December 2004, NYU

Chanty almost jumped off the bench she was sitting on when Liam hopped out of nowhere and sat down beside her.

“Waiting for your loser boyfriend?”

“Cameron’s not a loser and please get out of my sight.”

“What are you doing?” he moved his head closer to take a look at what she was writing. “Is it a diary?” he asked with a laugh.

“No,” she lied.

“Anything about me?”

“Not a line,” she snapped, closed her diary, stood up and walked away, hearing his laughter behind her.

2013

Chanty walked around her table and to the door. Angelica’s mouth was hanging open in shock. Her friend was the only person left standing there outside her door.

“Not now, Ange,” she said before slamming the door. She whirled around and faced Liam. “Liam, let me explain--”

“I want to see my son now, Chanty.”

“No!” she cried out. “I mean, no, you can’t because--”

“Why? You think I am not worth it?” he asked, his expression hurt. “God, Chanty! What the hell got into you? You could have just told me years ago!”

Okay, so Liam was now pacing around her office and she couldn’t tell him she just told a freaking lie because he was not giving her the chance to finish a sentence.

“I can’t believe this…” he uttered as he walked back to the seat he vacated and sat down. Okay, this was probably the right timing. But before she could say the truth, something occurred to her and she hesitated.

She couldn’t let Cameron have Willie. If Liam would know that Willie’s not his son, he might not cooperate with her lie. Cameron was a lawyer. And he was freaking talking about tests! And if he found out she lied, it would be a bad case against her in court. Maybe, just maybe, if she could prove that Willie was Liam’s son, Cameron would be gone--forever.

But she couldn’t lie to Willie. What would she tell her son?

“You need to make this right, Chanty,” Liam uttered.

Before she could answer, Angelica’s voice spoke behind them, “You two have a lot of explaining to do.” Of course, she should know that her friend would never wait for the right moment.

“I’ll leave this one to you,” Liam still seemed to be in a daze as he said that and walked out without another word.

“Well?” Angelica was looking at her with a smile.

Chanty was still trying to formulate a statement in her mind about the lie but Angelica was already jumping with excitement.

“You wicked girl! Why didn’t you tell me?! Why the hell did you keep it a secret all this time?!” Angelica cried out and Chanty was lost for words.

Her friend did not even wait for her to answer because she was already attacking her phone saying, “We should do something about this, Chanty. This can get messy. Cameron is crazy to do that and…”

Chanty was no longer listening. Chanty was not sure how everything happened. She was in her own confused world, just watching Angelica start to talk on the phone in her rapid voice. Liam was nowhere in sight. She was also aware that Pete was gaping at here about fifteen meters away with Kara beside him. It was only when Angelica placed her phone back in her bag and pulled her out of her office that she became aware that everyone heard the commotion earlier. She was not just sure how much everyone heard.

She was thinking about Pete’s appalled look as she let Angelica drag her out of the office, down the main floor of the building and out in the streets.

“You should have really told us!” Angelica was muttering. She was not too happy now. Actually, Chanty was thinking her friend had finally realized she should be angry.

But that thought just came by. Chanty was busy thinking about what to do next. She tried to weigh everything. If she continued on with the lie, what should she tell Willie? What would Cameron do? Would he go for a DNA test? Was that what he was talking about?

If she went on with the lie and Cameron would still opt to have that DNA test, she had to make a plan.

The bright light bulb inside her head suddenly lit up.

Cameron was a well-respected man and he wouldn’t want his name be smeared. If he was going to prove that Willie was his and if he would try to take Willie away from her, she would tell everyone that he left her years ago. He wouldn’t like that.

But she couldn’t lie to Willie. Her son was not old enough to understand. And she couldn’t very well fool him to think that Liam was his dad.

But she hated the thought of introducing her son to his real dad more. Liam was a way better option.

“You shouldn’t have kept it from us. And oh my God, he’s been around all along! Why didn’t you tell us? What the hell was wrong with you?” Angelica was still talking nonstop.

“Where are we going?” Chanty asked when she realized they were now walking across the street.

“Henry’s going to meet us. You should tell him about what happened earlier.”

Chanty frowned. “Why?”

Angelica halted and looked at her incredulously. “Hello? Have you not yet realized that Cameron threatened you? You should definitely make a complaint. Henry’s on his way.”

Chanty was about to say something but Angelica pushed her toward the entrance of the coffee shop.

“How did it happen? Why didn’t you tell us?” Angelica asked her when they were finally seated at the corner of the shop.

