Falling For Her Billionaire Baby Daddy

"Ah, yes," said Alfred, as his memory clicked back in place. "He did and it turned out that Jeremy had discovered that old James had a pretty daughter who had just graduated from college." "OK?"

"Your father then told your grandfather that the only way he would sign off on the deal was if James let him marry his daughter, Yolanda."

Rachel gasped. Even though she'd heard the story before, it sounded more cruel from this perspective.

"Of course, your grandfather was livid," Alfred continued sadly, "but he was a desperate man grasping at straws now. What other choice did he have? He reluctantly agreed to your father's terms and permitted him to marry your mother." Derek felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Confirming that his father had indeed been an asshole all those years ago was way too shocking for him to believe.

He felt as if he never knew his father at all. It now seemed as if the man who raised him was a stranger.

"Why? Why did he do that?" Derek wanted to know.

"Do what?" Alfred asked, slightly confused by the question.

"Why did he insist on marrying my mother?"

"Well, according to what he told me, he wasn't getting any younger and he wanted to marry a woman with a good pedigree. A fine woman who would bear him a son to carry on his legacy. Your mother fit the checklist Jeremy had created for himself of what an ideal wife should be."

"So, he never loved her?" Derek sounded hurt.

Alfred sighed. "That's a tricky question, son." "How so?"

"You see, initially, what Jeremy felt for your mother wasn't love. He simply saw her as a means to an end. All he craved was the respect that came with being married to a beautiful woman from a respectable family who would bear him an heir to the Fraser throne."

Derek cringed at the shallow description. It was even more irritating that he was the so-called heir in this morbid story.

"But... as time passed," Alfred added, "love came into the picture but by then, it was too late. Your mother was done trying to impress Jeremy. She had moved on emotionally."

Rachel could relate to this part of the story. It was something she'd experienced once with Derek.

"I hate to say this, Derek," said Alfred, "but your father drove her into the arms of other men. He wasn't a saint either."

"He had girlfriends too?" Derek asked, trying to confirm another one of Yasmin's claims about his father.

"Yes," Alfred confirmed with a sigh. "He had a bunch of them scattered across the world. They warmed his bed in whichever city he landed in for work. Sorry, kid."

Derek didn't expect to be this sad but he was completely shattered. Knowing that his father had been a terrible husband to his mom and that everything she'd told him in Bermuda was the truth was too hard to accept.

He was suddenly overcome with guilt because of how he had lashed out at his mother repeatedly when she tried to connect with him on an emotional level.

Rachel could see that all of this revelation was taking a toll on Derek. His shoulders had sagged and his brows furrowed as he pondered over what he'd heard.

Her heart went out to him and she wished that there was something she could do or say to him to make him feel better.

"I know this may sound silly, but after your mother passed away in the manner that she did," Alfred continued, "I always thought of her as Princess Diana - dying tragically with what may have been the love of her life." He chuckled sadly and said, "All Yolanda ever wanted was to be loved and appreciated. She probably got that from that Russian guy. I hope she did."

Alfred looked so forlorn as he spoke, that Rachel was tempted to tell him the truth. She wanted to tell him that the woman he knew as Yolanda Fraser was still alive and thriving in the place of her supposed death.

She wanted to tell him that Yolanda Fraser had become Yasmin James who was now living life on her own terms. Alas, that wasn't Rachel's secret to reveal so she kept quiet instead.

"Your mother was a wonderful person, Derek," Alfred continued tenderly. "I know you may have judged her harshly for how she lived her life, but she didn't know better. She was practically pushed into looking for love where there may be none."

Derek nodded, taking in what Alfred was saying.

"She may not have been the best mom in the world," said Alfred, "but she was a good woman. I had many intelligent conversations with her that I still cherish even to this day."

Derek sighed heavily. "Thanks for letting me know, Uncle Alfred," he said wearily. "I don't mean to be rude, but I would like to have some alone time if you guys don't mind."

Rachel was a bit hurt that he didn't want her to be with him right now, but she understood his need for solitude. Learning that everything you have ever believed about your whole life was a lie, wasn't something so easy to process. "I think this might be a good time to explore the maze and see what lies on the other side of it," Derek said with a small smile before standing up.

"Sure," said Alfred, encouraging his godson. "Take your time."

"Bye," Rachel said as Derek walked away.

When he was out of earshot, Alfred turned to Rachel and asked, "Do you know why he suddenly became interested in knowing about his parents' marriage?"

Rachel cleared her throat to buy herself some time. She needed to come up with a believable answer that wouldn't give too much away about their time in Bermuda.

"I guess going to the place where his mother died raised questions in his head about her," Rachel said innocently, hoping she sounded convincing enough.

"Hmm..." Alfred mused. "I wonder why he even chose to vacation in Bermuda of all places."

"Oh, that was my idea," Rachel confessed. "But I had no idea that that was where his mother died and he didn't tell me either. All I knew was that she died in a plane crash somewhere in the Caribbeans."

"Ah, well... I think it's a good thing that he knows the truth now," Alfred decided. "I suspect the reason why he has been so averse to getting into relationships or making emotional commitments is because of his parent's marriage."

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"I suspect the same thing," Rachel said with a sense of relief. Her beloved Derek wasn't a selfish nutcase, after all. He was just a victim of his upbringing.

"Witnessing such a toxic marriage gave Derek a biased interpretation of love," said Alfred. "Plus, Jeremy enjoyed playing the victim to win his son's sympathy, and it worked."

"That's just sad," said Rachel. "Derek grew up hating his mother and despising the thought of falling in love because of what his father made him believe. I can't even imagine how hurt he is right now, knowing that he had been misled all along."

Everything about his cynical views of committed relationships now made sense to her. He didn't want to get hurt like his father but it had turned out that his father was the villain all along.

"I wish I could be with him right now, you know, to console him," said Rachel.

"Give him some time to process all this and then you can console him afterward," Alfred advised. "He is lucky to be with a woman who loves him as much as you do."

Rachel looked at him sharply. "Who says I love him?"

Alfred chuckled. "You have a kid with him, don't you?"

"Well, I know people who have had kids with people they don't like very much," she argued.

Alfred laughed. "You are a piece of work, Rachel. Still, I'm not blind. I see how you look at him. I can tell that you adore him even though you are not getting that same energy from him."

She sighed. There was no point denying the truth. She was an open book.

"Listen, Derek isn't beyond redemption," Alfred assured her. "You can heal him, Rachel. Show him what love is and quench that fear that has blocked his heart from seeing how much you mean to him."

Rachel didn't know what to say to that. But was Alfred right though? Could she truly make Derek a believer in love, or was she being talked into a real-life mission impossible?