THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS

"Why don’t you find a way to meet this child?" Steffan suggested. That’s how far he can help Shawn, if he cannot figure out the rest and do the needful, nobody will blame him when he decides to take action.

But as one would expect from his proud friend, Shawn’s next remark left Steffan feeling that he had just smashed his own foot with the stone he lifted himself.

"I don’t have the time to start running after a nameless bastard."

Steffan looked at Shawn with interest. It would have been strange to hear something different from what he just said. ’I wonder how you will feel when you find out that that nameless bastard is your child," he thought.

"So you are not interested in knowing your wife’s child?"

A cold glare was all the answer he got from Shawn.

"Wiith the current situation what’s going to happen between you and Kathleen? Are you finally giving up on her?"

Shawn harrumphed, "Giving up on her? Not even in a thousand lifetimes. She has always belonged to me and she is stuck with me for life."

"What if she decides to choose her child over you?"

Shawn’s brow rose in a questioning arch. "Why all the questions? Are you expecting things to get worse between us?"

He was afraid to even think of that possibility. With the hatred Kathleen demonstrated towards him today, he knew she wouldn’t think twice before making that choice.

"Of course not," Steffan denied. "I was only trying to prepare your mind in case it comes to the worst."

"Nothing worse is going to happen. Keep your woeful wishes to yourself."

Shawn’s brows drew together as he suddenly remembered an incident at the hospital many weeks ago where he had intercepted Steffan’s handshake with Kathleen.

He had completely removed it from his mind but from the way Steffan had been behaving and the torrents of questions coming from his mouth, he couldn’t help but think that something was fishy.

He deliberately locked eyes with Steffan who dared not look away. "We are brothers right? And wouldn’t do anything to hurt each other?"

"Where are you going with this?" Steffan asked, alarm bells ringing in his brain in quick succession.

Shawn had never asked him this kind of question before all through their years of friendship.

"Have you been in contact with my wife?" Shawn suddenly dropped a bombshell.

Steffan broke eye contact with Shawn, stood up and smiled, hoping to use the smile to hide his nervousness.

"Yes, but that was before I found out she was your Kathleen. Is there anything wrong with knowing her?"

Shawn’s eyes were only fixated on his face, so he didn’t see anything suspicious in his expression but if his eyes had travelled downwards he would have noticed the beads of sweat dripping down Steffan’s clenched fist as he laughed off his nervousness.

"When did you meet her?"

"I saw her for the first time at the hospital and I’ve only met her a few times after that," Steffan explained.

It was actually the truth as he could count the number of times they had met on the fingers of one hand, but the details of the meeting is what he swore to take to his grave unless Kathleen gave him a chance.

"Can I have your phone?"

Realizing what Shawn was up to, Steffan was disappointed. "What do you need my phone for? Don’t you think you are taking this too far?"

"Steffan!" Shawn’s face was as dark as the bottom of a coal pot as he stretched his hands in Steffan’s direction who reluctantly passed him his phone.

"Password!" he demanded.

"You know it already."

Shawn jerked his head to stare at Steffan who was also staring at him with hurt in his eyes and suddenly felt guilty. ’He never changed his password?’

Shawn felt guilty as he typed, but desperate times, they say, calls for desperate measures. The phone opened after keying in the password.

Steffan was relaxed as he saw Shawn type in a string of number and afterwards cleared it, he watched him go through his photos and other apps before returning his phone to him.

He gradually let out a deep breath he wasn’t aware he was holding, thanking his lucky stars.

Today, he finally believed the saying that every disappointment is a blessing in disguise.

If he had received Kathleen’s call before coming here, he would have saved her contact directly to his phone.

How would he had explained to the paranoid Shawn that there was nothing going on between them seeing the level of doubt he had about him.

He collected his phone and stood up immediately to leave.

"I’m sorry Steffan, I truly am," Shawn groaned.

Steffan heard Shawn’s faint groans and stopped briefly at the door but he didn’t turn around. He only halted for a few seconds then left Shawn’s office without uttering a word.

He was thankful to God that he escaped this time. He dared not think about what would have happened in that office. Maybe a bloody scene would have ensured but definitely not the faint apology he heard Shawn utter before leaving his office.

If Steffan had turned around, maybe he would have seen the tears in his friends eyes or the sense of loss that overwhelmed him as he watched Steffan walk away, probably from his life.

He remembered the night before Steffan traveled abroad to further his medical career, they had gone out to drink together with two other boss on friends. At the spur of the moment, one of them had suggested that they all have a common password as a token of their friendship.

Steffan had suggested "worthDying4" as the password which had left everyone stunned but they all accepted it since it was a reflection of the brotherhood they shared.

’Has he also lost a bossom friend as a result of distrust?’

Was that not the same way he had lost Kathleen in the first place.

Shawn was overcome with self hatred.