Chapter 50 - The Letter: Part II

"Mr. King, your son's here demanding to see you." Edward's executive assistant whispered to him as the board of directors continually discussed the issue they were having with the company's budget.

"Tell him I'm in a middle of a very important meeting." He dismissed him and returned his attention back on the discussion.

"But sir-" He was about to explain how his son couldn't take a no for an answer when he was interrupted by Mason, himself, entering the room.

The room grew eerily silent as they all stared at Mason. "I sincerely apologize for cutting this meeting short, ladies and gentlemen. But will it be alright if I speak with my father? Just a small family matter." He informed them.

Edward felt a bit embarrassed by his son's unprofessional act in front of the board of directors and he was ready to give him an earful. "That's quite alright, Edward. Family first, right?" One of the directors told him and shot him a reassuring smile.

Edward forced a smile on his face before speaking. "I am truly sorry, everyone. Let's reschedule another meeting, shall we? But for now, meeting adjourn." He dismissed as they all rise from their seats and took their belongings. They left the room walking pass Mason, greeting him on the way.

"Sir, just a reminder that you have a two o'clock appointment with the head of operations." His assistant informed him before leaving the room.

"You heard him." Edward told Mason nonchalantly, not sparing him a glance. "You've got exactly thirty minutes to tell me whatever it is that is so important that you had to postpone my meeting."

Mason didn't respond to him. Instead, he threw the letter on the table, landing in front of Edward's view. Edward eyed the old-looking paper and recognition settled inside of him. He didn't know whether he should be nervous or ashamed that Mason knew what the content of the letter was about.

Edward gulped and kept his eyes on the letter, wishing it would disappear and get swallowed by the table. "Where'd you get this?" He gently spoke without any trace of his cold and intimidating tone he usually had when he spoke with his son.

Mason was taken a back by his sudden change of light and he was uncertain of what to think of him. Since he had read the letter, Mason was no longer sure if the father he had grown to hate was the real Edward King or if he had always been in disguised in front of him.

"Does it matter where I got it from?" Mason retorted. "I want an explanation. No, I need an explanation." He corrected himself as he studied his father who was still boring his eyes on the letter. "I want to know the truth, Dad. I need to hear the whole truth. That's at least what I deserve."

Edward stood from his seat and took the letter in his hand. He leaned on the edge of the table in order to face his son. He didn't know where to begin. He never really thought that there would come a point where he would explain the whole story to his son. He was ready to keep this a secret from him until he reached his grave. But seeing the confusion and turmoil it had brought his son, Edward knew that he had to tell him everything, the whole truth that would certainly change the story Mason had believed in for the last two decades of his life.

"Everything on the letter is true." Edward admitted. "I had to leave my family for a while in order to protect you. I had to, you're my son. And no matter what happens, Mason, you will always be my son." He nonchalantly told him.

"Was that the reason why you tried sending my mother and I away? So you could 'protect' me?" Mason venomously questioned him, quoting the word protect with his fingers.

"Yes." He confessed.

"Why? Who were you trying to protect me from?" Mason's bewilderment only grew, bearing more questions in his mind.

"From my enemies." Edward answered. "Look Mason, can we not dig into the past? What's done is done-"

"Why can't you just tell me the truth?" Mason's voice rise as he lose his composition. "Tell me the truth! Why is it so hard for you to-"

"Because the truth will only hurt you, Mason!" Edward retorted, cutting him off. "Why do you think I've hidden it from you all this time?"

Mason stared at his father in awe, as if he was seeing him in another light. By the tone of his voice, it sounded as if he really did care for him and love him. But Mason was confused and he didn't know what to believe. He badly needed to know the truth. "Who were your enemies? What did they want from me?" He kept on pressing on the subject. He knew he was being stubborn but he had to get it out of his father so he could fully understand the whole situation.

Edward sighed and looked his son in the eye with all seriousness. "Just blame me, Mason. Just blame me for the death of your mother. It's better this way." He sympathetically told him and was about to leave but Mason stopped him with his words.

"Why do you always make it so difficult for me to love and respect you? Why do you always push me away and treat me as if I'm a deviant person? All my life, I've been putting up with your temper and coldness. I hate the fact that you're my father and I can't do anything about it. I hate the fact that I was conceived mistakenly. I hate the fact that I was born in the first place. If only I knew my mother would die protecting me, if only I knew I would end up living with a father like you, I would have rather wished she aborted me way back then. Then maybe, maybe she would still be here-"

"I did everything I could, Mason!" Edward spun around and Mason saw a tear running down his father's cheek. He had never seen him cry before, heck he had never seen him express any feelings unless it was anger or disappointment. But right at that moment, Mason saw fear, guilt, and shame in his father's eyes. He seemed so broken and crushed.

"I warned your mother that there were people who knew about your existence. And they would do anything to see me crumble and defeated, Mason. Even if it meant killing an innocent child like you. I didn't care if they told the public about you or if the public found out you were my illegitimate son. What was important to me was to save you during those times. They knew you were going to be an heir of mine because you're my only son. I told your mother to leave in order to protect you but she wouldn't listen to me. She...she-" Edward hesitated.

"She what?" Mason's hoarse voice asked.

Edward briefly closed his eyes to think of the next words he had never imagined he would ever mention again. However, he was caught off guard when Mason's fist grabbed onto the collar of his shirt, his breath hitching in his throat. "Tell me!" Mason impatiently screamed as another tear travelled down Edward's cheek. Mason was starting to turn red from anger, beads of sweat rolling down his face, and the veins on his neck were very visible. A few more seconds of delay and he might actually explode. "Tell me-"

"She was pregnant!" Edward answered. "Your mother was pregnant." He told him more calmly as Mason stared at him in bewilderment. Mason released his father from his tight grip and slowly backed away from him. Edward saw the confusion and shock on his son's face and he really wished he didn't have to say the truth to him. He would rather endure the pain all by himself than see his son get hurt.

