212 Cassandra 1

Silence reigned in the room after Will uttered those words, but under the table, Liz squeezed his hand.

It seemed that she wouldn't have to get down in the dirt with this woman after all.

She had been hoping against hope, and wishing that he would be everything she had ever thought him to be.

Thankfully, he was.

What else did she need?

Liz felt a warm feeling gushing throughout her body, but the voice of the woman ruined the scene.

"No."

The word echoed in the room, and as Will raised his eyebrow, the woman pushed the file back toward him and got up.

With a calm voice, Will said, "Mother, you know-"

"I know what you're threatening! But you forget that I raised you, boy! Yes, I don't want your father involved in this! But I know that you don't want that, too! I'll call your bluff!"

As she said this, Liz felt Will freeze.

The confidence that he had masterfully was still there, but that moment after the woman had uttered those words had affected him deeply.

She noticed this, too.

"I knew it! William Bradshaw, I'm warning you. Both of us know that we don't want it to happen. But if you continue these…uncouth acts like what I saw before, I swear that I will do it. Leave her. If you don't want history to repeat, leave her, and spare yourself the pain. I don't care when or how you do it. But I'll be waiting for word that you have, or I'm warning you, there will be hell to pay."

As soon as the last word exited her mouth, the woman stormed out of the room, not giving the two inside a chance to say anything.

Here, Liz finally felt worried. When she had been speaking, she could see that Will had been tongue-tied.

Was his father really that fearsome a man? Why were both he and his mother so…terrified of him?

As she continued to watch Will's face, she saw as it turned red before he shook with suppressed emotions.

She wondered if she should say something, but she didn't know what to say.

So, Liz just waited.

After that amazing move of his, she had been half=expecting that the woman would just sign. However, she should have known that things wouldn't be so simple.

Finally, after a few seconds, Will calmed down and took a deep breath.

"She's still smart, I'll give her that.", he said, before taking the documents and signing them himself.

He seemed…different. Colder. As if he was almost back to the one whom she had first met.

Yet, when he turned towards her, he had a warm smile on his face.

"Liz, you're now a permanent Director of Operations. It's not a really high role, but it's definitely a great start. For this role, all it required was a major stakeholder to sign, and I wanted her to do it as a token of apology. Clearly, I expected too much."

The last sentence was said with such a melancholy tone that Liz found herself feeling sad, wondering just what was going on.

She didn't like being in the dark one bit, but thankfully, it seemed that Will had noticed that too.

Taking another deep breath and choosing to hold it for a few moments this time before letting it out in with a noise, Will spoke.

"Liz, that…was my Mother. The one thing that both me and Keren were always clear about was that if she cares about one thing, then it's the 'pride' of our family. Bradshaw this, Bradshaw that. I swear, if it weren't improper, the woman would have gotten a tattoo of that name on her face."

The way he spoke about her was almost like he was referring to a stranger instead of his own mother.

Yet, Liz just waited with bated breath, hoping that what she had thought was true.

Was it finally time?

As if seeing the anticipation on her face, Will said, "To explain the conversation that you just saw, you need to know a lot of things. The original plan was to reveal this to you in small snippets, but as it is necessary, I guess it is best if I just tell you everything in one go. Or better yet, show you. Just like a strong rip of the bandaid instead of making the patient suffer for a long time."

Yes!

Liz couldn't help but feel relief, which she quickly tried to hide.

Yes, she was a little pissed that the 'culprit' had gotten away without accounting for her crime. Yet, because the culprit's identity was that of Will's mother, something told Liz that she would definitely have a lot of chances in the future.

So, temporarily, Liz put it aside, as the conversation she had heard and the whole story behind it was most important.

She knew clearly that his past was something that had shaped and molded him into who he was. And as for that specific story, she could tell that it was a major part.

She had wanted to find out about it for a long, long time, so she was eager that it was finally here.

However, startling her, Will said, "Let's move this to my room. And let's make a stop in the bar. This story needs some alcohol. A lot of it, in fact."

Seeing Liz nod, Will stood up and waited for her to pick up the documents before following him out.

A few minutes later, the two were in the largest room in the hotel that had a splendid view of night-time Argentina.

Pleasant music could be heard coming from a few street performers nearby, and the weather was warm but not overly hot, which made it the perfect atmosphere to sit on the balcony with a $10,000 bottle of Hennessy Ellipse cognac.

After downing a glass of the clear liquid as if it were water, Will let out a hiss of air before finally beginning to talk.

"Cassandra…was once my everything. And as you know, when she left, she left me with absolutely nothing."