Chapter 16: DEATH CALL 3
MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: APOCALYPSE, INSTRUMENTAL VERSON.
.
.
Alanis clenched his jaw, every emotion crashing into him at once, regret, guilt, a sense of profound emptiness. All the moments he’d brushed aside, all the signs he’d chosen to ignore. The ashes in the vase... his son’s ashes.
He couldn’t even recall the last time he had seen his son. All the times Alex tried to call him he always ignored or hung up. And now his son was dead?
Alex was dead?
This was the reason Harlow had so willingly relinquished full custody of their son because she knew their son was gone. It was also why she had agreed so easily to the divorce. The pieces fell into place now.
Gus still couldn’t grasp why his boss was so calm, so restrained after receiving the news of his son’s death. Shouldn’t there be tears? Heartbreak?
But Alanis merely clicked his tongue, a hint of regret flashing across his otherwise impassive face. Regret for never taking his son to that amusement park he’d begged to visit.
Regret for how he’d treated both Harlow and Alex with cold indifference. This, he realized, was the price of his own negligence, the loss of his only child, his son and heir.
"Find my wife. Quickly," he commanded, his tone deceptively calm.
The word "wife" slipped out again, and Gus hesitated, surprised. Alanis had never before acknowledged Harlow as his wife. In fact, anyone who dared refer to her as such usually faced his wrath. Yet here he was, asking for her by title, not just name.