CHAPTER 115: HEAVY GUILT

"Oh..." I groaned before swinging my legs off the bed and heading to the shower. After taking a quick shower and dressing for work, I hoped that my usual daily routine would help settle my nerves. However, when I descended the grand staircase downwards, I found my mother already waiting for me in the dining room with a steaming cup of tea in her hand and a look of anticipation on her face when she saw me enter the room.

"Good morning, sweetheart. I’ve been waiting for you. Did you have a good night’s sleep?" she asked before beaming a smile my way.

"Good morning, I slept well, thank you," I replied a little cautiously as I pulled out a chair to take the seat opposite her at the dining table. It felt like the interrogation couldn’t be put off any longer.

"I wanted to talk to you a little bit about last night, and you know, about what happened between you and Daniel," my mother began a little hesitantly.

"It’s just as I told you before. We didn’t really get along, and after he won a painting for me at the auction, we went to see it in private, I guess things got a little out of hand," I tried to tell her the truth without going into the hurtful details, both for my own sake and also hers.

"Is it true?" she interrupted my sugar-coated story. "What Raphael said about Daniel harassing you, is that true?"

"It is true. But things didn’t progress too out of hand because Raphael showed up to save me in time," I replied while giving Raphael all the credit that he deserved.

Despite my reassuring words, my mother’s face visibly crumbled with guilt. She set the teacup down on the dining table and reached across to take my hands into her own. I could already see the tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she gave my hand a squeeze.

"I’m so sorry, Abigail. This is all my fault. I should never have suggested that you go out with him, I just thought that..." my mother apologized before trailing off as a tear rolled down her cheek.

It broke my heart to see my mother looking like that. I knew that despite all that had happened, she truly wanted what was best for me. I mean, who would have known that Daniel would turn out to be a perverted lunatic?

"It’s fine. I’m fine now, there’s no need for you to feel so guilty," I told her while I tried to keep my tone light.

"I just feel so terrible. I’ve been pushing you so hard to meet people because, after what happened between you and your ex, you know, I just thought that meeting new people would be right for you," my mother said before her voice broke with intense emotion.

"I know that you mean well. But maybe you could stop trying so hard to set me up with guys. At least for a while?" I asked hopefully.

My mother stared at me in silence for a couple of seconds before nodding her head firmly. "Deal," she finally said.

"Anyways, I have to go to work now, but thank you so much for worrying about me. I’m fine, truly," I told her as I stood up from the chair to take my leave.

"You know that I love you and that I’ll always worry about you, my dear sweetheart," my mother said softly and tenderly.

I walked over to her side and leaned down to give her cheek a peck. The way that she smiled up at me told me that perhaps everything had healed between us. I hoped that my mother would keep her word of not setting me up with any guys anytime soon and that I could enjoy a bit of peace, at least on this front.

...

By the time that I reached our towering office building, my nerves had smoothed over and settled somewhat. I had managed to convince myself that life could progress normally, but that was until I spotted a familiar figure that I didn’t quite want to see. I immediately tried to hide away, but there was frankly no place to hide in the open space in front of the office building. I began praying, but it seemed like it was already too late, and my suspicions were confirmed.

Josh.

What is he doing here?

Josh stood there leaning casually against a sleek red sports car, while he chatted with a woman that I was also familiar with. Rosabella was there, all smiles as she replied to Josh. An uncomfortable feeling welled up in my chest as I wondered what the two of them were doing here and what they were doing together. Rosabella was engaged to Raphael, but I guess that didn’t mean that she couldn’t be spending time and talking to his cousin.

What are they doing here? Are they waiting for Raphael? Why do the two of them seem so friendly?

I knew that since Rosabella was childhood friends with Raphael, there was a very good chance that she also knew Josh as well, considering their family connections, but seeing them together being so overly friendly felt extremely strange.

I shook my head as I chastised myself for letting my thoughts run wild and get out of hand. I didn’t have time to think so much about their close relationship, because I was about to be late and had to run. Thankfully, they did not spot me, or even if they did, they did not call out for me to stop to greet them.

...

The entire morning was very busy for Raphael, and I barely saw his face in his personal office. As the morning dragged on, the stacks of reports in front of me didn’t seem to shrink at all in height. No matter how hard I tried to focus, my thoughts kept wandering to the rumors related to Raphael’s family business. In a way, I was literally sitting in the middle of everything, and I was even helping him with his family’s business for that matter.

–To be continued...