Chapter 80: Chapter 80
Lauren's POV:
"What are you doing?" I jumped at the voice from behind me, "is that a poison?" I shivered and saw him reaching out for the bottle of the medicine, I should have hidden the bottle. My body was trembling with fear, he looked at the bottle and it all hit him suddenly, he knew what I have been doing, I have to get rid of him.
"Is this the milk you force down my son's throat?" Ben glared at the bottle and at me, he had asked me about that glass of milk many times, he had a problem with me treating Tucker like a kid.
"Give it back." Having no answer, I tried to grab the bottle out of his hands, but like an idiot he was, He pushed me away.
"How can you do this to my son? I always thought you were just being overprotective of them but this, this is horrible." tears formed in his eyes, so now he wants to cry? He wants to cry because I am ruining his kid's life, but what about my life? I wanted Mitch and I got him instead.
"The son I never wanted." I spat in anger, keeping this hatred hidden inside me has been making me crazy, it felt nice to speak it aloud finally.
"You are crazy, and I am not letting you ruin my family anymore," he yelled, walking away but I wasn't going to let it happen. I grabbed his hand, but he instantly pushed me away, what was he going to do?
"What are you doing?" I asked, my heart racing in my chest. What if he calls the Sheriff? They will send me away from them and Tucker, Ivory and Giselle will be happy.
"No, please stop." I ran in front of him and prevented him from walking ahead by spreading my arms before him, dropping the oil lamp from the table by accident.
"No, you are dangerous for my family." He commented and reached out for his phone, I was about to grab it when a neighbor walked straight in on us, where the hell are their manners?
"Oh, hi!" The lady next door smiled, holding a tray of pancakes.
"Hey!" I nervously mumbled, rubbing my palms together. Ben glared at me and drowned his face in his phone's screen, walking away from us. What was going to happen now? I should have been more careful and this stupid neighbor shouldn't have arrived. I stood on my spot, watching Ben taking a big step and slipping on the oil on the floor, it happened in such a rush that none of us could react. He landed down and hit his head, a loud bang echoed through the house.
"Oh my God!" The tray from the neighbor's hand slipped through, her eyes jumped out of their sockets. Weird sanctification took over me, fate did this, I am saved.
Giselle's POV:
"What happened Dina, who is dead?" I questioned, worried for her raced breaths.
"Mr. Ben." She announced and my body froze, what? I felt my head swirling, losing control of my body, I stepped back, but only to be held by Steven, who supported me to stand up.
"How!" I whispered in my mouth, tears rolling down my cheeks instantly.
"Calm down, please," Steven uttered, and hugged me tightly, keeping me close to him. He was the only person from that house who had truly cared for me, he tried his best to help me with everything. He was a hard-working man, rich and kind-hearted. When his parents died, he was left with wealth, but Lauren never wanted to leave this town and he named the whole wealth after his son Tucker to help him with his business in the future, he indeed was a good father.
Few Days Later.
"Are you sure Lauren won't push us out of her house?" Dina mumbled, rolling her sleeves up as we walked in the direction of the house, the same house I have left days ago, the same house I grew up in. Sid and Steven stood with the cars as we decided to go and visit the house after attending the funeral.
"She can't, there will be guests and Lauren would never act rude before anyone." I shrugged my shoulders and kept walking along, I saw Tucker at the funeral and he was just lost like he had no idea what was going on in his surroundings.
I saw the door ajar as the neighbors were still meeting them. Walking inside with Dina, I found an eerie feeling in the atmosphere, Lauren was perched with a lady from the church, her eyes fell on me and she narrowed her eyes.
"She is going to eat us," Dina whispered in my ear, but I ignored the glares and the whispers, walking straight in the direction of Tucker's room, I barged inside with Dina. His room was dark, with one lamp dimly lit in the corner and Tucker perched down on the floor, his face in his hands and his knees pulled close to his chest.
