Chapter 9

AN: Ok, I was seriously crying when I wrote this chapter…It’s hard to type with your eyes blurring over with tears D:

And it’s long as well. Longest one yet. So you better enjoy the effort I put in! –shakes fist- One chapter left!

On a completely unserious note; as a bit of a lark, I put Kolya and Kale's name through a Love-tester and they got 100%! XD Funny stuff.

Thank you so much everyone who has commented/voted/liked this story! I’m glad that so many of you are liking it and think it’s quite original. That makes me so happy to hear, you have no idea. Now, enjoy!

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Chapter 9:

With the vandals in police custody, Kolya was able to finish the new gardens on time. Kolya and his crew worked hard during the humid heat of Maui with little breaks, but they managed to finish everything. Nothing was overlooked, nothing was pulled together cheaply.

It was perfect.

Kale had seen the garden during the construction process, but seeing it when it was finished, Kolya showing him around and explaining the materials he had to used, was something else. Kolya took pride in his work and hearing him prattle on was endearing. It reminded Kale of what Kolya was like before. Sure, he always had a low self-esteem, but it wasn’t as bad as it was now.

Kolya obviously liked his work as a landscape designer. And no wonder; he was good at it.

He might be a tad bias, but the work Kolya had done on the gardens, despite the horrid working circumstances, was the best Kale had ever seen. Now, he knows next to nothing about landscaping, but even he could tell that a lot of effort was put into this garden.

Now, if only he could make Kolya care that much about himself.

As night fell, Kale had to get ready for the grand opening of the new gardens. His family would arrive soon and he had to look his best for the occasion. The atmosphere was relaxed, but professional. So wore pressed black pants and a dark blue shirt. But he rolled the sleeves to his elbows and discarded a tie.

He managed to talk Kolya into wearing something similar. He looked good in shorts, but black pants and a white shirt? It will prove difficult not to jump the man.

Kale asked Kolya to come to his VIP room, which he had arranged for this very occasion, when he was done showering as he wanted to reintroduce him to his family. He didn’t tell him that Catalonia was going to be there, though. Kolya was nervous enough, imagine how he would be if he knew his tormentor was there?

Walking into the private room, Kale was pleased to see that his mother was there. He completely ignored Catalonia as she sat in the corner of the room, looking rather bored. Instead, he smiled at his older sister Laini. She was a few years older than him and had only just came back from a month long trip around Europe. She was a rather tall woman, with long blond hair that was straight, reaching her shoulder blades.

Kale didn’t want to believe that Laini had anything to do with Kolya’s torment. She adored Kolya, gushed over him in a sisterly sort of way. And Kolya never said anything bad about her. They got along well. Hell, Laini even helped Kale design Kolya’s engagement ring, promising to draw up the wedding plans as soon as they made a date.

She was absolutely gutted when Kolya disappeared.

Kale pushed those thoughts aside when he greeted his mother first, kissing her on the cheek. She was an elderly woman, quite frail for her age as she suffered from Arthritis in her hands and legs.

“I’m sorry; your father couldn’t make it,” Kale’s mother said. “He does send his regards, though.”

“It’s alright,” Kale said in return. He figured his old man wouldn’t be able to come. “He’s a busy man. How’s the contract coming?”

“Oh, wonderfully,” mother said with a hint of pride. “He’s just finishing it off right now.”

“That’s good,” Kale said before he turned to his sister, allowing the older woman to give him an enthusiastic hug. “Laini, how was Europe?”

“Wonderful,” Laini practically beamed at him, looking radiant. Spending a month with your husband would do that to you. Kale would have to try it sometime. “You really should have come as well.”

“And be the third wheel with you and your husband? Not likely.”

Laini simply laughed at him as she took a step back. It seemed she assumed that he would greet Catalonia much the same way he did her, so look confused when Kale wouldn’t even look in her direction.

Kale was pretty sure that Catalonia was glaring at him. She could glare all she wanted, it wasn’t going to work. Oh no, she was going to have her ass verbally handed to her.

“What did you want to talk to us in private, Kale?” Laini asked.

