HARRY DELACROIX
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HARRY’S POV
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It is truly lonely at the top, I let hate drive me and lost the best thing life gave to me, my daughter.
Selena had only been in love, she never asked for much from me, she just loved Chris and Chris loved her back. But my hate drove me, I went ballistic in my mission to separate them.
My driving force was that Chris was black and poor, but I knew if he was white and poor I might have considered him. but his color angered me as if anyone could choose their race.
It wasn't easy causing Selena and Chris to become enemies but I used his mother's ailing health to my advantage and also ensured that both kids did not communicate with one another. I planned to divide and conquer.
Selena's pregnancy did not stop me but rather enraged me more, who in their right mind would give up on their grandchild. Me, unfortunately. After I had caused Chris and Selena to break up, I should have stopped there, I saw my daughter breaking down, but instead, I continued in my devious plan, I didn't want Chris's child, I was selfish and wanted my daughter only to myself.
My cousin Selena's aunt helped me in my mission, she gave me the perfect idea to have her child adopted since my plan to have him aborted didn't work. I watched my daughter die slowly but my ego won't let me stop. I just wanted everything that had to do with Chris wiped out entirely. The day Selena gave birth I heaved a sigh of relief, finally, the child would be gone and I would nurture Selena back to her old self, to me the plan was full proof.
Selena was already weak before she gave birth so after the delivery it was easy to sneak out the baby immediately. My cousin Theresa, knew a family some blocks away from where she lived. She told me how they lost their only son to an accident and how devoted they were to God, she also claimed they were well known and loved in their community.
To me they were perfect to adopt my daughter's child, at least I believed they would give him the love I couldn't give him.
My guards had been watching the couple for a while and knew their daily activity as the back of their hand, so that morning my guards observed the Thompsons immediately they left their home Theresa was called and she dropped the child in front of the church and drove some distance away so she wouldn't be seen. immediately the couple saw the baby she left and never came back.
My plan was a success, I broke my daughter's relationship and gave her child away, but I was the biggest loser in all this. Selena saw right through me as soon as I told her that her baby died, she caused me and blamed me, a few days later she hung herself in her room. Suddenly I was alone, I lost my wife to cancer and I killed my daughter.
Guilt tore at me after my daughter's death, I began to see my selfishness. I had no right to choose for my daughter who I love.
The only thing I had left in the world was my business and I focused my whole energy on it. I merged and acquired more companies, nothing else mattered. I was on a business trip when an acquaintance asked me who would inherit all this wealth I was acquiring, it was an innocent question but it tore at my heart the vanity of everything became more visible to me, I understood then that I would someday get old and won't be able to run the business again. In my solace I remembered my grandson, unfortunately, I didn't have any right to call him my grandson but at that point, I knew I had to do something. I couldn't change the past but I could at least give him a good future.
It was not difficult to locate him, his parents still stayed in the same neighborhood from years ago. The private investigator I hired sent me some pictures of him. As I looked at the picture of the young man in my hands, tears spilled down my eyes. My family would have been intact if I had not been so hateful. Now I couldn't even talk to my grandson, there would never be a relationship between us.
I put my plans in motion immediately, placed a call to my lawyer, and asked him to meet me.
“Years ago my daughter had a son, my grandson.” I expected some reaction from him but when none came I continued.
“I gave him up for adoption.” I shot my eyes, in a bid to quench the pain I felt.
“You must have had a very good reason for doing that.”
“Well, my reasons were born out of hate, but that is a story for another day. I called you here today because I need your help.”
“Im listening.”
“I want you to help him.” I handed him a picture of Caleb. “I need you to get him admitted to Harvard on a scholarship.”
“Getting him admission into the school is easy. But on scholarship? That is near to impossible.'' Clement replied he had been friends with me for so long that nothing about me came as a surprise to him. But having a grandson was indeed unexpected
“I know, just get him accepted, but you have to make it look like a scholarship from the school. I will bear all the costs. Also, get him a well-furnished apartment within the school so it would be easy for him to commute from his home to school for lectures. All this must be discreet no one should know that I did this.”
“‘Any Other thing?”
“Nothing else for now, when the time for my next plan comes, I will let you know.”
“Great, I have a meeting in ten minutes.'' They shook hands briefly and he left. Clement was all about his business
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PRESENT DAY, 5 YEARS LATER
I am dying. My guilt and loneliness are killing me faster than my ailing health. It is now time to put my next plan in motion. Caleb must have graduated by now. I refused to spy on him because I lost him due to my foolishness and have no right over him.
My eyes wandered briefly over my room, all my expensive furniture had been removed and replaced by heart monitors, oxygen gas, even my large bed was changed to a hospital bed to make it easier to administer treatment to me, I also had a live-in nurse now that went about her duties, to her I was just a patient and hopefully she would stay till I took my last breath. It was better than dying alone.
“Place a call to my lawyer.” my usual authoritative voice, which made people whimper. Was barely a whisper.