Josh’s Pov
I sat in the courtroom, my palms sweating, and I remembered the room; it was the same one where I humiliated Thalia and stole everything from her.
She was seated exactly where I was seated, restless, crying, and sweating profusely. Every time I had looked in her direction I had let out a laugh. It was my turn, but karma had bitten me far too soon.
We all had to pay for our sins at some point in our life, but it was usually typically in our later years or after we had gotten our fill.
But my case was a little different; I was being punished even before I enjoyed what I had stolen. Week after week, there were court cases and lawsuits.
If I wasn’t attending hearings involving my company, I would be in court for my ex-wife’s disappearance. And every time the courtroom was packed to capacity, a lot of people were very interested in my case.
If only I had left her with something more manageable, like an apartment, I would not have gotten myself into such a ridiculous situation. My need for vengeance, on the other hand, looked like it was my downfall.
I kept glancing behind me, hoping the court doors would open and she could walk in and save my ass. I never imagined I’d ever want her presence. The woman had vanished totally off the face of the earth.
No one was able to locate her; search parties were dispatched to several locations in the hopes of finding her, but all tips and leads went cold.
The last time anyone saw someone who suited her description was on the highway. She was barefoot and carrying a plastic bag as she walked along the street.
They had offered her a ride, but she had declined, she appeared disoriented and lost.
Not that I would have cared at the time, but I was looking for excuses. I was curious how someone could just walk by without calling the cops or anything.
I was looking for someone to blame, and the fools that drove by her were far worse than I was. Her case was pulling sympathizers from all corners of the country.
While my company was losing millions and millions every day. I was at the focus of their investigations.
My father had run out of falsehoods and sweet talk, and the investors were fleeing away. We were trapped on a sinking ship but we couldn’t get off.
My father was optimistic that the storm would pass sooner and that it was all the fault of our adversary. It irritated me every time he mentioned someone was sabotaging us, but when I questioned who, he always said he was investigating.
All of his ineffective investigators came up empty-handed. My notion that Thalia’s father’s allies were to blame came up empty-handed too. It just resulted in more charges being smacked at me. Thalia’s disappearance had suddenly made me the major suspect.
It was past time for us to concentrate on pulling ourselves out of this mess instead of seeking for someone to blame. When my lawyer said my name, I hurriedly turned to my left.
Miss Kim was her name, and she was my fourth lawyer in less than two weeks. She cost a lot of money, a lot of money.
I sacked the majority of the lawyers, and some quit because they couldn’t stand my arrogance and rage. Screw them, Kim was my kind of lawyer, and she was making progress on all the false charges.
I smiled when I looked up at her, but my wife on the opposite side gave me an angry look. Jessica was preoccupied with portraying the nice wife who was always by her husband’s side throughout the trial, despite the fact that she was obliged to do so, and I nearly slapped her the other day when she refused to accompany me.
My father was the one who had to calm her down in private. She was with me to the courts every day, but we slept in separate beds at night. It was all staged for the cameras; we had only been married for two months but were acting as if we had been married for thirty years.
I shifted my gaze away from her and focused on Kim. “Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered,” she said as she began packing her files.
“As long as they can’t put you on the same highway she was last seen on or find her body, they have nothing on you?” she assured and said “See you in the kitchen, I brought the hard stuff,” and went away before I could object.
I was on the verge of laughing, but I immediately regained my control. Jessica was staring at me from my left, her gaze frigid, like if she was reading my mind or something.
I approached her and offered her a perk, which I could tell sickened her. “Don’t wait for me; I’ll be busy going through everything with my father,” I added, waiting for her response. She simply averted her gaze, stood up and walked out of the courtroom.
I recognized that she was completely innocent in everything and that I was the fool, but I needed to do everything in my power to reclaim my empire. I exited the courtroom and entered one of the chambers, closing the door behind me.
Kim emerged from the corner, clutching some pills. She put them in my hands and told me to drink them.
“You will get it up with these,” she stated as she handed them to me. I was cautious at first, but I immediately seized them, before we knew it the room was hot and Kim was riding the hell out of me in minutes.
It had been weeks since I had gotten it up; I had tried with Jessica, but everything had ended in frustration. The stress had gotten to the point where it was affecting my sex life. It happened the same when I tried Kim, except she promised to bring me something cold, and she did not lie.
Yes, I was completely naked in the foreign office and fucking my lawyer, but I was willing to murder to reclaim my old life back.
Fucking Kim was a cost-cutting strategy; the useless woman had always wanted my cock in her for years, and all I was doing was fulfilling her want while she represented me.
My father was well aware of the arrangement, and I’m sure Jessica suspected or even knew about it, but my company always came first before marriage and she knew it.
