Chapter Twenty
Larry was waiting outside Mr. Drummond’s office. He gave Melanie and Alex a warm smile as they passed him by. It didn't matter anymore that he had snitched on them to his boss. They would have come clean anyway or Sebastian would have told him. Larry was only doing his duty.
How could there be any hard feelings? Alex and Melanie were walking on cloud nine, and then some.
The woman standing next to Larry made Alex freeze in his tracks.
"Alex, what is it sweetheart?" Melanie said. She looked at the wizened old lady with the kindest eyes she had ever seen twinkling amid the lines of her face. She was in her seventies at least. The smile on her lips was pure joy and happiness. Melanie couldn't help but respond with an open smile of her own in return.
"Alex, who is this?" She asked.
"Mother." Alex whispered. "What are you doing here? Melanie, this is my mother. I haven't seen her in over twenty years."
"Alex. My boy, it's so, so very good to see you." Tears began to flow down the little old lady's cheeks. Tears of sadness and joy. Alex took the tiny woman into his arms and raised her up. "Mother, it's so good to see you." He hugged her to him until she felt she would smother. Then he gathered up the two women together, kissing the top of their heads, Melanie's soft, lustrous blonde hair, and the thin, brittle gray hair of the former Mrs. Drummond.
"I thought I couldn't be happier than I already was, but mother, you've made this the greatest day of my life. What are you doing here? I thought father had forbidden you to enter any Drummond Corporation property for as long as he was alive?"
"I did." Old Mr. Drummond's voice came from behind. Alex's mother beamed with joy as she looked to him.
"I don't understand father, what's going on?" Alex was perplexed.
The old man walked to his son and put his arms around all of them. He was old and bent but still tall and broad. His hug squeezed Melanie in tight to the little family circle. Sebastian stood in the doorway of his father's office, jaw hanging open, and tears in his eyes.
"Mother? What are you doing here? Father, what's going on?"
Mr. Drummond released his bear hug and disentangled his former spouse from his son's arms.
"Shall you tell them dear, or shall I?" He put his long arm around the tiny old lady. Both of them beamed with joy.
"We're back together, honey." She said to Alex. "Sebastian, come here you bold boy." The Drummond black sheep came running to embrace her.
"I don't understand, father." Alex said. "What does all this mean?"
His father smiled and put his arm around his son's shoulders.
"I've been an old fool." He said. "Melanie was right. So were you. The only people I hurt with my stupid rules are the people I love the most. Myself, my sons, and worst of all your mother, the love of my life. In all these years, I never found anyone or anything to love as wonderful as her. When you and Sebastian were on the island and we didn’t know if you were alive or dead, I had to contact her. It made me realise how important family is. No one else in the world cares about you boys as much as me, except for your mother." The brothers were amazed to see their stern father choke up with emotion. "We may have lost a lot of time," he continued, "but in the time we have left, we are going to enjoy every minute of it together."
He took the envelope with Alex's resignation out of his pocket.
"Here," he said, "I won't be needing this."
Alex was dumbfounded.
"I'm handing over control to you. As of this moment, I am no longer officially CEO of Drummond Corporation."
"Father, no. This can't be." Sebastian was slowly realizing what this meant for him. "We already agreed."
The tall old man turned to his shocked son and put two big hands to his shoulders.
"I love you son, every bit as much as I love Alex and Joshua. Don't you ever forget that."
"But father--"
"Shut up son, just shut up and listen. I know you've been lying. I've known since the very start. Larry and the rescue team arrived the night before you finally met them on the beach. I know about your strong feelings for this beautiful young woman here and quite frankly I don't blame you." He gave Melanie a warm and fatherly look. "She's delightful, but it looks like you're going to have to find one of your own because this little lady is clearly smitten with your older brother."
"But he broke the rule father, he's out and I'm in."
"Goddamn it Sebastian, stop lying to me! You're only making it worse. You both broke the rules but only Alex was mature enough to come clean. And the goddamn rules were stupid to begin with, so you have to live with a new reality now. Get used to it, son. Move on."
Sebastian dropped his head. He knew he had been beaten yet again. He looked to Melanie with a longing in his eyes that made her heart break in two.
"I just wanted us to be safe and happy, Melanie. I couldn't bear for you to lose everything. I had to lie so I'd still have the means to protect you, to look after you, even from far away, from behind the scenes. You've got to believe me when I say I still love you."
She wanted to go to him but she knew it was too late. Something in his eyes made her see that this was the first real truth he had spoken since she had met him, but it was too late. It was true, Alex had taken her heart and she would have to let Sebastian go.
Sebastian looked up at his father now and the old man hugged him in close to his chest.
"I love you, son. It's okay. Everything’s going to be okay. You'll need a little holiday from Drummond but don't worry. I need you just as much as I need Alex, but you need to grow up son. You need to stop lying to people. You need to learn the value of telling the truth."
Melanie watched as the huge, gorgeous man hugged first his father and then his mother.
Alex took her by the hand and smiled.
"Come on, sweetheart." He said. Then he turned to his family. "Mom, Dad, Sebastian, we'll see you later. Melanie and I have some alone time to catch up on. We'll be in touch with you all soon."
He gave his kindly old mother a kiss on the cheek and then took Melanie to him to be alone together truly for the first time.