“Oscar was with you, wasn’t he?”
Vicky’s heart started beating very fast against her chest.
“What…what…what are you talking about?”
“Cut that cr ap, Sis! You know what the hell I am talking about! You refuse to be sincere with me, how would I protect you and my niece if you do not fill me in with what is going on?”
“I do not understand you, Gabriel. I tell you everything.”
“No, I am not going to believe that. You are definitely hiding a lot of things. Or is there anything going on between you and that ba stard that I do not know about?”
“Why are you speaking to me this way?” Vee mumbled, resisting the urge to break down in tears again. She had literally never heard her brother speak to her like this or ever raised his voice at her.
“The securities reached out to me. They saw that ba stard coming out of your place! He escaped before they could approach. and get hold of him. He was not seen going in so there are speculations that he would have come through the fence and gotten in through the window or the back door. And here you are, pretending to me like nothing took place.
Victoria me ntally facepalmed, understanding the reason behind her brother’s outburst.
“What? You are not going to say anything?” Gabe said when he did not hear anything from her.
“Vee, I am just worried about your safety. If you do not talk to me, who else do you want to talk to?”
She sighed, pushing tears to the back of her eyes. “I am fine, Gabriel!”
“I’m glad to know that but what is going on with you?”
“What did that ba stard want? How did he get in?”
“He probably got in through the back door. He wanted to see me to discuss things. He didn’t hurt me. I am fine.”
“Discuss what? You should not give him any audience, Sis. After all he did to you, he does not even deserve a glance from you.”
“I hate that he broke into the house so much. It makes me feel as though I am not doing enough to protect you. I wish I could see him now so that I can strangle him with my bare hands and put him in his place.” Victoria could not feel any more terrible as she heard the anger in her brother’s voice. The thought of hurting so many people at the same time and the thought of so many people being mad at her at the same time just did not sit well with her.
“Please do not feel that way, Gabriel. You have done nothing but protect me at all times even when I do not see the need.”
“Sorry if it seems that I let you down.”
“What do you mean by you letting me down?”
“I was the one that told him to come over.”
“Don’t take sides with him, Vicky. That guy is not a good person. I thought we had settled this. I have started looking for ways to throw him out of being a shareholder in the firm.”
“I am not taking sides with him, Gabriel. I am telling you the truth.”
“Then why did you invite him over to your personal space? He could have hurt you, Vee. Not right now that you are the only one at home.”
“Even if you wanted to see him, you could have done so in a public place. Where other people are and he would not be able to try anything silly with you.”
“It’s fine, Gabriel, Oscar would not hurt me.”
“He would not hurt you? Didn’t he do that Years back? I thought we both hated him? How come you are suddenly being so defensive about him?”
“You are misunderstanding the situation, Gabe. G od knows I dislike him too and that I do not give a f u ck about him.”
“No matter how much I dislike him, it does not take away the fact that we have some form of history together and at some point in our lives, we would have to talk about it.”
“Talk about what, Sis? Do you need me to remind you of all he made you go through? How his mother humiliated you and how he denied you in front of everyone?”
“I’m not going to lie, I am really disappointed in you for even giving him a chance and you ruined everything by making him come to your place.”
Vicky wiped tears off the corner of her eyes. Her elder brother had never raised his voice at her. Since they united, he had done nothing but treated her like a princess. If it was possible for her to feel more terrible than she already was, then she would.
Knowing she had no other way to calm him down, she continued talking.
“I know and I understand your anger towards me. I am really sorry if you feel offended but the talk was really important for me.”
“Yes, he and his family treated me like trash but that curiosity is still there. The intention was not to jump into his arms and welcome him. I know I was not at fault but I have always wondered what prompted such treatment towards me. We spoke and I got answers from him.”
“I got nothing to do with him. He knows I am not going to go back to him so you have nothing to worry about.”
Im sorry if you felt offended about the whole thing. I am sorry I invited him to the house.”
She heard Gabriel sigh on the other side.
“I should not have been so harsh to you, I am sorry.”
“I was very worried about you.”
“The securities called me, told me they saw Oscar come out of the house and they were sure they did not see him going in. So I called to ask if you are okay and then you sound like you have been crying and who the hell is Ashton that is bugging you?”
“I just got really emotional after Oscar left but ii is nothing. I will be fine.”
“Ashton is just a friend who wants something more out of our friendship. He has been bugging me so much lately so I lashed out at him.”
“I’m sorry, Sis.”
“It’s fine. I know you were just looking out for me.”
“But are you really fine? Do you think you will be okay yourself at home? You can come and join us. I can go ahead to book a ticket for you
Thanks for your concern but I am fine. I promise. I need this peace and quiet. It is going to help me heal.”
“So you are going to end up brooding the whole weekend?”
“No. Basically just being here and trying to heal.”
“It is the same thing and I don’t want to go there.”
“It’s not, Gabe.”
“Well, don’t tell me you are going to be thinking about that goal digger.
Vicky men tally sighed at how much her elder brother disliked Oscar.
“Seems you actually dislike him more than me?”
“I would say he does not deserve any mercy after all he has done to you. So yes, I dislike him so much.”
“I understand. You do not need to explain yourself to me. It was just a one-night conversation which is obviously going to be my last convo with him.”
“What did he say about Sophie?”
“He really wants to be in her life but I made him understand that that is not possible.”
“I know you are feeling bad right now,” Gabe mumbled.
“Consciously, No. Unconsciously, Yes but I will be over it.”
“If it has to do with your conversation with Oscar, just remind yourself that that ba stard is the one at fault and that he deserves no ounce of pity or mercy from you and Sophie.”
“Based on what you said, Seems Ashton has a crush. And about that, what do you plan to do?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” He reiterated.
“Yes, nothing. I hope the crush fades away.”
“I know that ba stard hurt you but that does not mean that you should restrict yourself forever. I know you are preventing yourself from getting hurt any further but I want you to know that not all men are going to be the same.”
“You may be right but I really just want to be on my own. I am still not over everything that life has thrown at me and as such, I do not think I have any love to give. I just want to focus on my career and my daughter.”
“We will talk more about that when I return and I will make sure I do all the necessary checks on Ashton.”
“I do not want you to think that I am against you with other men. That is why I needed to make that clear. I just cannot stand Oscar Wayde. I think my hatred for him grew when I learned about the shares bought as a way to get closer to you and manipulate you.”
“There is no need to keep tabs on Ashton. I am not interested in him.”
“Why?”
“Do I need to have a reason?”
“Yes. Just so to be sure that you are not traumatized by your past by hiding behind it.”
“I’m fine, I give you my word. I don’t just buy the idea of relationships anymore. Besides, I do not have any love to give out to people. I just want to be alone and live well with my daughter.”
“I am so sorry I spoke to you harshly earlier. I was just really pis sed.” Gabriel said, making a men tal note to continue Ashton’s conversation when they saw each other.”
“It’s fine. You were just really concerned about me. I would have probably done the same if I were in your shoes.” She assured.
“You sure you don’t want to come join us?”
She shook her head. Remembering that it was not a video call and he could not see her, she spoke. “No, I’m fine. I will use the weekend to relax.”
“You guys landed safe, huh? How is Lara and Sophie?”
“Yes. They are inside. I stepped out to speak to you. Sophie is asleep though.”
Vicky smiled sadly, missing her daughter already. Sophie always went to bed early, well except for some circumstances and she was not an early riser either.
“My regards to Lara. I will call tomorrow to say Hi to both of them.”
“Are you feeling lonely?” Gabriel asked, knowing she was hardly without her daughter.
