Chapter 6 The Secret Twins

"Yes, he was. It was even his boyfriend who murdered him. But I'm not too sure about his motive. And that's my point. Because there would be social media reactions, we can't mention his name."

Christ! Quietly, Alexus whispered. For some reason that he couldn't understand, he sensed that Rafaella was lying when she claimed to be his sweetheart. What other lies remained?

To make his point, the attorney raised a finger. "We need to show he wasn't the only one to have a sexual encounter with her."

"Are you saying that the only way to get a divorce is to turn her into a whore?" Alexus gave David a stern look while seeming irate.

"Yes, something like that to prevent her from receiving anything."

He mumbled under his steely exterior, "David, I'm not buying that. I'm sorry, but I disagree with you in sullying my wife's reputation. Her lack of promiscuity is too much. No way."

Marla intervened, saying, "Alex, try to be objective. She is with someone else, as you just stated. Then perhaps she wants you to end things soon so she can wed."

"Whatever. I want it done well without putting her down, "Alexus answered. "Perhaps I can get her to agree to anything before I go and file it in Vegas."

"If she supports you, that would be fantastic," Martin offered the alternative: "Or you don't need to file the divorce and remain together."

"Do you agree with us?" Marla hissed at him.

"She returned because she desired a divorce. Therefore, we start by implementing Alexus's recommendation to forgo her claim to all company assets," Martin continued. "She might also consent to get monthly alimony as his wife. Stay human everybody."

"Martin, I like your suggestion. It ought to be like that. It's true," Alexus agreed.

"Then good luck," David said. "Go, meet her before lunch so we can get this off our chests," he said.

Alexus stood up and walked out of the study after saying, "Okay." He was beginning to have a bad headache, all because his wife had returned. His peaceful day was thrown into a storm by her presence.

After receiving a call from Timothy, alerting him that he had left Rafaella at the hotel, Alexus put the phone back in its cradle. He was happy his sister had taken charge of the whole chaos for a change. He was currently too exhausted to consider the judicial proceedings. He had a headache whenever Rafaella was mentioned.

He got up from the seat and headed down the hallway. He entered the gym, switched on the whirlpool, and then stripped off his clothing, leaving them on the floor in a tangled mess.

His thigh was massaged by hot water jets, which blessedly reduced the bone-chilling anguish. The scar was more significant than the one on his shoulder and contrasted horribly with the bronze of the skin there. It took him months of physical treatment and numerous operations following the accident before he could walk again. Even after that, he underwent several further procedures to restore his limb as much normalcy as possible. A couple of months ago was the last one. He didn't moan, though. His thoughts escaped his wife by engaging in the challenging, painful workout. Everything was for nothing. They remained husband and wife. She also felt affection for another man. He felt a wave of rage hotter than the tub's water.

When he heard the front door open and footsteps in the hallway, he was still working to suppress his emotions. He slit open his eyes and watched Timothy pick up his clothing off the floor and hang them up in the closet.

"Is she residing in that hotel overnight?"

Timothy nodded. "I was unaware of the specifics. She declined my offer to drive her to the airport. What do you consume?" He indicated the glass that was perched on the tub's side.

"Scotch."

"What dosage did you use?"

"The only thing missing amount in the glass."

Timothy appeared to be confident after carefully reading the material. "Instead, how about some water and a few muscle relaxants?"

Alexus answered, "You already know how much I detest those medications."

"Why are you paying me if you don't want to hear what I say?" He disregarded what Alexus had said as he pulled a water bottle from a tiny refrigerator in the corner.

On his way back from the refrigerator, he took a medicine bottle. "Take those, then stop being so arrogant. You don't need to talk to anyone here, and Scotch won't make your issues disappear."

Alexus watched them for a while and then extended his hand for Timothy to take medicine. After five years, he had figured out how to stay out of fights. Even though they were only a few years apart in age, Timothy was dedicated to his work. He can be an awful tyrant when he thought Alexus had gone too far. The fact that Alexus permitted him to escape tells much about their relationship. Without Timothy, he probably would be in a wheelchair right now. Much worse. The physical therapist humiliated, browbeaten, and forced Alexus to walk when all he wanted to do was die. He owed Timothy far more than just the substantial salary he gave him.

"How long have you been indoors?" Timothy gestured toward the whirlpool.

"About twenty minutes," he replied and swallowed the pills and rinsed them down with the cold water while letting his head drop back on the tub rim, waiting for the drug's floating sensations to begin.

"Would you mind getting out so I can massage that leg? It might be advantageous."

"Help?" Alexus opened his eyes in a squinted way. "I'm afraid the only way you can help this time is if you can change what happened in the past."

Timothy raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

"Is she leaving tonight?"

Tim reacted by saying, "No idea. If it helps you forget about her, she had two children and a nanny waiting for her at the hotel entrance. She seemed to have found a second wealthy man and a family right away."

This surprised Alexus. Additionally, he remembered that she had unintentionally brought up children during their conversation. He even wondered why she had suddenly turned pale. He could not shake the feeling that Rafaella was hiding something. She was evasive, which was not her nature.

"Toddlers?"

"Yes. They are a toddler's appropriate size. I took a picture. Hold on."

"Why? For what purpose?" He asked, raising his eyebrow at his committed physical therapist.

Timothy said, "To prove that I'm not making up accusations against your ex-wife. However, I don't blame you if it was difficult for you to let her go. She has a good personality and doesn't have the air of a sly woman."

"How did you recognize that she's my wife?" Alexus's eyebrows furrowed as he asked him.

"Hold on... here it is." Timothy handed him his phone after giving it a quick scan. "I saw numerous of her photos in there when you asked me to go with Mrs. Jones to visit their home once." He said, watching his patient.

Alexus' brows wrinkled as he stared at the picture of the two kids grinning and giving their mother a firm hug as a camera captured that moment. He gulped forcefully while gazing at the views. His face progressively grew darker.

"Hey. Is something wrong? You looked like you've seen a ghost," he remarked and snatched the phone from Alexus's hand before it submerged into the water.

Timothy closely inspected the picture he handed to his client, and his eyes were stunned as his eyes looked at Alexus then back to his mobile phone. His hand flew to his mouth.

"Oh, my goodness! These kids, especially the little boy, resembled you," Timothy said, which could have shocked Alexus. "Are you thinking they're your kids?"

"Damn!" Alexus muttered, trying to get out of the tub but sliding into the water. "Get me out of this damn thing!"

"Calm down, Alex," Timothy said while supporting him out of the whirlpool. And dropped the towel on his lap as he took the nearby chair.

"Nothing can soothe me at this minute," he replied in rage while drying himself. "Not even the darn pills you gave me!"

Timothy followed him to his bedroom, opened a clothes cabinet, and started dressing.

"Are you going out?"

"Yes, before it's too late."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe Rafa will leave before I can confront her."

"I'm going with you."

He did not reply. He was cursing himself under his breath.

While Rafaella enjoyed dinner at the hotel with her twin kids and Libby, their nanny, whom she had met while living with Luigi, Alexus' half-brother.

She owed a lot to the man who, in consideration for agreeing to be his live-in partner in front of others, so the former boyfriend who wasted his money on many women would stop milking him, enabled her to graduate from college. She could still remember the first time she met Luigi Latimer. She had been that tense. She had entered the packed elevator waiting for the area while strolling along when a man approached her and introduced himself as Oscar.