The Devil's Harem

Chapter - 109

"I am home," it was around dinner time that Alex walked into the house. He was so tired that, tossing his bag to the sides, he dropped dead on the couch in exhaustion.

"You look dog-tired. What have you been up to all day?" Martha asked as she walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water, hearing Alex.

"It was really a tiring day," taking the glass from her, Alex said, "I had to run around places to find out what really happened with Abir and Suzie. If not for Margaret, I would still be running around without much success," Alex said and gulped down the whole glass in one go.

"You were with Margaret till now?" Martha asked when she heard Alex. Her motherly instincts began to kick in.

"No... not all day, but till lunch, yeah," Alex nodded, "Huh... If not for her, I wouldn't know what to do," Alex sighed.

"Like a date?" Martha asked, raising her brows in question.

"No, mom... No... Hell no. It was not a date. I met her outside, and the club I was going to, Margaret actually owned that club. So, she offered to help me. It was that simple," Alex tried to explain. Though not entirely true, it was enough for now.

"You actually went to party first thing in the morning. And it was not long before you were not interested in going anywhere without me," Martha acted hurt. She ignored everything else and just focused on the part she found intriguing.

"Mom, you are missing the crux of the conversation here," Alex was appalled to see his mother act weird. His logical mother was cherry-picking the parts she found interesting from the conversation.

"You must be hungry, freshen up, and I will serve dinner in the meantime," Martha completely ignored Alex and whatever he had to say and walked back to the kitchen.

Alex was left alone and speechless behind. It took him some time to get over the weird show his mother just put up in front of him. Shaking his head at the strange behaviour of his mother, Alex picked up his bag and climbed up the stairs to his room.

'Everything was so simple not too long ago,' Alex thought to himself on his way to his room. He hoped his brother would have been here to help him out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When Alex came downstairs for dinner, George was already there at the dining table, along with Martha.

"You are home early, again," Alex commented as he pulled back the chair and sat down for dinner.

"I can discern the sarcasm behind your words. Don't worry, I am going back after dinner. I just came to get a change of clothes," George replied

"Well, whatever you may think. I am happy to see you. We could hardly catch a glimpse of each other these days. I am usually in a hurry in the morning, and by the time you come home, I am asleep," Alex said as he took the first bite, "It's good to have dinner together once in a while."

"Yeah, the last few days have been a bit hectic for me". George said. He sounded a bit tired.

"Is there some problem with the company? I can help," Alex asked and offered George his help, "I have been doing detective stuff all day long today. Though tiring, I enjoyed it."

"It's nothing I can't take care of," George said as he gave a proud look to his son, "You may think of me as a lazy slob but let me tell you, your father is quite a bigshot in this city," George praised himself.

"Hahaha... As if," Alex burst into laughter, almost spatting all that he had in his mouth.

"You ignorant brat," George pounced on Alex and grabbed him by his collar, "Let me educate you on who I am."
"Mom!" Seeing his father getting violent, Alex turned towards his saviour and called out to his almighty mother.

But Martha didn't even bother to give them a look, leaving Alex aghast. This was the first time he was being sidelined by Martha in his tussle with George. George, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised to find Martha continuing with her food.

"Mom, you have to save me," Alex once again pleaded to his mother. If it was someone else, he might try and put up a fight, but in front of his father, he can't even do that. His morals got in his way.

"Don't you have your date? Call her to save you," Martha, without looking at the father and son, replied.

"What date?" George looked at Martha then towards Alex as he shook him silly to know what was going on, "What date are you talking about?"

"Mauuummm, Thheeeaaaarrr is naaaooo daaaatteee," Alex tried to speak while George shook the hell out of him. By now, he was kind of dizzy.

"Let him go," Martha finally said. Maybe she felt some pity for him.

"Honey..." George felt wrong. He didn't get to vent enough of his frustration on Alex but couldn't say more under Martha's unfazed gaze.

"What's the use of being a big shot out there?" Alex grabbed his head and tried to stabilize his wobbly head, "You cower behind a lamp-post whenever mom is around," Alex said, trying to score back some points and re-enter the good books of his mother.

"I hope my younger one was here. If he was here, it would have been an equal match instead of you guys always teaming up against me," George said, bringing their youngest son into the conversation as he watched Alex and Martha team up yet another time against him.

"There is no way he would," Alex said, confident of his brother's allegiance.

George wanted to rebut Alex, but Martha had enough of the two of them, "Stop it, Enough with your pointless bickering. Don't you have to get back to work later?" Martha said as she eyed George. George, on the other hand, could only shrink back in defeat. When he stole a glance at Alex, he found the latter looking at him with a smug plastered over his face.

'Revenge is a dish best served cold. Enjoy while you can. You won't even know when it will hit you. Hehehe...' George had a sinister smile appear on his face as he watched the smug on Alex's.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two days later,

Alex and Daniel stood outside the District Court. It was finally D-day.

"Feeling nervous?" Daniel asked when he saw Alex tapping his shoes.

"I am done with my part. Now it's all up to you. If you are confident, so am I," Alex said, trying to sound confident. But, he was undoubtedly nervous. He had run around the city, pursuing every hint possible to try and prove that Abir and Suzie are being framed. Now all that was left for them was to present everything they had in the court and try to sweep everything in their favour.

"Then let's get it over with. If we win, I will treat you to dinner. What do you think?" Daniel suggested, putting his arm around Alex.

"And if we lose?" Alex asked, not denying the other possibility.

"I will still treat you to dinner, but it won't be extravagant," Daniel said with a smile. Alex really liked Daniel. He was friendly and polite, someone easy to get close to.

"Then let's win it..." Alex said as he showed his fist to Daniel, expressing his confidence.

"Hahaha... come, let's go," Daniel said as he bumped his fist with Alex’s and the two of them walked inside together.

* * * * *