“In a second,” Kale said in response to her question and the room fell into a momentarily silence. Then, there was a light knock at the door. It was short, sharp yet hesitant and Kale knew immediately who was on the other side.

“Ah, here he is,” Kale said as he strode over to the door and opened it. Kolya stood out in the hallway, looking apprehensive, yet determined as well. He wanted to do this, to prove to Kale how much he wanted to be with him, how much he loved him.

“Don’t just stand there, come in.”

Kale reached out his hand toward Kolya and Kolya took it, squaring his shoulders a fraction when Kale pulled him into the room, closing the door behind him. There was an immediate stunned silence, the three women looking at Kolya with shocked expressions. Kolya tensed, but stayed where he was. His gaze, however, was looking to the floor, not wanting to look at anyone in the eye.

Mother’s hand flew up to her mouth in shock. “Kale, is that…?”

Laini said nothing. She simply stared wide-eyed at Kolya, a look of disbelief on her face.

“Everyone, I have a few things I need to say,” Kale said before anyone else had the chance to say anything, or worst, throw an accusation toward Kolya. “Firstly, I’d like to introduce, or rather re-introduce Kolya Narrah; the designer of the new tranquil gardens.” He placed a hand on Kolya’s back and pulled him closer to him. “And my fiancé of six years.”

The gasps that echoed around the room were almost deafening. Well, two gasps of surprise, one of blatant disapproval and annoyance. It didn’t take a scientist to figure out who wasn’t happy.

Kolya’s head snapped up at the disapproving hiss and immediately turned his attention to Kale, who hand his hand on the small of his back, keeping him by his side. “Kale? What are you doing?”

Kale chose to ignore that question for the time being, this time turning his piercing gaze directly at Catalonia, for the first time that night and he allowed a sense to anger to seep into his tone. “Secondly, I’d like to direct this to my dear sister, Catalonia. Who, for the past six years, has lied to my face.”

Catalonia tensed subtly, but managed to keep her expression impassive. “What do you mean?” she asked him, her eyes momentarily betraying her as she glared at Kolya.

Mother, on the other hand, wasn’t all that impressed. “Kale, I certainly hope you aren’t-”

“Here,” Kale suddenly said as he plunged his hand into his pocket and pulled out the crumbled photo. “Remember this picture?”

He threw the photo at Catalonia, who caught it with a frown. She glanced down at it and did a double take, her face paling slightly in recognition.

“The one you took to convince Kolya to leave?” Kale carried on, his words cutting deep, so deep that she winced, momentarily ruining her defiant façade. “From the look on your face, you do. I bet you also remember the lies you told Kolya, hm? What were they again?”

Kale then turned to Kolya, whom of which was trembling slightly, as if recalling what had occurred during that moment. He didn’t want to hurt his fiancé, his lover by making him remember, but everyone had to know of the vicious things Catalonia had said to him. And if the other two women agreed, then, well, there was going to be hell to pay.

Kolya looked up at him, a sense of fear and trepidation in his eyes. So, Kale smiled reassuringly at him, prompting him to let it out. To say the things Catalonia said, to release them as they weren’t true.

Kolya swallowed slightly and lowered his gaze at the floor. “…I’m under classed, worthless, useless and causes everyone, especially the Karlton’s nothing but trouble. I’m tarnishing their name and holding Kale back from his full potential. I’m a pathetic little homo who can’t give the Karlton’s the grandchildren they deserve. It would be of the family’s best interest if I just leave their lives completely. I shouldn’t be selfish as I don’t deserve to be happy. I’m just getting in the way. No one ever accepted me, anyway, and I was causing conflict between Kale and his family.”

Although Kolya had spoken softly, the words were hard and sharp. And they were vicious.

Kale gritted his teeth, his jaw clenched tightly shut. So much so that it hurt. But it didn’t compare the pain Kolya must have felt when he heard those words. And believed them.

Laini had her hands, which were trembling, over her mouth, her eyes wide as she stumbled back a couple of steps, as if she had been physically struck. She was near tears as she shook her head in disbelief. “Oh Kolya…” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

She then let out a sob, a quite but pain filled one. “I’m so sorry!” she cried as she stumbled her way across the room, throwing herself at Kolya, wrapping her arms around his neck as she buried her face into his shoulder.

