POV: Victoria
“Quite playing around, Claire!
We went through hell to get him to listen to us and let you go. Now he said you can leave on your own terms and you say you are not leaving?
What the hell is wrong with you, have you gone mad?” I asked her furiously, yelling at the top of my voice. But she couldn’t care less about my anger, she made her decision and stuck to it. I couldn’t get her to listen to me, not even Mom could get her to change her mind and come home. It’s been two days since we spoke to her and I was getting so restless and worried about her, that I didn’t even get the chance to speak with her after she hung up on Mom angrily.
It has never happened before, not even when she was forced to break up with Kyle before Mom was hospitalized. She had never been this furious with anyone, and now she is blaming me for Kyle’s death, blaming Mom, and even blaming Raphael who wasn’t there when Mom and I forced her to break up with Kyle and took her phone away.
But we let her get back with him after a few weeks, didn’t we?
Against mom’s advice, I snuck her phone back to her when I noticed her sadness and I convinced mom to let her be with him if that’s what it takes to make her happy. I’ve always been on her side, and I’ve always looked out for her. Why is she being unreasonable and so damn stubborn!
It was so annoying to hear her call me names on the phone, but what hurt even more was the fact that she had spoken so rudely to Mom and made her cry too. I don’t know what she said to Mom, but I noticed Mom’s reaction when her eyes widened in shock and she sobbed sadly, begging her to give her a chance to explain. But she didn’t give her a chance to explain, she hung up and didn’t take our calls again.
I tried asking Mom what she said, but she wouldn’t say one won’t about it to me, she kept sobbing and mumbling incoherent words that nobody understood. I saw Raphael speaking with her and she actually responded to him, sobbing as she spoke to him. But when it comes to my turn, she goes dumb on me. She just sobs and murmurs to herself,
“I did nothing wrong!
I only wanted my own children and I took care of them and loved them. What’s wrong with that, why can’t I have peace with the children I raised, why are you two bent on destroying everything we’ve built together?” she sobbed.
“I did everything I could for you two, I did my best for my children and I took care of you two. Where did I go wrong, what’s wrong with wanting my own kids?!” she sobbed continuously. Her decision to stay away, coupled with her rude words had completely broken Mom’s heart and turned her into an insane woman.
I was going to confront Mom on her actions and accusations when I went to get her from Dad’s house. But with this new development, I have no choice but to put my anger aside and deal with Claire’s issue before she gets into more trouble than she is in already. I can’t add to Mom’s burden when she is so stressed and sad. It hurts me to see her this way, I had to try and persuade Raphael to fix a meeting with Dominic so I could speak with him myself and ask him if he was forcing her to say those rude words to her family just to please him.
It was the meeting we had just concluded with him when I met that handsome specimen that threw me off-guard and made me almost drool after him. Dominic had laughed so hard when I told him he was manipulating my sister and making her say those mean words to her family.
“Whatever you’ve done to my sister, you will have to undo it immediately and let her go. Whatever you want we are willing to pay, just name your prize and you’ll have it!” I told him sternly.
“I’m curious please, which money do you plan to use In making payments to me like you claim. Is it the Hawkins wealth or the Kendalls?
Last I checked, you aren’t married to this idiot sitting next to you like a hawk, your father doesn’t give two shits about you, and you don’t have a fucking job. So, make me understand where you get the boldness from, where is your backing?” he asked in a mocking tone, smirking evilly at me. He looked so mean when he asked and for a few seconds I was so scared of him because he looked exactly like the dangerous villain everyone is so scared of.
“I am her backing!
She may not be my wife yet, Dominic, but she is my fiancee and I care about her. You must accord her that respect as my woman, or…”
“Or what?
You’ll go back on your words and sell me out again?
Oh, come off it, Ralph. You already did that before and it didn’t stop me from coming back stronger. So why don’t you try something new?” he scoffed.
“I would only respect you if you tack back every mean word you have said about me, I would tend that respect to your girlfriend after you get rid of that impostor that you gave my territory. Do that and you will earn back my respect.” He told Raphael fiercely, standing up to stare right into his face and pointing at his chest to emphasize his point.
“And you!” he let out sternly, his eyes fixed on me.
“You need to start asking the right questions and stop acting like a damn fool. I know you love your sister and your mom and you would do anything for them. But you need to take a step back for a brief second and think about everything going on around you. Claire is beginning to ask the right questions and she is fighting for herself. Why didn’t you do the same?
You know what I think?
I think you are scared to find out the real truth about your family. If you wanted to know the truth, you would have asked your moms a lot of questions a long time ago. You can start by speaking with your sister and find out why she wouldn’t see you or your mom ever again. To think that everyone thinks you are the smarter sister between you two. But it seems like you prefer getting cuddled by the same people ruining your life!” he told me furiously.
“Watch it Dominic!” Ralph scolded.
“Shut the fuck up and start acting like you care about her!” he warned him furiously, his eyes glaring at Ralph. I am trying so hard to keep up with the conversation, it’s as if they were speaking a strange language or saying something completely unrelated to me. I got lost at the part where he said that I am a damn fool. Actually, the only thing I picked up from this whole conversation was that I could come over to his house to speak with Claire, and in so excited to hear that.
“You mean that you would let me come over and speak with her?
When do I come, can I come over now?” I asked him excitedly, earning his furious scowl.
“So that’s your take home, that’s all you got from this?” he asked in disbelief, looking from me to Raphael and then back to me again.
“You are just so stupid!
I don’t know why I bother to speak with you, you are so unbelievable!” he scolded angrily. I could tell that he hates the way I think, but what can I do?
I care too much about my family to think about his feelings and what he wants from me. Raphael looks a bit offended by my line of thoughts too, but I don’t care about their feelings and thoughts as long as I get to see Claire. I believe in my heart that I would get her to open up to me and tell me what is going on in her head. Who knows, maybe she would help me understand what her friend Dominic wants from me.
“The press is outside and I still haven’t let some people in on my plans to take over. No one can find out that I’m trying to get back my money and my territory. I’ll be going out through the back door, meet me at my house in thirty minutes.” He said in an angry tone before walking out on us, heading for the back door.
I’m guessing he came in through the back door as well because no one said a word about him as we walked into the building. His enemies have to be very careful because he is planning a massive attack and it’s definitely going to be brutal.
We went out through the front door and that’s how I got to meet Mister Cute guy who has succeeded in making Raphael and I have an argument over him. We haven’t stolen from each other since he accused me of wanting to sleep with him. But I have so many things going on in my head, like, how the hell could he say such rude words to me after he just acknowledged to Dominic that he truly cares about me?
Was he lying to Dominic, or is he lying to me?