Pain Before Bliss

It was a cold and rainy November night. Leah could not believe the events that had just transpired and she continuously walked around in the dark aimlessly. No real sense of where she was going or of the time, but she was numb. Numb to her emotions, her family, the person whom she thought loved her, whom she loved back; it was all a lie. They couldn’t wait to betray her but, in the end, they still tried blaming her. How dare they?! Why did they?!

No matter how much she hurt, she couldn’t find herself caring about the reasons. She just had to get away from them and tend to her aching heart; so, she alighted the mansion without any cares about her own well-being. She didn’t care if she was going to become sick from the November cold or the unexpected rain, she didn’t know how else to deal with the emotions and the emptiness that she now felt lingering in her broken heart.

The more she walked, the more that the rain and her tears stained her delicate cheeks. Puffy from crying so much, her eyes still looked around at her surroundings, unknowingly walking into a higher place in society. Women who wandered the streets, were seen to be in danger, especially if they came from a family with a deep-rooted background.

As she wandered the streets of Aurenda, a tall man walked up to her. He noticed how blank her face was and only wanted to help her. He didn’t know why he wanted to help this woman; he was cold and distant to everyone, so why does he want to help someone he doesn’t even know? Pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind, he approached the small woman with a solemn expression. With a gentle, but concerned tone he spoke.

“Miss, miss, are you okay?”

Only then did Leah notice the stranger standing in front of her. He was a tall and slender man with a very profound facial structure, dressed in a blue-grey tailored suit. She stared at him weakly, but as much as she wanted to take in his features, she couldn’t. Her broken heart would not allow her to absorb the details of this kind stranger. Despair was plastered all over her face and she couldn’t find herself telling her unfathomable truth to the kind stranger; however, she removed the despair from her face and replaced it with a blank expression. In a hoarse voice, she responded weakly.

“Pardon?”

“Are you okay?” He asked, with the same gentle tone.

She nodded and looked away into the distance. “I’m fine. I’ll continue on then.” As Leah attempted to walk away, he gently grabbed her hand and stopped her from leaving.

She stared at his hand before she spoke again. “You don’t have to pity me. I can figure it out on my own.”

“Miss I—”

She interrupted before he could finish. “You’re going to say what I feel, so I’ll save your breath. It’s too late for me to wander out all alone and no one looking after me, but it’s okay, I know how to get back from here. Thanks.” She gently pulled her hand away from the man and continued on her walk. As she disappeared, his assistant walked up to him.

He cleared his throat before speaking. “Sir, I am preparing the car to come around and get you. Would you like for me to grab the umbrella for you while we wait?”

Peter stared at his boss in silence awaiting his response. He followed his gaze and his grey eyes fell on the woman, whom was now in the distance. Perplexed, he observed his actions, but dared not say anything about them. Peter realized how gentle and concerned his expression was, but he couldn’t understand it, especially for a woman whom he had never met before. Before he could say anything else, his boss gave a small nod and responded flatly, “no need.”

“Very well sir, we can wait for the car here until it arrives.”

Bewildered, Peter stood there in silence next to his boss. He was unsure of what more to say, as it seemed that there was nothing to say. It seemed that maybe, just maybe, his boss took a liking to this woman, but his reasons were unknown. After 5 minutes, a black Maybach pulled up along the curb from where they stood. Peter walked towards the car, opening the door for his boss to get in, but when he looked up, he saw his boss jogging in the direction that the woman went off to. Peter was baffled! He couldn’t understand his boss’s actions toward this woman, so he had to wait until he came back.

Derreck caught up to the young woman and walked beside her in silence. Why did he feel a deep need to look after her? Why did he want to help her? He only helped his parents, if needed, so why does it seem that this woman has a hold on him? What makes her different from everyone else? Leah felt a presence near her and when she did, she stopped in her tracks and turned to her left, only to see the tall slender man from before. Derreck offered a solemn expression on his face, while the woman next to him just stared; she seemed to be studying him, or at least he thought. In a hoarse voice, she spoke up once more.

“You again?”

“Yes.” He answered, slightly confused.

“I’m fine, remember? I’ll continue on my way.” She attempted to walk away, but he grabbed her arm gently.

“Miss please, at least let me take you somewhere instead of wandering the streets aimlessly. Plus, it’s raining and it’s cold out. You’ll surely catch a cold if you continue like this. Since your shoes are a bit tattered, I can carry you if you’d like? It’s okay if you don’t want me to, I understand that I’m only a simple stranger to you.” Derreck was perplexed; why was he doing so much for a woman he didn’t know? Still, he pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind and stared at the woman before him. Leah offered a weak smile and responded unhurriedly.

