To Live Is To Fight (#2)

Chapter 42

I turned to where the three kids were bickering and let a small smile grace my lips, thinking about how much they reminded me of Bryant and I when we were kids.

"Such angelic creatures, aren't they?" Lionett joked, chuckling as she shook her head when she noticed what I was looking at.

I giggled with her as we continued to watch the kids.

"They remind me of my brother and I. We used to give my parents such a hard time when we were their age," I smiled fondly at the memory.

"Well your parents are lucky, at least you grew out of it after a few years, I remembered my sons being the same way until my eldest hit his early 20s." Lionett rolled her eyes and I smiled sadly at what she said.

"Actually, my brother and I stopped wreaking havoc because he died a few years ago. We never found out how long we would've carried on annoying my parents," I told her, giving her a weak smile.

Her features seemed to fall at what I said, "I'm sorry, dear. I didn't know."

I smiled reassuringly at her, telling her that it's alright.

"So how many children do you have?" I decided to change the subject and started digging for some information.

"Oh, they're all my kids, dear. I adopted those three rascals a couple years back and I have two sons that are my own flesh and blood." She answered me, motioning to the kids that were now playing tag at the back of the store.

"Lucas is the oldest between those three, he's six. Then you have Gemma and David, they're both turning four years old in a few months. Gemma's older than David by a couple of months." She introduced the kids and I listened carefully as I continued to watch them run around the store.

"They're my everything. Adopting them wasn't easy but I don't regret any of the choices I've made. My sons, bless their souls, have been working their butts off to help me out and I couldn't be more grateful than the family I've been blessed with."

A lump has formed in my throat as she told me about her big family and I couldn't help but feel guilty. Cole's family needs that money. The money was for these kids. That's why the two brothers joined the competition, to increase their chances in winning.

Everything suddenly seemed to fall into place. I found the missing pieces.

With that, I swallowed the lump and gave Lionett a final smile and excused myself, telling her I needed to get to dinner with my family.

The old lady gave me a smile as I waved at her goodbye.

"It was nice meeting you, Sandra." Lionett smiled and I exited the store, subtly rushing to my car and drove home.

When I finally reached my house, I stored the ice cream tub in my freezer and took out my phone to call Preston.

The phone rang twice before someone picked up.

"Hello?" Pres' groggy voice greeted me and I finally let the tears slide down my face.

"H-he did it for the kids, Pres," I sobbed out. I've turned into a blubbering mess as what I've done  hit me full force. I've barely registered what the impact of my actions have done to Lionett's family until I finally plopped down onto the couch and dialed Preston.

"Woah, Case." Preston breathed out and I took a deep breath, halting my words.

"I bumped into Cole's mother in the store," I started slowly, swallowing a few times.

"Who's Cole?" Preston asked, sounding puzzled.

"He's the guy that went to your mother's funeral and threatened to hurt everyone I love if I don't join the competition and fight him." I explained to him, still sniffling and wiping the tears that slipped out from the edges of my eyes.