Another reporter asks, “Is it true that you were recently reunited with your long-lost mother?” The question comes up on the screen and my heart jolts. Oh no! Poor Colton…not like this. He shouldn’t find out like this….
“Excuse me, Sir. I don’t know what you are talking about,” Colton answers coolly, his voice steady like he hasn’t just been smacked out of nowhere with that information. I watch as he looks over to the side where Al and his father are standing. Neither of them makes a move. “Next question please,” Colton redirects his attention to the press as if that last question just didn’t come out of left field.
“Is it true you have a brother you didn’t know about?” another member of the press asks. Colton gets a deer-in-the-headlights look before looking completely confused. Oh, my! How did the media catch on to this?
“I’m not sure what you are talking about,” he responds, and it’s clear he doesn’t have a clue. Someone motions something then steps in front of Colton. She’s a woman wearing a tailored purple suit. She looks manicured and smiles to the cameras. “Thank you for coming out today,” she says. I notice Colton off to the side of the stage, being rushed off by what looks like someone from his security detail. My heart is palpitating so hard in my chest as I try to figure out what all this means. Who leaked the story to the media? Why would they do such a thing? I feel like I’m going to be sick right here all over Harvey’s new shag carpet. I turn to look at Jake, and he seems just as confused as I am.
“I don’t know, Evie. When Mom told me yesterday, she told me that she had no intention of ever telling Colton. She believes James will kill her if she does. I’m mad at my mother but I sure as hell don’t want her dead. In the light of day, I know she did her best to protect me. How can I hate her for that? James Mathis my…” Jake pauses his movements and spits the word father out of his lips. I can only imagine how jilted it sounds. “James Mathis is the devil, Evie, and I want to hate Colton because he had it easy, he grew up with money, he didn’t have to worry about rent or food like we did, and yet he didn’t ask for that life. He didn’t ask to be raised by a crazed man. I feel sorry for the guy.”
“Sorry doesn’t even begin to sum it up, Jake. Veronica needs to speak to him now before the media runs the story. She has to do it before they have a chance to lie. He deserves to know that he had a mother that wanted him, he grew up feeling like me, unwanted, unloved.”
Jake’s lips turned down. “You were never unloved.”
I reach out to touch Jake’s shoulder then sign. “You know what I mean Jake, you know how I felt about my mother walking out on me, you know I carried the burden of feeling damaged and not good enough. I felt relief that Veronica told you that you were the product of a sperm sample, because it meant she wanted you badly enough to go through the process of having you, and raising you all on her own.”
“Shit, guys you’re killing me here.” Harvey takes a step forward, and his eyes look a little glossy. I forgot he was even standing there.
“Harvey, are you crying?” I sign, trying to hold back a spit of laughter. Nothing about this is funny at all. It’s just that Harvey is this serious guy who rarely shows emotion. The fact that he is now, just speaks to the gravity of the situation.
He waves us off then signs, “If you ever say anything to Carolyn, I swear I’ll deny it and call you guys liars.”
For some reason, his silly statement cuts through the tension of the moment and the three of us burst into hysteric laughter, maybe because it’s easier to laugh than to cry. The repercussions of today’s press conference could be serious for all of us. If Colton doesn’t know the truth yet, he will soon. I can only imagine he will turn his back on me, and I don’t know how I can learn to live without him.
Chapter Thirty
Colton
My head is spinning as a member of my security detail ushers me off the stage and into a back hall that leads out to the town car waiting for me. My father and Al are already inside.
“What the fuck is going on?” I look at both Al and my father. “Why wasn’t I prepared for that ambush? What the hell were they talking about?” I shoot off questions not giving them a chance to answer.
“I don’t have a fucking clue,” Al says looking a little queasy. He turns his head to my father and both of us stare him down waiting for an answer. My father’s jaw tenses and his brown eyes look almost black.
“Father?” I ask, and he passes me his phone.
“This article is going to print as we speak,” he says not sounding very amused. On the front page of The Sun is Evie sitting in a coffee shop with Veronica. My initial response is what has my father done now? The picture shows both Veronica and Evie speaking with their elbows on the table as if to block outsiders from the conversation. My eyes drop to the headline Breaking Story: Sun Exclusive Just as Colton Mathis is about to announce his intention to run for president, his hot redhead fling conspires with the woman who ran off on him when he was a little boy. My heart falters as I read those first words and I know my father couldn’t have had anything to do with this. How could Evie be involved in this scandal? Had she set out to hurt me from the start? I didn’t want to believe the words I read but they were right there in front of me in black and white. I continue to read, unable to stop myself. Colton’s parents James and Victoria Mathis wed on June 5, 1983. James, a member of the renown Mathis family, fell in love with the up and coming actress Victoria Davis, a beauty in her own right. Off to the side is a picture of a younger Veronica. James Mathis, a prominent defense attorney and partner, at the Mathis and Lowry law firm in Chicago had political aspirations. The young Mathis family grew as Victoria gave birth to her first son Colton, and three years later to Jake James. They were a picture-perfect family on the surface. Wealthy, beautiful but there wouldn’t be a happily ever after for this family. James had been accused of having numerous affairs with other lawyers in his firm. We followed up with one of his ex-lovers a secretary from his firm yesterday and asked her to comment. She said, “James will always be special to me.” Did that confirm their love affair? We will leave it up to the people to decide. And Victoria. Rumor is she was having an affair too. Who knew there was so much drama among America’s wealthiest families?
