The Black Sheep

CLYVE

That’s a blast! No. Shocking!

She must have thought about it a lot knowing someone like Westley who was completely the opposite of Sindy Kate. She would not just come to me asking for help. So, what changed? Or I must have misjudged her. One thing I knew for sure—she would sell her soul to the devil just to treat whatever disease Keene had—that was what she had been doing.

“I need his latest medical report.”

Her face lit up, wiping the tears with the back of her hands. “I will have it on Monday.”

“Brill. You better talk to his doctor to refer his patient to the hospital where my mum is working. I need to talk to her first as a head up. We can get through this.” I reached out for her hand, squeezing it. Surprisingly, she didn’t retreat, instead, she squeezed it back.

“What else?”

“What else what?” I asked back, confused.

“You might wanna know who I am?”

I chuckled. “Do you really expect that you’re the only one who knows how to use Google? I have more access than you, so I know who you really are.” It was a half-truth, but bait for her to open up. 

Westley was as mysterious as Sindy Kate to me.

Her face suddenly turned pale. I didn’t have any idea if it was because I might have found out that she came from a prominent family or the reason behind how she ended up here.

Sometimes she had this twang in her accent like Arella. Or it was the thought that crossed her mind about her being the Sindy Kate in the cam world. Who knew?

“At first, it was a part of my rebellion to get my father’s attention, but then I realized how would they ever find it out,” she confirmed bitterly, averting her gaze away. “Then when I moved here, I started again.”

Okay.

“I bet your family would not be happy about it.” I roamed my gaze around her face, catching the truth. She seemed ashamed, but there was pride in her voice as well.

She stood up. “My father was clueless, maybe up to this very moment. My family disowned me for something I didn’t do, or I didn’t have any idea how it happened. They treated me as if I just committed a heinous crime. They called me names. My own father didn’t give me a chance to explain my side because I had a history. He was humiliated. No one could stop the rumor from spreading once it was out. Unlike what my father used to do with media people, he threatened them to shut up. In my case, he didn’t even give a shit.”

“I’m sorry, Westley.”

“Please, don’t.” She raised her hand as her plea. “The last thing I want from you is your pity.”

“God, I don’t pity you, woman. And neither I have the right to judge you. You have more admirable qualities, and pitying you was not one of them. We all made mistakes and learned from them.” I locked my jaw and formed my hands into fists as I tried to control myself from pulling her into my arms, which I badly wanted to feel her—to let her know that she wasn't alone anymore. God knows how much. But she was Westley right now—not Sindy Kate.

“The only person who listened to me was my step-sister. When my father and my step-mom disowned me for ruining their gooddamn rep and names, she cut some cash from her trust fund since my family took everything away from me.”

“Hey, come here.” Jesus, I couldn’t hold any longer.

I hated it when I saw women cried. When my brother did something to Arella, I’d gone ballistic. Thankfully, he pulled his shits together because If he did not, I would bust his face in a bloody heartbeat for treating that woman ineptly.

I pulled Westley into a hug, rubbed her back and ran my fingers on her soft lacks. I need it too.

She smelled roses. Wild roses to be exact. She shook in my arms, sobbed in my chest, and I couldn’t help to not hug her tightly. 

Despite my lust over her that made my skin burn, that made me wanted more... further, but there was a part in my brain that wanted to uncork the passion that I’d kept bottled up for months, but I wouldn’t go that far. She was too vulnerable, and I couldn’t break the little trust she gambled for the sake of her friend, then I ended up ruining everything.

My heart ached for her though. Whatever happened in her past, I knew it was terrible, and it did a twist of a knife in my heart. I didn’t have to dig to know her because the first time our eyes met, I knew she’d been through a lot—just like me.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Her eyes somehow lit up when I caught her looking at me, and that made me feel hopeful that her family didn’t completely break her. What kind of parents did this to their daughter because of a mistake?

She had great chances to get her life back once this storm was over. I knew she was a strong woman. For me, she was already a survivor.

But the real question was when?

“You’ll be okay, Westley.”

“I hope you’re right, but as long as Keene is sick, I won’t ever be okay. Our applications were rejected by many hospitals. Either they said we could not afford the treatment, or he was hopeless. I blamed myself and thought that was probably because of me. I knew my father did this to punish me, to teach me lessons. And I knew that he’s barely started.”

“Don’t worry, if they grab the hospital’s head by the throat, we will fly to London or Asia to get him the treatment he deserves.”

She pulled herself away. I suddenly lost the warmth of her body against mine, but her smell had still lingered in my senses, and nothing she was doing made me see things clearly.

I shut my eyes closed and took a deep breath. When I opened them, her skeptical gaze locked into me. “Are you really willing to help him? Why?”