-The reality that all of us have been waiting for...

Alex was bamboozled. He was aware of his head shaking, but could not stop.

"Wh-what are you- No. Chris...my father?" He could not find the right words to say.

"Yes, Alex. Chris is your father." Arthur was looking him in the eye now, an undefined expression held his face.

"But... but in the diary. You wrote about your son and that my mother...I mean Liz wanted to name him Alex and-"

"There's more to the story. And now that I've told you the reality, I am bound to explain myself as well."

Alex did not know if he wanted the answers. But he might as well listen to them now that he knew.

Arthur took a deep puff from his pipe that had been wasting for quite a while. Then he reached for another drawer and pulled out an old picture. He put it down on the table and examined it with soft eyes. After a moment, he twisted and pushed the picture towards Alex.

"This... is Alex." Alex held it up and looked at it. A little new-born placed in a pram was smiling and kicking the air in delight.

"You mean...that's me?"

"No no!" A soft frown showed on his forehead as he realized. "Oh I understand you'd want to look at yourself too."

Alex was completely puzzled. Arthur opened the drawer again and took some time to retrieve another photograph. He handed it to Alex. A baby was lying down in an old wooden cot, crying his lungs out. Where had he seen that cot? He was sure that he had, but where?

In Chris' hut. That day when I went to see him.

The baby had the same silky golden hair and bright blue eyes.

"This is you Alex."

Alex looked at it for a long time, tracing his thumb over the baby that once used to be him, unaware of what the future held for it.

"I don't get it."

"I thought you'd say that." Arthur took one last puff from the pipe and dumped the tobacco. "Everything in that diary is the truth. Your story begins after Liz's death."

Arthur stopped for a while, possibly regrouping. He had not imagined that he'd have to go through it all once again, but the situation demanded it. Alex kept on listening intently.

"I named my baby Alex, because Liz liked the name. She was always crazy for it. Had already named him even before his birth." Arthur smiled to himself at some personal memory. "The baby... well you see there were complications in the delivery. Complications that cost Liz her life. She did not let the doctors consult me for the decision and signed the consent forms herself, taking responsibility for any eventualities that may arise. Alex survived, but she couldn't. But he, himself was very weak. He stayed in the incubator for a couple of weeks, and then-" Arthur drew in a shaking breath "-and then... he died too. My baby died even before he I could bring him home once, and I lost my Liz for him. My world shattered, Alex. I was left alone. Half of me died with Liz, and the other half with my baby. You see Alex, no one dies alone. Parts of us live because of the presence of certain people. And when they die... those parts die with them."

Arthur's eyes were watering now and he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe them. He looked up at Alex with a flushed face and pursed lips. A look of positive adoration on his face.

"I thought I'd no longer be able to live, but you made me live Alex. You gave me a reason to be alive. Chris had a baby shortly after the death of Alex, and that's where you enter the scene. Chris is not only the family butler, he was my great friend. He could see that I no longer held the essence of being alive. He knew I needed someone to love and care for. I survived because he gave you to me. I adopted you even before you could open your eyes and I named you Alex because that name had a connection with the love of my life, Liz. You see, I could easily marry someone else, but I am still loyal to her. I see you in her. I still have her as long as I have you."

Alex was looking down at the desk-top. He could not believe what he was being told.

"Just..." Arthur's voice wavered.

"Just?"

"Just don't leave me Alex. I love you and I need you."

"It's too late. You could have told me earlier dad. Maybe I would have been able to adapt."

"TOLD YOU SO YOU WOULD HAVE LEFT ME JUST LIKE YOU'RE WALKING AWAY FROM MY LIFE RIGHT NOW."

"You should've told me so I wouldn't feel like I was playing as a double. So I wouldn't feel like a replacement, dad. You're thinking about how you needed me and how all of this helped you. Did you ever think about what I'd think once I knew? Or you just figured I'd never know?"

"Alex... I gave you a better life. And I never pulled you away from your father."

"YOU DID PULL ME AWAY FROM MY FATHER. WHAT SORT OF SICK SCHEME INVOLVES MAKING ONES OWN DAD HIS SERVANT?"

Arthur fell silent. He did not know how to react.

"I do not belong to this life, and I will not pursue it."

He stood up and began walking towards the door. He opened the door and turned around.

"I have no personal grudge against you. But from now on, stop acting like my father."

He slammed the door behind him. Rage was boiling within as he made his way towards the grand staircase and descended. He went out into the open, slamming his shoes on the soft green grass as he walked. He passed the lawn and the gravel driveway and finally reached his father's hut.

Alex knocked, which was immediately opened by his father Chris. He had never before noticed his resemblance with him. The same blue eyes just like Alex and Arthur, but a touch closer to Alex's shade. His hair were brown, but he wasn't bound to be a complete replica to prove that he was his son.

"Sir!"