"She was having an affair with this man whom she fell in love with. She ended up pregnant and she wanted to have a family with the douchebag. I warned her about the men who were after you. I told her to leave and protect you but she couldn't leave the man who she thought loved her. But in reality, he was only after her money. One day, the man took everything in her bank account and left without a word. And that same day, your mother received a death threat from my enemies. That was when she decided to leave and save you but it was too late." Edward told him as he reminisced the past.

"I tried saving her, Mason. I really did but the men I've sent came late. She was already hit by the car when they arrived. And when she was brought to the hospital, she passed away. I looked for you everywhere. Every street, every city. And each day I was losing my mind hearing the news that you were still missing. But after two months, I finally found you."

"You found me? You were the one who found me?" Mason asked him in confusion and disbelief.

"Yes." Edward admitted.

Mason laughed humourlessly and glared at his father. "You knew exactly where I was yet you never showed yourself to me. For two years, two years, I've been kept hidden from the world! All this time, I thought nobody knew I was living with Gran. All along I thought that you never cared or loved me. Why?! Why did you hide the truth from me?! Why did you hide yourself from me?!" Mason panted as tears rolled down his cheeks. It seemed as if all the emotions and feelings he had bottled up for the last twenty years were being released and liberated.

"Because I was ashamed, Mason!" Edward retorted. "I was ashamed that I couldn't save your mother and the innocent child inside of her. I was ashamed that I didn't do enough to save you or your mother. I was ashamed for being such a terrible father to you. I didn't know how to face you, not after what happened to your mother."

"So your solution was to push me away every time you see me? To make me feel that I'm an outcast in the family? That I was just a mistake you wished you'd never committed? To make me feel so small and insignificant in everything that I do?" Mason asked him in anger, agony, and pain. "Is that your plan? Is your plan to make me miserable for the rest of my life so you wouldn't feel ashamed of yourself?"

"My plan was to save you from the pain you would have felt if you knew right then that your mother didn't die alone, but also the child inside of her." Edward calmly stated. "Even if in return, you would hate me for the rest of my life. I would rather have you blame me and punish me for the death of your mother, than have you hate yourself for their deaths."

"I want you to remember something important, Mason." Edward continued as he slowly approached his son. "The well-being and the welfare of yours and Ella's will always be my main priority. You and Ella are my life. Until my very last breath, I will make sure that no one and nothing on this earth shall ever harm you or your sister. Because as a father, it is my duty to protect my children. I will put my life on the line if I have to. I will endure the pain, Mason, all the pain in the world, as long as I see you and your sister happy and safe. That's the greatest sacrifice a father would make for their children."

Edward grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into a warm embrace. Mason couldn't stop the tears from falling. He had never cried so much in his whole existence. It had always been a dream of his to experience a father's love. And being in the arms of his father at the moment made him feel loved and cared for. He had never seen the soft side of his father. He thought that their relationship would remain as it was, full of hatred, anger, and pain. But the truth made Mason realized that his father had always been thinking of him and had always wanted the best for him and Ella. At that moment, all the resentment and hatred Mason had been feeling towards his father seemed to dissipate.

"Wait." Mason pulled away once his tears have subsided.

"What?" His father asked him in concern.

"If you really love me, you would let me choose whom I want to marry." He blurted out, out of the blue. "You said you want me to be happy, right? Well then, I don't wanna marry Mr. Wilson's daughter. I only see myself having a future with one woman and that is Kelsey. I love her, Dad. I love Kelsey and she's the only woman I wanna spend the rest of my life with." He proudly declared to his father.

Edward smiled at him and patted him at the back. "Then you have my blessings."

Mason's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at his father's sudden changed of heart. Mason didn't know if he should be worried or glad that he was giving him his blessings. "Just like that?" He questioned his father with squinted eyes. "I thought you didn't want us to be together. Isn't that the reason why you made her terminate the contract?"

Edward chuckled and watched his son in amusement. "You know Mason, sometimes, you need to learn some lessons in life. Sometimes, the most difficult lessons are learned the hard way."

"So are you telling me that you planned everything? That everything was a set up?" He asked him but he only got a smile from Edward. "Dad!" Mason bursted in frustration. "You almost broke us up! You almost made me lose her!"

"If you really love her, you would have made a way to get back together with her. Besides, I terminated that contract because it'll only ruin the both of you. I don't want you to start a serious relationship out of a contract, Mason. If you're going to this, do it right. You wanna marry her? Then sincerely ask for her permission. That's the right thing to do." Edward advised him.

Mason then realized that his father was right. He did made a plan on getting back together with Kelsey regardless of his father's disapproval. And his father was also correct that if he really wanted to marry Kelsey, he should ask her family for their blessings and properly ask Kelsey for her hand in marriage. Mason wanted to do it right. He wanted to make Kelsey feel special and show her how much he really loved her.

Mason beamed at his father and hugged him again. "Thanks, Dad. Thank you." He sincerely told him.

Edward patted his son's back and was glad that they have made up. Edward knew right at that moment that a new door was opening for their relationship and everything would change for the better. "I love you, son. Always remember that." He genuinely said and Mason's grin couldn't get any bigger from the bliss he was feeling in his chest. He was glad that he and his father were okay. "Now go and get your girl!" Edward demanded as he released his son from the hug and pushed him towards the door.

Mason sent him another smile before he left and ran out of the door. "Go and get Kelsey Montenegro." Edward added as the door swiftly closed behind Mason.