Chapter 5 – You are leaving because of her?

‘Ezrah, if you are reading this note, then I’m dead. I wish you happiness with the woman you love,’ the note read.

It was clear that Zora must have committed suicide through the accident. Ezra felt as if the ground he stood on was spinning. He thought she was going to relocate somewhere but not like this.

His phone rang instantly. Thinking it was Piper, he wanted to ignore it, but seeing a strange number and looking at the letter on the floor, he answered it.

“Mr. Gannon, your wife…”

“I’m her father. I will take care of everything,” he heard a familiar voice cut through that of the female one, which he was beginning to suspect was the nurse.

Before he could ask about the hospital, the call ended, and even after ceaseless attempts, the woman at the end of the line did not answer the phone. Ezrah felt his eyes heavy, he began directing his anger to everything in the living room, kicking every piece of furniture in sight.

If Zora’s father was already at the hospital, then could it be that the news had already gone viral? Was the divorce mentioned? He began to check for the trending news when it was interrupted by a phone call.

It was his mother, so he did not answer it. Suddenly, the landline in the mansion began to ring. One of the maids went to get it and said, “Sir, your father wants to speak to you.”

As Ezrah strode towards the receiver, his mother’s call had ended, and it was Piper calling this time. He ended the call without answering when another one came through. It was one of his brothers. He instantly switched off his phone.

Realizing he still had the receiver of the landline in hand, he dropped it before removing it from the hook. “Get me Rudolph and all the domestic workers in this house,” he instructed, his mind in a haze.

As the maid went to do as told, he surfed the internet and instantly saw what he had been looking for. It happened exactly five minutes after she left the court in a cab.

However, according to the news, the accident occurred with a luxury car, and both the driver and the remains of a woman identified as Mrs. Zora Gannon died on the spot. It all made sense why she said nothing about their divorce would be in the news.

Ezrah had the conviction that this was not an accident but suicide, so why take an innocent driver along? Was Zora so heartless? The news about the divorce was also not mentioned, so to the press, no one would know that they had marital issues, and he was free to marry Piper and be happy, just as the note said.

The previous news about him and Piper had also been cleared, but why wasn’t he as relieved as he should be?

Now accepting it to be a suicide note, he picked it up from the floor and wrapped his fingers so tightly around it, it crumpled, but he didn’t throw it in the bin.

Six maids, one butler, and four drivers stood in the middle of the expansive luxury living room. Ezrah’s eyes were red, and his suit was wet with sweat, even as the temperature in the room was chilly.

“I came to see a letter on this dining table,” he pointed to the former position of the letter, his voice as cold as the winter breeze. “Who kept it there?”

There was silence as no one could guess what he was driving at. However, their silence vexed him greatly.

“If you don’t start talking, you are all fired.”

The maids and drivers panicked, but the butler had a deadpan look. “Madam told me to drop the letter, sir,” the butler, Rudolph, revealed. The rest of the domestic workers sighed as Ezrah motioned for them to go.

Left with Ezrah and his butler, he snarled, “start talking.”

The butler was more grieved than worried, as the rest of the domestic staff had not heard the news. “Sir, Madam told me to drop the letter after she leaves the house. Is there a problem?” He asked politely.

The intention was for Ezrah to see the letter, and it seemed to have worked perfectly. “Are you aware that she was involved in a car accident?” Ezrah asked, not adding that she had died as that was not confirmed in the news.

“I only saw it in the news earlier, and I hope she makes it out and lives a happy, fulfilling life. She has suffered so much at such a young age. Two accidents within a short time with the loss of a baby is just too much for anyone to bear.”

The butler was upset and kept pouring out his heart, not knowing how sarcastic he was sounding and not knowing how it irked Ezrah from how much the middle-aged man had said. His fingers around the letter tightened even more.

It seemed that Zora had managed to turn his butler against him. That man used to be loyal and humble, but now, he was retaliating against his young boss.

“What has she been telling you?” Ezrah asked with a cocked brow, not showing any expressions on his handsome features.

A painful smile settled in the corner of Rudolph’s lips. “Nothing. But if I’m irritating to you or you feel that I didn’t do well in taking care of her when it was actually your responsibility to do so, then I must resign from my duty, but I still stand by the fact that you treated Madam so poorly.”

Ezrah was fuming with rage, refusing to accept that he treated Zora poorly. No one knew how they ended up in bed three years ago, and they had agreed to divorce after the news dies down.

The fact remained that he didn’t love Zora, and it was unlike him to fake it. His only worry now was due to how she committed suicide as he never wished that for her. He retorted bitterly. “What do you know?”

The butler was equally vexed, and as if the floodgates of heaven were opened, he began to pour out all the pain he hid inside.

“You never remembered any of your wedding anniversaries, but I bought gifts for her in your name. You should have seen how it made her happy, thinking they were from you and how she treated them like treasures.”

“I always told her when you were with that woman that you were on a business trip. A lot of times, she would be tired from the office but still come to cook for you, saying that you were busy at a meeting. I guess those meetings never ended because you never came home, and we, the domestic workers, got to eat it. A good treat though,” he smiled mockingly.

Being married for over twenty-five years, he knew how to take care of a woman, for which reason he always thought of the moments and did things to make Zora happy in his boss’s stead.

Also, he had known Ezrah for the greater part of his years and was like a fatherly figure to him. It was the reason why Ezrah painfully swallowed his anger, holding back from using his fist against the old man.

“Enough! Out of my sight,” he yelled at the old man, but somehow, the man had taken too much, he could not take it anymore.

He was even afraid that Zora might not survive this accident. The woman was not only emotionally troubled from being unloved by her husband but also from the miscarriage she suffered, then suffering another accident again. This was not a matter to take lightly.

“No, sir, I don’t want to work for you anymore. I’m already fifty-nine, and I have grandchildren.” Determination laced his voice, and this time, Ezrah was shocked. Rudolph loved his job so much that when they even mentioned his pending retirement, he always refused, saying that he would work until death took him away.

Now he was ready to resign because of Zora? “You are leaving because of her?” Disappointment laced Ezrah’s tone.

“Yes. The fact that I faked an excuse for you when you showed indifference at her ailment. That woman was carrying your child. She believed the lie, and only then did she agree to go to the hospital. The next thing I knew, she received some audio message.”

“It…It… showed you didn’t even care about her.” He was so upset that his voice began to break, just as his entire body trembled. “You were always the first in her life, and yet, you said that nothing about your wife is urgent to your mistress. Madam found out at the last moments that she was merely living with a stick.”

A teardrop fell from his eyes, and unwavering pain echoed through his voice. “That everything I told her were lies, so she never trusted me again. I hope that makes you happy. Please get married to your mistress. You don’t have to hide it anymore.”

Rudolph was merely walking away when Ezrah raged behind him, “How dare you talk to me like that? Do you want to die?”