Five Years Later

"Bianca, tell me this man is lying!" Miguel barked. "Answer me, Bianca!" 

Bianca flinched at his tone. Her chest rose and fell with her heavy breathing. She had tried her best to keep Antonio away, but he's back now. And of all places to make a scene, it's at the front of Miguel's company, on the day he's to bag a major contract. How could she have trusted her former lover to sell sperm to her without him coming back for it? 

Bianca looked at Miguel with wet eyes. "Miguel, I'm sorry, it was only a contract," she begged. 

Thwa! 

Miguel couldn't control his itch to slap his disgust onto her face. "And you made me believe all this while that they were mine. You made me chase my wife away, how dare you!"

Antonio came and stood between Miguel and Bianca. "Don't hit my girlfriend, you piece of shit!"

Immediately, Miguel punched him and they began fighting. Antonio, being a muscular and well-built man, had the upper hand in the fight. By the time Miguel's security rushed in and separated them, Miguel had a cut on his lip. 

"Sir, do you need us to throw them out?" One of the security men asked but was ignored. 

"You threatened me with a divorce and made me increase your allowance. After that, you went ahead to divorce me, took Alimony and child support, just so you could spend it with your lover? You should be behind bars, you two." 

Antonio struggled with the security but they were stronger. Bianca stood aside, crying and begging. "Antonio, I paid you not to say anything." 

"Shut up, B!" Antonio commanded. 

Miguel watched in disgust. His hatred for Bianca made his blood boil. 

"How did I not see this coming? I was blinded by my need to have children. And you made me chase Anastasia away." The thought of Anastasia broke his heart. It was five years since he heard from her. After the charity event on TV, she went silent again, hidden from the public eye. 

Miguel was beyond confused. If he arrested Bianca and Antonio, the twins, who were only five, would be traumatized. After the divorce, they must have spent time together with Bianca and Antonio as a family. Taking these two to prison would only paint him as the black sheep. He called the police anyway. When the police arrived, Bianca began to throw insults at Miguel. Miguel regretted ever pitying her or trusting her in the first place. The innocent attitude she had put up earlier was just a facade. 

Due to this embarrassing display, Miguel lost the contract he was supposed to bag that day. Bianca and Antonio can rot in prison for their evil deeds. On reaching home, he couldn't handle the grief of losing the twin boy and girl. 

He had spent five years training children who did not belong to him. He sent them to the best schools and paid for their extracurricular activities and everything that concerned them. He gave them the best life any child could ask for. They called him "Daddy". But they were never his children. 

A month after the disheartening incident, rumours began to spread about a fraud involving hilltop corporations. The rumours circulated among the CEOs, basically, but that was enough to shake some millions of dollars out of his stock. We are talking big numbers here. 

Miguel investigated the issue to the root and found out that Bianca had set up fake business ventures abroad in his name. He had given her one of his bank accounts when she claimed to have issues with her bank. He trusted her, and she used his account to scam people. He wished he could report, but no evidence linked Bianca to the business. His name was written all over it. 

The victims of this fraud began to get more vocal about their lost money and Miguel had to act quickly to cover up the case. He checked the account Bianca had used in carrying out the scam. It had only ten dollars in it. 

"That bitch!" He slammed his fist onto his office table. Immediately, his heart rate skyrocketed. All the money was gone, and now he had to pay for her crimes. Bianca was wasteful. He doubted she had a savings account. If she had money somewhere, she would've bailed herself out of prison. 

He had to cover up this mess himself. He spent day and night working on settling the victims of the scam and paying the media to be quiet about the topic. By the time he was done, he was almost bankrupt. Ninety-five million dollars down the drain. His company was in trouble. 

Out of desperation, he had no choice but to visit his rich grandfather to ask for money. He went alone without his security or driver. No one needed to know about his financial situation. They would ridicule him. 

He stopped at the front of a white mansion in the heart of Los Angeles. He had called his grandfather to inform him of his visit. The old man told him to get lost. Thankfully, he was allowed to enter the compound. As he walked into the house, he mentally prepared himself for the worst. 

"Hey! Granddad, it's so good to see you!" He greeted with a broad smile that screamed fake! 

"Where is your wife, Anastasia?" Was the first thing his grandfather asked him. 

Miguel's smile vanished. Ever since he divorced Anastasia, his grandfather had been upset with him. 

"I cannot go back to Anastasia, Grandpa, she won't even acknowledge my existence." If his grandmother was still alive he would have begged her to convince her husband. His grandfather cherished her so much. 

"Then I won't acknowledge your existence either. You got yourself into this mess and disregarded my opinion. Now you have come to ask me for money."

"What? That's not why I'm here, I miss you and want to catch up."

"Yes, after your ninety-five million dollar scandal, you suddenly miss your grandfather. Why don't we increase it to a hundred and fifty and you might just want to move in with me."

Miguel's mouth hung open. "How did you know about that?"

Grandfather was old and grey, but he still had his connections in the business world. The legacy and trust he had built for over fifty years was die-hard. 

Miguel went home more disappointed than he had ever been. On reaching home, he made a drastic reduction in his workforce, sacking over thirty people. His desperation was palpable. 

Two months later, he lost major business partnerships. He was kicked out of the city mall planning, leaving him with only a few projects which were dissolving by the second. He tried as hard as possible to hold things in place, but it all came tumbling down. 

He ran back to his grandfather three months later. He had sold his property and was left with nothing. The talk of his crash was on every news station. He didn't come with his car this time, he had sold it just to have food to eat. 

"Grandfather please, I have nothing left," he knelt in front of his grandfather, begging. 

Grandfather laughed. "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. I will remember you whenever my 'legitimate' grandchildren sing it to me." 

Miguel endured the mockery from his grandfather as he remained kneeling with tears in his eyes. 

"My condition remains the same, reconcile with Anastasia. That woman was perfect and you ruined things with her. She deserves an official apology. Even if she doesn't become friends with you, an apology will go a long way. Your divorce tampered with my relationship with her, something I hold dear to me. I even regarded her as my child." 

Miguel looked up at his grandfather. His words held every hint of pain. There was no way out. He had to apologize to Anastasia.

Grandfather chuckled, "I guess Humpty Dumpty thought he could recklessly sit on the wall forever."