Russell’s house was on the northern side of the city, where his father and everyone else from the family except Elora lived.
Elora was living in a small farm house bought on the southern side of the city. This was done so she would be staying as far away from the main house as possible. Russell didn’t like that. However, he could understand why his father had to do it. Elora was no longer Arnold’s wife. There was no need for him to take care of her, but for her sake and for Russell’s sake, he was taking care of her medical bills and other expenses. Then again, if Elora had filed for alimony, she would have made Arnold’s life difficult.
Now, Arnold had spent only 10,000 dollars on the farm house in the past, and it was still his house. Its price kept increasing with every year. Today, it would sell for more than 70,000 dollars, so Arnold didn’t really lose anything, and he was also getting his mother treated by a friend, so the expenses were kept to minimum.
Russell’s mother was suffering from severe myositis, heart issues, and many more health complications. She couldn’t even talk on mobile for long. It had been many years since she last put on earphones and listened to music. She would spend most of her time in bed, unable to even watch television for long.
Russell was meeting her again after six days. He took a bouquet of jasmines, as they were his mother’s favorite. She didn’t take the flowers until he gave her a hug.
Elora was only in her early fifties, but she looked ten to fifteen years older. Even though her body was in a terrible state, she always tried to put on a smile in front of him. She gently touched his cheek and said, “You’re looking dull. Is there anything burdening your heart?”
“No, Mom. I’m fine,” Russell forced out a smile.
“I know when my son is lying, so tell me,” she asked.
Russell pursed his lips, still smiling. “Dad has arranged a marriage for me.”
“Oh…” she kept staring into his eyes. “You don’t look happy. Do you have someone else in mind?”
Russell didn’t nod or shake his head. He didn’t want to drag his mother into this.
“I haven’t told you about your father until now because my father was even more terrible,” she took a breath and glanced toward the kitchen room because her father, Regan, was hiding in there. Russell wasn’t aware of the fact that he had a grandfather, and he was currently standing only a few feet away from him and was also listening to their conversation, wearing a complex expression on his face.
“I kept everything to myself,” Elora said, “but you’re not a child anymore. I think it’s time to tell you what kind of a man Arnold is so you will decide your future for yourself and not for your father or anyone else.” She paused for a few seconds because her jaw muscles hurt. Then, she continued talking slowly, “I’ve lived with your father for only a few years, but I know him better than you do. I know how evil and sadistic he can be. Your father will love you as long as you listen to his words. The moment you stop listening to him or start questioning him, that’s when he’ll show his true colors. He does not like it when you differ from his opinion. No matter what he does, you have to obey him. So, if you are thinking of going against his words, then you should come out of his house. It’s better if you just leave the city.”
Russell had to agree, though he didn’t want to admit it. His father always held Russell in his grip. Even though Russell ate at the same table as his father, he felt like he was eating under Arnold’s foot.
Arnold would beat Russell every time he did something that Arnold didn’t like. The only reason Russell didn’t leave his father’s side was because of his mother. He could live on his own, but what about his mother? And her medical expenses? He wouldn’t easily be able to buy a place like this, where she could live in peace. Moving her to another city in her condition wasn’t easy, either.
“Don’t worry, Mom,” Russell put his hand on her hand. “On my way here, I’ve decided on what to do. On whether I’m going to marry the woman Dad chose for me or not…”
If he were to go against his father’s words, Arnold would not only target him but also target his mother. Russell didn’t want that no matter what.
“What’s your decision, Russell?” she asked, genuinely curious to know his answer.
“I…” Russell went on to give his answer, shocking both Elora and Regan to the core.
“That’s your decision?” Elora deeply frowned. “Are you doing this for me?”
Russell shook his head. “I’m doing this for myself.”
Elora pursed her lips. “If that’s what you really want, I won’t say anything.”
After talking with her mother for a bit longer, Russell walked out of the house and told the old maid to take good care of Elora as he was going to get busy in the coming days.
After Russell left, Regan finally entered his daughter’s room and sat where Russell had previously sat. His eyes were red from crying, though there were no tears at the moment.