While she moaned and liked every minute of it, I kept swinging and thrusting deep as if I was digging out all the crap that had been thrown at my life over the previous month. She liked it rough and tough, and I wasn’t going to let her down.
By the time we came, We were both exhausted and sweaty and we just dropped on the floor, patting each other and gasping for air.
I was so scared that the plane disaster was to blame for my inability to get it up, but it turned out that it was simply tension and that all I needed was a trigger.
I hurriedly got up, dressed, said my goodbyes, and left after regaining my breath. It was back to normal, and I’d just finished paying for my court appearance.
When I made a turn, I bumped into Thalia’s old lawyer, he was all boisterous and criticizing my case. I could hear him state that I deserved to be in that situation.
He spoke as if he knew where Thalia was; not once did he express sympathy for the fact that I might have killed Thalia; instead, he was more concerned with my misery than with Thalia’s whereabouts.
To me, that was a warning sign. Even though the moron was testifying against me, he seemed more concerned about my demise.
I dashed towards him and attempted to grab him, but he was quick to flee. I tried to grab him again, but I was stopped by powerful hands.
“Josh, keep your cool!” Said a familiar voice.” I turned around and glanced behind me, where I discovered my father. “What the fuck are you doing,” he asked.
“He knows where Thalia is, and he’s keeping her hidden!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. The lawyer began clapping and laughing, much to my annoyance.
“If you try to throw your arms around me, you’ll end up in court for another lawsuit,” he said.
I fought against the hands that were holding me with all my might. When I turned around, I saw a large crowd of people watching the drama develop.
“Let me remind you that if I find out where you’re concealing Thalia, you’ll both end up in prison,” I vomited.
“Let me also warn you that if you don’t hide her body well enough, you will rot in hell!” he replied.
I was even more enraged by his response. My father grabbed me and yelled at me to get hold of myself.
I came to a halt because the idiot lawyer was attempting to get me to assault him, and I needed to cool down before further sinking us. I exited the room and entered the restroom. From behind, my father trailed me.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he enquired
“That moron is aware of Thalia’s whereabouts.”
“That’s why I’ve wiretapped all of his communications and have my personnel on the lookout for him 24 hours a day.
For the past month, I’ve kept track of all of his phone calls. He’s under my microscope, and we’ll catch him,” he added as he pressed his hands into my shoulders. He advised me to take a deep breath in and exhale slowly.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in.
“That’s better; don’t let the knuckleheads bother you “he stated
“It’s just annoying that the key perpetrators are out there and no one seems to care,” I cried out.
“Relax, this case will be dismissed soon,” he explained.
“What about the company?”
“They’ll wrap up their investigations shortly, but we’ll lose a lot of money and investors,” he said.
I could tell he was sugar coating everything by the tone of his speech, but I chose to remain silent and reflect.
“Did you pay a visit to your mother?” he inquired, changing the subject.
I moved away, my face flushed with embarrassment. Since my arrival in the country, I had not made time to see my mother. It was a disgrace, and there were no excuses.
“Son, you must pay her a visit before she forgets your name,” he advised. “Maybe she’ll even help you relax.” I nodded and tucked my tie into place. We exited the courthouse together but he went home while I drove straight to Mom’s care facility.
I was nervous and I didn’t know if she would remember me or not. I’d gone to the florist and purchased her favorite flowers and chocolate. I walked in, but as soon as I did, the facility’s director drew me aside.
We had only just begun the new month but the fool was talking about payments. I was not in the mood for such silliness, and making any unnecessary drama was not on my agenda, so I simply requested my mother’s room and went out.
I was directed to her room, where I found her staring out the window.
I called out her name, and she swiftly turned around before frowning. “Mom,” I exclaimed.
“My son is long gone; he brought me here and then forgot about me; I believe he is dead; they are simply concealing the reality from me,” she continued, tucking her shirt in.
My heart wrenched, I realized I should have visited her. She probably couldn’t remember me after a month, how could she possibly remember me? I got down on one knee and took her hands in mine. “It’s me, Josh, your only son.”
She said, “Get away from me! You aren’t my son!”
“No mother, it’s me,” I said, but she responded by screaming for a nurse, much to my amazement. Two male nurses entered immediately and respectfully begged to be excused.
“Are you deafeningly blind? She is the mother?” I yelled at them.
“We know, Mr. Nelson,” one of them responded, `”but you’re irritating her.”
When I turned to face my mother, I found her staring at me, horrified.
It was the first time I’d ever seen her that way. My own mother was scared of me and she could not recognize me. It was all my fucking fault that I had gone too long.
