Chapter 9

“Like it was with Cedric Hunter Dad?” asked Rhonda, not entirely sure how he was going to react at this piece of information since he had so carefully concealed from his daughter till now. It had not happened with him but it had happened in the family and that too with his own older brother. When a scandal erupted about a marriage or about cuckolding that too of the heir of the family it was a very very bad thing. And it left no stone unturned and no reputation untarnished.

Rupert Grint grimaced at the reminder and then glanced at her sharply.

“How on earth did you come to know that? Who told you?” he asked.

“Mom said that to me, a few months back,” replied Rhonda as she remembered the time when she had heard the gory details of the situation.

Rupert snorted at that piece of information.” No doubt that your mother regarded that as a high piece of drama. Even though I never had any love for your mother to be honest Rhonds, I am going to be forever grateful for the fact that you were a product of our union. Your mother thrives on drama, has always been so, I mean that was particularly the reason and is still is the reason that she is so successful as an actress.”

“Actually Mom thought that I should be aware of the background since I was doing business with him. You never know, when the paparazzi might dredge some of the details and fling mud. SO it is better to be prepared, she said,” said Rhonda as she stood up and took up her son in her arms.

“Yes that does sound like her alright,” said Rupert with a grunt. Then he added,” Business…huh…that is just another thing or excuse for her to hang on to he tattle tales. When a man is as successful as Oberon Hunter then you should know Rhonda that nothing is going to stand in his way and he is not going to let anything stand in his way. He is ruthless and focused singularly on his work and that is what makes him so successful. Moreover he eventually took his father’s name, his own father’s name and did not ever lay claim on ours. You do have that claim Rhonds…and you have to resect him for that,” he said grudgingly.

“Whatever happened all those years ago, does it really matter Dad? I mean, he was just a kid. He did not even know what happened and why he was being an object of scorn and ridicule everywhere he went, yet he was the only one who suffered the most. Not Virginia, and definitely not Uncle Roderick. It must have been a terrible shock for him then?” asked Rhonda thoughtfully as she looked searchingly at her father’s face. Rhonda prompted her father because she wanted to cotinue this particular thread of conversation. She needed to know what her father thought about Oberon, because eventually he would come to know the truth and she would need to know how to build her defenses till then.

“Hell of a shock!!!” her father winced at the memory. He said in a gruff voice,” None of us dealt kindly with him at that point of time. Roddy did not even want to see his face and I…heaven’s…the way I behaved with him appalls me till date…honestly, you are correct that it was not his fault and definitely he bore the brunt of it but he was just a boy and he was fighting for his rights which he believed to be his..”

“So you admired him in a way then?” asked Rhonda with a slight sense of amusement in her voice.

“No dear girl….I hated his guts….so did our whole family..we hated him because we all kept on seeing that Bolivian bastard in him always. But afterwards I had definitely felt ashamed at how we all had behaved towards him. But look at my fate as well. My first marriage culminated in the same cuckolding that we all seemed to hate so much,” said Rupert in a sad voice.

“What happened to Oberon? Mom said that it was you who did the deed? Divulged the information?” asked Rhonda, poking at him again.

“Your Mom does not spare any single detail, does she now? He was only six years old Rhonds…and we came to know that…he never looked like any of us but then Virginia is also a raven haired beauty and it was not a matter of concern until it was really know. But Oberon was so strong, I did not kniow how a child could be that strong….he stood his ground and kept on defying me until I smashed all his belief that Roddy was his father. And then…then it was like I killed something inside him. And I could not forgive myself for that fact,” said Rupert as he looked at Ruriel with sad eyes and added,” I would not like to put your son, my grandchild in the same position ever Rhonds..I don’t care about the father…I really don’t care…but he has a right to know about him, about his father.”

“You don’t want to tell me that is absolutely fine with it. No need to tell anyone else but Ruriel should know who is his father. And know from the very beginning,” said Rupert as Rhonda could only look at him.

She knew that her father always wanted what was best for her and it was a sobering piece of advice but it did not cut through the emotional turmoil that always revolved round Rhonda when it came to dealing with Oberon. And to her it was an unforgettable fact that he was embarrassed about having sex with her, that he could not put behind him fast enough so that it did not affect the working relationship they had in business.

They had both agreed. And she had said that one intimate encounter after these many years should not any way affect their relationship, the professional one under any circumstances.

And for her, it was a lie.