"Hey!" I uttered, slowly walking close to him. Dina instantly closed the door and stood behind me, I was breathing loudly, it was hard to see him after everything that happened between us and what happened to Uncle Ben.
"Tucker!" I whispered, perching down on my knee in front of him. He lifted his face and I was surprised to see how sick he looked, he had bags under his eyes, his lips were dry like he hadn't eaten for days.
"He left!" he uttered, no emotions on his face, but tears kept forming and disappearing from his eyes. "He didn't even say he loved me even one last time." his voice was soft, extremely painful.
"He didn't have to say it aloud Tucker." I slowly reached out for his hand and held it, he was cold. He looked at my hand for a moment and then pulled his hand out of my hand slowly.
"Why are you touching me now?" He asked very softly, "You hated my touch." he stated, his tone was extremely low, his voice was soft and filled with pain and grief. "Everyone who ever said they loved me had left me, they never truly cared for me." He continued, "Father, Dina, Steven, Monica, and even you." he wasn't ready to accept that he was the reason that everyone has left him but it wasn't the right time to make him realize that.
"Tucker, you need to be strong for your family now," I murmured, and sat down, Dina kept walking around and looking at things.
"I can't," he slowly sobbed and hid his face in his palms again and that's when Dina bowed down in my ear from behind and whispered, "Elle look at those papers." she pointed under the bed. It has some papers with different phrases, like a kid being punished. One of the papers said, *I will never disobey you again* and it was being repeated countless times and the date said it happened recently. I was shocked to see those and then there were some drawings, like a kid would make but they have a recent date under them and signed by Tucker. The drawing had a woman standing behind him with white wings, she was named Lauren.
I shared a brief glance with Dina, who seemed like had seen a ghost, was inspecting everything like a detective now.
"Tucker," I tried to bring my attention back to him, "you can do it," I mumbled and he lifted his face, looking in my eyes.
"Only if you promise to stay with me." He held my hand tightly and I jumped, I looked away nervously and stayed silent, "as a friend?" he tilted his head and whispered into his mouth. The uneasiness changed to comfort, at least he now understands that you can't force someone to be in a relationship.
"I will." I nodded, looking in his eyes, but not really thinking much about it, I was too surprised to even react to anything. His room was nothing but a place for Devil's worship and that devil was none other than Lauren and her worshiper was her own son Tucker. Dina and I spent a few minutes in his room and then decided to leave. We walked out together, ignoring Lauren and her angry gaze.
"What was that?" As soon as we exit the house, Dina questioned, her body shivering with cold.
"That was exactly what she had been doing to me, but it wasn't this intense," I stated, holding her hand and walking with her to Steven's car.
"This is nuts; she is making him crazy." Dina was completely shocked and so was I, but I felt like Tucker needed me.
"Dina," I halted, making her halt in her steps, "I can't leave him like that, Lauren needs to stop, someone has to stop her." I started nervously, "before Tucker it was me, and now I am not sure what to think of Uncle Ben's death." I was feeling miserable.
"You are right, feels like Tucker has never been himself, he was always listening to his mother." She agreed, obviously, Dina would stay by my side no matter what, but I was not sure what Steven would think about it. After that night on the bridge, we didn't really talk about us again until today, he told me in the car that he wanted to say something he had been keen to say for a long time, and knowing what he was going to say, I questioned if it was the right time.
"What about Steven?" I asked, deeply sighing.
"What about him?" she questioned,
"We--," I uttered, "we are this close to accepting our feelings," I stated before Dina could smile, I proceeded, "If I accept him today I will be bound to loyalty. I mean, not that it is a bad thing, but every time I will meet Tucker after that, Steven will be hurt. He will think that he was a rebound, and I want our relationship to begin when things are normal, with no pressure on me. I can't drag Steven into this mess," I itched my scalp and sighed. If I stay friends with Steven for now and help Tucker, it won't be considered cheating and once I am done with this Lauren drama, I will accept my feelings for him.