“I…we…” she was not really sure how to put everything into words. Hell, she was not even sure what to put into words!

“Oh, keep it for now,” Angelica waved her hand. “You’re obviously in shock. Let’s just wait for my husband.”

It was after ten minutes and five more calls from Angelica before Henry stormed inside the coffee shop, his face firm and unreadable. He looked at his wife with irritation as he sat down beside her. “Angelica, you know I’m very busy—”

“Killing people?” Angelica asked, causing the couple sitting at the next table to look at Henry.

“What the hell’s wrong with—” Henry burst out but stopped himself, his jaw twitching. Everyone now knew that he was an NSA agent, doing special operations but at the same time, he was also a lawyer. Actually, he was the Strindbergs’ lawyer.

Chanty just looked at the couple sitting across her, her mind in a rumble of different things.

“Darling, you should really calm down. You don’t want to have a heart attack,” Angelica told her husband soothingly.

Henry ignored her and looked at Chanty. “What the hell was my dear wife,” he shot Angelica a look before he continued, “talking about when she called me to come down here and kill someone?”

Chanty finally realized why Henry was furious. Angelica always had the wildest of imagination. Sometimes, you wouldn’t know whether she was serious or not but most of the time, she was serious and she meant her words. “No one’s going to kill anyone,” Chanty told Henry dryly.

“Then what is this about?” he looked at his wife. “You dragged me out of a very important meeting.”

“Who told you to come right away? We could have waited,” Angelica looked at her husband innocently.

“You’ve been ringing me every other minute, Ange,” Henry told her.  “Now tell me what’s happening here.”

“Chanty received a threat.”

Henry’s face became alert.

“No, no, no,” Chanty said before Henry could ask any question. “I did not receive that much of a threat.”

Henry looked at his wife once again.

“She really did! It was that evil guy, Cameron. You remember I told you about him, right? Well, he came to Chanty this morning demanding to see Willie. Then Liam was there in the room and Chanty finally blurted out the truth that Liam is Willie’s son so Cameron became angry and—”

“Hey, hey, hey, hang on for a moment, darling,” Henry took his wife’s chin in his hand to make her look at him straight in the eyes. Chanty had always seen him do that thing whenever Angelica was too engrossed in her storytelling.

“What?” Angelica asked him. “Don’t you understand what I’m talking about?”

“Yes, I do but do it slowly. My brain is still trying to remember Cameron but now I remember he is Willie’s father—”

“What? Were you not listening to me? I was in the part where Chanty told Cameron that Willie is not his because Liam is the real father, which by the way is a small information my best friend decided not to tell me,” she shot Chanty a look before she looked back at her husband to finish her story. “So anyway, Cameron became angry and he started to walk out the office—they were talking inside Chanty’s office, by the way—and then, before he left, he threatened them about facing the court and some tests.”

Chanty was in shock. She was not aware that Angelica heard that much!

“Why?” Henry asked.

“I told you a freaking book story, darling, and your reaction is why?” Angelica gasped incredulously.

“Why does he want to go to court?” Henry asked again.

“He doesn’t believe Chanty. And because he desperately wants to get Willie for his own selfish reasons, probably his campaign.”

“Wait, what campaign?” Chanty and Henry asked in unison.

“Oh my God, you work with the government, darling. You should know what a campaign is!” Angelica answered her husband.

“Angelica, I don’t really have the time to play this game right now. Campaign for what?” Chanty could see that Henry was trying to be very patient with his wife. Well, he had always been that way with Angelica ever since they met.

“For senator,” Angelica answered simply.

“What?” Henry and Chanty cried out once more.

Angelica looked at them like they were from another planet. “Cameron is running for senator in the near future and he is trying to build a name for himself now. Don’t you watch the news?”

Henry ignored his wife and faced Chanty. “Do you want to file a complaint?”

“Uh—” Chanty was still processing that thought that Cameron was running for senator. Is that why he wants to suddenly become Willie’s father? So he could be a family guy?

“You can’t talk to her right now,” Angelica told Henry. “She’s still in shock.”

“How about Liam?” Henry asked. Of course, he knew the man. They had been working together since the merger happened.

Henry took a deep breath and sighed when she didn’t answer. “Okay, this matter needs to be thought over. Chanty, I suggest you take a rest and think about this. Don’t listen to whatever my wife tells you to do. If you do, you’ll end up in jail. She’ll talk to you about bombs, knives, guns and other weapons. Go home and think about this. Call Liam and talk things out. I suggest you initiate the move for a DNA test before Cameron does. This may take days or weeks but it will be worth the wait. And if Cameron still pursues his claim of being Willie’s dad, we’re going to take action.”

