Chapter 006

Charlotte McCartney

After the incident with Josh Xavier, I decided once Kelcie was properly fixated on playing chess on my phone that I was going back to confront him for being such a demon and worse of all he didn't even consider the presence of my little girl while he was being so demon possessed. Whatever it was, I resolved that I was going to tell him to at least have the decency to deal with me personally and for the sake of whatever keep it away from Kelcie.

I walked to the same room I first found him almost unconsciously. It wasn't exactly his bedroom from what I heard from Lydia. But from the look of it, it seemed like a place you could find him. In my heart I hoped to find him there. The house was still too unfamiliar and that seemed to be the only place I had managed to take note of.

On getting to the room, I found the door slightly ajar and he was inside this time though he did not look as disoriented as he looked at first.

“Mr Xavier, I'd like a word” I said breathlessly as I walked in, to his obvious surprise.

“Whatever that was, sir I felt it was rude and unnecessary especially doing it in front of a little girl. Whatever the problem may be I plead that you deal with me and leave my little girl out of it completely”, I said and at this last remark his frown deepened.

For a moment I felt like I should have just left it all alone or better still let him be now that I had the chance.

“I didn't mean to involve the little one. I apologize”, he said after a few more minutes of silence.

“What is going on with you?” I pursued on feeling more confident than I did earlier. “You can talk to me”.

In response to this, he let out an extremely sinister laughter

“Talk to who? You?” He asked bitterly. “Are you any different from them or her?”

I was stunned at this reply but not surprised.

“I understand you're not totally in on the arrangement, plus everything that transpired before it but trust me I am as confused as you are. I'm also trying to fit into the situation as much as you”. I said and he made no reply.

“Please tell me Josh if you need anything. I'm willing to help you”. I said, trying to get closer to him.

“Get out!” he said quietly.

“What!” I replied not sure I heard correctly.

“Get out!!” he repeated.

I turned to leave and he called my name for the first time since I got there.

“Charlotte! Do well to knock next time before you enter a room. It's very rude and unnecessary”, he said just before I left the room.

****

Kelcie seemed to already be sleeping by the time I got inside our room. Like she had played the game till she was probably tired, which was really strange because she could play for hours. Clearly my daughter must have felt as deeply famished as I felt.

“What a day!” I thought to myself as I sat quietly trying my best to not wake her.

Within seconds a wave of pain washed over me and once again I was drowning deep in recollection of everything that had transpired within the last few days. I thought about my mom, my sister, the family I thought I had, the family that forced me away from my moderately happy life to a life of misery and confusion

“I wonder what is going on at home now. Everyone is probably so happy now that I'm gone. Whitney would be happy I'm sure. Now she has Ron all to herself and the whole house to explore”, I said to myself angry and irritated at the thought of my sister Whitney and ex-boyfriend Ron.I still had not forgiven Whitney for stealing Ron from me.

“What about mom?”I asked myself wondering if I would be able to forgive mom for not caring about my feelings before shipping me off to Josh Xavier.

I thought about Josh Xavier. He was once a very kind man but life and my sister wounded him deeply. My presence in his home was only obviously a reminder of this pain that he would have been trying so hard to avoid.

What felt worse to me was as much as I was being held responsible for this pain, I was also a victim of this emotional massacre.

“Whitney has hurt me and Josh Xavier. But somehow I'm still trying to clean up her mess. Mum sent me here saying I was to marry Josh Xavier to save the family reputation without thinking of my emotion. I lost my comfortable life, lost my boyfriend and lost all my dreams of a better life for me and my daughter”, I said to myself as I sank in my sadness.

It wasn't exactly a total loss afterall I was in the home of a billionaire and in the agreement I signed he was pledged to care for I and Kelcie as though we were his wife and daughter so it wasn't all that bad at the very least it was way better than everything I could have possibly dreamed of even if I had all the lost pieces right back.

But still, this wasn't the life I had imagined, I wasn't interested in the wealth nor the power and connection that my family, most specifically mom was so after getting. All I ever wanted was a decent life where I could provide and take care of my daughter with no extra hassle or drama but being here, as a part of this setup, I was definitely assured that whatever it was I had seen seemed to only be its beginning.

“Mommy”, I heard softly. She was half awake staring at me with a tired type of surprise.

“Why are you crying mommy?” she asked innocently. It was then that I realized that I was literally flooded in my own tears. So I had been crying.

“Oh baby. Mommy is okay just thinking is all”, I replied and flashed her a reassuring smile.

“Do people cry when they think?” she asked with such Innocence I had to hold myself back from bursting it all out.

“Yes sometimes. But I thought you were asleep. You should not be awake by this time sweetie. It's still pretty late”. I said drying my eyes and trying to change the topic.

“Are you okay mommy?” she asked again, holding my face with her small hands.

“Oh sweetie mommy has never felt better. Come on, let's see some cartoons right before you go back to sleep again baby”, I said, pulling her into my arms.

Within minutes into an episode she was fast asleep.

“Oh my baby,oh my sweet baby”, I sobbed softly as I kissed her goodnight.