The Other Side

Chapter 17

"He talks about me doesn't he?" I just had to know.

"All the time." She giggled like a schoolgirl and I couldn't help but laugh. This woman was cozy and homely. I loved her already.

The boys suddenly descended on the stairs and Caleb stopped in his tracks while Nate gave me an amused look.

"Ryn. I see you met my mother." He approached happily and greeted me with a peck on the cheek then looked at Caleb horrified like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I did. I see where you get your charm from." Mrs Adams blushed as she went back to making her cookies.

"Don't flatter me Ryn. And please call me Maria. Mrs Adams sounds a bit out of this world." She chuckled.

"Ryn." Caleb acknowledged me with a nod as he reached me. When I saw his face, mine concocted into a disgusted one. Then dread started setting in.

"Are you okay dear? You look rather pale." Maria looked at me worriedly.

"I know you want to kill me right now but can you at least hear me out first?" Caleb wasted no longer in reminding me of the sins they had committed with my sister.

"What's going on?" Nate was now alert. So was Maria. " What did you do this time Caleb! "

"Its none of your business Nathaniel. Just stay out of this." Caleb seethed. He was unbelievable.

"She is my business. And I won't stay out of anything, I want to know what you did this time." Nate came to my side and held my hand in his. I really needed the support right now.

"Um, I am not sure what's happening but can everybody just stop shouting please. Just dial it down, settle this like adults." Maria came to the rescue.

"Get out of my way Nate. Are you forgetting that I am a Navy Seal, I can put you out with just one punch. Don't tempt me." Caleb ignored Maria completely.

"Armstrong!" Maria warned.

"Don't dare talk to him like that Caleb. Do you know that he's the reason am giving you a chance to explain yourself right now? He always makes me see the good in people, thank you Maria for bringing up such a wonderful young man." I couldn't help but say those words. They had been at the tip of my tongue since I arrived.

"Ryn.....

" Shush Caleb. I'm still talking. I already talked to Donna this morning and she explained everything, in her own conceited way. Its time to hear your side of the story. The truth this time. I don't know why I'm still standing here giving you a Chance after blatantly lying in my face the other time, you have Nate to thank for that. And if you dare lie to me again, I will hunt you down and strangle you with my bare hands, I promise. Start talking. "

"You might wanna take a seat. Everyone." He added looking at all of us dejectedly.

When everyone was settled on the sofa, he began his story.

"Before I met you, my mother was sick. Aunt Maria and Nate will confirm that. Everyone didn't know what was eating her but she one day called me in her room and explained everything to me. My father had an affair with a woman called Dina Clarence. I didn't know who she was by then. Since my mother already had high blood pressure, the shock of the news sent her into a permanent ill condition. Her kidney failed. She became worse everyday. I was so mad at my father but extremely mad at this Dina woman for wrecking our family and destroying us all so I swore on my mother's death bed to make her pay for everything, and all the pain she caused." Everyone was in tears right now, including Caleb himself.

"I thought of assassinating her since I had a gun but decided against it. I wanted her to feel the pain my mother and I felt so I researched a bit about her as she was famous. I found out she had two daughters, Lauryn Elle Clarence and Donna Madison Clarence. A plan formulated in my head. I was going to use those daughters to inflict suffering in her family to a point where your father would divorce her, the way dad divorced mom for her. At work, I got posted in Tennessee for a special opp and just my luck you were transfered there, though I didn't know why. I started befriending you and since you were sad and lonely, you took my company as divine intervention. That day when you took me to your house for Thanksgiving, I saw the interest in your sister's eyes and I thought why not kill two birds with one stone? Your mother recognized me and she was uneasy throughout the whole event. When we were about to leave, she dragged me to a corner a pleaded with me to never say a word. She was so desperate that she bought my silence with money. If you have ever noticed in her bank records, she sends five hundred grand to two unknown accounts every month. One of the accounts is mine. At first I was adamant but then changed my mind. I needed the money? " he was breathless.

"The other account, whom does it belong to?" I didn't want to leave any stone unturned by the end of today.

"My father. Did you know that they are still secretly seeing each other up to now? Your mom bought him an extravagant mansion on the other side of town. Right now, they are planning to drain your father of the little funds left so she could divorce him and get married to my father." This is not the kind of message I expected to hear. What a cluster fuck of a situation.

"Anyway let's proceed, the longer I got to know you two, you and Donna, the more intrigued I became. Donna was always sexually willing and I was a man, I had needs. She was always there to meet them. My sexual escapades with her got frequent and I started getting attached. I didn't want you to suspect a thing so I worked hard to get us the title of Golden Couple in the military school. The next part is very sensitive to me, can we catch a break?" He asked with a questioning brow.

"Sure son. Let us all have some fresh air for a few minutes shall we?" Maria prompted.

The story wasn't over yet but I dreaded going back home.

Oh God have mercy on me, take it easy on my heart.

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