Alex did not bother with words. He pushed the door and entered in. Chris was taken aback. He stepped aside and let Alex in.

"What's the matter Alex?" Chris' tone was so fatherly. Alex wished he had heard it more often.

"Why did you never tell me?"

"Tell you about?"

"Why did you never tell me that you were my father?"

Clearly, Chris had not been expecting anything of the sort. He ushered for Alex to sit on the single-sized creaky bed that was placed against one corner. Chris had probably just returned from work as his suit was still on, though the bow-tie wasn't in place.

As restless as Alex had been, he still sat down. He thought he ought to be more obedient to his father.

"Who...who told you about this?" Chris' eyes were soft.

"What hurt me, was the fact that you didn't. I always thought I could trust you. But you hid such a big thing from me. You hid my reality. How could you do this to me, Chris?" Alex looked to be on the verge of breaking.

"Alex...Alex my boy." Chris reached out for his hand and Alex felt hard, worn out fingers touch his. "You do not know the reasons."

"I know everything. Dad told me." Alex's voice held nothing but despair.

"Alex I am a poor man. My wife fell ill and as much as Master Arthur helped me financially, I could not give you a life worth living. I only gave you to him because I loved you. Because I wanted you to have a better life. A life that I couldn't have given you. And this way, I could see you every day. You grew in front of me. Actually, it would not be wrong to say that I grew you up. I taught you to walk, I fed you, I taught you to cycle, I took you out on weekends and I read you stories. I was still your father, but I could give you a better life this way."

"BOTH OF YOU JUST CARED ABOUT YOURSELF. YOU KEEP REMINDING ME HOW YOU DID IT BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME BUT ALL THAT HE WANTED, WAS A CHILD THAT'D KEEP HIM LIVING, AND ALL THAT YOU WANTED WAS TO KEEP YOUR CHILD BUT NOT TO FEED HIM FINANCIALLY BECAUSE YOU COULD NOT AFFORD HIM. NO ONE, NONE OF YOU, GAVE IT A SINGLE THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT I'D FEEL WHEN I'D KNOW. NO ONE GAVE A DAMN ABOUT THE CONFUSED LIFE THAT I'D LIVE. MY REAL DAD WASHED THE GODDAMN DISHES THAT I ATE EXPENSIVE FOOD IN THAT HE HIMSELF COULD HAVE NEVER AFFORD."

"Alex calm down."

Alex huffed loudly. His chest was rising and falling rapidly and red color had descended into his eyes. After a while, he stood up.

"I do not forgive you." He looked up at his father. "But I prefer living with you in this old shed that I was destined for rather than that mansion that's been a complete fraud to me."

"Alex, don't take rough decisions like this-"

"Rough or not, this is my decision." He looked around for a place to sleep. In the end, he found nothing but the floor. He laid down for a while and Chris kept staring at him. After a while, Alex asked in a sleepy voice.

"How did my mother die?"

"I did not lie to you the last time that you came, Alex. I told you your mother died of cancer when you asked me the first time. I did not mean Miss Liz at that moment, I meant your real mother."

"What was her name?"

"Vironica." Chris passed him a photo-frame from the old bed-side drawer and Alex saw his real mother for the first time in his life. Her silky golden hair fell till shoulder-length and had vivid cheekbones. She was wearing a white apron over her black dress, just like the many servants that Alex had seen here.

"Was she a housekeeper?"

"Yes... She used to be housekeeper over here." Chris smiled to himself. "I remember the first day when she was hired here. Kept asking Master Arthur for tasks that'll let me see a glimpse of her. I think he saw my attraction for her; he always understood me quite well. That's why he called us one day and asked if we wanted to marry. I tell you, it was quite a gathering for the marriage of a butler and a housekeeper."

Memories flooded in Chris' mind and he let them. He kept thinking about Vironica for a while.

"Master Arthur isn't a bad person."

He waited for a reply, but noticed that Alex's breathing had evened. He stood up and put the only sheet that he had with him over Alex's sleeping body that was curled in a ball. Then he set his pillow under Alex's head and began wondering. Where was he to change his clothes now?

-I think there's no point in reading literature if you're not learning anything from it. This chapter has taught me a lot... and I hope it taught you as well. The lesson for today is that before judging anyone on their choices, look at it from their perspective. Alex is the main character, he narrates most of the story, that is the reason why most of us would feel that Alex had been wronged by Chris and Arthur. But give it a thought from all of their perspectives. Arthur needed someone to take care of and love, and he, in his own way did take care of Alex and give him love. Chris just wanted his son to have a better life, a life that he himself could have never given to him. The decisions may be wrong, but the thought behind them, not so much. The only thing that can make their decisions wrong, is intention. And that is exactly what we don't know. That is exactly what even I do not know. So stop thinking about it from your perspective, and start looking at it from all sides. Most of the time you'd find that there's no particular person to be blamed...

Tentative date for next update 15th September, 2016.