Edward and Natalia really fought after Raquelle and Terrence went to their room. Standing near the sofa, they are waving their hands with evil in their eyes, not holding their emotions down and not watching their mouths.
“Do not irritate me, Rochester!” Edward exclaims rudely with evil in his eyes. “If I had known you would come here, I wouldn’t have come closer to this house!”
“So, shabby puppy, did you realize you were a disgusting hero and decide to reveal everything?” Natalia snuffs contemptuously, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s a very good time!”
“Huh, I do not want to protect a wench! I tried to protect only my friends. And I give a fuck about you!”
“It’s clear that you understood nothing and stayed the same brainless scumbag after you got stabbed with a knife. And you would’ve kept pretending to be a pathetic hero, hoping to get thankfulness and be praised.”
“I doubt you would be crying if I died! You would probably be happy that I’d no longer stand in your way and call you a nasty slut. The slut that sleeps with men even when she is in a relationship with someone.”
“I will personally kill you if we’re one step away from death because of you!” Natalia shouts, sharply waving her hands. “That’s what your wish to become a hero and the thought that the situation was under your control led to! And maybe, your uncle would be grateful to me if I helped him get off the scumbag, who has given so many problems to everybody.”
“I am just protecting my interest as the one to have a right to what belongs to me by law,” Edward replies coldly, crossing his arms over his chest. “And while I am alive, I will not give in even a little part of Father’s inheritance.”
“Ah, yeah, the inheritance…” Natalia shakes her head sharply. “It seems like you are also ready to cut anyone’s throat for it. Through you could quietly let that stinker choke with his money and companies and leave him alone.”
“Uncle has no right even for one cent that I must get!” Edward says confidently. “I will not let that scumbag use what doesn’t belong to him. And I will take away what he stole from my family.”
“To become the same asshole as he is? Who sank his teeth into that fucking inheritance and doesn’t fear that bastard could kill your friend, his fiancée, and his mother.”
“You have no brain to understand some things,” Edward hums contemptuously. “And why do you need them? To fuck men, you do not need brains. The important thing is to shake your ass well and work your hands and mouth. In your case, everything is perfect about it!”
“Shut up, you, fucking bastard, or I will not be responsible for myself,” Natalia hisses, tightly clenching her hands into fists with a heavy breath and setting her icy look on Edward. “I swear, Lockhart, you will be dead to the happiness of your uncle!”
“What would you do to me?” Edward smirks contemptuously, putting his hands on his hips. “You cannot fight with a tough man! Especially in this condition. You can barely stand on your feet, but you decided to threaten me… Huh, funny, Rochester, funny…”
“I shall find the strength to deal with you, even if I have just one second before death. If I have to, I will destroy you, even with a dying breath. Not to see your insolent face that gets me fucking enraged!”
“Yours makes me much more enraged! Furthermore, I am not feeling sorry that you brought yourself to this condition. Because you are guilty of it. Not only that. But also the fact that I hate you as much as my uncle.”
“Ah, I am guilty!” Natalia exclaims, opening her mouth widely and setting her gaze full of evil on Edward. “The fact that our relationship didn’t get better, the fact that your sick uncle is threatening you, Raquelle, Terrence, and his mother… Maybe, am I guilty of something else? For example, the fact that you’re not living the life of your dream? That’s why you want to become the same greedy, nasty and disgusting man, to whom everyone would wish to die because of harming people and doing bad things!”
“Oh, holy shit…” Edward exhales slowly, crosses his arms over his chest, squinting his eyes, and shaking his head. “How stupid you are… A pathetic brainless chicken that all men ran away from. And now I do understand why good men, who want to create their own families do not need a girl for one night. Even if you pick up an idiot, you will get the one, who would love to fuck you. Alas, you are not made for family life!”
“Ha, as if you are ready for it! You do care only about your uncle and how to help him kill all of us. But not to make Raquelle and Terrence think you’re a materialistic bastard, you began to speak beautifully and sweetly. Playing the role of a victim and benefactor, who allegedly aims to save his family from death. Well done, Edward, bravo! You acted truly, at least in this case! But if they find out you are a scumbag, you will immediately become an enemy and be banned from crossing the doorstep of this house.”
“I’ll see whose side they’ll be on when your friends find out how you betrayed me,” Edward says confidently, breathing heavily enough from the anger he is obsessed with. “I swear, Natalia, I will tell everybody about your betrayal! Everybody: Terrence, Raquelle, Anna, Daniel, Peter, and everybody, who thinks you’re an angel. So, they wake up and see what a pathetic and flighty scumbag you are!”
“Come on, do this! I have nothing to lose! Tell your friend and his fiancée I am an alleged sellout bitch! We’ll see who they’ll believe more: the one they have known for a few months, or the one, who has known everybody you want to slander me for ages.”
“Slander? SLANDER? How do you, bitch, dare to say it?”
“Ha, who would say!”
“Stop pretending to be an innocent girl, who must get protection and pity! You are guilty of making me think like this. You will make everybody turn their backs on you very soon. If you had confessed everything and explained the reasons, I would have probably left you alone. I wouldn’t have forgiven you, undoubtedly! But I would have held myself down from insulting you. But since you are acting like a whore and refusing to confess it, I will treat you the way you did it to me.”
“You aren’t better than me, Edward. You were and are a real liar. I was right when I thought you had been hiding your secret since we met. Those calls were really from your ‘beloved’ relative. Who you are going to kill my close friends and me with. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you were hiding much more than you just told.”
“Ha, did you just realize it?” Edward smirks loudly. “I told your friends everything a long time ago, but you spent a lot of time understanding what I said?”
Edward looks at Natalia with a contemptuous gaze.
“Yeah… You’re really a typical blonde with the brains of a chicken. A monkey would be thousands of times smarter than such a brainless gal like you.”
“Is insulting girls giving you pleasure?” Natalia hums contemptuously, still keeping her arms over her chest. “You are getting a special pleasure from calling them whores and wenches! Forgetting that by treating girls so disgustingly, you will never meet at least one idiot that will want to be with such an unbearable stinker, who has too high claims for the one he imagines.”
“No, my dear, I don’t have high claims, I just met a brainless prostitute that can just shake her ass and please men. If I have a girlfriend, I am not going to share her with anyone and accept the fact that someone the fuck uses me. If she sleeps with another man, goodbye!”
“Holy shit, how could I believe such a nasty bastard was an angel?” Natalia looks at Edward from head to foot with contempt in her eyes. “Fuck, why? What an idiot I was! Why didn’t I understand that I started to communicate with a narcissistic scumbag, for who there’s nothing holy? Why didn’t I stop speaking to you when I barely suspected something wrong when you started to impose yourself on Terrence so hard?”
“I don’t also know how I went down to a bitch like you. I'm still surprised that your friends stand by you and don’t blame you for all your misfortunes.”
“What a scumbag you are, Edward… The real scumbag! I am very sorry that Terrence has such a horrible friend! I am sorry that he doesn’t understand he’s communicating with the betrayer, who is not what he tries to be.”
“Ah, that’s how! So, is our Terrence of noble birth?”
At this moment, Raquelle comes quickly to the place, from which it’s possible to see what’s happening on the first floor, and leans on the railing with her hands. A few moments later, Terrence comes to her and leans on the railing with one hand, starting to look down and hearing what Edward is saying now.
“Did you forget that your adorable Terrence is not an angel?” Edward asks. “The same bastard, who is probably much worse than I am! But everybody forgot how disgustingly that man behaved toward his fiancée. Everybody hated him a few months ago. But when he played a hero, people suddenly got respect for him and started to praise him again.”
The surprised and confused Terrence rounds his eyes, literally stopping breathing.
“What?” Terrence frowns strongly. “Bastard? Did you call me a bastard?”
“I’d see how many people would support him if someone said he was almost beating his fiancée,” Edward adds in a rude, low voice, being too excited and not watching his words. “Knowing the show business is aware of his mental issues and knows he needs just one reason to beat someone’s face, I’m sure people would believe it. They’d shortly include him in the list of stinkers that violate women.”
“Shut up, asshole!” Natalia shouts. “You have no right to judge your friend when you have your own demons! You don’t have any affection for Terrence that you talked about to everyone. You are actually acting like a betrayer toward him. You’re terribly envying him deep inside because his life is more successful than the life of the one, who doesn’t even have his own home.”
“Everyone knows how he actually got his wealth – through a bed. He was told to sleep with some actresses, and he did it to show up on the screen and give people a reason to praise him and make his self-rating much higher. By the way, you are very similar to him in this way because both of you jump from one bed to another.”
The more Terrence listens, the more he wants to kick Edward out of his home and forget that he befriends him. The man disappoints in this man more and more and has to admit that he is a betrayer, who is not the one he pretends to be.
“What a fucking asshole you are!” Terrence swears irritably. “How does he dare to blame me for something and behave like this in MY house?”
“Either he went nuts, and he speaks everything without thinking, or he really revealed his real side,” Raquelle replies quietly, watching what’s happening between Natalia and Edward.
“I swear, if that little bastard says something else, I will personally kick him out of the home. And beat the face of that scumbag strongly because he deserved it.”
“Quiet, Terrence, quiet,” Raquelle says quietly, caressing Terrence’s back and taking him under an arm. “Quiet…”
“I see you care about sex so much,” Natalia notices rudely. “If you care about who everybody sleeps with, and how often. Hasn’t at least one dyed mop gotten a crush on you and fucked you up? Is that why you’re so angry and obsessed with sex? Nobody gets you excited!”
“Don’t dare to say it’s the truth,” Edward throws coldly, crossing his arms over his chest. “And do not dare to cover that narcissistic peacock because you do know he’s a rat with a high self-rating. He was just lucky he got off that situation, and it was forgotten after everything got better. I’m sorry. It seems like that psycho learned nothing from that kind of shake.”
“Maybe, Terrence has his shortcomings, but he is TRULY regretting what he did somehow. He regretted it and did his best to prove he wasn’t right and wanted to get everything back. Your friend learned very many things from what happened and tries to be the best version of himself. But you will never regret what you did. About how unjustly you insult those, who loved you. And how disgustingly you did it to me, and how you agreed with your uncle to get everything by depriving us of lives.”
“Damn, are you defending him?” Edward snuffs contemptuously, opening his mouth. “You’re an idiot, Rochester! So, did his charm work on you? Did you forget about his acts so easily?”
“Yes, I am defending him!” Natalia says with her head proudly raised. “Because Terrence is the same close friend of mine as Raquelle is. They’re like my brother and sister, whom I love with all my heart!”
“Ah, that’s how! I started to think you had a crush on Terrence and wanted to steal him from your friend!”
“What?”
“What? I do know you were drooling over him when he wasn’t engaged! Your friend easily got him caught in her trap. And you left with nothing and lost hope to seduce a rich man.”
“Do you understand what you’re saying? Or maybe, I call someone, so you’re taken to a mental hospital? I would even pay for your therapy if I knew you had very serious mental problems!”
“You’d better go there for two weeks. You went really nuts because of your fucking secrets!”
“Ha, you, bastard, will never know them!” Natalia throws irritably. “I’d prefer dying than telling you what would wash your brains a little.”
“Choke with your secrets, then!” Edward shouts, waving his hands sharply. “I don’t need them! I gave a fuck about what was happening to you a long time ago and do not wish to hear your stupid tales and especially watch you cry like crazy.”
“Thanks, the fuck! You did me a favor!”
Edward groans loudly and crossly, tightly clenching his hands into fists and glancing aside. While Terrence being furious and Raquelle being a little tense are watching him and Natalia.
“So, go to your friend and tell her all your secrets,” Edward throws coldly. “The same lover of someone’s beds as you and my friend. But it’s not amazing – a prostitute would always find a prostitute. Besides, that gal is not as innocent as she wants to seem. Everybody kind of forgot how she almost put them in danger by having a deal with the old idiot Ringer. And you probably forgot how she went to your home, blamed you for the lie, beat your face a little, and tore a couple of your blonde hairs out. Why did everybody forget that story so easily? Why does nobody judge both of them for how disgustingly they behaved toward each other and some people?”
Raquelle opens her mouth widely, getting more obsessed with a wish to do something to Edward.
“What, what, what did he say?” Raquelle asks irritably. “Did that rat pronounce me a prostitute?”
“We made him a viper in our bosom…” Terrence throws gloomily, clenching his hands tightly into fists. “I can’t believe that bastard dares to say that about us…”
“Do what you want, but I will kill that stinker and personally kick him out. I won’t let that scumbag insult Natalia, you, and me in my own house!”
“That gal can’t be a friend,” Edward continues to speak loudly. “Raquelle just pretends to be good, but she is actually not an angel. And she met the same man. It’s amazing that two psyches have not killed each other yet. One can’t solve his mental issues, and another pretends that she is strong and brave. And both of them got into the show business thanks to fucking up with some people and agreeing to become someone’s lovers and be at the mercy of sugar daddies and mommies.”
The more Edward speaks, the more Raquelle and Terrence start to lose their patience. They are protesting silently and refusing to believe that man betrayed them. But they have to admit the bitten truth, hearing everything that makes their hair stand.
“I swear, I will kill that asshole right here!” Raquelle hisses with a heavy breath, clenching her hands into hard fists. “If he doesn’t shut up now, I will do something so that he will regret being born.”
“It’s the last time when I let him cross the doorstep of this house,” Terrence replies coldly, confidently with his head proudly raised. “When he leaves, I will tell the security not to let him get closer to the territory of our house. In case he wants to come here by force or sends someone here with Uncle’s help, the police will immediately come here and do away with these rats.”
“How do you dare to say it about them?” Natalia resents crossly with eyes full of hate. “You, jealous cad! Do you really treat them so badly? Have you never loved your friend and his fiancée? What did they do to you that you hate them so much? These people accepted you with open arms, but you, fucking rat, got under their wings like a snake and did your dirty tricks! Are you really an egoist, who loves only yourself and gives a fuck about these people? Or are you taking after your uncle? Are you envying your friend and literally wishing to deprive him of everything because of revenge and envy?”
“The one to be an egoist here is you, Natalia!” Edward throws rudely. “If you thought of others, you would not make them pity you and get their attention by being silent about your fucking secrets. There are idiots, who still try to find out what’s happening to you. They do waste their fucking time on the brainless chicken and really care about her mental health. But it’s clear you madly like it. You are happy that you get the attention of other people. You think of yourself and care only about your happiness! Other things don’t exist for you!”
“You better look at yourself, rat!” Terrence says irritably, tightly clenching his hands into fists and contemptuously looking at Edward. “It’s good to judge everyone and not to see your shortcomings! Maybe, I have enough shortcomings, but I’m not such a shameless scumbag as you are.”
“Better look at yourself, idiot!” Natalia shouts. “You’d better find shortcomings in yourself and change just something for the better. But you don’t need it. Because I’ll no longer be silent that you’re a false asshole, who they wouldn’t wish to communicate with after realizing they became your victims. Not because of your uncle, but because of a strong jealousy and a wish not to be worse than your successful friend.”
“You understand nothing, stupid goose!” Edward simpers, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at Natalia with evil in his eyes. “NO-THI-NG! You will NEVER understand what I have had to overcome all my life! YOU DO NOT LIVE LIKE A FUCKING HOMELESS MAN! YOU DO NOT BEG TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY AND NOT TO DIE!”
“Stop pretending to be an innocent lamb!” Natalia shouts, clenching her hands into hard fists and breathing heavily from great excitement. “Raquelle bite you through on the day you met her, when your pretty but insolent face shortly seemed suspicious to her. And I’m very sorry that we didn’t listen to her. But if I had known you were a greedy rat, I would’ve preferred hiding the truth from Terrence. He would’ve lived much better if you hadn’t come into his life. And now we may die because of you. Because of your wish to become the same as he is.”
“I’m sorry your parents don’t know you’re a selfish and false bitch. And I’d be happy to ‘make them happy’ with the news that their wonderful, innocent angel has slept with lots of men. I’m surprised that you haven’t gotten pregnant from one of your many lovers or got infected with an STD. Some men also fuck up gals and then get infected with hepatitis or AIDS.”
“Don’t dare to say it to my parents,” Natalia hisses, coming closer to Edward, starting to threaten him with a finger, and looking into his icy eyes with hate. “Or you, bastard, will regret it. If I don’t kill you, my father will castrate you. He lets nobody hurt me and is always ready to stand by me.”
“Yeah, I doubt your dad would love the fact that you decided to earn some money and became a prostitute. And your mom wouldn’t like it… Knowing their daughter became a professional slut and cheated on me when we had a relationship would be a shame for them. I’m sure people think you’re a little angel. An innocent princess they want to give to a wonderful prince.”
“My parents love me, no matter what I do. They know who I am, and what I cannot do much better.”
“It’s okay, they will open their eyes soon and get ‘nicely’ surprised to know how you spend your free time. Though you could spend your time better and find something to do: go to courses or get a job. The princess got used to the fact that her mommy and daddy would always give her money and wouldn't make her work. So, she’s become a spoiled, capricious gal, who decided to fuck up men from being bored. Not only in America, but also around the world.”
“If your parents knew they raised such a thankless and non-educated sonny,” Natalia hums with contempt in her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “But I’m sure your father always knew it and hated you for that reason. It’s been so many years, but he doesn’t even think about finding you. He doesn’t care about what’s happening to you.”
Meanwhile, Raquelle looks at Terrence with her mouth closed with a hand, while he shakes his head, tightly grabbing the railing.
“My gosh, if they don’t stop it, something horrible may happen,” Raquelle moans quietly, putting her hand on her forehead. “These two are so excited that they hardly watch their months.”
“Agree, their fight might lead to a catastrophe,” Terrence agrees and swallows up nervously. “They’re gonna kill each other and destroy our house.”
“Likely, Edward will do. I never saw him so wild. He was always so discreet and quiet, but now he got loose.”
“If he does, he will pay me moral damage. And I give a fuck that he has only ripped underwear.”
“Oh, God, it’s awful…”
“It’s okay, that little stinker will pay me for being two-faced. That asshole will not stay unpunished.”
Raquelle shakes her head, feeling her heart squeezing in her chest. She keeps watching the heated Edward and Natalia, who are not feeling shy and are telling everything they have had inside for a long time.
“Don’t make me enraged, you, false bitch,” Edward throws coldly. “OR YOU WILL BE DEAD!”
“So, does it hurt, huh?” Natalia smirks evilly, setting her confident and contemptuous gaze into Edward’s eyes. “Is it unpleasant to know you weren’t a beloved sonny? Your father never loved you and wasn’t worried when you left home at an illegal age. And your mother didn’t think of you when she was far from you. So, you’re mad that he got the best, but you don’t even have your own place.”
“DO NOT DARE TO MAKE ME ENRAGED! OR ARE YOU, BITCH, MAKING ME DO SOMETHING TERRIBLE TO YOU?”
“COME ON, DO ANYTHING TO ME!” Natalia shouts, throwing her hands up. “COME ON, LOCKHART! I HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE! But remember that you might have to bury your head in sand from shame!”
“I will not regret kicking the ass of a nasty slut like you!” Edward exclaims loudly, setting his widely open eyes full of hate on Natalia breathing heavily. “Since someone to wash your brains has not been found, I WILL DO IT!”
“Yeah, what would you do to me?” Natalia asks rudely, literally killing Edward with her sizzling gaze. “Raise your hand on me like you almost did it someday? But you wouldn't have the brains for something else! You can only wave your hands and call me a whore!”
“What, what?” Raquelle rounds her eyes. “Did that scumbag try to slap her?”
“Damn, poor Natalia…” Terrence shakes his head. “She met that bastard and loved him.”
“She’s never been lucky with men, and they’ve always used her. But your friend is the worst scumbag of those men she’s met.”
“The scumbag that got our trust for his interests. His story about your uncle is probably a cover for his wish to get everything out of us by killing us. We shouldn't believe he really tried to protect us from that man.”
“Now, I doubt he was silent for good reasons. And I’m gonna be honest I’m even getting doubts that he is really the one, who he is pretending. I wouldn’t be surprised if his name wasn’t actually Edward Lockhart.”
“I didn’t do that because I found it worthless,” Edward hums contemptuously, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t think I would wash your brains and wake shame up inside you with one slap.”
“But I’d have the pleasure to slap you on your insolent face,” Natalia says in a low voice. “I’ve been dreaming about it for ages! Since when you revealed your rotted character.”
“Oh, yeah, Natalia, do it!” Terrence smirks with evil in his eyes and rubs his hands. “I wanna see his reaction to your slap! You can even beat him a little! That bastard does deserve it!”
“I don’t like gloating, but I’d love to see that scene,” Raquelle crosses her arms over her chest with a sly smile. “So, c’mon, friend, kick that fucking rat’s ass!”
“So, what are you waiting for?” Edward smirks and throws his hands aside. “COME ON, SLAP ME! I AM STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU! AND YOU CAN MAKE YOUR DREAM COME TRUE RIGHT NOW!”
“Ha, so you get enraged and beat me to half-death?” Natalia throws coldly. “You can even kill someone! If you kill me, your friend, his fiancée, or even his mother, you won’t move your eyebrow! Because you got so obsessed with that fucking money and jealousy for your successful friend.”
“Hey…” Edward simpers evilly and fixes the collar of his denim jacket. “Are you afraid to slap me? Come on, girl, do it! You’ve been dreaming about it for ages! Or are you not as sassy as you want to be? When you have to act to make people fear you, you put your tail between your legs and seek a hideaway. You work your tongue well, but you do it for nothing. It gives you good things only when you please your lovers.”
“If you do not close your dirty mouth, I will give a fuck about all my fears and SLAP YOU STRONGLY! I GIVE A FUCK ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD DO TO ME: BEAT ME TO DEATH OR GIVE ME TO YOUR UNCLE AND HIS PALS. YOU, ASSHOLE, WILL PAY ME FOR ALL THE SUFFERINGS YOU HAVE GIVEN ME!”
“Don’t be the same coward as your closest friend and slap me strongly. Raquelle was also threatening to beat Terrence when he had issues with his unstable mental health. But she was afraid that one slap from him would’ve easily brought her to a hospital. I believe she got a good lesson when that psycho strongly slapped her in the face.”
“Oh, am I a coward?” Raquelle opens her mouth widely, tightly clenching her hands into fists. “My bravery is much stronger than your shame, bastard!”
“You know, my friend’s braveness is way stronger than your shame,” Natalia says confidently, crossing her arms over her chest, breathing heavily and literally shaking from the anger she is obsessed with. “You have no right to insult Cameron, and I won’t let you hurt her dignity!”
“Dignity?” Edward smirks loudly. “Ha, she has it? Girls with dignity behave the way they should! But wenches like you two are ready to spread your legs for any man for your interests. Raquelle is worried about her career like a chicken cares about an egg. And you should find a rich man that would provide you the way your mommy and daddy do it.”
“Watch your mouth, bastard!” Natalia shouts irritably.
“Don’t try to make me sure that your friend worked hard to reach a lot and teach those, who insulted and humiliated her.”
“You have no right to judge her because you don’t know what she’s had to overcome. Unlike you, she’s a very hard-working and responsible girl, who doesn’t pretend to be poor and unhappy. She never complained that she has no money, home, clothes, or food with the hope that someone would pity her and transfer their property to her.”
“Wow, what has she overcome? The death of her parents, the affair with Terrence, whom she started to date under the pressure of her family, endless fights with him, and the slap that could’ve led to their breakup? Either Cameron is a masochist that likes living in fear, or she’s just too in love and doesn’t notice she is next to the mentally ill man, who would easily kill her if she made him furious.”
