Faux Vows, True Desires

"Mom, Dad's been poisoned. Kent said he couldn't do anything. Now only you can save him."

Keith knew his mother's aloof demeanor all too well, so he blurted out his words in one breath, not giving her a chance to interrupt him.

Janice's voice remained cold. She retorted, "I'm not a doctor, Keith. There's nothing I can do. I can't save your father."

Before Keith could reply, she continued, "The Blue family has its own hospital, with top-notch doctors from all over the country. What sort of poison could your father possibly have that they can't cure? Is it cyanide?"

"Mom, Dad's been poisoned with an aphrodisiac."

Janice was speechless.

Well, he might be fifty in her eyes and quite the old geezer, but to others, he was the patriarch of the Blue family, well preserved, not old at all but rather mature and stable.

She wondered how many women were vying for a spot in his bed.

And there was Madeleine, eagerly wanting to usurp her position.

She was willing to let them be, but the old man was reluctant to divorce, binding her to him for some reason.

Perhaps he didn't want to divorce her back when she was mentally unstable, considering her only nephew Hayes was the only family she had left. But now that she had regained her sanity and found her daughter, she was capable of taking care of herself.

With her children by her side, she wouldn't starve even if she left him.

He despised her for her past mental instability and for her aging appearance and had found Madeleine, who was only two years older than their own children. Why was he still holding onto her after two years of mutual resentment?

It would be so much better if they simply parted ways and left each other be.

"Who poisoned your father?" Janice's words were laced with sarcasm, "Your father is the patriarch of the Blue family. His bodyguards are with him every minute of the day, except when he's eating or sleeping. Only someone he deeply trusts could possibly get the better of him. Was it Madeleine who poisoned your father? Perhaps this is a game they're playing. Keith, you should stay out of your father's affairs." Perhaps Nathan was getting old, unable to satisfy Madeleine, so she gave him something to boost his stamina.

although an adult and aware of the birds and the bees, found it awkward to

only recently come to know, he couldn't just stand by and watch as Madeleine compromised his father's health. Swallowing his embarrassment, he pleaded with his mother over the phone, "Mom, Dad hasn't touched Madeleine all these years. It's because he hasn't touched her that she's become impatient and plotted against him. It isn't the first time, either. Kent said it had happened several times

Janice paused.

would be a constant stream of

Despite their happy marriage and his well-known devotion to her, women were still attracted to him like flies to honey.

twenty-six and had only recently

beautiful Madeleine, Nathan was indeed quite the

out recently that Dad really

close, and everyone says Madeleine will replace me. Who would dare to spread rumors about his private life without his consent? Keith, I'm going back to Pinehurst tomorrow morning. I need a good night's sleep, so I'll end the conversation here. Don't worry about your father. Even if he's been poisoned, he won't die. Kent is more than capable. Who knows, he might even be in on it

son beg her

on divorcing Nathan, she didn't want to be with him again. For twenty years,

when he was not even thirty, at the prime of his life.

mind. Janice paused, unsure whether these fragmented memories were real or just

Nathan been intimate with her while she was

sometimes vague

"Mom!"

Keith's voice was low.

going to bed now. If Kent doesn't want his boss to die,

hung

"Mom, Mom.."

out twice, but he couldn't prevent his mother from hanging up

deceive him, making him beg his mother to act as an antidote for his father? In that way, the couple would

father really remained celibate all these years, not touching

case, why did

that he should have a frank and open conversation

past, he was

now, he was