“Why? Why do you let Russell suffer even more?” Regan looked angrily at her. “If you want to punish someone, punish me. Not him!”
“I don’t want to punish anyone, Dad,” Elora didn’t even look at her father. “It’s Russell’s choice who he wants to marry. Even if he wants to marry a blind woman, I won’t object to it.”
Regan’s mouth turned down. He remembered the past when Elora had fallen in love with a blind man, but when she expressed her wish to marry him with her father, Regan had that blind man killed in a road accident and tried to make it look like a normal accident, but Elora somehow found out the truth and ran away from Regan’s home and came to a different country. Regan didn’t even look for Elora because he had two sons. However, years later, both those sons and their wives and children, all of them died in a plane crash and left Regan devastated.
“I know I did things I can never make right,” Regan tried not to shed any more tears, but it wasn’t easy. “But… How can you keep me away from my grandson? From my successor? Tell me what I should do to get my grandson back? I’ll do anything.”
“Then do nothing,” Elora said in a heavy voice. “Let him live his life.”
Elora’s words squeezed her father’s heart.
An Alfa Romeo SUV stopped in front of a premium Myers clothing store. Two young women got out of the car, all wearing fashionable clothing and with thick makeup on their faces and more.“You want to buy your wedding dress here?” Natasha’s elder sister, Skarlette, frowned straight away. “It’s too much for us. A single dress here might cost more than the wedding itself.”Natasha, however, waved her father’s credit card and laughed.“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” “It’s going to be fine,” Natasha assured. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I want everything to be posh and perfect.”“But you don’t want to look too rich because Denver might think you’re trying to compete with him,” Skarlette suggested. “You don’t want to make your man think that.” Her sister hadn’t even introduced him to her yet, so she had little to no idea about him other than knowing how he looked and a few other things her sister had shared with her. Denver was also Natasha’s schoolmate, and his family grew to b
A shop assistant came over to Natasha and Skarlette and helped them choose the dresses. No matter which dress they saw, they were all priced over 500,000 dollars, and Skarlette kept using one word: No. After receiving ten nos on a trot, the shop assistant took them to a different section where the prices were more affordable, ranging between 100 to 300 thousand dollars. Skarlette could finally smile and say yes to whatever the shop assistant tried to show to her sister. After a long forty minutes of trying many dresses, Natasha finally chose a jasmine-patterned wedding dress with a hooded see-through cape. “Oh my, Nattie!” Skarlette covered her mouth in joy and astonishment. “You look like a royal princess in this.” She quickly checked the price. “It’s 325K, but it’s worth it. I can’t believe I’m saying this.” “I’m happy that you liked it. Do you think Russell, I mean, Denver, will like it as well?” “If he doesn’t, there must be something wrong with his eyes!” “Haha,” Natasha lau
A minute ago.Russell was inside the changing room, staring at the price tag more than the pastel pink suit itself. “2.7 million dollars for a wedding suit…”Just what was in this suit that made it so pricey? No matter how much he worked his head over it, he couldn’t understand. He and his family could live happily ever after with this much money, after all.While he was buttoning up, he heard a voice talking with Kyra. It felt somewhat familiar, but he didn’t recognize it. That voice belonged to Skarlette. “Maybe she met with some old friend?” he thought.Russell looked at himself in the mirror. Though the suit made him look good, there wasn’t much glow in his eyes. He pressed his hand against his face in the mirror. “She rejected my face. She rejected my love. She rejected my honesty. She rejected my lifestyle. With one swing of her hand, she rejected my everything… and I thought she was my everything.”He remembered the moment when he had met her at the children’s amusement park, w