“It’s a little part of what she’s overcome for twenty-five years of her life. But that girl deserves deep respect for braveness, confidence, and toughness.”
“I don’t care about it… It’s nothing unlike what I’ve had to overcome! And what Terrence has overcome cannot also be compared with it.”
“Yeah, but difficulties didn’t turn Terrence into a rotted rat and didn’t make him forget how to love. And you got mad at the whole world because you were on your own. Street and bad friends have never helped someone become a good person and learn to feel something light. I’m sure if you’d lived with your mother, she wouldn’t have let you become a nasty bastard and dream of killing your family.”
“Ha, is Terrence not a rat?” Edward smirks contemptuously and loudly. “Don’t make me laugh, Rochester! That psycho always finds a reason to scream and wave his hands! Did you forget who he turned into when he almost lost his beloved Raquelle? I guess he was sitting in his room and crying like a girl. He prayed that nobody saw the idol of all the little girls crying for the girl! Because he would’ve gotten so humiliated that he would’ve been afraid to go outside!”
“Fuck, what did Terrence do to you that you dare to say these things about him?” Natalia resents. “That man accepted you so warmly when he found out who you were and got attracted to you. And he got a thankless pig that doesn’t understand when someone treats him well. It’s clear you got used to being treated like shit. That’s why you treat everyone the same way. You say you love and respect Terrence and always smile at him. But you say bad things behind his back, being sure he won’t know what you actually think of him.”
“Am I trying to slander him?” Edward rounds his eyes. “Vice versa, I’m telling the truth that everybody forgot a long time ago, pretending that my friend didn’t act like a bastard.”
“What would you get by starting to talk about it? Do you think everybody would immediately recall what he did and stop speaking to him? Do you want it? Want him to keep suffering and dreaming of burning from shame? Instead, you better think about what you’re doing. Reflect on your mistake.”
“Exactly!” Terrence throws in a low voice, tightly holding the railing with his hands. “You better think of your actions instead of judging others!”
“Damn, will that scumbag actually stop?” Raquelle resents. “Or did he decide to confess everything? Reveal his uncle’s secret and confess that he lied about his love for us?”
“Yeah, Edward, what an asshole you are… What did I do? Why are you doing this to me? I trusted you! I thought you were my friend! But you’re a betrayer! Now I understand why you the fuck imposed your friendship on me so hard.”
“My God, Natalia is shaking from fear!”
“Yeah, that psycho scared the poor girl. She’s standing white and literally crying!”
“He’s a loser, Natalia, the real loser!” Edward says rudely, not suspecting that Raquelle and Terrence hear his words. “The little star can’t get into the music world. But when he got some success, his band started to get broken up to the fuck.”
“To your sadness, Terrence will get success and be fighting for the band ‘till the end,” Natalia says with her head proudly raised. “But even if it’s broken up, he has a chance to start a solo career. And you’ll keep wandering around the city, dying from boredom, envying your more successful friend, and looking for a reason to prove to yourself that you aren’t afraid to leave your hideaway.”
“It won’t happen, be sure. My friend is an alive example of the fact that even a high self-rating, confidence about talent, and old contacts in the acting world couldn’t help someone reach much more. And an ordinary person without contacts wouldn’t do it at all. If you want to be famous, fuck up with someone’s daughters and sonnies or beg your famous relatives or friends to promote you. However, even if Terrence gains popularity as a musician and sells at least a few copies of his album, alright, I will lift my hat to him. But it’s hardly possible because that man is a loser, who got lucky once.”
“Ha, who would’ve said, you, homeless loser with no money in your pockets!” Raquelle resents. “While you skipped school and planned dirty tricks with your pals, this ‘loser’ managed to become an actor at the age of fourteen. By himself, just saying. But you are jealous because you can’t even find a permanent job and always live on someone’s account.”
“Yeah,” Terrence agrees, not hiding his disappointment. “But I, idiot, believed he was kind of proud of me and happy for me and my success.”
“No, Lockhart, I am now talking to the loser!” Natalia says rudely. “The stinker, who doesn’t aim to provide at least for himself and pretends that he’s happy to have only ten or twenty dollars in his pocket, lives on someone’s account, and doesn’t have a home or even the worst permanent job.”
“It’s MY life, and I have a right to do anything I WANT,” Edward cuts off loudly, breathing heavily from the excitement. “If I have a wish, I will go to rob a bank and live well!”
“Ah, yeah!” Natalia rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “I forgot! You are a rich inheritor of your daddy’s wealth. He bequeathed so much money to you and was ready to let you rule his company. Indeed, why would you work for pennies, while millions of dollars are on the horizon? But I doubt you’d get the inheritance because your uncle kept an eye on the money and would do his best for you to reject everything. Don’t hope he’ll give you at least a little part. You will remain a pathetic deadbeat in underwear!”
“Don’t worry, blonde, your parents thought about your inheritance and will bequeath their wealth to you,” Edward replies coldly. “You are our rich girl, who has always lived in luxury, gotten everything she wants, and been a queen. I’m surprised that you have no servants at your home. It’s bad that Her Royal Highness, Princess Natalia, has to serve herself when her mommy and daddy are not home. They would even bring coffee to her bed to make their daughter happy.”
“I’m making sure that you care only about money,” Natalia crosses her arms over her chest. “I remember your eyes got a gloss when I mentioned that my parents had a lot of money. I remember you staring at my expensive Chanel bag and being delighted by my Christian Dior perfume. I needed just to call a famous brand of clothes so that you could widely open your eyes and get excited. You probably imagined yourself getting richer thanks to my money.”
“Do you want to say I dated you for money?” Edward rounds his eyes.
“Why else? You do love money! And you hardly loved me as much as you tried to prove it! I always knew you weren’t interested in a relationship with me and dated me just to meet your friend. To become a relative of my family and make my parents sure to get you involved in their business. But when you realized this plan was doomed to fail, you decided to get off me and found a good way to end our relationship. And now you have only one way to become rich – to unite with your uncle, make him sure to share everything with you, and kill Terrence, Raquelle, and Mrs. MacClife. Maybe, after becoming a scumbag being loyal to him, Michael – or what’s his name – will give you a job in the company. Then you will live happily ever after, be able to buy anything, and fear just one thing – to make your uncle mad.”
“I think you’re talking too much, Ms. Rochester. You’re saying delirium that I don’t even want to hear. I see your tongue has become too long. It must be cut a little. So, you keep being silent like a mouse.”
“But you must get some brains!” Terrence growls quietly, tightly clenching his hands into fists. “And shame!”
“That cad is talking too much!” Raquelle throws gloomily.
“As I understand, you aren’t gonna reject the inheritance. You want to get everything to rub my nose in it.”
“He hid all his secrets for a reason! He knew he’d have to confess the wish to get the money and the company if he told us about Michael.”
“I wish that old bastard gave him nothing! I want that kid to keep wearing only underwear and live somewhere on the street.”
“I would cut yours with pleasure,” Natalia throws rudely, setting her contemptuous gaze at Edward’s eyes and barely holding down not to strangle him. “Or better tie your hands and legs and beat your insolent face to get you cool and revenge for everything you’ve done to me.”
“Wanna try?” Edward smirks contemptuously. “Try! Try to tie the man, who is much stronger than you and could easily twist your arms!”
“Holy shit, why am I actually talking to you and trying to tell you something?” Natalia claps herself on the forehead. “WHY? It’s like talking to the wall! What’s the meaning of trying to change the mind of someone, who is so obsessed with money and jealous of his friend that he’s ready to destroy him and his whole family?”
“HA, DON’T TALK TO ME THEN!” Edward screams at the top of his lungs, tensing all his muscles too much and tightly clenching his hands into fists. “You would do me a favor! If I talk to you for two more minutes, I will do what I do not want to do.”
“I am sick of you, too!”
“Why did you actually come here? Did you want to complain to your friends about your terrible life and tell them I got angry at you because you fucked up with some men secretly from me?”
“Why did YOU come here? GOT REMORSE AND REALIZED YOU WOULD HAVE TO TELL EVERYTHING?”
“None of your business!”
“Raquelle and Terrence would hardly appreciate your acting. You will never be an actor because you are worthless at it. I mean, you are worthless at everything and can only bark from the corner like a coward puppy and dream of getting ALL MONEY from greed!”
“If you insult me again, I will slap you! YOU WILL, BITCH, BE SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS AND BEGGING FOR HELP!” Edward looks at Natalia from head to foot with contempt in his eyes. “I’d like to fuck you up cruelly right in this house, no matter what your wish is. But pride doesn’t let me fuck a pathetic whore, who has pleased probably half of the city and a big part of people living in other cities and even countries. And I wouldn’t like to get infected with something from the bitch that has such a long list of ex-lovers.”
“Do not dare to touch her with a finger, asshole, or I will kick you out of home!” Raquelle hisses through her teeth, crossing her arms over her chest. “I will not let you treat my friend like this and call her a whore!”
“Don’t worry, I’m gonna beat the face of that bastard,” Terrence says coldly. “So that he will be screaming from pain!”
“Listen, Terrence, let’s go down and stop it!” Raquelle begs with pity in her eyes, moving her eyes to Terrence. “Edward is out of his mind! He’ll do something to Natalia if we don’t meddle.”
“We will, but later. I wanna listen to what he's saying while thinking I guess nothing. Maybe, he’ll say something interesting.”
“I’m worried about Natalia. This sick scumbag may do something horrible to my friend. But she does feel bad because of what’s happening to her.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, we won’t let him even touch Natalia with a finger. If he raises a hand, we’ll immediately let him know about us. I promise.”
Raquelle sighs heavily, twirling the bracelet on her hand from the excitement.
“If you touch me at least with a finger, I will report you to the police and blame you for harassment,” Natalia says rudely, threatening Edward with a finger while breathing heavily. “I will not be silent and waiting for Terrence and Raquelle to decide to report you and your uncle for the attempt on their lives. You, fucking asshole, got me mortally furious! I never hated so much!”
“Do this right now, then!” Edward laughs evilly with his mouth wide open. “Come on, Rochester, call the police and report me! We will see if they believe you, the brainless slut that can only lie and have hysterics! Or are some of your lovers working in the police? Would they do anything for you?”
“I wouldn’t even have to bribe something because your uncle may have nothing against putting you in prison and getting a chance to get the wealth of your father. He would do me a great favor if he betrayed you to the police and made them believe you had done tons of dirty business.”
“Be careful because I can tell the whole world how you shake your naked ass in front of men and please them. I just need to post at least one of your photos and say that you’re a professional prostitute, who knows all types of sex and can bring any man to orgasm, so some pervert men can stand in the line. Normal men would judge you, and women would shower you with mud and say what you’ve heard from me many times.”
“Don’t dare, bastard. I’LL STRANGLE YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS!”
“Imagine what it means to be ashamed of the whole country,” Edward smirks evilly. “Lose a chance to meet a decent man because of being a sellout slut, who has a love affair with fewer people and is ready to get naked for them. Everything to charm an idiot that would love to take the reject, which has been used thousands of times.”
Natalia was holding herself down not to give Edward a slap in the face. But she is so sick of being a prostitute, who has intimate with everybody, that she gives a damn about all her fears and loses her patience. The girl sharply comes to him and, keeping an icy look into his furious eyes, slaps the man breathing heavily in the face as strongly as she can. Lockhart turns aside immediately and, wincing in pain, sharply grabs his cheek, which starts burning.
“I will not let you insult me!” Natalia hisses through her teeth, breathing like a furious bull. “I AM SICK OF YOU CALLING ME A SLUT AND BELIEVING I LITERALLY WORK IN A WHOREHOUSE! ENOUGH, LOCKHART! I AM NO LONGER GOING TO TAKE IT!”
For Edward, this slap becomes some humiliation. It makes him quite hesitant and frozen in surprise and shock, which he feels for some time. After Natalia slaps him, Raquelle gasps quietly with widely open eyes, and Terrence smirks evilly, while watching the reaction of his friend but starts to be worried that his friend will regret it. At some moment, the lovers look at each other with horror in their eyes and, taking their breath away, continue to watch what’s happening.
A few seconds later, Edward comes to himself. Still holding his cheek, the man slowly moves his much more furious gaze to Natalia, comes closer to her, and looks at her with such a sizzling gaze that her skin gets cold, her legs become weak, her breath becomes heavier, and her heart starts beating much faster.
“None…” Edward pronounces slowly, as his nostrils are inflated from the anger. “Hear me, none of the girls dared to slap me in the face. None. Before this moment. When YOU MADE ME WILD!”
“You let me do it – so, protests are declined,” Natalia replies loudly and crosses her arms over her chest. “I just did what I wanted to do for a long time. And what would Terrence and Raquelle do with pleasure if they heard everything you said. So, as they haven’t been back yet, I can slap you in the face again on behalf of them.”
Natalia raises her hand sharply to slap Edward again, but he grabs it in time and holds it tightly a few centimeters away from his cheek.
“If you dare to slap me again, you will have to regret it much,” Edward hisses through his teeth. “You will be begging me to leave you alone.”
“BASTARD!” Natalia tries to get her hand sharply out of Edward’s strong grip but meets failure, feeling quite a strong pain, as he is squeezing it very tightly. “Curse you, fucking puppy! I hope your plans to become rich will fail, and your uncle will deprive you of your inheritance! I will be VERY glad if he gets everything, not you! The nasty asshole that did not deserve A CENT from what you are fighting for so hard.”
“Our meeting was a great mistake. I don’t know what made me come to you and ask you for permission to sit at the table. There were free tables at that fucking café, but I, idiot, decided to choose the table, at which the brainless chicken was sitting. Who was pretending to be a victim that was slandered for nothing. Though now I’m sure Raquelle’s charges had a part of the truth… And I will never forgive myself for that mistake. Never forgive me for getting a crush on your beautiful face and letting myself stare at you and come to get to know you.”
“But I will never forgive myself for falling in love with a stinker like you,” Natalia replies, understanding she has less and less strength to hold down tears coming to her eyes. “I, idiot, was ready for anything for you. I listened to your beautiful words, went insane from your fucking voice, and could think of you and dream of our meeting for hours. And then I suffered from refusing to speak to you for two weeks. But I wish I hadn't contacted you and had forgotten you forever. You used me. You said you loved me but actually had your own interests, using the fact that I was a naive idiot being in love and not seeing your shortcomings. But that’s good I realized I got in touch with a scum.”
“Ha, you did never love me!” Edward hums contemptuously, crossing his arms over his chest. “You confessed you dated me because of fear of staying single. Did you forget that I finally got some truth out of you?”
“I don’t love you anymore,” Natalia glances aside. “You are not the one, who could make me happy. Because of you, I only got problems. But I want calm, safety, and confidence in the one, who wants to be with me. And I’m especially not ready to be with the one that insults me and my close people like this, envies more successful and richer people, and thinks only of money.”
“And I want to be with a girl, who will truly love me and never lie to me. I don’t look for a prostitute that everybody uses, I need the one, who would belong only to me, There are two things that I cannot take and will never forgive: lying and cheating. I am ready to close my eyes to anything, except for that. So, you don’t fit these criteria, and you stopped being the one I was looking for. So, bye, bye, babe!” Edward waves a hand at Natalia. “You can go to one of your lovers and fuck him. And forget me! I will meet a more decent girl.”
“LEAVE ME ALONE THEN!” Natalia screams, waving her hands sharply. “GET OUT AS FAR AS POSSIBLE AND DON’T REMIND ME OF YOUR PRETENSE! I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU!”
“Don’t worry, today was the last day I talked to you. Next time, I will immediately leave if I see you a few miles away from me.”
“I hate you, scumbag! I HATE! I get sick of you and your DISGUSTING voice! Curse you, puppy! I wish you didn’t get the inheritance! I wish girls didn’t pay attention to you! I wish your uncle had killed you to the fuck! I will not cry if that man kills you! I will be HAPPY you will die and stop hurting my eyes!”
“I NO LONGER FEEL REGRET FOR YOU!” Edward screams at the top of his lungs. “IF YOU TORTURE YOURSELF MUCH MORE, I WILL NOT MOVE MY EYEBROW!”
“Alright, ENOUGH!” Natalia points sharply at the hall door. “Get out of here and never come into my life or the lives of my friends. I swear, I will do my best to turn them against you. They’ll know that you betrayed them and treated me like a doormat. You will no longer dare to lie to them and pretend to be good! I shall reveal you, Edward Lockhart, I SWEAR! And prove that you are not the one, who you are pretending to be.”
Before answering, Edward laughs evilly and loudly, while Natalia frowns strongly and puts her hands on her hips with her head proudly raised.
“Stop telling me what to do, Natalia Rochester!” Edward throws rudely. “This house is not yours. You are just a visitor that may get kicked out at any time.”
“They will not kick me out,” Natalia says confidently in an icy voice, crossing her arms over her chest. “And if they find out what you, nasty cad, really think of them, you will immediately get kicked out. You will be banned from getting close to this place.”
“I won’t go to your home even if I’m under the gun.”
“It’s alright, Lockhart, someday, you will remember my words and start to regret pushing all the people off you. I don’t doubt that his is gonna be the next one to turn her back on you after Raquelle and Terrence. I would watch you staying all alone and wishing to shoot yourself from shame for all your actions. And someday, that day will come. But it will be too late to change something.”
“Alright, blonde chicken, you did FUCK me off!” Edward sharply comes to Natalia being white from fear, grabs her under her elbows, and starts to shake her strongly. “CLOSE YOUR FUCKING MOUTH! I AM SICK OF HEARING EVERYTHING YOU SAY!”
“God, he’s gonna do something to her!” Raquelle pronounces in a quiet, shaking voice, literally crying from fear. “It hurts to watch my friend… She must stop suffering…”
“Edward is on edge, he’s about to explode,” Terrence assumes thoughtfully, closely watching Edward. “And if he wants to do something bad to Natalia, we’ll immediately meddle and let him know we heard everything.”
“We must meddle right now! Playing time is impossible anymore! Watching these two kill each other would be too much. I don’t want Natalia to suffer because of that scumbag!”
“She won’t do. We will be protecting her from that man and not letting him be a few meters away from her.”
Raquelle shakes her head and moves her wet eyes full of horror to Edward and Natalia.
“Let me go, I feel pain,” Natalia pronounces, wincing in strong pain in her hands, which Edward is squeezing strongly, and tries to get them out. “Let me go, bastard! LET ME GO!”
“STOP HAVING HYSTERICS HERE, PSYCHO!” Edward throws rudely, sharply lets Natalia go, and pushes her so strongly that she barely keeps a balance. “OR I WILL CALL SOMEONE, SO YOU QUICKLY COME TO YOURSELF!”
“You will go with me if you do it! Seeing how wild you are, you will also be taken to a mental hospital and put to sleep for two days!”
“WE WILL SEE IT, LOCAL WHORE! Fucking nymphomaniac that can’t live a day without getting fucked up!”
Natalia instantly attacks Edward with fists and starts to beat him on everything as strongly as possible.
“IF YOU HINT THAT I HAVE THE FUCK PANIC WOMB, I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MYSELF!” Natalia screams at the top of her lungs hysterically, starting to pull Edward’s hair strongly. “I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU MUCH EARLIER THAN YOUR UNCLE DOES! AND HE WILL BE GRATEFUL TO ME FOR IT!”
“STOP SCREAMING!” Edward screams much louder with widely open eyes and grabs Natalia by the hair, making her wince strongly and almost shout. “I am not the one to blame that you liked fucking men so much that you gave a fuck about your relationship and cheated on me even when you were MINE.”
“LET ME GO, SHABBY PUPPY!” Natalia sharply tries to move Edward’s hand off her hair and beats him strongly on his arms. “I SAID, LET ME GO!”
“Curse you, nasty whore!”
“I shall personally turn everybody against you and tell them you’re a bastard. I SWEAR, LOCKHART!”
“I CAN TELL THEM MUCH, TOO!” Edward strongly squeezes Natalia’s yawl with a free hand, still pulling her hair painfully. “I wish something happened and make you stop wishing to be sassy and jump from one bed to another. I wish you shook at the sight of a strong man that could knock you out with one hit!”
“I do not doubt you will not find a gal! Because nobody will even look at you. Even if you have millions of dollars in your account. And without a cent in your pocket, nobody needs you! Or you will meet an idiot, who would love the memory that your daddy allegedly bequeathed to you. Not you.”
“YOUR DREAM WILL NOT COME TRUE!” Edward rudely pushes Natalia off himself and threatens her with a finger, while all his muscles are tense from anger, his breath gets much heavier and louder, and the mist of anger descends his widely open eyes. “When I get much money, own the company and become powerful and rich, girls will stand in the line. When I have my own home, a new gorgeous car, lots of expensive clothes, and a permanent job, I will live happily and be surrounded by trustworthy people. And there will be no place for some brainless whores and bastards in my life.”
“WE WILL SEE IT, LOSER!” Natalia says rudely, clenching her hand into hard fists with her widely open eyes. “Brainless, lazy, and greedy bastard! You will always be a scumbag to me! But by robbing your family, you will get much worse!”
“I give a fuck about your opinion, bitch!”
“I cannot wait to see your plans meet a failure, and you realize what a bastard you’ve become because of money and a wish to defeat your close friend. How you’d go to your relatives to beg for forgiveness and help. But it will be too late to change something because you almost died for your family. As well as for me! You are dead to me, shabby puppy that will never have shame and a kind heart!”
Edward loses his mind because of constant reproaches and insults towards him. The man, whose voice becomes very hoarse from screaming, sharply runs to Natalia, grabs her by the hair painfully, and pulls her on himself. That’s why she starts screaming in the whole living room, feeling that she almost loses her voice, and tries to get out of his grip somehow. It’s happening before the eyes of the dumbfounded Raquelle and Terrence, whose hearts bleed. They cannot be silent anymore and decide to meddle, so something much more terrible does not happen. Moreover, Edward got so excited that he is going to raise a hand at Natalia in anger and will hardly regret it in the future. The girl is about to scream with horror in her wet, widely open eyes, but then Terrence and Raquelle pronounce loudly:
“No! Enough!”
Natalia and Edward sharply raise their heads up and see the shocking Terrence and Raquelle standing up, leaning on the railing, and watching them with dumbfounded eyes. Lockhart, for whom their voices were like a bucket of cold water over the head, gasps quietly and watches the lovers with widely open eyes full of horror. He gets sharply white and starts to breathe heavily with a feeling of a fast heartbeat, guessing that his friends heard much from what he said. The man understands that he will probably lose the trust of his relatives after what happened. Natalia just scarily blinks her dumbfounded eyes and looks at her friends a little guiltily, being afraid that she could do something wrong and show not the best side of her.
A tense silence settles in the air for a few seconds. Raquelle and Terrence do not look at each other, but focus their shocked gazes on Natalia and Edward, who are doing the same and breathing heavily from strong tension and excitement. The white girl with disheveled, loose hair looks so horrified that she cannot say a word or move, but tears get out of her eyes that she stops holding them down. And the man looks probably more dumbfounded, white, and shocked. All muscles in his body are strongly tense, and his gray eyes are chaotically running from one side to another, while he gets horrified at the thought about how he could let himself go too far and forget about the restraint that he always had.
