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Theo nodded. “We thought he was dead since his body was not found, so a week later we were having an open casket funeral for him. Arrangements were made—people had gathered, mostly distant relatives who never called him while he was still alive. The funeral director gave his speech and then Devin went to the podium to give his eulogy. He’d made it to the middle part of his speech. I remember sitting in the front row, feeling numb to everything, wishing I could run away, and then the door bursts open…” He continued, “He was standing right there, dressed in some old borrowed clothes. Everyone was screaming and there were confused mummers when they saw Castle walking into his own funeral. It felt like a ghost, to be honest.”
He smiled at the memory. “Best fucking day of my life. The irony of it, though. Until he walked into the funeral home, I wished I’d died with him.”
“How did he survive?”
“Castle was a gold medalist swimmer in school. He could hold his breath underwater for a long time and he’d won national competitions, so when he drowned that day, he survived somehow. I’m guessing it had to do with his swimmer instincts. He told us he woke up in a fisherman’s boat surrounded by strangers who looked worried about him. He said he remembered nothing else.”
“I’m so fucking mad right now, Theo. He could have died just now. You pushed him too hard.”
“His memories are suppressed. We had to do something to bring him back.”
“That’s enough. I won’t tolerate this again and I won’t let you jeopardize Castle’s life. I don’t care if he gets his memories back or not. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Theo nodded. “I understand. It was a mistake.”
Ronald sailed the yacht back to the mansion. Castle gave us the silent treatment the entire way, and he refused to look at me. Theo had told me everything, but he hadn’t mentioned exactlyhowCastle had drowned that day when his parents died.
Did he slip? Was he pushed deliberately? By whom?
Devin was lounging in the guests receiving area, talking to someone. He wore a tailored black shirt over slacks and sat in the velvet chair looking like a king of some country ready to give orders to his army and cause destruction. Knowing the contents of the journal, and Devin’s history, I couldn’t imagine that a man yielding so much power could have been a poor little malnourished kid.
I almost felt bad for him.
Devin looked at us when we walked in. There was another man seated beside him whom I recognized as Anthony Marshall from the head office. As far as what I knew, he was the company’s legal attorney.
Anthony stood up and gave me a polite nod. “Mrs. Montgomery.”
“How was the picnic?” Devin asked.
Before I could answer, Theo said, “A fucking blockbuster.”
“Language, Theo, how many times have I told you that F-bombs and other verbal abuses are not tolerated in this house?”
“And how many times have I fucking said that I don’t give two shits about your stupid house rules?” The rebellion that Theo was, he continued talking mockingly, “I’m going to fucking abuse as much as I fucking want.” He marched into the room and grabbed a bunch of cupcakes from the tower of assortments on the three-tier glass pastry stand. “Excuse me, Anthony, pardon my intrusion, and my French.”
“Don’t look so surprised, Anthony. This is a usual occurrence in our house. Theodore is yet to cross puberty. He gets moody sometimes. It’s completely normal.”
Anthony looked like he wanted to flee from this house.
“What’s this meeting about?” Theo asked.
“It’s none of your concern. Go to your room, Theodore.” Devin said, waving his hand dismissively, the way you would shoo a fly.
Theo glared before walking out of the room. He made his way towards the grand staircase. Castle had left for bed early because he’d rather sleep than talk to me.
“I’ll have to see that Castle doesn’t sleep before taking his medication.” I made up an excuse to get out of there. “It’s nice to see you, Anthony.”
I started walking out when Devin called out to me, “Wait, Millie! We need you here. Castle’s medications can wait.”
Dayana walked into the room at the same time.
I looked between the three of them. “What do you need me for?”
It’s not like they asked me to make any important decisions about the company, even though technically I was the company’s co-chairperson. The title was in name only. Devin was the only one making the decisions.
Devin pointed towards the couch. Having no other choice, I sat down.
Anthony handed me a few papers and a pen.