She was stunned, but a part of her knew she could trust this man, so she agreed. “Sure. I can walk myself, so there’s no need to carry me.”

“Very well.” He nodded and walked ahead of her. 

The two walked back in the direction of the car. When Peter noticed his boss walking back to him, his expression changed slightly upon the sight, but nevertheless, he replaced it with a gentle smile.

“Mr. Gray, ma’am.”

“Turn on the heat, once we’re inside.” He responded flatly.

“Yes sir.”

Derreck grabbed Leah’s hand gently and assisted her into the car and then got in behind her. He offered her his coat, so that she wouldn’t be cold. Reluctantly, but gratefully, she took it from his hands and placed it in front of her. They both sat on opposite ends of the car, both engulfed in their own thoughts. Even if he wanted to explain his actions, he couldn’t because he had no idea why he had become so impulsive on helping this distressed woman.

****** 2 hours ago ******

“Jason should have been here already. Where is he?” She asked out loud to no one in particular.

Before she could grab her phone and call her fiancée, Leah heard a commotion coming from downstairs. She pushed her phone in her pocket and made her way out of her room. She walked out in some long-sleeved pajamas to find out what the commotion was. When she walked out to the balcony, she was stunned for a moment. She noticed Jason and her half-sister Brigette holding hands and she couldn’t understand what was happening. Quickly, she made her way down the stairs and stopped in front of them.

Bewildered, she began asking questions. “Jason, what’s the meaning of this? What’s going on?”

Before he could answer, Brigette spoke in a displeasing tone and rolled her eyes. “Oh, dear sister, save the dramatics! Did you really think that Jason was going to stay with you? He only wanted to get closer to me, but you were so blind and merely a fool to think that he could ever love you.”

Jason interjected. “Leah, I did love you, but Brigette and I are in love and I plan to marry her.”

Staring at the two people in front of her, Leah’s eyes began to fill with tears and threatened to spill onto her fair cheeks. She felt rage, disappointment, anger, hurt and pain all in her heart, all at once like a freight train. She knew Brigette wanted everything that she had, but the ONE THING that was supposed to be hers and hers only, she decided to take from her too! How shameless?!

Leah’s voice faltered slightly, but she stood her ground. “Jason, how could you say you ‘did love me’, yet you’re standing in my face holding my sister’s hand and confessing your love about her to me? We were engaged to be married within the month and this is how you tell me that you love someone else, and that bitch no less?! She took a deep breath and continued. "So, tell me this, truthfully, since you’ve lied this long. When you were tied up at the office the past 8 months, those were excuses to be with this home wrecking whore and not think twice about me?”

Jason flickered his eyes anxiously avoiding Leah’s gaze, but the more he didn’t look at her, the more she knew, deep down, it was true.

In a mocking, disgusted tone Brigette piped up. “You call me a whore, but at least I know how to keep a man! Look at you! You’re pitiful for thinking he still wanted to be with you. Dearest sister, I don’t care one bit about your dumb ass feelings. Jason was mine from the beginning, but you took him from me!”

With fury and pain, Leah asked another burning question. Her throat burned from the pain, but she had to know the answer to this question, since it would be the last straw for her. She suppressed the anger in her heart as she asked her burning question.

“What about mom and dad? Do they know?” Her eyes burned with rage and stung with tears.

Brigette responded nonchalantly. “Of course they do silly! How else could Jason and I be together?”

Leah couldn’t believe that her family would betray her so easily and so quickly too! They allowed Jason and Brigette to be together, right under her nose! Leah couldn’t understand the betrayal; she didn’t want to acknowledge it to be true. Her and Jason were together for 5 years and he never seemed to show any interest in Brigette, or had she been blind by her own love for him?

“You’re lying! I don’t believe you!” She screamed through her broken heart. 

Brigette let out a chuckle that reeked of disgust and amusement. “Fine then, they’re in the study. Go on and ask your burning questions.”

With that, Leah ran towards the study on the first floor behind the kitchen. She knocked on the door; her heart thundered against her chest violently as she did so. Her father hesitantly spoke.

“Who is it?”

“Leah.” He looked at Aria before responding. 

“Come in.”

Leah flung the door of the study open and by the expression on her stepmother’s face, she could tell that everything Brigette said was true!