Chapter 5

And that was her wishful thinking because Cillian’s hate for his younger brother grew as the days went by.

After some time, Cillian spread the news about how his father had an illicit affair with another woman, and Callum, became the product of it.

Callum became widely known as the illegitimate child of the family by everybody. It became a major setback in Owen’s corporation as their worth and shares dropped after the false news spread like wildfire across the state; Cillian painted the news to look like his mother was maltreated in the family.

Luckily, Mr. Hugo was able to bring down the news and get the company back on its feet with the help of his second son’s intelligence and connections.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” Mr. Hugo shouted into the phone.

"Calm down Dad.” Callum tried to pacify Mr. Hugo.

“Your son is right; you need to calm down because I’ve just started; you need the strength to endure more of it in the future,” Cillian replied over the phone, laughing like an idiot.

"You scum of a son, get out of my phone!” Mr. Hugo yelled and ended the call, breathing hard.

“Here Dad.” Callum handed him a glass of water.

“Thanks, Son.”

"I think we have to stop the false news by telling the truth. Your mother is a legal wife, making you a legitimate son.” He said after calming down.

"No Dad,” Callum replied calmly.

His brain was everywhere, thinking of how to get things done as his hands danced gracefully on his laptop.

“What do you suggest?” Mr. Hugo asked his son who had been the best P.A he had ever had.

"I suggest you do nothing.” He replied and Mr. Hugo almost choked on his saliva. He looked at this son of his as if he suddenly developed an extraordinary feature.

"Hmm.” Callum hummed in reply when his father gave him a weird look.

"Can’t you see that our stock prices are dwindling? We are being seen —”

"Dad. Sorry for interrupting, but the only thing I need from you is to watch and do nothing.” Cillian told his father and Mr. Hugo felt stupid.

‘Does he mean I should just sit down and look at him while the company goes down?’ Hugo asked in his head.

"Really?” He asked his son.

"Mm. You know Mum doesn’t want people to know about her marriage to the family. She wants her identity to be kept a secret and luckily, Cillian didn’t put up mum’s picture or name, just mine. So saying the truth will make us go against Mum’s wish.”

"But she wouldn’t mind because you are being attacked; I will personally talk to her about it, and I’m sure she will agree to the decision. I’ll teach that moron a lesson after everything is settled.” Mr. Hugo said.

"First of all Dad, don’t talk to Mum about anything. She wouldn’t mind, I know that quite all right, but leave her out of it; I will fix the issue."

“Secondly, as for my elder brother, don’t punish him; act like nothing ever happened,” Callum said, and Mr. Hugo gave him a weird look for the second time.

"You will deal with him too?” He asked his son just to be sure.

"No, Dad, just let him be,” Callum answered, still typing, and after some moment of silence and confusion for Hugo, Callum finally said something.

"Check your phone, Dad.”

“My phone?”

"Yes, about the news.” He answered and left the office to make some calls.

Mr. Hugo checked for the news, and shockingly, the trending news was nowhere to be found no matter which forum or site he searched; it was as if it wasn’t there in the first place.

As he was still shocked that the news he tried hard to pull down for two days now was pulled down by his son in a few hours or maybe minutes, he got another news that the Lamberts wanted to be business partners with the Owens and just like that, the company came bouncing back to life and got even more fame and power than never before.

Cillian came back to apologize after seeing that there was much more money than before in the company, and Hugo accepted him mainly because of his son’s and wives’ pleas, but before that, he gave a condition that Cillian accept Callum as his brother before being fully welcomed back into the family after his deeds.

Cillian readily did that but everyone knew it was pure pretense. For Callum, it didn’t matter to him. As long as he stopped getting the hate stares and glares continuously from his brother then he was fine.

They only pretended to be close brothers in public and front of the cameras. Callum made sure to avoid his elder brother anytime he was alone and only came close to him when people were around, at least allowing him to enjoy the love of a brother and the joy of having one, even though it was a fake.

******

``````````Seven years later``````````

“You said he hasn’t paid his debt yet?” A 23-year-old nerdy and calculative, Callum asked.

“Yes, Son.”

"Can I look into his background?”

"Sure you can.” Mr. Hugo said, giving his son the name of Mr. Eric William.

After a few minutes, he noticed his son was unmoving and had his eyes glued to the screen for a long; he had a dreamy look on his face.

“Cal.?” He called, but the young man was deep in his world.

Getting a bit worried, he stood up and went over to his son’s side to see what he was looking at, only to see a picture of a beautiful girl.

"Do you like her?” He asked and the young man subconsciously nodded.

"Really?” He asked, excitement evident in his voice.

That was when Callum realized that his dad was standing by him and he just answered a question subconsciously.

"Dad, it’s not what —”

"It’s alright, I understand.” Mr. Hugo said smiling like a child given his favorite toy as he went back to his seat.

When Callum thought that everything was fine, his Dad was suddenly on a phone call.

“Hello, Boss.” He heard Miss Layla’s voice as his dad put the phone on hands-free mode.

“Put the phone on hands-free mode so Mr. Eric can hear me.” He ordered, his voice becoming stern at once.

“Okay, Boss.” She answered and when he was sure she had done what he requested, he spoke.

"Mr. William.” He called.

"Yes sir. Good afternoon Sir.”

"My second son dug into your family history, and what led to your plight; he went through your family photos and suddenly had a crush on your first daughter.” He said instead of answering Mr. William’s greetings.

Callum grimaced at what his Dad said, looking for where to hide his face.

“Re — really Sir?”

“If you would get your daughter betrothed to my son, then everything would be back to normal, the company I bought from you will be given back to you.” He said, and there was a momentary silence, which made Callum’s face twist from pressure.

"Thank you, Sir! Thank you so much, Sir.”

“You should be grateful to my son. I wouldn’t have considered that idea if he didn’t give us the impression of being gay. Your daughter is the first girl he ever attempted to have a crush on, and it is a huge plus for me.”

"I will talk to my daughter, Sir; I’m sure she’ll be willing to be engaged to your son.”

“Good.”

"Thank you, Sir.”

“Layla.” He called after he was done talking to Mr. Eric.

“Yes Boss.” She answered.

“Get back the papers; if he doesn’t convince his daughter within four months, then he can kiss his assets goodbye.”

“Okay, Boss.” She replied, and he ended the call after that.

Callum kept grimacing all through the call; his palms felt sweaty, and he was nervous. Noticing his son’s discomfort, Hugo encouraged him.

“Don’t worry son, I understand. Let Daddy help you.” He said as if talking to a little boy.

“Okay, Dad.” Callum still answered anyway while Mr. Hugo kept on smiling; he felt relieved his son wasn’t gay.

Before now, he had constantly worried about his son’s sexuality since he would take over his position, but he didn’t have to worry anymore; he would make sure to get the girl Callum desired.