Chapter 101: Chapter 101

I looked at my room and sighed. This is the place I had spent my entire life, it held all the memories of my childhood.

"Are you done parking?" Curtis’ voice came from the doorway and I immediately turned to look at him.

"Yes I am" I replied and he nodded.

We fell into silence as he looked at me, I could tell he had something on his mind but was hesitating to speak.

"Do you think he really ran away?" I asked him and he finally walked in and sat on my bed.

I didn’t want to believe what everyone was saying about my father.

The father that I know is not such a coward.

"I have tried to find out but there is no trace or clue to follow. It’s like he suddenly vanished into thin air" he said with a deep frown.

"Why would he just abandon us ? And grandpa no longer cares about us, he allows that old witch to torment us every day" I complained angrily.

"Raina, I know that I haven’t been the best big brother but I promise to be with you whenever you need me. You have become more mature and no longer as childish and stubborn as before.

I don’t know what happened between you and that Mark guy, but I’m happy you left him" he said with a slight smile while holding my hand gently.

I couldn’t hold back my tears as this was the first time that we were having such a moment.

"He never liked me....He and Celeste planned to use me as a cash cow. I was so foolish" I said amidst sobs and he suddenly hugged me.

"Don’t worry, I will definitely take care of Celeste for you" he consoled me and I finally calmed down.

"I heard that Kendrick and Christy broke up" I said and he nodded with a smile.

" Are you going to pursue her?" I asked him but he just laughed and shook his head.

"She only saw me as a friend and because I wanted to compete with Kendrick, I ruined our friendship. It took me a while to realize that I actually wasn’t in love with her but rather, I was just trying to take her away from him" he said with a calm expression.

"I am sure you will find someone that will love you immensely very soon" I said to him with a smile.

He got up from my bed and gave me a gentle pat on the head before walking out.

I looked around my room once more before deciding to check on my mother and see if she was all packed.

It took a lot of courage for us to finally decide to move out of the Black family mansion. We never belonged here and now, it was very obvious that they didn’t want us here anymore ever since my father was thrown out by grandpa.

I walked down the hall and saw a maid peeping into my mother’s room cautiously. I slowly and quietly walked up to her and tapped her hard on the back causing her to jump in fright.

She immediately bowed her head and whispered an apology before running away. This update ıs available on noᴠelfire.net

I didn’t bother to stop her as I wanted to know what was happening inside that made her eavesdrop and I also didn’t want to make any noise.

I looked into the room quietly as the door wasn’t properly closed.

"It’s a good thing that you are very self aware instead of pretending to be foolish and being a leech" Lauretta’s disdainful voice came from inside.

"Did you kill him?" My mother asked her but she just laughed.

"Why would I dirty my hand with his lowly blood?" She asked back amidst laughter.

"Lowly blood? Didn’t you know that his blood was low and dirty when you slept with him to have Kendrick? Or when you were busy having fun with him before you fell in love with the Indian businessman?" My mother asked her with a mocking voice.

"He would never tell you about my personal matters, Did you investigate me?" Lauretta asked angrily while glaring at her.

"Unlike when he was with you for the money, he actually loved me and shared a lot of things with me," my mother said with a smile that made Lauretta’s face turn red from restrained anger.

"Oh please, where did the love go? Didn’t he also leave you for a girl of daughter’s age?" Lauretta asked sharply, her eyes lingering on my mother’s face.

"I have nothing to say to you anymore Lauretta, I just hope that if you have something to do with Raymond’s disappearance, you should let him go. He has suffered enough and wasted lots of years of his life being your father’s pawn.

You have no idea how much he regrets meeting you and your father" my mother said with a slightly emotional tone.

"He regrets it? How funny, I can still remember the first day he came into this house, he was ecstatic and when he met me, he was completely mesmerized.

I saw how he looked at me and the greed in his eyes when the contract was handed to him. He didn’t hesitate before changing his name to Black and immediately registering our marriage.