The tense, torturing pause lasts for thirty seconds. Every one of them tries to come to themselves and realize what happened is real, breathing heavily enough, feeling a strong tension, and understanding a crazy beat of the heart echoes in their heads. But then Raquelle slowly steps back from the railing and goes downstairs. Her gaze is focused on the terribly white Natalia, who shakes slightly and looks at her guiltily. Two moments later, Terrence also steps back from the railing and follows his fiancée, not moving his contemptuous gaze off Edward, who swallows up nervously and literally curls up in a ball from hesitance. After the lovers go downstairs, they stand in front of Edward and Natalia and raise their heads up.
“Now we are waiting for the explanations,” Raquelle says quietly but coldly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Explain what it all the hell means.”
Raquelle glances at Terrence, who is standing next to her and looking at Edward contemptuously. While the man immediately becomes as silent as a mouse and literally stops breathing, locking his fingers tightly.
“Don’t make us get everything out of you by force,” Terrence says in a low voice, as his arms are crossed over his chest. “I see you have nothing to say, buddy. It seems like you did not tell us everything we should’ve known.”
But Edward and Natalia give no answer and keep hesitantly looking at their hands or the floor, feeling a strong tension. This silence makes Terrence and Raquelle irritated. To be clear, they get mad because these two immediately became good and are even afraid to open their mouths.
“Edward, I am addressing you!” Terrence exclaims a little ruder and louder. “When we came here, you chewed your tongue off! But you had been very talkative before! And you told us many interesting things! I was surprised!”
“N-no, guys…” Edward pronounces in a shaking voice, scarily looking at Terrence or Raquelle and starting to shift his weight from one foot to another. “I-it’s n-no what you think… I… I…”
“What?” Raquelle asks coldly. “Did you have answers for our previous questions, but fall into a stupor now? Did you understand that you were pressed to the wall after you betrayed yourself?”
“Please, let me explain everything… Everything is not what you think… I just…”
“We don’t need your excuses, Edward!” Raquelle exclaims loudly, making a sharp gesture. “We heard everything you said about us while thinking nobody heard you!”
“It’s not the truth, Raquelle! I swear I…”
“What a motherfucker you are, Lockhart! Just a motherfucker!” Raquelle’s gaze gets much icier and more contemptuous. “I have felt you are not what you pretend to be since the first day! And now everybody can make sure that I see people through! Realize that you are actually a fucking rat! We’ve finally caught you in crime!”
“Please, don’t think so badly about me…” Edward begs with pity in his eyes. “You know that…”
“She is absolutely right!” Terrence stops coldly. “We got a betrayer, who planned to do his dirty things!”
“Terrence, please, don’t think of everything I said. I swear I said that in anger, and I don’t actually think so badly about you.”
“You know, I could close my eyes to the insults towards me and try to make it a joke by force. But I’m not ready to forget that for some reason. First, a wish to robe us and get all of our money. And second, I don’t let anyone insult Raquelle. The way you just insulted her is out of the limit. And you, motherfucker, will pay for it.”
“But I will not accept the fact that you insulted Terrence for nothing,” Raquelle adds quietly, looking at Edward contemptuously. “Your friend did nothing bad for you to treat him like this. He accepted you with open arms, but you, scumbag, did betray him.”
“Wait, guys…” Edward tries to take a word excitedly in a shaking voice, as his eyes keep scarily running from one side to another, and his hands constantly touch some parts of his face. “You got it wrong… Lemme explain everything…”
“Stop pretending to be an innocent lamb, bastard!” Terrence shouts loudly, tightly clenching his hands into fists. “How could you do it to us? We did accept you with pleasure, but you, thankless pig, turned your ass on us! You had us wrapped around your finger and pretended to be a good guy, who allegedly loved his family!”
“It’s not the truth, I swear!” Edward shakes his head with pity in his eyes. “I love my family and have always been true to everybody.”
“Don’t make me furious, fucking rat!” Terrence hisses with evil in his eyes. “Your show is over, Edward Lockhart! Of course, if it’s really your name. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a different one.”
“What?” Edward opens his eyes widely, feeling how his heart misses a beat.
“Now we know what a scum you really are! The scum that wants to rob us and stop being ashamed of being a beggar.”
“But I don’t…”
“Were you really communicating with us just for money?” Raquelle wonders. “Did you think we’d help you get richer by, for example, getting you involved in the show business? Yes, you didn’t show that you dreamed about it! But when you realized we wouldn’t move a finger for you, you decided to get the money of your father and uncle and destroy us to the fuck! To take everything we earned by hard work!”
“Nope, don’t think so badly about me,” Edward begs, shaking his head and looking at Raquelle and Terrence with pity in his eyes. “You got it wrong…”
“I can’t believe I’ve been so close to the betrayer all this time,” Terrence says disappointedly. “I was deceived by the person, who was pretending to be good until now. But I, idiot, believed him truly! I defended him when someone tried to say something bad about him! I tried to whitewash him! And what did I eventually get? Thanklessness! Disappointment and pain! I was the fuck used!”
“I’ve never betrayed you, Terrence! I’ve always done my best to become the one you could always count on.”
“After what I heard, the friendship between us is no longer possible. You disappointed me very much, Edward. And I will never forgive you. If money is more important to you than your family, I’m not ready to take it. You confessed that you wanted to get all the money and the company and become a rich and powerful man. To prove to everyone that you aren’t an empty shell, but a sassy guy that could close anyone’s mouth with a bag of dollars.”
“I only want to get what Father bequeathed to me! Uncle Michael has no right to anything from what he stole! Everything he is using belonged to Father! But I’m not ready to accept that one jealous bastard is a robber! He must give everything in and pay for his tricks!”
“Tell these stories to other naive idiots, who don’t know what a greedy rat you are,” Raquelle says coldly. “You know, now I understand why you didn’t show a wish to reject the inheritance of your father. You used your favorite way and quickly changed the subject. And I started to think you did all of that for your own interests, not our protection.”
“I told you it wouldn’t help because Uncle…”
“Enough, Edward!” Terrence cuts off sharply and loudly. “Take off your fucking mask of innocence and stop pretending to be good! Maybe, you appeased us when you told us about Michael and naively assumed you threw off suspicion. But after what Raquelle and I heard during your fight with Natalia, our trust in you is lost. Now, whatever you say, none of us will believe your words. Natalia doesn’t have to explain anything and turn us against you because we’ve heard enough and made our conclusions.”
“It’s Rochester, she’s the one to blame!” Edward excuses himself desperately. “Natalia got me so excited that I lost my temple and stopped watching my mouth! She did make me say what I’m really regretting! I… I was never so wild… The friend of yours and Raquelle brought me to this!”
“Don’t dare to blame Natalia for something!” Raquelle shouts irritably. “I won’t let you insult my friend! And Terrence and I are truly grateful to her for revealing you and proving that we got a scumbag among us. Of course, I’m sorry it didn’t happen before, but I think it’s not too late to get off the enemy, who wants us to die. It’s never too late to know who you really know and why you imposed yourself on my fiancé so hard.”
“I can’t believe this is how you dare to treat your…” Terrence hesitantly glances at Natalia. “Girlfriend?! I’m really surprised that she hasn’t left you after what happened! If Rochester stays with such a nasty bastard like you, she doesn’t have pride and self-respect.”
“Actually, we…” Natalia pronounces hesitantly, quietly for the first time after the fight.
“Oh, you began to speak again!” Edward throws rudely, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’d better be silent, bitch! When your mouth is locked, you look better!”
“That’s good Raquelle and Terrence heard everything, and I won’t have to explain why they must piss you off. Finally, they know everything about the stinker, who betrayed his close people and is going to steal their money. However, he also betrayed me. I can easily tell them what you did to me, and why you made me hate you to death! To give better proof of the fact that you’re a shameless bastard!”
“So, are you finally gonna explain why you and I broke up? Finally confess how I got you caught in the hugs of an ugly man, but you refused to tell me the truth?”
Terrence and Raquelle look at each other with widely open eyes and then stare at Natalia, who swallows up nervously and inclines her head, as if she is silently confirming that Edward’s words are true.
“Erm, what?” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly, frowning slightly. “You… Broke up?”
“One month ago,” Natalia confirms, embracing herself with her arms.
“But why?” Terrence wonders. “Does this stinker tell us the truth? Did you really cheat on him?”
Natalia says nothing and just sniffs quietly, barely holding down tears that are rolling over her cheeks.
“Ha, you doubt?” Edward simpers, crossing his arms over his chest. “Raquelle and you have always known this gal changes men like gloves. You, Cameron, literally knew all of her admirers! And Ms. Rochester herself has never hidden that she has lots of candidates for her lovers. This idiot confessed it some time later after we met, but said it so beautifully. She wasn’t kind of the one to hang on men’s necks, and they couldn’t appreciate this cutie highly and see her wonderful and innocent soul.”
“Yeah, how would you prove it?” Raquelle asks. “How do you prove that Natalia cheated on you? That you don’t try to slander her and get off her after you realized you wouldn’t get her money! Maybe, you were attracted to her only because of money and some benefit?”
“I don't have proof,” Edward replies confidently. “But your friend is supposed to have them. I left something at her home because of my stupidity. But I’m sure she got rid of it a long time ago not to get ashamed and be judged for fucking men when being in a relationship. But I swear, if I had it, I’d have the pleasure to show you and Terrence what you dear Natalia can do.”
“Do you think we’ll believe this bullshit?” Terrence smirks contemptuously. “I repeat, after what we heard, we lost our trust in you. I think you just wanted to leave the poor girl and thought of nothing better than blaming her for cheating and saying she allegedly slept with other men.”
“It’s true…” Natalia makes herself say by force in a shaking voice. “I… Really… Cheated…”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, which was provoked by the shocking confession of the white and crying Natalia.
“Natalia?” Raquelle and Terrence open their eyes widely, staring at Natalia surprisingly.
“But why?” Raquelle wonders. “Why did you do it?”
“Natalia, don’t cover this scumbag!” Terrence shakes his head. “He’s trying to slander you, but you agree with him so easily.”
“No, Terrence, I’m not lying…” Natalia makes a quiet sob. “Your friend is right… And… He saw me… Hugging… Another man…”
“Oh, finally!” Edward exclaims loudly, rolling his eyes. “I’ve gotten the confession of cheating out of you! It took one month to find the courage!”
“Damn, Natalia, how could you do it?” Terrence gets horrified. “You were in a relationship! With a stinker, but still…”
“It happened accidentally…” Natalia excuses herself in a shaking voice, looking at Terrence and Raquelle with pity in her wet eyes. “I lost my mind… Erm… A little bit of alcohol made me resist less… I… I didn’t think it would happen… That man… He… Was too… Persi… Charming…”
“Is that why you were silent?” Raquelle wonders. “Were you afraid to confess you cheated? Did you think we’d judge you?”
“You even went to our dinner and tried to pretend that everything was okay between you,” Terrence adds. “I don’t understand why. Why did you do it?”
“It was his idea,” Natalia replies quietly, pointing at Edward. “He made me go to that dinner and pretend that nothing happened. But I didn’t wanna see him at all and would’ve agreed to have dinner with you and Raquelle if this man hadn’t been with us.”
“What?” Terrence moves his eyes full of evil to Edward. “So, you, scumbag, decided to perform a whole show! You thought we’d notice nothing!”
“I did nothing bad,” Edward says insolently with his head proudly raised. “I just wanted to kick your friend for the betrayer and make her suffer. So, I made this pathetic actress pretend to be an innocent lamb and keep being a sweet angel that you and your fiancée always knew.”
“Teach? What would you have gotten? Since Natalia decided to cheat on you, she was unhappy with something about you! You didn’t give enough attention, reproached her, insulted, humiliated… There might be lots of reasons!”
“Now you see what kind of friend you have! I wouldn’t be surprised if she betrayed you, Raquelle, or Anna. Wouldn’t be slandered, as Simon Ringer did it to get her to fight with your fiancée. Would really go against you for her interests. This bitch would easily betray her friends and end her friendship with them.”
“You’re the only one to be ready to sacrifice your friendship and the love of your family,” Raquelle says coldly and confidently. “As my friend cheated, something wasn’t right. I don’t know how much you made Natalia suffer, but I’m sure the reason was serious. Because lovers don’t break up so easily.”
“Ask her,” Edward throws rudely and glances at Natalia. “C’mon, Rochester, tell your friends why you the fuck decided to cheat on me! And what I did to make you start to look for men and fuck them!”
“Yeah?” Natalia rounds her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest, setting her contemptuous gaze at Edward. “Maybe, you tell them about your tricks! I’d love to hear how many gals you have fucked up after our breakup! Or maybe during our relationship… How many dirty sluts have been in your bed and left you unsatisfied? I guess none of your mops fits your high claims and great egoism. Everybody has run away after the first night of love.”
“Now I will be looking for good girls with pleasure. I’ll be getting the best one that will not be a reject, who has been used many times. She may not be a virgin, but she has no right to think of lying in bed with another man. I will not date and especially marry a local whore that literally the whole of New York has fucked.”
“Hey, watch your words, rat!” Terrence throws sharply. “I won’t let you insult Natalia in my own house, with my pretense. I do demand to show respect for her and not to call her like this.”
“Oh, wow, you’re defending your friend, too!” Edward wonders and hums with a crooked smile. “Come on, MacClife! Maybe, you ask her to tell you how she had sex with an ugly guy when she was in a relationship? How many times she had been fucked up before she met me. And how many men have run away from her. You are probably the only one not to be on her list. She didn’t manage to charm you because Raquelle grabbed you earlier.”
“Why are you aggressive, Edward?” Terrence shakes his head. “Why do you hate her so much and take it out on her? Yes, cheating is terrible and unforgivable, you’re right at least about it. But going down to these insults is too much!”
“You were the same, remember. Sorting out nothing, you went insane and believed that Raquelle cheated on you and had mental issues. You became a potential patient from a mental hospital. And now, when everybody forgot it, you’re pretending to be holy and saying what is right, and what is wrong. You aren’t the one to be able to give pieces of advice, Terrence. Better be silent and don’t open your mouth.”
“I don’t recognize you, friend… You tried to be a good and kind guy, who wouldn’t hurt a fly. But you’ve become a non-educated scumbag. Is this the result of a lack of your father’s attention? Maybe, you would’ve been different if he had loved you a little. But since you got nothing but insults, humiliations, and charges for being worthless, you eventually turned into an evil stinker that is slowly but rightly taking after him and Uncle.”
“No…” Edward shakes his head sharply with a scare in his eyes. “I don’t hate you, Terrence… And you, Raquelle… I hate only Uncle Michael for depriving me of Father and stealing everything from him. And I hate Natalia for her betrayal.”
“Of course! I heard everything you said about me!”
“Please, don’t think such terrible things of me.” Edward swallows up nervously. “Maybe, I have shortcomings, but I’m not such a shameless scumbag as you think.”
“Yeah, but you secretly say bad things about us!” Raquelle notices coldly. “How much you said when you thought we heard nothing.”
“I said it in anger! That’s not what I think of you! You’re my friends! My close friends!”
“You know, even if Terrence and I had been in our room, we would’ve heard both of you. Because you were screaming so loudly that our servants probably also heard that you began to go wild.”
“You know well that you could say and do a lot in anger and regret it later,” Edward says with pity in his eyes.
“You know, the fact that you were looking for Terrence and suddenly came into his life so suddenly always seemed strange to me. And how amazingly easy you got Natalia’s trust. You probably quickly realized you’d easily play with her and used her naivety and the fact that she began to fall in love with you. And when you finally reached your goal, you decided to do the possible and the impossible to get as much money as possible. You're terribly jealous of Terrence because he has much more money and a more wonderful condition of life than you do. He's earned so much money that he can no longer work. And you weren't terribly pleased with it.”
“You don't know what I've had to overcome, and how I've always lived. You don't know what it’s like to wander around the city with a bag of stuff as you don’t have a home, have to ask someone to accept you and feed you and not have a chance to buy anything. To have to choose one from two things. Either a black t-shirt or a white t-shirt. Spend a few dollars on fun or save money for something you've wanted to buy for ages. You'll never get it because you have everything. Even if your grandfather wasn't rich, he gave you the last thing he had to make you happy. And for me, nobody was ready to sacrifice just something. Father would've never given me the last two dollars if it had been his last money. He would've preferred keeping them with him.”
“Don’t pity us,” Raquelle says crossly. “And yeah, it’s strange that you refused to live at the home of your father, who solved his problems thanks to your stepmother. Or were you sure that the woman would deprive your father of everything and kick him out someday? After she got sick of the fact that he often met your mother! You saw no benefit?”
“If you were instead of me, you would say different things. You would’ve stayed in a small town with your grandfather if your manager hadn’t noticed you and offered you a job. Thanks to her, you have everything I can only dream about. You may fear no loneliness and have no worries about your future, ‘cause you depend on nobody and can provide for yourself. But everything is otherwise in my case. I can’t have literally everything. I’m a beggar! Homeless! I can’t earn the fuck money for a good life.”
“Ha, so, should we feel sorry for you, cry over your unhappy life, and give you some money?” Terrence sneers contemptuously. “Free of charge! Or actually reject everything we have! So, you own the wealth?”
“I wouldn’t refuse!”
“Huh, keep dreaming, pal! I will not refuse what I have earned by MYSELF and help such an egoistic and insolent man like you. Did you naively think I’d provide for the strange idler that dreams of bunches of dollars but does nothing to earn more than one hundred or one hundred and twenty dollars?”
“Yeah, but you are proving for your mother because she doesn’t work. Why am I worse?”
“Why should I let you live on my account? Who are the fuck you? Brother, brother-in-law, son, nephew?”
“Would you not borrow me some money if I asked you about it?”
“Not you, scumbag! And even if you’re now living in her house, it doesn’t mean I would help you with money, too. But if she knows her younger son became a cad, she will turn her back on you. She’ll give you no cent if you come and ask her about it. I mean, you will get nothing anyway because I shall ban her from giving you MY money. If you want money – find a job. Instead of wandering in the city, doing nothing and believing I’d help you, or your uncle would be pleased to share something with you.”
“Calm down, buddy, I will ask you or your fiancée about nothing. Because I need nothing from you. And I won’t take anything from Mrs. MacClife. And if you don’t like the fact that I’d eat what was bought by your mother on your money, don’t worry, I will eat nothing.”
“Oh, thanks a lot, you did me a fucking favor!” Terrence hums contemptuously, rolling his eyes. “It would be much better if you got out of that house that I bought for MY MOTHER on MY OWN money. I give a fuck about the fact that you’ve got no place to go. I do not want you to use what will never belong to you.”
“You shouldn't wait for it, buddy,” Natalia throws gloomily, crossing her arms over her chest. “This scumbag will go nowhere. I guess you noticed what kind of jealousy he had when admiring the beauty of your house and Mrs. MacClife’s one. He hoped he’d live in one of them someday. So, Lockhart got what he wanted, and now you could hardly get him out by kicks. Rejecting a chance to feel like a king by living at someone’s house is a sin.”
“Close your fucking mouth, whore!” Edward throws rudely, sharply moving his eyes to Natalia. “Nobody asked you anything! So, be silent!”
“Don’t dare to insult her!” Raquelle shouts irritably.
“Don’t pay attention, Raquelle, explaining something to this greedy rat with a high self-rating is worthless,” Natalia says in a low voice. “Moving a sheep off your way is easier than making MacClife understand what a nasty and greedy bastard he is.”
“Don’t snap at me, blondie!” Edward hisses with evil in his eyes, threatening Natalia with a finger. “You don’t know what I can do! If you make me enraged, you will have to regret messing with me. I, bitch, shall make you beg for mercy!”
“Don’t dare to do anything to her!” Terrence threatens with inflated nostrils from evil.
“Or what?” Edward wonders, looking at Terrence with his head proudly raised. “You will beat me? Come on, show me how you are defending your friend! This fucking nymphomaniac that can’t get fucked by men enough!”
“I swear, Edward, if you hurt Natalia and dare to insult or raise a hand at her, I won’t be responsible for my actions,” Raquelle says confidently, crossing her arms over her chest. “And I give a fuck about being a girl that may be weaker. I won’t let you hurt my close people!”
“Oh, see how brave our Raquelle is!” Edward quietly claps his hands with an evil smile. “Sorry, my darling, I thought you were the same coward as your best friend. That’s what a feminine solidary is! You cover her adventures so hard and don’t wanna confess that this girl is a slut that terribly lacks sex and attacks anyone she meets like a dog, begging him to marry her or at least fuck her and bring her to orgasm.”
“Close your fucking mouth!” Raquelle shouts, tightly clenching her hands into fists and getting literally red from anger. “Don’t dare to hurt my friend! You are not worth even her nail! I am even glad she left the nasty bastard, who got insane from a wish to get the money of his family.”
“Feel free, Cameron, slap me!” Edward throws his hands aside. “Do it right now! Your friend found the courage to slap me. So, why don’t you try? Come on, Raquelle, hit me!”
“And would you slap her back?” Natalia wonders coldly. “I’d better slap you in your insolent face a couple of more times again! And I would get some pleasure!”
“If you, bitch, touch me with a finger, I won’t be responsible for myself! Because of you, I have already done and said much. I don’t want to make everything worse.”
“Ha, you’ve already made these two hate you!” Natalia smirks evilly. “Vice versa, I helped them reveal you and told them what a nasty bastard you were. And they won’t dare to say I’m a liar.”
“For me, you will always be a liar!” Edward throws rudely. “An insolent and false slut that belongs to a local whorehouse! As well as your friend, who is defending you so hard not because she loves you so much, but because she is also one of those people and had been in a bed of many men before she decided to marry her beloved psycho.”
“Do not make me enraged, Edward!” Terrence says irritably, tightly clenching his hands into fists and tensing all his muscles, as the mist of anger descends in his eyes. “You do know that I may easily get nuts, and the one to dare to make me lose temple will regret being born. You can say anything about me. But do not dare. Hear me, scumbag, do not dare to pronounce at least one bad word about these two girls in MY OWN HOUSE! GOT IT, YOU, BRAINLESS DOG?”
“Ha, would you slap your friend?” Edward smirks evilly.
“Since the friend betrayed me, is ready to prefer much money over it, and dares to say such terrible things about two innocent girls, I will beat your face with pleasure. And if you, asshole, keep behaving like a fucking scumbag, I will break our connection and never speak to you again. Besides, I wanted to get off you a long time ago, since the day the pal of Uncle attacked me and exactly said you were tightly connected with him. Your reveal would’ve happened much earlier, but I had no time to invite you here and demand explanations. But I’m madly glad it actually happened, and now I know who we should blame for what happened to Raquelle, Natalia, and me.”
“Don’t dare to touch me with a finger, bastard,” Edward throws coldly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Or I will destroy your house on purpose to the fuck and will not pay moral damage.”
“How do you dare to talk to me like this, fucking kid? I SEE YOU BECAME TOO SASSY! While nobody knew about your plans, you were quiet, shy, and innocent. But when you were revealed, you got brave and became a non-educated asshole!”
“There’s someone to learn from!”
“Hey, kid, close your fucking mouth! Or you will ask for trouble.”
“Don’t threaten me, MacClife.”
“Bravo, Edward!” Terrence claps his hands loudly. “Well done, you played a role of a benefactor well! I’m sorry you weren’t true. All your words and gestures were totally false. It’s clear you forgot I was an actor and could easily recognize an act. Through, you were so talented at acting that any idiot would’ve guessed you lied.”
“And you dare to call me a liar,” Natalia throws gloomily. “You have nobody the fuck knows how many secrets. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not everything we know. Damn, you have no right to judge false people while you aren’t open at all. Now we could just be laughing at your hate for any lie because you don’t give an example to everybody.”
