by Rachel Angel
“Yeah, right,” I said. “You’re practically a genius. You and Thomas both. You’re the finance wiz, and Thomas…he’s a tech guru. Your father, Mr. Keystone, he seemed so proud of you boys. That’s all he talks about.”
I noticed Seb tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “Why doesn’t he tell me himself how proud he is of me?”
I couldn’t answer that question for Mr. Keystone so I kept silent.
“He rarely spends any time with us,” Seb said. “I’m surprised how much time he spends with you.”
“Oh, it’s just that I’m always helping my mom clean his office and rooms. Sometimes he’s there, and sometimes he’s not. But the amount of time I clean one of his rooms, I’m bound to run into him, right?”
Seb let out a deep breath and said, “That’s a justification. But I know my father. He wouldn’t be there, and he wouldn’t have allowed you access to his rooms if he didn’t want you to run into him.”
“Stop being so skeptical and paranoid, Seb,” I said.
“My mother was only 18 when she was stalked by my father, right after she won the Miss Magnolia beauty pageant. He was 35, almost twice her age, but he kept appearing everywhere she went, until she was pregnant with me and had to marry him,” Seb said.
“You seem very angry at him,” I said. “Why?”
“Because the asshole married my mother then just pretty much ignored her, while he chased the tail of pretty young things over the years, flaunting them in my mother’s face,” Seb said.
“You know I’m not like that, Seb,” I said. “You know my mother isn’t like that, either. We have our dignity. Besides he’s married…to your mother. My God, I’m offended you would even think…”
Seb grabbed my hand with his free hand and squeezed it. “Sorry, Kaley. I’m sorry I even brought this up. What was I thinking? No, I wasn’t thinking.” He turned to me with an anguished look. “I’m so crazy about you, Kaley. I’ve waited years to finally make my move to have you when you turned 18. I can’t think of ever losing you.”
I squeezed his hand back. “You have me, Seb,” I said. “I’m yours…All of yours – You, Thomas and Ash. I became all of yours when you all shared me together in your room. You’ve ruined me for plain sex after that.”
Seb laughed and said, “Good, because you’ve ruined us for love, for sex, for life, too. If you ever leave us, we’re as good as done. You’ve tamed the wild beasts out of us, Kaley. If you ever leave us, we probably turn to the dark side.”
I laughed, thinking Seb was making a Star Wars Darth Vader joke. But when I saw how savaged he looked for a split moment thinking of a remote possibility of his worst fear, I wasn’t sure if he was serious.
Mom told me that the Keystones had their ups and downs throughout history. They could be wildly successful like Mr. Keystone’s great grandfather who started the empire or they can be downtrodden drunks, who got lost in the bowels of society. Alcoholism and drug use ran in their family, where a number of Keystones died from it.
Maybe that was what I saw when I glimpse that darkness in Seb just now. Or the constant zoning out I saw from Mr. Keystone. Then there was Mrs. Keystone who seemed to have a constant chip on her shoulder which she tried to lift herself out of by boozing, sniffing, and whatever else she was into.
Mom, who was secretly taking online classes at night to get a graduate degree in Psychology, said the Keystones were her most interesting real life case studies. From far away observation, of course.
As brightly as they shined, they were fast burning and destructive to their counterpart.
Chapter 10
Seb
2 Years Ago
I couldn’t wait to get back to Keystone Manor after being away from Kaley for four long days, attending some distance relative’s destination wedding.
What a waste of time since we barely knew the relative…a cousin of a cousin who was holding his wedding on a farm in Australia. The farm and landscape was pretty. The culture was fun, and my brothers and I even found a potential area to build a Keystone hotel or mall.
But we all missed Kaley and wished we had brought her along with us.
She was the 4th Musketeer of our group. We should have brought her with us despite her protests that she had a big week of cleaning the preparing the house for a socialite party Mom was throwing for her big 5-0 birthday.
Knowing how vain Mom could be, this party was her last hurrah in the public society pages. She was going all out to celebrate her birthday in style. Poor Kaley and her mother was probably exhausted trying to clean up the place before the celebrity event planners would show up just to mess up the place again.
“I can’t believe Mom didn’t hire extra help for her party,” Ash said on the plane flying back home. “How is Kaley and her mother going to be able to do all that work?”
“I don’t know about you,” Thomas said, “But I intend to help them out. Let them take a day off while I do as much as possible for them. Mom…she can be a big bully, can she?”
“I wouldn’t put it past her to deliberately plan an event like this just to understaff it so she can take out her petty jealousy on Kaley and her mother,” Ash said.
Thomas and I looked over at Ash. “When did you grow some balls and say something a real man would say?” Thomas asked.
“Just worried about Kaley,” Ash said. “Mom has been pretty brutal on Kaley and her mother since she found out we all had a thing for her.”
