Marrying my high school bully

Melissa

I lowered myself onto the ground where he crashed down as pain surged through me. I lost my mother because of Leonardo so I understood his pain, but this man lost his whole family.

“I’m not going to ask you how it happened because I don’t want you to recall all the hurtful events, but I just want to say I’m sorry for what happened. I understand your pain-” He cut me short with a glare.

“No you don’t understand my pain,” He said harshly.

I sighed and plopped down beside him, my eyes covered with tears. “He killed my mother…” My voice cracked, and his expression softened.

Together we sobbed our hearts out, side by side without restriction to our tears, just the both of us pouring our emotions out until our eyes turned red and I was sure our tear ducts had stopped producing tears.

“I’m going to tell you how it all happened even though it’s the most difficult thing I’d be doing.” I opened my mouth to tell him that it wasn’t necessary and that he didn’t need to relive his pain, but he raised his hand to stop me. “I’ve never shared my grief with anyone, and having you here after two years of their deaths feels like a blessing.”

My heart swelled with compassion for this man as I decided that I’d find him justice. No matter what, Leonardo must go down.

We sat comfortably on the porch, his hands folded while I rested on the wall.

“Sarah used to be my close friend from college, and one day she came to me and told me that she wanted to write her will. She told me that I had to give it to you when you turned twenty-five.”

I sighed at the realization that my mother was never careless about her will, Leonardo was just very smart.

“She sounded desperate but she refused to tell me what was going on until I heard that she was dead. Honestly, I wanted to come and get you, but then I remembered her telling me that she was married which meant that her husband would take care of you, so I didn’t need to come and find you until your twenty-fifth birthday. I was preparing to do just that when I returned from work on a good Monday evening and found my wife and daughter tied up together on our armchairs.”

I gasped, my chest hammering with pain when I saw how his jaw tightened in anguish. “Take it slowly, Mr Manor. I don’t have anything else planned.”

He inhaled deeply and steadied himself before continuing. “Leonardo came with two other men and said that he heard about the will, and I’d have no choice but to hand the will that entailed the legal documents of your inheritance…” His voice cracked, and a lone tear streamed down his cheek.

“I swear I tried not to give in, but then he said he’d shoot my wife. So I rushed in and went to get the will. I couldn’t even make a call or even use my phone because of the men monitoring my movements.” He wiped his face and sniffed while I wrapped my arms around him.

Each time I realized how much of a devil Leonardo was, the hunger to murder him cruelly would ignite again, but if I went down that road I might not ever come out.

“I’m going to bring him down,” I assured him firmly, but he shook his head in doubt.

“How are you going to do that? That man is a beast. I made the mistake of handing the document over to him because he killed them later on and left me alive to mourn over them. I’m still surprised that I didn’t commit suicide because I’m like a walking corpse without any purpose. My life from that day onwards took a downward trajectory and I haven’t recovered from my losses.”

His story reminded me of mine. I lost Victoria which led me to lose Dexter, whom I loved dearly. I might have lost the will to leave if not for the man I called my father.

He was the one who encouraged me to go ahead and fight for what was mine. He gave me a reason to live, and I’ll be forever grateful for that.

“I agree that he’s a beast and you’ve lost a lot. Trust me, I’ve lost a lot of things to him as well, but we won’t watch him live his best life while we sit in anguish all our lives. We are going to make our losses count, but I can’t go on without your help, Mr Manor. We have to work together and bring down Leonardo and every other person who caused us unforgettable pain.”

His eyes darkened and I could tell that my words had gotten to him. He rose to his feet, his sullen countenance replaced with bright rays of hope.

He swallowed and I watched his throat bob in a vertical movement. “How can I help you, Lorraine?” He asked coldly and I stood up as well, a scary kind of excitement washing over me.

“Let’s talk about it.”

***********

By the time we were done with the meeting, I was already exhausted, but I was fulfilled. Solid plans had been made, and he didn’t look as depressed as when I first met him, and I was one hundred percent assured of his assistance.

My body ached badly and remembering that I’d go home to an empty bed increased the aches. I turned on my phone, knowing that my father would have been trying to reach me.

I knew that it was unsafe to hit the road by this time of the night, but I had to be at Hills Jewelry’s board meeting the next day, so I shoved down my skepticism about the lonely road and drove off.

The drive was smooth, even though my eyelids were becoming heavy with sleep. My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I hadn’t had anything to eat since morning, and then the memory from the night that Dexter appeared in my house without invitation flashed in my mind.

And if I told myself the truth, I was wishing that it would happen again.

I didn’t bother to glance at the sides of the road because of how scary the tall trees looked, but then my car stopped suddenly. The engine went off which immediately sent me into panic mode.

My heart slammed against my ribcage as I finally glanced around my location. A shudder rolled through me as I realized that I was alone. Since the gas was floored, I couldn’t even turn on the car’s light.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

I quickly reached for my phone and called my father.

“Please, pick up.” I prayed, my voice shaky with fear. It heightened when it kept ringing over and over again without any response.

I waited for a few seconds and dialed his phone again, banging my fist on the steering wheel in frustration when the call didn’t go through.

I couldn’t even afford to sleep in my car because I was terrified of what could happen. There was no hotel in sight, neither was there a patrol van making its way towards my car so I was practically stuck in a lonely road.

As I scrolled through my call logs for the day, my eyes stopped at the number that had called me earlier that afternoon. Dexter would have a full day teasing me for making him my knight in shining armor, but right now I didn’t have a choice.

I’d almost clicked on his number then I remembered that his daughter would be around, and I didn’t want to disturb their bonding time. I held back and began to think of someone else when I heard voices echoing towards my car.

My body froze, and my breathing hitched as I did the only thing I could.

Calling Dexter.