“Don’t meddle in this business, hysterical girl!” Edward throws loudly and irritably, sharply moving his contemptuous gaze full of hate and evil to Natalia. “Nobody asked you about anything!”
“Who is a hysterical girl!” Natalia shouts, rolling her eyes. “You’re screaming so loudly that you’re probably heard by the servants in the house and the nearest neighborhood. They’re thinking, ‘Who’s screaming so loudly at Terrence and Raquelle’s house?’ Well, the friend of MacClife just got nuts and obsessed with what will never belong to him! Of course, I knew money could make a person worse, but I didn’t think it would turn someone into such a rotted rat that chokes with poison and may die from jealousy and hate.”
“You’re talking too much again. Do you want me to slap you and pull your hair out? I promise, Rochester, I will do it if you don’t shut up now!”
“Don’t dare!” Terrence and Raquelle pronounce at the same time.
“Yeah, but what would change?” Natalia hums with her eyes rolled up. “You will always be a nasty, shabby puppy for me. And I will keep wishing all your plans of getting the money of your family were doomed to fail, and you stayed in your underwear outside, becoming an unwanted visitor at the home of your relatives.”
“Yeah… I doubt you’ll get smarter if someone slapped you in the face very strongly. Or you’d lose the rest of your brains you have in your blonde head.”
“You didn’t get smarter after my slap, but vice versa, you got much stupider. And wild!”
“Shut up, bitch!”
“Listen, Lockhart, didn’t a dog bite you when you were walking somewhere in the city? What if it was infected with rabies? What if you must be isolated from people not to make everyone the same psyches?”
“I’d like to know who infected you with nymphomania. Or have you had hypersexuality since you were born? Did your career as a professional slut start at the age when good girls played dolls?”
“SHUT UP, ASSHOLE, OR YOU WILL REGRET IT!” Natalia screams at the top of her lungs, sharply wiping off tears under her eyes.
“If you’re screaming, you know I’m right.”
“I wish something happened and made you wish to shoot at your forehead! Believe me, nobody will be sorry if you die or are put in prison and are rotting there until the end of your life in the best case! Because betrayers, who want to destroy innocent people for their own interests, must be punished severely!”
“Stop threatening for nothing, coward! You better wash your insolent face well. You look ugly with your running mascara. But a prostitute must always look beautiful to catch some idiots caught in her webs, so they get a crush on your beauty and want to fuck you.”
Natalia, literally getting red from anger, runs to Edward with inflated nostrils and a heavy breath and almost gives him a second slap in the face. But he shortly grabs her hand and, holding her by the hair painfully, rudely pushes her to the sofa, on which she falls with a loud cry. Then the furious man showing his contemptuous smirk squeezes the girl’s throat strongly with his hands. She keeps screaming, tries to get out of his strong grip, and protects herself with painful hits on his legs and arms. Her heart starts beating much faster from fear, and her widely open eyes full of horror are looking at the one she loved some time ago.
When Edward attacks Natalia, Raquelle and Terrence run to them to take the girl far from this man. When MacClife barely makes the furious Lockhart let Natalia go and takes him aside by force, Raquelle shortly ends up near her crying friend, sits on the sofa, presses her to herself tightly, and caresses her head. The blonde snuggles her nose in the shoulder of Terrence’s fiancée and starts crying bitterly and embracing her tightly, starting to shake strongly and letting her emotions go out.
Edward himself, being less able to think and control his words and actions, tries to get out of Terrence’s grip with loud growls. But his friend does not let him do it and tries to take him as far as possible by force. From hopelessness, Lockhart attacks his friend with fists and tries to slap him in the face, but that one resists him so hard. Their hand-on-hand fight continues for a few seconds before Edward wants to do something to Natalia crying on Raquelle’s shoulder. However, Terrence immediately prevents this attempt, sharply pushing him away from the girls, twisting his arms around the back and holding them tight, while his friend unsuccessfully tries to get out of his grip.
“Get your fucking hands off me!” Edward screams at the top of his lungs.
“I won’t let you attack her!” Terrence exclaims loudly. “Leave the girl the fuck alone! STOP RUINING HER LIFE AND MAKING HER CONDITION WORSE!”
“HA, HERE’S THE PROTECTOR!” Edward hums contemptuously, unsuccessfully trying to get out of Terrence’s grip again. “THIS PROSTITUTE DID CONFESS THAT SHE CHEATED, BUT YOU AND YOUR FIANCÉE ARE DEFENDING HER SO HARD!”
“So, you are guilty of making her do that! And I’m very glad Natalia no longer dates you. She deserves a more decent man. Not a greedy and egoistic bastard!”
“When you were beating Raquelle, everybody thought the same about you. Did you forget you had a dark past? Even darker than mine!”
“You don’t have to do with my past!” Terrence throws rudely, pulling Edward down sharply when he tries to set free his hands twisted around the back and held tightly. “And my future is going to be excellent! But nothing good will happen to you. You were a beggar in ripped underwear and will always be the one.”
“We will see it! What if you end up in your underwear outside, but I get a chance for a NORMAL life and stop having to count every cent!”
“Your father made the wrong choice by deciding to give you his money and the rights to his company.”
“Father always wanted to see ME his successor and was getting me ready for that. And I do really regret not starting to learn from him. But on the contrary, it’s never too late to learn everything I need to know. For much money, I will do anything and learn much to meet the expectations that were put on me.”
“You are too brainless and talentless to rule the big company,” Terrence smirks contemptuously. “After you rule it for one week, it will be bankrupted to the fuck. And you will lose the money that you wanted to get.”
“Yeah, you wouldn’t have brains to rule it! You can only be screaming and waving your hands like a sick, hysterical girl. It’s amazing you haven’t been banned from communicating with people. You haven’t received a document about your mental issues.”
“It seems like you, scumbag, forgot I have very many familiar people, thanks to whom I can put you in prison and you in a mental hospital, proving that you have serious mental issues.” Terrence grabs Edward sharply by the hair, standing behind him and tightly holding his second hand, which his friend tries to set free. “Unlike me, you are a little thing that can do nothing. But I’m more powerful than you and have the respect of people in the show business. So, I advise you to shut up and FINALLY CALM DOWN! OR YOU WILL BE DEAD!”
“YOU SHUT UP, IDIOT! You are not my mother or father to tell me what to do!”
“But I AM OLDER!”
“Huh, two years only!” Edward throws coldly, rolling his eyes and humming loudly. “Your word is not a law to me!”
Edward strongly hits Terrence on his ankle with a leg and pushes him off rudely himself, while his friend slightly winces from the pain. The gazes of the friends, which they throw at each other later, are full of hate and contempt, they are literally tearing from anger, and every single muscle is very tense.
“But if you like ordering so much, you better control your fiancée and make her dance attendance upon you,” Edward adds rudely.
“What an asshole you are, Edward…” Terrence says coldly but quietly with a heavy breath. “I didn’t think you’d be the rotted and shameless son of a bitch, who hates his own family. I didn’t expect this from you. You disappointed me a lot… And you will surely make Mother feel ashamed of calling you a son.”
“It doesn’t threaten you because you’ve always been a beloved boy of yours,” Edward smirks contemptuously. “Even when you’re obsessed with aggression and act like a psycho.”
“I’ve got many shortcomings, but I’d never betray my close people for money and wealth.”
“You’d sell your soul for people to start to pronounce you God. It’s much more important to you. You can’t live without compliments. It’s some kind of dependence!”
“I know it’s hard to confess the truth, but you’ll have to. You are not the only one to have the right to tell the truth and say everything you think of something. I would’ve told you everything I thought of you, but Natalia did me a favor and found the words that described my thoughts very well.”
“Keep believing this prostitute, Terrence, keep doing. And you can keep pretending to be an innocent lamb that actually has a too high self-rating.”
“Oh, c’mon!”
“What? Don’t you stare in all mirrors when you see your reflection? You probably imagine yourself instead of Raquelle when you’re having sex! Because even such a sexy girl can’t outdo you!”
“Yeah, I think you’re really too horny if you care about sex so much.”
“I don’t know who made you puff up your tail like this, but you aren’t as sassy, irresistible, and attractive as you think. And I hope your disgusting character won't be bequeathed by your future children.”
“I wish yours didn’t become the same bastards as you are! Of course, if you have them. At first, you should find a desperate girl, who will agree to be with you, get pregnant, carry your child, and give birth. But knowing what a nasty rat you are, I don’t doubt that you will probably not have children. Unless you fuck a whore when being drunk.”
“It’s none of your business! But I will be looking for a good girl. Who would not betray me as meanly as Ms. Rochester. And I will become a father only if I’m officially married. When I have a child, I will do my best to raise him or her a good person and not to let him or her become something like a hysterical guy named Terrence.”
“And the children of Terrence and me will not become the same insolent and shameless bastards as their uncle Edward is!” Raquelle meddles, still trying to comfort Natalia crying bitterly. “We will do our best to prevent it as early as possible.”
“We will see, Raquelle, we will,” Edward replies quietly. “But don’t hope Terrence and you will live together forever. If you have one more scandal, or your fiancé meets another gal, you will really break up.”
“Keep dreaming about it, bastard!”
“You’ll never be happy! You won’t be together and won’t get love for another person. So, you will not have a beloved person or children. Unless you drink to the fuck at a party and find someone you could fuck.”
“Isn’t it time to shorten your tongue, shabby puppy?” Raquelle asks rudely. “You’re talking too much and have become too insolent! If you need a good kicking to bring the rest of your brains back, you will get it!”
“Listen, girl, you better shut up and calm this crying whore down. Don’t meddle in what you don’t have to do with.”
“Close your mouth, bastard!” Terrence throws rudely in a low voice. “Or I, motherfucker, will personally cut your tongue!”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you cheated on my friend with a rich sugar daddy that would help you keep building your career. Or try to work on something new. For example, acting, singing, or writing… I don’t know who’d need your worthless talents, but your sugar daddies wouldn’t care about it. They need only your money and incredible sex to provide you with a job for life!”
Raquelle widely opens her mouth and opens her eyes, not hiding that she is resentful and barely holding down not to attack Edward with fists. Terrence sharply runs to his friend with a heavy breath and inflated nostrils and hits him in the jaw. So strongly with a fist that Edward almost falls on the floor, holding by the sofa and immediately feeling the taste of blood in his mouth and mild pain. While Lockhart has not come to himself, Terrence gives him a couple of more strong hits with a leg in his stomach and another one on his spine. Then the man grabs his friend wincing from pain by the collar, makes him get up sharply, and shakes him strongly, setting his icy gaze into his eyes full of evil.
“Listen, you, little bastard, if I hear these words from you, I swear, you will the fuck regret being born,” Terrence hisses through his teeth. “I SWEAR I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MYSELF! YOU GOT IT, SHABBY PUPPY?”
“STOP SCREAMING!” Edward gets enraged. “I AM NOT DEAF!”
“Homeless, penniless and workless… But you’re so arrogant, as if you work for the government of the country!”
“Anything is possible,” Edward smirks evilly.
“Keep dreaming! Remember, asshole, you are nobody! Absolutely nobody! Just a piece of shit that must bow at me and do anything I say!”
“Wrong, friend! I only need to mention that I am a friend of Terrence MacClife and Raquelle Cameron, all doors will be open for me.” Edward raises his head proudly raised. “If I really want, I will easily get into the show business and take your place on the throne.”
“But I can do my best for everybody to run when barely seeing you. Your fate partly depends on me. Because I can make your life better or do my best for anyone in your way to hate and despise you.”
“Fuck off, you, freak!” Edward strongly pushes Terrence off himself, gnashing his teeth and tightly clenching his hands into fists with a heavy breath and tension in every part of his body. “And stop pretending to be holy! Don’t forget what happened a few months ago. You have no right to tell me what to do when you’ve made tons of mistakes.”
“IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, BASTARD!”
“But you know, Terrence, I’m not sorry for you. I am not sorry you’ve had too many problems lately. You deserved it! You deserved to drown in this shit!”
“Don’t make me wild, asshole! OR I WILL BEAT YOUR FACE RIGHT NOW! I WILL BEAT YOU SO HARD THAT YOU WILL BARELY BE CREEPING!”
“COME ON, TRY!” Edward pushes Terrence rudely off himself and throws his hands aside. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, COWARD? COME ON, SHOW WHAT A PSYCHO YOU ARE! C’MON, HYSTERICAL GIRL, COME ON!”
Giving a damn that Edward is his friend and being deeply insulted by what he just heard, Terrence slaps him in the face as strongly as possible. That’s why the man sharply turns aside and energetically rubs the burning cheek that got two slaps. Edward does not waste time, sharply running to Terrence and giving the same strong slap to him. MacClife does not lose balance, but turns aside and sharply grabs his cheek. After this, Lockhart gives him a strong hit with a fist in his temple, after which the man falls on the floor like a stone, grabbing his head with mild pain. But Terrence, breathing like a furious buffalo, gets up quickly and pushes Edward so strongly that his friend falls over the back of the sofa and then falls from it onto the floor.
“No, stop it!” Raquelle gets horrified loudly. “Terrence, don’t do this! Don't fight with him! I’m begging you!”
But Raquelle’s shouts stay unheard. Edward does not lie on the floor for too long, gets up quickly, and then, breathing heavily and making a quiet growl, runs to Terrence, and gives him a strong hit in the jaw and the abdomen with a fist. That’s why he doubles over with a twisted face from the burning pain. However, MacClife comes to himself very quickly and strikes his friend down the floor without problems. Then he starts to beat his friend hard with his legs while standing for a few seconds, and then does it with his hands and fists when lying over him. Lockhart does not leave it unnoticed, answering with the same strong hits and slaps and pulling Terrence’s hair painfully.
Being horrified, Raquelle and Natalia do not even want to try to meddle in the fight between the furious Terrence and Edward, who got on well some time ago. The girls scream loudly at every single hit and every single slap and want it to end as soon as possible. But it seems that the most terrible things are waiting for them because the friends tightly grabbed each other with their legs and hands and give very painful hits, trying to strike the opponent down the floor and beat him enough.
“My God, they’re gonna kill each other!” Natalia shouts, watching Edward and Terrence with tears in her eyes.
“I know, but we can do nothing!” Raquelle replies excitedly, grabbing her hair with her hands. “They won’t pity us if we try to break them up!”
“But we’ve gotta do something! Edward went nuts and could easily make Terrence disabled! Who could also bring him to a hospital!”
“Terrence, please, stop!” Raquelle begs loudly, getting horrified when watching Terrence cruelly beating Edward, giving him painful hits on the face and the whole body, and skillfully turns aside when his friend tries to answer him not less cruelly. “TERRENCE, STOP!”
“NO, STOP!” Natalia screams at the top of her lungs with dumbfounded eyes, closing her mouth with her hands, when Edward strikes Terrence down the floor with a loud growl and a contemptuous green on his face and gives him a few painful hits on his face and stomach with a fist. “ENOUGH! STOP IT NOW!”
“Oh, gosh, gosh, gosh…” Raquelle starts nervously walking through the whole living room, keeping her hand on her forehead. “It might last for a very long time! But there are no men that could break them up!”
“While they come here, these two will be lying on the floor half-dead and bleeding! Look what they are DO-O-O-O…” Natalia makes another loud shout when Terrence hits Edward in the jaw so strongly with a fist that his friend falls on the floor like a stone, hitting the back of his head against the back of the sofa, feeling mild pain and understanding everything goes black before his eyes for a few moments. “TERRENCE, PLEASE, STOP! YOU MIGHT KILL HIM!”
“Terrence, please, leave him alone!” Raquelle begs loudly, tightly grabbing her hair. “STOP! ENOUGH!”
However, Terrence and Edward do not hear the defeating shouts of Raquelle and Natalia and keep sorting out their relationship with fists. At some moment, they get up and keep fighting on their feet, using all techniques and sparing no hands for painful hits on the face of the offender. The furious Edward has no regrets when giving Terrence strong hits on the jaw, head, arms, stomach, and even some places on the back, and strongly hits him on the abdomen and groin with his knees. However, Terrence also literally turns off his feelings with his bloodshot eyes. He becomes a senseless machine and makes himself forget that he is beating his own friend. Whose throat he squeezes strongly severe times. Whose head he hits against all corners of the furniture. Every one of them impacts the weakest places and painful areas, thanks to which they can play some time and beat the opponent with anger in their eyes.
“My gosh, when will they stop?” Natalia gets horrified, making quiet sobs at times when seeing Terrence strongly twisting Edward’s arm, as if he is trying to break it, and showing his contemptuous sneer when hearing him screaming from pain. “They got blood on their faces! And if they keep doing this, they will have to be put in a hospital with damages and bruises!”
“I don’t know, Natalia, I don’t!” Raquelle exclaims excitedly, breathing heavily and putting her hands on her hips. “If they don’t stop it, I’ll go to the bathroom, take a bucket of icy water and splash it over them. Maybe, it would finally calm them down!”
“NO!” Natalia makes a loud shout when Edward, strongly grabbing Terrence by the hair, gives him a very strong hit on the nose with a fist, after which his friend falls on the table, which is placed near the sofa, falls on the floor under the weight of him, and tears apart. “STOP, EDWARD, STOP!”
“ENOUGH! STOP SCREAMING LIKE CRAZY! THE NEIGHBORS WILL CALL THE POLICE, AND YOU TWO WILL BE TAKEN TO A POLICE STATION!”
However, Edward and Terrence are so obsessed with a wish to beat each other strongly that they stop hearing and seeing everything but their goal. They got so excited that it would be very hard for them to stop. And the fact that there are no men, who would break them up, is very good for them. So, Terrence gives Edward another strong hit in the jaw and groin with his bloodshot eyes and slaps him in the face a couple of times. Lockhart hits the knee of his friend with a leg, squeezes his throat strongly, and gives him a hit on the small of the back after he turns his back on him. Terrence screams from pain, but does not notice it due to his obsession with evil and the adrenaline in his blood. Breathing heavily enough, he finds a good moment with a heavy breath and applies a chokehold on Edward, squeezing his throat with an arm and holding his friend in a stranglehold, while the man tries to get loose and gives him painful hits.
“So, you got it, motherfucker?” Terrence asks rudely with evil in his eyes. “Did you think you’d get off it easily? You did not! Get what you were asking for a long time!”
Edward would say something, but Terrence squeezes his throat so strongly that he spends his energy getting out of the grip and catching some air that he especially lacks due to a heavy breath.
“It’s clear someone can explain something to you only with fists!” Terrence adds much ruder. “But it’s alright, I have enough energy. I will beat you so hard that you will fear getting closer to me. You’ll understand me shortly.”
Edward shouts loudly from pain when Terrence twists his arms strongly.
“A pathetic, shabby puppy,” Terrence hisses through his teeth. “I will never forgive you for what you did to all of us! Scumbag! GET IT!”
Terrence pushes Edward sharply so that the man, coughing loudly, falls to the floor. Then he gives him a strong hit right on the stomach with a leg, seeing he is not able to breathe for a moment. And then MacClife hits his friend with fists on different parts of the body that hurts strongly several times. It’s happening along with the loud shouts of Raquelle and Natalia, who start to think these two will probably never stop beating each other.
But at some moment, Lockhart grabs his friend’s leg and sharply pulls him down. That’s why that one falls on the floor like a stone, putting his weight on one of his arms, the elbow of which starts hurting much after the hit against the tile. Edward uses it, starting beating Terrence on the face much harder, places his leg over his chest, and gives a hit on his nose with it, showing his furious sneer when seeing his friend screaming and wincing from the pain. By this moment, they got tracks of blood on the corners of their mouths, and they will definitely get very many bruises on the whole hurt body.
Some time later, Terrence feels he got a little tired after such a cruel fight. He sharply strikes Edward down on the floor, gets up quickly, and hits him on the stomach, face, and back several times with his legs. He sees that the guy and him lost his energy to fight and is lying on the floor with a heavy breath with tracks of blood on his face and not almost moving because any little movement gives him a strong pain. MacClife breathing heavily clenches his hands tightly into fists and feeling his hurt body is very tense so far, looks at him for a few seconds with evil in his eyes and inflated nostrils. And he is not sorry about beating his own friend cruelly.
Terrence’s black hair is tousled and does not look as good as it did before. His arms and legs hurt much after many hits, and his head is tearing after many attempts to pull his hair out and hits on it. There are red tracks on the corners of his mouth, and a thin line of bright blood is flowing out of his nose. His clothes are covered with dirt that was on the floor after someone walked into the living room in outside shoes for some time. His plaid shirt got ripped in some places, and there are ripped marks on his jeans. However, the man does not care about his look. He is obsessed with evil for Edward, who is lying on the floor beaten, moaning quietly, and wincing from the pain in his whole body.
Raquelle finds the courage to come to Terrence and takes him aside. At some moment, she focused her attention on the friends and did not notice that Natalia suddenly disappears and runs to the side of the bathroom with tears in her eyes.
“Hey, hey, Terrence, stop, calm down!” Raquelle demands. “You’ve beaten him too much!”
“He must become DISABLED!” Terrence exclaims loudly, sharply waving a hand. “It would be much better if he actually died!”
“For God's sake, Terrence…”
“I hate this jackass, I HATE! What this scumbag got is not enough! CURSE HIM! I WISH HE BURNT IN HELL!”
“Please, stop! Killing him in anger would be too much!”
“I would kill this bastard with pleasure! Maybe, Michael would be grateful to me. This motherfucker wouldn’t POISON OUR LIFE!”
“Edward might make you disabled or actually kill you! Look at him! He is not adequate! He’d feel no sorry if he stabbed someone!”
“Sorry, Raquelle, but this stinker was asking for trouble for too long,” Terrence replies coldly, fixing his hair and the sleeves of his plaid shirt. “And finally, I got better and beat this scumbag well. He will hardly get something, but I do feel way better.”
“Fuck, I knew it wouldn’t end well!”
“It will not end well for HIM! I will surely report this scumbag and his uncle, so they do away from them and put them in prison where they’d learn something. I SHALL USE MY CONTACTS AND BRING THIS LITTLE BASTARD TO PRISON, SO HE STAYS THERE UNTIL HE DIES!”
“Calm down, honey, calm down…”
While Raquelle caresses Terrence’s back softly and tries to calm him down somehow, and he fixes his hair and ripped clothes, Edward comes to himself quite quickly. He makes himself get up on his feet by force, shakes off the dust, and pulls down his t-shirt, feeling a strong pain in his whole body. His hair is tousled, his standing fridge has lost its form, and now its strands cover his forehead. His arms and legs hurt strongly, and his abdomen literally burns as well as his face after many hits with fists and strong slaps. After the fight, some things in the living room are damaged, broken, and lying on the floor. For example, the table placed near the sofa is destroyed due to the weight of the masculine body, and some part of little things are broken so that they must be thrown off.
“FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!” Edward screams in a hoarse voice with evil in his eyes. “SCUMBAG! YOU, JACKASS, WILL PAY ME FOR IT! I WILL BEAT YOUR INSOLENT FACE AGAIN!”
“AND I WILL BEAT YOU AGAIN WITH PLEASURE!” Terrence throws loudly and rudely.
“YOU CAN TRY! BUT YOU WILL BE DEAD NEXT TIME!”
“I SWEAR, I WILL THE FUCK DESTROY YOU! I SHALL DO MY BEST FOR YOU TO WISH TO DIE AT YOUR WISH!”