Thomas looked so angry, he could burst. “Mom actually called me to her room to tell me to quit quote unquote ‘fucking the trash. You fuck it enough time, you’ll start smelling rank like the trash.”
“Really?” Ash said. “Like she would know. Didn’t Mom grow up in some backwoods hole-in-the-wall Ozark-like town? If she didn’t win the Miss Magnolia pageant, she would still be stuck there.”
“Guys,” I said, “Mom is fragile and bitter because of how our father treats her. Wouldn’t you be if you see the person you loved and married constantly fucking someone else in your own bed?”
“Mom’s jealous of Kaley and her mom?” Ash asked.
“Everyone else in that maid position had slept with Dad. It didn’t even matter if the maid was pretty as long as she had a pussy, he’ll fuck it,” I said.
“But he has Mom,” Ash said. “Mom’s a prize. A beauty queen.”
“Dad, I hate to say it, probably just married her because of that,” Thomas said. “Then he got bored because let’s face it, Mom is beautiful, but cold.”
“Kaley would never become like that,” Ash said. “Even when she’s angry, she’s a firecracker of wit and sexy. And when she’s giving you her love…” Ash closed his eyes.
“Already planning on a special day?” Thomas asked.
“Since the day I saw her,” Ash said. “Since the day she tripped over my extended foot, stood up, and gave me the middle finger.”
“Yeah,” Thomas said. “I can’t wait to see her. It’s like when I’m with her, I can relax and be just a guy with his girlfriend. We have this connection that brings out a side of me that makes me...smile. I don’t know how to explain it, because logically it makes no sense, but…”
“Come on, Mr. Science Man,” I said. “Love can’t be explained by mere science alone. You love her, and everything about her makes you feel happy.”
Thomas gave a small smile that ballooned into a wide one. “Yeah, I guess I do love her.”
“It makes me feel vulnerable,” Ash said. “Like if anything happens to her, I would fall apart.”
I agreed with Ash there, but I couldn’t say it out loud. Kaley held our hearts in her little hands. She held the three keys to the Keystone kingdom without even knowing it. Her unpretentiousness, authenticity and innocence about how special she was made me love her even more.
Too bad it was all just an act.
*****
As soon as we landed, my phone buzzed with a string of text messages from the staff at Keystone Manor, and even from
the President of Keystone Enterprises.
Something horrible had happened.
“We have to get home right away,” I told Thomas and Ash.
“Why?” They both asked.
“Something happened at home. Keystone Manor.”
We rushed through the airport to pile into my car and drove as fast as I could to Keystone Manor.
When we arrived, there was already an ambulance and a police car parked in front.
Thomas’ eyes went wild as he searched the crowd. When he spotted Kaley huddled in the corner of the crowd, her eyes red from crying, he ran over to her enveloping her in his arms. Ash soon followed.
I wanted to, too, but I was pulled aside by a police officer. He handed me his card and said, “Are you Sebastian Keystone?”
I nodded.
“I’m Officer Sutton Gaines, Head of Investigations in this area. I’m afraid to give you some bad news.”
My heart started racing as I glanced over to where Kaley was, being held by Thomas and Ash. At least Kaley was safe. I gulped. “What is it?”
“I need you to come with me,” Officer Sutton said.
“Okay,” I said. “But I may need my lawyer with me.”
“Is that man your lawyer?” he pointed to a man with a bald head, grey beard, and glasses. He was about my father’s age.
“Yes, Jonah Sloane,” I said just as Sloane joined us.
Sutton took out some photos and said, “We found her in the swimming pool, face down. Floating.”
My heart fell, and I was in shock.
Mom’s body was floating in the pool, lifeless. Dressed in a cocktail dress, and wearing her jewelry.
It took me a while before I could say something. Anything. She didn’t look like Mom. This body in the pool. She looked like some mannequin. Lifeless. “Is she still there?”
“No, we fished her out of the pool and someone tried to revive her,” Sutton said. “But she was already gone.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “How did she die?” I asked.
“From the crime scene, it looks like she had been drinking heavily. And even taking some drugs,” Sutton said. “Wearing high heels and walking around a slippery pool area, drunk and high…”
“She slipped and fell into the pool,” I said.
“Most likely,” Sutton said. “But could she have been pushed? Could she have been given the deadly cocktail of booze and drugs? Could someone else have pushed her to drown herself? All kinds of scenario could’ve played out,” Sutton said. “But evidence will point to the most likely cause of death. So while we gather the evidence, we haven’t made a concrete statement yet on her cause of death.”
I felt like a weight had suddenly fell unto my shoulders. “Please when you do, let me know. I’m…I’m so tired. Just came back from Australia and jet lagged.”
“I understand,” Sutton said. “And your father? Any news as to where he could be?”
