Chapter 84When she rounded a corner, she came face to face with the large mass of water, it was the river! She closed her eyes and thanked her star, but as it was, she was still at a loss as to how she would cross the river and reach the other side. There was no ship in sight, and nobody there either. She knew they had anchored here the day she was brought, and getting to the other side would be the beginning of the end of her trouble, but how was she going to do that? Cautiously, she approached the river, making a mental note of the bank. From where she stood, she could not see the edge or the end of the river and that only increased her fear. Had she come this far only to be trapped here? Certainly not. And what would she have done if she had found a ship here? Paddled it across? She knew next to nothing about that as well. At this point, she was desolate. But even then, she knew there was only one thing she could do.She turned the horse in the direction on her right hand and dug
Chapter 85Seeing people again for the first time in weeks rekindled her hope for survival, and the end of the riverbank told her she had marked a milestone I'm her journey. But this might just be the most humiliating and frightening part of her journey. The locals, on noticing her, were rather hostile and avoided her like a plague. But Nancy was not surprised, she could only imagine how dirty she looked having gone for that long without bathing or a change of clothes. One girl was kind enough to spare her a drink of water and that was more than she needed to complete her journey. Darkshine returned to her after having a drink of water from the river. Turned out he had not abandoned her after all, that, with a new found strength and rekindled hope, Nancy mounted the horse and rode on towards the now visible village. With people in view now, she asked for directions to the Lincoln Estate and was not too surprised when everybody she asked pointed her in the right direction.With the sno
Chapter 86His study was a few doors from their bedroom, so Nancy literally had to limp her way up the stairs, holding the walls for support. Maybe she should have freshened up first before meeting Derek, but that would be too much luxury after waiting this long for this moment. She was at least grateful that there were no other servants in the hall as she made her down the hall. Soon, she was standing outside his study, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves and anticipating what she hoped to be a good welcome.6When she opened the door, Derek was sitting at his table, spinning a half filled wine glass he held in his hand and glaring at the cup at the same time like it was someone who had annoyed him. His face was expressionless, his eyes empty and his mood sour, but regardless, he still looked like she remembered him. She had always known he was the most handsome man she had seen in her life, but seeing him again after such a long time made her stomach flutter. Daniel was sitting
Chapter 87At The Plains, the house of Barry Gates was as expected, huge and classic, the interior exquisite. It did not feel like it was her first time here though, because Nancy felt a little familiar with the environment, but she knew why. She had spent too much time these past months, living in delusions, and a better part of that was Derek Lincoln's house, which was twice as exquisite as this. She had probably gotten accustomed to seeing buildings like this, so it did not bother her as they rode in.They were informed that the Lord and Lady of the house were out but would be back shortly, so Nancy and Derek were shown to the parlor, where they waited. The maids offered to show Nancy to her room though, obviously under the impression that she was Lydia, but Nancy declined the offer and Daniel told the servants that they would wait for Barry Gates and his wife. Daniel waited with her, not knowing if she would need him to get her anything else. She had said nothing to him on the wa
Chapter 88Two weeks was enough time for her to rest, Daniel thought as he strolled into his brother's estate. He had sent Lucille down to see to her medical needs, and so far, the results were good. All she needed was a good rest and good meals and proper care of course, in a warm house and trouble free environment while her sore body received the care it needed. Nancy was a stubborn woman, stubborn as her husband, who had locked himself inside to brood and drink himself to stupor rather than try to mend things out or see the reality.The new man who had returned with Derek, Roberts, was the one Daniel met in the parlor the minute he entered, he nodded to the man's greetings and asked to see his brother. But like every other person, Roberts was scared to go to Derek, who had made it clear that he was in no mood for company. So seeing the man's uneasiness, he dismissed him and went up towards the bedroom instead. Daniel noted that the man, Roberts, was not inexperienced in the matter
Chapter 89Nancy longed for the day it would all be over and she could hold her baby in her arms. She wanted a girl child, a little daughter like she had never been, with jet black hair like her own, stubborn as ever and sea green eyes like her father. No, she didn't want that. She wanted nothing in this child to remind her of Derek. Besides, his eye color often changed depending on his mood, which was even as well because he could pass as the devil himself with his undefined moods. Sometimes it was deep blue, other times it was a darker shade of green, but hell! Those were some of the things she loved about him. She sighed, tired of the direction her thoughts were going. Life had been cruel enough, and she needed no more of its disappointments. With her increasing inactivity, the days grew shorter, but they still did not pass quickly enough for Nancy, her stomach had grown increasingly large these days and it was becoming more difficult for her to move about. She was grateful though
Chapter 90Roberts did not stop sobbing, in fact, he was now sitting on the floor opposite the portrait and he was weeping bitterly now. Daniel and Derek watched on, surprised at the situation. This was a full man, wailing like a child in front of two grown men without a care in the world for his pride.Derek's patience was running thin by the minute, he glared at the man in front of him before returning his icy gaze to his brother, who was also frowning. Derek moved to where Roberts sat am shoved him up with his hands around the collar of his shirt,"Will you tell us what is making you sob like a baby or should I force the words out of your mouth?" He growled angrily. It took a while for his breathing to return to normal, but even then, he had to struggle to breath because Derek's grip on his collar was beginning to restrict his airflow. When Daniel noticed that, he walked up to them and tried to free Roberts from Derek's tight grip. "You will kill the man." He told his brother in
Chapter 91Long after they left, Nancy was still standing outside, staring at the empty space where the cart had stood just a few minutes ago. She felt like a heavyweight had been lifted off her shoulders, or a part of this at least. It was surprising just how much a little conversation could change things. And to think that Harvey was nothing like Derek, contrary to what they had thought. If she had not spoken up, Rosey would have gone on in silence, living in the assumption that Harvey didn't care for her or their children. She smiled again, recalling the proud smile that had registered on Harvey's face. Before they left, he had thanked her immensely and promised to do the right thing, which was to buy Rosey's freedom and properly wed her. What more could one ask for in life? She realized then that contrary to her own thoughts a little over a year ago, having Derek reciprocate her feelings and accepting their child was one of her biggest dreams now. But she also knew that that was