“STOP SHOWING OFF, BASTARD! YOU CAN ONLY SCREAM LIKE A PSYCHOPATH, WAVE YOUR HANDS AND THREATEN!”
“Yeah, aren’t you screaming like a psycho?” Raquelle asks loudly. “A mental hospital does cry over you! Such a sick motherfucker that must get therapy!”
“I have said many times I am usually quiet and discreet, and making me lose my temple is hard. But if someone does it, I won’t hold myself down. Your fiancé managed to make me wild and got what he deserved!”
“Excuse yourself, Edward, excuse! We no longer believe you’re really so discreet! You’ve shown the real side of yourself. And we don’t doubt you are the same nasty psycho, who is obsessed with money and jealousy, as your uncle is. One the same piece, as they say!”
“Don’t pretend this peacock doesn’t relate to us. You know well that he is a nasty bastard, who can lose his temple after any word. Just like a girl that’s told she’s fat or ugly, and who is ready to kill anyone for these words. So, Terrence is as hysterical as a gal with PMS is and refuses to go to the doctor and struggles with his uncontrolled aggression.”
“Fuck, if only someone sewed your, bastard, mouth!” Terrence hisses through his teeth, clenching his hands tightly into fists. “If what I did to you is not enough, I can kick you again. But this time, you will barely be able to leave on your knees.”
“Don’t dare to touch me again, fucking dog,” Edward says rudely, threatening Terrence with a finger. “Or I will make you so ugly that you will have to forget about an acting career and a career as a musician. Your band is about to break up, but if you become ugly, you will lose any chances to make your dreams come true. Because girls don’t get wet in front of you.”
“You were told to shut up!” Raquelle throws coldly, literally killing Edward with her contemptuous gaze.
“Don’t meddle, Cameron!”
“Remember, Lockhart, if you hurt Terrence, I will betray you to the police and tell them about all your tricks. I won’t wait for him or your uncle to do it!”
“Keep defending your beloved man, Raquelle, keep doing,” Edward says with evil in his eyes. “But going to the police doesn’t make sense because Uncle Michael will destroy you anyway. So, I do not advise you to come there. Or you will die earlier than you should.”
“You will not get our wealth anyway!” Terrence says rudely. “Do not even hope to become rich by robbing us and owning OUR wealth that we were earning for a LONG TIME!”
“YOU CAN CHOKE! But you don’t have very much time to live! Early or late, Uncle will kill you and your beloved Natalia! That brainless nymphomaniac, who attacks anyone, who gets excited by her! So, tell her parents that they will have to save money for her funeral soon.”
“If you say at least one word about my friend, you, scumbag, will have to pay for it,” Raquelle hisses with evil in her eyes, tensing all her muscles. “I SWEAR, EDWARD! YOU WILL REGRET BEING BORN!”
“Better go to wipe off her tears!” Edward throws rudely. “She can only be crying! That hysterical, brainless chicken cries all day long and complains about her unhappy fate and being the fuck unlucky in love!”
“You can forget her forever,” Terrence says in a rude, low voice. “From now on, you will not come to her. Raquelle and I will be protecting her from a nasty asshole like you. She will only be with the one, who DESERVES it! And when her parents are back in the city, we will immediately tell them about you and make them take cruel measures to protect their daughter from the betrayal.”
“Let’s see how long you’ll stand her!” Edward exclaims coldly, rolling his eyes with an evil sneer. “You will get sick of that hysterical girl very soon! Someday, Natalia will annoy you so much with her hysterics that you will leave her! And she does deserve it! I hope everybody will turn her back on Rochester if she is so egoistic towards those, who waste their fucking time on her.”
“I wish you were hated and cursed!” Raquelle wishes rudely. “And I hope you will wish to grab a pistol and shoot yourself after recognizing all your mistakes.”
“I will never regret it! Telling you all the truth, beating the face of my psycho friend, and revealing that pathetic whore from a whorehouse where she dances in her underwear in front of men. I’m not afraid to tell the truth, even if someone does not want to hear bad things about themselves or someone else. If a gal is a slut, nobody can deny it and whitewash the one that spreads debauchery and casual sex.”
“DON’T DARE TO CALL HER LIKE THIS!” Raquelle screams at the top of her lungs. “Before you insult, judge, and humiliate someone, you better look at yourself! As if you are kind of holy and innocent, but people around you are freaks, stinkers, horndogs, and whores!”
“I didn’t think the people around me would be like this. Looking at your friend, I was so blinded by her beauty that I didn’t notice she was a nasty slut that could not appreciate the one she dated. She terribly wants to get married, but does not want to be loyal and stop hanging out with men.”
Breathing heavily enough, Raquelle gives Edward a very strong slap in the face, after which he grabs his burning cheek.
“I said, DO NOT DARE TO SAY THESE THINGS ABOUT HER!” Raquelle screams with evil in her eyes, setting her icy gaze into Edward’s bloodshot eyes. “MAYBE, I AM A GIRL, BUT I WOULD HAVE ENOUGH STRENGTH TO BEAT YOU NOT WEAKER THAN TERRENCE DID!”
“M-m-m, that’s how you are defending your friend,” Edward laughs evilly. “You did forget you called her like this? Or did you recall that you were the same? And did you decide to defend her?”
“Close your mouth, bastard…”
“What? Solidarity is good! One whore is for another whore! I’m not surprised!”
Raquelle wants to attack Edward with her fists in anger. But after slapping the man in the face two times and getting to pull him by the hair strongly, Terrence comes to the girl and takes her far from his furious friend by force, being afraid he might do something to her.
“SHUT UP, FUCKING DEADBEAT!” Raquelle screams, trying to get out of Terrence’s strong grip. “I WILL NOT LET YOU INSULT ME AND MY FRIEND! AS IF YOU ARE INNOCENT AND MUST BE PRAISED TO THE SKIES!”
“Who should be done – you?” Edward smirks contemptuously. “Or this idiot, who you should watch better? Or someday he will get nuts again and hit you much harder than he did the last time!”
“Better watch yourself, jealous bastard!” Terrence shouts with evil. “If you wanted to get us enraged, congratulations – you did it! I dreamed of dealing with you since I was attacked by a friend of your uncle. But when his five men were chasing Raquelle and me in a car, we had to experience what still makes our hair stand! Because of that fucking race and having to run, Cameron had a panic attack. I was never as confused as I was when trying to wake her up. After that event, I began to hate you much more and swore that you would pay me for what happened to us.”
“I bet you started that race and made Raquelle feel those emotions,” Edward sneers contemptuously, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m right when you say you are a psycho, with whom it’s dangerous to be. Sometimes you don’t use your brain, and you firstly do something but then think better.”
“Ha, at least, I do think, but you do turn off your brains when you do and say something,” Terrence cries loudly. “But I doubt you actually have them! Your brains are turned on robbing your family, owning the money and the company of Father, and getting Uncle’s wealth.”
“People are wrong when they consider me a stupid idiot. Maybe, I didn’t graduate from school, but I have enough brain and patience to learn what I need and rule the company that will belong to me very soon. I shall make Father’s wish come true and become its owner.”
“You can only dream about it.” Terrence embraces Raquelle tighter, while she stops getting loose and just keeps looking at Edward contemptuously. “Even if Uncle lets you work at the company, he will give you the most disgusting and lower-paid job. No matter how hard you lick his ass, that man will hardly let you become the boss so easily, or at least his deputy.”
“We will see it! Maybe, I will make the company successful and be getting a great income and profits. You will be jealous of me and my success when I rule the successful shipbuilding firm, and you have no chance to become a musician due to the band’s breakup. And nobody needs you as an actor.”
“I can only laugh loudly at you, being sure you had only shabby underwear and will always have it.”
“Keep laughing, Terrence. I shall see what you, Raquelle, and your beloved Natalia will do when it’s time to pay for everything and meet Uncle Michael face-to-face. You will have no wish to laugh when you have a few seconds before your death.”
“My God, your parents were supposed to reject such a cad as you shortly after your birth!” Raquelle exclaims. “I am more than sure that they saw your rotten soul through. And they always regretted not doing what was right.”
“My mother already has a beloved older sonny, and my father actually made a lot of children! They didn’t have time to think about me! I doubt that my mother thought about me and tried to see me after my father took me away from her. EVERYONE GIVES A FUCK ABOUT ME! IF I DIE, NOBODY WILL CARE! BECAUSE I WAS FUCKING BORN ACCIDENTALLY!”
“Alright, I’m sick of listening to your bullshit and your wild shouts!” Terrence throws rudely. “Take your things and get out of my home!”
Terrence points at the door and screams at the top of his lungs:
“GET OUT OF THIS HOME, BASTARD! AND NEVER COME BACK HERE! FORGET OUR NUMBERS AND THIS ADDRESS! FROM NOW ON, YOU ARE OUR UNWANTED VISITOR THAT WILL BE KICKED OUT TO THE FUCK THE NEXT TIME!”
“Yeah, Lockhart, get out of here!” Raquelle demands coldly. “And you will do us a favor if you leave our lives and the life of Natalia. Which had been much better before we met you.”
“With pleasure!” Edward exclaims, rolling his eyes and snuffing with his hands raised up. “I am sick of being in this house with two psyches that are worth each other. I thought we’d talk quietly, but you brought that whore Natalia, and she made me furious with her shouts.”
“GET OUT OF HERE, BASTARD!” Terrence screams at the top of his lungs, steps back from Raquelle, runs to Edward sharply, and starts to threaten him with a finger. “OR I WILL PERSONALLY KICK YOU OUT BY THE COLLAR!”
“STOP SCREAMING!” Edward shouts with his widely open eyes. “I BECAME DEAF FROM YOUR WILD SHOUTS! I HAVE A HEADACHE! BEING MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES WITH YOU IS IMPOSSIBLE!”
“GET OUT, I SAID!” Terrence gives Edward a very strong slap in the face, tightly squeezes his throat, and sets his furious gaze into his eyes. “From this moment on, you will not get closer to the territory of MY house! I will tell the security not to let you go here and will allow them to call the police if you try to come here by force. You will ask for trouble, bastard! YOU WILL DIE SOONER THAN MICHAEL KILLS YOU”
“And don’t dare to come to Natalia!” Raquelle adds coldly. “If you come to her and give her pain, you will have to pay a great cost for it. And all these slaps and bruises will be just the beginning of your nightmare.”
“You heard everything? And now get out of here! GET OUT, I SAY!”
“I will leave with pleasure!” Edward replies insolently. “And lastly, here’s my last word!”
Edward smashes his fist strongly against Terrence’s jaw. That’s why the man loses his balance with intense pain in his mouth and falls to the floor. After sending a contemptuous gaze full of hate to his older friend, Lockhart goes a few steps back, while Raquelle comes to her fiancé, helps him get up, and then hugs him tightly.
“No need to get me out, I know where the door is,” Edward says coldly. “Go to comfort your hysterical Natalia. I promise, I will delete all your numbers and addresses. And when Uncle deals with you, I will not remember about my family, which treats me so disgustingly.”
Edward sharply turns around and goes to the exit, feeling mild pain in one of his arms and one of the legs that he twisted badly during the fight. But lastly, the man turns on Terrence and Raquelle, who are looking at him with contempt in their eyes and embracing each other tightly.
“Goodbye forever after!” Edward says goodbye loudly, sharply waving his hands. “Don’t get exhausted when comforting Ms. Rochester.”
Edward comes to the door as quickly as a bullet, opens it, goes out, and sharply slams it so that all the windows in the living room almost get crushed. After this, Raquelle and Terrence exhale with relief and step away from each other, being happy this nightmare is finally over. The lovers feel emptied, exhausted, and upset because everything ended so horribly.
“Oh, thank God!” Raquelle moans quietly, putting her hand on her forehead. “I thought this nightmare would never end.”
“You knew I didn’t want it,” Terrence replies quietly. “I was mad at him because of his secrets. But I didn’t think I’d be fighting with him because he turned out to be a motherfucker.”
“Of course, Edward seemed suspicious from the beginning. But I wouldn’t have thought he’d be such a bastard. That would be ready to exchange us for money.”
“His greed and jealousy of the fact that my life is good, but his life is not are the reason for that,” Terrence falls on the sofa powerlessly, raising his head. “We must’ve not believed him when he was happy with being a homeless beggar. He was not pleased with this life. That man wanted to change it by killing us along with Uncle and taking what we’ve earned by ourselves.”
“Anyway, I’m happy that we’ve revealed him…” Raquelle sits on the sofa next to Terrence. “That we’ve found out who he is.”
“No, I’m sure that it’s not everything. That kid is definitely hiding something else. Besides, we haven’t gotten the information about my younger brother out of him.”
“To be honest, I always forget about it. About having to find your brother.”
“Oh, I don’t know if I actually need it. What if he also turns out to be an asshole that would love to use me if he knows that I’m rich, famous, and all-favorite?”
“Anything may happen, honey.”
“Oh…” Terrence exhales slowly. “I can’t believe that I had a rat by my side all this time. Lockhart turned out to be a greedy and mean man, who decided to become rich on our account.”
“Yeah… We all accepted him with open arms and gave him a chance to prove that our suspicions were groundless. We were happy with the new friend… But that man betrayed us and decided to rob and kill us insolently.”
“Likely, his father should’ve kicked that stinker much more and educated him better. Maybe, if he’d taught him how to work in the company, this man would’ve been doing his business. But since he’s a brainless idler, he thought of nothing better than finding a rich girl or robbing someone from his rich relatives.”
“Edward is the only one to blame. He shouldn’t have missed school and run away from his father, who could’ve provided him with a good future. And it’s clear he doesn’t rush to find a good job, but looks for a one-sided job to pretend that nobody wants to admit him. You can always go to work as a seller or a consultant at a store or a café. We have tons of jobs that you can get without experience or education. You just need to open a newspaper or the Internet and find it. Besides, even teenagers can work here. I remember I worked at one small café during my school holidays.”
“He didn’t do it because he was sure he’ll get the money of his uncle and father.”
“Yeah, he was pretending to be an innocent lamb.”
“Fucking bastard…” Terrence doubles over and squeezes the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly. “I’ll never forgive him for betraying me. And from now on, I will no longer call him my friend. I had been much happier before I heard about that man.”
“I completely understand you, honey.” Raquelle softly hugs Terrence around the shoulders and presses her closely to him. “Because I don’t also have the wish to forget what he said about me… About you… About Natalia… About all of us…”
“Huh, it would’ve been okay if he’d showered me with dirt. But that stinker did decide to insult you and your friend. He said what made me wish to strangle him with my own hands. At first, I wanted to believe it wasn’t true, but his disgusting behavior made me understand I shouldn’t have defended that scumbag and said he was fluffy and puffy.”
“I hope the boomerang effect will work on him someday, and he will suffer from what he wished us. Natalia was right when wishing him to regret his acts to the wish to shoot himself. And I wanna believe Edward will pay for the bad things he's done to us. And… He won’t become a reason for our misfortunes because of some… Curse…”
“No, sweetie!” Terrence gets sharply straight and caresses Raquelle’s cheek. “If you think his words will change something or curse us, it won’t happen! I’ve always said, while you and I are together, we can overcome any difficulties. And Edward will not tear us apart. To make him angry, we will be together and deal with him and Michael if he’s also guilty of what’s happening.”
“I’d like to believe you, but I hardly can do…” Raquelle sighs heavily with sadness in her eyes, moving her eyes down. “We’ve got too many problems lately… No day is quiet… Before yesterday, we were chased by those men. Yesterday, Peter tried to kill himself. And today, we revealed Edward and watched his fight with Natalia, which helped us find out they broke up. What will happen tomorrow?”
“It won’t last forever. Someday everything will be over, and we will live our former lives.”
“I’d like to believe you…” Raquelle replies, leaning her head back. “But it seems like we won’t have a calm at the nearest time.”
“Don’t lose hope, honey.” Terrence hugs Raquelle around the shoulders and kisses her cutely on the temple, putting her head on his shoulder. “The story of Simon Ringer ended. So, the story of Edward and Michael Lockhart will also end.”
“Do you think they’re accomplices? Or is Edward wishing to rob him, as well?”
“I don’t know and don’t want to know. I don’t care about what will happen to him, and I do not want to talk about him anymore if it’s possible from now. He could even get attacked again and stabbed to death – I will not even move my eyebrow. I’m gonna specify that I don’t wish him to die, but I will not suffer and keep mourning. If he dies, I’ll feel better.”
“Unpleasant, but fair.”
“You know that I didn’t even think about it. But I have no choice. Edward decided his fate – so, let him live his life.”
“But what about your mother? She’ll have to know what a stinker he actually is early or late.”
“As for Mother, I will talk to her on the phone later. And I will go to her home only when that rat gets out somewhere.”
“You’ll have to tell her about the fight with that man. Mrs. MacClife would suspect something bad if she knew you didn’t wanna see Edward. Who was your close friend recently.”
“I’ll tell her the truth. Maybe, I won’t mention something not to get her shocked, but I’m not gonna pretend I know nothing. If Edward doesn’t tell her the truth, I will do it. But Mother will surely wish to know the details and talk to me about this situation.”
“So, you know better…” Raquelle shrugs. “Anyway, I’m ready to confirm your words and make her sure that we don’t lie.”
“Thanks, sweetheart,” Terrence kisses Raquelle cutely on her temple and caresses her head tenderly. “And I’m sorry if I scared you when I began to fight with that betrayer.”
“I won’t deny I got scared, but someone should’ve washed his brains.” Raquelle caresses Terrence’s cheek softly and moves carefully off a little line of blood under his eyes with a finger. “But he beat you strongly… You’ve got blood under your nose and on the corners of your mouth.”
“Yeah, he has a tough hand, my whole body hurts…” Terrence winces slightly and glances at his plaid shirt and jeans. “Fuck, that bastard ripped my shirt… It costed much… And jeans got ripped spots…”
“Maybe, I can do something, at least to the shirt? Let me take a look?” Raquelle quickly examines Terrence’s shirt and smiles a few seconds later, being sure there is no reason to panic. “Don’t worry, I think I can fix it. It will look like it was just bought in a shop.”
“You think I don’t have to throw it off?”
“Of course, no! Just leave it to me when you wanna change your clothes, and I’ll quickly sew the ripped places up.”
“Thanks a lot, Raquelle,” Terrence hugs Raquelle with a slight smile. “You’re just a gem.”
“The important thing is that you're safe,” Raquelle smiles slightly. “That idiot could’ve easily made you disabled… Seeing how strong his hits were…”
“Don’t worry about me, I can stand up for myself and won’t become an object for beating.”
“I know. Anyway, you’re a fine fellow.”
“Nice to hear it.”
Raquelle hugs Terrence tenderly with a slight smile, putting her arms around his neck, and keeps her head on his shoulder. He softly runs his hand over her back and finds the strength to truly smile. Silence settles in the air for two or three seconds, after which the man glances at the watch hanging in the living room.
“Oh, shit, I’ll need to go to the hospital soon,” Terrence moans quietly. “But I wanna do nothing now. I feel so emptied.”
“But you’ll have to,” Raquelle notices quietly. “Or those girls and Daniel will believe you don’t care about Peter.”
“Yeah, that’s why I shall make myself do it.”
“Hey, you haven’t said when you will go.”
“I don’t know yet. I will come to myself a little and call Daniel. We were told we could come after lunchtime, but they didn’t say when. So, we will go somewhere after four or five hours.”
“Alright…”
Raquelle nods and thinks about something, setting her gaze into the distance and saying nothing for a few seconds. And then Terrence looks around and frowns slightly.
“Listen, did Natalia leave home?” Terrence asks.
“Natalia?” Raquelle asks surprisingly, looks around the living room, and frowns slightly. “It’s strange… She was here… At least, she was with me during the fight… But at some moment, I forgot about her and… I didn’t see her anymore…”
“So, she left during the fight or after…”
“Yeah, but could she leave so that none of us noticed it?” Raquelle quickly gets up from the sofa and starts to walk through the whole living room.
“We could be so busy with a talk with Mr. Lockhart that we didn’t notice she left,” Terrence assumes, also getting up from the sofa and starting to look around. “It seems like she got terribly frightened by that psychopath and went as far as possible not to stand in his way.”
“Erm… Nope… I don’t think she left… Natalia may still be here…”
“Here?” Terrence frowns slightly and comes to Raquelle quickly. “Why do you think so?”
“Her purse and phone are on the coffee table. Look!” Raquelle points at the table in front of the sofa, on which Natalia’s brown purse and golden smartphone are placed. “She put the purse here when she came. I remember it.”
“So, she’s still here. I guess we should check the whole house and ask the servants if they saw her. What if she went to him and is hiding with them.”
“No… It seems like I know where she may be…”
“Know?”
“In the bathroom,” Raquelle falls into silence for two seconds. “Natalia fell into a strong hysteria after Edward almost killed her. It’s clear she had a nervous breakdown ‘cause she couldn’t stop crying. She kind of got loose after such a long silence.”
“You think she…”
“Let’s go there… If only she didn’t do anything to her!”
Deciding to expect no reaction from Terrence, Raquelle quickly goes to the bathroom, where Natalia is supposed to be, in her opinion. The man follows the girl two seconds later, but somewhere in the middle of the way, he hears a sudden phone call from the wired phone, which he decides to answer, believing it might be important.
***
And Raquelle is right because Natalia is really in the bathroom, sitting on the cold floor, and choking with tears. Such a serious fight with Edward became the last drop of her patience. The girl broke down and can no longer hide her emotions that she tried to control not to get nuts much earlier. At the bottom of her heart, she understands she needs someone to support and listen to her. After what happened, she got much more obsessed with a wish to kill herself. Natalia literally chokes with tears and can say no word, feeling very bad morally and psychically. Her mascara keeps running down her face and makes her beautiful but little thin face worse. But she does not care about it and gets it over her face when trying to wipe off her tears. Moreover, the blonde feels a strong weakness in her body and can barely stand on her feet. So, that’s why she is sitting on the floor and has not gotten up since she came here.
Choking with heavy tears, shaking strongly, and feeling her whole body is tense, Natalia feels like a little, helpless girl, who does not know what to do in a hard, unfamiliar situation. And she clearly knows she no longer wants to see Edward, under the pressure of who she confessed she cheated. She does not care that she still loves him. Her offense is way stronger than the tender love that gave her so much pain and suffering. However, it’s not a very hard thing to do…
Natalia is sitting on the white tile floor for some time, leaning on her knees with her face, making loud sobs, and leaning on the glossy light blue tile. In the bathroom, there is a big white bath, a sink, a mirror, a few closets for shampoo, balsams, and other face, body, and hair stuff, and two or three halogen lamps on the ceiling that light up this place when the light is turned on. But now it’s light in the daylight because a small window, from which it’s possible to see nothing but thin and luxurious trees, lights up this place.
But then the girl, crying bitterly and shaking from fear or a too great shock, hears the unlocked door open but does not move her eyes up and keeps hiding her face in her hands and making loud sobs. Raquelle shows up on the doorstep, rounds her eyes, and closes her mouth with a hand, getting horrified by the appearance of her exhausted, terribly white friend. She hesitates for two seconds, but then comes in the bathroom confidently and gets down on her knees in front of the blonde.
“Natalia, honey…” Raquelle whispers with horror in her eyes, presses the crying Natalia to herself, and hugs her tightly, caressing her head and back softly. “It’s okay, friend, don’t cry…”
“I can’t…” Natalia pronounces in a shaking voice, tightly hugging Raquelle as if she does not want her to go. “I can’t, Raquelle… I feel bad…”
“Calm down, sweetheart, it’s okay.”
