Hey, my dear readers! Here is chapter 30! I hope you like it! Make sure to vote and comment and maybe even follow! :>
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(Amelia's Point of View)
What is the difference between a heartbreak and falling out of love? Well a heartbreak occurs when the feeling of love is still inside your heart, a heartbreak may make you stronger and weaker but the feeling of love still remains in your heart. Now falling out of love is when the feeling of love disappears from your heart, it just vanishes into thin air and it is as close to impossible to get it back. I fear falling out of love. Why? Because I don't want the feeling of love to leave me. Love is one of the most beautiful yet most terrifying emotions in the entire world. It has many forms for different people and I fear losing the feeling forever. I would go through hundreds of heartbreaks because the feeling of love would still be inside my heart and there would be some hope for me. But falling out of love would leave me incomplete.
Now why am I thinking about this you may ask? Well because I have seen people falling out of love, take my parents for example. My mom fell out of love and all the love she once had turned into hatred.
Right now while I am dressing up to meet my father all I can think of is, does he still love my mother? Did he fall out of love? Is he in a loveless marriage? Will we ever have a father-daughter relationship?
People say everything happens for a reason, maybe my entire family was broken to a reason I am yet to figure out. Maybe it was to help me see the real world, that love doesn't exist but I refuse to believe that. Love does exist, I am in love and only now am I discovering what a beautiful feeling it is. But it's not beautiful for everyone. There are people who have a one sided love, people who look at the people they love fall in love with someone else. Those people are strong people, people who hurt everyday yet manage to smile.
The ringing of my phone breaks me out of my thoughts. I look at it and see my fathers contact id on my screen, yes I made an effort to save the number. I pick up my phone and answer the call before putting the phone on my ear. "Hello?" I ask as I look between two different dresses to choose from. "Hi! I just called to inform you that a car will be sent to your address at exactly 8: 00 to pick you up." He says. "Okay thank you." I say and he hangs up.
I look at the clock and see the time, 6: 55. Great, I have time. I look on my bed and see all the six dresses Madison led me. On saturday when we went to the game I told Madison that I and Ethan had a formal dinner to attend, she immediately went nuts and talked about it during the entire game and after the game which we won, she brought home six different dresses she said would look amazing on me. I kinda felt bad for Ethan as he was sitting next to me, since he was suspended and trying to concentrate on the game but Madison being loud wasn't helping him one bit.
All of the dresses seemed a bit too fancy for my liking. Well all of them except for one, the dinner wasn't exactly formal, it was more of a casual meeting, I could wear jeans but I feel like it would be too casual and this one dress somehow seemed to look just perfect for the dinner, it was casual and had this winter-ish touch to it.
The dress was a white sweater dress and was off shoulder, by the looks of it, it seems to go till a bit below my mid-thigh. The sleeves were full sleeved and it wasn't really a complete body con dress, it seemed loose on a few places yet still somehow looked like it would hug my curves. Overall I liked it.
Just as I was putting all the other dresses aside, Ethan comes in. "Hey, what time are we leaving?" Ethan asks as he stands behind me, wraps his arms around my waist and puts his chin on my shoulder. "My father said he will be sending a car at around 8." I say as I put the dress I am wearing over my arm. "Are you wearing that dress?" He asks. "Yep. Thought it would look nice." I say. I turn around in his arms and face him, "What are you gonna wear?" I ask him. "Probably jeans and some semi formal shirt." He shrugs.
"Okay... Now get out so I can get ready." I say as I push him slightly. "Do I have to?" He whines. "Yes, now shoo." I say. He unwraps his hands from around my waist, pecks me on the lips and exits my room not-so happily.
I put the dress on my bed before walking towards my closet and opening the drawer that contains all my makeup, which is quite a decent amount. I take out my favourite lip gloss, a bit of concealer since my lack of sleep is still a bit visible on my face and mascara before closing the drawer. I then look at the side of my closet with my shoes and find the thigh high boots that belong to Madison and that I am yet to give back to her and decide on just wearing that with the dress since it would look good. For my hair I settle on keeping it open and maybe curling it at the end.
Once I have my outfit pictured in my head I proceed into the bathroom and start to make my mental image come to reality.
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After half an hour I am done with my outfit and am actually a bit proud of how it came out. As predicted the dress is a bit loose on my sides since my curves aren't as defined as Madisons but it doesn't look that bad. I brushed my hair once more before sighing and looking at myself. Seems good enough.
I cleaned up everything that was scattered around the small table before putting it in the small pouch, zipping it up and putting it back in my drawers. "You done?" Ethan asks as he walks into my room.