“You mean he doesn’t know?” I asked.
“Sloane here and his staff have been trying to get a hold of him,” Sutton said.
Sutton glanced over towards Kaley and her mother. “The only ones here besides the deceased at the time the deceased fell into the pool were those two ladies.”
“Of course,” I said, feeling defensive. Was this officer trying to make Kaley and her mother look suspicious? “Mom had them working all day and night busting their backs to get her 50th birthday ready. Looks like everyone else took off to enjoy the summer weather while Kaley and her mother kept working.”
Sutton narrowed his eyes on me while looking at me up and down. “Are you seeing that pretty girl?” he glanced at Kaley. “I bet you she’s the prettiest girl I’ve seen in Majesty. Heck…anywhere.”
“She is,” I said. “Also the smartest. She’s going to Harvard in the fall.”
“Wow, what a package,” Sutton said. “If you’re not seeing her, and she’s available, I’ll just have to go introduce myself to her.” He smiled, making his already handsome face even more attractive.
“She’s taken,” I said almost too aggressively. “She’s my girlfriend.”
“Oh?” Sutton asked. “From what evidence I’ve seen of her…looks like she wasn’t quite committed to a boyfriend yet.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
Sutton walked me over to a private corner of the front lawn along with Sloane. He took out a baggie with a phone in it. Mom’s phone. Then he took it out and pressed a few buttons before handing me the phone to watch a video.
What I saw numbed me even more than finding out about Mom’s death.
The videos were blurry, but they were put together like some kind of collage. One of a girl who looked like Kaley being fucked from behind, her maid’s outfit barely on, by a man who looked like my father. Then another video of a girl with Kaley’s hairstyle bobbing up and down on a man’s penis. My father’s voice was saying, “Yeah, that’s it. Keep going, you naughty girl.”
Sutton walked up to me and said, “Your girlfriend seems to like all you Keystone males.”
Inwardly I was screaming. Fuck Fuck Fuck!
I almost threw the phone down, but Sutton took it from me, putting it back into the baggie.
I was so shocked, I didn’t know what to believe. Kaley and my dad? Was she playing with me, with Thomas, and Ash all this time? Was she trying to see which Keystone she could get?
Was she the gold-digger Mom kept saying she was?
I felt so betrayed, especially after she said we were the only ones for her.
And with our cheating Dad.
How dare he! Of all the women in the world, he had to fuck with the one I would give everything for. Oh how I hated him. For not just hurting me and my brothers, but for cheating on Mom again, and for bringing Kaley into our lives just to take her from us.
And Kaley… she would wish she never met us. When you love someone so much and they turned around to stomp on that love, the hate and anger that comes from that can bring out the monster in men.
Oh watch out Kaley…we once loved you more than life itself, but now after your betrayal, you’d probably wished you were dead.
And that was just the beginning as I delved deeper…Mom had those videos on her phone. Did they drive her to kill herself after seeing Kaley and Dad doing it?
Chapter 11
Kaley
Present Day
“Hey Mom,” I said on the phone. “When do you get back?”
“I’m still at the seminar,” Mom said. “Once this is over, I can finish my dissertation and then turn it in. Once that’s over, I would have my Masters in Psychology.”
“Yay, Mom!” I said. “I’m so proud of you for getting this far.”
“It’s not over yet, Kaley,” Mom said. “I still have to write the dissertation.”
“But you will be done with that soon, and then you’ll take the next step, and another step until you’re done.”
“I love your optimistic attitude, Kaley. Your happiness is so contagious.”
“You know I get that from you, don’t you?” I said.
“Ha,” Mom said. “Of course you get that from me. And your good looks, your brilliant mind, and zest for life…”
“Thank you for that, Mom,” I said. “I needed to be reminded of that sometimes.”
“Tough day?” Mom asked.
“I’m back at Keystone Manor,” I said. “Did you get my last voicemail message to you?”
“Oh I didn’t check. They didn’t allow the use of phones during the seminars so I missed a couple of days. Did you just say you’re back at the Manor?”
“Yes, I’m back,” I said.
“What the hell for?” Mom asked. “You know what happened last time you were there, before you left those good-for-nothing Keystone boys.”
I gulped. Wait until she hear I slept with them again, too. Wait, she won’t find out about that part.
“Mom, Mr. Keystone has me a part of his will, and well, I’m curious why.
Would you know anything about it?”
“Well, he did seem interested in you when he was alive. He thought you were smart and strong enough to handle his sons. He once said that if he had daughters, he’d wished they were like you. His sons were a disappointment. Spoiled, entitled, and thought they were too good for everyone. Like their witch of a mother.”
“I didn’t know that,” I said.
“Yeah, he seemed to have a lot of regret with his family life before he died.”
