Chapter 78 - I Need To Keep Her Safe

Hunter's POV

"Mr. Divenson, your father is waiting for you in the conference room." Cal said, and I was stunned to learn that my father was waiting for me, and I stopped signing the documents on my table as I raised my head to look up at Calixto.

"What does he want, Cal?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"I don't have any idea, Mr. Divenson, and he said it was urgent." He replied.

I get up from my swivel chair and get my coat and walk to the door while I can hear Cal's footsteps behind me, and I don't understand why my father wants to talk to me at this hour; he already lectured me about my relationship with Maddie in our mansion's library.

"Dad, what can I do for you?" I asked.

"Your mom told me that you would move out from the mansion without my knowledge, Hunter?" He asked, and I can feel the anger in his voice.

"I already told you I would move out the moment I got married." I replied.

"I didn't stop you from marrying Madeline Brownwood, but I can tell she influenced you a lot. You informed me about your plan to leave the Divenson estate, but I didn't permit you to go. I appoint you to become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Divenson Mining Corporation, but I am still the Chairman of the Board of Directors. I let you preside over the day-by-day operations of our company because I know that you are competent and well-driven. But since you encountered that woman, you started to enjoy your life instead of focusing on the business." He said, and I was shocked by my father's words.

"Dad, why it was a big deal to you if I will stay in my own house, you asked me to have a child, and now you want me to stay in the Divenson house, how can I build a family of my own if I will forever remain at the Divenson mansion?" I asked.

"That mansion belongs to you, Hunter, because you are my eldest son, don't change our family tradition because of that stupid woman." He said, and I felt a pang on my chest.

"Dad, Madeline is part of my life now, and I hope you will respect her as my wife." I said in a calm tone.

"Why should I respect her? I don't like her to be your wife, and I didn't ask you to marry Frank's daughter; I thought you were going to marry Kaye. I should have intervened with your wedding, and it would never have reached this point." He said.

"Is there any problem, Dad?" I asked, and I can't stop the irritation in my voice.

"I don't want you to move out from the house, and the reason I came here because the daughter of our business partner can't make it next week, maybe in two years she will be here and help you run the company, and I think in one year you are ready to divorce your wife." He said, and my eyes widened.

"Dad, why do I need to divorce my wife?" I asked.

"Because our new investor wants you to become his son-in-law." He said in a firm voice.

"What? How could you decide for my life, dad?" I asked, and my father raised from his chair.

"Because I am your father, and do you think I didn't know why you meet Maddie? She was not your girlfriend, and you think you can fool me, son? You married her so you can have a child, if you only married Kaye, then I will not interfere with your marriage anymore, but since you marry the wrong woman, I just can't let all this to continue. How could you pay her aunt's debt? And in exchange, you marry her for convenience? She probably is the luckiest woman on the face of the earth for having you as her husband." My father said, and I didn't know who told him about my real deal with Madeline.

"Since your relationship with Madeline was purely business, you need to file a divorce, and my business partner said he wants you to marry his daughter." He declared.

"Dad, I can't do that." I replied.

"And why not, you don't love Madeline because all your life you only love Rebecca; I want you to think about it, Hunter, even though you made the company afloat, as of this moment, we still need investors, and this person is willing to invest more than you can imagine, but that is one of his condition. Still, you don't need to worry, and you have to meet his daughter first when she was ready. He told me his daughter is still busy touring around the globe as of the moment." He declared as if he was only talking about today's weather.

"And what if I will not file a divorce with Madeline?" I asked in a stern tone.

"I still can fire you, Hunter, because I am still the chairman, and I can appoint your brother to take your place. Don't let a woman ruin your career, son, and you know how much time and effort you invested in our company. We venture into another type of business, but I know deep in your heart you love our mining company." He said and walk to the door while I remained seated, unable to believe what just happened.

"You better think about what I said, son." He stopped on his tracts and turned his head to me before he finally got out of the conference room. I couldn't believe he will find out about my fake relationship with Madeline; I want to tell him, I am beginning to feel something about my wife, but I know I can never forget about Rebecca, and I love my job, and being the CEO of our firm made me so busy that I was able to stop thinking about Rebecca sometimes. 

I know after meeting Maddie, I am starting to divide my time by thinking about Rebecca and Madeline day and night. But I know I couldn't offer Madeline love, so I guess I should stop giving her false hope and starts treating her that she was only my temporary wife in that way when it was time for me to file a divorce, it will be easy for her to let me go, and I think it will be good for both of us. 

But I will never allow my father to make me marry the daughter of our new investor because, for me, it was a ridiculous idea. And I don't want my wife to know about it because even though I only marry Maddie for the baby, I don't want to hurt her feelings. I know deep in my heart I felt something for her, but I felt frustrated because I can never let go of Rebecca's memories no matter how I try. I asked Cal to come with me to the bar, and I drink until I turned a little drunk, and I requested Calixto to drive me in going to the Divenson mansion because I want to get drunk and forget what is going on with my life, even for a while.

"Are you fighting with your wife, Mr. Divenson?" Cal asked me as we drink our scotch on the rocks.

"And who are you to ask me about my personal life, especially about my relationship with my wife?" I asked, and I know my snarky remarks didn't bother Cal at all as he continues to look at me with amusement on his face.

"Well, you brought me here instead of going home to your beautiful wife, who is waiting for you in your mansion." Calixto declared, and I grinned at him.

"Cal, my relationship with Maddie is still fine, except my father wants to ruin what we have." I said, and I let out a sigh.

"Then don't follow Clark Divenson's words." He responded.

"I hope everything is that easy Cal, you know my dad since you work for him for so many years before I started running the company." I said, and Cal nodded in agreement.

I made love to my wife the moment I came home, and my fantasy turned into reality as I made love to my wife roughly, we had wild sex, and I know in some ways I hurt her. Still, I can feel Madeline loved every moment of our rough and hard sex, but because of my father's warning to me, I can no longer control myself. I spoke hurtful words to Madeline after claiming her because I told her the main reason I married her, and for the first time, I made Madeline speechless, and I can see the pain that registered on her lovely face.

I hate myself for doing all this to her, but I don't have a choice since I don't wish Madeline to get hurt in the end. I want to prepare her for the worst yet to come because I know my father can break Madeline's heart. As possible, I want to protect Maddie from my father, and I was thinking I am going insane with my situation; I thought Madeline Brownwood would be my salvation. Still, it turns out my life became chaotic when I met her because I can't deny there is something about her that keeps me wide awake at night. 

I can tell I am both hunted by Rebecca and Madeline in my sleep, and right now, I became so confused. My wife makes me warm and excited, and I love the way I feel every time I have her in my arms. I started to believe that our marriage will have a good impact on my life, but now that my father wants to ruin what we have, I am afraid it will wreck Madeline. That is why I need to protect her, even if it means I need to break her heart.. But deep in my heart, I wished that I can keep Madeline in my life, and I know to do that, I have to stand up to my father and deny him what he wants, and I need to create a plan on how to keep Madeline safe.