“That’s not true!” she continued to cry, shaking and sobbing against a shocked and startled Kolya. “We adored you! You made Kale so happy. We were devastated when you suddenly left. We’ve missed you, as much as Kale has.”

Kale smiled sadly as he kept a hand on the small of Kolya’s back, letting his older sister babble and cry, expressing her remorse and sadness.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” Kolya choked out.

“No no no!” Laini said as she pulled back, placing her hands on either side of his face, looking him straight in the eye. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing.” She then turned away from him, desperately looking to their mother. “Tell him, mother. Tell him.”

Mother was sitting in a chair, just shaking, with tears pouring down her cheeks. Her hands were gripped in front of her as she pressed her lips together. She then let out a heartbreaking sob and held out her arms toward Kolya, pleading him to come forward. She wanted to hug him, to hold him.

Kale pushed an unsteady Kolya forward, the younger man stumbling over his feet a couple of times, to stand before the elderly woman. She latched onto his arms and held on tight as she looked up at him, her bottom lip quivering. “I’m sorry. You’re wonderful. We never cared that you are gay or that Kale was marrying another man. You were beautiful together. You were…”

Kolya suddenly dropped down to his knees and hugged the woman that was like a mother to him as well. “I’m sorry…” he sobbed as mother wrapped her arms around him as well, running her fingers through his hand, and just hugging him. She rocked him back and forth, whispering motherly words of comfort and reassurance.

Kale had to swallow back his own emotions at the scene, while Laini was freely crying. It was oh-so clear that Kolya’s disappearance affected his entire family. However, Laini’s tears soon turned hot and angry as she spun around to Catalonia, a look of pure rage on her usually bright and bubbly features.

“How could you?!” she practically screamed at her.

Catalonia, who had been quiet throughout the entire event so far, turned her gaze to her older sister and appeared to tremble for a moment. She looked positively guilty. But, it didn’t last long. An expression of defiance soon appeared and she levelled Laini with a glare of her own.

“I did it for Kale!” she yelled back, pointing a somewhat accusing finger at Kale. “You see, there was no way he have rebuilt the Pink Hibiscus if he was married to Kolya. It was for his benefit!”

It appeared that Catalonia didn’t have a hint of remorse for what she had done. She even tried to pin it on Kale himself.

“For your benefit, you mean,” Kale retorted sharply. “After all, with Kolya out of the picture, you could still have all the money you ever wanted.”

A stunned silence fell over the room.

“What do you mean?” Kolya asked as he pulled away from his mother, taking to his feet and hastily rubbing at his eyes in order to wipe away his tears.

Kale immediately pulled Kolya to him again, wrapping an arm around his waist. “When we were engaged, I arranged it in my will that if anything should happen to me, you would inherit everything I owned. Everything.”

“What?” Kolya spluttered, clearly surprise. “But-!”

“Hey, settle down,” Kale said as he cut him off, placing a finger to his lips to silence him. “I don’t plan on dying anytime soon. I didn’t tell you because I knew you wouldn’t want it as you never desired any of my wealth. And I didn’t tell anyone for the fear that they would see you as a gold-digger.”

“But, that’s normal,” Laini said as she carefully wiped her fingers under her eyes, brushing away the tears and soiled make-up as she tried to compose herself somewhat. “I mean, you used to be my next-of-kin before I got married.”

“Right,” Kale nodded, remembering that conversation he had with Laini when she explained that he was no longer her beneficiary. “But I seemed to have made the mistake of telling Catalonia. You see, she used to be the next-of-kin.” He then turned to Catalonia and gave her a hard, accusing look. “Isn’t that right, Catalonia?”

“…” Catalonia opened her mouth to respond in some way, but nothing came out. There was nothing she could say. He was right.

“Wait, this was all over money?” Laini asked with a biting edge in her voice.

Kale’s family was rich, the riches on the entire island. But they didn’t want to be like other rich families. They didn’t want money to be the deciding factor in everything. They didn’t want to be like those families you hear of on the Crime and Investigation channel where they would commit crimes and murder in order to get their hands on more money. Their parents instil a sense of community and purpose in them, so they’d learn to value partnership and companionship to money.

