A Year With The Billionaire - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

Maeve’s POV
Burton’s home is beautiful and big but nowhere compared to Xander’s. There is a big pool in the front yard which has me swaying in amazement.
The moment Burton parks the car in the driveway, he breaks the heavy silence that has been between us since we left Xander’s mansion.
“I am curious, you know?” He says casually as he opens the door of the car. He climbs down and I do the same.
When he comes around to the other side, he stands in front of me. He is indeed curious. “I don’t think you and my wife are friends and I’m surprised that you asked to come here of all places”, he mentions and I shrug without a word.
There is no need to tell him what I am here for. I came here to see both of them. Now that he is also here, I should see them together. Flair might not know everything but I’m sure Burton has the answers to everything.
He notices I am not saying anything so he sighs and sags his shoulders down in resignation.
“Go on inside”, he points to the front door. “I will be back to pick you up in two hours.”
I remember Xander told him to keep an eye on me. Is Burton trusting me not to run away?
“Burton?” I call, stopping him from going back to the driver’s seat. He stops and turns back slowly to look at me. “Please wait. I came here to talk to you both.”
His forehead furrows in confusion for a while. “You came here to talk to Flair and me?” I nod. “What for?”
I know it sounds unbelievable but I know what I am doing and what I came here for. Flair and I can become friends but not now.
I don’t say anything so he nods and walks past me towards the front door. I quickly follow, not having the chance to admire the courtyard.
The door opens from behind and we both enter. The butler bows in greeting and I smile in reply.
We walk for several minutes till we get to the living room. There are no maids all over like there are in Xander’s place.
Burton points to the couch. “You can sit here while I get her.”
“Who do we have here?” We hear Flair’s voice coming from the staircase and she appears in a maternity gown.
I roll my eyes, making an effort not to laugh. She is just a month pregnant if I am not mistaken because the belly isn’t protruding yet and she is already wearing a maternity gown.
I won’t be surprised if she wears pregnant pants tomorrow either.
I chuckle within me while she goes into her husband’s arms.
“How is the baby?”
“Stubborn just like his father”, she replies with her hands around his head. I watch them for a while till an unconscious smile creeps to my face. When they pull away, I quickly wipe it off.
“Maeve?” Flair comes to me. She slouches to the next couch and faces me. “I can’t believe you are here, how are you?”
“I am fine,” I reply, smiling.
“How is Xander now? I hope he is fine?” She demands while Burton takes another seat too.
“He has gone home already”, he informs his wife and she gasps before looking at me again.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
I don’t want us to talk about anything else but the reason why I am here. Before I can mention that to Flair, Burton beats me to it.
“Maeve is here to talk to us both about something. I have no idea what it is”, he says to her and she looks confused.
“Is everything ok?” Flair inquiries from me and I nod, a lump getting stuck in my throat for no reason.
I am extremely terrified.
I didn’t give this idea much thought before coming here. I was supposed to make sure that Flair was alone and not with her husband so we could talk freely.
I really have no idea why I am uncomfortable now when I personally asked Burton to wait behind.
Will they find answers to my questions? What if they don’t know?
Flair’s hands touch mine and I jerk upright, our eyes interlocking. I can see the look of concern in her expression. “Is everything ok?”
I nod and swallow hard. I exhale deeply and open my mouth. “I’m here to find some answers. First, I want to know who Alice is”, I blurt out as fast as I can.
When the words are out, I breathe out a sigh of relief.
Flair glances at her husband whose face is expressionless before her hands leave mine. Burton avoids my gaze and Flair leans backward on the couch.
This is when I know that Flair must know something about this too. Maybe Burton had told her when she wanted to matchmake her friend with Xander. Is that why they didn’t work?
“Burton, please I really need to know. I can’t continue staying there with him without knowing what he wants to hear and what he doesn’t want to hear. I am not just here to marry him and get divorced in a year. I want to help him. I know he loves her but I want to be sure my assumptions are right and also to find out what happened and where I can find her. We need to bring them back together. Xander needs her now more than ever. I am not the one he needs.”
Silence creeps in, except for the loud pounding of my heart.
They are not looking at me, their heads are bowed.
What is happening?
“Burton….”
“She is dead”, he announces and it takes a while for it to process in my head. I almost think he is talking about someone else but he can’t possibly be doing that. Right now, he isn’t the playful Burton I know. He is damn serious.
“What?!” I exclaim in disbelief.
“Alice is dead. Xander doesn’t need her, you are the one he needs.”
“He still loves her”, I say. “I thought I could help him by bringing them together again.”
Silence falls again and tears spring to my eyes. This is it. This is the ugly past he is trying to hide. Is there more to this?
I can already feel his pain. The pain of losing someone you love. Just like I lost my parents too. It was painful. I was in agony for years. It wasn’t easy to move on so quickly. I kept holding onto the past, not believing that they are gone forever.
It took me years to understand what death really meant. It means I would never see them again in flesh. It means we would never do things together again. It means we would never be able to reciprocate our love for each other again. It means we would never be able to smile or laugh together again.
It means a lot.
The reality crashed on me heavily like a bulldozer and I almost gave up the ghost that night when it dawned on me that my parents were gone forever, never to be seen again.
Even after I survived that night, I cried to bed every night. I walk lifelessly in the daytime. Everything I do reminds me of them but the hope of seeing them again was gone because reality had taken over.
It was so hard to live with the pain.
This is the exact thing Xander is going through. This is why he doesn’t want to be married. This is why he is inflicting pain on himself. And this is why he can never fall in love with another woman.
“Alice was his fiancee”, Burton begins and I quickly look up to meet his gaze. “She was the replica of a virtuous woman. She was kind, beautiful, sweet, and generous. Everyone loved her except Xander’s mother because of Alice’s simplicity and anti-social lifestyle. She didn’t bother about her mother-in-law’s supposed hatred for her. She visits them every week, helps the maids with the house chores, and even presents gifts to her mother-in-law and father-in-law.”
“But there was one other problem”, he points out. “She didn’t want Xander to follow the path of his father. She hated Xander’s guts and desire to deal with his rivals. He was going to be the Mafia Leader but Alice was against it. They argued a month into their wedding and she left the house that night. Xander’s arrogance didn’t let him follow her immediately after she left. She was mad at him and she was driving at a high speed. After a while when he was calm, he called me and asked me to please check her in her apartment but she wasn’t there. I told him and he became worried. She searched everywhere until we saw her lying lifelessly on the road leading to her house from Xander’s place. She was still alive when we got there but she couldn’t say anything to Xander. The hurt was still in her eyes when she gave up the ghost.”
Tears are already pouring down my eyes.
“She died with his baby in her womb”, he concludes and a sob escapes my mouth.
“Oh my God! No!” I cry out, imagining how hard it must have been for Xander to forget what happened and forgive himself.
Tears flow freely from my eyes at the wild imaginations in my head. He must have been traumatized. They didn’t get to reconcile their differences before she passed on. It must have been so hard for him.
I didn’t know.
I didn’t know she was dead. I didn’t know there was more to his hatred of children. I didn’t know he was more broken than I can imagine but now I know.
Now I know what the problem is and where it is coming from and I believe I have the solution to the problem.
As soon as Burton gets up to leave the living room, I know he must be feeling emotional too in remembrance of that horrible and traumatizing night.
I watch him walk away and his wife pulls me in for a hug.
I begin to cry all over again for my ignorance and the recent awareness of what happened to Xander in the past.