Chapter III

Mindful of his impending family meeting, Callum knew he had to bid his new friend farewell. His old brother bombarding his phone with calls reaffirmed the importance of this so called meeting.

But for reasons unknown to Callum, he couldn't bring himself to leave until he was sure that she was okay.

They waited to see the doctor for her to be reviewed and afterwards the Doctor confirmed that would be fine and just needed to rest the affected leg.

"Here's the receipt and prescriptions, Mr. Guerrero". Callum snapped out of his thoughts and took the items from the nurse at the dispensary.

He walked back to the ward where Ariana was and handed the meds to her. " Take this, the Doctor said it would help with the pain. I have also opened a tab for you at this hospital if you need any further checks with the Doctor." Callum said with a smile.

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate all you've done. I should be on my way since they're not keeping me here"

"Yeah I should be on my way too. I can give you a ride"

Ariana turned down the offer with a shake of her head. "Thanks but that won't be necessary. I live a few blocks from here"

With that said she turned towards the door and left the ward. Callum sat down for a while perplexed as to why she was being so difficult. Just as he was about to leave he noticed that she had forgotten the prescriptions and so he went after her.

Just as he got to the exit, he noticed Ariana speaking to the front desk attendant so he decided not to interrupt till they were done.

"Sorry Ma'am I wish there was something else I could do but unfortunately your tab cannot be used to treat another person. More so you don't have insurance so that kind of operation wouldn't be covered with the tab"

Ariana nodded dejectedly. "Alright thank you for your time"

"Hey wait" Callum called after her before she could exit the hospital

"You're still here?"

"Well since my patient decided to limp off without her meds, I had to return it."

She took the pack from his outstretched hand "Thank you"

"Is everything okay?" Ariana glanced up at him taken aback by the question. She couldn't understand why he was so concerned and still lingering around. Especially after making it clear earlier that he had important things to attend to.

"Everything is fine, Mr. Guerrero. Thanks for the concern" She turned to leave but Callum's next words shocked her

"I don't know what's going on but I heard what the attendant said and I can help"

Ariana turned to him with furrowed brows. "Help?" The last thing she wanted was to get a stranger involved in her personal business. Who knows what he has under his sleeves.

"Like I said, thanks for the concern but I'm good " she intoned

Unbothered by her stuck up attitude, Callum moved closer to her and came to a halt when he was close enough to get his point across. This most certainly earned him a glare from her.

"I know you don't need my help but the person you wanted to use your tab for certainly does. I don't know the details but I can tell it's urgent."

Callum proceeded to pull out his company card from his pocket and handed it over to her.

"Call me if you need my help Ari" He sent her a wink before strolling away, hands deep in his pockets.

..........

Callum knew he was in for another lecture when he got to his parents mansion. He was supposed to have joined them hours ago so he knew he was far behind time.

If he had his way, honestly he wouldn't show up. As he inched closer to their driveway, he dreaded having to be there even more. Up ahead at the main entrance, Callum could see their butler, Prince waiting at the door. He wore a broad smile. The man had probably heard his car pulling into the driveway.

Infact, Prince and his wife were the only people in the Guerrero household that Callum really looked forward to seeing. After all, they basically raised him and his siblings while his parents were busy travelling the world.

"It's good to see you, Sir" The older man said.

Drop the formality, Callum wanted to say but knowing how professional the man was. he wouldn't waste his breathe.

"I'm glad to see you too, Prince" Returning Prince's gentle smile, Callum entered into the house.

His mom and brother were seated in the living room seemingly buried in deep thought evident by their blank expressions.

His mother was the first to notice him " Look who decided to grace us with his presence" she said sarcastically.

Callum had to stop himself from replying in the same sarcastic manner as he was very well used to his mother's antics.

"Something urgent came up and I needed to attend to it" That was all Callum said knowing damn well that no amount of explanation would be okay for them. He proceed to take a seat on the vacant couch opposite them.

" What could be more important than a family meeting?" Alex questioned, his tone sharp.

Unlike Callum who looked like their mom, Alex was a spitting image of their father with his jet black hair and green eyes. He definitely also inherited their father's hardcore personality.

"Can I know what this meeting is about?" Callum asked

Without warning, his mom stood up and flung a newspaper at him.

"Who's child is that?" She lashed out. After what seemed like minutes without any response from Callum, she stormed up the stairs.

"Is he yours?" Alex asked pointing to the newspaper.

Callum glanced at the page in the gossip column, obviously, and put on a blank expression as he read what was written in there.

As anticipated, It was another whirlwind gossip, this time about his supposedly mysterious babymama who had a son for him. What he wasn't prepared for was who the writer of the tabloid was - Milanna Prestley

He knew he made a mistake going home with her that night but at this point, he had stopped giving a fuck about what the tabloids thought about him.

"He's yours isn't he?" Alex pressed on.

His older brother probably thought he had caught onto his little secret but Callum had no desire to confirm nor deny his assumptions. If anything, he enjoyed seeing him all riled up.

It was no news that his family saw him as the bad egg, always trying to tarnish the family name but he wasn't going to satisfy anyone's curosity. Certainly not his family's.'

" I'm not even going to push the subject, Callum but it's high time you quit upsetting her. All this bad press stresses her out and it's not good for her health."

Callum huffed at the redundant censure " It's not my fault that she lets all this media fuzz get to her. Seriously was this the urgent reason why I was summoned here?" he snapped

Tired of the back and forth, Alex slid an envelope towards his brother. "Take this" he pointed at the sealed envelope on the table.

"I don't know what this is but maybe you'll finally grow up when you read what's in here."

With that Alex picked up his suit jacket and his briefcase and headed up the stairs.

"These two are so dramatic." Callum whispered to himself

Flipping the envelope over, Callum's countenance fell when he saw a familiar old seal. His grandfather's seal. This couldn't be good.

"The dude died barely a month ago and he's already sending letters?" He chuckled dryly at his dark humor.

Needing some privacy to read whatever was in the seal, he left his parent's house and headed for his penthouse.

But really what could be so important that the old man drafted a whole letter he thought.