They had made a promise never to fight over money.

Apparently, though, Catalonia wasn’t being sincere.

“I should have suspected something was wrong when she was the one who told me that Kolya left and why he left,” Kale said as he pulled Kolya against him, the younger man realising that he was used and tricked in the worst way. “The two of them were never close, so when she told me he suddenly confided in her should have sent off alarm bells.”

“I can’t believe it…” Laini muttered as she shook her head, the anger still flaring in her eyes. Her breathing quickened when she turned back to Catalonia. “Over money?!”

“He isn’t good enough for Kale!” Catalonia exclaimed rather pitifully.

“Apparently, no one is,” Kale snapped, turning his own hateful gaze at the woman he no longer thought of as his sister. “I see what you were doing. You wanted me to stay a bachelor in fear that I might make someone else the next-of-kin and you would be left with nothing. As long as I stayed single, you would have everything you wanted without effort.”

He had her all figured out. Oh, she was good. She was good at pulling people along, making them believe that she was sincere and good.

It made Kale feel disgusted.

“And to think, I actually gave you everything you wanted,” he muttered bitterly. But, a smirk soon appeared on his lips. He was so going to enjoy what he was about to say next. “Not anymore.”

That made Catalonia feel nervous. “What do you mean?”

“You tried to take away the one thing that I hold most precious to me,” Kale said as he took a moment to look down at Kolya, smiling softly when he rested his cheek against his shoulder, before turning to smirk at Catalonia again. “So, I will do the same to you.”

Kale then stood up tall, squaring his shoulders in a commanding and an authoritative way, but keeping Kolya against him nevertheless. “I’m going to take away your money. You won’t be seeing a cent of my money ever again. You are no longer welcomed to stay at the Pink Hisbicus, nor are you allowed to enter any of my lodgings ever again. Looks like you’re either going to have to create a career for yourself. Or snag a rich but stupid husband to pay for your social life.”

That should hit her where it hurts the most.

“After you deal with the court proceedings, of course,” Kale said, as an afterthought.

Catalonia was scared now. “C-court proceedings?”

Kale chuckled humourlessly. “Did you really think the men you hired to trash the garden project and harass Kolya wouldn’t squeal on you?”

Mother, who had managed to somewhat gather herself, turned to Catalonia. Hearing that her younger daughter was responsible for the break-up of Kale’s relationship and that she didn’t seem remorseful for it was bad enough. But to hear that she actually went off and hired some men to hurt Kolya physically? It just couldn’t be true.

“Catalonia, is this true?”

“W-what?” Catalonia stuttered, her face draining of colour as she stumbled over her words. “I-I would never-!”

“That’s not what they’ve been telling the police after they were arrested last night,” Kale retorted coolly.

Laini suddenly look faint as well. “Wait…is that the reason why you borrowed that $5,000 from me?” Her hands suddenly flew up to her mouth, her stomach wrenching at the thought of what he money was used for. To add further insult to injury, Catalonia didn’t even use any of her own money. She borrowed someone else’s.

“H-how could you do this to your own sister?” Catalonia suddenly wailed on him, turning to give Kale a deeply accusing and desperate look. “How could you choose him over me?!”

“You have no right to ask me any of those questions,” Kale spat back, wrapping both his arms around Kolya and keeping him pressed against his chest. “After everything you’ve done, not only to me, but to Kolya. For six years, you forced us apart for your own selfish reasons.”

Just as Kale had finished saying those words, there was a knock at the door and Kale forced himself to calm down a little. The door opened and two uniformed police men and one detective, who flashed his badge, stepped into the room.

Kale nodded to them before he turned back to Catalonia, giving her one last smirk. “Now, if you would excuse us, we have a party to attend to. And some catching up to do.”

Kale then wrapped an arm around Kolya’s shoulders, turning to lead him out of the room, leaving Catalonia alone with his mother and older sister, and the police of course. He’s sure Laini and mother have a few things they’d like to say to Catalonia as well.

And then the police would love to have a nice, long chat with her down at the police station, yes?