The Last Option
Chapter Fifty-Seven: A Risky and Unusual Plan

The next day Bernard went with Doug and Camilla to the house that belonged to Anthony and his family. Going in there brought him back many memories, for in the early months of his relationship with Margaret he had gone there to talk to her father and formalize it. Then he would go on several more occasions to visit her, until they decided to leave town together. Doug took the opportunity to give him the letter Anthony had left him, along with the keys to the house. "I'll need you to come to my firm to sign the new deed to the house, which I'll register later," Doug told him. "Then we'll go to the bank for the transfer of the money in the account, and finally we'll go to the notary to record the execution of the will."

"Okay," Bernard felt a little upset taking possession of things that were not his, but he agreed to take them because they were Margaret's family's, and he thought it would not be right to leave them in the hands of strangers who would not give them the value they deserved. Besides, it was Anthony's last wish, and he would fulfill it out of his affection for him and out of respect for his memory.

"I know how you feel," Doug told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'll give you as much time as you need. Meet me at my law firm when you're ready. I'll be waiting for you."

With that said, Doug left the house. Bernard went to sit on one of the living room furniture, covered with a white blanket like the rest, and looking at the envelope in his hands. Camilla was watching him from the doorway. "If you want, I'll leave you alone for a moment," she said.

"No," he said, looking up. "Come, I want you to sit next to me. I have something to tell you."

Camila went and sat down next to him. She took one of his hands in hers. Bernard turned his attention back to the envelope.

"What I'm going to tell you maybe you don't like it," he said, "but I hope I can count on you nonetheless."

Camilla was puzzled, looking at him, staring at the envelope.

"And what do you have to tell me?"

"First of all, I want you to know that I love you very much and that thanks to you I managed to overcome the loss of Margaret. Thanks to you and Nathan, who are the most important things in my life right now." "You're scaring me, Bernard! Are you all right? What's wrong?"

Bernard turned to look at her, in her eyes she could see a glint of anxiety, and realized it was difficult for him to express what he was telling her.

"I need to go away for a while, to do something that I don't like, but it is necessary to do it."

Camila frowned, even more puzzled and confused.

"I don't understand."

"I'm going to look for what belongs to Nathan. I want you to promise me that you will take good care of him, and whatever happens, and whatever you hear, you will not pay attention to it. I want you to know that I love you very much and you are a wonderful and unique woman. That you are very special to me."

Now Camilla was anxious too, and feeling a fright in her heart.

"What are you going to do, Bernard? What are you going to do?"

"When all this is over I will come back to you, and I hope that in the name of this great love I feel for you, you will understand my reasons and accept me back, because I love you."

Camila was still expectant; she no longer dared to ask him what he was going to do.

"When we return to New York, I'll go in search of what belongs to Nathan. That's all I can tell you. I'll be out of the country for a while, as long as it takes, to make sure I get justice for the boy and his parents."

She let go of his hand, suspecting what he was going to do. Then she stood up and, crossing her arms, stood in front of the door of the house, looking outside. She closed her eyes, and furtively a tear ran down her cheek.

"Are you sure about what you're going to do? Are you willing to leave us to get what you want? Are you so obsessed with the Hicks inheritance?”

"I don't have any more options."

"And if you fail?" she turned to look at him, wiping away a tear.

"I'm sure I won't fail. That's why I ask you, whatever happens, to wait for me. It would be pointless to sacrifice everything I have now if you are not willing to wait for me. Because I'm coming back to you, I'm coming back. That's a promise." Bernard stood up and went to her, hugging her tightly, his chin on her head because of the difference in height. She let a few seconds pass before she hugged him too. She couldn't stop new tears from rolling down her cheeks. "I hope you keep your promise," she said softly. Bernard closed his eyes and felt a great relief. It was just what he needed to hear to finish taking the forces and push needed to do what he was proposing.

An unusual purpose: marry Rebecca Hicks.

