Chapter 4 - The Desperate Plea
Kaleb swiped his thumb across the screen and pressed the speakerphone button.
"Kaleb!" Scott Watson’s voice burst through the speaker, sounding breathless, frantic, and entirely unraveled. Background shouting could be heard—Kara’s sharp voice weeping, and Ashlyn screaming in the background. "Kaleb, thank God you answered! Please, man, you have to talk to your mother!"
Kaleb kept his voice dead steady. "I am sitting right next to my mother, Scott. You are on speaker."
A sudden, sharp silence fell over the other end of the line. Scott swallowed hard, his heavy breathing audible through the digital connection.
"Mrs. Cross..." Scott began, his voice trembling so violently it was almost difficult to understand him. "Mrs. Cross, I am calling to offer my most profound, humble, and unreserved apologies for the unspeakable behavior that took place at our home today. There is no excuse. None whatsoever. My daughter... she acted like a foolish, spoiled child, and my wife and I were utterly paralyzed by shock."
"Paralyzed by shock, Scott?" I spoke into the phone, my tone smooth and ice-cold. "Is that what you call ordering your staff to search my personal belongings for stolen goods?"
"I was wrong!" Scott practically yelled, his pride entirely evaporated. "I was an idiot! I was ignorant! Mrs. Cross, please... I just received a notification from Tennessee Commerce Bank. They are reviewing our commercial lines of credit. And Marcus Vance just emailed me canceling our Atlanta contract! My firm... everything I’ve worked thirty years to build is going to collapse by the end of the week!"
"Actions have consequences, Mr. Watson," I replied. "Your daughter informed me this afternoon that beggars have no place at respectable celebrations. It seems your firm is about to learn what it feels like to beg."
"Mrs. Cross, I beg of you!" Scott wept openly now. "Don't destroy my family over Ashlyn’s arrogance! She’s young! She didn't mean it!"
Suddenly, the phone was snatched from Scott’s hands on the other end.
"Kaleb! Kaleb, please!" Ashlyn’s hysterical voice screamed into the phone. "Baby, I’m dying! I can't breathe! I’ve been throwing up for two hours! You can't do this to me! I love you! I’ll go on my knees in front of your mother! I’ll apologize on national news! I’ll do whatever she wants! Just please don't leave me! Don't let your mother ruin my life!"
Kaleb closed his eyes tightly for a second, a look of profound disgust crossing his features.
"Ashlyn," Kaleb said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "You still don't get it."
"Get what?!" she sobbed.
"You aren't crying because you hurt my mother," Kaleb said slowly. "You aren't crying because you realized you were cruel. You are crying because the woman you drenched with a garden hose turned out to hold the keys to your kingdom. If my mother had actually been a poor, defenseless woman who wandered into your party, you would have slept like a baby tonight while she shivered in wet clothes."
"Kaleb—"
"Do not call this number again," Kaleb cut her off. "If you, your mother, or your father come within five hundred feet of my mother, my home, or my office, my legal team will file immediate restraining orders and press criminal harassment charges."
"Kaleb, wait—!"
Kaleb ended the call.
He placed the phone face-down on the counter, took a deep breath, and turned to look at me. The finality of the moment settled over the kitchen like a heavy blanket.
"Are you okay, son?" I asked gently.
Kaleb looked at his hands, then looked up at me with a soft, bittersweet smile.
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"I’m better than I’ve been in fourteen months, Mom," Kaleb admitted softly. "I almost married a monster. You saved my life today."
"That’s what mothers are for, Kaleb," I smiled, reaching over to kiss his cheek. "Now, go get some sleep. Tomorrow, we have a logistics company to run."