I turn around and face him, just like he said he is wearing a half sleeved grey semi formal shirt and his first two buttons are open, with a pair of dark blue trousers and he has a black belt on. He has paired his outfit with his white sneakers. Overall I think he looks handsome and dare I say hot.
My boyfriend sure does dress to impress.
"You look nice." I say as I walk up to him. "Do I now?" He asks with a grin. "Mhm." I nod and stand in front of him. "Well you look gorgeous." He smiles and wraps his arms around my waist before pulling me closer to him. I giggle before using my hands to mess up his hair a little just the way I like it.
I move my hands in his hair and ruffle it, messing it up, but not too much. "There we go. Now you're ready." I say with a smile. "Why do you like my hair messy?" He asks me with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know. It just makes you look... hot, I guess. I just like it" I admit.
"Hot huh?" He asks cockly. "Shut up." I mumble and slap his chest. He chuckles and pecks my forehead. "I have told mom and dad that we are going out for dinner. I didn't tell them with who.. Since I know you may not be comfortable with telling them the whole thing." He says. "Thank you." I say and smile at him. He grins at me before kissing my dimple.
We both walk out hand in hand and make our way downstairs. When we pass by the dining room we see Mary and Jullie getting everything ready for dinner. "We are now going. We may be back a bit late. See you tomorrow morning." Ethan says. "Okay. Take care and don't be back too late." Jullie says as she walks towards us. We nod and she smiles and waves at us.
We walk out and stand on the porch. Ethan takes out his phone and turns the screen on to reveal the time. 7:58. The car should be here in a few minutes. Just as he is pocketing his phone we hear the sound of an engine and a sleek, black Audi comes into our view.
It stops in front of the driveway and soon the driver's seat opens to reveal an outline of a man, who I believe is the driver. He walks out and looks in our direction before waving at us. We walk down the porch and towards the car and stop when we are right in front of it. "Ms. Watson I believe?" He asks me. I nod and he opens the door for me, gesturing for me and Ethan to go in. I mumble a small 'thank you' before going inside and sitting down, Ethan following behind me.
The driver jogs to his side and opens his door and gets in and starts driving without another word. No one says anything and we all drive through silence as I get nervous with each and every coming second.
I didn't even realise my leg was bouncing in nervousness until Ethan put his hand on my knee. "It's going to be alright." He whispers. I nod and bite my lip before closing my eyes and resting my head on his shoulder to calm myself down.
I don't know how I am supposed to react when I see my father and his family. I want answers tonight, let it be from my father or even my mother if I have to ask her. But I want all my answers. Answers to questions I have been wondering about since the past 18 years of my life.
After 15 minutes we stop in front of a huge mansion. The same mansion I have seen in different articles and magazines. The Henderson Mansion. There is a huge black and golden gate in the front with two guards next to it. On the inside there is a round driveway with a bunch of expensive cars and in the middle is a huge marble fountain surrounded by bushes. The mansion has a bunch of plants and flowers surrounding it. The car enters the gates once it is opened and then I am given a better look at the white mansion. Even in the dark the entire house manages to stand out because of all the different lights and the huge chandler at the entrance right in front of a huge closed mahogany door. The light helps see all the little cravings made in the pillars that help support the mansion on the side. And again there are two guards standing next to the huge door wearing the same black outfit as the ones on the outside.
The car stops right in front of the mansion exit and the driver gets out and rushes to our side, opening the door for us. I give him a weak smile before both me and Ethan get out of the car and the moment we close the door the car goes zooming out of the driveway.
I wonder how many cars he actually has.
I feel Ethan's hand intertwined with mine and I look at him and smile. He smiles back at me before the both of us walk up the three steps and stand in front of the door. I take a deep breath in before exhaling and then with slightly shaking hands I press the golden doorbell.
I hear the sound echo on the inside and not even two seconds later I hear footsteps on the inside. Then the door bursts open, like literally burst open and in front of it stands a short lady who is about 5'0 and is in some kind of uniform. She looks like she is in her mid-fifties and is smiling up at us with a huge smile. "Ms. Watson, come on in. The entire Henderson family has been waiting for your arrival." She says in a sweet voice before moving aside to let us in. "Thank you." I say. "The Henderson family should be here in a minute, please wait here." She says and walks away in some direction. I nod and look in front of me at the huge mansion. It has this classical white and golden look to it. The entire house is elegant from what I see and right on top of our heads is a huge chandler with diamonds on it and I wouldn't be surprised if they were real. I mean this house screams money!