Chanty just nodded. There was no way she was going to take that freaking DNA test.

“Why can’t you take action now?” Angelica asked him. “Go get your sniper gun or whatever and kill the man. He’s soon to be a politician and no one’s going to realize it is you who shot him. I bet he has a lot of enemies and—” Angelica stopped when she saw her husband’s face. “Okay, Chanty, I agree with Henry. You should go home, rest and make plans with Liam. Do a freaking DNA test if you want and slam the result against Cameron’s face.” That last statement made Chanty’s face turn pale.

Henry just looked at his wife and shook his head. “I think you’re going to be the cause of my death, Ange. Anyway, for now, I need to go back to that meeting,” Henry looked at his wife. “I’ll see you tonight. Don’t do anything stupid,” he added before he kissed Angelica and walked away.

“What the hell was that? It was not even an advice. I could have said the very same thing!” Angelica muttered. “But I think he’s right. You should really go home. You don’t look so well. I’ll drive you.”

“You know, I don’t really understand why you were so distressed when you knew Cameron was coming. If he is not Willie’s dad, you shouldn’t fear.”

She wanted her friend to shut up for a moment and let her talk, but she realized she didn’t have the energy just yet.

“And I can’t imagine how Liam doesn’t know! How did it even happen? When did it happen?” Angelica continued to mutter.

Chanty was too drained to explain right now. She just hoped that Angelica would not do anything stupid, as what her husband had told her earlier.

“Oh, shoot,” she uttered when she finally realized something.

“What? What is it?” Angelica asked as Chanty buried her face in her hands.

“I need to get Willie.”

“Don’t be too dramatic. I thought something wrong happened,” Angelica rolled her eyes and stood up. “Let’s go, we’ll go to Cass’.”

Chanty groaned. They had to go to Cassandra and Philip’s house. This would be another awful idea, but she had to get her son.

It took them almost half an hour to get to Cass and Philip’s house. As a matter of fact, it was a new record. Chanty hated how her brother had to live outside the city in a place like nowhere as she would call it. And truthfully, the thirty-minute drive was the fastest one Chanty ever had. It usually took her an hour to get to her brother’s house. But then, Angelica was driving so it was a given that they had to literally speed up. Her friend had been talking about wanting to become a spy like her husband.

Of course, that was just a dream for there was no way in hell Henry would let her. Chanty was not even sure Henry knew Angelica drove this fast. If he did, Angelica would not be driving her Porsche.

Cassandra opened the door for them before they could even ring the bell.

Her brother’s wife was a blonde beauty. Despite her pregnant state, she was still smoking hot. And she was still smudged with paint. Cassandra was an artist and as an artist, she was different. Actually, she was the total opposite of Philip. But hell, Angelica was also a total opposite of Henry.

Chanty had always wondered how her two friends were able to capture the hearts of two bachelors who had been too serious their whole lives. Well, they were still deadly serious but it had been bearable since they married their wives.

Cassandra was looking at Chanty with narrowed eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She whirled at Angelica who shrugged. “What? While I was listening to your conversation earlier inside the office, I didn’t know what else to do. I was texting her everything while listening. What?” Angelica looked at her dryly. “I’m good at multi-tasking. You should ask Henry.”

Chanty just sighed deeply and shook her head. “Where’s Willie?”

“He’s with Philip up in our room,” Cassandra answered, making way for them to get inside. “Okay, let’s hear it out!” Cassandra clapped her hands together and looked at Chanty expectantly.

Chanty could strongly feel Angelica silently shaking her head beside her. Cassandra must have gotten the message and said, “Okay, don’t bother. I don’t want to hear anything anyway.” She leaned closer and whispered, “Philip is not very happy about this but don’t worry. I told him to zip his mouth.”

She wanted to melt down the floor and evaporate into the air. Chanty didn’t think of Philip hearing the news. Actually, it never crossed her mind. She didn’t expect her friends to have super hearing and texting powers.

It finally occurred to Chanty that her lie had spread wide enough. Philip now knew and it would not be long enough before their family did. With all the strength left in her, Chanty stared at her friends and said, “Girls, I need to tell you a very big secret.”

They sharply turned their heads to look at her and moved closer. Obviously, they were eager and ready to hear the big lie she cooked up.