Chapter 72: Chapter 72

ROYCE

I got home at almost 10 in the evening, late for dinner as Nelly was used to having dinner around 7 to 8. I had a long day in the company as I need to complete new business partnerships. What appeared in front of me when I entered the room was someone who changed my dull mood into a brighter one.

“How was work? You are a little late.” Nelly asked, kissing me on the lips. It was all I needed to restore my energy. It was like recharging my drained body.

“That’s sweet, baby, sweet lips. Work was fine, by the way. It had a hectic schedule but satisfying knowing we kept growing the business. We have new business partners where we can put our organic products.”

“I can’t wait to see all your products distributed all over the country.”

“That’s the goal, we will soon achieve that.”

“I know you will, there’s no doubt about it. Let’s have dinner?”

“Sure. I thought you already had.”

“Don’t be silly. Of course, I want to have dinner with you. I cooked pasta for us.”

“Yes, pasta, your favorite,” I said, chuckling.

“And it should be your favorite too. Why do you love visiting an Italian restaurant if you don’t love pasta?”

“It’s not like there’s only pasta served in an Italian restaurant, right baby?”

“I know. But you must try my pasta before I cry. Give my poor pasta a try."

"I've tried it before and I liked it. You got your mother's cooking skills."

"No, my cooking skill is far cry from mom's skills. I'll keep trying, though, soon I'll be a good cook like mom or like you. It's a shame you're a better cook than, baby."

"Nah...don't belittle yourself. I love your cooking. I have a feeling that I'll finish this pasta in front of me," I said, sitting opposite Nelly. "Smells great."

"Try it." Nelly was patiently looking at me taking my first bite.

"Divine, this is one of the best pasta I had."

"I can see that you are serious so I'm taking that as a compliment."

"Baby, you should."

Nelly was nothing but sweet even after we had our dinner. She let me sit on the couch and then she sat on my lap, one hand playing with my hair. It was a bit tickling in my scalp as she combed her fingers in it.

“You are so sweet tonight. What got into you?”

“Do you mean I wasn’t sweet to you? I take it as an insult,” Nelly said, pouting her lips like a child.

“No…what I mean is that you are extra sweet tonight. You waited for me from work, you cooked dinner, served it for me and now I love the feeling of your fingertips on my scalp. It feels nice.”

“Good to know that. I love massaging your scalp. Hmm… baby?” Nelly glanced up, meeting my eyes.

I knew there was something she needed by the tone of her voice. Nelly stopped massaging my scalp and rested her head on my chest. She wrapped her arms around me and I did the same.

“What is it? Is there a problem?”

“No, far from that or not a problem, just something I want to discuss with you if you are open about it.”

“Sure. Tell me.”

“I want you to know that if you’re not ready with what I have to ask, you can say no. Okay?”

“Alright. You may ask now.”

“Baby, I’m curious to know about your relationship with your parents before they left you. I know this is something you avoid discussing with me but I only wanted to help just like you did to me.”

I stare at Nelly while weighing things on how to get started.

“It’s okay, baby, I know you’re not ready to talk about this. I remember the time you were so eager to help me face my fears but I was so coward at that time that I barely talked. I was in your shoes so I understand how you feel,” Nelly narrated. She was very considerate of my feelings.

“It’s okay, I’ll tell you everything that I can. I barely remember having happy memories with my mom and dad. Most of the time I hear them fighting and sometimes in front of me. My grannies stepped in and brought me to their house. I was the only grandson as my mom is the only daughter.” I tried my best not to shed a tear as I started reminiscing about those days.

“My life with my grannies was the opposite of what I had in my mom and dad. Despite the bad memories with my parents growing up I dream of having them with us again. As a child, I didn’t see that mom and dad were already separated. I only wanted to have a complete family like my friends had.”

“That was hard,” Nelly said as she kept caressing my chest. She made me feel better while telling my story.

“It was. I remember some of the kids bullied me for only having my grandparents, not my mom and dad. Only Leo, Santino, Andi, and Rico are my genuine friends who truly understand me."

"My grannies trained me to be their successor. People say grandparents spoil their grandchildren but it wasn't the case with me. My grannies stressed that they made a mistake in spoiling mom, making her unsuccessful in her 20s."

"What do you mean? Are they strict with you?"

"I don't call it strict, they just discipline me. They said successful people are disciplined, the earlier the better. They have rules imposed like waking up early in the morning, starting from the low position work in the company. They made me join the farmer's job and they also brought me to the factory and company sometimes to observe how the people work."

"I've also heard that from dad, sadly I never had an interest in doing business. Your grannies did a great job, though."

"They did." I gently pinched Nelly's chin.

“Baby, you are the only one I have. Everything I have is nothing compared to you. You are priceless.”

"That is so sweet and quite intimidating at the same time. I've never had this kind of relationship. The last one had shattered my confidence into pieces."

It was when Nelly's phone rang. Nelly grabbed the phone from the center table.

“Who’s calling?”

“It’s an unknown number. Should I answer?”

“Pick it up, that might be important from someone you know.”

Nelly swipe the screen to answer the call and immediately her face scrunched like she was displeased listening to the other line.

“Who’s calling? Someone, you know?”

Nelly nodded, she put the call on speaker mode. The evil voice on the other line was heard laughing. I could never be wrong, it was Roxie.

“Are you surprised? Hey, have you gone mute or deaf?” Roxie said as she laughed again.

"What do you want, Roxie?" Nelly asked, her voice trembling.

I could tell Nelly was mad, not scared. Roxie laughed once more. I know she intended to annoy Nelly.

"I call to tell you that your days with Royce are about to end. Like I told you before you will regret choosing to stay with him. Watch out for it."

“Give it to me,” I said angrily as I was losing my patience.

“Here” When Nelly was about to hand me the phone we heard the successive beep. Roxie hung up the call. She must have heard me.

“What does she want this time? Roxie is planning something to tear us down.”

I pulled Nelly in my arms to help her calm down, caressing her back.

I was thinking about how to get rid of Roxie and Dennis for the rest of our lives. As long as they are with us, Nelly won’t feel safe and I can’t take the risk of letting Nelly roam around knowing she might be in danger.

I never thought Roxie would go that far. Yes, she was a brat but what she said was way too much. Well, knowing she has Dennis to back her up anything is possible. I must act before they do.