“Don’t leave me, Raquelle…” Natalia grabs Raquelle’s denim waistcoat with her hands and snuggles her face on her friend’s shoulder. “Please, don’t leave me alone… I don’t wanna stay alone… I feel so bad… Hard…”
“Don’t worry, sweetie, I’m with you,” Raquelle replies softly, caressing the head of the crying and shaking Natalia. “I won’t leave you, whatever people say. I promise…”
“I feel so bad…” Natalia steps back from Raquelle and looks at her with red, tear-stained eyes. “I can’t live like this… I can’t…”
“You’re a strong girl, you can get over it. And your closest people will be by your side. I promise, we will help you. Even if you don’t wanna accept our help.”
“It’s all hopeless… Too… I… I wanna die…” Natalia takes Raquelle’s hands tightly. “I wanna die, Raquelle… I have no meaning to live… I wanna die…”
“My God, what are you talking about?” Raquelle gets horrified, rounding her eyes and feeling her heart stops for a second. “No! No, Natalia, no! Don’t even dare to think about it!”
“Why do I live in this world? Why do I hope and expect something? Nothing good will happen in my life anymore!”
“Natalia, I’m begging you, stop scaring me so much!” Raquelle softly takes Natalia by the shoulders with horror in her eyes and shakes her slightly, looking into her tear-strained, red eyes. “Did you think we would be devastated if we lost you? How many people would grieve! How many of them would miss you!”
“Nobody will care about me,” Natalia pronounces in a shaking voice, making a quiet sob. “Everybody wants to stop wasting their time on me… They… Will better do their business!”
“No, don’t say that!” Raquelle softly grabs Natalia’s face and sets her wet gaze full of pity into her eyes. “Everybody is worried about you and wanna help you. I’m one of them!”
“Don’t do, you better let me go insane and kill myself.” Natalia makes a quiet sob again, moving her scared eyes to Raquelle. “It will be better for all of you. Why would you waste time on a girl that gives people nothing good?”
“Natalia, please, stop saying these things!” Raquelle begs with pity in her eyes. “You have your parents. You have your friends, who won’t leave you alone and will always support you. Now you say it because you tried to struggle with your problems alone and kept all these things inside. I swear, I’m aware of what that is. I know what your wish to keep your emotions and feelings inside will lead to.”
“Who’s the fuck supporting me!” Natalia exclaims a little louder, with despair, starting to cry much more bitterly and not being able to calm down. “Nobody needs me! And you will give a fuck about me soon… And Terrence, and Anna, and everybody, everybody, everybody…”
“No, no, sweetie, don’t say that!” Raquelle shakes her head sharply, still holding Natalia’s face and keeping a gaze into her eyes. “We’ll never leave you alone with your problems. If we didn’t care about what happened to you, we would start doing our business. But we do worry about you and wanna help you.”
“Mother considers me I’m an egoist and refuses to talk to me. And my father began to treat me coldly and hasn’t called me for a few days.”
“Natalia…”
“They don’t love me, Raquelle… My parents gave a fuck about an egoist like me… I’m the one to blame for everything and pushed everybody, who wanted to help me.”
“If you explain everything to your parents and ask them not to be mad at you, they’ll start speaking to you again. And even if your mother and father don’t call you, it doesn’t mean they don’t care. At heart, they love you anyway. And they’re trying to guess what could happen to you.”
“No, Raquelle, they’re disappointed in me,” Natalia says in a shaking voice. “I’m a bad daughter. Mother and Father swear at themselves for agreeing to give me anything, letting me live like a princess, and not making me earn money and work hard all day long.”
“Natalia, please, forget everything that stinker Edward told you. If he considers you so terrible, it doesn’t mean others must think in the same way.”
“No, no, no, NO, NO!” Natalia shakes her head sharply, shaking much stronger from mentioning the name of the hateful Edward, embraces Raquelle tightly, and snuggles the nose in her shoulder. “Don’t mention this name with my pretense! I don’t wanna hear it! Don’t want! Don’t want! DON’T WANT! I don’t wish to hear the name of that scumbag! May that fucking cretin die and burn in hell! I hate him! HATE!”
“Quiet, quiet, friend, don’t scream,” Raquelle says quietly and softly, caressing Natalia’s back. “I promise I won’t mention his name anymore. He will never cross the doorstep of our house. And Terrence and I will be doing our best for him not to get closer to you. Today was the last day you talked to him. If he dares to come and especially insult you again, he will have to pay much.”
“Is that why you didn’t wanna let me in the house?” Natalia makes a sob. “I understood it when I saw that cad in the living room!”
“Yeah, but I was afraid to kick you out and let you in with a heavy heart. But I swear, Natalia, if I had known it would lead to such terrible consequences, I would’ve never let you do it.”
“But why didn’t you tell me he was here? I would’ve gotten it and left!”
“Forgive me, honey, I know I’m guilty of you,” Raquelle apologizes with pity in her eyes and steps back from Natalia. “I should’ve insisted that Terrence stayed with you in the living room. Everything would’ve been otherwise…”
“You aren’t guilty, sweetie, don’t blame yourself,” Natalia sobs again. “I am the one to blame… If I wasn’t an idiot, I wouldn’t have messed up everything. Although Lockhart is a bastard, he’s right… The way he treats me is fair… I deserve it…”
“No, no, Natalia, don’t say that!” Raquelle carefully moves a strand of Natalia’s hair off her face that get into her eyes. “Get everything he said out of your mind! Edward is a scumbag! The scumbag that came into our lives to take a dump like a non-educated dog and then leave, excuse me, turds. I felt he’d give us problems, but I couldn’t prove my suspicions.”
“I was deceived like a stupid, naive idiot… My kindness was used… Of course, I met scumbags and real stinkers. But that rat outdid everybody. Nobody spitted at me the way he did…”
“I know forgetting that is hard, but you should do it. Your world doesn’t go around him. Someday, you won’t even remember the time you spent with him.”
“But he seemed such a sweet and good guy that wouldn’t hurt a fly. But he is actually a real asshole, who betrayed me and the others: you, Terrence, his mother, his father… I don’t doubt that his father is ashamed of his son so badly. If he’s really dead, he’s probably ashamed of what that bastard is doing. He’s covering his tricks with kind thoughts and a wish to restore justice. Ha! He wants money! HE WANTS TO ROB HIS FAMILY AND BECOME RICH!”
“We get it, don’t explain it. And now I’m asking you to brace yourself, stop crying and calm down. You look so bad that I’m scared for you.”
“But I feel very bad,” Natalia replies without emotions in a very shaking voice. “I don’t have the wish to live… A wish to do something… Eat, drink, breathe… Everything! I don’t know why I exist, and what holds me here. I feel like I’m on edge. And I can’t take it all…”
“I completely get it, but please, don’t give up. You must be strong. You’ve always been! Tell yourself you must put yourself together for your close friends. You must live for those, who love you. Not suffer and die for those, who think of themselves and hate literally the whole world. Don’t forget you have loving parents… Lots of wonderful friends: Terrence, Anna, me… And Daniel and Peter have always treated you well. I’m sure Rose would care about you if he was healthy. And Perkins often talks to Anna about you and wonders how you’re doing. We are ready to help you. Just ask about it. Give us a sign.”
“You can’t help me,” Natalia shakes her head, wiping off tears under her eyes, and getting the mascara over her face. “None of you will do something, even if you really want it. My situation is absolutely hopeless!”
“You can find a solution for any situation, even if you don’t see it. Or at least share your problems with us. I don’t ask you to explain why you cheated and broke up with that stinker. But at least tell us what happened before your relationship started. You’ve never denied something horrible happened a few months ago. But we still know nothing about it.”
“It’s too hard to explain it… I… I can’t say it…” Natalia shakes her head, not being able to stop this literally endless ocean of tears. “It’s very hard… And… I ain’t allowed… No… No… I can’t…”
“Okay, okay, if you can’t speak now, you’ll explain it later,” Raquelle says quietly. “I won’t be pressing if you aren’t able to talk about what’s probably very hard for you. If you wanna speak, we’ll listen to you. And if you don’t, just know you can always be sure that we won't judge you.”
“All I want is to die…” Natalia replies quietly, makes a sob with a strong shake in her quite tense body. “It’s my only wish…”
“No, Natalia, no!” Raquelle hugs Natalia tightly and presses her to herself, holding on so hard not to start crying. “You hurt me… I’m gonna be crying if you keep saying about a wish to die!”
“Just let me do it…” Natalia whispers with pity in her wet, puffy eyes. “Forget about me and think only of your fiancé and career… It should be more important to you than a pathetic girl that doesn’t deserve to get so much care.”
“Never! Don’t even dare to think about it!” Raquelle softly caresses the crying Natalia’s back, feeling her heart squeezes after every single torturing sob of her friend.
A few seconds later, Terrence comes to the bathroom, sees what’s happening before his eyes, and falls into a stupor, seeing his fiancée unsuccessfully trying to calm the blonde down and barely holding herself down not to fall into hysteria. The man feels his heart squeezing but calms down quickly enough, comes to Raquelle and Natalia, and gets down on his knees next to them.
“Natalia, Raquelle, what’s going on?” Terrence asks excitedly. “What are you sitting here on the cold floor?”
“Damn, where have you been?” Raquelle wonders in a whisper, still caressing the head of the shaking and crying Natalia. “I thought you followed me!”
“I’ll explain it later.” Terrence glances at Natalia. “It doesn’t make sense now…”
“I didn’t think the aftermath would be so horrible.”
“Me too… She looks too bad… So white, shaking strongly and crying bitterly…”
“She has hysteria, Terrence,” Raquelle says excitedly. “I don’t know what to do… I can’t calm her down. And she began to say she literally wanna die. Maybe, you try to find words to calm her down?”
Terrence nods with sadness in his eyes, puts his hand on Natalia’s shoulder, and caresses it softly, while Raquelle keeps embracing her friend tightly.
“Natalia, why are you crying?” Terrence asks quietly. “Tell us what’s happening.”
Natalia steps back from Raquelle a little and looks at Terrence with her red, tear-stained, and puffy from tears eyes before she says in a shaking voice:
“I feel very bad, Terrence… I’m sick of taking it all… I’ve been getting tortured for too long and can’t take this anymore…”
“If you mean Edward, he’ll no longer cross the doorstep of this house. Raquelle and I just kicked him out and won’t let him come to you.”
“No, no, NO, PLEASE!” Natalia screams with despair, shaking her head sharply. “I NO LONGER WANT TO HEAR THIS FUCKING NAME! DO NOT WANT! DON’T CALL IT WITH MY PRETENSE!”
“Sorry, sorry, I will no longer mention his name,” Terrence promises softly, caressing Natalia’s back. “Because I don’t wish to hear and see that scum.”
“Scumbag… Bastard! FUCKING ASSHOLE! I HATE HIM! MAY HE BE CURSED! MAY HE DIE AND BURN IN HELL! I WISH HIS PLAN WAS RUINED TO THE FUCK, AND HE DREAMED OF SHOOTING AT HIS EMPTY HEAD!”
“Hey, hey, quiet, friend, don’t scream,” Terrence takes Natalia’s hands softly and caresses them. “I completely understand that you feel hurt, but that stinker isn’t worth your tears.”
“That scumbag wanted me to break down – HE GOT IT! AND I FEEL TERRIBLE! NOBODY NEEDS ME! NASTY! DISGUSTING! EGOISTIC BITCH, WHO EVERYBODY TURNED THEIR BACKS ON!”
“No, don’t say that, nobody turned their back on you! If you want, all your close people will unite and do their best to help you overcome this hard period. And if we don’t help, there are good doctors that will find a way to help you get better.”
“No doctor will help me. BUT THAT NASTY RAT MUST BE PUT IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL, SO HE GETS THERAPY!”
“I’m sure that he will pay for all his tricks, early or late. Be sure, that bastard will go to prison along with his uncle, whose help he wanna use to rob all of us.”
“But it won’t give me calm that I’ve been deprived of nobody the fuck knows for how long! I will never be happy again. Nobody will look at an idiot like me. And if someone gets a crush, it will be another scumbag that needs only a dirty whore for a night, not a permanent relationship or especially a wedding.”
“Natalia, please, put yourself together,” Raquelle begs with despair, taking Natalia by the shoulders and looking at her with wet, widely open eyes. “That man isn’t worth your tears and sufferings. Early or late, you will meet someone, who deserves you. It will surely happen. Don’t fall into despair because you are unlucky with men. If you meet bastards, it doesn’t mean everybody is the same. Among all men, there will be a good one, who will love your soul and who you are. Not a beautiful body and an attractive face.”
“No, I will not… Will not! Will not! NEVER MEET!” Natalia, making loud sobs, closes her face with her hands and bends her legs at her knees while leaning on the cold tills wall with her back.
“No, honey, don’t say that! There are many good people in the world, among whom you will choose the one to give you anything you want.”
“NO! I WILL NEVER FIND THE ONE! WHY WOULD I GET LUCKY NOW? I’VE ALWAYS BEEN A LOSER WHEN THE BUSINESS IS ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE! I THOUGHT I WAS LUCKY, BUT THEN REALIZED I GOT IN TOUCH WITH A SCUMBAG!”
“Listen, Natalia,” Terrence pronounces softly, takes Natalia by the shoulders, and looks into her puffy from tears eyes confidently. “That man isn't really worth suffering. He cares only about money, for which he is ready to betray everybody, who loves him. He dated you just because your parents were provided people. He thought they’d help him become the same. I’m sure that stinker planned everything and knew why he showed love for you.”
“And it’s the worst thing… I was used… But I, idiot, told myself, ‘He doesn’t love you, he uses you for his interests!’” Natalia sniffs loudly. “My God, how brainless I was… Why? Why was I so blind? Why didn’t I realize what I was getting into? Why did someone let me ruin my life?”
“It’s not the end, darling. Raquelle said the right thing: you will meet someone to be the whole world for you and make you forget that rat. Trust me, you deserve the best and will be very happy someday. Just don’t stop believing it.”
“You understand nothing…” Natalia pronounces, breathing heavily and literally choking with tears. “It’s disgusting for me to say it, but I still love him! You see, I LOVE! IT’S MY PUNISHMENT! I’M SUFFERING FROM THE LOVE FOR THE JACKASS THAT USED ME!”
“I completely understand your pain,” Terrence says softly, caressing Natalia’s shoulders. “But you can’t suffer from your love for him forever. Life doesn’t stop after you break up with a boyfriend. Believe me, nothing will change from suffering because of that man. He won’t become good at once. Maybe, that man was born to be good, but life made him a nasty, vindictive, and greedy scumbag that will do anything to reach his goal.”
“I do mean it!” Natalia glances at her hands. “Even if I had done a different thing and had told him what I hid, nothing would’ve been changed. That scumbag would’ve mocked me much more, believing I insolently lied and wanted to get off it.”
“Although it doesn’t make sense, we’d love to hear the truth,” Raquelle confesses. “We’ll listen to you closely and help you accept it. You know that you can always count on our help and support.”
“YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HELP ME!” Natalia screams at the top of her lungs. “NOBODY WILL HELP ME! FOR ME, THE BEST WAY TO SOLVE MY PROBLEMS IS TO DIE! I WANNA THE FUCK DIE! I CAN’T LIVE LIKE THIS ANYMORE!”
“You went insane?” Terrence gets horrified, opening his eyes widely and feeling that he nearly jumps out of his skin, grabs Natalia’s face, and looks into her eyes confidently. “Don’t even dare to think about it! Hear me? Get these things out of your mind! Now!”
“Please, let me die,” Natalia begs in a quiet, shaking voice. “I truly appreciate what you’ve done for me, but you will be able to do nothing because everything is hopeless.”
“No, Natalia!” Terrence cries. “I won’t let you do anything to you. Having one would-be suicide is much – finding you lying in your own blood with open veins would be too much.”
“Do you really wanna make me keep suffering?”
“Maybe, I didn’t prevent Peter’s suicide attempt, but I won’t let you even touch something sharp or take a pack of tablets. You can’t kill yourself because of one nasty bastard, who must burn in hell!”
“I won’t also let you do anything to you!” Raquelle says confidently, caressing Natalia’s hand. “Even if I have to spend twenty-four hours per day with you, I’m ready to do it. I’m not gonna lose my close friend because of one asshole, who doesn’t deserve to be the reason to suffer as if he died.”
“Don’t follow me like a dog,” Natalia says without emotions, shaking her head. “You better solve your problems. I’m sure you’d solve them, but I will hardly get better.”
“Don’t worry, sweetie, our problems won’t stop us from helping you overcome it.” Raquelle takes Natalia’s hands softly. “We’ll be with you ‘till the end and do our best for you to get better and find the strength to forget that asshole and keep living, believing you will be very lucky someday.”
“Don’t sacrifice your free time for the reject. I’m a loser. An ugly, thankless bitch that deserved everything that happened to her.”
“What?” Terrence and Raquelle get horrified loudly with widely open eyes.
“Natalia, do you understand what you’re talking about?” Raquelle wonders. “Who said it to you? Did Lockhart make you think so?”
“If that scumbag really did it, I swear I will kill him earlier than Michael wants to do it,” Terrence says irritably. “Just say he did it, and that deadbeat will pay for everything he did to you!”
“Don’t deny it’s the truth!” Natalia exclaims.
“No, Natalia, get it out of your head now!” Terrence takes Natalia’s hands. “Put yourself together! If that freak considers all girls dirty whores and egoistic bitches, it’s his problem. It doesn’t mean everyone should listen to him.”
“I’m guilty of everything… Everything would’ve been otherwise if I wasn’t such a coward and didn’t show evil when tearing apart from a wish to try to tell him what could change much.”
“He doesn’t need your truth, sweetie. You can say it to anyone, and they will believe you. But that man wouldn’t do it and would blame you for the lie. The situation wouldn’t get better, believe me.”
“I can’t…” Natalia makes a quiet sob. “I can’t live and get tortured like this… I wanna finish all of it… Please, let me die… Shoot me, stab me to death, give me tablets… Anything for me to die.”
“Don’t even dare to think about it!” Raquelle exclaims loudly, excitedly. “Do what you want, but we won’t let you do stupid things!”
“Let me die… PLEASE, LET ME DIE… I WILL DO IT ANYWAY… AND NOBODY WILL STOP ME…”
Natalia tries to get up sharply on her feet to leave the house. But Terrence and Raquelle prevent her attempts, slightly pressing the girl having hysteria to the wall. The blonde does not stop trying to run away and do what she wants with heavy tears and deafening shouts. Watching their friend getting worse and hearing her loud, heartbreaking cry and desperate shout, Terrence and Raquelle are about to fall into hysteria from hopelessness. But understanding everything might be over badly, the lovers brace themselves by force and do their best not to let Natalia run away and do something to her. They know she needs them. Especially now, when they know the truth about what Edward did to her.
After a few unsuccessful attempts, Terrence gets to grab Natalia tightly and presses her to himself after she gets up sharply. Raquelle stands in front of the door and closes the exit with her body not to let her friend run away, shaking her head with horror in her eyes, closing her mouth with her hands, and barely holding down tears while watching the one, who has a serious nervous breakdown. But the fact that Terrence can hold Natalia somehow and not let her set free. Raquelle would hardly hold her friend down because she might not have enough strength, but the man is quite strong and can easily hold a fragile girl, no matter how hard she resists.
Natalia does not stop trying to run away from here with loud, hysterical shouts that echo slightly in the bathroom. But Terrence is tightly holding her with his arms and tries to take her far from the spacious room, while Raquelle closes the way with her body and pushes her friend when she tries to break free.
“LET ME GO!” Natalia shouts, unsuccessfully trying to get out of Terrence’s grip and grabbing the man’s shirt. “PLEASE, LET ME GO! I’M BEGGING YOU! I WANNA GO OUTSIDE!”
“Natalia, please, calm down,” Terrence begs with pity in his eyes and softly caresses Natalia’s head. “It’s okay. Nobody will hurt you. Raquelle and I will help you…”
“LET ME GO, TERRENCE, PLEASE! I WANNA LEAVE! WANNA DIE! I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! I AM SI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-ICK!”
“Quiet, quiet, friend, don’t scream like this.” Terrence, despite the great resistance of Natalia and her attempts to hit him strongly, hugs her tightly, presses closely to himself, and keeps caressing her head. “Trust us. We’ll help, even if it seems there’s no way.”
“EVERYTHING IS HOPELESS, EVERYTHING IS WORTHLESS!”
“Listen, Natalia…”
“LET ME GO! I WANNA LEAVE! MACCLIFE! LET ME GO!”
“NO!” Terrence shouts. “You can beat me as much as you want and even insult me, but I won’t let you go! You will stay with us until we make sure you’re okay!”
“I WILL NOT BE THE FUCK OKAY! I LOST THE LAST HOPE FOR THE BEST! AND I WILL NOT HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO GET HAPPINESS!”
“Natalia, listen to me, please…”
“NO, I DON’T WANT!” Natalia starts strongly beating Terrence on his arms and chest and even gives him a couple of slaps in the face, while he takes it patiently. “LET ME GO, IDIOT! I WANNA LEAVE! STOP HOLDING ME HERE!”
“Natalia, please!” Raquelle begs in a hoarse voice with wet eyes full of despair and pity. “I swear we don’t wish you evil. I promise, Terrence and I won’t be mad at you for what you’ll do now in this condition. If you need to speak up and beat someone, we’re ready to take it.”
“YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING!” Natalia screams at the top of her lungs, still trying to get out of Terrence’s grip and giving him strong hits on his body with her hands and legs. “I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE… STOP GETTING ME TORTURED… I’M DONE WITH IT!”
Natalia gets out of Terrence’s grip by hitting him on the knee with a leg at some moment. While he, slightly wincing from pain, lets her go and grabs that area, she powerlessly gets down on her knees with heartbreaking shouts and leans on the cold floor with her hands. That’s why a strong frost puts in her body shaking from the tension. And a little later, the girl leans on the wall with her back, presses her knees to herself, closes her face with her hands, and keeps crying bitterly.
Terrence and Raquelle breathing a little heavily look at each other with widely open eyes, not knowing what to do. Then the girl comes to the man a little hesitantly, while he silently shakes his head.
“Damn, she has hysteria,” Terrence whispers.
“What do we do?” Raquelle asks quietly. “She must not stay alone, ‘cause she might do something to herself.”
“No, no, even if she kicks us out, we must stay with her.” Terrence glances at the terrible pale Natalia having a strong hysteria. “Or we won’t avoid another suicide attempt. But I don’t want to see her lying in a pool of blood as well as Peter. I’m gonna have hysteria if I have to see something similar again.”
“That’s what I fear…” Raquelle confesses, putting her hand on her heart. “If she killed herself because of that bastard, it would be too much…”
“Yeah… That motherfucker must be banned from coming to her. Or we will lose her. That jealous psycho will do something to her.”
“Damn, that’s bad there is nobody at her home. We could call her parents, explain the situation, and ask them to calm Natalia down and save her from Lockhart. They went to Mexico at a bad time… Now we need their help so badly.”
“Agree, we’ve gotta rely on ourselves… And Natalia should stay with us for a while. And when she calms down a little, we’ll drive her home and ask to have a good rest.”
“I think it’s the best idea now… And if her condition doesn’t get better, she can spend a night in one of the guest rooms. Well, in the worst case, we’ll have to call a doctor, so they give her a drug…”
“And until she calms down, we shouldn’t ask her about what happened. It may make her condition much worse. So bad that we’d have to put her to sleep for a few hours.”
