If you chose to not read the first two books prior to this one, this chapter will tell you a brief story about what brought the characters to this point. If you would like to read the previous stories before proceeding, first read All Of Me then read Love Hurts. 💗
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Cali sat her MacBook on her desk as she settled in her chair. Taylor, Karis, Zuri, and Tristan were all on the screen. They included Tristan because he deserved to hear the story too. Asia was also sitting on the bed for moral support per Cali's request. She and Kyran were aware and they vowed to not take sides in the situation.
"Okay, I'll go ahead and start and Zuri and Taylor will add in their views as well." Karis said. "As everyone knows, my mother passed away when I was young, and my father and stepmother were abusive. I met Killian—Jonah's dad—when I was in middle school. We became best friends and his family became my family. They did a lot for me and they lifted me up when Zuri's father passed away."
"Things became a bit rocky when your father entered my life. I did have feelings for Killian once upon a time, but they faded. When things began to get serious with your dad and I, Killian was not feeling it. I wasn't really taking anyone's feelings into consideration and it almost messed up our relationship and friendship. However, we mended things together and things got back on track until the situation with Lennox happened."
Karis took a deep breath before continuing. "Chocolate and her boyfriend, Brandon were going through some things and she ended up pregnant. She tried leaving Brandon, but he put his hands on her. She told Amaru and Heather—Jonah's grandparents—and they went around there to get her stuff so she could stay with them. Time passes and it's the gender reveal. Brandon was butt hurt because nobody was interacting with him so he was staying out the way. Before we could even get to the gender, Amaru spilled the beans about Brandon hitting Lennox to everyone and Jaxon went and beat Brandon up before anyone could stop him. This caused both Chocolate and Zuri to get upset, and Zuri made sure she stayed with us."
Karis paused when she saw Zuri crying. Malik appeared in the screen giving her tissues to dry her face. Cali and Tristan began crying as well. Cali doesn't remember Chocolate and Tristan never met her, but they knew her death was hurting Zuri to this day and they did not like seeing their big sister upset.
Asia used a tissue to wipe Cali's tears for her. "Take deep breaths. It's gonna be okay." Asia whispered.
Once they calmed their tears, Karis continued. "Anyway, time passes and Lennox goes back to Amaru and Heather's house; however, she's still upset with Jaxon. Brandon tried to resolve things between her and Jaxon, but she gets upset with him and attacks him then lied to everyone saying that he attacked her first. This is where the separation started."
"Everyone was not talking to Lennox or help her prepare for the baby. I wholeheartedly believed that what she did was wrong, but I disagreed with them ignoring her completely—especially when she was in pain. Amaru and Heather ignored her concerns and she had to call me. I expressed my concern to Killian and he told me the only reason why I felt that way was because of the relationship I have with my family. Which may be true, but I didn't like the way he said it and that's what caused our friendship to start breaking. Plus, I was stubborn."
"Unfortunately, Brandon was not able to take to her doctors appointment because he did not want to risk losing his job since that was his only source to provide financially for their daughter. Taylor and I couldn't take her because y'all had appointments. Lennox took herself and she got into a fatal car accident. That was the same day Amaru called for a family meeting. A police officer knocked on the door to let them know what happened, but we left prior to that because Heather got a little hostile towards me and said that I wasn't a part of the family which broke my heart."