If I thought my father was rich by just seeing stuff in the newspaper and different magazines, imagine what I am thinking now. My father is not just a millorine I am pretty sure he is a billionaire.
I look at Ethan who is looking around the house with an emotionless face, but I see a hint of awe and fasciation in his eyes. The sounds of footsteps breaks me out of whatever trance I was in and I look in the direction where the sound came from. There stands Jackson Henderson, with his wife, Leslie Henderson on one side and both his sons on the other. One of his sons has brown hair just like him (and me) and looks around one year younger to me which means he might be 16, he is pretty muscular and is goodlooking, his eyes are also similar to mine. While his other son who is younger and looks around the age of 10 or 11 has blonde hair and blue eyes and seems similar to his mother.
"Amelia, it's a pleasure to have you here. This is my wife Leslie, my older son Daniel and my younger son Josh." He says with a warm smile as he looks around at his family while introducing them to me. I see a hint of love in his eyes when he looks at his wife as she smiles at me. Well that's something shocking. In all the pictures I have seen of him his expression is usually cold, let it be with family or not, but right now I can practically feel and see how much he loves his sons and especially his wife. I guess you can't trust everything you see on the media eh?
"Hi. I am Amelia and this is Ethan, my boyfriend. Nice to meet you." I say with a smile and from the corner of my eyes I see Ethan smiling at them too. "Ah Amelia, it's a pleasure meeting you. Jack has told us so much about you." Leslie says with a polite smile.
Leslie seemed quite the opposite of what I thought she would be. In the magazines I have seen a picture and sure is very attractive. She had straight blonde hair, piercing blue eyes. She had a tall frame of about 5'8 and had a gorgeous smile. She looked way young for her age which was supposedly her mid forties. I honestly thought she may be a blonde rich bimbo kind of a person if you know what I mean. But from what I see so far she is sweet and kind.
I just smile back, not able to find my voice at the moment, too lost in my own thoughts. I feel Ethan squeeze my hand from beside me and I look up at him. He seemed to have noticed me being lost and is looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I shake my head telling him it's nothing before turning back to the Henderson Family. "Well let's not delay in dinner shall we. I know you both may be quite hungry. So let's go to the dining room." Leslie says and then leads us to the dining room.
We walk through the fancy hallways passing by a bunch of closed rooms before stopping in front of a room that was open. I enter the room and the scene in front of me makes my jaw drop. The room had a tall ceiling and a few huge chandeliers. Again, the theme of the room was golden and white. In between the room was a eight seater long table which seemed to have been made out of marble. I swear this house is so royal it might as well be a castel. I notice a few people in the same uniform as the lady who opened the door walking around or exiting the dining room after placing covered dishes on the table.
I have only seen such houses and royalty in movies.
Leslie and my father sit on the head of the tables while Daniel and Josh sit on the right side of the table. I and Ethan make our way towards the left side and take a seat leaving two empty seats.
"Well let's start eating shall we." My father says with a smile. "Sure." I mumble still in awe with my surroundings. All of us remove the dish covers from the dishes in front of us and the sweet aroma of food fills my nostrils. I again am in awe with the food.
Good this just keeps getting better and better.
There on my plate is what seems like one of the finests steak with some boiled vegetables on the side. I look around and see everyone has the same thing on their plates. I pick up the golden-ish fork and knife from my side and all of us start eating.
Everyone eats in silence and the air fills with awkwardness. I see my father giving me glances from the corner of my eyes but I chose to ignore it. The only sound in the room was of the cutlery when someone was cutting through their steak until my father cleared his throat. "So Amelia tell us about yourself." He says looking at me which causes me to squirm uncomfortably. "Um... There is really nothing." I say with a nervous chuckle. "That can't be true. Let's start easy. Favourite colour? Hobbies? Future plans? College?" He asks me. "Um, my favourite colour is lilac. My hobbies are probably watching movies, writing and reading. I don't really have many plans for my future, but I do know I want to major in literature." I say as I play around with the food on my plate, and I can feel everyone's eyes on me.
"That's... Interesting." My father mumbles before everything goes quiet once again. We all finish eating and Leslie puts her fork and knife on her plate in a criss cross manner before using the cloth next to her to wipe her mouth in a posh mannered way. I on the other hand just leave my knife and fork randomly on my plate and don't even care to wipe my mouth, because I know it has nothing on it.
Imagine if I am feeling this awkward, how awkward would Ethan be feeling? I should really find some good ways to make it up to him after this dinner. Everyone just sits awkwardly and stares at their now empty plates. "Um... Dad, I would like to talk to you... Alone." I say breaking the silence. "Yeah. Yeah sure! Let's go to the study." He says as he gets up. "Okay... I will be back in a second. I am so sorry to drag you into this." I whisper in Ethan's ear. "It's alright. Now go." He whispers as he lightly pecks me on my cheek.
