DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Pixelberry Studios, except for the characters I create for the story line.
Summary: Leo’s late mother having been lied to about his death over 20 years ago, only to find he was, in fact, alive, decides to tell him everything she knows about Constantine and hopes she is not too late.
Prologue:
The day was March 25, 2019. His thirty-fourth birthday. Once again, he is waking up alone, as she left him alone in their New York apartment, three days prior. Yet another failed relationship. He was tired of the endless string of girlfriends, one night stands, or friends with benefits. He envies his younger brother as he is newly married to his soulmate, Kaytee. When will he find the one that grounds him? All he knew was that he wasn’t going to find her in Cordonia or now, in New York.
He gets up and heads to the bathroom, all of her stuff is gone. He pees, flushes, and washes his hands, then takes a look at his face in the mirror. He looks like himself, but his eyes, his eyes look sullen, the usual gleam is not there. “Pull yourself together, Rys,” he says to his reflection. “You knew before you moved her in here that it would not last.” He sighs, and lowers, his head for a moment. Finally, he stands up straight and says, “Let’s go see what she left unbroken.”
As he walks to the living room, the argument plays through his mind.
Why won’t you tell me you love me, Rys?
Why do you need to hear it so much? Isn’t it enough that we live together, that you are the one in my bed every single night? Isn’t it enough that I always come home to you? Why is that not enough for you, Megan? My actions will speak louder than my words ever will?
Tell me you love me, Leo, tell me or I am gone. She waits for him to say the words, but they never fall from his lips. Instead, his anger gets the best of him, and he walks out the front door.
The living room looked like a war zone, pillows were thrown everywhere, vases and dishes smashed. Damn, she even broke the coffee table, he looked to see if she has broken anything that he treasured. Nope, she hadn’t. He is careful not to step on broken glass with his bare feet and heads to the kitchen. He finds a mug not broken or chipped and makes a cup of coffee. He is going to have to leave his cleaning lady a huge tip for cleaning this up.
He heads back to his bedroom and decides to go out so he jumps in the shower. As the hot water pours out, darkening his hair as the water trickles down his body. He closes his eyes and thinks, that Liam is the only thing left in his life. He was utterly alone. Never good enough, even his own mother abandoned him. Never good enough, never enough.
He turns off the water off the water, and takes the towel off the rack and wraps it around his waist. The words, never enough, repeating through his mind. He hated this combination of words, but they seem to sum him up completely. Sitting on his bed, tears stream down his cheeks. Suddenly his phone rings bring him out of his trace.
“Happy Birthday, Leo!, what are you doing today?” Liam asks.
“Well, I have no idea.” Leo tries to hide the sorrow in his voice, but Liam knows him too well.
“Leo, are you alright? What happened?” Liam asks
“Megan left, I couldn’t tell her I loved her. How can I tell her that? I am not enough for her, she..” Liam cuts him off.
”Stop, Leo, I want you to come back. You need family more than ever. Big brother you are more than enough, sometimes your too much.” the brother’s share a chuckle. “I am sorry, I have a meeting, but I will call you later. Leo, I love you. Think about my request.”
“Love you too, Little brother. Tell Kaytee, I said hello.” They hang up.
Then his phone rings again. It’s a number he doesn’t recognize but he answers anyway.
“Hello”
“Hello, I am looking for a Mr. Leonard Andres Rys.”
“Who is this?”
“I am Mr. Ross, I’m a partner at Taylor, Ross, Alexander & Associates. I am also the executor of your mother’s, Alaina Rosalind Rys’s will. I was wondering if we could meet today. I have some urgent matters to speak to you about.”
“Well, I was about to head out, I could be there in about an hour? Does that work for you, Mr. Ross?”
“Yes, that is perfect. I will let my assistant know you will be in.”
“Fine, text me the address and I will be there.”
He throws his phone on the bed and gets dressed. He hears the ping of an incoming message and he reads it.
Liam: I am worried about you. Please know if you say, I will come to New York.
I will be ok. Just got a call from my mother’s attorney. I guess she’d died. :Leo
Liam: I sorry, Leo. Are you going to be ok?
Headed over there now, call you when I get done. :Leo
The next ping is the address to the law office, Leo makes his way there. Once he arrives, she sees another attorney ask for the Nelson file, and walks back to his office. The receptionist finishes her note to self and then looks up at him. He flashes a killer smile.
“Leo Rys, here to see Mr. Ross. Miss…” Before she could answer, a gentleman in his mid-fifties comes out of his office.
“Hello, Mr. Rys,” he says extending his hand. “I am Mr. Ross, but please call me Zach.”
“Please, it is just Leo.” shaking, Mr. Ross’s hand.
“Please this way.” Zach leads Leo to a private conference room. Leo sat across from him.
“I know that you will have many questions, but first I need to give you some background on your mother.” He says before Leo corrects him.
“No, she is just the woman who gave birth to me, then abandoned me.”
“No, Leo, that is where you are wrong. I know this is because I have spent the last thirty years trying to help her get messages to you. Leo, she was told you died 10 years after she was forced to leave.”
“What do you mean, forced to leave, everyone knew she did not like life at court. She couldn’t handle being Queen or a mother.”
“That is enough! I will not let you talk about her like that like I said there is a lot that you do not know. Is there anything that your father has ever done that made you question his character?” Zach asks.
“Who were you to my mother?” Leo asks
“I married your mother several years after she came to the States. When I met her she was broken, she was afraid that her little boy would grow up to hate her. I remember her sending cards on your birthday. Then one day they all were sent back to her. Shredded. Here is the note that accompanied the package.”
June 21, 1996
Dearest Alaina,
I have been trying to avoid this for some time, but I must ask you to stop sending your cards and letters. When Emilia was poisoned, we, unfortunately, learned that Leo had drunk from her cup. Though he only had a little, the poison took him from us. He was buried in the royal plot. Even though he has been gone, for the last two years, my grief was too much to bear. I am so sorry.
C.
Leo could not believe what he had just read this, was written on Liam’s seventh birthday. How could his father lie like that? All this time, he thought that she left him, but his father kept them apart. It was the sound of Zach’s voice that brought him back to the present.
“Leo, she wanted you with her, she tried to come and get you, but he would not allow it. She mourned you for years, she blamed herself for your death. Then one day, she saw a tabloid with your picture on a yacht. She knew it was you before she even read the article. She started writing to you again, but this time, she wrote in these journals. I have not read them they are for your eyes only. She made me promise to do whatever it took to get these to you upon her death. It took nearly 6 months to find you. I am sorry I tried to get a hold of you sooner, but you are a hard man to find. She has also left you the house in Hampton’s it is on a beautiful beach and there is a lighthouse nearby. You will be the only house down that road, she bought all the land surrounding it. “
Leo took the journals and the deed to the house in the Hamptons and the bank account numbers that were in his name. He could not believe what he had just been given. Anger told him to call his father and confront him for what he had done, but he needed to know more before he did that. He needed to know that his brother and new sister-in-law were safe. He opened the door to the apartment and could see that his cleaning lady had been there. She left him a note.
Mr. Rys,
I know that you are probably going to go away for a while. As I see you broke another’s girls heart. I pray that you find someone that will stay with you. Sorry if I overstepped my bounds, but I do worry about you.
Anyway, I already called the locksmith to change the locks and I will be there when he gets here. Text me the address where I can send you a new set of keys.
Marge
He quickly texted her and gave her the address of where he was going. He said that he would be there a month or two. He booked a one-way flight to the Hamptons, packed a bag full of clothes that were not destroyed and the journals and headed for the airport.