; 'cause I'm in too deep to get out now."

And with that, he walked away, his boots making an authoritative noise against the wooden deck, leaving me rooted on the spot.

****

The beautiful banner to the right is by _the_writers. Don't you just love the quote?! It says, "Sometimes our secrets tear us apart." Aww... That's clearly the work of a genius ^_^ Thank you so much, Letia!

Anyone who wants to submit a BANNER/COVER/ANY ARTWORK, please, please, please PM me if you're interested :) You can make as many as you like! It'll be immensely appreciated! :*

Please vote and comment for an early update, please! I love to read your wonderful comments :D

[Teaser: Cormac and Megan come up with a plan to cover up for Chris; and everything about the magazine picture which seems hazy right now will get cleared up]

-Crazy