I smile at him before getting up and following my dad. We walk down the large hallways before stopping in front of a closed door. He opens it to reveal his study which has a bunch of bookshelves, a table and a comfy couch and coffee table on the other side. Unlike the rest of the house, this room had more of a vintage look.
Both of us walked in and my father sat on the couch and I took a seat next to him. "So you wanted to talk?" He asks. "Yes. I had a few questions... And I want you to answer them honestly." I say. "Okay sure." He says as gestures for me to go on. I glup and blurt out the first question that comes to my mind. "Did... Did you even actually love my mother?"
Grandma always told me he did, but I wanted to know his perspective.
He sighs and looks at his hands before looking at me. "I-I did. But Claire wasn't my first love.. Leslie was. I met Leslie back in highschool, we fell in love and everything was perfect until college came along and we broke up because of the pressure, her with her studies and me with handling the business. I became different after Leslie broke up with me, more mean, drinking and doing all that dumb stuff. Then my father decided that it was time to get me married. I was completely against it at first. I wanted no one other than Leslie. But my father did not hear yet. He said he needed to prove to the media that I was responsible enough and marriage may be one of the only ways to prove so. My father knew your grandfather because they went to the same highschool, they weren't close friends or anything, they just knew each other. So when he figured out that he has a daughter my age he put up the proposal. Your grandparents and mother were not financially stable so my father offered money and shares and they agreed.
The first year of getting married I hated your mother, she always tried to be there for me as a wife but I couldn't accept it, I was still in love with Leslie. But then I started getting to know her and somehow she reminded me of Leslie, I guess that's why I felt like I loved her. I would see Leslie in her and I felt like I loved your mother, but it didn't. I honestly didn't. After getting a divorce from your mother I became completely lonely again, I started my older habits. Until I met Leslie one night on my way to the bar, we talked and smiled as if nothing happened. She knew about the divorce, it was all over the news. Both of us somehow ended up getting drunk and then we had... a one night stand. I didn't meet her after that. A month or so later she comes to the office and tells me she is pregnant... With my baby. At first I was shocked I thought about telling her I didn't want it and that she should leave. But then your mother came to my mind and I saw I did the same thing for her and guilt filled me, so I told her I will accept the kid.
Leslie soon moved in with me and we started off as friends, we spent time together and soon I fell in love with her all again, I was always in love with her, my feelings were just buried deep at first but then they reflourised. After Leslie had Daniel I couldn't be more happy, I got this pride of being a father and wanted to do everything for my kid. But then I realised what a horrible man I am, for leaving you and your mother all alone. After Daniel turnered 1 I proposed to Leslie, before proposing of course I told her all about the truth, that I have another kid and she was fine with it. We got married soon after and I was truly happy. When you turned 3 Leslie somehow managed to convince me to at least meet you and maybe explain to your mother. But I couldn't. Your mother had changed, she was different all because of me. But I couldn't do anything even if I wanted to. What would I tell her? I never loved her and thought I just loved her because I saw Leslie in her? I-I just couldn't-" He says a look of guilt in his eyes and pain in his voice.
He never loved my mother...
"You never loved her." I mumble. "I didn't. And I feel horrible because of it, I lied to her." He says. "Do you know how badly she was hurt when you showed up in the media with your new family and son? She was heartbroken. S-She thought you loved her! I-" I choke on my own words. "I know. And I want to make up for it." He says. "Don't you think she has the right to know? Even after all these years I know she loves you, even if she says she doesn't. She thinks you may just love her back! She is living on false hope, this isn't fair to her or you." I say as I look at him.
"I-I know. And I promise I will tell her sooner." He says. We then sit in silence until I decide to break it, "I wanna go home." I whisper finding this urge to cry within me for no reason. "Okay. And t-thank you for coming over for dinner, it means a lot." He says as he gets up. I nod and we both walk out the room. I see Ethan standing there and I walk up to him. "The driver will be waiting for you outside. Once again thank you." He says. I nod before silently taking Ethan's hand in mine and interlacing our fingers.
We walked towards the door where Leslie and both the boys were standing. They greet us goodnight and wave at us as we exit the house.
We sit in the black car waiting for us and get in. The car zooms off and I say nothing, my mind still processing everything my father said.
I feel Ethan squeeze my hand and I look at him.
"He never loved her." I whisper with glossy eyes.