A smile curled on Akira's face hearing his words, making her turn all scarlet red.

She lowered her eyes and fiddled with her shoes and see her curling up like a touch me not, brought a pleasant smile on his face, assuring him that this whole jaunt had been worth it.

Slowly his hand moved from her waist and rested on the small of her back, making her ache for him even more. She looked up at him and saw him completely unmindful of the presence of people around him. She could see that his entire focus was undivided and targetted only towards her. His eyes reflected some wishful thinking, running at the back of his head and that made her whisper,

"Raymond please."

Hearing which, Raymond immediately turned his attention towards the crowd and said,

"Now if you would excuse me and my fiance, we would like to spend some time with each other and prepare ourselves for a better tomorrow."

"Wait wait Mr. Raymond."

"Ma'am, were you aware that Mr. Raymond was alive?"

"Were those tears fake when you took over his company?"

"Were all those decisions taking Delphie to great heights were taken by Mr. Raymond in the background?"

Akira was shocked to hear the litany of nonsense that these people were blurting out, without even thinking for a moment that how brash and how insulting they were, but someone was angered to the core after hearing those bullshit accusations.

He was almost ready to leave the stage but hearing such nasty questions thrown at Akira, he just couldn't control his anger and he said,

"Let me answer this question on her behalf as she has been dealing with all my crap for the last couple of years."

"I was not conscious and I had no cognition. She had no idea that I was alive, but she never lost hope. She continued to take care of my company because it was my dream and she wanted to continue my legacy. She did it all on her own with the help of the members of my company and especially with the help of this man."

And saying that Raymond directed his hands towards David and continued,

"So please stop spinning such stories without even knowing about the reality. My PR department will soon release my complete statement. So please wait for it, before throwing such below the belt questions at anyone."

Saying that he looked at Akira with warmth filled in his eyes and then said,

"That would be all from our side."

Saying that they both left the main-hall, without even caring for the frenzy that they had created.

As their silhouettes left the main hall, one man stood there calmly for a while and then walked towards the bar counter. It was time for him to chug his sorrows.

.

.

"Are you ok?"

Raymond asked, seeing her sitting all silently in the car.

"Yeah, I am."

Akira quipped, even though her heart was still beating rapidly like it was attempting to escape from her rib-cage.

"Where are we going?"

She asked, looking at Raymond.

"To make some serious level amends."

And saying that he showed his phone, using which David had texted Katherine. There were 13 missed-calls and numerous text messages.

He had not read the text messages, but he was pretty sure that if he read them, then he would probably lose the guts to go and face his family. So he let them all unread and continued to pace up his car.

But more than him, Akira was scared to meet Katherine, because she was not sure as to how to own up to the lies that she had spun.

"How am I gonna face her?"

"Just like I am going to do right now."

Raymond replied with a smile.

"But you are her brother. She will forgive you. But what about me. I sat like a stone when she cried for you. She might think I am an emotionless, dead ...."

"Shhh.... "

Saying that Raymond placed his index finger on her lips, which was earlier resting on the steering wheel and said,

"No more feeling guilty. No more lies. No more of anything that is going to eat us from the inside Akira. Let's face the world as is."

And saying that he moved his hand and rested it on her thighs lightly like he was assuring her with all the warmth and positivity that he could.

Then pausing for a moment Akira asked,

"Are you really going to relinquish all control from Walker Enterprises? I mean, I do understand that it is your father's company, but he built it with his own sweat and blood. Is it really right to make it go public?"

"Well, I do not care about the sweat and blood of a man, who pretended to be my father for all these years. I don't even know who my dad is. I don't even know why my mother had to put up this man when she clearly was in love with someone else."

"What are you saying, Raymond?"

"I am telling you the truth Akira and I need to know if Katherine knew about it as well. Some of my memories are very faint and I don't even remember most of them. It's like a timeline that's deleted for some years in the middle and I have no idea what happened in between."

"You lost those memories after the fall?"

"No, not after the fall. Most of them were not present even before the fall. Do you remember I told you about my uncle once, about that thanksgiving dinner?"

"Your uncle Conrad right?"

"Yes him...."

Saying that Raymond took a brief pause and then said,

"My mom was in love with him and not my dad. She was married to this monster, but her heart was with that man. I could recollect some old memories when I saw my family album. The only happy memories that I have with my mother always involve him and not my dad."

"So by any means, is he your....."

"Conrad !!! I wish he was my father too. But that's just not possible."

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[Author here - I have a new surprise for you guys. A new book - The rise of the saviour

Please give this book some love with your reviews and comments. I sincerely hope you will love this new book as well.]