“I’m afraid we’d have to put her to sleep. She needs to sleep at least for two hours to calm down. But we have tablets of sedatives in case we need it…”
“Oh…” Terrence runs his hand over his face and crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m sorry about having to go to the hospital. I worry if you’re able to control her… She has such a horrible condition that only two or more people could control her.”
“I hope I can do this,” Raquelle expresses hope, sighing deeply and looking at Terrence with sadness in her eyes. “Don’t worry… Go to the hospital for the results…”
“Anyway, the servants could help you. Well, in the worst case, talk to one of the neighbors. They wouldn’t refuse to help you.”
“Okay,” Raquelle smiles exhaustedly. “I shall find a way…”
“It’s gonna be okay…” Terrence caresses Raquelle’s cheeks softly and, holding her face, kisses her on the forehead tenderly. “We’ll overcome it…”
While Raquelle and Terrence are talking, Natalia decides it’s a good moment to get out. The lovers are standing with their backs turned to her and do not pay attention to her. The girl gets up slowly, holding on to the wall, and creeps to the exit from the bathroom on her weak, soft legs. She tries to do everything very quietly and even holds down her sobs and wish to scream at the top of her lungs, though her voice dropped. It’s not very easy to do it, but for the wish to leave and kill herself, the blonde is ready for anything and tries to be as quiet as a mouse. It seems that Natalia is so close to freedom. But when she is very close to the exit from the bathroom, Raquelle and Terrence, feeling something bad, start looking around.
Two moments later, the girl stops her eyes on her friend, who is trying to run away from her. The man notices it, too. Raquelle and Terrence instantly end up next to Natalia and try to hold her. Despite a great weakness in her body, the blonde starts resisting and screaming so loudly that her voice is about to be lost. Raquelle holds the girl by the shoulders and tries to push her off the door, and Terrence grabs the girl from behind and takes her aside by force. But now it’s getting much harder for him because Natalia beats Terrence with her hand and legs and even tries to pull his hair out. Raquelle also suffers several times when the blonde painfully beats her on all parts of her body. However, the lovers do not get mad and completely understand that their friend will later regret everything she said and did during the temporary loss of her mind. Despite all her hits, which, however, get much weaker. Terrence and Raquelle do not give up and do their best to hold Natalia down and not to let her stay alone, not doubting she needs them and actually wants them to help her.
Natalia spends much time trying to get out of Terrence’s grip with heartbreaking shouts, beating him on his arms, and pulling his hair out. But later, she stops beating her friends, who do their best to stay strong. The exhausted blonde powerlessly falls to her knees and doubles over, still making heartbreaking sobs and shaking strongly from the great tension. Raquelle and Terrence also get down in front of her and try to calm her down with strong hugs.
“Let me go, please…” Natalia begs in a quiet, hoarse voice. “I don’t wanna stay here… I wanna die…”
“We won’t let you go until we’re sure you’re okay,” Raquelle replies confidently, softly caressing Natalia’s shoulder and taking her hand.
“Please, guys… Don’t make me live with this burden…” Natalia grabs Raquelle’s denim waistcoat and then Terrence’s shirt. “If you wanna make me feel better, let me die. I give a fuck about everything… I just wanna end this fucking life and stop worrying about constant misfortunes.”
“When you get better, you’ll think differently,” Raquelle says in a shaking voice with wet eyes and sniffs quietly. “Trust us and tell us what you’re worried about. Keep nothing inside you. The more you say, the easier you feel.”
“I’ll never get better,” Natalia replies with a lack of air. “I’ll be suffering and meeting some stinkers that will use me.”
“You just made yourself think so,” Terrence replies softly, taking Natalia’s hand and fixing her hair with a free hand. “But try to think differently, and you’ll see everything will change for the better.”
“Nothing will be changed…”
“Look at me! I’m confident and know everything is gonna be fine, whatever I'll have to experience. And Raquelle… Her life completely changed when she began to love herself and believe she could do anything. People began to treat her differently, and she gained confidence and luck. Firstly, everything depends on your mood and the way you treat yourself. Believe that you’ll meet a wonderful person someday and be surrounded by true love – and a decent man will stand in your way.”
“It’s just words! And sometimes your confidence might lead to bad things. All my life, I’ve thought I’m attractive, but some scumbags take it differently and consider me a prostitute, whom they could piss off after sleeping with me.”
“Not everyone is as horrible as you think. I know total stinkers, but I befriend quite decent guys that deserve trust. There are morons, who are happy with hanging out with girls. And there are those, who seek a serious relationship. The world is large, but it does have good people. You just need to reject all freaks and stinkers in time to surround yourself with the best fellows.”
“EVEN GOOD MEN DO NOT NEED ME!” Natalia leans on the floor with her hands with a heavy breath and inclines her head, literally choking with tears. “THEY THINK THEY CAN PLAY WITH ME AND THROW ME OFF LIKE A KITTY! That greedy freak Lockhart is right: even if I meet someone, they will be the one to use me! I will never be happy because I’m an egoistic and stupid idiot!”
“No, no, Natalia, don’t say it!” Terrence shakes his head sharply, grabs Natalia’s face, sets his confident look into her puffy eyes running from one side to another, and shakes the girl slightly to make her look at him. “Look at me! Natalia! Look at me! Listen, please!”
But Natalia keeps looking at the floor or aside with loud sobs.
“Natalia, stop thinking you’re bad,” Terrence begs excitedly. “Not everything is lost. You’re young and beautiful, and your whole life lies in front of you. A strong and kind girl, who has always been kind to her family and friends. You’re a wonderful and loyal friend, who does everything for her friends and beloved people. Those you’re speaking with must appreciate such a wonderful girl. They wouldn’t find a better friend.”
Terrence falls into silence for a second and glances at Raquelle, who looks at him with wet eyes.
“I’ll never forget how much you’ve done to me,” Terrence recalls. “How you supported me when the relationship between Raquelle and me got worse. Maybe, it wasn’t enough, but I managed to feel a little better thanks to your support. Moreover, I still remember you saying you’d be waiting for help from me if you needed it. I think it’s time to do it. If Raquelle and you were sisters, I’d be very glad to have such a wonderful soon-to-be sister-in-law and call you a member of my family. I mean, you’re very close to me like a relative, and I love you with all my heart like my sister and wish you happiness.”
Terrence moves some strands of hair off Natalia’s hair, while she sniffs quietly.
“I promise, Natalia, Raquelle and I won’t leave you,” Terrence promises confidently. “If we didn’t care about your problems, none of us would be interested in you. But we do worry about your fate and wanna help you. Even if the whole world was against you, we’d be by your side. Not only Raquelle and I but also your parents, Anna and Daniel… And Peter wouldn’t be indifferent. Moreover, it would be easy for him to understand your feelings. Maybe, after talking to each other, you’d get much better.”
Terrence squeezes Natalia’s hand tighter.
“Maybe, you aren’t used to difficulties ‘cause your parents tried to save you from shocks. But you’ve gotta get rid of it. You mustn’t cry your eyes out after any failure and think of death. It’s not a solution. You’ve gotta do your best to fight or get a little sad and find the strength to keep moving on. Someday, even the worst things will be over. So, you must understand that you may experience something worse than a breakup with a stinker. And to help you overcome it, Raquelle and I will give you a hand, support you and listen to you if you want to tell us something.”
“Terrence is absolutely right, Natalia,” Raquelle says quietly, looking at Natalia with sadness in her eyes and softly caressing her shoulder. “He said very wise words. And I also believe you’ve played a major role in our lives. Your support in hard moments was the best comfort for Terrence and me. I will never thank you enough for everything you’ve ever done for me.”
Raquelle smiles slightly, falling into silence for two seconds.
“And I also believe it’s our time to help you,” Raquelle adds. “Not because we wanna give you our duty. But because we truly love you, and our friendship with you means a lot to us. We’re doing this for our friendship. I repeat, Terrence and I won’t leave you, whoever they say. You’ll never be judged by us. You’ll reconcile with your parents, who are worried about you very much. And you’ll get the support of Anna, Daniel, and Peter, who also love you very much.”
Raquelle takes a hand of the crying Natalia and looks at her with a slight but exhausted smile.
“We’re with you, darling,” Raquelle says confidently. “We will always be. You deserve the best and must be happy. And you will. The day everything will be back to its place will come.”
“Don’t give up, Natalia,” Terrence says softly, putting his hands on Natalia’s shoulder and caressing them. “Now you feel bad ‘cause you kept everything inside and tried to overcome your problems alone. But you wouldn’t get better if you kept saying nothing and pretending everything was fine. If we aren’t really able to help, you can just speak out about everything you want. Of course, you won’t come to yourself shortly. But some changes will be seen after an open talk.”
“Of course, none of us is gonna press on you, ‘cause it would be wrong. But we will be waiting and believing that you’ll wish to tell us about your problems someday. We’ll be ready to listen to you, even in the middle of the night. You should want it. We can’t make you.”
Natalia finds the strength to calm down a little and feel a little better, realizing Terrence and Raquelle would not really leave her. But she is silent because she has no strength to show her thanks to her close friends, and her voice got hoarse after such deafening, heartbreaking shouts. Seeing Natalia wants to say nothing, Raquelle and Terrence just get her involved in a group hug that she accepts, putting her chin on the shoulder of these two. At some moment, Terrence glances at Raquelle, who is hugging her friend from another side. They look quite exhausted after what happened, but they are glad they calmed their friend down a little.
The group hug lasts for a few seconds until everybody calms down a little, Of course, none of them got really better, but they gotten rid of some tension and are now able to think more or less clearly. And when they understand it, Raquelle, Terrence, and Natalia step away from each other slowly and hesitantly and look at each other a little scarily.
“Thanks…” Natalia pronounces in a whisper. “Many…”
“It’s gonna be fine,” Terrence replies softly, moving a few strands off Natalia’s disheveled and matted hair. “We’ll help you.”
“I feel very bad… And I see no meaning to live…”
“We get it, darling. But you’ll overcome it, ‘cause you’ve always been strong.”
“Not sure…” Natalia sniffs quietly and wipes off tears under her eyes, rubbing the mascara on her cheeks again. “I’m actually a coward… A weak and cowardly girl that is not ready for hard tests.”
“You’re not alone. You’ve got many people that will help you pass any test.”
“I can’t… Can’t…”
“Don’t think about it, friend,” Raquelle says softly. “Think only about how to brace yourself and calm down. And when you get better, you’ll think about something else.”
“I always think about it…” Natalia sighs heavily, moving her eyes down and stopping to make sobs. “There has been no day when I don’t think of what happened.”
“It’s gonna be okay,” Terrence says softly and confidently. “Just try to relax. Breathe deeply and think of something good. Don’t think of bad things constantly, ‘cause you might go insane.”
“I’ve been insane for ages… I’ve got nothing to lose…”
“Indeed, Natalia, try to relax,” Raquelle replies quietly, looking at Natalia closely. “You look very white and exhausted.”
“Don’t pretend you just noticed it,” Natalia replies without emotions and runs her hand through her hair. “I haven’t been able to recognize myself in the mirror and have seen an unhappy girl, whose eyes lost their gloss a long time ago.”
“It’s fixable,” Terrence says confidently. “We have a few guest rooms, and we’ll lead you to one of them, so you have a rest. Drink something and sleep at least for an hour. And if you need it, we have a sedative.”
“Thanks, I’ll better go home…” Natalia sets her dead eyes into the distance. “You should come to yourself after what happened.”
“First, you will stay with us for some time, and then we’ll drive you home and make sure you don’t think of bad things,” Raquelle replies, gets up slowly from the floor, comes to one of the small closets, from which she takes a couple of cotton discs, adds some solution to them. “But now let’s put yourself in order and remove this running mascara.”
Raquelle squats in front of Natalia and carefully removes the running mascara off her face with a cotton disc. Terrence moves her golden hair aside and just caresses her hand.
“Okay, it’s much better,” Raquelle approves with a slight smile.
“Alright, first wash your face with water, and then we’ll take you to a guest room,” Terrence suggests.
Natalia nods silently, still looking into the distance with dead eyes. Terrence gets up on his feet and helps his friend do the same along with Raquelle, so she comes to the sink and washes her face with cold water. The man, holding the girl under an arm, notices that she looks exhausted, skinny, and terribly white. And sometimes the blonde may slightly shake from weakness in her legs and stands in front of the sink literally by force.
After this, Terrence and Raquelle slowly leave the bathroom, holding Natalia under her arms. But when she is on the doorstep that connects the bathroom and the living room, the girl says she could go by herself. The lovers do not approve of this idea, but let the girl do it. Firstly, they closely watch her, but some time later, they pay less attention to her and go forward, while Natalia barely follows them, inclining her head. After she barely comes into the living room, the blonde starts to feel that the weakness in her whole body gets much stronger, and it’s very hard to stand and walk on her feet. She can barely take every single step and gets horrified when she thinks she has to go upstairs and take quite a long distance. Natalia starts to regret asking Terrence and Raquelle to let her go because walking with their help would be easier. But now she feels she is about to fall on the floor… Two moments later, everything goes blurry before Natalia’s eyes, she gets strong dizziness, something rings in her ears, and all the sounds and voices of the lovers become quiet as if they are speaking behind a thick wall.
At some moment, Raquelle decides to turn back and, stopping sharply, quickly notices that Natalia looks much worse than before. As if she is very close to falling on the floor unconsciously, but she tries to fight this terrible condition and barely stands on her weak legs, stopping in the middle of the living room.
“Natalia…” Raquelle pronounces anxiously, putting her hand on Natalia’s shoulder. “You feel bad?”
“Erm…” Natalia pronounces very quietly, feeling that it’s getting hard for her to breathe, and her eyes are about to close. “I…”
“It’s okay, breathe deeper,” Terrence says confidently, taking Natalia’s hand. “It’s okay…”
“Guys…” Natalia pronounces much quieter, whose face gets much whiter, and puts her hand on her forehead. “I… I don’t feel good… I feel dizzy…”
Natalia starts falling on the floor with a very quiet, painful moan, falling into the endless darkness and stopping to realize what’s happening around her. Raquelle reacts quicker than Terrence and grabs her friend under an arm with the hope of holding her, but does not do it and gets down to the floor along with her.
“Natalia… Natalia!”
Terrence grabs Natalia under an arm when she almost falls and gets down sharply on his knees along with Raquelle, while their terribly white and exhausted friend does not move while lying on the floor with tightly closed eyes.
“Natalia, please, say something!” Raquelle begs with pity in her eyes, shaking the unconscious Natalia slightly by the shoulders. “Natalia, please!”
“Hey, Natalia, can you hear me?” Terrence tries to keep calm, clapping Natalia on her cheeks to wake her up. “Natalia! C’mon, wake up!”
“Friend, please, don’t scare me!” Raquelle keeps begging, caressing Natalia’s head softly. “Please…”
“She has a very weak pulse,” Terrence notices excitedly, feeling Natalia’s pulse on her neck and then checking her pupillary response. “There is a pupillary response, but it’s very bad.”
“Oh, honestly, I was sure it would happen,” Raquelle confesses with a little heavy breath, grabbing Natalia’s white face with her shaking from fear hands and trying to wake her up by clapping her on the cheeks. “I mean the fact that she fainted…”
“I’m not surprised because of her condition,” Terrence replies, raising Natalia’s head with one hand and energetically waving another one over her face. “Look what she brought herself to!”
“Do you think something else could happen to her? What if something else happened and made her condition worse?”
“I thought about it and don’t exclude it…”
A few seconds later, Terrence and Raquelle cannot wake the unconscious Natalia up, keep trying to do it, and get horrified by seeing the terribly white, skinny girl, whose soft body is motionlessly lying on the floor.
“Damn, she hasn’t woken up yet,” Terrence says and claps Natalia on her cheeks again. “C’mon, Natalia, wake up! Come on!”
“Carry her to a guest room,” Raquelle says, tucking a strand of her hair behind an ear and moving her eyes to Terrence. “But I’ll take some ammonia and come back to you.”
“Yes, do…” Terrence looks at the exhausted Raquelle for two seconds and then places Natalia’s head on his laps. “There is the one in the kitchen… Or look for it in our room… Something is supposed to be there…”
Meanwhile, Violetta and Christiana being a little scared by something pass by Terrence and Raquelle, whispering about something but stop when they see the lovers sitting on the floor.
“Mr. MacClife, Ms. Cameron…” Violetta pronounces with widely open eyes. “Why are you…”
Violetta glances at the unconscious Natalia, whose soft body is kept suspended and pressed by Terrence, who is caressing her head, and Raquelle holding her friend’s hand and slightly rubbing her cold limb.
“My God, what happened to Ms. Rochester?” Christiana gets horrified, opening her mouth and looking at Natalia with dumbfounded eyes. “She’s terribly pale!”
“It’s okay, she just fainted,” Terrence explains quietly. “After what she’s experienced, it’s not amazing.”
“Do I bring ammonia to you? While you place her on the sofa!”
“No, may one of you better help Terrence carry her into a guest room,” Raquelle says. “The door is closed, and he can’t open it when holding Natalia in his arms. So, help him, please.”
“Let me help,” Violetta shows a wish. “Would you get ammonia? Or should Christiana give it to you?”
“Nope, I will take it.”
“It’s in the kitchen, in a locker with all the cures and other medications,” Christiana replies a little thoughtfully.
“Thanks a lot,” Raquelle nods and glances at Terrence sharply, putting her hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be back soon! But now carry her up!”
Raquelle quickly gets up and runs into the kitchen, while Terrence watches her. Then he glances at the unconscious Natalia, whom he is holding suspended and pressing to himself, and looks at Christiana and Violetta, who are a little confused and scared by what they see or what they could hear some time ago.
“Open the door to any guest room!” Terrence orders. “I don’t care which!”
Violetta nods, goes to the stairs, and goes to the second floor. Terrence gets up on his feet and carefully raises Natalia, holding her by the back. After this, he takes her motionless, soft body in his arms super easily, getting a little surprised by how light and skinny it is. And then he goes upstairs and goes where the guest rooms are. When the man shows up there, he sees Violetta waiting for him to hold the door that will close if it’s not held. After thanking the servant for the help, MacClife carries the girl into the guest room and carefully places her on the bed, putting a pillow so that her head is higher than her torso, and caresses his friend’s head and cheek softly.
Two seconds later, Terrence sits next to Natalia on the bed, takes her hand carefully, and looks at the white unconscious girl, whose appearance gets him horrified.
“Oh, Natalia, what did you do to yourself?” Terrence wonders with sadness in his eyes, softly caressing Natalia’s cold hand. “I can’t believe you’re getting so hurt because of that bastard, who loves only himself and money. I understand you love him, but the one, whom I’m ashamed to call my friend, isn’t worth your tears.”
Terrence exhales quietly, lets Natalia’s hand go, and caresses her shoulder and head.
“Whatever that freak did, I’m sure he got really mad and scared you,” Terrence says thoughtfully and moves a few strands of Natalia’s hair off her face. “Anyway, I’m very glad you broke up with him. Edward doesn’t deserve to be with you… Having such a disgusting character, he’ll never deserve you and meet the one that could… Change him… Make him realize what kind of mistakes he makes… Oh… But it doesn’t make sense, ‘cause such a spoiled scumbag can’t be changed.”
Terrence sighs quietly with sadness in his eyes.
“Please, sweetie, don’t give pain to me and Raquelle,” Terrence says with pity in his eyes. “And think of your parents, what they’re feeling… We don’t deserve to be treated like this… You shouldn't think we don’t wanna help you. Should not…”
Two seconds later, the excited Raquelle quickly comes into the room, holding a little bottle.
“Damn, she’s so cold and white…” Terrence notices thoughtfully, caressing Natalia’s head. “I feel creepy every time I look at her being like this… My heart squeezes…”
“I think she did even lose some weight,” Raquelle says, coming to the bed. “Look how horrifying she looks… Rochester had quite a beautiful, feminine body, but now she looks like a bag of bones.”
“Didn’t you think her faint has to do with only a strong shock?”
“You also think so?” Raquelle quickly sits on the bed and moves closer to Natalia.
“She was supposed to keep very many emotions inside to fall into this hysteria and talk about a wish to die.”
“Gosh, Terrence, don’t say about her wish to die. My heart bleeds when I hear it.”
“Mine too, but it’s gonna bleed and squeeze many times. Because someday we will know the secrets that brought her to this.”
“Could it be more? I think too many shocking things have lately happened to us.”
“Trust me, it’s not the end.”
Raquelle opens the bottle of ammonia and brings it to Natalia’s nose. But ammonia does not have an effect at once, and the unconscious girl does not react.
“C’mon, Natalia, c’mon!” Raquelle says quietly and excitedly.
But after a few seconds, the smell of alcohol helps. Natalia shakes slightly, breathes in deeply, winces, turns her head sharply aside, and starts barely moving her hands and then her whole body.
“Yeah, it worked!” Raquelle exhales with relief.
Believing she does not need ammonia anymore, Raquelle puts the bottle aside. And Natalia starts coming to herself slowly with quiet, painful moans. The girl still feels a strong weakness and a slight dizziness but feels a little better, and her vision is not so blurry but much clearer. A little later, the blonde throws her half-closed eyes around the small, unfamiliar light blue room where there is nothing but a table, a closet, and a bed she is lying on.
Natalia shakes slightly at the thought that something terrible could happen to her. She tries to sit up sharply but feels vomit in her throat, her dizziness gets stronger, and her body is still weak. Terrence and Raquelle sitting in front of her quickly bring the girl back to the lying position. So, she hesitantly lies on the pillow, still looking around scarily.
“Sh-h-h, it’s okay, darling, don’t be afraid,” Raquelle says softly and quietly, putting her hand on one of Natalia’s hands. “We’re with you…”
Natalia looks scarily at Raquelle and then Terrence, seeing their excited faces much clearer and being barely able to think due to her unclear consciousness.
“Raquelle? Terrence?” Natalia pronounces hesitantly in a little hoarse, quiet voice with widely open eyes.
“Quiet, quiet, don’t be so nervous,” Terrence says as quietly as possible, putting his hand on Natalia’s shoulder. “Breathe deeply…”
“But where am I?” Natalia asks quietly, looking around the whole room with a scared, lost gaze and folding her hands on her stomach. “What’s this place?”
“It’s one of the guest rooms at our house. When visitors spend a night with us, they stay here or in one of the other rooms.”
“Really? Didn’t know… I was never here before…”
“We don’t also almost come here… But I’ve spent a night in this room several times.”
“That’s how…”
While Natalia glances down, Raquelle, holding her hand, throws a little sad gaze at Terrence fingering over nervously.
“How are you, friend?” Raquelle asks softly. “You feel better?”
“Erm…” Natalia stutters, examining the unfamiliar room with widely open eyes. “Honestly, not very well… I have slight dizziness… And a terrible weakness in my body…”
“It’ll be gone now, don’t worry.”
“Erm…” Natalia runs her hand through her hair. “But what happened to me? I remember nothing and can’t understand how I ended up here.”
“We tried to calm you down and decided to bring you here, so you have a rest and calm down… And you fainted on the way…”
“And I carried you here,” Terrence confesses shyly.
“Fainted?” Natalia wonders. “Calm down?”
“Yeah, you had a strong hysteria, and we couldn’t calm you down for a long time. You were screaming loudly, wishing to die, trying to run away from here, and beating Raquelle and me with legs and hands.”