Natasha snorted and gave her credit card. The cashier swiped the card in the machine, but the swipe got declined.The cashier swiped again. The same thing happened.He looked at the sisters once, and Skarlette told him to do it again.The cashier tried again, and it didn’t work.“I’m sorry, the transaction has been declined. There must be an issue with the card.”“That’s impossible,” Natasha raised her voice. “Check again.”He checked again, but the same thing happened. He gave them the card but not the items. “Can you please move aside?”Skarlette was shell-shocked, whereas Natasha quivered with mortification and could not lift her head to look in Russell’s direction.Being told to move aside by a mere cashier… was there anything more humiliating?Seeing their pale expressions, Russell whispered to Kyra, “Can you pay for them?”Kyra didn’t expect that, so she couldn’t hide the look of surprise. “I can, but…” she answered in a low voice, “it might be taken in the wrong way.”“Skarlett
Laughing till their stomachs burst, Natasha and Skarlette came home to their 5000-square-foot bungalow their dad had bought for 700,000 dollars many years ago. It had a luxurious finishing with custom details, and their father, Frederick, made sure to get it painted every other year. So, the building looked pretty new even to this day. It was the biggest building in the neighborhood and would sell for at least 4 million dollars in the market today.The sisters were literally in tears from laughing, and their mother, Diana, felt happy from seeing them. Diana almost looked like them, even though she was twice as old as them. Even her brown hair was thick and long. Diet and exercise were her secrets, and she made sure to discipline her children in this regard, though she didn’t really care about the other things in their life, at least not until recently.“What’s so funny?” Diana asked.“Nothing, Mom,” Natasha gave the clothing bags to her mom and went to her father’s room along with her
“I will build a great monument for you, Natasha,” a manly voice kept giving promises to her over the mobile, and she couldn’t help but blush. “Our names will be etched in history as the greatest lovers the world has ever seen.” “Stop it, Denver. You’re exaggerating your love a bit too much.” “I’m actually understating it, dear,” Denver’s voice was rough yet tender. She could feel a comforting warmth in his voice, which she didn’t feel all that much in Russell’s voice. “If you cut open my heart, you will find yourself in it.” Natasha’s blush deepened. She missed getting praised like this. While Russell’s company wasn’t particularly bad, he wasn’t anywhere as romantic as Denver, and she had to actively kiss Russell to even get a kiss back from him. “I should have realized your love for me sooner, Denver.” “It’s alright. I’m glad you finally accepted my love. You’ll be my princess forever,” Denver blew a kiss that tickled her ears. “See you tonight.” “Tonight?” “Yeah, I’ll sneak int
“EHHH?” Russell’s heart shook when Viola said she was going to text Kyra Lynn. However, he immediately remembered that he didn’t have her contact number in his phone. “Wait, you can’t message her because I don’t have her number.”“But I’ve already memorized her number,” Viola quickly started typing the message and read the words she was typing, “Hi, I’m Russell Bennett, your fiance. I've been unable to sleep properly ever since meeting you.”“Oi, oi, oi,” Russell got up and wrestled with her for fifteen seconds before using his brute strength and bending her wrist, making her cry and let go of his mobile. He grabbed his mobile quickly and began checking IT. Luckily she didn’t send the message yet. “Whew.”“You pig!” Viola started beating him in anger. “I was helping you, and this is how you treat your sister?”“Aw, wait!” Russell caught her arms again, and she immediately started yelling, “Mom!”Russell instantly let go of her. “I’m sorry,” he apologized in a low voice.“Sorry isn’t e
Arnold staggered. (I don’t get it. Why would Fredrick do such a thing?) “This must be some kind of a mistake,” he quickly said. “I’ll call him right now.” He dialed Fredrick’s number but couldn’t reach it. He tried a couple more times, but the same thing happened. He looked at Tyler and said, “I’m calling. I’ll talk to him.”“You have the IQ of a spoon, dude,” Tyler bluntly said. “He probably already blocked your number. Don’t you get that? Or are you trying my patience?”Arnold’s expression froze like a fly stuck in a web.“This is what happens when you stay at someone’s house for free,” Tyler indifferently stated.“T-That’s not true,” Arnold had worked his ass off for Fredrick and his businesses. His efforts would surely cover the rent for this house. He was never leeching off of Fredrick. He had his pride to keep, after all. Even the car given to him by Fredrick was not a new car but a used car, and it wasn’t worth much. Still, Arnold used that car mostly to do Fredrick’s work than