The Royal Contract

"Hey, Ares." He tried to catch his son's attention as he sucked greedily for milk. "Do you want to play a game of catch?"

He threw the baseball in his hand upward and caught it halfway before it landed on the floor. But his son did not even bother to look at him.

"Really? You know your son is still too young to play your silly game, right?" Dani laughed at her silliness as she continued to feed their son in her arms.

He still could not believe Dani would opt to breastfeed than use a formula. The process seemed painful and uncomfortable, taking it from his point of view.

But he guessed that was what he liked about her. She did not like the easy way out. She always thought of what would be best for everybody, in this case, their child.

"I was thinking..." But before he could finish his statement, his phone rang.

He moved toward the counter where he had put the phone down earlier and checked the screen. He wondered why his friend was calling him. But that was not unusual.
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He could already think of several reasons. One, the company was burning to the ground. Two, his friend was having a midlife crisis. Three, something that was less overly dramatic.

"You better finish getting dressed, or you will be late for work." She reminded him before he could even answer the call.

He paused the call, putting his phone down and letting the caller wait. Then, he turned to his wife with confusion.

"What about you?" He questioned. "Aren't you going to work?" He scanned his wife to see if she was not feeling well. But she looked ok to him.

On the contrary, he could observe that his wife looked chirpy and full of energy. Therefore, he wondered what she had planned for today if she had no plan of going to the office.

"Ares has a schedule with his pediatrician. I told you about this last week, and we agreed that I could take him since you are busy this week." She reminded him.

Suddenly, it clicked in his mind. Dani did tell him about their son's visit to the doctor. But he guessed he had forgotten because of his heavy workload at the office.

And add to that the situation with his brother-in-law. He still did not trust Gerald, no matter how convincing he sounded. But Dani seemed to buy his stories.

"Oh! Yeah, I forgot about that." Alex admitted as he scratched his nape. "Anyway, I will just answer this call. I will be back."

He slipped out of the room, not wanting to disturb his son from his morning meal. Sometimes, he could not help but be loud when talking to his friend or his people.

"Sorry about that, Marcus." He excused himself for making his friend wait long as soon as he unmuted the call. "What's up?"

Usually, Marcus would wait for him at the office before telling him the bad news. But not today, it seemed as he waited for his reply.

"Have you seen the latest news?" He asked, sounding a bit strange. It was as if his friend was anxious.

Generally, he would be at the office or on the way to work at this time. But he woke up later than usual and was already running late.

Therefore, checking the news had been the least of his priorities. He would rather spend time with his kid than tinker on his phone and check for updates about their chaotic world.

"No." He answered without a second thought. "So, what is it all about?" He had had enough of the suspense.

He could check it on his phone, but it would be easier if his friend would spill it out. And he had more valuable things to do with his time than to speculate.

"I think it is better if you see it for yourself," Marcus spoke on the other line.

He could hear the agitation in his voice, which might be an indication that this might be more serious than he thought.

"What..." He was saying when his phone pinged, notifying him of an incoming message.

"Watch it first." Marcus interrupted him before going silent.

Finally conceding, he checked the message box and found a link. It must be the video footage that Marcus was talking about.

He had no idea what to expect after seeing the clip since Marcus did not give him a clue. But he could guess that he might not like it.

"Ok. I am watching it now." He spoke, placing his phone on speaker.

He pressed the play button and focused on the caption first. It said, "Breaking news" at the bottom. Therefore, he could only suspect that it was nothing pleasant.

"Damn!" He could not help but curse when he saw the entire video. "This is bad." He hissed under his breath, thinking of the repercussion of this news to his wife.

He hated Gerald. There was no doubt about it. And he could not care what happened to him. Truthfully, he would love to see him in jail, paying for his crimes.

However, he doubted Dani would feel the same way. He could already sense that his wife had a change of heart about him. At least she was genuinely giving him a chance to reform.

"Have you checked if there are other similar press releases like this or other interviews regarding this case?" Alex asked his friend while assessing the damage of this new development.

He had to be on top of this. He knew that Dani would want to get involved in this case after Gerald's visit last night.

He guessed Gerald already expected this would happen. It was his reason for coming to them for help. Now, the question was, should they help him?

"I am checking at this moment. So far, I only encountered the same stream. But I will keep on checking." Marcus assured him. "Are you going to tell Dani?"

He thought about it for a split second but could not see the point of hiding it from her. He figured she would eventually learn about it anyway.

"I guess she needs to be aware of this," Alex told his friend. "Can you handle my first few appointments for today?" He asked, checking his watch.

He already anticipated that he would be much later reporting for work than he had planned. He still had to discuss this situation with Dani before leaving.

"Ok. I will deal with the office. Don't worry about it." Marcus reassured him.

He did not doubt that his friend could handle whatever situation arose with the company. He had faith in his ability to act as CEO in his absence.

"Ok. Keep me updated if there are other developments on Gerald's case." He instructed his friend before ending the call.

He kept the phone in his hand, staring at the screen, wondering how he would break the news to his wife. He was confident his wife could handle it, but was he ready to accept if she decided to help her brother?

"Gerald!" He shook his head. "You are one great pain in the ass." Thinking of the problems they would have to face because of him.

He would not presume how his wife would deal with this information. He knew this would not be easy for her.

But she always had a sensible brain on her head. Therefore, he did not doubt that she would make the right decision. And he would be there to support her.

"Hey, who was that?" She immediately asked when he returned to the room.

She had Ares in her arms, in an upright position, gently massaging his back to make him burp. But he quickly took him, helping her with their son.

He loved being part of taking care of his son. And he could not wait to hear his first word and see him take his first step.

"That is my boy," Alex expressed. Not a few seconds later, his son belched the gas in his stomach, spilling a few drops of milk on the towel on his shoulder.

He purposely ignored Dani's question, vying for his time by using his son. But he could see she was patiently waiting for his response.

"That was Marcus." He finally answered her, placing Ares back into his crib. "And I think we need to discuss something privately."

He could not tell her about the news, unable to predict her reaction. Therefore, he felt it would be better if they had some privacy.

Besides, Ares had already closed his eyes. He looked so peaceful and halfway to dreamland. He did not want their conversation to disturb him and wake him up.

"Ok." She raised her left eyebrow at him, probably trying to predict what he had to tell him. "Should I be concerned?" She asked while she bent down on the crib, fixing the blanket around their son's body before blowing him a flying kiss.

He wished he could tell her that it was nothing. But that would be a lie. And they had agreed never to keep secrets from one another, no matter what.

"I think it is something that will concern us." He did not want to go onto the specifics, not yet.

He wrapped his arms on her shoulder, guiding her silently out of the room, leaving their son to the care of his nanny.

In a few minutes, he sat beside her on the bed in their bedroom, showing her the video clip. She had been silent, but he could see the different emotions going through her mind as he stared into her eyes.

He supposed what would happen next would be up to her. But whatever she decided on, he promised he would always be her wingman.