“Beating?” Natalia shakes her head. “No… No, I couldn’t…”
“Don’t you remember?” Raquelle wonders. “Nothing from what happened?”
“Erm… Nope… I remember something vaguely…” Natalia starts scratching the back of her head. “But I don’t almost remember what I was doing and saying… I remember that I felt very bad and really wanted to die… But… I can’t remember what I did and said…”
“I think it happens when someone has hysteria,” Terrence assumes. “Something like a temporary insanity when you don’t know what you do.”
“My gosh…” Natalia glances down, feeling her heart squeezing. “Did I really beat you?”
“Really, but we aren’t mad at you ‘cause it was the aftermath of your condition,” Terrence caresses Natalia’s hand softly. “We knew you wouldn’t do that consciously.”
“No… Guys…” Natalia looks at Terrence and Raquelle with pity in her eyes and sniffs quietly. “Please, forgive me… I’m very sorry if I really beat you… I swear I wouldn’t have done that… I don’t know what got obsessed with me… Please, forgive me…”
“Natalia, don’t apologize to us,” Terrence replies amicably with a slight smile. “We’ve got no reason to be mad and hurt.”
“I don’t want you to have a bad opinion of me.”
“Nobody does. It’s okay. Don’t worry, please.”
“Yeah, the most important thing is that you’re okay,” Raquelle says softly with a shy smile, caressing Natalia’s forearm.
“Well…” Natalia starts to look at her hands and finger over. “If I could say, fine…”
“Something isn’t right?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“No, I feel a little better… I just feel bad morally… I feel emptied and broken… If someone told me a joke, it would hardly make me laugh. I feel nothing… You get it?”
“Sure, we do.” Terrence tries to smile much wider by force to comfort Natalia. “And you can always count on me and Raquelle. Just let us know you wanna talk.”
“Thanks a lot, guys,” Natalia tries to put on something like a smile. “I know I could count on you… And I’m grateful to you for this…”
“You know, I must confess you scared Terrence and me,” Raquelle confesses shyly. “We got confused and didn’t know what to do. We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to control you…”
“You mean my hysteria or my faint?”
“Erm…” Raquelle bites her lip and looks around the whole room. “First and second… Just… You just had such a strong hysteria that we didn’t know how to behave. Of course, we had to calm down someone to have a nervous breakdown, but those cases were quite easy. And… You looked like… You were ready to kill yourself before our eyes… Just like Peter…”
“Like Peter?” Natalia sits up slowly, leaning on the pillow with her back and bending her legs under her. “I hope you haven’t compared him with me.”
“Actually, Daniel has done,” Terrence replies thoughtfully, rolling his eyes. “He said you reminded him of Peter very much.”
“I guess Anna whispered in his ear,” Natalia chuckles quietly. “Well, or Raquelle whispered in Anna’s ear, she said it to Daniel, and he told Terrence about it.”
“Well, sort of,” Raquelle smiles shyly.
“But it happened almost at the same time,” Terrence specifies. “It wasn’t something like a line…”
“Oh, I can’t hide from anyone…” Natalia laughs shyly, closing her face with her hands.
Raquelle and Terrence smile slightly and look at each other, being happy that Natalia feels much better. Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which the blonde looks around the whole unfamiliar room and glances sharply at the man when he puts his hand on her shoulder.
“Okay, I think you should have some rest now,” Terrence advises. “You can stay here as long as you want. Sadly, I can’t stay home and will leave soon. So, Raquelle will stay with you and drive you home.”
“Lie at least for fifteen minutes to come to yourself after the faint,” Raquelle suggests. “I’ll ask the servants to give you something to drink.”
“Thanks for your care…” Natalia smiles with the corners of her mouth. “I truly appreciate it…”
“Okay, have a rest…” Raquelle caresses Natalia’s shoulder softly. “And try not to think about bad things.”
Terrence and Raquelle slowly get up from the bed and go to the exit of the room. But when the lovers come to the door and open it slightly, Natalia calls them:
“Wait!”
Raquelle and Terrence turn to Natalia and look at her questioningly.
“I wanna tell you something,” Natalia says hesitantly. “Would you listen to me if I confessed something?”
Terrence and Raquelle look at each other questioningly and move their eyes to Natalia.
“Erm, yeah, sure,” Terrence shrugs. “What do you wanna say?”
“I wanna tell you why Edward and I broke up, and how it’s connected with what I’ve had to hide for a few months,” Natalia confesses quietly. “These cases are tightly related to one another. But it happened at a different time…”
“Are you sure you wanna talk about it?” Raquelle asks anxiously.
“I can’t be silent anymore. No matter how much I’m afraid of the ban I’ve had in my head, it’s getting more unbearable to hide it. Maybe, it changes nothing, but you should know what happened to me.” Natalia falls into silence for two seconds and glances at her hands. “I know, talking about Lockhart is gonna be hard for us. But after you heard that we broke up, you should know why.”
Terrence and Raquelle look at each other again, not hiding their happiness that Natalia will finally let them know what has been torturing her for ages.
“Erm, Natalia, we will listen to you,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “But you should have some rest first… At least a half of an hour or one and a half hours.”
“Yeah, have some rest, and you’ll tell us everything,” Raquelle adds. “I think it would be enough to get ready for these reveals.”
“Okay, then…” Natalia nods. “I hope you’ll listen to me. You are the ones from fewer people, who I completely trust. Now I have nobody to ask for help.”
“Don’t doubt, we’ll surely listen to you and help you if we can,” Raquelle smiles shyly.
“Thanks…” Natalia smiles shyly. “Raquelle… Terrence…”
Raquelle and Terrence smile back a little exhaustedly, but then leave the room. Violetta has been standing in the hall all this time in case they need her help. When the lovers close the door, they come to her.
“Violetta, we’d like to ask you about one little thing,” Raquelle says softly. “Could you watch our friend and make sure she doesn’t fall into hysteria again?”
“Yes, Violetta, try to distract her somehow,” Terrence adds. “While we aren’t near, someone should stay with her at least for a few minutes.”
“I will watch her, don’t worry,” Violetta promises quietly. “If you want, I can give her strong tea or something to eat.”
“Yes, yes, please, give her something hot to drink,” Raquelle says. “In case of another hysteria attack, you can give her a sedative.”
“Alright, I will do it. But how is Ms. Rochester feeling now?”
“She feels much better, but her condition is not very good.”
“Excuse me for meddling, but Christiana, Blair, and I heard what happened in the living room. And honestly, we got a little nervous and were afraid something horrible would happen.”
“Don’t worry, Violetta, calm down and tell Blair and Christiana that anything like that won’t happen anymore,” Terrence says confidently. “Mr. Lockhart will no longer show up on the doorstep of this house.”
“Alright, Mr. MacClife, I got you.”
“Alright, you can go. If you need something, ask us.”
“With your permission.”
Violetta goes downstairs with a quick step. Raquelle and Terrence watch the servant with a little sad gaze and tiredly look at each other. The man softly caresses the girl’s shoulder, and she tries to put on a smile. A few seconds later, the lovers slowly start walking down the long, wide, and light hall of the second floor, in which there are windows on literally every single corner.
“Oh, shit, what a day!” Terrence moans quietly, running his hands over his face. “We’ve experienced something for a few days… The letters, the attack, the race, the suicide attempt, the betrayal, the hysteria… It’s like a curse! Someone doesn’t want us to live quietly and do our business.”
“It seems like true,” Raquelle replies tiredly, crossing her arms over her chest. “But you have to suffer, ‘cause these problems are more connected with you.”
“I know… And I realize that the further and worse, the less strength I have to take it all.”
“I get it…” Terrence falls into silence for two seconds, moans quietly, and runs his hand over his face. “Oh, I need to go to the hospital very soon. Through I wanna go nowhere and do nothing. I’d piss everything off and stay home, in my room…”
“And very soon, I’m gonna have a very important photoshoot that I must not miss. But I don’t wanna do anything… I wanna only lie on the bed and look at the ceiling… Well… At least turn on a TV not to go insane.”
“At least, you have time to get ready for the shoot, have a good rest, and turn yourself for it.” Terrence crosses his arms over his chest. “But I don’t have time to have a rest… I’ll have to be in the hospital at four o’clock.”
“Four?”
“Already agreed with Daniel.”
“What? But when? Did I start losing my memory?”
“Do you remember you asking me where I was, while you went to the bathroom?”
“Yeah…” Raquelle nods. “But why?”
“So, when I followed you, the phone called in the living room. At first, I didn’t wanna answer, but then I decided to do it. And it was Daniel. He said he called me on my mobile phone, but I didn’t answer ‘cause I left it in the room. And… Dan asked me when we’d meet. So, I suggested meeting at four o’clock. He was happy with it and promised to tell Peter’s friends about it. I said I couldn’t call them and asked him to do it.”
“Okay…” Raquelle glances at the window that she goes by along with Terrence. “Yeah, what time is it? We have time?”
“I don’t know, but I think we have,” Terrence shrugs.
“But I think it’s been forever since it all started,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “Everything lasts so long and painfully…”
“Agree… After what happened, we could hardly feel something good…”
“That’s right…” Raquelle stops slowly and leans on the wall with her back, while Terrence comes to the girl and leans on it with his hand. “I feel so emptied… I don’t wanna be happy or sad… Laugh or cry… Nothing…”
“Believe me, I don’t feel better than you. I think you know what happened some time ago hurt me enough. I didn’t want any war, but it happened that I have to forget about any family ties and good relationships and literally fight for death.”
“I get it, sweetie. Anyway, don’t blame yourself, ‘cause you aren’t guilty. You didn’t get involved in it at your wish.”
“You know, my sunshine, I’m upset not because of what we found out about Edward or what happened to Natalia. I’ve just lately had some misfortune. Whatever I do, everything goes wrong. The problems with the band, the letters, the race, your panic attack… Then I had to see Peter with open veins… Some time ago, I found out my friend was a betrayer and wanted to rob and kill us. You and I barely calmed Natalia down. And some time later, we’re gonna discover her secret…” Terrence closes his eyes for a few moments, exhaling slowly. “I don’t wanna complain. But… It’s very hard for me… It’s true, Raquelle. I’m starting to be afraid that I wouldn’t take all of that.”
“Don’t say it, Terrence, you will do it,” Raquelle replies softly and confidently, caressing Terrence’s shoulder. “You’re my strong man, who never gives up on difficulties.”
“If I tell someone I’m struggling with a wish to piss everything off and let things happen as they want, I might be bullied. I kind of show off and pretend to be brave and tough, but then decide to give up and put my tail between my legs. You’re the only one, whom I can tell about it with no fear of being judged and bullied.”
“Are you afraid of being judged by your friends?” Raquelle asks with sadness in her eyes, starting to twirl the engagement ring on her left hand.
“Yup, you’re right,” Terrence replies quietly. “I don’t wanna give a reason to doubt me. Although I tell Daniel about my problems, I can’t be sure about him. He might easily start to judge me or laugh. Knowing how he was mocking Peter for a long time and became kind of guilty of bringing him to a wish to die.”
“I don’t deny it. That guy is good, but he can mock you cruelly.”
“And I also doubt Peter. He could also judge me if he knew about my doubts after I cried about my self-confidence everywhere.”
“And Ben? Would you like to tell him? You’ve known him since childhood and know his character well!”
“I dunno, we haven’t lately spoken. It’s hard to remember when I met him the last time. I didn’t even get him caught when he came here for Blair.” Terrence glances aside for a second. “No, we didn’t fight. But I think our friendship became different. It seems like we stopped being as close as we were before. I dunno, maybe, I just began spending much more time with Rose and Perkins and forgot Parker.”
“Wouldn’t you love to meet him?”
“Honestly, I don’t seek a meeting with him. I don’t wanna meet him… No hurts – I just have no wish.”
“So…” Raquelle shrugs and looks down for a second. “It’s your decision…”
“I wouldn’t like to talk to him and Daniel. I don’t wanna tell him what happened for a while. Maybe, I’ll explain everything when I come to myself, but not today.”
“I think he’ll understand it. That man doesn’t wish you anything bad and does his best to hold on and keep you encouraged.”
“I know. Anyway, you’re the only one I can openly talk about how I feel with. And I’m sure I’d get at least a couple of nice words.”
“Of course, you will, honey,” Raquelle replies softly, caressing Terrence’s cheek. “Sadly, I can’t help you in this situation. So, I have to find some words to encourage you a little…”
“It would mean a lot to me,” Terrence cracks a smile.
Raquelle smiles slightly, glances down slowly, and thinks about something with sadness in her eyes, embracing herself with her arms.
“What’s happening to you?” Terrence frowns slightly.
“Nothing, it’s okay,” Raquelle replies thoughtfully, glancing aside, and sighs heavily. “I just never had to run into a similar situation… I mean the situation of Natalia, if you haven’t gotten it.”
“I can’t deny it also got me shocked,” Terrence confesses. “It was the first time I had to run into such a strong hysteria.”
“Yeah…” Raquelle runs her hand through her hair with a heavy sigh. “I never had to see her in such a horrible condition. When she had such an uncontrolled hysteria… But I don’t mean just her appearance. I also mean her state of mind and a wish… The wish to die… That girl was always so cheerful and sanguine. Sometimes she was even funnier than me. Whatever happened, Natalia was never upset, kept a fighting spirit, and managed to encourage and comfort.”
“I think she will be the same when she comes to herself.”
“Sometimes I’m ashamed of not being able to give her the same support she has always given me,” Raquelle confesses, moving her eyes to the hands folded in front of her for a second. “Although I try to find something good and believe in the best, sometimes I can’t stay positive and confident about a good end. Now I have a wonderful chance to help her, but I don’t know how.”
“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Terrence replies softly, fixing Raquelle’s hair slightly. “Your friend will tell us her biggest secret, and we’ll find a way to support her.”
“Ah, Terrence…” Raquelle sighs heavily and glances aside for a second. “Sometimes I think I’m not such a good friend of hers… And don’t deserve to be the one.”
“Don’t deserve to be her friend?” Terrence wonders, opening his eyes widely. “You’re serious? Raquelle, what news!”
“Example, that conflict… If I were a good friend, I would’ve believed her, not the stinker, who could just speak beautifully and never proved his words. And used it well to get what he wanted.”
“It’s in the past, my love. We were in despair and exhausted and would’ve believed any stupid thing.”
“Nevertheless, I’m ashamed of what I did. And at least because of that reason, I can’t be a good friend… Because I’ve betrayed her once…”
“No, Raquelle, don’t say stupid things!” Terrence softly grabs Raquelle by the forearms and looks into her eyes. “You are the amazing friend that is always by Natalia and Anna’s side and supports them! If you ask the girls, they’ll answer that you try to slander you! But that situation was a big mistake, which they hardly think about.”
“Maybe, it is time to make amends? To prove that I do appreciate our friendship and don’t wanna lose such a wonderful friend that I love like my own sister.”
“Not make amends, but show another proof of the fact that your friends are very important to you. Somehow, Natalia helped you, but now you can answer her back. Now your friend is experiencing a hard time and needs support. And you’re the only one to do your best for her to come to herself and get better.”
“Nice to hear it,” Raquelle smiles shyly. “But you’ve also done very much for her. So, I think you can’t also leave her in trouble. I’d hardly do it alone. I need the help of a strong man, who would be by her side and wouldn’t let me go insane.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll be by her side, despite nothing,” Terrence promises confidently. “She’s my close friend that I also love like my own sister. She wouldn’t betray me as well as Lockhart.”
“That man is guilty of the fact that everybody will turn their backs on him soon. Now we hate that guy, but his own mother is the next one. And then our friends would stop speaking to him.”
“Let him keep planning what won’t come true. For us, the most important thing is to help Natalia come to herself and forget the stinker that ruined her life. It’s gonna be hard, but she must leave him in her horrible past and find the strength to keep moving on.”
“Hey, thanks a lot for your help in trying to calm her down,” Raquelle thanks shyly with a slight smile. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that alone. Holding someone to be wild is a hard thing, which only a strong and enduring person would do.”
“No need to thank, Raquelle,” Terrence shrugs. “Thank you for helping me. I wouldn’t have been able to control her because her hysteria seemed uncontrolled.”
“Honestly, I also wanted to fall into hysteria when looking at her. I barely held myself down not to start rolling on the floor and screaming like crazy.”
“And I must confess that your friend has quite a tough hand.” Terrence massages one of his shoulders and forearms, which hurt slightly. “Rochester beat me so that my arms hurt…”
“Yeah, I don’t deny it… And her exciting condition made the power of her hits much stronger.”
“Nevertheless, I’m not mad and understand her emotions were the reason for that.”
“Me too. She’d better destroy everything in her way than keep her emotions inside before going insane.”
“You know, if she’d really done something to her, I would’ve gone insane,” Terrence confesses thoughtfully. “Her words were so true that I really believed she was gonna commit suicide. Who knows how it would’ve been over if Natalia had stayed alone for more time.”
“We would’ve lost her, and I wouldn’t have taken it.”
“Luckily, we didn’t do it.” Terrence exhales slowly, running his hand over his hair. “And now we should do our best to help her get rid of the depression.”
“Hey, do you really think she did something else to bring herself to this condition?”
“I think so. Didn’t you pay attention to the t-shirt and jeans Natalia is wearing are a little bigger for her?”
“Yeah, she lost some weight…” Raquelle frowns slightly. “People might sharply lose or gain weight from stress. It happens… And I could also lose weight if I worried very much.”
“Didn’t you think she could start starvation on purpose?”
“Starvation?” Raquelle rounds her eyes and shakes her head. “No, no, she couldn’t do that… Of course, Natalia does watch what she eats to keep her body. But she doesn’t refuse food at all.”
“But I think she could’ve changed her mind. When Natalia came to the living room, I noticed she was slightly shaking and looked exhausted and weak. People would hardly shake for no reason. Unless they feel weakness. And… And I saw your friend was often keeping a hand on her stomach and wincing like she had pain in it.”
“So…” Raquelle thinks for a few seconds. “Do you think she stopped eating?”
“Her appearance makes me think about it. And… She’s too light… When she fainted, and I took her in my arms, I thought I was carrying a piece of lint.”
“Listen…” Raquelle puts her hand on her mouth. “Maybe, you’re right… That’s probably how her wish not to go anywhere could be explained. If she really gets pain in her stomach, she might have it because she eats nothing or eats very little to walk somehow.”
“And in this case, I’m not surprised by her faint. She has strong stress, experienced great tension, and also started starvation. Her organism didn’t take this load and went haywire. So, that’s why she was barely walking and eventually fainted.”
“Hey! I just recalled that when Anna and I went to her home and decided to watch a movie, we decided to grab some food. So, I went into the kitchen to check the food supply, but found out there was almost nothing in the refrigerator. I found something, but it seems like she wasn’t worried about a lack of food at home.”
“Didn’t her parents give her money for food?”
“Nope, they do. They said if she needed money, they’d immediately transfer some money to her card. It would be quite enough to fill the refrigerator and all closets.”
“Didn’t you ask her why she didn’t almost have food?”
“I mentioned briefly, and she started to find excuses. She was kind of going to do it or didn’t have money.”
“Here’s another confirmation… I also decided to ask why she changed so much, but I thought she’d better tell us everything.”
“I think Natalia will be open to us. Since she showed a wish to tell us everything, she’ll hide nothing. I think my friend broke down and got sick of keeping her secret.”
“Agree, but I feel we’re gonna experience many shocking things. These problems won’t be solved so easily.”
“At least we know half of what we tried to find out,” Raquelle shrugs. “We know we have a deal with your relatives that wanna rob and kill us. Not crazy fans.”
“But it doesn’t make me feel better,” Terrence sighs quietly. “I’m afraid we’ll know what may get us much more shocked someday. Sometimes a word may kill a person much stronger than anything else.”
“If we’re together, we’ll solve any problem. That’s what you’ve always said.”
“That’s what I believe in. But I’m afraid to think of what’s expecting us later, and how long this nightmare will last.”
Raquelle looks at the exhausted Terrence, whose naturally white skin color got much whiter, for a few seconds with her sad eyes. Then she takes him in an amicable hug that he accepts with pleasure, pressing her closer to himself. The girl completely understands that the man needs her support and understanding and is ready to prove her love and not to make the same mistakes when she did not care about what happened to him.
About fifteen seconds later, Terrence and Raquelle step away from each other, feeling a little better but not so good to be ready to move a mountain. Nevertheless, they let each other know that they are truly grateful, at least for what they can give.
“Okay, I think we need to have a rest…” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “I wanna go to the kitchen and get some coffee. Come with me?”
“No, thanks, I’ll drink something later,” Terrence refuses quietly, massaging his neck. “But I can’t swallow up anything…”
“Hey, do you feel well after the fight?” Raquelle shows anxiety, caressing Terrence’s cheek and looking at a couple of bruises that recently showed up on his face and open parts of his arms. “That psycho one was beating you strongly…”
“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry. Of course, my whole body hurts, but it will be gone in two days. I’ll apply some ice to the bruises and hide everything with clothes or your cosmetics. Not to tell Daniel what happened after coming to the hospital.”
“Want me to stay with you? Or should you be alone?”
“I wanna be alone for a while. Think a little and… Calm down… I’m quite tense and excited now…”
“Okay… I also need to be alone… I’ll try to drink and eat something. I’ve eaten almost nothing since the morning…”
“Glad you understand me,” Terrence smiles tiredly, caresses Raquelle’s cheek, and kisses her on the forehead.
“But if you need me, you can find me at the back of the house. I think I’ll stay there.”
“Alright. I’ll stay in my room.”
Raquelle nods with a slight smile, puts her hands on Terrence’s shoulders, kisses him softly on one cheek, caresses another tenderly, steps back from him, and leaves slowly, inclining her head. The man watches the girl with a sad gaze, sighs quietly, looks around the whole hall, and slowly goes to his room. After entering it, MacClife closes the door, goes to the bed, sits on its edge, and thinks about not very nice things that make him feel depressed.
A little later, he stops his eyes on the dusted guitar, which is placed not far from the bed. Terrence looks at his instrument for some time, then slowly gets up from the bed, takes it, and sits down again. The brunet moves the dust off it with a hand, places it on his laps, pulls some strings, and understands the guitar is out of tune. So, he starts to tune it on and does it for two minutes because he knows how all strings should sound right. And then Terrence starts to randomly pluck strings and strike different chords. It’s not some song, it’s a composition of random sounds.
The melody expresses the sad emotions and feelings he is having now. The feeling when your close person betrays you… When it seems that you are about to have depression… When all hopes are fading away… But even in this case, it’s possible to see a little shoot of light in the gloomy sky covered with clouds. That’s what gives him the wish to hold on and hope everything will get better someday. So, Terrence is starting to lose hope for the best and is devastated by the betrayal of Edward, whom he completely trusted. But the only thing that makes him hold on is the love of Raquelle, which he needs so badly. Especially at such a hard moment.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIG31wogR73
Also, Terrence holds on thanks to the nice memories about the day when “Against The System” was performing as an opening act of “The Loser Syndrome.” The trio let themselves melt into the music, enjoying the unbelievable emotions they experienced at that moment. That time was incredible, but the emotions were exciting! The public warmly accepted the young guys, whose talent was discovered for the world by the famous worldwide quartet. It seemed that the future of Terrence, Daniel, and Peter was chosen. But their dreams might be dreams because the future of “Against The System” is an open question. And it’s one of many reasons why Terrence feels depressed and loses hope that his life will get better, the problems will be solved, and the guilty people will get the punishment they deserved.
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