A Baby for the Billionaire

28

KEREM

"Sir, it is my duty to warn you that such a decision will not come without accompanying losses for all," Neville declares as we sit after dinner.

I slump back into the chair I'm sitting in after we've finished dinner. The truth is that I have barely touched my food. I don't feel very hungry, I have eaten more of a bite out of obligation to maintain good habits and so that my morning physical training is not obstructed by a bad dinner on my part, which is not outside of everything that has already been happening, and that is where the damn problem lies.

"Yes, Neville," I chime in. "I know what your duties and obligations are and also that you will always be there with your warnings to call me back to good sense, but it is also a reality that I am losing control of my own life and I cannot allow it anymore."

"So this is where it all ends?" he asks me.

"At least this trip, yes. We lost a very important part of our duties, which translates into money that we cannot afford to continue losing. Staying in this city during the exhibitions could mean a risk of investing in a company that has not convinced us so far. Because of the tests and not because of the speeches that try to do their best, but also seem to have run down lately."

"Or, it could be the opportunity to discover some jewel that we had not foreseen until now."

"You know that the rest of the folders are not even half as good as the one in which we had already put our cards."

"That's the thing: it could surprise us and for the better, as long as we can check the numbers. We are already here, in Silicon Valley, the cradle of future ventures, where investment firms from all over the world come to leave their money so that it can be multiplied in the medium and long term..."

"And others only seek to launder dubious funds."

"But also where thousands of companies and entrepreneurs are eager to visit so that their projects gain momentum..."

"And where scammers and illusionists emerge."

"Yes, that's true. Some who are worth more for their speech than for the reality of their endeavors."

"I prefer to play it safe to move on with my life, in Turkey and with my baby, away from everything that life in the United States left me and...took from me. I just need to refocus on myself and take control of my own life."

"Sir." This time his tone turns serious. I knew it. It is going to be affirmed in my part of what life snatched from me to proceed: "It is my duty..."

"Yes, your obligation."

"...to warn you that your idea doesn't seem bad to me since it's true that since the tragedy of the flight."

I inhale, furious.

He shouldn't mention it.

But I still tolerate it, bite my cheek and let him go on talking.

"Since that day, you have not stopped for a moment and perhaps off your own axis. That probably means it's important for you to take a moment to think about your world, your future, and your family."

"All the family I have left is my son."

"With even greater reason, you need to prioritize your son."

I think about it for a minute until I make a decision. I take a drink from my glass of tonic with ice and lemon and put it down.

"I'm going to offer Thammy to go with us to Turkey. Ali will need a familiar face that can give him everything that I, for now, don't feel capable of."

"How long before you feel capable? You are missing out on accompanying your little baby as he grows."