He enjoyed everything, luxury cars, money, vacations and so on. So he really doesn’t have the right to say he regrets everything" Lauretta said with a mocking voice.

I just stood there and listened to everything they were saying. Some didn’t make sense to me as I couldn’t understand but I could figure out everything they meant by piecing two and two together.

I didn’t see any point in continuing to listen and I felt glad that my mother was finally standing up for herself instead of crying like she always did.

I decided to go for a walk in the garden to clear my head as a lot has happened recently.

Things were finally falling into place and I felt hopeful for the fresh start that I am about to embark on.

By this time tomorrow, we will be in our own apartment that Curtis bought for us. We will finally be free from Lauretta’s insults and disrespect, our mother will also have her own peace of mind.

On getting to the garden, I sat down on the bench with a smile.

The sky was already filled with stars and the crescent moon looked extremely beautiful tonight or maybe it’s my mood that was making me see the beauty in everything.

"What a rare sight to behold" Gary’s voice came from behind me and I quickly turned back to look at him.

"Why are you here?" I asked him, my voice sounded meaner than I intended.

He just stared at me without saying anything and I felt uncomfortable under his gaze.

"I didn’t mean to sound rude, it’s just that..."

"Now you are apologizing? Did you hit your head or something?" he interrupted me with an exaggerated expression and I smiled.

" I heard you are moving out" he said as he sat beside me on the bench.

"How did you know?" I asked him with a frown as only a few people knew about it.

" It seems like you are forgetting that I am Kendrick’s best friend," he said with a casual smile on his face.

Of course, how could I have forgotten. I guess it was the actual reason why I hated him.

"We are moving out tomorrow, Curtis bought us an apartment" I said with a smile.

"You seem quite happy," he said with a slight smile.

"Of course I am, I think it’s time to leave everything that doesn’t belong to us behind. There is no use in fighting for something that would never be ours" I said with a serious expression and every time I remember how we have been humiliated by Lauretta and how the servants now treated us differently, my heart aches terribly.

"So, what’s your plan now?" he asked me with a serious expression.

I find it hard to believe sometimes, if anyone would have told me that Gary and I will become close enough to sit down together and talk, I would have probably called the person an idiot but looking at us now, I felt grateful for that night.

The night I found out that Mark was cheating on me and about Celeste’s plot. He appeared out of nowhere and gave me so much warmth.

We just talk and enjoy each other’s company and he has never tried to take advantage of me in any way.

"I want to do my internship, so I will start applying to some companies soon," I replied to him with a smile.

"Why don’t you come to my company? You studied computer science right?" he asked and I immediately nodded in response.

"Is that really okay?" I asked him happily and he nodded.

"Thank you" I said and hugged him out of excitement.

When I realized what I did, I slowly pulled away from him. He seemed to have been too stunned and didn’t say anything for a few seconds.

My phone suddenly started ringing and when I checked who was calling, I frowned deeply.

Mark? Why was he calling me?

I didn’t pick the call, I knew Gary had also seen it. He didn’t say or ask anything and I felt relieved.

Suddenly my phone chimed and I saw that Mark had sent me a video. I frowned before hitting the play button.

As soon as I saw the content of the video, my phone fell off my hands and my body trembled.

On seeing my reaction, Gary picked up the phone and before I could stop him, he was already watching it.

The video was just ten seconds long but if it is uploaded on social media, my life would be completely ruined.

"What a lowlife, he really is disgusting" Gary said through gritted teeth after watching the video.

Tears were already streaming down my face, I couldn’t believe he recorded a video of me while I was bathing at his apartment.

We never had sex as he said he wanted to wait until we were married and at this moment, I was glad we didn’t.

"Don’t worry about it, I will take care of it" Gary said and before I could react, he suddenly pulled me closer and planted a kiss on my forehead.

I froze in shock, he immediately hurried away like he was being chased and I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.