The family faced a crisis in 1989 when a fire destroyed the family mansion. After that, any trace of Victoria Davis and her son Jake James was erased. James Mathis used his connections to erase the existence of his wife and son. We’ve consulted with an expert of the FBI who wishes to remain anonymous, and he admitted it was very easy to erase someone’s existence. In fact, this is a common occurrence within the FBI when an agent needs to go dark, or a person or family enters the witness protection program. Given James Mathis’s wealth and connections, he had all the right tools to make that happen, (FBI agent, Anonymous).
My heart is pounding as I read the article word for word. I wanted to stop but I couldn’t. I kept reading despite the fact that I knew that this particular media outlet had a reputation for delivering facts that were untrue and adding their own two cents on the issue.
Do you the people of the United States of America want someone from such a corrupt family running to be the next president of our great country? Think long and hard my fellow Americans. Don’t make a mistake that will bring our nation to ruin.
At the bottom of that paragraph is a picture of me leaving Evie’s house this morning. Jesus Christ! Evie…Veronica…Jake…what were the chances? Did Evie know? Had she done this to me on purpose? Was she hired by my opposition campaign to infiltrate my life and bring me down?
I whip my father’s phone back at him then yell at the driver to stop the car.
“No…” my father cut in. “This story is hitting the press right about now. You will be bombarded. We need to get you to a safe place,” my father says as if he genuinely has any concern for me. He is a fucking liar. Everybody around me is a fucking liar. I have to get away from them all.
“Stop the car now,” I shout. “Or I�
�m jumping out.”
My father lifts his hand to the driver to stop. Even now in my fucking demise, he is calling the shots. I can’t even look at him. I don’t know how much of the article I read was true, but I know it had shreds of truth and if that is the case, I hate the man sitting in front of me.
With the car stopped I ask my father a few more questions. “How did I have a brother and not remember him?” I snap.
My father shrugs his shoulders. “You were traumatized by the fire. Your therapist said that your mind blocked out the trauma. I guess somehow you blocked Jake out too.”
“Why did Jake and my mother have to leave?” My heart breaks as I ask the question, feeling nothing but pure contempt for the man in front of me. He sold himself as if he were my guardian angel giving me the best life and wanting me to succeed, but in reality, he used me to gain power. A game of chess where he knocked out all the players until he was the last man standing. That’s why he discussed the future with me last night. He told me he wanted to be my Chief of Staff if I won the presidency. My natural answer had been, of course. This man didn’t care about me. He was a power hungry selfish jerk. He wanted to rule this country through me, to achieve through me what he couldn’t do on his own. I felt sick to my stomach.
“She was having an affair, Colton,” he sighs heavily, trying to make himself look the victim. As if I should feel any sympathy for him. He was a good actor I’d give him that.
“Cut the bullshit Father so were you,” I spit back.
“Fair enough,” he shrugs. “But I wasn’t even sure Jake was mine. I don’t think he is.” My father purses his lips together. Jake’s face came to the front of my thoughts and hung there like a picture in a frame. My mind is reeling as I remember his facial features. He is my father’s son. He looks more like my father than I do. A cold shiver runs up my spine at the thought.
“So why? Why did you take her away from me?” I scream so loud it ached in the back of my throat.
My father’s face reddens as his words boomed through the car. “He was deaf Colton. There was nothing we could do to help him. I wanted to run for state attorney; only your mother couldn’t stand by my side because we had an invalid son she had to care for.” At those words, I am so repulsed I lunge forward and grip my father’s neck.
“And the truth prevails. You sicken me,” I say with my fingers digging into his neck. My loss of control terrifies me, but I’m so lost in the pain of all the years of loneliness, for all the pain I felt for a brother I didn’t know, that I wanted to kill my father. His face turns beet red and I know I am cutting off his oxygen.
“Colton, man, don’t do this.” I hadn’t realized Al was trying to pry my hands off my father until he said my name, but the anger and pain still ruled. I want him dead. All the years of guilt I felt over him giving up everything for me was a sham. A sham…and I was the fool who played the part. I was his ticket to the White House. A fucking means to an end.
“Colton ease the fuck up,” Al grits, finally ripping my hands off my father’s neck. I fall back in my seat in a heap of ragged breathes. Feeling like the walls of the car are closing in on me, I throw the door open and get out of the car. As my feet hit the cement, I can’t get away from the car fast enough.
Al comes after me. “Colton, wait,” he shouts, placing his hand on my shoulder.
I don’t turn around, I only bark, “Go the fuck away.”
“I didn’t know anything, man,” he pleads, keeping up pace with me. “I’m just as shocked as you,” he says, and I believe him. If anything, he had always been loyal, and he just saved me from killing my father. He stops following me. My mind is in a tailspin. I feel like I am walking through the eye of a hurricane. Everything is spinning around me with such force I don’t know which direction would be safe.