It was the last option he had left, and he didn't like it. First he would have to elaborate a complex plan of seduction to attract her attention and then conquer her, becoming the man she had always wanted and had not found. To become indispensable in her life in such a way she agrees to marry him, thus gaining access to the family fortune, and snatching it to deliver it to little Nathan, finally obtaining justice for him and his parents. A very risky plan with a specific purpose, but with a result still uncertain knowing its target. A necessary plan, counting that greed and ambition playing an important role in his favor, and finally becoming her undoing.

He had everything coldly thought out: since they did not know each other in person, he would take advantage of that on his part to impersonate another successful billionaire, catching her attention and making her greed lead her to want to marry him, after proving he could have everything she would wish to take from him and a painful illness could take him away at any moment, thus avoiding the separation of property.

He would devise a plan for her to breach the terms of the marriage, and with the divorce suit, take everything from him.

Absolutely everything.

Yes, it was a very risky and complex plan.

He wondered on more than one occasion if he would have the will to carry it out, but he was determined to do it, and that was enough. Along the way he would find that will.

"When I promise something, I keep it," Bernard said. "I promised Nathan Hicks to take care of his son and give him everything that belonged to him, and now I'm promising you to come back to your side. I won't fail to keep those promises, no matter what they cost."

He lifted her face with his hand, and they looked into each other's eyes for a moment that seemed eternal. He saw hope and love in hers, and she saw tenderness and temperance in his. Then they gave each other a long, soft kiss on the lips that made Camila shiver slightly, feeling a maelstrom of love and passion run through her body.

That night, in the bedroom, with Camilla already asleep beside him, Bernard took Anthony's letter and opened it. It was handwritten. He felt hesitant for a moment, thinking about what he would say to him in it, and that he could not hold back the urge to cry at the memory of his dear friend. He took a deep breath and began to read:

Dear Bernard:

First of all, I would like to thank you for calling me for my dear Margaret's funeral. Although I was very hurt by her death, I felt from what you told me that she had spent the best years of her life with you, and that she had been very happy by your side. I thank you for that too, for making my little girl, my Margaret, happy. I think that a father should not bury a son, and as a friend once told me, when a son loses a father he is called an orphan, but when a father loses a son he cannot be called anything, for that doesn't have a name, because sons should bury their fathers, and not the other way around. I'm writing this letter thinking that when you receive it I won't be on this earthly plane either, I will be reunited in the other world with my dear family, watching you read it, together with my Margaret, who will surely be watching over you and little Nathan like a guardian angel. Like the angel she always was.

I always had great esteem and appreciation for you, Bernard, from the very moment you came to our home to formalize your relationship with Margaret. From the first moment I saw you, I knew you were a good man, determined and resolute, with a good heart, and I thought that my daughter couldn't have chosen someone better as a life partner. That's why I supported your relationship and agreed that you should go your own way when things got difficult with your family, regardless if I was left alone. Now only the memories and that house back in Marshall remain, which I leave to you and little Nathan, sure that you will know how to give it the value it has for me and for you.

At this moment my ashes should be scattered in the African savannah. I didn't want to subject you to the painful task of caring for a sick old man, and above all to experience again the pain of losing another member of your family, as I know you considered me, despite the distance and despite the fact that you no longer had Margaret by your side. That was enough pain in your life.

Please, don't lose that iron will that characterizes you, find a way to fulfill the promise you made to the child's parents, and that the enormous sacrifice my Margaret made won't be in vain. Make all those responsible for her death pay, do it as a last favor to me, and forgive me if in any way you feel that I'm committing you to it, but everything bad that is done here on earth must be paid for here. Make them pay.

Finally, I wish you lots of luck, health and happiness next to that great girl Camila, whom I know you will take care of as you took care of my Margaret, and little Nathan, who is like a little angel fallen from heaven.

I love you very much, and I will always love you.

Love, Anthony.

Bernard couldn't hold back his tears, several of them falling on the white paper, wetting the letters written in blue ink.