It is now mid-afternoon, and bright outside. Anyone could recognize me. Fuck, I need to make myself scarce. I just announced my candidacy, and to be hit with a scandal like this is terrible news. The media would be all over me. I lift the lapels of my jacket, hoping to cover my face a little but it isn’t constructive. I am shaking from the inside out. I need to get off the street before someone recognizes me. I go to hide in an alley which probably isn’t the smartest thing to do, but my mind and heart are aching as I think of Evie and Carter.
Evie had known the truth about my past and didn’t tell me. After all those late-night talks. The way she spoke about Jake and Veronica. She had to have known the truth. I had opened up to her about my past. About the pain I harbored; about my mother leaving, and not once did she say, ‘Hey, your family is right here in fucking front of you.’ She had so many opportunities to come clean. Dammit, so many possibilities… she chose to lie. They all lie. There was no one I could trust. Everyone wanted a piece of me. I walk away from the alley and back out to the crowded street. It was only a matter of time before someone recognized me and took a picture of my location. The media would be on to me like vultures asking questions I didn’t entirely have the answers for.
I call the only person I know won’t sell me out. She picks up after one ring.
“Cassy, I need you to come and get me,” I say before she could even say hello.
“Colton, for Christ’s sake where are you? This whole situation is awful.”
“Get a paper and pen and write down this address. I will meet you there in twenty.”
“On my way, darling. I’m so happy you called.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Evie
“Evie calm down,” Jake signs.
“Holy fucking hell. Did that just happen?” Harvey signs then pulls his phone out of a pocket in his lounge pants.
The room is spinning. Colton couldn’t have found out the truth in a worse way. I rush over to the couch and hang my head between my legs. Isn’t that what you are supposed to do if you feel like you’re going to faint?
Harvey waves Jake over, and I notice out of the corner of my eye that they are reading something with a focused gaze on Harvey’s phone.
“Oh, for Christ’s sakes,” I growl, but who knows how I sound. Harvey gives me a wary look as I walk over to him and Jake rips the phone right out of Harvey’s hand. My nerves are frayed, and I have no patience for games. What I see startles me to my core. A picture of Veronica and me at the coffee shop. We met at the Loop last Saturday. Someone must have overheard Veronica telling me the story. When in the hell did they have time to take a picture? Looking at the picture makes me feel queasy. Jake walks over to me signing that I should sit down, that I look too pale. With Harvey’s phone in my hand, I fall back into his couch. As I read the article I’m cursing. Lies, so many lies. And Veronica is really Victoria? Jake’s middle name was James? I didn’t know Jake even had a middle name. I look up at him and sign the question. His answer is ‘no, no middle name.’ Our life is being dissected by the press, and they couldn’t even get our names straight. As the reality of what is happening sinks in, my nerves turn into full-blown anxiety. The press will hound me about this. Life as I know it will change, and Carter… poor innocent Carter has everyone he loves thrown under a bus with this article.
The reporting was crass, untruthful and downright sleazy. Whoever wrote this article wanted to ensure that Colton didn’t run for the presidency, that was for certain. It makes me wonder if one of his opponents hired someone to follow me. You see that kind of thing happens all the time on television, and they must have gotten those ideas from real life. And worst of all, Colton is going to hate me after reading this article. Hell, it makes me look like it was me that wanted to bring down the great Colton Mathis.
Colton, the man that taught me what love is, the man who got me to open up and share my heart with him was going to see me in the mistrusting way he viewed all women. It was too much to bear, especially after the intimate moments we shared less than twelve hours before. How could life be so cruel and unpredictable? I had craved for love my entire life. Yes, I had Veronica,Jake and Carter, so I couldn’t compla
in. I wasn’t even close to feeling like I did when I was growing up. So lonely, desolate. I was lucky to have found a family, but it was Colton who I believed was my soul mate. I laugh at myself as I remember daydreaming about Colton and I getting married and having children one day. I hoped to give Carter siblings, and a family to count on long after Jake and I were gone. Now everything was shot to hell.
I reach for my phone in my purse and pull it out. I need to text Colton. We need to speak. I have to explain. Before I can text Colton, I see a message from Veronica on my screen.
Evie text me, please.
Then another message.
Evie this is very important, please make contact.
Where are you, Evie?
Evie please dear, make contact.
Her messages are panicked. I text her back.
Where are you?
At Jake’s apartment.
On my way.
I stand up to leave Harvey’s apartment forgetting completely that Jake and Harvey are there. Jake rushes after me as I make my way to the door and signs, “Where are you going?”
“To see your mom at your house.”
“I’m coming,” he signs. I look at his bare feet reminding him clearly that he needs shoes.
He puts up his pointer finger then runs over to the back of Harvey’s apartment. A moment later he skips down the hall trying to get his shoes on while making his way over to the door.
He signs thank you to Harvey, and Harvey claps him on the back, nodding his head and saying go take care of business.
Jake and I barely speak as we make our way down the elevator. I wonder what emotions were conjured up for him while reading that article. It said that both his parents had affairs, but there was so much more the article didn’t mention. And there was the fact that Veronica was not his mother’s real name.
Mr. All Wrong Page 21